"I have the money I was going to use for a new bus pass. You can use that to buy your beer. Are you sure nobody from Speed Motorcycles called? Are you sure there aren't any messages about the shoot being rescheduled?"
"Hey, what the hell are you doing? Get the fuck away from that phone!" The male voice sounded even angrier, and I felt my instincts prickle. Kayla was in danger.
My heart started to race and I knew I needed to get inside that apartment quickly before things escalated. I tried the knob, but it was locked. Did I dare try to break in or should I just knock and interrupt their fight?
"I just want to check my phone for messages. Hey, the service has been turned off. How long ago did that happen?"
"None of your damn business: that's when. Now give me that damn phone before I fucking take it from you and beat the shit out of you with it."
That was it. I was going in. I heard the sound of Kayla scream out in fear and it gave me the burst of adrenaline I needed to bust in the door. A man with scraggly brown hair and an unshaved face had her gripped by shoulders while she cowered in his grasp, clutching a cell phone in front of her like a protective shield.
I grabbed the jerk by the collar, yanked him back away from her, and punched him square in the jaw. He staggered back, falling flat on his ass, while Kayla screamed out again.
"Ethan! What are you doing here? Mick! Are you all right?"
I realized Mick must be her boyfriend of five years. Somehow, I'd imagined that any man who could win her heart would be much more sophisticated, not the scruffy asshole in front of me. She knelt down to help him, and he shoved her back roughly as he got to his feet and squared off to me.
"Who the hell is this?" Mick asked, and it became clear from the slur of his voice and the stagger of his stance that he was drunk.
"This is the CEO of Speed Motorcycles, Ethan Colson," Kayla explained, looking shocked and bewildered to see me. I realized I'd better explain myself, quick.
"I came to tell you the photoshoot has been moved to Friday. When your phone was off and we couldn't reach you, I wanted to tell you the message personally."
Kayla smiled, looking touched, but Mick saw right through me immediately. With slurred words, he said, "Ha! No rich, company big-shot drives all the way to some model's house to tell her simple message like that. You want her. You came here hoping to fuck her."
Kayla looked at me with such intensity then. In a breathy voice, she whispered, "You could have sent your assistant. Is what Mick's saying true?"
"He's right. I am interested in you. We had such an incredible time together that day I taught you how to ride. I haven't been able to stop thinking about you ever since."
"I have a boyfriend. Mick and I are going to get married. I told you that, and you still came over here hoping that I would..."
She couldn't finish the sentence. She wasn't sure what I wanted, and the truth was neither was I; but Mick didn't have any trouble filling in the blank space.
"He came here to fuck you," he blasted drunkenly. "He wants to use you to get his dick wet. Well, she belongs to me. You want to get with her, you and me need to talk some business. How much is it worth to you?"
I couldn't believe Kayla's boyfriend was offering to prostitute her out to me. Worse than that, I saw from the look on her face that she thought I was considering the offer. She turned on me with a look of pure hatred blazing in her eyes.
"Get out!" she screamed at me as she shoved me hard against the chest with both hands, forcing me out the door. "How dare you come to my home, break in the door, assault my fiancé, and then think you can buy me that way? I am not a whore. I am a professional model. I pose for pictures, but that is the extent to which I sell my body."
"No, it's not like that. I don't think you're a prostitute. I just think you’re beautiful. I haven't been able to stop thinking about you all week. All I do is stare at your portfolio. I've memorized every page of your résumé. When I found out the shoot had been cancelled and I wouldn't get to see you today, all I could think about was coming down here just so I could look at you."
I thought my heartfelt plea would make her understand, but I was shocked how she took it the completely wrong way. In the end, all it did was fuel her anger to even greater intensity.
"What? You're obsessed with me. You're a sicko. A stalker. Get out. Get away from me. Leave me alone. If I see you again, I'll call the police."
With every sentence, she shoved me back with steadily increasing strength, until she had pushed me completely outside her door. Then, she slammed it shut in my face and locked it. Inside I could hear the sounds of her turning to Mick for comfort, so I left.
As I drove slowly through the city streets, I couldn't believe how wrong things had suddenly gone. I had actually thought that she'd be happy to see me, glad to know that the shoot had been rescheduled, and maybe even willing to go out on another ride with me. Now, she hated me. She thought I was a stalker — and maybe I was.
It broke my heart that she was stuck in such a miserable little apartment with such a Neanderthal for a boyfriend. How could she stay with a jerk like that after I swept in and tried to protect her from him before things got ugly? It was obvious he didn't treat her like she deserved to be treated, the way that I would treasure her if she were mine.
Except, I had vowed to be an eternal bachelor. Maybe it was time to change that. All I knew for sure was that this wasn't the end of things with Kayla. I needed to find a way to see her again, to know that she was safe and being taken care of. I needed to know that she was happy and being treated right. She was my obsession, and I had to have her now more than ever.
Chapter Six
Kayla
"You're so lucky you have Mick. I would give anything to have what you two have," my best friend Samantha said to me from her barstool, as yet another loser hit on her with a bad pick-up line.