Heartless: Episode #2 Read Online Free

sure the call hadn’t disconnected.
    “Okay?” I asked again.
    “Okay.” His voice sounded soft, and I wanted to curl up next to his body and envelop him. “So, do you forgive me?”
    “Yes.”
    “And we’re okay?”
    “Sure.” I shrugged, wondering what that even meant.
    “Good. Then, I want to see you again. I don’t care if I have to come down there every week or every day. You will give this a shot, and I’ll make up for last night.”
    “Give what a shot exactly?” I questioned, already knowing the answer but desperately wanting to hear him say it.
    “Us.”
    “There is no us,” I responded, sounding like a brat.
    “We’ve started something here. Fight it all you want, but it’s already happening, and you know it.”
    I sighed and allowed the silence that followed to speak for me.
    “Listen to me,” his voice started again. “I know you’re scared. I don’t pretend to know why, but I want to know. Someday, I hope you’ll tell me.”
    “Why would I tell you anything?” I whispered as my mind replayed my dad leaving and Ben cheating, coupled with Daniel denying me last night.
    “Eventually—and by eventually, I mean, really, really soon—” He paused, and I held my breath as I waited for him to finish. “I’m going to be your boyfriend. Although, I’m really more of a man, don’t you think? Soon, I’m going to be your manfriend , and you’re going to trust me and fall head over heels in love with me.”
    I laughed hard. “You’re hilarious.”
    “I’m serious.”
    “Delusional much?”
    “Not often.”
    “I have to go.” I shifted in my chair, causing it to roll to the side.
    “Talk to you later, babe. Have a good day.” He hung up before I could respond.
    My thoughts recycled his words over and over until I felt almost dizzy from them.

5.
    DANIEL
     
    Subtlety had never been my strong suit. Being an aggressive businessman often spilled over into other aspects of my life, if I allowed it. When I saw something I wanted, I would go after it with vigor.
    The minute Elizabeth had walked away last night, I’d cursed myself for blowing it with her, and I’d vowed to make it right. I knew that not going upstairs with her was the right thing to do, but I hadn’t even fucking said a thing about it to her. I’d let her walk away, thinking that I wasn’t interested. I’d make sure she knew that was the furthest thing from the truth.
    I was interested.
    I was all in.
    A woman like Elizabeth wouldn’t stay single for long, and for the life of me, I had no fucking idea why she still was. I assumed it had to be on her end because there was no way that guys wouldn’t hit on her every time she left the house. She was gorgeous, and that wasn’t even the half of it.
    Then again, we were talking about men in Los Angeles, and they were a different breed altogether—pussies, as I liked to call them, or pretty boys who cared more about their own wardrobe and hairstyle than any real man should. Most of them would have a hard time handling a successful woman like Elizabeth.
    It was a good thing I wasn’t most men.
    The sound of knuckles rapped on my door three times before it swung open without me saying a word. I didn’t even have to look up from my computer to know who it was.
    “James.”
    “Daniel,” he said before moving over to the full-sized couch and spreading out.
    “Don’t you have work to do?” I tried to sound authoritative, but he only laughed.
    James and I had been buddies since our freshman year at Stanford. We had been assigned to the same dormitory on the same floor, but we weren’t roommates. After a few too many beers one night, we’d realized that we were cut from the same cloth, as my mother would say. We had both been raised in affluent families, but we were determined to make names for ourselves without any help from our parents. It was a pretty typical story, if you asked me, but the difference between James and every other spoiled rich brat I’d met