Entangled

Chapter Two

He was spent. He thought as he rolled over to his side and tossed the used condom into the trash can by his bed. The lady beside him gave a satisfactory purr as she stretched her naked self beside him.

“This was so nice.” The lady purred and trailed a finger down his back.

Greg gave a non-committal ‘hmm’ and stood, grabbing his robe as he did. He reached for a bottle of brandy sitting on his bedside table and was pouring himself a drink when his phone on his reading table beeped. He downed his drink quickly, grimacing as the burning sensation of the liquor traveled down his throat, and then he took sturdy steps to the table at the far end of his room. Picking up his phone, he saw an email from Sam waiting to be read. He opened the email and saw that it was an attachment with everything he needed to know about Gracie Terrell.

He read the file thoroughly and discovered that she was a hospice nurse, he put the two together and concluded that she might have met his father in the old people's home, that the old man might have fallen in love with his hospice nurse, and this thought infuriated him. To think that his father had thrown away whatever he had with his wife, for a low-life nurse who wants nothing but money from dying old men. He decided in anger that he needed to confront the little miss, but first, he needed to dismiss the woman in his bed. He glanced back at the woman on his bed, she was asleep, the logical part of him would have allowed her to stay the night, but he needed to deal with Gracie– even her name sounded annoying, and he did not want extra complications with whoever it is in his bed.

“Hey.” He tapped her gently “Get up!”

She aroused sleepily and sat up, “Are you ready to go down again, papi?” She asked in a seductive voice

While that offer sounded hard to resist, he needed to deal with something else – someone else.

“No, I need you to leave immediately.” He said in his firmest tone.

“Why? When we can continue from where we stopped.” She said in her Russian accent.

She trailed a finger on his chest and pulled him for a kiss, but Greg was not in the mood for that.

He pulled away from her. “You need to leave”

“It’s late.” She said, visibly annoyed.

“I’ll call you an Uber, I just need you to leave.”

“You are a f*****g asshole.” She cursed.

He smirked. “So I’ve been told.”

The lady picked up her clothes and stormed off angrily, but that was no problem of his, he needed to meet Gracie.

Gracie felt a thrill of excitement. She was finally going on a date after a long time, and even though it was with Dr. Miller, she still felt excited. She wondered what the night held, and what Dr. Miller had planned for the date. It might seem as though she merely wanted to go out to get him off her back, but she knew she had missed being this excited about first dates, and she hoped that it would go well.

As she alighted her Uber and stood in front of the popular restaurant, her heart raced with anticipation. She had been in and out of the restaurant, for solo dates, and some family dinners, so nothing seemed new except that this time she was going to be with a date.

Gracie had dressed casually, opting for a white three-tiered dress that had black polka dots on it, that accentuated her feminine features, she had her hair down and white pumps. She wanted to make a good impression outside of work.

Dr. Miller arrived a few minutes later, and he looked different from his work self— He was dressed casually in a pair of loose pants and a gray T-shirt, and his hair a bit messier, as though he had just got out of the shower. He smiled when he saw her and approached her.

“You look pretty.” He complimented her and went in for a hug at the same time she brought out her hand for a handshake.

They chuckled at this.

“You clean up nice too Dr. Miller.” Gracie also complimented

“Thank you. I feel weird that you are calling me that outside work. Call me Taylor.”

“Sure thing Taylor.” She tested out his name with a smile

Then he led her into the restaurant. At the door, they were led by a waiter she did not recognize– she assumed that he was new, to a table by the corner, and Taylor pulled out a seat for her to sit.

“Thank you.” She said as he sat opposite from her.

“What would you like to order?” The waiter asked.

She scanned the menu sheet, already having in mind what she wanted but did not want to come off as too fast. So she waited until he had placed his order before she did, chicken parmesan.

While they waited for their order, the conversation flowed easily. They talked about work, favorite patients, hobbies and fun experiences. She realized that Taylor was not so bad of a date, but she felt nothing for him.

Even when he shared stories about his childhood, it didn’t intrigue any part of her, she just wanted to get through the night and head home to sleep.

When their food arrived, Gracie had never been more excited to dig in. At least with her mind focused on her meal, she wouldn’t be forced to make fake giggles whenever he made a compliment about her. And suddenly she felt bad for wasting his time.

“Is something wrong with the food?” He asked, reading her countenance.

“No, it’s okay.”

“Here.” He cut a piece off his salmon and held his fork to her “Try this.”

“No, I’m fine.”

But he still held his fork over her mouth “Just give it a try.”

And she did. The salmon wasn’t bad at all, she thought.

And all through dinner, Taylor talked about himself, his days in medical school and his practice as a medical doctor.

“Is something bothering you?” Taylor asked and she realized that she had zoned out of the conversation.

“No, I’m just tired.” She replied as she wiped the corners of her mouth with a napkin.

She did enjoy her meal but not the date.

“You want us to go for ice cream? I know a really good place.”

“No, I just want to go home.” She said politely.

“That’s fine.”

She felt bad about the situation. “I’m so sorry this didn’t work out.”

“It’s fine. I should know better than to take you out after a long day at work.” He gave a smile.

She stood, “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

He stood along with her. “Not a bad thing, I get that you’re exhausted from work. Let me drive you home.”

She was going to resist but she decided against that, it would be bad to turn down a gentleman’s offer.

“Let’s go then.” She said.

Greg was seated in his car, parked across from the apartment building he had read that was habited by the little gold digger. He had gone up to her apartment in an unabated fury, not exactly sure of what he was going to say when he saw her, he thought that whatever he had to say would come up when he set eyes on the minx. He had pictured her to be a leggy blonde, slender with sultry eyes that easily seduced a man. She had to look like a model for her to have gained his father’s affection. But as he had pounded on her door, he discovered that she was not home. Every logical move would have been to go back home and come back at a more convenient time, but no, there he was sitting in his car for over an hour, waiting for a woman. The thought of it made him chuckle, this was not him at all, he never waited so earnestly for anyone that wasn’t business.

He checked his wristwatch for the umpteenth time, it was 11:23 pm, he should be sleeping, not waiting for someone who might be on vacation in a different state, or a different country.

He was contemplating leaving when the sound of a car approaching caught his attention. He watched a grey Cadillac car pull up in front of the apartment. He gave a low whistle of appreciation of the car. If this was the person he was waiting for, he thought, then she had good taste in cars.

He was about to leave his car to approach the car but paused when he saw a young man probably in his mid-thirties–dressed casually in a pair of jeans and a Tee, walking out of the car. He went around the car to the passenger side and opened the door. A young woman stepped out, with his assistance.

From where Greg sat, he couldn’t quite make out the features of this woman, but he knew she was a contrast to who he was looking for.

The man kissed her on the cheek or lips, Greg couldn’t tell. But he watched keenly as the man led her up to the door. Could she be Gracie?

Gracie let out a sigh as she shut the door behind her. It was official, she was never going on a date again with Taylor. At least he had been so understanding about it. She prised her shoes off and flopped into an armchair, suddenly feeling the need to munch on something. As she was headed toward her refrigerator, her doorbell rang.

What else did Taylor want? She thought loudly, she had just seen him drive off.

She unlocked the door with the expectation of meeting him but met with an utmost stranger. He stood tall, a height that was easily recognizable by anyone, she guessed him above 6ft. His body was perfectly sculpted and she imagined running her hands over him. His face was so beautiful, with a chiseled jawline and a 5’o clock stubble that dusted his face. Her eyes fell on his lips and she saw he had a smirk on, this reminded her that she had been staring unattractively at a stranger.

“Who are you?” She asked when she recalled herself.

“Was that your boyfriend?” He asked

“Who?” Then she resumed a stance, she was talking with a total stranger at that time of the night, who could be a serial killer or even a psychopath. “What are you looking for?”

“I’m looking for a Gracie Terrell.”

“She’s not in.” She lied “I could pass on a message.”

The man peered at her and she feared that he might be able to tell that she was lying. But he said instead, “Just let her know I visited.”

“You, being?”

“Gre…Fred.”

She c****d a brow, “GreFred?”

“Just Fred. She knows me.” He avoided her eyes.

Gracie wanted to chuckle in his face and tell him that she was Gracie, but for every sense of her that screamed for this man, she had to be safe by lying. She found him very attractive, that was the safest to say. Her gaze lingered on him, heat rising beneath her skin as though liquid-hot desire ran through her. She felt the pooling in her core as her pulse quickened. Every movement of his body, casual yet powerful, pulled her attention.

He too held her gaze as though he had felt the tension. He had a feral look that called out to her. How can a stranger make her feel this way? She thought, like a horny s*x-starved teenager.

“I’ll relay your message.” She slammed the door shut to prevent herself from doing anything, which included jumping her bones on a man she had never met.

Gracie dreamt that night about GreFred. It had been a restless night. In her dream, there was something primal and wild about him, taking her body in the most intimate and forbidden manner. She had woken up to a clammy and sweaty body, heart pounding from the intensity of the dream. She was annoyed, and frustrated by how much a man affected her subconscious– invaded her thoughts. She knew this was more than a wet dream about an attractive man, there was a lingering feeling that left her unsettled. She blamed it on the fact that she had not had s*x in a while, maybe, she mused, that was why she reacted that way to a man. But it hadn’t been like that with Taylor. Taylor seemed more comfortable and familiar, he hadn’t evoked such emotions from her.

She was going to try her hardest