On My Knees (Bridge #1)(9)
Author: Meredith Wild

“Picked quite the day for it.”

“No kidding. It’s freezing.” She shifted her weight back and forth a couple times, staring down at the ground.

Something told me she still hadn’t forgiven me for Cameron.

“I should let you go, I guess. I have to get back to work.”

She glanced up. “Right. Well, it was good seeing you, Maya. I’m glad to hear you’re doing well.”

“Thanks, you too,” I replied awkwardly, realizing I hadn’t bothered to ask what she was doing. God, I was such a self-involved jerk now. I’m sure she could tell.

“Okay, I guess I’ll see ya.” She gave a terse nod and slipped by me, heading in the direction I’d come from.

I couldn’t think straight by the time I got back to work. I tossed about ten mints in my mouth and set to work.

A couple people were out sick at the office so I picked up the slack. A few hours passed and I was caught up. Alone with my thoughts again until the markets closed.

CAMERON. “You’ll never guess who I ran into.”

Olivia peered over me as I pressed the weights rhythmically above me. I’d had a long day and it’d been an even longer night with little sleep. While I welcomed the distraction if it kept me awake, I was not remotely interested in gossip hour with her.

“Who?” I grunted between silent counts.

“Maya.”

My grip slipped slightly but I recovered, pushing the bar back up onto its cradle. I sat up, letting her name echo in my mind until it conjured a vision I’d spent the past several years hoping to forget. My Maya?

“Maya Jacobs?”

She leaned on the mirrored wall across from me and answered with a quick nod that confirmed my suspicions.

In the reflection, I saw the rest of the gym filling with members who hurried here after work, vying for prime real estate at the treadmills and ellipticals. The leisurely daytime mom crowd was being replaced by the nine-to-fivers. I usually tried to sneak in my work out between the two so I didn’t get caught in the fray. People in this city were intense, and after a year I was still getting used to it.

“Where did you see her?” I tried to sound casual, but curiosity was already burning through me.

She raised her eyebrows. “A few blocks off Wall Street. That’s where she works now, I guess.”

“She works on Wall Street? You’re kidding me.”

Her narrowed eyes were fixed on me, as if she were studying my reaction. “Please tell me you’re not still hung up on her after what she put you through.”

I pushed off the bench and grabbed a towel, wiping the sweat from my face and draping it around my neck. “Just curious. I haven’t seen her in a long time. How’d she seem?”

Olivia looked past me, seemingly distracted by a guy positioned at the bench press. I followed her gaze. One of the regulars. I frowned, making a mental note to keep an eye on him.

She sighed quietly. “She seems different.”

“That’s descriptive.”

“Maybe you’ll run into her one of these days and you can see for yourself.”

“There’s eight million people in the city. Doesn’t seem likely.”

“I’m sure she’s the last person you want to see anyway. I mean, you haven’t seen her since—”

“No, I haven’t.” The last thing I wanted to do was relive the day I left Maya, least of all under Olivia’s scrutinizing stare. She harbored a grudge that rivaled my own. “Listen, I’ve got to shower and take care of some paperwork. I’ll meet you back at the house for dinner, all right?”

“Sure. I still need to straighten things up.”

I eyed her warily. “Don’t color code my shirts or anything.”

She laughed. “Not today. I will get you organized though, if it’s the last thing I do.”

“I have my own system. Stop moving shit around.”

“Right, good luck finding a woman when she gets a load of your organizational skills.”

I waved her off and headed to the back of the building where my office was hidden behind another wall of mirrors. I sat behind my desk, staring at the piles of papers in front of me, not remotely interested in any of it.

Olivia might have been right. Revamping the three story partially renovated condo I’d taken over as my bachelor pad was one thing, but I was getting in over my head with running the gym. When Olivia offered to help me out, I’d taken her up on the offer, figuring she was just as eager as I’d been to get away from our parents. I cringed at the thought of working for my father and letting them run any part of my life, as they were inclined to do with her. Thankfully they’d already given up on Darren and me.