Free Stern Desire Love Redeemed by Leah Shay Page A

signals; something was not right.
     

Chapter Five
    If curiosity could kill, I would have died a thousand times since Jared told me he wanted to talk to me. I could not help but wonder what
    he was going to divulge that would convince me to enter into a relationship with him. Was he capable of a complicated relationship? I could easily see how one could agree to an uncomplicated relationship with him. He was enigmatic, irresistible, charming, mesmerizing, and breathtakingly attractive. Would I
    break my rule and settle for less than a meaningful relationship?
    When it came to men, I had serious trust issues. Two weeks after Rob died, I got a phone call. It was from an area code that I did not
    recognize.
    "Is this Kyra?" the woman on the other end asked.
    "Yes, this is she."
    "My name is Ashley."
    That name sounded familiar. I remembered Rob talking to an
    Ashley on several occasions, but I had thought it was a guy. He was always very abrupt on those calls, promising to call back, and there was not anything about the brief conversations that caused me to think otherwise. At that moment of
    realization, a dark cloud came over me; Ashley was not a guy but a girl.
    "How can I help you, Ashley?"
    "I'm sorry; I heard that Rob passed, but I did not have
    the nerve to call."
    "And who are you?" I asked calmly.
    "I was his girlfriend and, um ... I'm pregnant with his child."
    I felt so betrayed and heartbroken. If I could have brought
    Rob back I would, and then I would have killed him myself.
    "How far along are you?" I asked, trying to gather more information. Anguish boiled inside of me.
    "I'm due in a month."
    "How long were you together?
    "Almost a year and a half."
    "Did you know about me?"
    "Not in the beginning. I found out about you after I
    was pregnant."
    "So, why are you telling me this?"
    "Because he lied to both of us, and I thought you had a right to know."
    I was not certain about her reasoning behind telling me. Rob
    was already gone, and now in addition to my grief I had to deal with betrayal and anger. Ashley and I spoke on several occasions, and still do sometimes. She had a boy, and there was no doubt in my mind that it was Rob's child. She moved
    back to the Bahamas after the baby was born to be close to her family. Nate and I vacationed in the Bahamas a few times and had seen Ashley and Nick, her son. I had gotten over any ill feelings I had toward Ashley. We were both betrayed
    and had learned the hard way that men could not be trusted. They were a bunch of users, manipulators, cheaters, and liars that we couldn't do without.
    .
    I was forty-five minutes early for work, another record. The
    elevator door opened and we piled in. As the door was about to close, a tall, designer-clad lady, who looked like she had just stepped right out of a fashion magazine, approached the elevator. The guy at the front of the elevator stuck his leg out between the closing elevator doors. It was amazing he would
    sacrifice a leg for this beautiful woman. She stepped in and got everybody's attention. The guys could not take their eyes off her; the women envied her. She looked very familiar. I knew this woman; but I could not identify from
    where. She and I were the only ones left on the elevator after everyone else got off on the fifth floor. The only lit button was for the eighth floor.
    "I'm sorry to bother you," I said to her.
    "But you look very familiar."
    She flipped her brunette hair over her shoulder.
    "I'm a model," she said abruptly.
    The elevator doors opened on the eighth floor, and she
    stepped out as if she were on the runway and approached the security desk where a guard was sitting. Before Jared Stern was a patient, there was no need for a security guard, but now we had one for the Eight North VIP.
    "Hi, Jimmy," I called to the guard, but Jimmy was
    fixated on the tall brunette approaching him. As I opened the glass door leading onto the unit, I heard the model say to the guard, "I'm going to Room 825."
    "What's