Free The Proposal (Forever Bound Book 2) by Bree Callahan Page A

Derek, don’t you?”
    Charity fidgeted uneasily in the living room.  “It would never work out between us,” Charity stated.
    Ana nodded.  “That’s the same with Jesse and myself.  We would never work out if the relationship started out with lies.”  She grabbed a suitcase and carried it into her bedroom. 
    That was exactly how she felt about Derek, and only Ana would understand that.  They were very similar in that aspect.  Yet, something deep down told her that she was to blame for Ana’s negative response about Jesse; she just wasn’t ready to fully give in to that question.
     
    ****
     
    Monday morning, Derek decided that he needed to do his best to put Charity behind him, at least for a minute, and go back to his busy day at work.  At the Monday morning meeting, he ignored the empty seat where Charity would normally sit.  He discussed how the plans were in full swing to start the project, and they would be breaking ground in the next couple days.  There was a lot of eager chatter, but no one had any questions to add to the discussion.
    He dismissed the meeting earlier than usual, and when he got back to his office, his cell phone was ringing.  He grabbed it from his desk and spotted Calvin’s number on the screen.  “Hello?” he anxiously replied into the phone.
    “Hey, it’s Cal.  So, I got you an address.”
    Derek sighed before grabbing a piece of paper and pen.  “Great!  What is it?”
    “5552 Billingham Pl.  Apartment 30 B.”
    “Do you know if this is her new place?” Derek asked.
    “It appears that way,” Calvin answered.  “This weekend Ana and some guy helped her move in.”
    Derek frowned.  “Some guy?” Derek asked.
    “I’m not sure who he was, but he used his vehicle to help haul some furniture for them.  It appears Ana and Charity have gotten the apartment together.  At least, I stayed there until nearly ten o’clock and besides a pizza delivery man, no one came in or out of the apartment.”
    “Alright.  Thanks, Cal.”
    “Of course.  Do you want anything else right now?” Calvin asked.
    “Nope…that should be it.  Thanks, Cal.”  He disconnected the call and dialed up Jesse’s work number.  He answered right away.
    “Hey…what’s up?” he asked. 
    “Well, I believe I found where Ana and Charity are.”  At first, he didn’t know if he should include Jesse, but they were kind of in this together, so he decided he wanted Jesse involved.  Two heads were better than one so they could figure it out together.  At least that was his hope.
    “You did?” Jesse asked, sounding as shocked as Derek felt. 
    “Yep!”  He gave the address that Calvin provided to him.  “I thought at lunchtime we could go check it out.  Want to come?”
    “Why wait until lunch time?  I’m free now,” Jesse replied.
    Derek quickly pulled up his schedule for the day.  He didn’t have any meetings until the afternoon.  “Alright.  I’ll meet you in the lobby in five minutes.”  They hung up, and Derek grabbed his keys and hurried out of his office.  He took the elevator down to the lobby and spotted Jesse standing by the automatic doors.  He approached him, and Jesse looked up. 
    “How’d you find them?” Jesse asked immediately like he had thought of the question on the way to the lobby.
    “Had Charity followed,” Derek nonchalantly replied as he left the door and Jesse had to work hard to keep up.
    “You had her followed?” Jesse asked.
    They reached Derek’s car and Derek turned around to face him.  “I had to.  She wasn’t returning any of my calls, and I need to talk to her.  I had Calvin, my PI look to see if he could find her.”
    Jesse laughed.  “Man, I can’t believe you did that.  I want to talk to Ana, as well, but personally, I don’t know if she would ever forgive me if I had her followed.”
    “She’ll understand,” Derek huffed, opening up the driver’s side, but the truth was…he wasn’t sure she would.  He