Burned

  Burned

  By

  Eve Vaughn

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons living or dead is entirely coincidental.

  All trademarks, service marks, registered service marks are the property of their respective owners and are used herein for identification purposes only.

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  Runaway

  Copyright © Burned 2017 Eve Vaughn

  Electronic book publication October 2017

  With the exception of quotes used in reviews, this book may not be reproduced or used in whole or in part by any means without permission from the author, Eve Vaughn.

  WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be scanned, uploaded or distributed via the Internet or any other means electronic or print, without the author’s permission. Criminal copyright infringement without monetary gain is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in Federal Prison and a fine of $250,000. For more information regarding the government’s stance on copyright infringement visit: http://www.fbi.gov/ipr.

  Dedication

  To my group members who have always been loyal and supportive. I don’t know where I would be without you guys. Thank you so much. You all mean the world to me.

  Prologue

  “I don’t want you anymore.”

  Sadie who had been in the middle of cutting her chicken, froze. She must have heard him incorrectly because no one simply blurted something like that out. She looked up from her dinner. “What?”

  Jordan took a deep breath as he adjusted his tortoise shell glasses. “I’m breaking up with you.”

  Her heart beat erratically and her chest felt tight. Was he dumping her in the middle of this restaurant? There had been no indication of major problems between them besides the fact that whenever they were together, his mother always chose that time to call and like a good son, he’d run to do her bidding. Sadie couldn’t fault Jordan for being attentive to his mother but at times it was to the detriment of their relationship.

  She often overlooked the fact that most of his sentences started with, “Mama says…”

  Jordan’s mother had serious health issues according to him so Sadie tried to be as understanding as she could, even when Jordan often changed their plans because he had to do something for his mother. And through it all, Sadie stuck by him because he was a nice, intelligent, and fun to be around, when he wasn’t talking about his mother.

  He was her first real boyfriend and Sadie was certain that she loved him and up until this moment, she thought he loved her too. “I don’t understand. I thought we were doing well.”

  Jordan released an exaggerated sigh. “I haven’t been happy for a long time. Look, Sadie, as you know, I just got a promotion at my investment firm and I’m on track to make partner. Mama says that I’m going to need the right kind of wife, one who supports my vision.”

  Sadie was at a loss for words. “But…I do support your vision. Why do you think I don’t?”

  He adjusted his tie, something he did when he was uncomfortable. One of the things that fascinated Sadie about him was that he was a sharp dresser. Jordan rarely wore jeans or casual clothing and refused to use what he termed as ‘street slang’. He said that one should dress and act how they wanted to project themselves to the world. Her sisters said he was uptight but Sadie saw him as driven. Sure he had an abrupt way of speaking, but she appreciated his straightforwardness…until now.

  “Look, Sadie, you’re a simple woman, not executive wife material. Even your name is ridiculous. I don’t understand why don’t just go by your first name. It’s much more regal.”

  Sadie had always been slow to anger but Jordan certainly testing her limits. “Because I don’t like it,” she spoke between clenched teeth.

  “See? Simple. I need someone who aspires to be more in life than just a file clerk in the county office. You don’t even have a college degree. Sure you’re marginally attractive, but it wouldn’t hurt if you lost some weight and maybe did something to your hair. Mama thinks I can do much better, and I agree.”

  He delivered that statement as if he didn’t just eviscerate her entire being. Jordan had essentially ripped her heart out of her chest and didn’t take her feelings into consideration.

  Tears ran down Sadie’s cheeks unheeded and Jordan began to fiddle with his tie again. “Don’t make a scene okay. That’s why I brought you here. I was hoping you’d have a little dignity when I broke the news.”

  “Broke the news?” she asked incredulously. “You make it sound as if you were telling me about some inconsequential thing that happened on your job instead of breaking up with me. Not to mention, you did it in such a callous way. What kind of man are you?”

  Jordan looked around the restaurant and shifted in his seat. “Lower your voice, you’re embarrassing me.”

  “I don’t care. I gave you everything!” she shouted not caring that the other diners were watching them. Then she burst into loud noisy tears.

  “You’re making a spectacle of yourself!” he hissed at her.

  His lack of compassion made her cry harder.

  “My mother was right about you. You’re so pathetic.” He stood abruptly and tossed some bills on the table. “This should be enough to cover your fare for a taxi. Take care of yourself, Sadie.”

  And without a backward glance, he walked away taking her heart with him.

  Chapter One

  For the first time in almost a year, Sadie knew everything was going to be alright. She loved her new job and the little house she’d purchased with the savings she’d intended to use for her wedding. And most especially she loved not being at someone else’s beck and call. Moving from D.C. to North Carolina had been a big leap but it was something she needed to do for herself. All her siblings had all flown the coop years ago and she’d stuck around out of loyalty to her mother—loyalty that hadn’t been appreciated. But at least she wasn’t far from her sister Lily who resided in Raleigh, a thirty-minute drive away from her home.

  Her job wasn’t so bad either. She worked on a college campus in one of the registrar offices. The best part of working for the local university was that she’d be able to take a free class each semester. In fact, she was on her way to class now. Glancing at her watch, she noticed she had plenty of time before it began. Since it was such a nice day she decided to catch up on some reading on one of the benches in front of her building. Once she sat down, however, her mind drifted to earlier events.

  This morning Sadie woke up to see her answering machine blinking and was surprised to hear her ex’s voice. It had been a long time since thoughts of Terrell didn’t drive her to tears. A long time since the nights she’d wake up crying and the mornings when she couldn’t think of one single reason to get out of bed. Then there were the days when she didn’t think life was worth living. Sadie shuddered to think how she’d allowed a man to push her to those limits.

  How humiliating it had been to walk around with her head in the clouds, secure in the knowledge that she was in love and someone loved her back—only to have the proverbial rug pulled from under her. It was especially embarrassing since it had taken a lot for her to open up to Terrell after her embarrassing break up with Jordan. It was nearly a year ago today when Sadie had been shopping in the mall for some birthday presents for Malia, her fiancé’s daughter. She loved his little girl like her own and was looking forward to being the positive female role model in her life the girl needed because it surely wasn’t Keisha, Malia’s mother.

  Sadie had lost count of the times
when Terrell would complain about Keisha’s drinking and smoking pot around their child, and how she constantly used his child support payments on her hair, nails and designer clothing for herself. To top it off Keisha seemed to think there was a chance she and Terrell could get back together and made Sadie’s life miserable.

  Whenever Sadie and Terrell were together, Keisha would call under the pretense of being concerned about Malia. Sadie didn’t begrudge her man going to his child’s mother for the sake of their daughter but it seemed like every single time they got together, Keisha would summon him. And he’d go running! At first, Sadie believed that history was repeating itself. But instead of her boyfriend leaving her because of his overbearing mother, she feared this one would choose his child’s mother over her. When Sadie had expressed her concern, Terrell had proposed with a beautiful ring, ensuring Sadie that’s she was the only one for him. She and Terrell had even talked about getting custody of Malia once they were married.

  As she shopped Sadie ran into one of her mother’s friends. Sadie didn’t particularly care for Miss. Jenkins, a busybody who had nothing better to do than being in other people’s business.

  “What are you smiling so big about, gal?” Miss Jenkins approached her without so much as a how are you.

  Sadie swallowed the sarcastic retort and forced herself to smile. There was no point in antagonizing the woman who could turn nasty at the drop of a dime. “It’s a nice day. Why shouldn’t I be smiling?”

  Miss Jenkins put her gnarled hands on her hips and looked Sadie up and down as if she was expecting something. “Hmph. You’re taking the news much better than I would if I was you.”

  She raised a brow. “What are you talking about? What news?”

  “About Terrell, girl.”

  “What are you talking about? I spoke to Terrell last night. He’s still in New York for business.” Granted he hadn’t answered his cell phone when she’d called him a few times today but she put it down to him being busy. She was sure he’d call her back when he got the chance.

  It was Miss Jenkins’s turn to look surprised. “Business trip? If that’s what you call getting married,” she glanced at her watch, “in a half hour than he’s having that trip at St. Charles A.M.E. in N.E. with Keisha. I hear that little girl of theirs is going to be the flower girl.”

  Sadie’s mouth fell open. “You’re making that up.” Miss Jenkins also happened to live in the same apartment building as Keisha and it stood to reason she knew all her neighbor’s business.

  Miss Jenkins shrugged, a smug smile curving her lips. “You don’t have to believe me but you’re going to feel like a fool when you find out the truth. Your mother’s always telling me what a sucker you are. I guess she’s right. Don’t worry child, you’re probably better off without him. Men are nothing but dogs looking for a bone. That’s why I ain’t never been married. I’m too set in my ways. Take my advice girl, and get yourself a cat.”

  Sadie looked at the other woman and realized she was telling the truth. Feeling nauseous all of a sudden, she dropped all her bags right where she stood and hurried out of the mall. She had to make it to the church if only to prove this was all some horrible nightmare. She sped and maneuvered her car through the streets but had the misfortune of being caught in a funeral procession. Sadie made it to the church an hour after the ceremony was to start—just in time to see a crowd throwing rice at the recently wedded couple.

  Sadie couldn’t help but notice the affectionate way Terrell looked at his bride. In that moment, Sadie realized she’d been the other woman all along. It was no wonder Keisha hated her so much. She’d probably been biding her time because she knew Terrell would go back to her. Then Sadie remembered all the business trips, the 911 text messages he’d shrugged off. He’d probably been sleeping with Keisha from the beginning and never stopped. Terrell had made a fool of her—gave her a cheap ring to keep her in line all the while he’d never had any intentions of making their relationship permanent.

  To have her mother say she told Sadie so was the final crushing blow, after all, what did she expect? Terrell was handsome and virile, too far out of Sadie’s league to be faithful to someone who was short and had more than a few extra pounds to lose. Granted Sadie had a bit of a complex growing up with three model gorgeous sisters, one of which who was an actual model, but she’d always believed herself to be attractive. Her mother’s biting words coupled with Terrell’s betrayal had been like a hammer to her already bruised self-esteem.

  Sadie had made a promise to herself after Terrell’s betrayal: no more handsome men. They were more trouble than they were worth and thought they could get away with anything because of their looks. There were times when Terrell would say things to her that now looking back made her cringe, but he’d give her that sexy grin of his and she’d be happy again. Her number two rule was to leave the guys with kids alone. Men with kids came with baby mama drama and she didn’t think her heart could survive going through that again, because not only had she lost Terrell but Malia as well. Her two crushing breakups had taught Sadie those very valuable lessons.

  Too bad her mother had given Terrell her phone number. Not that she intended on calling him back. Hearing his voice on her answering machine helped her to realize she was most definitely over him. She wished him luck with his wife and daughter.

  Sadie shook her head to rid herself of the unpleasant memories. Placing her book on her lap, she closed her eyes and tilted her face toward the sun reveling in its warmth against her skin.

  “Sure makes a guy wish he was the sun.”

  Sadie jumped at the sound of an accented voice. She looked in the direction of the speaker and momentarily lost her ability to speak. It was him! The hot British Anthropology Professor whose class she’d gone to by mistake. It had been her first day of classes and she’d misread her schedule and had gone to the wrong room. By the time she realized her error, Sadie had been too embarrassed to get up and leave. She couldn’t even though she wanted to because he’d held her, as well as the rest of his female students mesmerized.

  The man standing before her was a living breathing God. Not since Terrell had someone of the opposite sex had the ability to turn her into a drooling fool. If she was being totally honest, he made Terrell look like a regular guy off the street. Standing well over six feet, he was broad shouldered and solid. She could only imagine what he looked like beneath his black button-down shirt and dark khaki pants. His smile was….nothing short of breathtaking and those eyes, those dreamy green eyes….. aww hell, she was in trouble.

  Run away, her brain told her. If she stuck around, Sadie was sure she’d say something stupid. “Uh, I gotta go to class.”

  She gathered her purse and book and would have made a dash into the building but she was halted by a large sinewy hand. Shocked that he’d actually touched her, Sadie tumbled forward and nearly fell on her face but found herself wrapped in large capable arms.

  “I’ve got you. I won’t let you fall.” Those words were conveyed with some underlying message that made her pause for the briefest of seconds.

  She moistened her lips with the tip of her tongue, trying to find something intelligible to say. “I uh…need to go. You can let me go now.”

  He seemed to take his precious time releasing her. “Please don’t run off. I wanted to ask you something.”

  With a sigh, Sadie turned to face him, eyes downcast. She wouldn’t fall under the spell of his hypnotic stare if she could help it. What could he possibly want from her anyway? “Yes?”

  “I recognize you from one of my classes but you only showed up that first day and I haven’t seen you since. I’m assuming you dropped the class because I’ve pretty much matched the names to the faces of all my current students.”

  She pushed away a stray braid from her face feeling hot all of a sudden. Wasn’t it enough that he was sexy? Did his accent have to make her want to throw herself at him too? “Actually I wasn’t supposed to be in your class. I went into the wrong r
oom.” Sadie made the mistake of looking him directly in the eyes and she could have just melted.

  He smiled. “It happens. Look, I’m glad I caught up with you because I have something that belongs to you. You were in such a haste to leave my class, you left this behind.” Professor Delicious reached into his briefcase and pulled out a black and white notebook.

  Her book of poems! Reaching out with trembling fingers she took them from him. “Thank you. I thought I lost this.”

  “It’s a good thing I noticed you’d left it. I hope you don’t mind that I read a few of your poems. They were quite lovely.”

  There were only a few people she’d shared her poems with and knowing this man had been intimately acquainted with some of her innermost feelings made her even more uncomfortable than ever. “Thanks.”

  “Are you an English major?”

  She shook her head. “No. I’m only taking a class here and there. The University only allows staff to take one free class a semester. Maybe when I save up I’ll take more classes.”

  He raised one devilishly sexy brow. “You’re a staff member? Where do you work?”

  Sadie took a step back. If she didn’t know better this guy seemed seriously interested in her. And if that were the case, why her? “I’m a registrar for the Computer Science Department. Look, Professor—”

  “Rhys. And you are?”

  “Sadie. Sadie Flowers.” She could have kicked herself for giving him her full name and more information than he had the right to know. “Okay now, I really have to go. Thanks for returning my notebook.” This time when she turned to go he thankfully didn’t stop her. When she got home after class she’d definitely need to change her panties.