The Heart Wants What It Wants (Completed)

Chapter 19

Chapter 19

During her meeting with Matt, Val had learned that his parents were immigrants, hailing from Venice, Italy. He was single with no children, and called Las Vegas his home. He was a huge fan of WWE and hip hop music and had an affinity for brunettes.

As Val talked with Matt, she found it hard to ignore his obvious flirting. His blue eyes seemed to twinkle every time he smiled at her. She'd concluded that working with him was going to be a challenge, not because she wanted him, but because he'd definitely be after her. Then, there was that whole "keeping it on the hush" thing with Joe...

"Thank you for walking me to my room, Matt. I guess we can meet down at the arena tomorrow?"

"How about we ride together? Carpooling is environmentally friendly."

"Um, we'll see."

"Come on. I'm sure your boyfriend won't mind. I'll even drive."

If you knew who he was, you wouldn't think that. "We'll see," she said again. "I gotta go."

"Alright, you have a good night. I'll see you tomorrow."

Once Matt had disappeared onto the elevator, Val slid her card key and opened the door to her room. Just as the door slammed shut behind her, her text alert sounded. Mark.

Can we talk?

Y

I owe u an explanation, she read then texted back, I guess. Call me.

Moments later, her phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Val, I'm glad you answered. Look, I didn't know you had a boyfriend, alright? If I did, I never would've shown up at your place. In all honesty though, I miss you. I mean, we used to be real good friends."

Val sighed loudly, carefully collecting her thoughts before responding.

"Yeah, we did, but that's in the past," she said, looking down at her feet when she stepped on a hotel key card. Joe, she thought, smiling as Mark continued pleading for her to forgive him.

"Baby, I'm so sorry for what I did to you. I wasn't tryin' to hurt you. I was drunk, baby. Please forgive me."

"I forgave you a long time ago. I just haven't forgotten."

"Baby, let me just-"

"Mark," she sternly interrupted, rolling her eyes, "I'm not interested in getting back anything that we had before, so please don't call me anymore."

"So, you're gonna sleep with a married man?"

"You know what? The next time you get your info from someone, make sure it's accurate," she said before disconnecting the call.

She slipped the phone into her purse and left the hotel room.

***

Joe had just stepped out of the shower when he heard his hotel room's door slam. He wrapped a towel around his waist and greeted an obviously fuming Val in the middle of the room. He watched for several moments while she paced back and forth.

"Are you OK?"

Val's pacing ceased almost immediately when her eyes connected with Joe's.

"Yeah, I'm good."

"I know you better than that, doll," he said, grabbing her hand and leading her to the bed. He sat down and pulled her onto his lap. "Did your meeting go OK?"