Before, I’d only been thinking about myself and Winter. I’d listened to Clark wonder about the fans, but it hadn’t really sunk in.
It was sure sinking in now, though.
Thousands upon thousands of people had bought our records, had come to our concerts, and had supported us. Without any warning to them, Clark and I had essentially ripped the band we’d built apart.
Sure, we’d been backed into a corner with the whole Axe thing, but maybe I should have considered Clark’s offer more carefully. Not to go right back to recording, but to write for him.
That way, I could still be doing something for the fans. And for Clark.
I’d been leaning toward saying yes to him anyway, but my mind was made up now.
Picking my pen back up with renewed determination, I pored over the first two songs and got the lyrics as perfect as I could before the third was back from the vortex it had gotten sucked into when I had been recognized and it came spilling out too.
By the time I left Alice’s spot in the park, I had four new songs for Clark and I was feeling pretty damn good about myself.
The good feeling ended when I decided to see if I could find my way back from the park to our house without my GPS. My internal navigation system never had been great, and I ended up miles away from where I’d been intending on going—and in the very last place I’d have wanted to come today.
Looming in front of me was the Myrtle Beach Oncology Center. It was the same sprawling white building it had been the first time I’d come here. It was where Alice had been diagnosed for the first time.
We’d been in Myrtle Beach to introduce Winter to Alice’s mother, who had also been ill at the time, when one of the doctors we’d consulted had sent us to a specialist here.
The appointment had been made without either of us seriously believing she had cancer. She’d just been tired and stuff. We thought she’d be fine.
Then we’d sat in this same parking lot an hour after leaving it, both of us devastated and in total shock because it turned out that she really did have cancer.
As I sat in that parking lot again, just sitting there without going in, I hung my head and my mouth opened in a silent scream. That was the funny thing about grief, wasn’t it?
It was always one step forward, two steps back.
Just when I started thinking I had a handle on it, boom. Something would happen and it would punch me in the heart, stomach, and balls so hard the pain was crippling. And then I’d have to start all over again.
But this time, I was determined not to drown. Even if the onslaught of pain and longing and unfairness tried their best to drag me under.
Chapter 10
Tiffeny
The bell above the door in my shop chimed just as I put a new mixture into the churner. Wiping my hands on my apron, I headed to the front with a smile on my face.
It dropped right off when I saw my mother standing in the front of the shop, her blue eyes narrowed as they darted this way and that. They snapped to mine when she heard the door from the back room opening, exasperation filling them instantly when she saw the expression I was wearing.
My mother was dressed the same as always, a sharp charcoal power suit with a crisp, pressed white linen shirt beneath it. Shiny black stilettos adorned her feet, her nails perfectly manicured with a nude polish and her dark brown hair pulled back into a slick bun.
She was as intimidating standing in my shop as I imagined she was in boardrooms all over the city. As the second in command at our family’s company, she had been raised to be a ruthless businesswoman and it showed.
“Tiffeny,” she said curtly, her fists flying to her hips. “Is there a reason you haven’t been answering my phone calls? Really. Why you insist on making me chase you down like a rabid dog is beyond me.”
And there it was, the reason I didn’t take her phone calls if I could help it. She was mean. I’d never lived up to their expectations and she wouldn’t let me forget it.
I cleared my throat, lifting my chin. As intimidating as she was, I’d lived with her all my life. I wouldn’t back down because even though I hadn’t lived up to their expectations, I’d been raised the same way she had. I just didn’t choose to live that way. “I’ve been busy.”
“Too busy to speak to the woman who gave you life?” She arched a perfectly tweezed brow.
I braced my hands on the counter and forced a nonchalant shrug. “The last few weeks have been challenging. You know how it goes when you’re running a business. Sometimes, it requires your sole focus.”
She rolled her eyes, her left hand flicking in the air dismissively. “Are you really comparing running this place to running Hurst Enterprises? We’re the premier baby product manufacturer and supplier in several states, darling. You sell ice-cream cones to kids.”
My jaw clenched. I hated how condescending she was toward my business, but it wouldn’t help to get into a fight with her about it. Lord knew we’d fought that particular fight too many times to count and it hadn’t changed anything.
She looked around the shop before walking up to the counter and meeting my eyes. “How much longer are you still going to try to make this place work? It’s never going to do well enough to allow you to live the life you deserve. If you’d just stop being so stubborn and go back to law school, you know your spot as our corporate counsel is waiting for you.”
“I’m not being stubborn, Mother.” I drew in a deep breath through my nose and sighed. “You know I don’t want that life, so why are you really here? Surely, you didn’t think coming in to have the same argument we’ve been having for years would change my mind, did you?”
“No.” She held my eyes, an imploring expression in hers. “I didn’t come here to argue. I came here to find out why you don’t want to speak to your own mother and to try to reason with you.”
Translation: she’d come to make me feel bad about not taking her calls and to make sure I remembered they didn’t approve of my career choice.
While I’d never really been good at standing up to her despite my upbringing, it didn’t stop me from trying once again. “I’m sorry I haven’t been taking your calls. I really have been busy, but I’ll make more of an effort in the future. As for trying to reason with me, I’m not going back to law school. I have a successful business, and even though it’s not a glamorous life, it suits me just fine. I don’t want to be a fancy corporate counsel.”
She pursed her lips before giving me a nod. “Very well then. I see you’re not ready to make the mature, responsible decision yet. Since we’ve reached an impasse on what you’ve chosen to do professionally, tell me about your personal life.”
“What about it?”
Her gaze dropped to my hands. The left hand, more specifically. “You’re never going to get married if you refuse to date anyone. You’re a pretty girl, you’re smart, and you have good breeding, so why don’t you have a boyfriend yet?”
Jeez. She made me sound like a puppy she was trying to sell. “I—”
The arrival of another customer cut me off. My heart jumped to my throat when I saw Callen walking in. His lips curved into a friendly smile when his bright beautiful eyes landed on mine, but his gaze quickly darkened in concern when he realized he’d walked in on something.
“I do have a boyfriend, Mom,” I blurted out without thinking at all. “This is him. My boyfriend.”
It was like a foreign force took control of my mouth and my feet. I had no control of the words I said, and I walked over to him, slipping my arm around his trim waist and tipping my head up to his.
I widened my eyes, silently begging him to play along.
Callen didn’t miss a beat. His arm came up and slung around my shoulders, holding me tightly against his side. He even dropped a kiss on top of my head. “Hey, sweetheart. Everything okay?”
“Yes,” I breathed, blood hammering in my ears from how hard my heart was throbbing.
Despite the absurdity of the situation, it was imposs
ible not to notice how solid his frame was beside mine, how hard and yet comforting the muscles in his arm were around my shoulders.
And oh my Heaven-Scent did he smell good. A sexy, masculine scent that was not only crisp and subtle but refined and sophisticated.
If my mother hadn’t been there and if it wouldn’t have made things even weirder between us, I would have leaned in to get a better sniff of him. As things were though, I stood rigidly still and hoped my mother would buy our act.
Callen cocked his head and held out his hand. “Mrs. Hurst, I presume? I’m Callen Grimes. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
My mother shook his hand, but her eyes performed one of her quick, brutal assessments. I knew exactly which parts of him she was taking note of. The shaggy, styled to look like he’d simply rolled out of bed that way hair. The tattoos that peeked out above the neckline of his V-neck T-shirt and wound their way down his bare arms. Probably also the casual cargo shorts and shirt he wore.
There wasn’t a hint of preppy sophistication in sight, so the disapproving twist of her lips didn’t surprise me. “Angela Hurst. I wouldn’t know if it’s a pleasure to meet you because I don’t know anything about you. My daughter hasn’t told us a thing about having a man in her life.”
“It’s…” I trailed off, scrambling for a reasonable explanation that just wouldn’t come.
Callen stepped in smoothly, the lies rolling off his tongue with ease. Combined with the cool confidence that always radiated from him, even I almost believed what he was saying was true.
“We’ve been keeping our relationship private. It’s still quite new and we didn’t want any pressures from the outside to disrupt getting to know each other. Too many relationships these days fail because of the opinions of people not even in them. We didn’t want to fall victim to that. We’ve just been letting things evolve and it’s going really well. Wouldn’t you say, babe?”
“Yes, um, yup, absolutely,” I stammered before I felt his fingers tightening ever so slightly on my shoulder, a reassuring squeeze that seemed to transfer some of his confidence to me. “We wanted to see where things went before we announced our relationship to everyone.”
My mother surveyed us in that razor-sharp way she had, and my breath caught. She was trying to get a read on our body language. I just knew it. Whatever she saw must have satisfied any suspicions she had about the timing of my “boyfriend” appearing at just the right moment because she released a quiet breath and nodded.
“Yes, well I suppose it’s better to get to know one another in private so as not to make a public spectacle of things when they don’t work out.” She gave me a pointed look. “Less chance of humiliation that way. Now that I know though, you simply must come to dinner on Saturday night. We’d love the chance to get to know the man who has stolen our daughter’s heart.”
I was surprised by the sincerity of her last sentence, but it didn’t really matter. I had to backtrack somehow. Callen playing along for a quick meeting was one thing, but expecting him to keep up this ridiculous charade over a family dinner was too much.
My mother didn’t give me the chance to say no, though. She simply waved and marched herself out of the shop, only pausing for a moment at the door to look over her shoulder. “We’ll be expecting you at six.”
The door clicked shut behind her and I stood there, blinking in shock for a good minute. Callen gave my shoulder another squeeze before releasing me and taking a step back. Amusement mingled with curiosity in his eyes when he bent slightly to look into mine.
“Well, that was interesting,” he said with a smile. “If you wanted to date me, you could have just asked. Maybe even taken me out for dinner or something.”
I buried my flaming cheeks in my hands, separating my fingers to peek at him through the cracks. “I’m so sorry. I promise you I’m not usually such an awkward person. I know it probably won’t make up for it, but I can offer you an ice cream?”
“Yeah.” He nodded, tapping his chin with his finger as that sexy smirk appeared on his lips. “I’d like an ice cream and an explanation.”
“Okay, yeah.” I closed my eyes and massaged my temples, suddenly feeling like I couldn’t breathe in there. “You deserve an explanation, but can we not do this here? I need to get out. I feel like I’m about to have a panic attack. God, Callen. You have no idea how humiliated I am. I shouldn’t have done that. I’m so sorry.”
Big, warm hands were suddenly on mine. When I opened my eyes, Callen was gently pulling them away from my face. “We don’t have to talk in here. Just breathe, okay? Is there someplace nearby we can go?”
I gulped in breath after breath, eventually feeling my heartrate calming down. “Yeah, there’s a ramen place on the corner. It should be pretty quiet at this time of day. We can talk there.”
Chapter 11
Callen
What in the ever-loving fuck just happened? I was still reeling a bit, but I'd be lying to say I’d minded playing along with her little ruse back there.
Having her soft body pressed against mine, feeling how well she fit under my arm, and catching the sweet smell drifting off of her hadn’t been much of a hardship. It had felt good knowing I was helping her in some way too.
The past twenty-four hours had been tough after I left the treatment center, but I’d kept reminding myself of all the realizations I’d come to recently, and eventually, the tsunami of grief threatening to drown me yet again started receding.
As I came up for air, I decided to take another positive step forward. Tiffeny intrigued me, and I was obviously attracted to her physically, so I figured dropping by to support her business and getting to know her a little couldn’t hurt.
I sure as shit hadn’t expected to leave the shop with a fake girlfriend on my arm, but I hadn’t been able to resist playing along when she looked at me with such hope in those deep blue eyes. I’d seen it was important to her, and though I didn’t know why it was so important, I hadn’t wanted to let her down.
The press might have labeled me as intimidating and the strong and silent type, but in reality, I was a fixer, a protector. Come at anyone I cared about—or wouldn’t mind fucking apparently—and I was willing to go to the ends of the fucking earth to make things okay again.
Tiffeny and I walked in silence to the restaurant on the other side of the strip mall, grabbed a table near the back, and ordered coffee. Once we were seated, I leaned back in my chair and raised my eyebrows at the beautiful, mortified girl sitting across from me.
“Mind filling me in on what happened back there?” I asked, keeping my voice low despite the fact that there were only two other tables taken in the restaurant.
Tiffeny’s eyes filled with remorse. “I panicked. That’s what happened. Again, I’m so sorry to have involved you in this. It was like the idea popped into my head and I had no choice but to go with it.”
“Do you regularly tell your mother you’re dating a virtual stranger?” I asked, amusement setting in.
She shook her head, a small smile ghosting across her lips when she noticed the humor in my expression. “No, I promise I’ve never done anything like this before. My mom was just questioning all my life choices, and when you walked in, I couldn’t help myself. Like I said, the idea took over from all reason and logic.”
I chuckled. “I’m taking it you don’t have the greatest relationship with your parents?”
“That’s putting it mildly.” She sighed, thanked the waiter when he brought over our coffees, and wrapped her hands around her mug. “Look, thank you for playing along, but you don’t have to come to dinner. I’ll tell her we broke up. No harm, no foul.”
“Why on earth would you tell her that?” I leaned forward, capturing her gaze and holding it intently. “I like the idea of helping you with this. I wouldn’t mind some context, but we don’t have to pull the plug on the whole thing right now.”
Her eyes rounded in surprise, her lips parted as she blinked rapidly, and her eyebrows climbed up on
her forehead. “Are you really offering to fake a relationship with me?”
“Sure.” I shrugged like it didn’t mean a thing to me, but it did. I just wasn’t ready to get into the why with her after only having had a few conversations. “It doesn’t have to be a big deal. We can get to know each other a little, I’ll come to dinner, and we’ll take it from there.”
“You’re serious?” She blinked a few more times, but I didn’t the miss the flash of hope entering her eyes again. “I mean, you’re not shitting me right now? You’re really willing to do this for someone you don’t even know?”
“I’ll get to know you.” Besides, it would be a fun distraction. “So no, I’m not shitting you, and yes, I’m being completely serious. I meant what I said about needing some context, though. We’re probably also going to have to actually get to know each other some before Saturday if we have any hope of pulling it off.”
Tension melted out of her tightened muscles, and she relaxed, a relieved, curious kind of grin tugging at the corners of her lips. “You’re my kind of weird for agreeing to do this. Do you know that?”
I barked out a laugh. “Thanks. I’m taking that as a compliment.”
“You should.” She inclined her head and set her coffee down, spreading her arms open wide before resting them on the armrests of her chair. “Okay, so you want to get to know each other? Ask me anything. I’m an open book.”
I cocked my head. So many questions about her mother and their situation flew through my brain. It was better to work up to it, though. There were a lot of things I was curious about, and since I didn’t know much about her, this was an opportunity to learn some of those things.
“Are you from here, or are you a transplant too?”
“Myrtle Beach born and bred, though I have spent a lot of time away from here.” She took a sip of her coffee and swallowed quickly as though she needed it to fortify herself. “My parents sent me to boarding schools all over the place. I ended up at Harvard Law, and once I finally decided I didn’t want to be a lawyer, I dropped out and moved back home.”
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