by KB Winters
“Congrats, Player. I’ll be there.”
“Well, no shit,” he fired back with a laugh. “You’re my best man. Gemma’s counting on you to keep me from bolting. And don’t call me that in front of her. She still gets bitchy about it.”
We smiled at each other. We both knew there was no way he’d run. Gemma had his attention from day one and since she’d been the only one who had even come close to taming the once-wandering Lothario, I had no doubt she’d keep him.
It was easiest to go to The Siren for lunch, so we wandered down there with Nick in tow. Aaron was catching him up on the work we’d done on the plane over the course of the morning. I listened with one ear but my thoughts were swirling in an entirely different direction as we walked. Aaron and Gemma were getting married in less than a year. Would Holly and I be back together again? Or would we be those awkward exes who run into each other somewhere and pretend to be interested in each other’s lives while wishing the floor would open up and swallow us whole?
It was hard to picture. But then again, I’d never imagined Holly standing in our bedroom, cheeks soaked with tears, packing a suitcase.
****
Going home to an empty house was a new—and not welcome—experience. Princess greeted me at the door, a battered tennis ball in her mouth, and I had a flashback to the days right before I’d met Holly. I’d worked long hours, gone home to Princess and either takeout or something that came from a frozen box for dinner. On the weekends, my idea of living it up was picking up a six-pack at the grocery store.
“Hey, girl,” I said, taking the slobber-coated ball from Princess. “Need a little beach time? Yeah? Me too.”
I wandered to the kitchen, dropping my jacket on the back of the couch along the way, and grabbed a beer bottle from the fridge. I pulled open the back door and waved the ball at Princess. She ran across the floor, skidding when her nails hit the hard wood in the kitchen. She shimmied through the door and we headed down the back steps and then crossed through the yard, over the small paved path, and then hit the sand. I chucked the ball and Princess tore off after it. The sun was setting over the ocean and without thinking, I turned, as if to comment on it to Holly. My stomach clenched when I remembered she wasn’t there with me.
After three years of being damn near inseparable, I was alone again. And I didn’t like it one bit.
“Damn it, Boomer. Get your head together.”
Princess darted back up the beach and dropped the ball at my feet. As I reared back and threw the ball, a roar erupted from some deep place inside of me. My yell was swallowed up in the sand and the sea and the ocean breeze but it felt good to get it out, so I did it again. A long untamed yell that came straight from my gut. It was a whole helluva lot better than crying, which was what I was trying to keep myself from doing since she walked out the door.
An hour went by before Princess finally gave up and flopped down into the sand. I lowered myself beside her, still nursing my beer, and reached over to scratch her ears. She raised her golden head and dropped it down onto my thigh. Her brown eyes rolled up to me and my heart sank. “I know, girl. I miss them too.”
My phone chirped in my pocket and I pushed Princess off of me in an effort to grab it quickly. It had to be Holly. It just had to be. She must be out somewhere, staring at the sunset, and thinking of me too.
It was Aaron.
“Fuck.”
I almost didn’t answer but at the last second I slid my thumb over the screen. “What?”
“Damn,” he replied. “Hello to you too, Boomer.”
I groaned and rubbed a hand over my face. “Sorry, man. I thought it might be…”
“Aha.” Aaron didn’t need me to fill in the blanks. “Well, I’m sorry to disappoint. Listen, you free right now? I wanna grab a beer.”
I glanced at the unfinished one in my hand and debated telling him I was home for the night, but I knew that staying home would just lead me to wandering around the empty house, thinking about Holly, and wondering how in the hell I was going to get her back. Aaron might at least have some advice.
“Sure. Harvey’s?”
“Be there in ten.”
After feeding Princess and changing into a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, I headed out to meet Aaron. As soon as I dropped onto the chair beside his, I knew it wasn’t just a beer. Something was wrong. His features were tight and tensed and he barely gave me a smile as I joined him at the table.
“Looks like you got a head start on me,” I said, gesturing to the two empty bottles on the table. How long had he been here? I hadn’t taken that long getting over to the bar.
“Boomer, we go way back,” he started, ignoring my comment.
Shit, where is this going?
I nodded slowly, still trying to piece it together. “Yeah? What’s wrong?”
He leveled me with a stare. “Why couldn’t you come to me and tell me you were unhappy?”
I fumbled with my words. “I, uh—wait. What exactly are you talking about here?”
“The job interview.”
My eyes squeezed closed. “Shit.”
“Yeah. Piece of shit!”
“Hey! That’s not fair!”
Player slammed his beer bottle down so hard that the people at the tables beside us turned around to stare. He didn’t even offer them a polite, go-about-your-business smile. He just kept staring at me, his eyes flashing like thunderclouds.
“I’m sorry,” I said, holding up my hands. “I was going to tell you about the interview. But obviously, I’ve been a little out of it.”
I thought the sympathy card might get me an inch of grace.
I was wrong.
If anything, he sizzled all the more. “We’re brothers. We don’t keep secrets and sneak around each other’s backs. Not with personal shit and not with business shit either!”
I hung my head. “I know.”
“So imagine my surprise when I get a call from some asswipe over at Premiere Charters to ask for a recommendation.”
Shit. I’d had a phone interview—a screening, really—with the owner, Jan, a few days ago on my lunch hour. We’d scheduled a formal interview for the following week, but I hadn’t thought to mention that my current employer didn’t know I was job shopping. I’d told him about Aaron, of course, but had mentioned we were best friends and had served together. Jan likely assumed he already knew I was on the way out. After all, what kind of friend would I be if I didn’t tell him?
“I didn’t mean for you to get blindsided like that,” I said. “I had a phone interview a couple days ago.”
Aaron folded his arms and stared at me. Unflinching. “Why? Just tell me why. You really want to spend your days flying douchebag rich guys all over the country? Or, better yet, to their fucking private islands? That’s what the future looks like to you?”
The hairs on the back of my neck stood up, but I remained calm. “That’s all I’m doing now. What would be the fucking difference between that and carting a bunch of tourists up and down the coast? It’s the same damned thing. The only difference is I’d get paid a lot more as a charter pilot and could actually, you know, afford the shit I need! Maybe actually get somewhere in life now that I’m starting over at the fucking bottom.”
Aaron stared at me, his look bordering on dangerous. “That’s what this is about? Money? You think that’s what Holly wants?”
“Don’t bring her into this,” I growled.
Aaron smirked, realizing he’d hit the right nerve. “You’re fucking lost, Boomer. And you’re so fucking lost that you can’t even see it. But instead of letting the people around you help you, you’re just gonna keep bashing your damn head against the wall.”
He shook his head and something snapped inside of me. “You think you know me.”
He laughed. “I do, mother fucker. Because, if I don’t know you—no one does.”
I stood up from my seat so fast the chair skid backwards. I slapped my hands on the table and leaned in until I was inc
hes away from Aaron. “You know what. Fuck you.”
“Yeah? Well, fuck you too.”
I grit my teeth and shoved away from the table. As I stalked out the side exit, Aaron’s words followed, “No wonder Holly can’t recognize you anymore! You’re a fucking sellout!”
Chapter Ten
Holly
“Good morning, Holly.”
Noah’s sunny smile lit up my morning and carried me out of my tangled thoughts as I sat staring out the window from the third floor of his building. I stood at his greeting and slung my purse over my shoulder. “Morning.”
He shook my hand and then ushered me into one of the conference rooms I remembered seeing briefly on the tour. My eyes immediately went to the ocean view and let the slow roll of the waves lull me. I hadn’t slept all night and despite the three layers of concealer, the puffy bags under my eyes were still visible. I just hoped that if Noah noticed, he’d assume it was from excitement and anticipation, not from crying myself to sleep.
“It’s all pretty standard,” he said, pointing at the pages he’d placed in front of me. He reached into his jacket and retrieved a smooth, polished pen. “Here. Use mine.”
The pen was warm from the heat of his body and for some reason the entire thing struck me as too intimate. Heat rose in my cheeks and I had the distinct feeling that I was doing something wrong. Rachel’s comments from the day before were still with me. If I wasn’t with Jack, would the conversation where I’d mentioned Noah being a good-looking guy gone differently? Would I have told her I was having unprofessional thoughts about my new boss? There was no doubt that Noah was hot. Any woman with eyes would admit to that. But there was more to it. It was his confidence and the way he carried himself. The way he made people feel as though they’d known him far longer than reality. He was warm and personable but I also had no doubt that he could be a shark when he needed to be. Not in a negative way, but in an aggressive, get-shit-done sort of way.
“Is something wrong?” Noah asked and I realized I’d been staring at the cover sheet for an inexplicably long time.
“Sorry.” I hurried to flip the page. “No, I just—uh—like to be thorough.”
“Don’t apologize, Holly.” I dared to meet Noah’s eyes and found him smiling. “That’s a very good quality in a CPA.”
I returned his easy smile and then dropped my eyes back to the contract pages. There was some truth to what I’d said. I wasn’t willing to sign anything unless I’d read every word at least once. Even those annoying phone contracts. Fifty plus pages of bullshit but I’d read it all. It was a habit.
I moved along, asking questions where necessary, and signing each page I completed. We were nearing the end of the packet when Noah pushed up from the table. “I apologize, I didn’t offer you anything to drink. Would you like some coffee?”
I’d had a cup, made with the cheap plastic coffee machine in my hotel room. The result was a thick, nearly black liquid that had enough grounds in it to make it feel like I’d eaten the damn beans whole. I’d sucked it down anyway, out of necessity, but a make-up cup sounded fantastic. Tears pricked at the back of my eyes at the memory of the hotel room and I quickly nodded. “That would be great.”
“I’ll be right back.” He slipped from the room.
“What is the matter with you, Holly? Get it together,” I murmured to myself, wiping at my eyes to make sure any trace of the near-waterworks wasn’t visible upon Noah’s return. The last thing I needed was him thinking he’d just hired some unglued trainwreck.
I managed to get myself together by the time Noah returned, a tray in his hands. He slid it onto the table and then spun it so a tall ceramic mug was in front of me. Also on the tray was a stainless steel pitcher of cream and a variety of sugar options. “Thank you.”
“Of course.”
I doctored up my coffee and he took his seat beside me, his own mug firmly in hand. “Any questions while I was out?”
I had a lot of questions. But none of them were ones Noah knew the answers to. I smiled up at him and shook my head. “I don’t think so.”
We finished the paperwork and he called in his assistant who took the packet and raced off to make copies. We lingered over our coffee as we waited for her to return. At one point, Noah’s eyes landed on my hand and I followed his gaze to see he was staring at the place on my finger where my engagement ring usually sat. I had a thin tan line from months of wearing it around the clock, even at the beach. I curled my hand into a ball and set it on my lap. He didn’t say a word but I knew he was thinking about it.
I was about to tell him it was getting cleaned or resized but his assistant came back into the room before I could fumble my way through the excuse. She handed me a glossy folder. “Your copies, Ms. Parker. Now, Mr. Scoville mentioned that you’re engaged. Not to pry, but would you like me to set up your company email with your married name so you don’t have to switch over later?”
My heart slammed into my chest and then crumpled into a ball and plummeted to my stomach. “I—uh—I’m not planning on changing my name. Parker is fine.”
The woman gave me a polite smile and then dashed back out the door, leaving me and Noah alone again. This time the room seemed smaller and the air was thick, as though a sudden burst of humidity had filtered in somehow. I kept my eyes trained on the ocean and breathed in time with the waves as they hit the shore.
“Is everything okay, Holly?” Noah asked after a long moment. He reached out and brushed his fingers on my forearm. It was a gesture of compassion but nearly sent me jumping out of my skin.
“Yes!” I replied, too loudly. Too sharply. “Sorry. Yes. I’m fine. What’s next on the agenda? I’m available all afternoon if you have more for me.”
Noah considered me for a minute and then stood up. He set his empty coffee mug on the tray and I followed, resting mine beside his and then stood up as well. “We already covered the tour, so you’re ahead of the game. If you’d like, I can take you to your office and you can get familiar with our employee handbook. I’m sure it’s nothing you haven’t heard of before, but I like all new hires to go through it. Helps to ensure we’re all on the same page.”
I nodded. Good. Hours of mindless reading would be just what I needed. That is, if I could keep my thoughts from drifting too much.
Noah led the way and got me situated in the office—which was complete with a silver plaque bearing my name on the holder beside the door. Once I was settled in, he left me to my reading and closed the door behind him. My gaze drifted to the water outside my window.
If I had to start over, at least the view was beautiful.
****
“Of course you can stay the weekend!”
After leaving my new office, I went to my car and called Rachel. I could book another night at my depressing little hotel if needed, but would much rather get out of town for an extended weekend and see her instead. So when she informed me she was miraculously plan-free for the weekend, I invited myself over.
“Get your fabulous tush over here. I’ll put some wine on ice and we can order in from your favorite little sushi place.”
“Thanks, Rach.” I ended the call, tossed my phone into the passenger seat, and then scanned around the satellite radio channels until I found a station playing good enough music that would drown out my muddled thoughts.
The long drive down the coast to Newport Beach was almost cleansing. By the time I parked in the small lot outside a row of townhouses, I was actually smiling. Rachel burst out of her front door like she’d been peeking out the front window every few minutes just waiting for me. I tugged my sunglasses off my face and pushed them up into my hair just seconds before she crashed into me.
“I can’t believe you’re here!”
I held her tight and breathed in her familiar scent. Rose water, sea salt, and sunshine. The eternal beach bunny. God love her. “Thanks for letting me crash.” I bent and looked at Hunter in the backseat. “Well, technically us.”
“H
unty?” Rachel hurried to open the door and let the chocolate Lab out. Hunter went nuts, jumping all over her with his big paws. She didn’t care. She hadn’t seen him in a while and watching them, it was hard to say who was more excited about the reunion.
Rachel, still smiling, turned to me as she scratched Hunter’s ears. “Okay. Do I need to be worried? Why is Hunter with you and not with Princess and Jack?”
“Come on. Let’s eat. I’m starving!”
“Holly…”
I squeezed my eyes closed. “I was hoping we could get into this after I’d had a glass—or three.”
“Holly, what’s happening?”
Hunter went still and sat beside her, as if he knew shit was about to get real. I smiled sadly down at him and then bobbed my chin up to meet Rachel’s eyes. “We’re having a little…time out.”
Rachel’s hands flew to her mouth.
“Rach…please.”
“Right, sorry. Wine first.” She dragged me up the stairs and Hunter followed.
When we were settled around the coffee table, each with a generous glass of cabby and a plate of sushi, I launch into the whole story. The real story of what was going on. I hated saying it all out loud but when I was done, I felt lighter, almost like I hadn’t realized how heavy the whole situation was.
“I’m sorry, doll. If I had known…” Rachel’s words trailed off. There wasn’t a practical solution to heartache. She couldn’t make me chicken noddle soup or bring me some magic pill that would take it all away. “Why didn’t you tell me you guys were having trouble?”
“Because it all seemed so ridiculous. We just had this whirlwind trip to Germany and bought a house and we were—are—engaged. This should be the happiest time of our lives.”
“But it’s not.”
I shook my head and tears pricked at the backs of my eyes. I glanced down at my bare ring finger and a tear slipped past my lashes. “No. It’s not.”
