by Kally Ash
Beau still made her pulse rate rise, but seeing him again, sharing the same air as him again, had dragged up those crushing memories of when he'd broken her heart and left her to hemorrhage out. Hating him had been easier than dealing with the reason he'd gone, so even now, hate was the main emotion that was dredged up when she thought of him. She hated him for abandoning her. She'd told him all about her family and the shitty early life she'd had, and he'd sworn he would never leave her like that.
But he had.
There was a knock and Max pushed open the door. Tucked under his arm was the tablet he used in his day-to-day running of the club. He studied her face, stepped inside the office and shut the door.
"What the fuck, Vee?"
Evangeline's mouth pulled into a slight smile. "Nice to see you too, Max."
He lowered himself into the chair opposite her desk, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. "You've been crying."
She reached up to touch beneath her eyes, finding her cheeks wet. Mortified, she scrubbed all remaining evidence away and forced her emotions back into their box. "It's nothing," she said. "I'm fine."
He studied her for a while longer. "You're not fine, but you're a big girl, so I'll let it go."
Thank fuck. "What did you need me for?"
"I just had to run through the groups coming in tonight. We have some VIPs."
"Oh?" she murmured. Ever since the club opened, celebrities had been lining up to be seen there.
"Yeah, Hailey Hogan is coming in with her entourage to celebrate the release of her latest album."
Evangeline nodded. "Put her in the first VIP area."
Max tapped some information into the tablet in his lap. "We've also got that rapper One-Fifty in tonight. His ‘people,’" he air-quoted, "said he only liked to drink a certain brand of vodka, so I spent all day today sourcing a couple of cases."
"That's why you're my favorite manager," she said.
"I'm your only manager," he retorted dryly. He went back to studying her again but said nothing more. "I guess I'll get out of here and let you get the important jobs done." He stood up.
"Thanks, Max. I'll be out on the floor in a little while. I have to get some things sorted out."
"Sure, Vee."
After Max was gone, Evangeline woke up her computer and got busy with the most pressing paperwork. She didn't want to be stuck in the office for any longer than necessary tonight. She needed to keep herself busy, her mind active, so she didn't have time to think about Beau and his possible explanations. Short of him getting long-term amnesia, she didn't think there was anything he could possibly say to make her feel any differently about him.
She let the tide of drink orders and staffing take her over, sweeping away any other worries or concerns. By the time the bar was shut, she felt as if she'd run back-to-back marathons. The VIPs and their crews hadn't been the assholes she'd assumed they were going to be. In fact, that Hailey Hogan girl was actually rather sweet—Evangeline had had a chance to chat with her a couple of times and was surprised at her intelligence and wit.
She began dismissing her staff as soon as they'd finished cleaning their sections. All of them had picked up an abundance of tips from the VIPs and the packed club. Pretty soon, it was just her and Max. He was restocking the bar while she cleared up the bar area and filled up the dishwasher to clean out the last of the dirty glasses. Rich, her bouncer, was still standing guard by the door.
She looked up when she felt Max's eyes on her. Shoving some loose hair out of her face, she said, "What is it?"
"Can I ask you something?" His voice was tentative.
"Sure, Max. What is it?"
He looked down at his hands briefly. "We're friends, right? I mean..."
"Yeah, Max. We are friends. I may not be a very nice one, but I do consider you one of my friends."
He nodded. "Good. Because I really need to talk to someone and you were the only person I could think of."
She put down the dish towel and leaned her hip against the counter. "What is it? Is everything okay? Is Erin okay?"
"Yeah. It's fine—she's fine. I... I'm going to ask Gigi to marry me."
"Max, that's great!" she told him, stepping forward to give him a quick, awkward hug. Evangeline really liked Gianna. She was a sweet girl who was easygoing enough for Max but still fiercely protective when it came to Erin. "When will you ask her?"
"I'm planning on taking her away for a long weekend. I'll ask her then."
"Will Erin stay with your mom?"
"Yeah. My mom is so excited," he revealed with a grin. "She's hoping for more grandchildren."
Evangeline shook her head. "What does Gigi have to say about that? She's still young and her career is just taking off."
He shrugged. "It's completely up to her, of course, but I would love for Erin to have a little brother or sister sometime in the near future."
And there it was—the sharp pain in her chest. Evangeline rubbed at her sternum for a moment, regret and longing swirling inside her. She picked up the dish towel and folded it. "It's really great news, Max. I wish you both all the happiness in the world."
She turned back to her work while she assumed Max did the same. She didn't know because she was too busy trying to keep her shitty emotions from off her face. Goddamnit, why did Beau have to show up in her life again?
"You ready to put your big girl pants on yet?" Max asked.
She turned to look at him. "What? What do you mean?"
"I mean, all night you've looked as if someone has run over your puppy."
"I'm fine," she shot back instinctively. Fuck, she was no good at sharing. Thanks for that, foster families. Max stared at her, waiting... expectant. "Fuck, I'll need a drink if we talk about this."
He grinned, already screwing the cap off a bottle of bourbon. "You're still drinking this, right?" She nodded and pulled two clean glasses off the rack. He filled them up to the top, put the bottle down, and handed her a drink. "So, what's up?"
Evangeline took a large swallow of her bourbon and rode the burn. "A guy I used to know showed up here last night. He blindsided me." She shrugged. "And that's it."
"Just a guy?" he pressed.
She took another sip. "An old boyfriend, actually."
That seemed to get Max's attention. "In all the time I've known you, you've not once mentioned having a boyfriend."
"This was back when I was in college," she clarified. "And maybe he's the reason I've not had a boyfriend since," she tacked on quietly, looking down into her glass.
"What happened between you?"
She glanced up. "I don't know."
"You don't know?" he asked, incredulous.
She frowned and took another drink. "I don't know what happened. One day, we were great and then the next…” She shrugged. “It was like he'd never existed. He just disappeared. From school. From my life. Just gone."
"There has to be an explanation for it." Max refilled their glasses then leaned back on the counter. "Is that why he came here tonight?"
Evangeline nodded, too embarrassed to tell him that she had actually gone to see him after a week of silence. She had received an answer to her question, but she hadn’t been able to understand it. "He told me he could explain everything."
"You don't seem really excited about that."
"I don't know how to explain it, Max. I just feel... indifferent, I guess. He hurt me. Badly."
He lowered himself to the ground, leaning back against the bar fridge behind him. It looked like he was getting comfortable, like he was in it for the long haul. "We've all been hurt before."
"Not like me," she replied. She could feel her eyes becoming unfocused as she stared down into the amber liquid in her glass. Her whole life she'd been disappointed by the people claiming to love her. Why should Beau have been any different?
"You're giving him a chance to explain though, right?"
She nodded stiffly.
"How long has it been since you've seen hi
m?"
"About four years," she replied, tipping her head back and finishing off her drink.
"When are you having this talk, then? Want me to be there?"
"Fuck no," she replied but grinned to show she wasn't serious. "Thanks for the offer, but no. He's coming back tomorrow."
Max finished his drink too and stood up. "I need to get back. It's Gigi's and my anniversary tomorrow and I wanted to make her breakfast in bed in the morn... err, in like three hours."
"Has it already been a year?" Evangeline held out her hand to take Max's empty glass and put it into the small dishwasher under the bar.
"Yeah. I can't believe it either. It's gone by so quickly." He patted down his pockets for a moment, clearly satisfied he had everything he needed. "I'll catch up with you on Wednesday, Vee."
"Sure, Max. Have a good rest and enjoy tomorrow. And, thanks for listening." Man, she felt awkward. She turned away, trying to hide her face. "Give Gigi and Erin a hug for me."
"You got it, Vee."
Evangeline waited for Max to leave, then collected her own things from the office. Armed with her keys and phone, Rich waited for her to lock up the club.
“Thanks, Rich. I appreciate you hanging around to do this with me.”
He smiled. “You got it, boss. I owe you.”
“Get some rest. I’ll catch you in a few days.”
“Good night, boss.”
She turned around and began the walk back to her apartment.
10
Beau cursed the car in front of him, wondering why in the hell there was even traffic heading north at twelve PM on a Tuesday. Seriously? He slammed the heel of his palm into the car horn, letting the guy in front know how he was feeling. The other driver stuck their arm out of the window and flipped him off.
He sat back in his seat, seething, chewing on the inside of his cheek. His eyes darted to the clock, seeing he had less than an hour to get to the club to speak with Evangeline. He had no doubt she'd be timing him, and if he were a minute late, she'd turn her back on him, denying him his chance to speak, to tell her the truth.
The traffic ahead began to move, crawling slowly forward.
"Come on, come on," he said under his breath, his hand thumping the steering wheel. "Yes! Finally," he added when the traffic picked up speed. He put his foot down, sending his mother's late-model ’90s Honda Civic hurtling over the road. He drove past two cars pulled over on the shoulder—the rear-ender that had made everybody slow down for a look.
The traffic cleared as if by magic straight after the accident, and Beau pressed the accelerator to the floor, picking up speed and, with any luck, picking up time. As he pushed his ancient car to give a little more, he watched the clock and watched the exits. By the time he found a free parking space a few blocks from the club, he only had five minutes to get to Vee. Locking his door, he began running in the direction of the club.
He came to a stop just as Evangeline stepped from the club. She arched a brow at him.
"Sorry. There was traffic," he said, breathless.
Vee rolled her eyes, and jerked her chin to one side. "Come on."
He fell into step beside her, looking at her from the corner of his eye. She looked good in her skinny jeans and sleeveless button-down shirt. She hadn't worn a lot of makeup in college, and it seemed that things hadn't changed too much. The thing was, she didn't need to paint her face to be beautiful. She did it effortlessly.
"You're staring," she said, not turning her head.
Fuck. "You look good."
She narrowed her eyes and gave him a sidelong glance. "I hope you're not just going to regurgitate shit like that for an hour."
He smiled. She was a lot more sharp-tongued than in college too. He liked it.
"Where are we going?"
"Café. I'm hungry and you're taking my lunch hour to do"—she looked at him like he was dogshit on her shoe—"whatever it is you're trying to do."
"I'm trying to—"
He stopped when she pulled open the door of the café, forcing him to take a step back or get hit in the face. He followed her in, taking his cues from her. She sat down at a booth, and he took the seat opposite. Waiting for her to talk first, he took the opportunity to watch her as she looked over the menu. Fuck, she was more beautiful than he remembered.
"You're staring. Again."
Her words snapped him out of his stupor. He cleared his throat. "I'm sorry."
She made a small noise under her breath and went back to looking over the menu. Beau picked up his own menu and gave it a cursory glance.
"What can I get you both?" a shrill, too-happy voice asked.
Beau looked up at the waitress. "The pastrami on rye, thanks."
She jotted it down. "Anything to drink?"
"Coffee. Black."
Evangeline made a derisive noise in the back of her throat. Beau looked at her.
"And for you?" The waitress directed her question to Vee.
"A garden burger and an iced tea."
"You got it," the waitress beamed brightly before moving on to her next customer.
Evangeline placed her elbows onto the table and clasped her hands together. "You've only got fifty minutes now, so I suggest you start talking."
"Right. Fifty minutes," he said softly. "You look good, Vee."
She rolled her eyes. "I already told you I’m not going to sit here and listen to this for the next”—she looked at her watch—“forty-nine minutes."
"No, of course not," he replied, sitting back in his seat when the waitress reappeared. The woman placed down his coffee and her iced tea then walked away. "I came here to explain myself."
"Right," she replied in a slow drawl. "So, you'd better get talking."
He sucked in a breath and let it out. "I'm not sure where to start."
"How about at the beginning?"
Dumping three spoons of sugar into his cup, he stirred, then took a sip. "I'm sorry."
"It's too late for that," she replied.
"It's never too late to apologize for doing wrong to someone." He dropped his gaze to his coffee cup and rubbed at the mark on the edge with his thumb. He wasn't sure how he should start. "I had to drop out of school," he said softly.
"Had to? Just like you had to tell me it was over, that you didn’t want me anymore?"
He looked up, startled by the sharpness of her tone. "Yes, I—" He clenched his jaw tightly, making sure his voice was softer when he added, "My mom got sick.”
Evangeline looked chagrined for a moment. "Is she okay?" she asked in a soft voice. Beau swallowed down past the hard lump in his throat. His mom and Vee had been as thick as thieves from the moment they'd met.
Despite the small amount of time he and Vee had dated, their romance had been hard and fast, like a freight train with broken brakes. They would often fight, but when they made up, it was just as ferocious as whatever had driven them to argue in the first place. They were simultaneously good and bad for one another, and when he'd had to leave, he felt as if his shattered heart would never heal.
"Beau? Is she okay?"
He lifted his eyes to her and shook his head slowly. Evangeline covered her mouth with the back of her hand. When her eyes started to water, he ached to reach out and brush the tears from her cheeks.
"She passed away early last week. Her funeral was on Friday."
"Last Friday?" she asked, sniffing. She wiped under her eyes and took a sip of her iced tea, trying to compose herself. "I wish I'd known. I would have come to pay my respects."
He cleared his throat. "I didn't know you still lived in Cali."
"Where else would I be?"
He shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know.”
She stared at him. “What you said to me that night really hurt me, Beau.”
Glancing down at his coffee cup, he rolled it gently between his palms, thinking about that day—the day his life and his heart were ripped open and left to bleed out, and he ruined his whole fucking world with one c
onversation. He sucked in a breath, finally looking at her again. “I am so sorry for that, Vee.”
“Why did you do it then?”
Beau peered through the curtains, cursing when he saw Evangeline get out of the taxi.
“What is she doing here?” he asked. Glancing over his shoulder, he made sure his mom’s bedroom door was closed. Rushing to the front door, he opened it up before Evangeline could start hammering on it.
The thought of hurting her made him physically ache, but it was what he had to do.
“What are you doing here, Evangeline?” he asked coldly before she could say a word.
She frowned at the name he used, at the tone of his voice. He never called her Evangeline. “Where have you been, Beau?”
He shrugged, acting like he didn’t give a shit. “What do you mean?”
She hitched a hand onto her hip. “You’ve not been at school, your dorm room is empty, your number has been disconnected… Want me to continue?”
“And?”
Her eyes narrowed. “And? What the fuck, Beau? All you have to say is ‘and’?”
“Look, I was going to give you a call,” he lied. He couldn’t call her, or anyone, really. There was no money to pay the phone bill.
“To tell me what?” she hissed.
He drew in a deep breath through his nose, bracing himself to fracture his world. “I think we should see other people, Evangeline.”
She was stunned into silence. Then she began shaking her head, a small tear rolled down her face. “What?” she whispered.
“It’s over.”
More tears now. They were streaming down her cheeks. “You can’t be serious, Beau. We love each other.”
Those words—they were a dagger to his heart. “I think we’ve grown apart.”
“What?” she sputtered, trying to barge past him. He stood in her way, blocking her. She glared at him.
Resigned, he said, “Just go, Evangeline.”
“No! Not until you tell me the truth, Beau.”
“That is the truth! I don’t love you anymore.”
She gasped and he didn’t think he could feel any worse, but he was wrong. Licking his lips, he tried to calm his pounding pulse.
