Stone Princess

by Devney Perry

  “Today should be busy at the garage. Dash’s brother, Nick, is coming to town. He’s bringing a car for the guys to work on, and usually his visits are a fun time. We’ll probably all go out to dinner or something.”

  So she’d go out to dinner with these people, but not me?

  My jaw ticked. “Sounds like fun.”

  “It is.” She nodded, popping the last bite of toast in her mouth while she put her plate in the dishwasher.

  “So, uh . . .” We hadn’t talked about keeping in touch after I left. I’d planned on asking her if she was okay if I texted or called her now and then. Was that why she was acting so normal? Because she knew we’d have more conversations?

  “I need to grab my shoes.” She patted me on the stomach as she walked past and out of the kitchen with that smile on her face. That goddamn pleasant smile.

  Wait. Why was she getting shoes already? I glanced at the clock. We had thirty minutes before she normally left for work. I had plans for that thirty minutes.

  I was going to kiss the hell out of her so that her taste would linger on my lips for the trip home today. I wanted her to feel me for the rest of the day too. To touch her lips and think of me.

  My feet pounded on the floor as I marched after her. She was on the edge of her bed in her room, lacing up her black boots. I frowned at her from the doorway, my hands on my hips.

  “What?” Her lashes lifted as she kept tying.

  “You remember what today is, right?”

  “Wednesday.” She finished with her boot and stood.

  “I’m leaving today.”

  “I know.” Her eyes flicked to the carpet for a moment, her shoulders fell.

  There. There she was.

  I took a step forward, but when she looked up, whatever glimpse of sadness I thought I’d seen was gone.

  “Are you okay?” she asked.

  Me? I blinked. “Are you?”

  “Yeah.” She shrugged. “I’m okay.”

  Well, I wasn’t. Not at all.

  She flashed me that smile again as she slipped past me through the door.

  I was left standing like a damn fool.

  Maybe she didn’t like it, but Presley wasn’t torn up over me leaving. I was a fool over a woman who maybe didn’t care about me as much as I cared about her.

  Every one of our moments together played through my head. The nights in bed when we’d laughed and talked about nothing. The day last week when I’d shown up at her door, still in makeup from the shoot. I’d been in such a hurry to see her I hadn’t washed it off after Cam had called cut.

  Presley had dragged a finger through the flesh-colored cream, cringed, then giggled. She’d grabbed my hand and pulled me to the bathroom, where she’d wiped my face clean with a warm washcloth.

  There were countless moments like that one. More than I ever would have thought could fit into a month.

  We’d had fun, every single night. Hell, it had even been fun when her asshole of an ex had shown up at her door.

  I’d been so proud of her, slamming him out. And she’d been so proud too. Proud in a way that I’d wondered if that was the first time she’d ever stood up for herself. Maybe it had been.

  But how was I supposed to know? I’d talked. She’d listened.

  Had I read this whole relationship wrong? Here I’d been, pouring my heart out to this woman, and she’d kept me at bay. I’d thought this was something . . . I didn’t have a word for it. Special? Different? But was she really in this for the hookup?

  Was I just the movie star rebound she was using to get over the ex?

  Fuck.

  “I’m a fucking schmuck,” I muttered, needing to get the hell out of this house and away from the vanilla scent that hung in the bedroom from her lotion.

  Presley was in the kitchen, drinking her coffee and digging her sunglasses out of her purse. She might be okay waving goodbye with a smile, but that was not how I wanted this to end.

  I marched into her space and took the coffee tumbler from her hand.

  “Shaw—”

  My lips crushed hers and she melted into me. A sigh washed over us both. This was my Presley.

  Her hands came between us, fisting in my shirt so tight, there’d be creases when she let go. Her tongue slid into mine, stroking and savoring. My hands slid up and down her body, memorizing every curve and line.

  I wasn’t sure how long we kissed, but she was the one to break off. She shivered, then released her hands.

  I dropped my forehead to hers. “Thank you.”

  “For a kiss?”

  “For all the kisses.”

  She took a step away, refusing eye contact. She took a long breath and grabbed her coffee mug, and when she met my gaze, my Presley was gone. She’d softened for a minute, but now she was back to the stranger inhabiting my favorite body on earth.

  Presley squeezed my arm, a gesture that burned friend zone. “Best of luck with the movie.”

  Fuck this shit. “Uh-huh.”

  I was tempted to kiss her again, to smash through the wall she’d erected since last night, but she was already on her way to the door.

  I followed her to the entryway, taking a last look around the house. I wouldn’t be here again, not after today’s goodbye.

  “What time does your plane leave?” she asked from the doorway, sliding on her sunglasses and hiding those beautiful eyes.

  “We’re hoping to take off at noon.”

  “You’re packed?” She let me out, then closed the door behind us.

  “Yeah,” I muttered as frustration raced through my veins.

  “And the bike?” she asked as we walked down the steps.

  I looked across my yard to where my bike was parked in front of the SUV. “There’s a crew coming over later today to put it in a crate, then ship it to me.”

  “Then I guess this is it.” She walked to her car door and for a second, I thought she might just get in and drive off, but she opened the door, set her purse and coffee inside, then walked over to me and stood on her tiptoes to brush a kiss across my cheek. “This was great.”

  Great?

  Not exactly the word I would have used to describe my time with her. Maybe it was one of them, but to sum it up with a generic, five-letter word seemed . . . cheap. Before this morning, I would have thought a four-letter word was closer to what Presley and I had shared.

  She smiled up at me, her gaze hidden behind her sunglasses, and I saw my own reflection in the lenses.

  Did she see the utter disappointment on my face? Could she see how badly I wanted this to be different? Was a fucking tear too much to ask for?

  Her hand came to my jaw, her fingers soft against my cheek. “Take care of yourself.”

  “Same to you.” I brushed my knuckles down the line of her jaw.

  Presley took her hand away and stepped back. “Goodbye, Shaw.”

  My heart clenched. “Goodbye, Presley.”

  My goodbyes to her had always been laced with the promise I’d see her again. From the first time I’d gone to the garage and every goodbye since. Goodbye had never meant goodbye, not for her.

  But this . . . there was no undertone. No subtle threat I could return.

  This was goodbye.

  With a wave, she got in her Jeep and sped away, leaving me in her driveway alone. I followed her taillights as they turned around the corner and disappeared.

  I wasn’t sure how long I stood there, staring down the empty street.

  Had she really just kissed me on the cheek and waved goodbye?

  Yes, she had.

  My feet came unglued as my phone vibrated in my pocket. I pulled it out, Juno’s name on the screen. “Hey.”

  “Morning. I spoke to your pilot this morning and everything is ready to take off at noon.” Juno kept speaking, running through my list of things to know and where to return the SUV when I got to Bozeman, but her voice became a dull drone. I blocked it out as I walked to my house.

  I paused on the top
stair, looking over at Presley’s home.

  That was it. We were done. That notion wasn’t settling in my gut.

  Juno hung up on me after she realized I wasn’t listening—she’d call again later—and I went inside and finished packing.

  When I loaded my bags into the SUV, I refused to glance at Presley’s place again. I drove away from that cul-de-sac and didn’t cast my eyes to the rearview mirror.

  Shelly and Cameron were waiting at the Evergreen as I parked.

  “We’re all checked out and paid,” Shelly said as I hefted her suitcase into the back. “Let’s get the hell out of here. If I never see another floral print comforter like the one I’ve been sleeping under for weeks, I’ll die a happy woman.”

  Cam didn’t speak as he loaded his things and climbed into the backseat, silently as eager to leave Clifton Forge as Shelly. Neither asked to stop and get coffee, not even Shelly, so I drove.

  It was only after we hit the highway that I cast my glance backward to the town fading in the distance.

  That was the most unsatisfying goodbye of my life.

  I blinked at the road.

  It was probably better this way. The longer I stayed, the harder it would have been to leave. For me, not Presley, apparently. Would she think of me? Would she keep my number in her phone? Or had I already been deleted?

  Since that picture had landed on TMZ, I’d been so worried about keeping her away from unwanted media attention. I’d hidden away, just like she’d wanted. Now we were done and she’d return to her life, no one the wiser.

  “Are you okay?” Shelly asked. “You look pale. You’re not getting sick, are you? Because I am not going through another sickness.”

  “I’m not sick.”

  She gave me a sideways glance, then hoisted her purse up from the floor and began digging. She came out with a bottle of Vitamin C tablets and popped one in her mouth before handing a tablet to me.

  I took it, cringing as the bitter orange flavor burst on my tongue. This was not what I was supposed to be tasting today.

  “We’ll have some script changes to the scenes we’re doing in the studio,” Cameron said from the backseat.

  “All right.”

  I liked Cam, but he’d become so focused on the movie there was little to no personal touches to his sentences anymore. Though that’s what we’d hired him to do. Stay focused. Keep the rest of us on track. I probably would have been the same if I hadn’t met a certain blonde who’d consumed my every waking thought.

  “Will we need to come back for any retakes here?” An hour ago, I would have loved that idea. I would have insisted, begged even, to make a return trip to Clifton Forge.

  But now?

  I wasn’t sure. What the hell was up with Presley? The past few days, we’d been so in sync. Every touch, every kiss, every look. I’d seen regret on her face that time had been running out.

  Or maybe I’d imagined it there.

  No, goddamn it. She’d felt something. My gut couldn’t have been that wrong.

  I’d give her the day, but I wasn’t ending things like this.

  I was calling her tonight and we’d try again.

  By the time my plane landed in Los Angeles, I was itching to get away from Shelly and Cameron. I was grateful for their distraction on the trip, talking nonstop about the movie and what was next for shooting.

  The set design was done and tomorrow, we’d get started. There would be no delay now that we were in the home stretch. But before I could shift my focus to the movie, I needed to clear up this thing with Presley.

  We parted ways at the airport and I raced home, hauling my bags inside but not unpacking them. I walked through my house, turning on lights with my phone in hand.

  The glass doors of my bedroom’s balcony beckoned and I stepped outside, drawing in a deep breath. I’d missed this view. I’d missed the sound of waves crashing against the sand and salt water clinging to the air.

  Except I missed Montana too and it had only been hours. Months there had made a lasting impression. So had my stunning neighbor with a smile that stopped my heart.

  My phone rang in my hand. It was Laurelin and I almost declined it, wanting to talk to Presley, but I answered in case it was something important. “Hey.”

  “You’re back?” Laurelin asked.

  “Yeah.”

  “Good. Are you sitting down?”

  My spine stiffened. “No.”

  “Sit down, Shaw.”

  I recognized that tone. It came with bad news. “What’s going on?”

  “OK! Magazine just published a story that your father was a corrupt cop.”

  The world tilted beneath my feet, and I gave all my weight to the deck’s railing, trying to absorb the words. “What?”

  “Tom is already working on a statement to squash it,” she said, referring to my publicist. “But I need to know what I’m dealing with. You never said anything, so I just . . . is it true?”

  I closed my eyes. The reason that story hadn’t gotten out was because I hadn’t told a soul.

  Not until Presley.

  Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

  She’d played me.

  How could I have been so stupid? When was I going to learn not to trust the women I was fucking?

  Presley didn’t want Dark Paradise to come out and she’d fucking played me. No wonder she’d been so happy to see me go this morning. Today was probably payday.

  All the trust I’d given her. All the times I’d confided in her.

  She knew it all.

  “Shaw?” Laurelin said into the phone. “Shaw.”

  “It’s true,” I whispered. At least, it was close enough to the truth that denying it would only look foolish.

  My family was going to be ruined, my sisters heartbroken.

  If I had stayed a cop, no one would have given a shit about Shaw Valance’s father.

  This was as much my fault as his.

  “We’re not commenting,” Laurelin said. “Don’t say a word. Tell your family to stay quiet too.”

  I nodded.

  “Do you hear me?”

  “Yeah,” I choked out.

  I had to call Mom. There’d be paparazzi outside their house in the morning if there weren’t already. Maybe I should fly them somewhere. They could leave tonight and get away. My sisters and their families too. None of them needed the press infecting their lives when the truth about Dad would be shock enough.

  “I need to make a few calls but keep your phone close,” Laurelin said. “I’ll call back when I know more.”

  “Can we buy it from them?” I asked.

  “I’m going to try.” Then the line went dead.

  We could buy it, but the damage had been done.

  I pushed off the railing and dragged a hand through my hair. The world came into focus as shock became anger.

  “Fuck.” I pounded my fist on the iron railing. “Fuck!”

  The few people walking the beach cast me strange looks. I didn’t care. I didn’t think. I called Presley’s number, my heart racing as it rang.

  “Hi,” she answered. “I didn’t think I’d hear from you again.”

  “Because you sold me out?” I clipped.

  “Huh?”

  “You fucking sold me out. I hope you got a decent paycheck.”

  There was a rustling in the background, like maybe she’d been in bed and was sitting up. “Shaw, I—”

  “Fuck you.”

  I ended the call.

  Then I blocked and deleted her number.

  Fuck her.

  Goodbye, Presley.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Presley

  “Hey, Pres.” Emmett knocked on the door to the bathroom. “You okay?”

  “Yeah.” I sniffled, wiping my cheeks dry. “I’ll be out in a sec.”

  I took a wad of tissue and blew my nose, exaggerating the sound because I knew Emmett was hovering outside. When were these tears going to stop? I’d been making excuses for two days, doing
my best to convince the guys I was sick. That my splotchy cheeks and red nose were from a cold, not the fact that I’d been crying.

  When was I going to learn? When was I going to wise up? This was the second time in months a man had proved me a fool.

  I’d been so stupid, thinking I could watch Shaw Valance walk away.

  I’d been so stupid, thinking he wouldn’t break my damn heart.

  Enough. I dried my eyes once more. This was enough. I hadn’t cried this many tears when Jeremiah had left me at the altar, and Shaw Valance didn’t deserve one more. Shaw Valance was gone, and thankfully, I never had to see the man again in my life.

  The news had come out about his father and he’d immediately assumed it was me.

  I’d survive him, like I’d survived the others.

  Fuck Shaw Valance.

  And fuck the movie he rode in on.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Presley

  Five months later . . .

  My feet, covered in wool socks, were curled underneath me as I stared out the front window of Genevieve and Isaiah’s home.

  Snow blanketed their yard, and Isaiah had spent an hour clearing the driveway and sidewalks this morning. I’d watched from this perch as he’d worked, seemingly enjoying the February cold. Then he’d come inside with red cheeks and kissed Genevieve and the baby before taking her grocery list to the store. I’d been in this seat as he’d left and as he’d returned.

  Their baby Amelia was warm and safe in my arms.

  A couple walked down the sidewalk on the opposite side of the street, both wearing heavy coats, stocking caps and puffy gloves. They looked to be in their fifties. Between them, their hands were linked. Each carried a paper coffee cup covered with a white lid.

  It was freezing outside, but they were talking, smiling as their breaths billowed in a trail behind them. Maybe they were newlyweds. Or maybe they’d been together for twenty-five years and were as in love now as they had been at the beginning.

  They were the perfect picture for what I wanted.

  I wanted someone who’d take a walk with me to the coffee hut ten blocks away no matter the weather because it was ten blocks we could talk and hold hands.