by Diana Gardin
And from the low, throaty moan I feel and hear rumbling in her throat, I know she feels exactly the same.
“But I don’t see Brantley.” Confusion colors her tone with worry.
“Flag him down.” I wrap a comforting arm around her shoulders. “Let’s find out where she is.”
“Hi, Axel,” Arden greets him when he arrives by our sides. “Where’s B?”
My brother and I grant each other a hand-slapping hug before he draws back and answers Arden. He’s trying to be casual, but I can hear the sharp edge winding around his words. “Thought you might be able to tell me. She stood me up.”
Arden freezes beside me. “She stood you up? Brantley wouldn’t do that, Axel.”
He’s carefree when he responds, but I know my brother. There’s an undercurrent of hurt lying just below his words. “I went to her house. It was dark, and her car was gone. I called her, texted. Nothing. Guess she really wasn’t up for being my date tonight.”
Arden’s hand tightens its hold on my bicep where it rests, curled around my arm. “That doesn’t sound like Brantley.”
Her hand drops from me, and my arm is immediately cold at the loss of her touch. “Do you mind? I’m gonna just duck out front to call her. I want to know what’s going on.”
The last thing I want to do is let her go. I also don’t want to be the clingy boyfriend who won’t let her out of my sight for a minute. So, I give her a nod. “Hurry back.”
She’s gone, and I’m left with Axel. His voice drops immediately, and I lean forward to hear his words.
“Forget about me and B. She’s in the wind, and I gotta accept that she’s not ready for what I’m offering. Did you know that your fucking ex is here?”
Unease rolls cold and dark down my spine. “No. I mean, yeah, I knew she was dating Manheim. I ran into Poppy here at the office a couple of months ago. But no…I haven’t spoken to her tonight.”
Because I was hoping I’d never have to speak to her again.
Axel lets out a low, quiet whistle. “So I’mma go out on a limb here…but I’m guessing you haven’t told Arden about Poppy?”
“There’s nothing to fucking tell,” I hiss, anger ratcheting my spirit and forcing my body into tense coils. “I was done with Poppy a long time ago. I won’t cloud what I have going on with Arden now with the shit from my past.”
“I’m gonna assume you know what the fuck you’re doing, big bro. But it’s on the record that I think you’re making a mistake. Arden’s not the kind of woman who likes shit to sneak up on her.”
Anger threatens to boil over in my gut. “I know Arden, and I know what’s best when it comes to her. I’ve got it.”
Axel’s hand lands on my shoulder in a sign of support, but he drops the subject, which is exactly what I need him to do. I sip the champagne in my glass, wishing it was something harder, but freeze when Axel mutters a curse under his breath.
Tipping my head toward him, I raise a brow in question. “What?”
Axel almost chokes on the words. “I’ll be right over there.” I can’t tell if he’s swallowing a laugh or a growl, and then he’s gone.
“Flash, it’s so good to see you again.” Poppy’s sugary voice is too fucking close. That thought is solidified when her hand connects with my arm. My entire body clenches at her touch.
Poppy touching me just feels wrong. I step out of her reach, but when she speaks again, her voice is just as close. “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you, Flash.” Her voice drops, and a piece of me is tugged, pulled by the fact that she’s feeling something unlike anything I ever saw her feel before.
With Poppy, everything was surface-level. We were together for years, but now that I’m with Arden, I realize I never knew the real Poppy. Not until she left me at the time when things were toughest. She never let me past her first layer. I never really knew what she was thinking or how she felt. And hearing the level of emotion from her that I do her right now makes me pause.
Makes me listen.
“I made a mistake. I shouldn’t have given up.” Her hand slides up my arm and I can feel her move to stand directly in front of me.
“Given up? You never even tried, Poppy.” Trying to swallow the bitterness I know is spewing from my voice, I remain completely still. “You thought that me being blind was going to be a life sentence for you. That you’d have to take care of me, that I wouldn’t be able to be the man you wanted me to be.”
She sniffles. “That’s not true. I—”
“You what? Thought you’d stay close to my family’s wealth, and spread your legs for the guy you figured would be running it all one day?” I lean closer to her, making sure she really hears me. “Guess what, Poppy? Manheim’s time here is limited. And I’m here to stay. So, any access you thought you’d have to the SJI fortune is cut off.”
Her shocked gasp snaps me out of the fury suddenly swirling around me, and I take a big step away from her. It’s then I feel another hand on my arm, wrapping around until it settles into its normal place on my bicep. Every muscle in my body that was tense and coiled relaxes as Arden takes her place by my side.
“Hello.” Arden’s voice is polite and curious, but there’s a ripple of hardness running through the center of it. “We haven’t been introduced? I’m Arden Fontaine.”
Poppy’s silent for just a minute before she answers. The sugary sweetness is back in her tone, and if I hadn’t just been part of the conversation we just had, I’d never believe she was getting ready to cry not a whole minute ago.
“Poppy Sinclair. I’m Flash’s fiancée.” Even though Poppy’s tone is all honey, the challenge in her words doesn’t go unnoticed by either Arden or me.
“What the fuck? Ex-fiancée. We haven’t been together for a long time, Poppy.” The words are nothing but a growl.
Arden’s quick intake of breath alerts me to the way she must be feeling. “Your… You two were engaged?” She doesn’t wait for an answer before pressing forward. “But what are you doing here now, Poppy?”
There’s triumph in Poppy’s voice when she answers. “Well, to be here for Flash on his big night, of course.”
Arden swallows, and I’m getting ready to pull her in front of me, explain to her exactly what’s going on, when Manheim’s voice crackles over the speakers. Interrupted by that fucking prick again.
“Ladies and gentlemen, if I could have your attention. We have a new product line to preview tonight, just for our exclusive group of guests.” A healthy dose of applause bursts from the attendees. “And here to introduce it to you is the man who’s recently stepped into his inherited CEO position.”
Oh, what a jealous fuck you are, Manheim.
“Please welcome Flash Jackson.”
Amidst the murmurs and applause that ripples through the room, I tip my head down to Arden’s ear. “Walk with me?”
Wordlessly, she guides me through the crowded room toward the three steps leading to the edge of the stage where the podium sits. When the microphone is in front of me and Arden steps off to the side, I clear my throat.
“Thank you all for joining us tonight at our Product Launch Event. The idea for our new product line came to me after my accident, during a time when I was frustrated, angry, and bitter. When I brought it to my amazing development team here at SJI, it turns out that the technology we needed to make my dream come to life was already here. They took my idea and ran with it, and that’s why, this time next year, this product line will be available for purchase by the general public. But for now? I want you to enjoy the first sneak peek at our all-new Intelli Surfaces.” There are surprised gasps and excited murmurs as what I’m sure is the visual of the Intelli Surface floats on the screen behind me. “These are paper-thin, touch-screen surfaces that can be applied and put to use on anything flat in your home or office. Think of your coffee table as your new computer screen. Or the wall itself above your fireplace as your television screen. These surfaces will be waterproof, intelligent screens that can lit
erally be placed almost anywhere. Take a look at our video presentation, and then you’ll get to play with some of our lineup, over in the display area we’ve set up behind the black curtain. Thank you.”
Arden steps forward and takes my arm again, and we walk down the steps together. We’ve only gone ten steps, the sound of the product launch video presentation humming through the room, before I notice Arden’s trembling.
Leaning down to be heard over the noise, I speak in her ear. “Get us to the hallway by the lobby elevators. I want to talk to you.”
Without a word, she changes direction, and I don’t say anything else until the sound of the video and the crowd is behind us. When Arden stops, I reach out until I find the wall, then I grab her with one arm and spin her until her back is against it. Bracing one hand above her head, I cup her face with the other. She takes a deep breath that makes her whole body shudder.
“The new…” She hesitates. “The Intelli Surface is amazing, Flash.”
I shake my head. “I don’t want to talk about that.”
Air puffs from her lips on the heels of a sigh. “Why didn’t you tell me?” The broken whisper stakes me straight through the heart, almost bringing me to my knees.
“Because there was nothing to tell. Poppy and I have been over for a year, Bunny. She’s nothing to me, and now that I have you? God…she never was.” My thumb strokes her cheek in soft circles.
“She doesn’t seem to agree. Did she really come here just to support you? How would she have even known about it?”
I want to wipe her voice clean of the accusation I hear in it.
“She’s here because, like the troll she is, she started dating Reese Manheim after we broke up. Listen to me, Bunny. Poppy? She’s nothing for you to worry about.”
Axel’s voice reaches us from a few feet away. “Everything okay here?”
“We’re fine, Ax,” I growl. “Give us a minute.”
Arden pushes against my chest until I take a step back. “You know what? I think I need a minute on my own.” Her voice lowers. “I believe you when you say that you and she are over, Flash. But that’s not the point. You knew she was dating someone who worked here. You’ve been spending time at the office. Are you telling me she hasn’t said one word to you before tonight? That she doesn’t want you back?”
“It doesn’t fucking matter if she wants me back!” The words explode out of me. “I told you, she doesn’t matter to me. You do.”
I have to strain to hear her reply. “You should have told me. You should have told me that she could be here. Instead, you let me be blindsided. I just…I need some time.”
No fucking way. There’s no fucking way I’m losing her over this. Not this.
“Don’t leave.” Hating the pleading note in my voice, I take a step toward the last place I heard her. “Stay.”
“I’m going to call B to pick me up. She…she needs me tonight. I’ll call you tomorrow. Please just give me tonight, Flash.”
Swallowing thickly, I nod. Dammit. “I can do that. I can give you one night. But tomorrow? Tomorrow, I’m coming for you, Arden. And we will work this out.”
She doesn’t answer, and I swear I can detect the absence of sweet peaches when she’s gone.
And for once, I’m glad I’m blind. Watching Arden walk away from me probably would have killed me.
24
Arden
An hour after I left the launch event I find myself at The Art Of Java. I don’t know why I didn’t stay at home. When I couldn’t get ahold of Brantley again after I walked away from Flash, I used a car service app and had the driver drop me off at home. Instead of going inside, I hopped in my car and drove straight to The Art of Java.
The image of Poppy, the woman who had introduced herself to me as Flash’s fiancée, kept flitting through my mind’s eye. And that word.
Fiancée.
Fiancée.
Fiancée.
Stopping just outside the door to the studio, the sidewalk around me still bustling on a typical Friday night in downtown Savannah, I lean my head against the cool frosted glass and try to calm my breathing. Attempt to slow my frenzied, shallow breaths. Even after separating myself from the situation, the bruising pressure on my chest persists.
Why couldn’t he have just told me?
For this man, because of this man, I’ve flayed my heart wide open, mangled as it was. I allowed him to see all the workings of my ugly insides, the parts of me that were most battered and bruised. I let him in.
I bared my soul.
And he was keeping something to himself. Something as huge as having a woman in his not-so-distant past that he loved enough to propose to.
I unlock the studio door and turn the knob, stepping inside what feels like my sanctuary. Months ago, I wasn’t even sure I ever wanted to set foot in here again. Now, it feels like the only place I can catch my breath again, after having the wind knocked out of me.
I turn to close the door behind me, absently bypassing the coffee shop for the art studio on the back of the quaint building. I drop my purse on a cluttered, long wooden table before sinking onto the stool directly in front of the pottery wheel.
Staring at the wheel in an absent daze, my thoughts continue to whir.
If Flash kept something as important as an ex-fiancée from me, what else could he have hidden? I thought, in the months we’ve known each other, that I had uncovered every vital piece of him. I believe that two people getting to know each other should take time and be organic, but I thought we were doing that. I thought that we’d reached the place where he trusted me with the depths of him, just the way I trusted him.
Now I’m full of questions I’m not sure I’ll ever get the answers to. All I want to do is retreat, put my head down and sink back into the place where I keep what’s left of my heart locked away somewhere deep and dark. The place where Brantley is the only one I trust. Where I keep the true emotions I hide from everyone a secret, even from her.
But there’s a teeny, tiny voice tugging somewhere deep in my soul.
When you first met Flash, he was just as messy as you were. His mind and his heart were in no shape for love, and yet…give him a chance to explain. Trust him.
I shut that voice down as I slip off my heels and set the pottery wheel spinning with my foot. Reaching down into the plastic, sealed container on a bench beside me, I pull out a large, gray hunk of clay. I move on autopilot as I plunk it down on the flat, circular surface of the wheel and allow my hands to pound it into submission.
The chimes signaling the front door of the studio opening causes my head to jerk upward..
My foot pauses its continuous urging of the wheel. Damn. I forgot to lock the door behind me when I came in.
Something I’ve never done before. God, I’m such a mess. With a sigh, I stand and walk barefoot toward the doorway that leads to the coffee shop.
“We’re closed,” I call out, hoping that whoever it is will just turn around and walk back out again so I don’t have to interact.
I’m about to step through the doorway when a figure moves in front of me, blocking my path.
Startled, I stumble back as my heart bottoms out. The stranger shifts into the darkness of the studio, where I haven’t even had a chance to turn on the lights.
My first instinct is to open my mouth and scream, but I’m barely able to suck in a breath before the stranger’s voice echoes, low and eerily calm, throughout the back of the shop.
“You make a sound, and whoever comes to help you will be cleaning up your blood.”
The blood he just threatened to spill goes icy cold in my veins. I lick my lips, my eyes shifting around the small space. Trying to solve something that’s suddenly so complex. Trying to find a way out.
“I don’t…I don’t have…” My voice trails away as he steps into the small circle of light given off by the recessed fixtures overhead.
“What…what the hell are you doing here?”
25
; Flash
The more time that ticked by without her, the more anxious and tense I became. I stood with Axel in the center of the launch event, shaking hands and accepting praise for the new Intelli Surface products. It was a moment I’d been building toward, something I’m proud of. But I couldn’t enjoy it.
Not without Arden.
“She’s gonna be okay.” Axel’s voice in my ear makes me jump. My fucking nerves are frayed, frazzled.
On edge.
My face is granite when I answer, my voice the rough surface of unforgiving stone. “You don’t know that. You didn’t hear her.”
“I caught the tail end,” Axel argues. “But even if I hadn’t, I’ve seen you two together. You should have told her about Poppy. You know that. But this isn’t going to be the end of you two.”
No. It’s not. I won’t let her go. Not because of this.
“I need to see her. I need to make her understand, Ax.”
His hand lands on my shoulder. The gesture is supposed to comfort me, but it doesn’t. Not this time.
“And you will. Just give her the time and space she asked for. You can talk to her tomorrow, man.” Axel’s tone turns wry and amused. “It’s not like she can’t survive a night without being in your sight.”
His words were supposed to make me feel better.
So then why did they send a stake of dread straight through my heart?
I shake my head. “Nah, Ax. I’m not waiting. We wrap shit up here, and then you’re driving me to her house.”
My brother’s exaggerated sigh of impatience doesn’t do anything to dissuade me. “Now, where’s that fucker Manheim when you need him? Point me in his direction. I want him to make sure everyone gets out of here safely, not getting behind the wheel if they’ve had too many.”
“You know most CEO’s don’t consider that their responsibility, right?”
I shrug. “I’m not most CEO’s.”
“No, you’re not. I don’t see Manheim, though. Want me to grab Mandy? She’ll have all the marketing stuff to get straightened out after the event’s over anyway, right?”
