by K. A. Linde
“We were just talking about you,” she continued.
“I’m sure that was a lively discussion,” I deadpanned.
“Penn was filling us in on how much of a good guy you are,” Jensen added.
“Thanks.” I nodded at Penn.
But I didn’t need him to go to bat for me. I appreciated it, but it wasn’t necessary. Penn was a stand-up guy. He’d gotten out of New York City high society, too. Well…as best he could while still being a Kensington with a mother who was the mayor and his brother, Court, the royal fuckup of the Upper East Side. I’d fallen into Court’s orbit after my best friend, Holli, killed herself in high school. Penn was vouching for me off of my sister, Katherine’s, good graces since they were best friends, but I didn’t actually know how highly he thought of me after spending so much time with Court.
“I know that I outed you, and I wanted to do what I could to smooth the situation over,” Penn said.
He slid his hands into the pockets of his suit that I knew cost more than the down payment of many houses. There was money, and then there was Kensington money.
“He wouldn’t have needed to smooth anything over if you’d talked to us,” Morgan snapped.
“Morgan,” Jensen said.
“I know; I know. We said we’d be calm and sensible about this. When have I ever been calm and sensible?”
“Never,” I assured her.
“Hey now!”
I couldn’t help it; I grinned.
Jensen sighed dramatically. “I don’t know why you didn’t tell us.”
“Well, at first, I didn’t know you cared that much about the Van Pelt name. I’d left already and sealed my name change, so I could start fresh on my own. Then, when I found out how you felt, it was too late. I realized how much you hated my family, and I was stuck.”
“We understand hating family. We understand family obligation. We understand keeping secrets even,” Jensen clarified. “But it comes down to lying on your application and then…hurting our sister.”
“Sutton is devastated,” Morgan chimed in.
“I know. I just saw her.”
“You went to see her? Are you insane?” Morgan asked.
“When it comes to her? Yes.”
Morgan rolled her eyes. “Oh, boy.”
“And I didn’t lie on my application,” I added. “My legal name is David Calloway. I am no longer David Van Pelt anywhere. Background checks don’t pull it up, and unless I told someone, no one would ever know. That is how I wanted it to be.”
“So, you were going to just live this…lie?” Morgan asked on a sigh.
“This isn’t a lie.”
“It is,” she said. “If you can’t see it, then how are you ever going to get her back?”
I shut my mouth at that. Those words weren’t the ones I’d been expecting from her. I’d thought she’d be pissed and never want to speak to me again, like Sutton. But, now, it sounded like she wanted me to fight back.
“This conversation isn’t about Sutton,” Jensen reminded Morgan.
“Except that it is.”
“Company first.”
Morgan inhaled deeply and then started again, “We’re not firing you, if that’s why you look worried.”
“I was.”
“And you’d better not fucking quit,” she said, pointing her finger at me.
“I hadn’t planned to.”
“Good. Because I am not training another person to do my job again. It was messy enough when I moved you into CFO,” she said dramatically.
“Plus, we have no grounds,” Jensen added. He shook his head at Morgan. They must have had this conversation, and Morgan kept veering off course. “She’s the CEO, of course, but I’m on the board. I don’t want a legal battle.”
“Another legal battle,” Morgan muttered.
“This reminds me why I don’t go home,” Penn said, dragging out a chair and sinking into a seat.
“Aren’t families the greatest?” I asked sarcastically.
Morgan and Jensen grinned at each other. They argued all the time, but they loved each other. That was a fact. The Wrights were closer than any family I’d ever known.
“Anyway, I’m not leaving the company. And I’m glad you don’t want to kick me out of the job. Or…I guess, more specifically, you don’t want to spend time training someone else. That’s convenient for me.”
“Yeah, but Austin is still pissed about Sutton,” Morgan told me.
“And Sutton is pissed,” I added.
“Yeah. And you probably made it worse.”
“Probably. I was kind of an idiot.”
“What else is new?” Morgan asked. “I mean, I get why she’s pissed. I thought we were friends, and you couldn’t even tell me.”
“I didn’t tell anyone. Ever.”
“I mean…I get that, but it doesn’t make it any better. I still feel like you don’t trust me with who you really are or you don’t want me to really get to know you. And I don’t even really like you,” she said with a short laugh.
“Liar,” I said.
She waved her hand in a characteristic Morgan fashion that said, Whatever. “All I’m saying is that, if I’m frustrated with you, imagine how Sutton feels.”
“Not good,” Jensen clarified. “Women generally don’t like to be lied to. As a rule.”
“Even I know that,” Penn said with a smile.
“Plus, after what she went through…” Morgan let the implication hang between us.
Just over a year ago, Sutton had lost her husband. I was painfully aware that I was the first person she’d let in since that happened. That she had opened up and wanted to be with me. And then I’d broken that trust. Put her back on the defensive. Ruined any progress I’d made on helping her find love again.
“I know,” I finally said.
And I really did.
She had every reason to feel like she couldn’t trust me. But I’d grovel if I had to. I’d show her that I wasn’t the monster she’d made me out to be.
“You’re a shithead. You know that, right?” Morgan asked.
“Yeah. Pretty much.”
“But we’re not firing you.”
“That’s good. I couldn’t find a better boss.”
Morgan rolled her eyes. “Suck-up.”
“Flattery never hurt anyone.”
“Jesus Christ,” Jensen said. “You two together are like an old married couple. When I hired David, I assumed this was a stepping-stone job for him. With his credentials, it made sense. But looks like you’re here to stay.”
“That’s the plan,” I told him.
Jensen stuck his hand out, and we shook. “Good to hear it. Now, I need to get home to my rather frazzled fiancée. This wedding cannot come soon enough.”
“You’re the one who invited the whole town,” Morgan accused.
“It could be family only, and we all know Emery would be this way.”
Morgan laughed. “True.”
“I’m going to head out, too. I’m meeting a few colleagues for dinner.” Penn shook my hand, too. “If you want to meet up again before I leave, let me know.”
“Sure thing.”
We watched them both walk out of the room and then turned back to face the other.
“So…what kind of chance do I have at this thing with Sutton?”
“Give her some space,” Morgan told me. “Like…a lot of space. Maybe she’ll come around.”
“I don’t like dealing in uncertainties.”
“Tough shit.”
I laughed. “Fine, fine. Space it is. But not too much space.”
“No,” Morgan agreed, “not too much.”
And then we shared a secret smile. She might be pissed at me, but in that moment, we were in on this together.
Four
Sutton
Monday morning blues were a real thing.
Who had decided that the week started on Monday anyway?
At least waking bright and early gave
me an excuse to get out of the house and away from my thoughts. It was hard to think about anything, except measurements and mixing, when I was at the bakery, Death by Chocolate. And my boss, Kimber, at least didn’t have any designs on talking about what had happened with David at the party this weekend. Another blessing.
It was almost three when I finally came up from my working stupor long enough to check my phone and find out I had two missed calls from Morgan.
I told Kimber I was taking a break and headed out back. Morgan answered on the second ring.
“Finally,” she said.
“Hey, Mor. What’s up?”
“I need you to come by the office this afternoon.”
“Why?”
A panic rose in my chest. The office meant David. It meant facing him again. I’d barely had enough strength to tell him to leave the last time. If he’d kept talking, I had been sure I’d crumble. Just seeing his beautiful face had made me weak when I wanted to be so strong. I was so angry with him about everything, and yet I wanted him to comfort me. It was this strange and irritating duality.
“Family stuff.”
“Do I really have to?” I asked. “I’m kind of trying to avoid David.”
“He’s going to be out of the office.”
“Oh. You didn’t fire him, did you?”
“Do you want us to?”
“No,” I said honestly. “I think what he did was wrong, but would you even have grounds?”
“God, you sound just like Jensen.”
“Isn’t that normally your job?”
“Normally,” she conceded. “And, no, we’re not firing him. He’s walking on eggshells in the office, is all.”
“Except he’s not in the office this afternoon?”
“Nope. See you around five?”
“All right, but I can’t stay long. Jenny has Jason, and then I’m going to look at daycares.”
“Oh,” Morgan said, dragging out the syllable. “Ditching the nanny?”
“It’s not ideal, but Jenny wants to be a pharmacist, and I don’t trust many people with Jason. By many people, read no one. Let alone at my house all day. So, if I can’t fill her shoes, I’d rather have him in a professional setting with other children.”
“That’d be good for him.”
“Probably.” Though the thought made me nauseated. Giving up control was next to impossible. “Well, I’ll see you soon.”
“See you then!”
I was late.
Not on purpose, but finishing up at the bakery had taken longer than anticipated with all the college kids coming back into town. I was only a couple of years removed from that life, and already, the divide felt like a giant chasm.
Stashing my apron in the backseat of my blue Audi TT, I exited the car and stared up at the building that had wrecked my new, wonderful life. It was on the top-floor restaurant of Wright Construction where I’d found out that David had lied to me. Truthfully, I wasn’t looking forward to entering those doors again. Or dealing with whatever new mess Morgan had discovered for our family. Because, Lord knew, there was always something.
But I held my head up and strode inside anyway.
The afternoon crowd had already cleared their desks. The elevator was empty as I took it up to the second to top floor to see my sister. I really hoped this only lasted a minute. I was burned out on family time.
I tiptoed to David’s office and peeked inside. I let out a breath. Okay, he really was out of the office. Everything was dark inside. No David.
I hurried past Morgan’s office and went straight to the conference room since that was where all family meetings were held. It was probably going to be about David even though they weren’t firing him. Just what I didn’t want to discuss.
With a sigh, I knocked on the door and then entered. To my surprise, Morgan was sitting on the conference table, dangling her black high heels. She smiled at me when I entered, which was the moment I realized this was a fucking setup.
My eyes strayed around the room and found David standing in the corner, staring down at his computer. At my entrance, his head popped up. His eyes rounded in shock, and then he turned on Morgan in accusation.
“What did you do?” I asked.
“How could you?” David asked at nearly the same time.
“Sutton, why don’t you come inside and shut the door?”
I gritted my teeth and took a step into the room. But I left the door gaping. I wanted a quick escape, just in case.
“You set me up,” I accused.
“Both of us up,” David amended. “I had nothing to do with this.”
“I know. I did this all on my own. I was sure that it would take weeks before either of you stubborn asses budged enough to have this conversation,” Morgan said.
“You don’t get to just interfere in our lives,” I said. “We’re not puppets. This is real life, Mor.”
“I know it is. If someone had forced Patrick and me into a room, I would have been with him earlier. We would have been happy. And I’m a cynic, but I’m hoping that happens for you two. You’re my sister and closest friend. If it doesn’t work out, it doesn’t work out, but I’m not going to say I didn’t try to help.”
“When did you become a hopeless romantic?” I asked.
“I blame all of this on Patrick,” she said with a small smile. “Now…talk. Figure it out.”
Morgan tilted her head at David and then brushed my shoulder on her way out the door. She let it click shut behind her.
I leaned back against the door and let my purse drop to the floor. My eyes stayed on it as I waited to figure out what the hell was going to happen. I mean, I didn’t want to have this conversation. I’d been duped. My sister was a traitor.
“I’m sorry about this,” David finally said, breaking the silence. “I didn’t tell her to do this, and would never intentionally push you into this kind of situation. In fact, she was the one who said that I should give you space.”
“Must have changed her mind.”
“She means well?”
I snorted and glanced up at him. “Yeah, she does.”
“I mean, I didn’t set this up, but since we’re here…”
“Yeah.” I shrugged. “If I had it my way, I’d just go. I have to pick up Jason soon.”
“You can go if you want.”
It sounded like that was the last thing he’d wanted to say. Yet he’d said it anyway.
“I hate that I can’t trust you,” I finally said.
“I hate that you feel that way.”
My eyes dragged up to his, which were honey hazel and full of remorse. His sandy-blond hair was flipped to one side, and a frown marred his perfect face. His strong jawline was clenched, as if he couldn’t decide on a course of action. He seemed frozen in place, unable to move forward. And I felt like I was in that same place.
And none of it helped that he was so damn attractive. Well over six feet tall with a dazzling smile. A body that showed he worked out religiously. He would definitely survive a zombie apocalypse with the amount of time he spent running every day. I knew for a fact that he had six-pack abs and muscles in all the right places to make me swoon. That V that led south was my undoing. Yet I couldn’t go there right now.
I couldn’t think about his body or the incredible way he used it or the way our lips melded together, as if they had been made for each other. None of those things changed the fact that I felt betrayed. I’d opened my heart, and he’d stomped on it.
So, we stood there in silence. Tension building between us. Frustration pooling in my stomach. My hands shook at my sides. I was cursing myself for the second cupcake I’d had that afternoon. A sugar buzz was just what I needed right now.
“I guess…I don’t have anything to say,” I muttered. I grabbed my bag off the ground and turned toward the door. “This was a mistake.”
“Wait!” David rushed across the room. He put his hand out to prevent me from opening the door.
“Is this
turning into a thing for you?”
“If you want to go, go,” he said, hovering over me. “But I don’t want you to.”
It was that moment I realized how close our bodies were to one another. I was half-turned toward the door. My hand still on the knob. His body was practically covering my petite frame. The heat from our bodies mingled in the small distance. His hand that wasn’t holding the door moved to my elbow. It was gentle, almost hesitant, but still, it sent electricity up my arm.
Suddenly, it was as if all the air had been sucked out of the room. I dropped my hand from the door and faced him. He must have felt the energy crashing between us. A current that was as intense as it was unshakable.
For a second, I thought he would pull back. Let me pass. Allow me to escape this static that was sure to set aflame. Instead, he pressed forward toward me. Bridged that short distance until my heart rate ratcheted ever upward, my pulse beating a tattoo against my throat. My mouth went dry. My insides squeezed.
Then, there was just a dull ringing in my ears. Anything could have been happening around me, but all I knew was David. It was terrifying and exhilarating, and…it desperately needed to stop.
But I could no more sever this connection than the moon could stop orbiting Earth.
Conjuring a cataclysmic event to disrupt my orbit with David was tantamount to impossible. It just was. And we just were.
Even when I didn’t want us to be.
“Sutton,” he breathed softly.
His head hung down in the small space between us, so we were nearly at eye-level. My own head tilted up to meet his passionate gaze.
His hand moved up from my elbow and over my shoulder before caressing my cheek. I should stop this. I should…do something.
“We should stop,” I told him.
“Just let me explain. Please, I don’t open up like this, Sutton. I’ve never talked to anyone about any of this before. Not even my own sister.”
“About being a Van Pelt? I’m pretty sure your sister already knew that.”
“No, about why I’m living this double life. Why I can’t open up to anyone. I mean, I knew telling you would upset you, and sure, part of it was that I didn’t want to piss you off. But the other side is that I don’t know how to be open about that kind of thing.”
