Instead of acknowledging me, he broke our stare and nodded in Greyson’s direction. “Grey, good to see you, man. You ready for this?”
Greyson pushed his chair pack from the table and crossed one ankle over the opposite knee. “What Aubrey and I have is real and true,” his stated, his voice raised as if he was projecting for the cheap seats, his tone flat and rehearsed. “Nothing you could do will ever come between us. That said, if you have something to say, feel free.”
“What’s happening? What are you doing?” My stare volleyed from Greyson to Kole and back again, my forehead puckered in confusion. This screamed setup in every possible way, yet I seemed to be the only one that hadn’t been given a script.
Shifting on his feet, Kole focused back on me with a stern intensity. If this was a movie, the camera would zoom in for a close up on his pivotal scene. “I know you think you know what your future looks like. You have it all planned out, down to every last detail, because you’re a passionate, driven woman. That’s just one of the many traits I love about you.”
My mouth clamped shut to stifle a whimper. That word, with all its terrifying implications, had never escaped his lips in reference to me before. Now it hovered in the air between us, curling its fingers wickedly to draw me in.
“Wh–what?” I stammered in all my refined eloquence.
“I know I made mistakes. I’m to blame for destroying the future we could have had together.” While he spoke the words with conviction, the truth laid in his iced over stare. This speech wasn’t for me, he was playing to the audience to get me out of my studio deal like I asked. “If you say you’re happy, I’ll believe you. If you tell me to walk away, I will. For you. But I couldn’t live another day without telling you that you own my heart.”
His faux proclamation plunged its blade into my heart and ground it deeper with every syllable. “Why are you doing this?” I muttered through clenched teeth, fighting to keep my expression neutral.
Kole didn’t acknowledge my question in the slightest, but pressed on with this unfolding soap opera worthy spectacle. “We were young and stupid, and I got scared. It’s a lousy excuse, I know, but it’s all I have to offer.”
Only then did I recognize the dialogue. A huff of laughter, devoid of an ounce of humor, escaped my parted lips. I had written Kole’s speech, word for agonizing word. He was acting out the Aiden/Paige break-up scene from True Love’s sequel. More than anything in the world, I wished there wasn’t a patio full of eyes fixed on me, so I could shrivel under the weight of my own work being turned against me.
“What we had was special, a one of a kind connection that I haven’t been able to find with anyone else. I know you felt that, too,” Kole continued, flipping a loose strand of ebony hair from his eyes. “I’m standing before you now, asking you not to throw away what we had for meaningless glitz and glamour. We can reclaim our forever. It was meant to be, and it’s not too late.”
This was all too much; the words, the prying stares, the hushed whispers behind the backs of hands. Moving on auto-pilot, I scooted my chair out from the table and rose on wobbly legs. Skirting around my chair, I stepped close enough for my shoulder to bump Kole’s.
I peered up at him with a sideways glance, my jaw set tight. “I know why you’re doing this, but I’m not playing along.”
Without another word, I strode between the tables of confused on-lookers and stumbled down the patio stairs. The roar of the ocean drowned out the screams of my mind as I jogged along the shoreline with my arms wrapped tightly around myself.
Tears welled in my eyes, falling free when I attempted to blink them back. Kicking off my bothersome heels, I trudged on with my bare feet sinking in the sand. I couldn’t help but wonder who else had been behind this little setup: Greyson and Kole, obviously. With as large a part in the planning as Sebastian played, he had to be involved. Shaking my head, causing wayward curls to stick to my tear-dampened cheeks, I realized the true meaning behind his little “speech” in the limo. They had worked together to create this elaborate hoax to free me from the studio’s obligations. The gesture was downright sweet. Why then was I heavingly and snortingly pissed about it?
Rose petals tickling between my toes coaxed me back to the here and now. All around me pillar candles were nestled in the sand, flickering in the breeze. Some had lost the fight and extinguished. I had stumbled into what would’ve been my staged proposal. The wind had danced off with some of the petals that would have formed the words “marry me.” All that was left was “mar me.” Somehow that seemed oddly fitting.
“You okay?” Kole asked from behind me.
I spun on him with my hands balled into fists, my nails slicing half-moons in my palms. “Why? Why would you do that? You didn’t mean one word. Hell, you mock me for writing them! Am I that big of a joke to you that even when you’re trying to help you can’t help but be a complete asshat about it?”
His cool façade crumbled before my eyes, his tone rising to match my own. “You know what? I do think you’re kind of a joke, but not for writing sap! You claim to be so damned jaded, yet the second I started spouting off that romantic drivel you got starry-eyed, like the heavens had opened and the angels were friggin’ singing!”
“It was you, jackass,” I screamed to be heard over the rush of waves thrashing against the shore. “I kind of liked hearing things like that. Not because I’m a sappy girl, but because they came out of your mouth!”
“And yet after we slept together, you snuck out and went into hiding. That makes sense!”
“I panicked after sex! Your gender perfected that move. Don’t get pissy if we borrow it from time to time.”
Kole raised one hand to halt the conversation, the knuckles of his opposite fist pressed to his lips. “This conversation is spiraling out of control,” he muttered. “Look, you wanted out, I got you out. That’s all that really matters. I put on the monkey suit and made it happen. So, you’re welcome.” He flicked the lapels of his suit coat with his thumbs—which I read as the equivalent of flipping me off—and strode away.
“That’s all that matters?” I challenged, biting my bottom lip at how badly I wanted him to argue to the contrary.
Kole paused and glanced back over his shoulder, contemplation slicing deep lines between his eyebrows. “For right now, I think it is. We had a great night together—mind blowing in fact—but I’m not going to battle the ghost of your ex by trying to make every moment with you silver-screen worthy. Life isn’t adapted for film, Aubrey. It’s hard and it’s messy and it never works out the way you think it’s going to. Yet, if you take a chance on it, it can blow you away and make every other shitty thing you’ve had to endure worthwhile. Unfortunately, that only works if you’re willing to take a risk every now and then. Come a little bit undone, because I got a glimpse of the chick beneath your mountain of defense mechanisms and she’s pretty fucking cool. I really hope I’m around to witness it when she decides to show her face to the world.”
My jaw hung slack. All I could do was stare after him as the descending darkness swallowed his shrinking frame.
Chapter 24
“I could’ve chased him. Grabbed his arm, spun him around, and plunged into that chance he was prompting me to take by pressing my lips to his. But I didn’t.” Glancing up at RB, I found her perched on the edge of her seat. Elbows on her knees, head in her hands as the tears zig-zagged down her cheeks. I paused to offer her a tissue before continuing on, “I took the path that was a more comfortable fit—and ran. Plucking my shoes from the sand, I forced them on. Then, staggered back to the limo Sebastian had promised would be waiting with tears blurring my vision. I barely recall muttering ‘LAX’ to the driver.
I called no one.
Gathered none of my belongings.
Urgency led me to the airport where I bought a plane ticket without a thought to the extortionate cost. A short wait and security pat-down later, and I was buckled in and preparing for take-off. I followed Sebastian’s advice
to the letter, watching Los Angeles fade into the distance and bidding it good riddance.”
Chapter 25
RB tapped her index fingernail against her front tooth. “So, you went from having two incredibly sexy and highly available men vying for your attention, to painfully single with no prospects on the horizon?”
“I chose to think of it as time spent celebrating the rebirth of my independence.” My tone might have hinted toward a whine if I wasn’t such an irrefutable professional.
Shifting in her seat, RB leaned forward to check the digital recorder. “Of course this brings us to an interesting crossroads. I’m here to interview you about your wedding … and we’ve arrived at you basically being Carrie Bradshaw in the Big Apple. It seems I’m missing some key elements here.”
Stretching my legs out in front of me, I shimmied my pencil skirt—that had begun to creep—further down my thighs. “That’s because the story isn’t over.” I smiled. Curling my legs under me, I recrossed them at the ankle. “Back in New York I tried to sink back into my old life. Holing myself up in my drab gray apartment I’d never taken the time to paint, I immersed myself in my work. Out of habit, I went back to only leaving the house for business meetings and never taking the time to enjoy life in the greatest city in the world. To my surprise, I found these old patterns an ill-fit. My time in Los Angeles had changed me, making me long for more. I missed my West Coast friends. More than that I missed Kole, and staring at the same four walls day after day was making that emotional wound fester.
The transition started on a beautiful spring day. Cabin fever was making the prospect of blowing Kole’s phone up with countless text messages, that toed the line between clingy and stalker, seem like a good idea. I decided to forego that impending disaster for a casual walk down the street, a simple act that pulled me out of my comfort zone and showed me how amazing it could feel. From there the seed of my new outlook on life sprouted. It grew and flourished, motivating me to call friends I hadn’t talked to in a while and ask them to lunch, visit new art museums, and basically get out and explore my surroundings. It was six months into my rebooted life, after I bought a new apartment and all of the heavy lifting was done, that Tandy pulled herself away from her new glamorous L.A. existence to fly out for a visit. In retrospect, I probably should’ve guessed ahead of time that she had hidden motives.”
“Greyson wanted me to make sure you got his housewarming gift basket.” Tandy shimmied out of her red-leather jacket and threw it on the back of my couch.
“I did,” I nodded, hooking my thumbs into the front pockets of my jeans, “and I was pleasantly surprised with the conformity of the wine and cheese assortment. It was an improvement from the basket of vibrators, lube, and calendar of himself he sent me after I got back to New York.”
Tandy cocked her head, ebony hair swinging passed her shoulder in a silky curtain. “Because nothing says ‘I’ll miss you’ like sex toys.”
“He’s sweet,” I laughed, scuffing the ball of my barefoot across the hardwood floor, “like a puppy that won’t stop humping the couch pillows.”
“True.” Tandy clapped her hands, her silver-bangle bracelets jangling together at the movement. “But enough about the L.A. brigade. Let’s see this new apartment!”
My smile widened as I began the—albeit brief—tour of the kitchen/dining/living room combo. “You’re looking at the majority of it. I like to say I went with the open concept design because it sounds better than ‘this shoebox is all the space I could afford.’ ”
“Don’t talk it down! I love the high ceilings and exposed beams,” Tandy gushed, spinning in a small circle to take it all in.
This wasn’t the first home I owned, however it was the first I had taken the time to really customize and make mine. I allowed myself to fall in love with the space and get comfortable there, and that was an amazing feeling.
“I picked this tangerine color for the walls, because I thought it looked great with the white trim work, which is all original to the building,” I added, running my hand over the matte finish wall. “Oh! And wait until you see the walk-in closet off the en suite! Between you and me, I think I had a tiny little orgasm when I first saw it.”
“So, you are getting a little action here! Good to hear … even if it involves shelving.” Tandy chuckled, dragging the tips of her fingers over my black marble kitchen countertop. “This really is amazing, Bree. And totally unlike you.”
“You mean the eclectic furniture?” I swiveled back toward the living space to admire my beige sofa covered in a collection of brightly colored pillows. The coffee table in front of it was a refurbished surf board. Two vibrantly stripped pillow seats sat on either side of it. “There’s a shop about a block from here that has become crack to me. I am physically incapable of walking by without getting a fix of their latest inventory.”
“Actually, I meant decorating or taking an interest at all.” Rounding the breakfast nook, she strolled to the giant picture window and flung the drapes open wide. New York’s Lower East Side beckoned from the bustling street below. “Look at where you moved to! There’s so much to do! Things that involve actually going outdoors. I think we need to go exploring.”
My shoulder brushed hers as I joined her at the window. “Right now? We haven’t finished the tour yet. There’s a whole … one room left to see.”
“Your master bedroom and orgasm inducing walk-in closet are open and accessible to us all hours of the day and night.” Checking the time on her phone, Tandy darted back to the couch and scooped up her jacket. “Stores, on the other hand, do close. Grab your purse, let’s go!”
“Oh, we need to turn here!” Tandy’s Louis Vuitton purse narrowly missed smacking me in the face as she threw her arm up to point to the cross street up ahead.
“Okay, do you have an end location in mind?” I said, a sharp edge of annoyance seeping into my tone as I pushed her overzealous arm back down to her side. “Because so far on this jaunt I’ve felt like you’re just dragging me along. You wouldn’t even let me window shop. Which has me a little concerned that you have some sort of fatal disease.”
“I’m fine!” Was that a nervous lilt that bubbled through her laugh? “I heard about a great little shop down this way where local artists sell their work. I want to check it out.”
“You heard? From who?” Swiveling to face her, I pantomimed abject horror. “Wait, you have other friends?”
“No, my sensitive little flower. You’re all that I need.”
Disbelief twisted my lips to the side.
“Our love is pure and cannot be replaced,” she deadpanned, bumping my elbow with hers.
Turning down the street she’d suggested, we found the crowd instantly thickened. Many pedestrians had stopped walking altogether to gape at something up ahead. Grumbling under my breath, I weaved my way through the gawkers, taking the lead for my visiting friend in true New Yorker fashion.
We broke through the masses at a knee-high barricade managed by uniformed security guards with little more than menacing scowls to keep the crowd under control. Beyond them, a chiseled piece of eye-candy—his shirt torn open, rippling muscles visible beneath—held an auburn-haired beauty against his massive frame. His hand crept up her thigh, hitching up her short skirt to reveal more of the supple curves beneath. Arching her back, the girl sprawled across the hood of a canary yellow Lamborghini, her lover kissing his way down her neck to the valley between her breasts.
“Whoa,” Tandy marveled in a breathily whisper. “Is public fornication legal in New York now? If so, I need to call Mateo.”
I stared straight ahead, biting the inside of my cheek. “I don’t know what’s more upsetting; learning that my best friend has voyeuristic tendencies or the fact that you called him Mateo instead of Mathew.”
“What? The world knows him as Mateo.” She shrugged, tightening the knot of her scarf that had slipped loose.
“It’s like choosing Mr. Hyde over Dr. Jekyll,” I explained, dodging
a flying button from the amorous couple; airborne shrapnel that had been created when the greased-up Adonis ripped his girlfriend’s blouse open. “Mathew can carry on heated debates over Tolstoy. Mateo thinks that’s an animated movie about a cowboy and space ranger.”
If Tandy heard me, she didn’t acknowledge it. Her gaze was fixed intently across the street, past the writhing two-some.
“Nothing? That was pretty witty, and at the very least worthy of a snicker.”
Taking a step back, Tandy busied herself by digging for her wallet. “You know, I am suddenly starving. Do you want a falafel? We passed a cart back there. I’m buying.”
In a blink she was gone, swallowed by the crowd while I stood there trying to process what had just happened. Searching for what could’ve caused her to flee like a dog with its tail tucked, I followed where her eye line had previously been fixed.
My mouth swung open so fast it was amazing it didn’t pop clean out of socket and thump to the floor at my feet. Black hair, in a sexy disarray of spikes, emerged from behind a video camera I’d failed to notice earlier. Turns out sexy people publicly groping is quite the distraction.
“Cut!” Kole yelled. Yanking his headset off, he let it fall around the collar of his blue and tan flannel shirt. Time had been good to him, or my memory couldn’t do him justice. Either way, the light scruff that ran across his jawline beckoned to be touched. The California sun had kissed his skin a warm, golden brown.
Unable to decide between hiding or screaming his name, I opted to stay rooted where I stood and stare like a moron in hopes that his gaze would meet mine. One eternally dragging second later, it did. The crowd around us vanished. The air was sucked from the space. Even New York’s glittering lights faded under the gleam in Kole’s eyes. Did he walk to me? Or me to him? I had no idea. If I had to guess I would blame the magnetic pull between us for drawing our bodies together without an ounce of free will.
Adapted for Film Page 16
