Trusting Stone

by Alexa Sinclaire

  “I was running. I...God, Mara…I…” Her voice was cracking and she knew she was going to cry.

  “Jesus, what? Eden, you don’t sound good!”

  “The bastard’s married. He’s married, Mara!”

  Saying it out loud was too much for her and she burst into tears and slid down onto the sidewalk, not caring who saw her now.

  Chapter Nineteen

  “What?” Mara screeched into the phone. “Where are you? I’m coming to get you.”

  “I don’t know.” Eden looked up, trying to recognize where she was. “I don’t know, I’m on twenty-fifth, I think. I can see The Gap in front of me.”

  “Okay, I’ll be there in ten minutes, I’m only a few blocks away. Stay put, chica, okay?”

  Eden hung up. She saw that she had 15 missed calls from Sebastian and four texts.

  Let me explain, Eden, it’s not what it looks like.

  Where are you? Please answer the phone.

  Answer the phone! I need to speak to you, Eden.

  I’m coming over now. Answer the door when I get there. I can explain.

  The phone jumped to life in her hands—Sebastian. She ignored the call, putting it back in her arm strap. She pulled her knees up to her chest, rested her head against them, and closed her eyes. After what felt like an eternity, she heard Mara’s voice.

  “Eden, I’m here.” Mara opened the door to the town car, gesturing for her to get in. Eden scrambled into the car, her eyes now puffy from crying. Mara wrapped her arms around her as she burst into tears again, as if she hadn’t been crying solidly for ten minutes on the sidewalk. Mara started talking in Spanish and Eden looked up to see Enzo sitting opposite her.

  “Oh God, I’ve totally ruined your day together. You shouldn’t have come get me, Mara.”

  Enzo spoke up before Mara had a chance. His voice was sweet and gentle. “Don’t be silly, Eden, you’re Mara’s best friend. What else were we going to do? Leave you crying at The Gap?”

  “Thank you. I just didn’t know what to do.”

  “Well, first of all, we have to swing by your place and get you out of that ridiculous outfit.”

  “No!” Eden sat up quickly. “I can’t go home. He texted and said he’s on his way there now. I can’t go home and see him.”

  “Of course, in that case we’ll go to ours. You can borrow something and then we are going out dancing tonight. You can spend the night. No questions, Eden. It’s happening. I know you American girls like to sit around and eat ice cream in gross flannel pajamas when a guy breaks your heart, but where I’m from, we dance, so deal with it.”

  Eden leaned her head in her hands, ignoring whatever Mara was talking about. There was no way she was going dancing. She could hardly stand up she was so upset.

  “Men are pigs, Eden,” Mara finally said, her voice calm again. “Not you, baby, you’re my angel, but the rest—all pigs,” she said to Enzo.

  “How could I not know he’s married?” Eden finally asked, to no one in particular. “I’ve seen him every day for two weeks, I’ve been in his apartment. God, I think I’ve left clothes there. How could I not know?”

  “Oh chica, really? It’s not that hard. My father’s been doing it for twenty-five years of marriage.” It was Enzo’s turn console her now.

  “What do you mean? You think he does this all the time?”

  “Well, if I know anything about philanderers, and with my father’s track record, I like to think I do, yes, Eden, I imagine he does this all the time. And I imagine his wife is very aware of it.”

  “Simona Stone. The woman we saw in the photos. You were right, Mara, I should have done my research. I can’t believe I was so stupid.” Eden slumped back against the seat, closing her eyes, trying to stem the flow of tears that seemed to be never-ending. Mara was right, he had broken her heart.

  ****

  After a very long shower and being plied with coffee and hugs from Mara and Enzo, they convinced her to go dancing.

  “I refuse to let you sit here and wallow in this. I know it hurts, Eden, but you need a distraction now. I’m not saying get back out there and find a new man. I’m saying live, dance, and laugh. Yes, some idiot trampled on you, but you have to fight back now. Don’t let him defeat you like this. Come, I’ll pick out a dress for you to borrow.”

  Eden couldn’t fight with Mara. She looked at Enzo for support. “Can’t you help me out, Enzo? Get your girl to give me break?” she joked.

  Enzo shrugged his shoulders. “Sorry, Eden, I agree with her. This guy’s scum. To treat a girl like this...” He sucked in his breath, shaking his head. “No, he’s really bad news, no way you can let him get you down. I’ll make sure you’re okay tonight. I know the clubs make you nervous. Go on, let my fiancée dress you up.”

  Eden sniffed and followed Mara into her enormous closet where she found her pulling out dresses and shoes.

  “Tonight’s not about guys, Eden. It’s about being alive! Remember—like the lingerie? It’s not just for the men, it’s for us.”

  “Mara, it’s so much worse than you think. I didn’t just fall for this guy, he was…” Eden covered her face with her hands. She felt so humiliated. She could barely bring herself to tell Mara.

  “He’s an ass, is what he is!”

  “No, Mara, I thought it was something different. I trusted him. I slept with him!”

  Mara stared at her, but not with the look of surprise that Eden expected. “Yeah, I figured as much. Eden, you’ve been smitten with this guy since you met him. I’d be surprised if you hadn’t slept with him.” Mara clearly didn’t understand what she meant and Eden realized that there was no reason she would know she had been a virgin. She had never explicitly told her that she never slept with Joachim.

  “Okay, but he was my…first.”

  Now Mara’s face held the appropriate amount of shock. Eden felt like a fool calling him her first and she blushed even deeper.

  “I’m such an idiot, Mara, what was I thinking?”

  Mara dropped the pile of dresses she held in her arms and leaned up against the closet wall so her shoulder was touching Eden’s.

  “You’re not an idiot, Eden, you just trusted the wrong guy at the wrong time.”

  “That’s the story of my life, Mara.”

  “Oh, chica, tell me about it!”

  “No, Mara, it really is the story of my life—wrong place, wrong guy, wrong impressions. I’ve trusted the wrong men my whole life and it’s gotten me in serious trouble. Trouble I didn’t think I could survive. And then I met Sebastian and all that seemed to disappear. He made me feel like trusting him was the most natural thing in the world. I let him in without hardly giving it a second thought.”

  “Is it that bad, Eden? You only knew him two weeks. I mean, I know you gave him your virginity, but I don’t understand what the rest of all this is.”

  Eden realized the irony of the situation. Here she was blubbering in the closet of her closest friend who knew less about her past than Sebastian. And yet it was Sebastian who had betrayed her. She started talking, beginning with growing up with Joachim as her one of her closest friends and the platonic feelings she had around him, the attack in the frat house and all that came after it, including her parents’ disbelief of her role in it, and ending with the breakfast picnic that Sebastian had arranged, Eden’s confession to him, and their discussion about birth control. Eden shuddered as she realized that if Sebastian was married and cheating was a regular thing for him, she would have to get tested. The bastard had convinced her he was clean and exclusive. But now she knew she couldn’t rely on his word. She needed be responsible.

  “Jesus, Eden, when you said you had a habit of trusting the wrong men, I had no idea what you were talking about. No wonder you’re this upset about Sebastian.”

  Eden shrugged her shoulders. She felt better having told Mara. In a strange way, getting it out in the open made the whole thing feel less dramatic.

  “But I’m still taking you danci
ng. I mean, you make a whole lot more sense to me now about why you were so shut down and didn’t want to hang out with guys or go clubbing. And as much as I want to ask Enzo to go call some hired thugs to pound on Sebastian, I also know that since you met him, you’ve come alive again. And you’ve done so well. You keep trying to convince yourself that you’re no longer the same girl before you left for Edinburgh, but I don’t think you really believe it. But I believe it, Eden. I’m your best friend and it’s made me so happy to see you finally come out of your shell. I wish you’d told me earlier why you were so uptight, because, Jesus, you were uptight, and now you’re whole. You’re not cut off and shut down from life. So yes, we agree that Sebastian is a total shit, but there is no way in hell I’m going to let what he did make you turn back in on yourself. We are going out dancing. You don’t have to stay long, but if I show up at your house tomorrow and you are wearing anything flannel, I will freak out at you. And you haven’t seen me freak out properly. It’s not pretty, you should ask Enzo about it. Okay?”

  Eden couldn’t help but giggle at the thought of poor Enzo dealing with Mara’s whirlwind personality.

  “Let’s go dancing. I’ll hold off on the flannel pajamas for a few more days.”

  After a flurry of dressing and makeup, Eden found herself sitting at a table in Granada with Mara, Enzo, and a few friends of theirs they had invited along. Including Michael. Eden winced when she saw him walk in. She glanced at Mara, but her friend seemed oblivious as to why Eden was suddenly fidgeting in her seat. To make matters worse, Michael took a seat next to her and gave her a big smile.

  “No jealous boyfriend tonight?”

  “No…we aren’t together anymore.”

  Michael’s smile grew. He was clearly pleased with this bit of information. “I would say I’m sorry, but that would be a lie. I can’t say that I wasn’t disappointed when he interrupted us the last time we met. I wanted to get to know you better.”

  Eden cringed. This was not what she needed tonight, despite Mara’s protest that she needed to continue living life to the fullest. A rebound hook-up was not in the cards. “Look, Michael, I should be honest with you. I just found out that he was cheating on me, or something like that, so I’m not really in the best place right now to be dating. I think you’re a great guy, but I don’t want to lead you on.” If nothing else, no one could accuse Eden of being a tease.

  “Relax, Eden, I’m not planning on making a move on you…right now. I would just like to get to know you, as friends. You’re Mara’s best friend and I’m sure we’ll be seeing a lot more of each other in the future. So what do you say? To friends?” He lifted one of the flutes of champagne that had been delivered to the table, courtesy of Mara and her love of all things expensive.

  Eden gave him a quizzical look. Part of her knew this was just another pick-up line in the guise of friendship, but at that moment, she didn’t care. Part of her also wanted to be around people who she didn’t think were constantly going to be betraying her, and Michael seemed like safe, neutral territory. At least for one evening.

  “Oh, what the hell! To friends!” Eden downed her own flute and gave Michael a glowing smile, refusing to think of Sebastian.

  ****

  Two hours later and several empty champagne flutes, Eden found herself on the dance floor with Michael. This in itself wasn’t all that surprising. She had been dancing on and off all evening with Mara, but this time around, she was so hot, tipsy, and heartbroken that she didn’t care so much when Michael slid her around and started dancing behind her, pulling her body close to his in a move that felt more sexy than friendly.

  “I may have lied earlier, Eden.” Michael’s voice was low and gravelly in her ear, and she shivered at his words. “I don’t think I’m going to be able to resist making a move on you tonight, not with your sexy hips moving the way they are.” He pulled her even closer to his body, grinding his groin into her ass.

  Eden made to move, but his next words stopped her from pulling away.

  “Enzo told me what your ex did and I’m not trying to push you to jump into bed with me, Eden. But I can help you forget that asshole.” His hands moved to her waist and up onto her ribs, caressing her just under her breasts. Eden wished she could enjoy his touch. She knew Michael was a handsome man, and from the looks she was getting from the other women on the dance floor, she wasn’t the only one. But just like Joachim, he did nothing for her. Michael could never replace Sebastian, even if she closed her eyes and tried to pretend.

  Eden shook her head before turning around to face Michael. His hands stayed on her waist as she faced him. “Thanks for the offer, but I can’t. Thanks for the dance.” She leaned in and kissed him gently on the cheek. She had made so much progress with Sebastian, but that didn’t mean she was about to start having one-night-stands and rebound sex. Just letting Michael dance with her so closely was huge. She pulled away and started to walk off the dance floor. She knew that Michael would find a new dance partner without any trouble and didn’t feel guilty leaving him alone.

  Eden wove her way through the crowds, trying to avoid the many roving hands that just reminded her why she didn’t particularly like clubbing. She could see Mara and Enzo sitting by the VIP area and she waved at Mara to let her know she was alright. The look on Enzo’s face let Eden know that he had seen her walk away from Michael. This was the second time her friends had tried to play matchmaker between her and Michael and she knew they were only trying to get her to forget about Sebastian. But she knew it wasn’t going to be that easy. It wasn’t just a matter of filling the spot where Sebastian used to be.

  A hand grabbed her tightly around the bicep and she turned to see what drunken idiot had made that mistake. She knew Enzo had his eye on her and if she were in any real trouble, he would be down to the dance floor in a second. Getting ready to shove whoever had decided to try their luck with her, Eden swung around and pushed hard against a very familiar chest wearing a very familiar suit. She looked up into Sebastian’s face and froze. What the hell was he doing here?

  “Let me go.”

  “No. I’ve been looking for you all day and all fucking night. I’m not letting you go. Where the hell have you been?” Sebastian was seething, but Eden didn’t care. There was no way he was as hurt as she was. She didn’t even know why he was angry. He couldn’t possibly think he had any right to be angry about her ignoring him all day, not after what he had done. The man was truly psychotic if that’s what he thought.

  “It’s none of your business where I was all day. Surely your time would have been better spent with your wife.” Eden practically spat out the last words as she tried to pull away unsuccessfully.

  Eden turned to look for Enzo and saw that he and several of his friends were already making their way to her. Sebastian grabbed her arm tighter as Michael joined the group of men approaching them. Sebastian saw them, but it didn’t seem to be making the sort of impact Eden had hoped for. As much as she hated Sebastian in that moment, she didn’t want to see him get hurt. But as he spotted Michael, his grip tightened and she swore she heard him growl.

  “Let her go,” Enzo barked at him, reaching out to take Eden’s hand. Mara was behind him and she was mumbling in Spanish in Enzo’s ear. “Don’t touch her like that, Sebastian. You’re going to leave a bruise and then I’m going to really have to lose my shit with you.”

  “I’m not going to hurt her. I just want her to hear me out.” Sebastian released Eden’s arm and she rubbed the spot where his fingers had wrapped around. She immediately was drawn to Enzo’s side and Mara wrapped her arms around her.

  “You have ten seconds, Sebastian.” Eden looked at him, wishing she hadn’t had so much champagne. She didn’t know why she thought drowning her sorrows was a good idea. She didn’t know why she thought dancing with Michael was a good idea. She didn’t know why she thought being in the club at all was a good idea. This was going to end just as it had started, with her humiliated and having a panic attack in fro
nt of Sebastian Stone.

  “That’s not enough time. Let me take you home and explain. In private.”

  “No, eight seconds,” Enzo said, already counting for her.

  “Goddamn it, Eden, don’t do this. I’ve been running around the city all day looking for you.”

  Eden prayed Enzo wouldn’t walk away. There was no way she could find the strength to say no to Sebastian if she was alone.

  “Five seconds.” Enzo clearly wasn’t going anywhere.

  “Fuck! Eden!”

  “That’s it, we’re taking her home. Back up, Sebastian.” Mara grabbed Eden even closer to her and said something in Spanish to her friends, glancing over at Michael, warning him not to press his luck any further tonight. Flanked by Enzo and Mara, Eden turned to walk away.

  “She’s not my wife! She’s my sister!”

  Eden turned to look at him. His face was a picture of regret.

  “She’s my sister. You can check if you want. I’m telling you, I’m not married.”

  Eden could feel her jaw drop open. How could that be his sister? The way she had been touching Sebastian, the intimacy between them—that wasn’t the way siblings were meant to touch each other.

  Enzo spoke first. “Eden…I don’t think he would pretend his wife is his sister. Maybe you need to hear him out. That would be a pretty messed up lie, even by my standards.”

  Eden could see Mara was nodding in agreement. “But the way she was with you, Seb, she was touching you. That’s…weird.” Eden wished she could have thought of a better word, but the champagne was still making her hazy.

  “I know, I’ll explain. I promise. But let me take you home.” Sebastian stepped forward and held out his hand.

  Still a bit unsteady on her feet, more from his announcement than the champagne, Eden stepped forward. The look she gave Mara was enough for her friend to let her go. Eden had clearly misread the situation and they had all unfairly painted Sebastian with the wrong brush.

  Instead of grasping her wrist as he had so many other times when they fought before, he gently entwined his fingers between hers and led her out of the club. The town car was already waiting and he helped her in before sliding in next to her and pulling her to him. Eden slid onto his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck. She wanted to stay mad. She wanted him to give her an explanation before he even thought about touching her again, before he even dared to think that she was still his. But she couldn’t deny him. Eden had known this would happen and it scared her that saying no to Sebastian seemed physically impossible for her. Now she had proof.