All Tied Up (Business of Love Book 2)

by Ali Parker

  “Don’t curse at me, Rickie. It’s not my fault my sister never taught you how to look for a good woman.”

  I stifled a groan. Of course, it was my mother’s fault in her eyes. “I apologize. This has just been incredibly difficult for me to navigate. I realize there are a lot of disappointed family members. But I’m also disappointed.”

  My aunt sighed heavily into the phone. “You deserve better, Rickie. Much better.”

  Finally, something that wasn’t a backhanded comment. “Thank you.”

  “But eight thousand dollars to get myself and my kids out there was a high price to pay for a wedding that didn’t even happen.”

  I slumped in my chair.

  Would I never hear the end of this? Was there nothing I could do to make my family, and Verity’s family on top of that, forgive us for not going through with the wedding?

  “As I’ve said,” I said calmly, “I’m going to cover your costs.”

  My aunt complained for another five minutes before I told her I had to go. There were more people to call and apologize to, even though I didn’t feel like I was the one who should be apologizing.

  The wedding had only been three days ago. I’d spent those days in a confused haze, trying to figure out what my next moves were going to be. Chessie was concerned about me and I put on an act around her that I was fine, that nothing had to change. But she wasn’t buying it. She was too smart for that.

  And I was too broken to do better than slap a fake smile on my face.

  I’d been betrayed. Humiliated. Abandoned.

  And every part of my home reminded me of the marriage I thought I’d have today. Verity’s things were still everywhere. The walk-in closet in the master bedroom was spilling over with her clothes, shoes, and handbags. The bathroom was full of her beauty and feminine products. The fridge was full of her almond milk and dairy-free-food options and tofu.

  I couldn’t go anywhere in my own damn house and not be reminded of her.

  It was infuriating.

  After struggling through another few calls, I was interrupted by a knock on my office door. I invited them in, and when I looked up, I was surprised to find a colleague from the firm standing in the doorway.

  I ended the call with a cousin who lived in Nevada and grinned at my friend. “Shawn. Good to see you, man. What brings you by?”

  Shawn stepped into my office. He was a tall slender man with thinning blond hair and bright blue eyes that had always looked a little too large for his long face. He dropped down into the chair across from me. “Why do you think? I came to make sure you weren’t burning all of Verity’s shit in an oil barrel.”

  “I considered it.”

  He got a sly look in his eyes. “Wanna do it?”

  I laughed. “I thought you just said you were here to make sure I hadn’t spiraled.”

  “Without me,” Shawn clarified. “There’s a difference. I don’t care if you want to cut loose, man. Just make sure I’m there to join in on the fun.”

  Shawn had never been much of a fan of Verity. When I first brought her into my office to meet my colleagues, he’d spoken up immediately and pulled me into my office, wondering why the hell I was with a woman like that.

  At the time, his comments about Verity had rubbed me the wrong way. He’d called her vain and said she was a gold digger. I’d valiantly defended her back then. Now I knew just how right he’d been.

  “Have you heard from the ex?” Shawn asked.

  “Not a word.”

  “She’s a cold bitch, man.”

  “She panicked, I assume.”

  Shawn ran his index finger along his chin and arched an eyebrow at me. “Are you still making excuses for her?”

  “No, I’m just saying she might have—”

  “Might have what? Decided at the last minute that she really didn’t give a damn about you and she already has a rich prick of a father who will give her whatever she wants, so she decided she didn’t need to take your last name?”

  I grimaced.

  Shawn sighed and leaned forward to rest his elbows on the desk. “I’m sorry, man. I’m not trying to rub salt in the wound or anything. I just want you to know that this is probably the best way this could have panned out.”

  “Really? This is the best way? I’m out thirty million dollars for this fucking wedding, Shawn.”

  He balked. “Thirty million?”

  “You heard me.”

  Shawn gave his head an incredulous shake. Then he got that devilish look in his eyes again. “So are you sure you don’t want to burn her shit? That woman has shoes that cost more than some people’s mortgage payments.”

  “I’m not burning her stuff.”

  “How about I just do it and you pretend to be none the wiser?”

  “I have a daughter, Shawn. She looks to me for everything she does. I won’t be showing her that destruction of property is how to deal with a broken heart.”

  Shawn laughed.

  I eyed him suspiciously.

  What had I said that was so funny? I hadn’t been joking. I meant it. Chessie was impressionable and she was paying attention. Close attention. The last thing I wanted to do was act like an absolute ass and let her think that was how you behaved when the world crashed in around you and dealt you a shitty hand.

  “Sorry,” Shawn muttered. “I wasn’t laughing about you not wanting to lead Chessie astray. That’s some noble fatherly shit.”

  “Then what were you laughing at?”

  “The part where you said you had a broken heart.”

  I felt my eyebrows draw together. “What?”

  “Oh, come on, man,” Shawn said, rolling his eyes to the ceiling and getting smoothly to his feet. He paced around my desk and leaned up against my shelving unit which was spilling over with old books, most of which belonged to my mother and father and came from their small in-home library. I hadn’t been able to part with them after they both passed, so I’d taken them all home and put them in my office. As of now, six years later, I’d only managed to read a dozen or so.

  Shawn crossed his arms over his chest. “You were not in love with Verity. I think you wanted to be. But you never really got there. You loved the idea of her. Of having someone as beautiful and feminine as her to come home to at the end of a long day. Of having a woman like her in your bed.”

  My scowl quickly turned into a frown as self-doubt began to creep up on me.

  That couldn’t be true. Could it?

  No.

  “If I wasn’t in love with her, I never would have asked her to marry me,” I said firmly. That was just a fact. Plain and simple. I wasn’t an impulsive man. Especially not after how my first marriage blew up in my face. Maybe I just wasn’t destined for a monogamous romantic life. Maybe I was a man destined to wander and have partners for brief periods of time.

  Shawn had a smirk playing on his lips that pissed me off and he seemed to get the hint that I wasn’t in the mood for this. However, Shawn wasn’t much for placating people. If you didn’t like what he was saying, he didn’t really care.

  “You’re in denial because you’re pissed off, dude. The longer you pretend to be a cool cat about this, the worse it’s going to get.”

  I tried to pretend I didn’t know what he was talking about, but if I was being honest with myself, my bones felt like they’d been vibrating with rage since Kim told me that Verity had left the hotel.

  I massaged my temples. “I invested so much into her. Into us.”

  “I know.” Shawn leaned away from the shelves and moved to stand behind the chair across from me. He gripped the backrest. “But she never met you halfway. Consider yourself lucky. You get to start over. Move on. Verity was a soul-sucking leech, and somewhere deep inside, you know it.”

  I didn’t say anything.

  Shawn straightened. “You need a real woman by your side. Not a doll with her eyes fixed on her next cosmetic surgery.”

  I let out a bitter laugh. “Yeah. Well, I don’t k
now where I can meet a woman like that.”

  “I know a pretty good matchmaker,” Shawn said simply.

  “It’s too soon.”

  “No such thing. You don’t have to make a relationship out of this. But you could just have some fun. Maybe find someone you actually have something in common with. Get back on the horse. Let me see if I can swing anything for you. Yeah?”

  I shrugged. “I’ll think about it. For now, just let me wrap my head around all this shit. I have a lot to do.”

  More like a lot of money to pay and calls to make. Among one of those calls would be a call to Verity telling her to come pack up her shit so I didn’t have to keep staring at it. I’d been dreading it. But now after talking to Shawn, I was almost starting to look forward to it.

  Things had been good before Verity with just me and Chessie. They would be good again.

  Chapter 20

  Kimberly

  A slice of deli pepperoni. A thick cut of aged white cheddar cheese. A piece of lightly buttered baguette. And the best part? A sweet yum-yum pickle slice.

  I finished assembling the perfect little bite-sized sandwich and popped it in my mouth as I moved down the buffet of appetizers and treats spread out on the kitchen table at Rhys and Vanessa’s place. While I chewed, I collected a paper plate and began filling it with other tasty snacks, all courtesy of me, the baby-shower host and planner.

  The afternoon had gone exceptionally smoothly. We’d just finished opening presents, of which there were tons, and while Rhys tended to the cleaning up of wrapping and tissue and recycling, the women moved into the dining room and kitchen to help themselves to more food. I had already done my rounds and made sure everyone’s drinks were full, done my thank yous, and was now stealing a quiet moment to fill my belly after realizing I hadn’t eaten in over seven hours.

  My stomach grumbled happily as the mini sandwich landed. I gave my tummy a pat. “Get ready for more.”

  “Who are you talking to?” Rhys sidled up beside me with a tray loaded with empty glasses. He began putting the hand-wash-only ones into the sink while he loaded the dishwasher with the cocktail glasses.

  “My stomach.”

  He chuckled. “Vanny does that too. But there’s a baby in there. Something you want to tell us, Kim?”

  “No.” I shook my head. “Just a soon-to-be food-baby.”

  “Ah, as you were then. You’ve earned it. This party was exceptional. I can tell Vanessa is really thrilled.”

  I stole a glance into the dining room where Vanessa was laughing with her mother and her grandmother while they showed her all the tips and tricks of using her new portable bassinet for baby-to-be.

  “I’m glad she’s happy,” I said. “She deserves all of this. And so do you.”

  Rhys closed the dishwasher with his hip. “You’re just saying that because I’m standing here.”

  “Am not.”

  He snickered. “I’m just giving you a hard time, Kim. Go enjoy the rest of the party. Your work is done. I’ll make myself scarce until the ladies are gone and then I’ll help with cleanup.”

  “You’re a good man.”

  “Right?” He smirked as he left the kitchen.

  I stayed in the kitchen a little longer just to have a bit of space from the others. I’d had a wild couple of weeks, dealing with the fallout of a wedding that never happened. Rick and Verity’s vendors still had to be paid, articles were still being written, and my income had been cut in half. I’d already sent the money back to Rick but had yet to hear from him.

  In fact, I hadn’t heard a word from him since the wedding night two weeks ago.

  That didn’t mean I hadn’t been thinking about him.

  Rick Garrett had been on my mind every damn day for fourteen days straight. I went to sleep thinking about him, wondering if he was lying in bed staring at his ceiling like I was staring at mine. Only where I was pining over him, he was pining over a woman who didn’t deserve him.

  Part of me was happy the wedding had fallen apart at the seams and Verity had run. Another part of me, the biggest part, felt incredibly sad for Rick.

  I loaded my paper plate up with strawberries, chocolate whipped dip, fresh veggies, ranch, and some homemade mini quiches Vanessa’s mother had brought over. I helped myself to a glass of champagne and moved into the dining room, consciously deciding that today was not the day to get lost in thoughts about Rick.

  Today was the day to love on my best friend and the baby in her belly.

  I joined Vanessa in the dining room and she eyed my champagne enviously.

  I looked from my glass to her. “It’s sparkling apple juice,” I lied.

  She sniffed it. “Liar.”

  “It’s not very good. Cheap stuff.”

  Vanessa groaned. “I’d take anything at this point. I had no idea how much I’d miss a good drink. Or sushi. Or fresh cheese.”

  “Sorry, babe,” I said with a sympathetic smile. “But the end is in sight.”

  Vanessa looked around the dining room. “Is the end of the party in sight too? Not to sound ungrateful, but if another person puts their hands on my stomach and squeals like a dying animal, I’m going to lose it.”

  I snorted into my champagne while Vanessa’s mother scolded her for her poor manners. I let them bicker and then made my rounds to let the guests know that the party was winding down in the next half hour. It gave everyone time to say their goodbyes, finish their drinks, help themselves to a bit more food, and then get their shit and get out.

  By the time the last person was out the door, Rhys was already in the kitchen. I offered to help while Vanessa waved goodbye to her mother and grandmother in the driveway but he shooed me away.

  “Why don’t you and Vanessa sit and relax?” he suggested. “She’s going to want to put her feet up and I’m sure she’d love some one-on-one time with you.”

  “I think she just wants everyone out of the house.”

  “You aren’t ‘everyone,’ Kim. Don’t be silly. Stay for a bit. Have another drink. Help us eat through this food.”

  Rhys was a convincing man. I agreed to stay, loaded another plate with snacks, poured myself another glass of champagne, and moved into the living room where I waited for my best friend to join me.

  When she did, she made herself comfortable all propped up on pillows. “Thank you for the party, Kim. It was awesome. I have no idea what we’re going to do with all this stuff, but it was awesome.”

  Vanessa and I eyed the pile of gifts I’d organized into one corner of the living room. There was so much of it that I imagined she and Rhys would want to go through it all together before they found homes for everything.

  “I’m glad I could make this happen for you,” I said. “How are you feeling? Sorry if it was a little too much.”

  “It was perfect, Kim. Really. And how am I feeling? About the same as I always feel. Fat. Swollen. Tired. Irritated and excited and sad all at once. You know, the usual.”

  “I should get out of your hair.”

  “You’re not going anywhere,” Vanessa said firmly. “I want to talk about non-baby-related things for a little bit. Tell me about Rick. How’s he doing? Have you heard from him?”

  I sighed and sipped my champagne. “No. Not a word.”

  Vanessa picked at a loose thread on the edge of one of her pillows. “And how are you doing?”

  “Me?”

  “Yeah. You. There’s no way the feelings you’ve had for this guy for a whole year just vanished. And now that he’s single again? I don’t know. My emotions would be all over the place if I was in your shoes.”

  I chewed the inside of my cheek. Vanessa wasn’t far off-base. “It doesn’t matter how I feel about it all. I’m just so sad for him. You should have seen him, Vanny. Ugh. He was furious. And sad. And confused. And there wasn’t a damn thing I could do to make it better.” I brooded over my champagne and polished it off before setting the glass down on the coffee table. “I could’ve just punched Verity in her
perfect plastic nose.”

  Vanessa stifled her laughter. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to laugh. But I would pay good money to see that happen.”

  “So would I.”

  “Why don’t you call him? Reach out? He’s a client. I doubt he’d think it was strange for you to check in on him and just offer support.”

  I sighed.

  I’d thought about doing that every single day over these past two weeks and I hadn’t been able to work up the nerve to do so. Things had changed between us. I wasn’t his wedding planner anymore. And there was that little detail of what had happened outside my hotel room when he walked me back up to my floor after drinks at the bar.

  I glanced at my friend.

  Vanessa’s eyes narrowed. “What?”

  “Um. Well…”

  “Spit it out.”

  I licked my lips. “Rick kissed me.”

  “What?” Vanessa sat up straight and her eyes widened. “When? Where?”

  “At the hotel. The night of the wedding. I found him in the hotel bar having drinks by himself and I joined him. I wasn’t trying to start shit. I just… I felt bad for him and I didn’t want him to be alone. Then he walked me up to my room and he kissed me in the hallway and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it, Vanny. It’s driving me insane.”

  Vanessa ran a hand mindlessly over her belly. “Wow. Okay.”

  “Did I do a bad thing?”

  “What? No. Not at all. His fiancée bailed on him. The wedding was canceled. He’s a single man now. But I do have a very important question for you.”

  “What is it?”

  “How was the kiss?”

  A smile tugged at my lips and my cheeks grew hot. “It was the best kiss I’ve ever had.”

  Chapter 21

  Rick

  Chessie counted out exactly twenty raspberries and then separated them onto each of our plates. Next, she divided up the slices of perfectly crispy maple bacon. Once each of our plates, already stacked with pancakes, was arranged with the appropriate accompaniments, she gave me her blessing that we could eat.