by Alice Ward
What was she dreading so much?
I didn’t know what she was doing or why, but my fascination with the amazing woman only grew with her sidewalk transformation.
And when she gathered her things and walked into the restaurant, I waited only a few minutes before following.
CHAPTER TWO
Eliana
It was such a beautiful morning, the sun shining and warm. I relished the heat even as I looked forward to fall and the changing season. I dreaded winter, not because I hated the cold, but because it was so hard on my babies — the dogs I took care of in my little corner of the world.
Well, their owners too, of course, but it was the animals I held most dear. Dogs didn’t judge. They didn’t criticize. Only loved. And their devotion to their masters, especially those masters with so little to give back, touched my heart, nearly bringing me to tears every day.
I felt wonderful as I made my rounds, so very pleased with how well my babies were doing. Target was finally gaining some weight back after I paid to have him seen by the local animal clinic for worms. I planned to be a vet one day, but it didn’t take a license or degree to care. And the homeless were just grateful that someone gave a damn.
Because few did. For the owners or their pets.
After feeding Trixie and Chuck in the last alley, I felt my happiness dimming with every step I took. I’d been dreading this meeting all week.
I was early, so I had plenty of time to change into something… presentable. Why was I kidding myself? Even if I was decked out in head to toe Prada, I would still receive the same criticisms. Always.
Giving myself a final glimpse at my reflection, I stood as tall as I could and plastered a smile on my face, mentally rolling myself in emotional bubble wrap.
Inside, the hostess greeted me with her usual warmth. “Hi, Eliana. Your booth is ready, and I’ve already poured your tea, extra sweet.” She gave me a conspiratorial wink.
“Thanks, Helen. I need the extra kick today, that’s for sure.”
Helen rolled her eyes. “I read about it. Divorce number four?”
I exhaled a long breath. “Five.”
She gave me a quick hug. “Well, if you need anything, just give me the signal.”
I hugged her back, tears pricking my eyes at the older woman’s kindness. “I’ll do that.”
Taking a seat, I enjoyed a long drink of the strong tea. It made me think of my grandmother, who died nearly eight years ago in a terrible fire that also killed my grandfather. Before that horrid night, I’d spent my summers on my grandparents’ farm in Tennessee. I missed it. Her. Him. All of it. The farm was the only place in the world where I could be myself. It was where I’d found a love for animals and my granddad, a veterinarian, taught me how to care for them until I could become a veterinarian myself.
To the horror of my mother.
“Darling…”
Here we go.
I stood, and air-kissed both cheeks of the woman who gave birth to me, neither of us touching each other.
“Alize,” I said because she didn’t like being called anything faintly maternal, “you look beautiful this morning.”
Flattery was expected.
She waved a manicured hand in the air, and I forced myself not to cringe as she laughed too loud, causing all eyes to turn to her. “This old thing…?” She laughed again, and to my great embarrassment, twirled, the flirty skirt almost showing her Pilates-sculpted ass. “It is fabulous, isn’t it? I found this adorable new designer who I just know we’ll see at fashion week in a few years.” She put her hand to her mouth and fake-whispered, “If I have any say in it, and you know I will.”
I stifled the urge to gag and smiled brightly, hoping my face wasn’t too flushed. As a dark strawberry blonde, my pale skin gave me away constantly. “Shall we sit?” I suggested, not liking being the center of attention. That’s why I always suggested brunch for our tête-à-têtes, as Alize called them. It normally wasn’t as busy as the other meal times.
With considerable grace, Alize slid into the booth and smiled graciously at the lead waiter who immediately handed us our menus.
“Today’s my cheat day,” she sang as she reviewed the selections. “I’ll take the house salad with just a dash of oil and vinegar and…” she winked at me in an I’m going to be sooo bad way, “cheese.”
The waiter waited for more, and I nearly laughed at his is that seriously all? expression that he was barely able to hide before she noticed. Oblivious, she folded the menu and slid it his way. He lifted a brow. “Anything else, ma’am?”
Her blue eyes turned glacial for a moment at the ma’am. She recovered quickly, flipping her long blonde hair over her shoulder. “No, no. I’ll be stuffed after that.”
It took all of my self-control not to roll my eyes to the heavens.
“I’ll have your Portobello burger with sweet potato fries and—”
“Eliana Katherine, you’ll do no such thing. For heaven’s sake, you have a dress to fit into for the gala and…” Her eyes moved down to examine the parts of me she could see above the table. She looked back up to the waiter. “She’ll have the same as me. No cheese.”
“Mom!”
I would go to hell for the satisfaction I received at her look of mortification. Her face a tighter mask than usual, she dismissed the waiter with a flick of her hand.
I’ll pay for that one.
Within seconds, she’d pulled herself back together. “You must take care of yourself, Eliana. The years will pass by you like a wink, and you’ll wonder where the wrinkles came from.”
She touched the corner of her eye, a place where no wrinkle dared dwell, and I knew she expected me to comment on how young she looked. I didn’t, and her nostrils delicately flared.
“Shall I have my car pick you up or can you find your own way to the gala?”
I swallowed hard. “I’m not going.”
She gasped, her hand flying to her mouth in an overly dramatic soap opera movement. “You must. You—”
“You won’t even miss me, Alize. You’ll be on the prowl for husband number six, no doubt. I’d just get in the way.”
Someone laughed, a deep chuckle that broke off quickly, and I glanced in the direction the sound came from and only saw two men sitting at the nearby bar. One an older gentleman with a glorious mane of white hair. The other a… wow.
He was sitting with his back to us, but what a back it was. A tight athletic shirt barely concealed bulging muscles, a vee of a sweat stain trailed to a point at his spine. He also wore athletic shorts and running shoes, his calves bulging over his short-cut socks. A baseball cap sat on the stool beside him.
Running my eyes back up his body, taking in the muscles of his triceps this time, I wondered how it would feel to run my hands through his thick head of dark hair.
“Are you even listening to me?”
I whipped my head back in my mother’s direction and met her icy gaze. “Yes.”
She brightened, showing me the pearly whiteness of her teeth in one of her supermodel smiles. “Terrific. I knew you’d come to your senses. I’ll call Carlos right now and set up an appointment for you.”
I stared at her. I’d clearly said yes to the wrong thing. “What?”
But she was busy tapping buttons on her phone, ignoring me completely.
“Carlos, darling, it’s Alize Montgomery, and I need a favor. Could you work a very special friend in before the gala? Her color is dreadful, so maybe a bit lighter so she won’t look so washed out. And schedule her for a facial. Her skin looks bone dry. And her brows…” She clicked her tongue. “Yes, yes. Mani, pedi. The works. Can’t have my little baby’s picture in the society pages with ragged cuticles, now can we?” She glanced at me. “When was the last time you waxed?”
My mouth fell open.
“Schedule her for a full wax. Yes, Brazilian, of course.” She batted her eyes at me. “Winston will be there, so you need to be prepared.”
I waved my h
ands in front of her face, mouthing no, no, no. It seemed everyone was looking at me but her. I gave up. I just wouldn’t go. I wouldn’t show up at these appointments, and I wouldn’t be going to the gala. My stomach churned. Especially if he was there.
She narrowed her eyes at me, examining every inch of my face while she listened to something Carlos was saying. She covered the mouthpiece of her phone. “How old are you, darling?”
I wasn’t even surprised that she didn’t remember. “I’ll be twenty-two in December.”
She frowned. Well, as frowny as multiple injections will allow. “Are you sure?”
“I can show you my driver’s license if you wish.”
Her eyes widened, but her eyebrows didn’t even move a millimeter. “When did you begin driving?”
I didn’t even answer, just took another drink of my sweet tea.
“Carlos, my love, she’s nearly twenty-two now. I agree. Botox can’t be started too early these days. She does seem to be sagging around the eyes. She doesn’t have my genes, you know. Takes her hair and complexion from her father, God rest his soul…”
Breathe in love.
Breathe out hate.
I repeated the mantra in my head, tuning out my mother’s voice as she continued to toss tiny needles of hurt in my direction.
Alize Renee Jones Anderson Wright Morris Adams Montgomery was a former supermodel, soap opera star, and B-movie starlet, with hopes and dreams of someday being the next Julia Roberts, before she got knocked up by my sixty-two-year-old father when she was only nineteen. My birth apparently ruined her life.
Of course, ruined was a relative term. If ruined meant marrying a multimillionaire who conveniently died of a heart attack a year later, leaving his young widow the bulk of his entire estate, then yeah, I ruined her life.
“Would you like your lips plumped, darling?”
“No!”
She pursed her overly plumped lips together. “We’ll pass on that for now, Carlos darling. Let’s focus on making her not look so dull. Is there anything you can do about freckles?”
I sighed and leaned back in my seat, wishing my salad would come so I’d have something to pick at. From the corner of my eye, the hottie guy shifted in his seat.
Looking in his direction again, I froze when our eyes met in the reflection of the bar’s mirror. He looked so familiar. Why was he familiar? I glanced down at the hat beside him and remembered — he was the same guy I bumped into in the alley.
How embarrassing.
Among all the other traits the gene fairy forgot to pass on to me from my mother, grace was also one of them. While Mom could walk all day in stilettos with a book on top of her head, I had to wear wedge heels or no heels. Otherwise, I’d be flat on my face.
Sinking into my seat, I sat back up straight when Alize snapped her fingers at me, giving me the look. I didn’t get the look often because I didn’t often see her anymore. I think it was a relief to us both. She didn’t need to be reminded that she was nearing middle age and I didn’t need to be reminded of my many failures.
Like now.
My senior year in high school, she bought a small apartment for me to live in from the settlement of divorce number three. The day after I turned eighteen, I moved there to be closer to school, and I hadn’t spent a single night under her roof since.
The waiter arrived, sliding our salads in place. I practically dove for my fork and speared a cherry tomato with about ten times more vengeance than the vegetable — sorry, fruit — deserved. I popped it into my mouth and bit down hard, loving that I now had something to do.
Thirty more minutes.
I could survive thirty more minutes.
With an embarrassingly loud, “Au revoir, my darling,” Alize set down the phone. Good heavens. Didn’t she realize Carlos was a Spanish name?
From across the table, she beamed at me. “Success!”
I fake-beamed back. “Yay!”
“Your appointments begin at nine next Saturday morning, and you’ll finish up at three.”
Six hours in a salon? No, thank you.
“The designer I told you about has a plethora of custom designs you can choose from. Stop by her shop tomorrow and select one. I’ll text you her address and let her know to expect you.”
Nope. Not doing that either.
I stuffed a huge fork full of lettuce into my mouth as her thumbs flew over her keyboard. My phone pinged, and she gave me a satisfied look. “There. All settled. How lucky are you to have me as a relative?”
Do you mean mother? I’m a lucky, lucky girl indeed.
I was still chewing, giving me an excuse to not answer when she splayed her red-tipped fingers onto the table. She leaned forward, her eyes wide with excitement.
Oh no, what next?
“I have a brilliant idea. I’ll have Winston pick you up, and the two of you can go together! Let me contact him now.”
I stopped chewing as she picked up her phone.
No. No, no, no.
I shook my head fervently and chewed harder, willing the food to disappear from my mouth so I could scream at her to stop. Frantic, I lunged over the table and slammed my hand down over hers. It was the first time I’d touched her in years.
“No! I won’t be in the same room with him let alone in a car with him. Are you out of your mind?”
She looked genuinely surprised. “Why ever not?”
I gripped her hand harder. “Because he tried to rape me,” I hissed. “Remember?”
She yanked her hand away and rolled her eyes. “That’s ridiculous. You young girls are so sensitive nowadays. You think a strong hand from an alpha male who knows what he wants is something to be afraid of? Rape!” She scoffed. “You should be down on your knees thanking the universe that a man like that is interested in someone like you. Did you know that the government is getting ready to pay billions to have access to some of the tech equipment his family owns? And there’s rumors that Winston will be running for governor. Just think, you could be the First Lady someday.”
My heart was beating so hard, I could hear the blood pounding in my ears. The periphery of my vision dimmed, and my fingers tingled, signaling my fight or flight response.
I opened my mouth to say something, anything, when a strong arm wrapped around my shoulders and squeezed me against a hard body, and a manly scent filled my senses.
“Hey, baby,” hottie guy from the bar said, giving me a hard kiss. “Sorry I’m late.”
CHAPTER THREE
Kane
I didn’t know I had the ability to be as furious as I was now, but dammit, I was seething. I’d followed that beautiful young woman into this restaurant and had been happy to realize that the seating arrangement allowed me to be close enough to observe without being observed.
Stalker much?
Yes, it was damn stalker, but I was so fucking drawn to her. To her smile and grace as she endured the continual insults from that horrible plastic Barbie doll that was apparently her mother.
And when Barbie talked about attempted rape so casually, every nerve ending inside my body snapped. Next thing I knew, I was pressing my lips to this precious person and giving her whatever comfort I could.
Now what?
Staring into dazed blue eyes, I pulled Eliana tighter to my side before looking across at Barbie. She looked equally stunned.
I stuck out a hand. “Kane Steele. It’s wonderful to finally meet the woman who gave birth to this glorious creature. I can’t even imagine how proud you must be of Eliana.”
Silence became a living thing as they both continued to stare at me.
Then Barbie’s eyes moved, flicking down my face and to the sweaty compression tank I’d worn for my run. Her eyes were the same color blue as her daughters, but they lacked the depth and warmth the younger woman possessed.
Tapping my chest, I said, “Sorry, I didn’t have time to change before heading over here. I was already running so late…” I lifted a shoulder as if that explained
everything.
Silence.
This wasn’t going the way I’d hoped.
The blue eyes shifted from me to Eliana. “Who is this, my darling?” The bitch’s voice was as stiff as her forehead.
“Kane Steele,” I answered for her in case she hadn’t heard me earlier. I lifted Eliana’s glass and took a sip. Damn, that shit was sweet.
Setting the glass back down, I turned to the girl beside me. “You still have that headache from this morning?”
Eliana blinked up at me and seemed to come out of her daze. “Actually…” she smiled, and my balls tightened, “I’m feeling much better. Thank you.”
I gave her a squeeze. “You’re very welcome.”
“Eliana, why didn’t you tell me about Kane?” Barbie’s face didn’t move as she spoke.
Eliana didn’t miss a beat. “Because I wanted to surprise you, of course.”
Barbie showed a glimpse of teeth. “Well, you certainly did.”
Just then, the waiter came up to the table. “Can I get you any—?” The kid’s eyes widened. “Holy sh… crap. You’re Kane Steele, right? The beast of first base!”
From the corner of my eye, I saw Barbie’s entire demeanor change. When I was a sweaty nobody, I was dirt beneath her feet. I see how it is.
I stuck out a hand to the kid. “Sure am. Been to many games?”
His face fell. “Not many. Mostly watch on TV. Don’t miss a game if I can help it.”
“Glad to hear it. It’s fans like you who will help us break out of this slump.”
The kid’s entire face lit up.
“See that hat there?” I pointed at the stool. “Hand it over, and I’ll sign it for you.”
No one on planet Earth had ever moved that fast. I scrawled my name on the brim and handed it over, then took his name. “Are you free to come to tonight’s game?”
