He already knew. “I guess we’re not having Chinese food.” He reached down for his shirt.
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t know he was going to come here.”
“I got that.” Josh pulled his shirt on and ran a hand through his hair. “I’m sorry if I embarrassed you.”
Steph frowned. “If anything, he’s the embarrassing one. That man has gone far too long doing whatever he wants. One of these days, someone is going to put him in his place and I swear, I’m going to be on the sidelines laughing when it happens.”
Josh snorted even as he shook his head. “You like him, though. It’s good. It’s good to have family you can count on.”
“Well, I’ve complained about our parents enough. It was nice to have AJ there to balance out the crazy. Maybe with crazy of his own, but still…”
“Why didn’t you mention him?”
She clenched her jaw at the question. She had asked herself the same thing over the past day she’d spent with Josh. In her life, she rarely went an hour without mentioning AJ considering their lives were so intertwined. They were not only twins, but back home they were best friends. Her, AJ, and Willa Belli would go out most nights of the week together and the three of them would have a blast. AJ was the carefree presence in her life that she probably couldn’t survive without.
So why hadn’t she told Josh that she had a brother? “When I went on my little soul-searching trip here, I left AJ alone. I think I was avoiding thinking about that.”
“And that’s why you didn’t answer his calls?”
“I didn’t answer his calls because AJ is the only person in this world who could make me go home if I wasn’t ready. And I don’t want to go home.”
“But he’s here now,” pointed out Josh.
“Yep.” She wanted to say she wasn’t going to leave or promise that this wouldn’t affect them, but she couldn’t give any assurances. She didn’t have any assurances to give.
Josh didn’t say anything. Instead, he turned around and crossed to the nightstand next to the bed, pulling out the pen and a piece of scrap paper from the little drawer.
He scribbled something down before he handed it to her and she saw it was his phone number. “Call me later?”
She nodded. “I’ll figure out what I’m going to do and let you know later tonight.”
He swooped down for a quick kiss and she let her eyes drift shut as she leaned against him. What she wouldn’t give to go back to fifteen minutes ago when they were curled in each other’s arms and the outside world was still, well, outside.
“It’s okay.” He pulled away.
“What’s okay?” she asked.
“You leaving. I figured it would happen eventually.”
Steph tried to find the words to say to make him feel better, but nothing came out. Hell, she had no idea how to make herself feel better, let alone Josh. “This doesn’t mean anything…”
“I’m not stupid enough to ask for any promises, Steph.” He started to look for his shoes.
She opened her mouth and closed it. She wanted promises, damn it. She wanted to know that when she went back home, she would have him to come back to. “Josh, I—”
“Don’t.” He slid on his second shoe, not bothering to tie them. “Don’t say anything you’re going to regret later. We had fun. Let’s end it on a good note.”
Steph felt as if her stomach were about to fall out. Her insides literally twisted at what he was saying. She knew he wanted more. She knew he wanted a relationship with her, but was afraid. Afraid she’d go back to Chicago and would never come back.
Who was she to say anything would be different? She’d run from any hint of a long-term relationship her entire life. Now, after two crazy days, she was going to drop everything and turn into the perfect girlfriend? Josh obviously wasn’t that naive and she couldn’t let herself be, either.
She had taken too long and Josh started out of the bedroom. She followed and prayed like hell that AJ wouldn’t say anything.
Of course, her asshole of a brother had to be an asshole. “Nice meeting you, Josh,” he said, with the bite of sarcasm in his voice.
Steph grabbed the first thing she saw, a half-empty water bottle, and tossed it right at his gut before she quickened her pace to meet Josh on the porch, only taking half a second to relish in her brother’s pained grunt.
“I don’t want you to go,” she admitted as they both came to an awkward stop.
“I don’t want to go.” He rubbed a hand over his eyes. “But life doesn’t really like to give me what I want.”
“Well, I’m a spoiled rich girl, damn it. And I am used to getting what I want, so this is pretty damn frustrating.”
He let out an insincere laugh. “We both know it isn’t true.”
“I’m going to come back,” she insisted.
Josh stared down at her, but he didn’t look convinced in the slightest. “Maybe this was supposed to happen. And if you come back, you come back.”
“But you won’t be waiting for me,” she finished.
He was quiet and Steph had to bite her lip. That was it, then. He was just going to step back and let fate take its course? She started to say something but a car pulled up to the cabin and Steph was forced to keep quiet as the Chinese food delivery boy got out.
Josh nodded at her and stepped away. “Good-bye, Steph,” he said somberly before he turned and walked out of her life.
She let out a sigh and shook her head. Could fate really be this much of a bitch?
Chapter Seven
The dumpster lid slammed shut, which sent an extra disgusting whiff of smelly air right at Josh’s face. He winced at the odor and turned away, only to see Amanda staring at him disapprovingly from the back door of the main lodge of Mountain Ridge. He started to move away, but she hooked a finger at him, motioning him to come inside and follow her.
He glanced over to his truck and thought wistfully about disobeying his boss and driving off, but thought better of it. He had a feeling his mood wouldn’t improve if he lost his job.
Amanda held the door open for him and he followed her into her office. When she shut the door behind him, he started to wonder whether losing his job really was a possibility. “What’s going on?” he asked, trying to decide between standing and sitting.
“Funny.” Amanda leaned against the front of her desk and crossed her arms over her chest. “I was about to ask you the same thing.”
Josh thought carefully about his conduct over the past week. Sure, he’d been grumpy and a tad more surly than normal, but he hadn’t been rude to any guests and he hadn’t shirked any of his responsibilities. Sure, maybe he might have slammed a dumpster lid or two, but it wouldn’t have had any negative effect on Mountain Ridge… “Nothing is going on,” he lied.
She raised a skeptical brow. “Josh, I know we might not see each other outside of work, but I would like to think that after all the time we’ve worked together that we’re somewhat friends now. And, between you and me, except for Justin, you’re one of my most dependable employees. So, as a friend and not a boss, what’s going on?”
He was one of her best employees? He thought through the roster of workers at Mountain Ridge. Amanda was best friends with the main ski instructor, but the year-round employees were an eccentric and dependable bunch, so it was pretty damn flattering that Amanda thought that highly of him. Especially considering he liked working for her so much. Considering before this he’d never held down a job for more than a few months, definitely not long enough to form any sort of meaningful relationships or friendships, this was one hell of a change. So he owed it to Amanda for some sort of the truth, even if the idea of talking about Steph literally made his stomach churn. “I, uh, I had some personal stuff happen and I’ve been distracted. I’m sorry if it’s been affecting my work.”
Amanda’s face softened. “Is this about the tourist who you ate with at Sue Anne’s?”
Ah, the joy of small towns. But he didn’t have to wonder
about who told Amanda about his date with Steph. “Karina told you.”
“And she said this woman was super pretty too.”
That was one hell of a compliment coming from the famous singer, but it was also an understatement. Steph was more than pretty. She was more than beautiful. She was more than gorgeous. She was perfect. “Yep,” was all he said.
“And I’m guessing from your recent display of dumpster abuse that things aren’t going great.”
Josh wasn’t used to talking about his feelings and he definitely wasn’t used to talking about his relationships, so it took a few seconds for him to find the right words. “It… I don’t think we were ever supposed to be anything. Everything was too fast and sudden. Not easy, like it’s supposed to be.”
He was expecting sympathy, but Amanda let out a bark of laughter. “Easy? Whoever told you it was easy?”
He blinked at her strange reaction. “Well, you and Justin work just right.”
“Yeah, now. But there were years when we didn’t even speak to each other. It wasn’t until tragedy struck that Justin and I were finally able to find each other again. Thinking back at the paths I could have gone down if things hadn’t happened like they did…” She let out a little shudder. “Just be grateful you didn’t meet the jackass I was dating before Justin.”
“Yeah, but you guys have true love,” pointed out Josh. “One way or another, you and Justin would find each other eventually.”
“Eventually. But there were a lot of years we missed in between because fate hadn’t worked out in our favor. What if I had gotten over my embarrassment and tracked him down? What if he had taken a chance and called me out of the blue? Listen, I’m forever grateful for what I have right now and how things went down, but let me just impart some of my wisdom down on you. Love is epic. Love is hard. And slamming dumpsters won’t do anything to mend a broken heart.”
“I only knew her for two days…” He said it weakly and even though it was true, it had felt like more. “Who finds something serious after only two days?”
Amanda shrugged. “I don’t know her and I never saw how you two get on, so it really isn’t my place to tell you what to do. But the way I see it, you have two options. You can move on, or you can not move on. Either way, remember the dumpster did nothing to hurt you.”
He nodded and thought about what she said. Did she have a point? Was it stupid to sit back and hope things worked out right? Maybe the reason he felt so strongly about Steph even though they’d just met was because this was something once-in-a-lifetime. Maybe the reason he couldn’t stop thinking about her was because he wasn’t supposed to stop thinking about her.
“Would it be possible to have the next few days off?” he asked.
Amanda smiled victoriously, revealing she wasn’t quite the impartial advisor. “On one condition.”
“Anything.”
“If you two get married, you do it at Mountain Ridge.”
~~~~~
Steph spun around in the chair again and again, allowing the dizziness to take over. All of this was almost done. Tomorrow, the final divorce papers would be signed and this whole mess could be put behind them. Her mother could try to move on with her pool boy toy and her father could openly parade his mistresses around for the first time in decades.
She should be stressed or worried or even embarrassed about the conduct of the two adults in her life who were supposed to be taking care of her. But in truth, all she could think about was Hope Falls. More specifically, the man she’d left behind in Hope Falls.
It had been six days and twelve hours since she had talked to him last and she was counting down the seconds until her self-imposed exile ended so she could give in to temptation and call him, just to hear his voice. Sometimes she wondered whether he would change his mind about being with her, but then she’d flash back to their time cuddled together in that comfortable little bed and she was so sure that any second her phone would ring and he’d be on the other end.
Just a few more hours…
Her phone rang then and she leapt up to answer it, but it was just AJ. She let out a sigh of disappointment as she answered it. “Where are you?”
“Nice to talk to you too,” deadpanned AJ.
She was in no mood for his sarcasm right now. “I’ve been waiting here for twenty minutes. Where are you?”
“I’m in my office. Dad just called and said he can’t make it. I let Mom know. She hadn’t even left yet so I’m guessing she wasn’t planning on showing up either.”
Steph glared around the empty conference room in annoyance. “So I’m here for no reason.”
“If it makes you feel better, I have something interesting to tell you. It might also terrify you, so we’ll see.”
She sat up straighter as she tried to figure out what the hell he was talking about. “Huh?”
“What would you say if I told you that a certain redneck was in the downstairs lobby asking about you?”
She stood up so fast that the chair went sliding out from under her and hit the glass wall of windows. “You’re not serious.”
“Well, is it a good thing or a bad? Because if I need to have security show him out—”
“No, it’s not bad. Where is he? How did he get here?”
“I might have told him that you had a meeting ending around now…”
“You!” She thought back to how he had been strangely absent all morning. “You never could keep a secret from me, you little scoundrel. I can’t believe you did this.” She ran out of the conference room and didn’t even care about all the strange looks she got as she slammed her finger into the down arrow at the elevator.
There were so many questions she wanted to ask AJ, but she was realizing the answers as she went along. After she’d left Hope Falls, she’d been in a total slump. Willa was out of town and AJ had been asking her to go out repeatedly and she’d turned him down every night. When he did see her, she’d tried to put on a happy face but he did know her better than anyone else. He must’ve realized how unhappy she was. AJ could be so selfish sometimes and so observant at others…
The second she walked into the lobby, she spotted Josh. He leaned against the security desk and rubbed the back of his neck. His back was to her but she would recognize those muscular shoulders anywhere.
She managed to slow her pace as she approached. “You’re early,” she said, causing him to turn around.
His brown eyes lit up when he saw her but the rest of his expression stayed really reserved. “You’re here,” he said.
She raised a brow. “Were you expecting someone else?”
“Your brother.”
“Well, this is a twist I wasn’t expecting.”
The corner of his mouth hooked up. “He was going to help me surprise you.”
“Here’s a tip. AJ sucks at keeping secrets from me.”
“Noted.”
There was a few seconds of silence and Steph remembered where they were. She motioned with her head for him to follow her. They left the office building until they were in the relative privacy of the street. There were more people out here, but less prying ears.
Josh put his hands in his pockets and shifted his weight. “You probably think I’m crazy.”
“No,” she said quickly. “Well, maybe a little. I can’t believe you’re here.” Her mind was still having a hard time reconciling Josh, who seemed so at one with the nature of Hope Falls, standing in the concrete and steel jungle of Chicago. She was still half convinced she was imagining it all… Before she realized what she was doing, she reached up to brush her fingers along his jaw, proving that he wasn’t just an apparition conjured by her subconscious.
“So I was thinking about asking you on another date,” he said.
She had to bite her cheek to keep from smiling too wide. “Oh really? Where were you thinking?”
“Well, we have a lot of options. There’s a great aquarium I heard about nearby, or, if you’re feeling really adventurous, there
’s a fantastic ice cream place called Two Scoops.”
She tried to think about the ice cream places she knew but the list was sadly small. “Where is it?”
“On Main Street, between the bowling alley and the book store.”
Her hand trailed down his arm until she reached his hand and their fingers intertwined.
“You’re happy I’m here, right?” he asked.
“Very happy,” she assured him.
“So, about that date?”
“I have a better idea.” She leaned into him, not able to get enough contact.
“What?”
“How about I show you my apartment?”
He smiled wickedly down at her. “I think you just described my dream date.”
She met his eyes and said with absolute conviction, “The first of many.”
~~~The End~~~
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Hope Falls: The Perfect Lie (Kindle Worlds Novella) Page 6
