“Jesus, Vic. I’m worried about you getting fired. How the hell did we go from you shirking your responsibilities to me being a bastard?”
“Oh, God, Cole. Sorry. I’m such a mess with all the wedding preparations.” Her pink-tinted lips dotted my cheek. “I need to hit the treadmill so I can fit into my dress. See you at lunch.”
“Vic, wait.” Christ. I couldn’t wait for the wedding to be over. The moment I’d proposed and put that ring on her finger, she’d hit the ground running, leaving me dumbfounded, choking on her dust.
My cell rang.
“Love you, babe. See you soon.” With a pat to my chest, she sauntered away to work out at a gym she hated.
Deep down, I knew lunch wasn’t her motive for showing up; otherwise, we’d have met at a Victoria-approved restaurant. Something was up. Had I not been distracted by a call from my father, I would’ve locked her in my office and made her talk. Instead, I answered my cell and followed her back downstairs.
“Hey, Dad.”
“How’s my boy?”
“Doing great.”
“And that lady of yours?”
“Perfect. How’s the knee?”
“Therapist said I’m back to working order.”
“Good to hear. You gonna come by, go a round?”
“Ha!” He barked a belly laugh. “Learned my lesson the last time. I’ll leave the fighting to you young punks.” When I was a kid, Dad loved getting in the ring with me. He wasn’t trained, but that never stopped my old man. Hands on, my dad, even if he suffered an ill-timed hit or two. Wasn’t until years later, he told me it made his heart soar to see the way my confidence grew with those gloves on.
“And the gym? How’re things coming along?”
“Renovations on the apartments upstairs are due to start next month.”
“That’s perfect, Son. Can’t wait to hear all about it. Lunch next week?”
“See you then. Love ya, Dad.”
“Love you too, Cole.”
I stood on the last step, scanning the space. Victoria was MIA, but Martin and Ellis stood in the entrance to one of the training rooms, each leaning against a doorjamb, arms crossed, lovesick smiles on their faces.
I came behind the two lugs, about to make my presence known, when I caught sight of the scene. Lacey lay on her back, the instructor crouched over her, giving instructions. All the other students watched with rapt attention. All but one.
Natalie stood, arms crossed, the heel of one bare foot perched on the other, her gaze narrowed, not on the floor, but at Victoria, who stood at the opposite corner of the room, cheeks red, chest rising and falling as if she’d sprinted a mile. Victoria wasn’t watching the class either, but had her ire aimed at Martin and Ellis, looking ready to blow. What the fuck?
I stepped between my brothers. Victoria’s eyes widened. She smiled, raised a hand, then disappeared around the corner.
“Jesus. Look at you lovesick bastards.” I gripped their shoulders. “Give the ladies some privacy.”
Ellis shrugged me off, his puppy dog eyes heartwarming.
Martin, on the other hand, leaned closer, voice low, almost genuine. “Why’s she taking a self-defense class?”
“She’s your girlfriend. Ask her,” was all I offered. Wasn’t my business. Victoria, however, was my business. “Either one of you say something to piss off Vic?”
Martin grunted a, “No.”
Ellis mumbled, “Haven’t talked to her in days, why?”
“Nothing. Never mind.”
I checked my clock for the fifth time, then curled my hand around the beer glass, giving it a swirl, the dancing foam a flimsy distraction from my swelling aggravation. Wasn’t like Victoria to be late.
“Seriously?” A voice floated over my shoulder. “I see you everywhere. My coffee shop, my favorite restaurant, my bar.”
“My gym,” I added, trying not to smile.
Ouch. Her laugh pinched my chest.
I turned to face Natalie, my breath catching. She wore a black dress, tight around her chest, but falling loose to just above her knees, and black heels that— Fuck, I was staring again.
“Like it’s fate or something,” I joked, though humor eluded me.
“Why’re you pouting into your beer alone?” Ellis clapped my back, then claimed the empty stool next to mine, and I wondered what the hell was happening.
“Hi, Cole.” Lacey came around Natalie, dropped a kiss on my cheek. “I thought you weren’t able to join us tonight,” she said, sliding between Ellis’s knees.
“I wasn’t. I mean, we weren’t. Vic wanted a night alone. Said she read about this place. Wanted to meet here.”
Of all the bars in all of King County, she’d picked the very same one Natalie was at. Just my fucking luck.
“Imagine that,” Natalie mumbled, then shimmied onto the barstool next to Ellis, effectively putting a mountain between us. Good play. I was in no mood to banter with the temptress.
“Where’s Martin?” came out gruff.
“On his way,” Ellis said, gesturing to the bartender.
I turned back to my beer, catching sight of Natalie through the mirror behind the bar. The blue lighting in the dark space amplified the silver shimmer in her eyes. My chest beat something fierce. The room blurred, then snapped back into focus, making my head spin, desire and guilt a nauseating cocktail.
Minutes passed, slow and soggy, drenched with stolen glances and forced restraint. Drinks were bought. Conversation shared. We moved from the bar to a table. I switched to hard liquor.
I called Victoria. She didn’t answer.
Martin arrived twenty minutes after we’d been seated. We said our hellos. He embraced Natalie, moved in for a kiss, but she gave him her cheek. Her rejection made me happy, and a fucking bastard.
Victoria arrived ten minutes later. Relief washed through me, and I stood to greet her. She sauntered my way, her killer curves and hungry smile all for me.
When she caught sight of the table, she faltered in her red heels, but righted herself before anyone who didn’t know her tells could notice. Shoulders back, chin high, she greeted everyone, hugging my brothers but only acknowledging the other ladies. I waited for her to sit, settled into my chair, and kissed her neck, then whispered, “You’re gorgeous, you know that?”
Her shoulders relaxed. I kissed her again. Inhaled. “New perfume?”
“What?”
“You smell different.”
Hands trembling, she cupped my jaw, pulling us face to face, mouth to mouth. She laughed. “Martin’s cologne. He hugged me. Now I’ll reek of him all night.”
“Ellis and I have told him a million times to tone it down. The guy doesn’t get it.”
When we kissed, my stomach settled. “I want you to myself. Let’s get our own table.”
“No. That would be rude. We’ll have a few drinks, then you can take me home. I bought something special for you.”
“Yeah?” I leaned in for another nibble of those lips I rarely tasted.
“Mmhmm.” She put a finger to my mouth. “But you’ll have to get me naked to find it.”
Jesus, how long had it been since I’d sunk between those creamy thighs? “I’ve had enough to drink. Let’s go now.”
Natalie laughed at something Lacey said, and my heart slammed against my rib cage. Victoria lifted my whiskey to her lips and finished it in one swallow. “Let’s stay a little longer.”
We stayed too long. Enjoyed too many drinks. Natalie and Victoria didn’t speak, but Lacey made an effort to include Victoria in the conversation. I loved her for trying.
I made eye contact with Natalie only twice by accident.
Lacey excused herself to the ladies’ room. Martin followed suit. Lacey returned. Victoria excused herself. I stared at my drink, studied the handblown glass light fixtures on the ceiling, calculated the blonde to brunette ratio in the room, anything to keep from staring at that damn temptress sitting across the table.
Lacey and
Natalie, clearly inebriated and having a blast, told funny stories of growing up together.
Ellis shared the story about when he was four and used his dad’s razor to give the dog a haircut. Natalie laughed so hard she cried.
I wanted to lick her tears. I wanted to make her cry. I needed to leave and never look at her again.
I ordered another drink.
Ellis and Lacey kissed. Natalie stared at me, cheeks flushed, lips stretched in a cute smirk. She rolled her eyes, made a funny face, then snapped a picture of the couple with her cell. Before tucking her phone away, she aimed the camera my way and said, “Say cheese.”
I laughed. The knots in my gut loosened.
We could be friends. I could do that. For Ellis.
I checked my phone. Victoria had been gone for ten minutes.
Martin returned, shirt rumpled, reeking of smoke.
“You see Vic back there?”
“Yeah. She’s on the balcony.” He pointed over his shoulder. “Said she needed some fresh air.”
I joined my fiancée outside, the night sky refreshing. When our lips met, I tasted whiskey and smoke. “I thought you quit.”
“Sorry. I’m trying, Cole. It’s just hard, watching those cunt—” She shook her head. Swallowed. “They hate me. And I’m trying. For your sake, I’m trying.”
“You’re brave, baby. I appreciate your efforts, but if it’s hurting you, we can go.”
“I don’t deserve you.” She stared through the glass doors, our table visible at the end of the long hallway. Martin’s arm hung loose over Natalie’s shoulder.
Victoria mumbled, “Hands off…” but her words were carried away by the warm breeze.
“What did you say?” I asked.
“Nothing,” she snapped, cheeks blazing, eyes narrowed. “Can we go?”
“Yeah. Let me hit the head. I’ll call for a car.”
“I can drive,” she said, words clipped.
“You’ve had more to drink than I have.”
She opened her mouth to argue, but I pinched her lips and shook my head. “We’ve both had too much to drink.”
“Yeah. You’re right.”
“Meet you at the table?”
“Meet me outside.” She walked away, her gait only a tad shakier than mine.
Two men stood at the bathroom sink. Suits and shiny hair. They shot me simultaneous nods and continued their conversation.
“You hear those two going at it in here?”
“Fuck, yeah. That bitch was hot.”
“Pretty sure she came twice.”
“In five minutes.”
“Wager a Benjamin on which one of us can get a lady in here first?”
“Deal.”
They shook hands. Washed. Left.
I laughed. I’d fucked in a bathroom stall once in college. Wasn’t easy. We were both drunk and horny. I came. She didn’t. Never saw her again.
Victoria would shudder at the thought of sex in a public setting. My cock ached. I needed to get my fiancée good and naked.
She passed out on the drive home. I carried her to bed. When I tried to help her undress, she slapped my hands away. I set a glass of water and pain relievers on her nightstand.
In the shower, I stroked my raging hard on, imagining a blond beauty wrapped around me, back pinned against a bathroom stall, riding my cock and screaming her release. Only it wasn’t Victoria’s cries I heard. It was Natalie’s. And it was Natalie I saw when I came all over my hand.
I cranked the hot water and washed away the shame. God, I was such an asshole.
I crawled into bed, head pounding, gut churning, and curled my arms around my fiancée.
She reeked of whiskey and smoke. I held her tighter, guilt settling like a set of kettlebells in my chest.
I vowed to never jack off to another woman.
Natalie and I could not be friends. I could never see her again.
“Oh, my God. You’re everywhere,” came the voice I tried to disdain yet heard every time my eyes closed. “Is any street corner safe?” she teased.
I shifted my attention from the construction crew across the street. There she stood, a lone daisy in a concrete wasteland, bright eyes, brighter smile. Tan plaid coat over faded jeans and a white T-shirt. Glasses with a pale pink frame that matched her jacket and her lips. Hair piled on top of her head in a just-rolled-out-of-bed way. “Hey, Natalie.”
Cars weaved through the busy intersection behind her. Above the mostly gray buildings, the clouds hung thick and dark, promising a downpour. Stormy like those silver, beguiling eyes of hers. She belonged on a billboard or the cover of a magazine. A city girl, if ever I’d seen one.
“You stalking me? Do I have to file a restraining order against you, too?” She laughed.
I wanted to hit something, but instead felt for the little gold trinket in my pocket and rubbed its smooth edges. “Your ex still harassing you?”
“I haven’t seen him in a coupla weeks.”
“Good.” My chest deflated. “How are the classes?” I’d avoided the gym during class hours to avoid bumping into Natalie, putting the whole out of sight, out of mind theory to work.
“Great! Thank you for suggesting them.” She adjusted her purse strap higher on her shoulder, her smile bulldozing my rectitude.
“Good,” I repeated, apparently struck dumb by her beauty.
Lifting her head, she squinted. “I joined your gym.” Her nose crinkled, as if waiting for me to protest.
“I heard.”
Since then, I’d taken to using the back entrance to my office and getting my workouts in before sunrise to avoid bumping into her. It was then I realized how fucked my life had become. A man of honor should be able to resist temptation. Shouldn’t have to rearrange his life because a woman who wasn’t his fiancée stole his thoughts, conscious and otherwise.
“Something wrong?”
“No.” I wanted to hate her. I wanted to hurt her for making me weak. “Nothing. Why?”
“You seem distracted.”
I pretended to be interested in a passing BMW. “Meeting my dad for lunch.”
“Oh.” She shoved her hands into the front pocket of her jeans. “That a bad thing?”
“No. Why?”
A shrug. “Like I said, you seem distracted.”
She had no right to care. She had no fucking right to be concerned for my emotional wellness. I was such a bastard for liking that she’d asked. I had to end the poison between us.
“Natalie. Look, here’s the thing. You and Victoria share a past. I don’t know what happened. But there’s tension whenever the two of you are in a room together. She’s going to be my wife. I have to have her back. Be in her corner. Understand?”
My gut tightened when she stumbled back a step.
Gaze dropped to the ground, she mumbled, “Sure. Sure, I get it. Being friendly with me feels like you’re betraying her.”
“Yes.”
She scratched her forehead. Angry eyes lifted to meet mine. “So when we bump into each other, like we seemed cursed to do, should I pretend like I don’t know you?”
Cursed was a little harsh. “That’s not what I’m saying.”
“Really?” Her right brow lifted.
Aw, shit. The woman was pissed.
“So what should I do exactly? Pretend I don’t see you and keep on walking? Or maybe I should forget the years of torture, the four years of therapy, and next time we’re all in a room together give Victoria a big ol’ bearhug, thank her for the scars I wear, inside and out. Let her off the hook. Is that what I should do, so that life can be more comfortable for you?”
“She’s trying.”
Stepping closer, she pounded a pointed finger into her chest. “I’m trying, too, for Lacey.”
“You wanted to know why I’m distracted. I answered.” God, I was an ass.
“I’m the reason you’re distracted? Me?” Hands to hips, she stepped closer, raising her chin in challenge. “We agreed to be fri
ends. I’m being friendly.”
“Maybe I can’t—”
“Cole.” Dad cut me off, his large arm coming around my shoulder.
I hadn’t noticed his approach. I stepped away from the fiery woman. She stood her ground.
“Who’s the lovely lady?” my father asked.
“Dad, this is Natalie King. Martin’s girlfriend.”
“King?” Dad offered his hand. “Any relation to Joe King?”
Natalie gave him a firm shake and a genuine smile. “That’s my uncle. You know him?”
“He’s the only man I trust with my finances.”
“Wow. Small world.” She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “Well, nice to meet you.”
“You, too.” Dad shot me a glance, then asked, “Why don’t you join us for lunch?”
“Oh. Thank you, really, but I have an appointment.” She pointed across the street.
“Pleasure to meet you, Natalie,” Dad said, clueless to the tension.
“You, too.” Natalie offered Dad a small wave, shot daggers my way, mumbled, “Cole,” and punched the button for the crossing signal.
I glued my gaze to my father so as not to watch her walk away, so as not to give away my unfaithful thoughts. I only relaxed when, through my periphery, I noted she’d made it across the street and inside the building opposite from where we stood.
“Shame what happened to that girl.”
“What do you mean?”
“If I remember right, she was tormented in high school. There was a big scandal involving her and her cousins, Joe’s kids.”
“Didn’t know that.”
“She’s a fighter, though. Didn’t quit or move away. Earned a full ride at UW. Shall we head inside? I’m famished.”
We were seated at our usual table beside the window. Only after we’d ordered did I dare a look across the street. The name on the building Natalie had entered read Joyspring Wellness Center.
L.O.V.E. Page 8
