“I think you could take him.” Jake laughed.
“Now this is awesome.” I said staring up at the ceiling at a dazzling chandelier and slumping down in my chair, so my neck was supported enough to take in the gleaming light above. It was like a million diamonds glistening in every direction.
“What can I get you?” I tilted my head to peer at the slender blonde bending to place two napkins from her tray down on the table that separated Jake from me.
I didn’t respond immediately, but heard Jake bellow, “Scotch and water, for me, and…”
“Oh,” I said sitting up and adjusting myself back into the seat properly. “Chardonnay, please.”
“Coming right up.” She winked at Jake, smiled at me and then with a turn of her stilettos and barely clad body, made her way back to the bartender turning back once to find us both ogling her.
“Why is everyone so overt?” I asked, turning my attention back to Jake.
“It’s kind of an L.A. thing,” he said with a shrug of his shoulders and a shit-eating grin on his face.
“No, dumb-dumb, it’s a you thing!”
“Don’t be jealous, K.K. If I remember right you could have had a piece of the great Jake Crawford, but refused only to leave me and fly back early to the waiting arms of my brother.” He clasped his hands over his chest playfully insinuating that I’d singlehandedly broken his heart.
“Did I pick the wrong brother, Jake?” I questioned, smiling and knowing I’d put him on the spot, but interested to hear his response.
“A week or so ago, I might have answered that differently, but I must say I’ve never seen my brother as happy as he’s been with you. He loves you K.K., you know that right?”
“Does he?” I replied.
“He does, and you love him. So, now what?” He looked directly at me, his eyes unwavering then reached for his hip, pulling his phone into view and staring at it before turning the screen towards me. There in full view was the smiling image of the beautiful man that had captured my heart. “Shall I answer this?”
“No,” I said, thankful to see my glass of Chardonnay coming along with the perfect smile of Malibu Barbie.
She handed me the glass of pale yellow wine, the glass opaque from the coolness of the liquid. I managed to barely utter, “thank you,” before taking the first swallow and allowing the cool fluid to gently flow down my throat, warming my belly instantly. “Ahh…”
“I can’t avoid him forever, nor can you.” He placed his phone, face down, on the arm of the chair and looked over at me. “Josh, is a great guy, K.K. I’m not just saying that because he’s my brother, he’s the truest, most authentic person I know. He doesn’t take anything lightly. I assure you nothing happened in that bathroom.”
“From the way she came out all smiles, licking her lips - no less, she sure tried to make me think otherwise.” I stared at my wine and then downed the rest in two big gulps. I looked up at Jake who was shaking his head and waving his hand to our waitress for another Chardonnay. “I don’t know what happened, but it happened at the office which makes the whole incident doubly bad. And, your father, oh my god! Did your father see me hit her? What can I possibly say to excuse that sort of behavior? Fuckshitfuckfuck!”
“Don’t sweat my dad. He adores you. He’s already running interference at the office and I guarantee you, no one will mention it - ever!”
“Chardonnay, Honey?” The waitress bent down next to my chair, taking my empty glass and handing me a newly filled one.
“You’re very pretty,” I blurted out for some absurd reason.
“Here, here!” said Jake, holding his glass in the air.
“Thank you. You’re not so bad yourself.” She smiled and stood up.
“Here, here!” Jake repeated, holding up his glass for the second time and all three of us laughed.
I could hear my phone vibrating in my purse and looked down, but didn’t move to get it. It finally stopped and I took a long sip of my wine. I looked over at Jake sipping his Scotch and rolling his eyes at me when his phone started ringing. He didn’t move it up to look at the screen, instead holding the screen to me knowing what I’d see - Josh.
“Ugh…relentless!” I took a swig of wine and hopped to my feet. “Bathroom?”
“To the right, over there in the corner, or out in the lobby.” He said, turning his phone back down, not hitting answer to my surprise.
I walked through the lobby in search of the bathroom and admired the beauty of the building and the beautiful people that were checking in. It was certainly a hip place based on the clientele. I found the bathroom and made my way in, taking a glance in the mirror as I passed, and thinking I felt as tired as I appeared. No wonder Jake had made the comment about my appearance; I looked like shit and felt worse. What the hell was I going to do?
I peed, fluffed my hair, made my way out the door, and headed back to Teddy’s. I hoped to find a fresh glass of Chardonnay at the table, but knew that the third glass was probably more than called for, in my already pissed, exhausted, and saddened state.
I sat down in the chair next to Jake, instead of the chair opposite him, and smiled. There before me was Malibu Barbie and my fresh glass of Chardonnay. “You’re the best.”
“So you keep telling me,” he said, handing the waitress at hundred-dollar bill.
“Thank you,” she smiled, grabbed the tip and sashayed away.
“Nice!” I replied. “Big Tipper.”
Jake winked at me and turned to look at his buzzing phone. “My dad,” he said.
“Get it, Jake,” I said, “Don’t not get it because of me. You’re right I can’t hide forever.”
Jake hit answer and I could see in an instant it wasn’t the conversation I’d thought I’d hear. No, it was full of “yes, sirs”, “I understand” and “okays,” than suddenly he was spouting off our location and staring at me.
“What?” I asked.
“Um…,” he stuttered, and remained steadfast in his stare, but not speaking.
Everything at that point seemed so unclear and when I heard my own phone ring, I reached for my purse to see Benny’s face on the screen. I knew he wouldn’t call if it wasn’t important, so I put my bewildered state with Jake’s un-answering awkwardness aside and grabbed my phone.
“Hello,” I said. “What’s up Benny?”
“Honey, I took your Dad to the doctor’s today and I’m afraid I have bad news. He went in for a routine heart check-up and they found forty percent blockage in one valve and sixty percent in another.” He kept speaking, but I couldn’t quite put my head around his words.
“What?” I said, staring at Jake and then looking at the door as Josh made his way into the room. “What are you saying, Benny, I don’t understand?”
“K.K. your Dad’s in the hospital, they took him to the operating room to do a simple heart catheterization, but he had a stroke. He’s not well, Baby, you need to come home.”
“A what?” I heard something, but couldn’t put the words together. I was looking at Josh as he approached us, trying to decipher the words that Benny has just spoken and Jake was looking at me like he’d just gotten sucker punched, but I was the one about to puke.
“Stroke,” Benny repeated. “You need to come home.”
Acknowledgements
First and foremost, thank you for purchasing my novel, MERGER. No matter how you ended up with this book – friend, review, search, or just by chance, I’m grateful. This has been a true labor of love and a longtime dream in the making.
MERGER UNDONE, book 2 in the MERGER series will be out in the fall of 2014.
I want give a special “thank you” to my family. My husband and best friend, Derek, as well as my two children, Darby and Crawford, who patiently watched as I plugged away every night and most weekends to finish this project. I can’t thank them enough for their love and support. You guys rock!
I had an idea of how I wanted to make this all happen, but realized soon that “it takes a s
mall village” to really grasp the magnitude of writing and publishing a book. Not to mention, promotion and creating a brand. So, it goes without saying that I have to give a shout out to my friends at Coopwood Communications – Scott Coopwood, Austin Christmas and the amazingly cool, Phil Schank. They listened intently, as I excitedly rolled out my plans for a website and my vision of who I was and where I wanted to be. The results are amazing (www.heathermiles.net). Not to mention, the incredible article that was written about me in my local newspaper. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
Now, for the ever cool, super supportive, number one editor, Deb Hartwell (www.hartwellediting.com), who took on my project and turned it around in no time flat. Your finesse with handling me and my writing is second to none. I couldn’t have done it without you. And cheers to you for editing an unbelievable amount of smiles.
Finally, to my beloved mom who told me before she left this world that it was time to do something for me – thank you. I did it!
Heather M. Miles
About the Author
Heather Miles, originally from Kansas City, but a transplant to one of the most culturally diverse places the country, The Mississippi Delta, lives in Cleveland, Mississippi.
She writes Contemporary Romance by night, and is the Director of Revenue Cycle Management for a Federally Qualified Health Center, by day.
She received a dual degree in English and Psychology from the University of Missouri at Kansas City.
She lives in Cleveland with her husband, two children and two dogs.
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