Hard As Stone

by K. M. Scott

  Focused on grabbing another beer from the refrigerator, Cole didn’t seem to notice my reference to being happy with Summer, thankfully. I didn’t feel like explaining that to him, a committed and habitual bachelor.

  To be honest, I wasn’t sure I understood it myself. She wasn’t really my type. Well, at least not the type of woman I’d traditionally spent time with. She had been part of the reason my life had been turned upside down and now I was stuck working in the prison of Stone Worldwide as a pencil pusher. There was no good reason I should even think of her as anything but a huge mistake I shouldn’t make again.

  Yet still, I couldn’t stop thinking of her, even today as she and Tressa ambushed me.

  “So what’s the over-under on how long you last at the family business before Tristan or Tressa throw you out of the building themselves or kill you? I’d like to get in on that action,” Cole joked, shaking me from my thoughts of how much I missed some of the things Summer and I did together.

  He sat back down on his stool on the other side of the kitchen island and laughed at me when I threw him the finger. “I’m just wondering. You don’t find too many sure bets in this world, so when you do, you jump on them.”

  “Maybe I’ll just leave on my own,” I said with all the false bravado I could muster.

  The truth was I couldn’t just leave. I’d made a deal with my parents, and as much as I hated the fact that they’d called it in when that whole Belle business went bad, I lived up to my word.

  “Maybe. But since I don’t understand why you went there in the first place, I sense that you got yourself into something that’s keeping you in that building every day nine-to-five.”

  Nobody but my parents and possibly Tressa knew about the deal I’d made back when I was twenty. I never told a single friend about it. I never thought I’d have to. I may not have been the best photographer in the world, but I knew what I could do with my talent combined with my mother’s contacts and a dash of my charm. At least I thought I knew back then. So I made the deal with them.

  If I could make a living on taking pictures professionally that would enable me to pay for the Upper East Side place I wanted, then I wouldn’t have to go to work at the family business. But if I ever couldn’t, there would be no turning to Mom and Dad for help. I’d have to work at Stone Worldwide.

  And the week after Belle got rid of me, I knew for sure that time had come since there wasn’t a magazine around that wanted to work with me. Summer had been right. Julia Carmon was nasty. More than nasty. I had other words for her the day I found out what she was telling everyone at other magazines, and bitch was the nicest of them.

  That was two months ago, the longest two months of my life. Well, the second longest.

  Cole poked me on the arm, and I looked up still lost in thought. “What?”

  “You’ve got a call coming in,” he said, pointing toward the living room wall where the TV hung.

  “Fuck. I didn’t put the away message on. Why the hell do I never seem to remember that lately? I swear to God if it’s Tressa, I’m not holding back.”

  Egging me on, Cole jumped off the stool to follow me into the room. “Get her! Show her who’s boss!”

  Just before the person’s image came up on the screen, I turned around to see him laughing. “Fuck you, Cole. Remind me again why I asked you over tonight?”

  With that smart ass grin of his plastered on his face, he raised his bottle in the air and said, “Because I’m a fucking good time, and you sorely need that in your life right now. By the way, my money’s on you in this fight, man. You can take her.”

  “Fucking ass.”

  I turned back toward the screen to see not my sister but one of the models I’d spent time with back when my life involved beautiful women and beaches and not the misery of nine-to-five behind a desk. Ilsa Stanton’s gorgeous face in HD paled only to seeing her in real life. Tall enough to nearly match my six foot two height, she had green eyes the color of moss the camera loved, a perfect mouth, and a body that didn’t quit. We’d gotten together a few times after I shot her for a cover of a European magazine early in my career, but I hadn’t heard from her in a few years.

  “Ethan, it’s so great to see you again. How are you?” she asked with a sexy lilt in her voice.

  I had no idea if she knew about what had happened to me, but I’d heard she got engaged to some Swedish businessman. Was she married?

  “I’m good. I haven’t seen you in way too long, Ilsa. What’s new?”

  Her mouth formed a pout, and she tilted her head to the right so her hair fell over her face. “I heard you got fired. That’s so wrong, you know? You were so sweet, not like those other photographers who were all handsy all the time. I mean, everyone involved was always an adult, so what’s the problem? Americans can be so provincial sometimes.”

  So she had heard. Great. That meant I had to play it casual, as if having my life ruined was cool, which meant I had to fall back on that rich boy shit I hated.

  “You know how it is, Ilsa. Don’t worry about me. You know my story. I’ll be fine with or without that world. So what brings you to me tonight?”

  None of that bullshit was true. I never liked to throw my family’s money around as proof that I didn’t care about not being able to do something I loved, and not just because it was a lie. I didn’t like it because I hated the idea that people thought of me as simply some trust fund fucker who didn’t care about anything or anyone because I’d been born into money. Anyone who thought that about me was dead wrong.

  “I need some new headshots, so of course I thought of you. Can you help me out? I’ll make it worth your while,” she said in a way even the dumbest man could understand was an invitation to sample the goodies.

  As much as I hated to admit it, I missed this. The flirting with beautiful women was definitely one of the perks of my former job.

  “I thought I heard you were engaged to be married,” I said with a chuckle.

  That pretty pout of hers appeared once more. “I was, but he wasn’t for me. He was so serious. No more businessmen for me. He wanted me to give him babies immediately, and I had to break it off with him. No babies for me yet.”

  Pleased to hear she wasn’t off-limits, I smiled. “I’m sure I can do something to help you out. Let me call you later in the week.”

  Ilsa’s perfect mouth transformed from a sultry pout to a broad smile full of straight, white teeth. “I knew you would help. Thank you, Ethan. I’m so happy now.”

  The call ended, and I turned around to see Cole staring at the screen with his mouth hanging open. “Dude, you look like some high school nerd who can’t get laid.”

  He pointed at the screen and shook his head. “That woman was gorgeous. Holy fuck! I knew you used to hang around beautiful women, but that’s more than just beautiful. I think I might be in love.”

  Cole wasn’t wrong. Ilsa was stunning. If he saw her half-naked in a tiny bikini that barely covered those perfect tits, he might fall over dead. But as I thought back to our time together, I remembered why she and I didn’t stay in touch. The woman brought nothing but drama to everything. Other women hated her, ex-boyfriends were evil, and no one truly understood her.

  Nothing but drama. No fun. Just good sex and way too much hassle outside the bedroom.

  “What’s that face for? You look like you just tasted rotten food. What kind of guy makes that face after talking to a woman like that?” Cole asked in disgust.

  “She’s hot, no doubt, but she comes with a lot of bullshit too. Drama like you’ve never seen,” I explained as I grabbed another beer from the refrigerator.

  “I’d take that kind of drama. In fact, I’d take it first thing in the morning, for a lunchtime snack, and then later at night,” Cole joked with a grin.

  I saw his point, but Ilsa’s drama had been too much for me. I needed more. “Yeah, I guess, but I swear to God I never laughed even once all the times I was with her.”

  Cole twisted his face in
to a look of disgust and confusion. “Never laughed? Who fucking cares about laughing with a woman like that? That’s what you have friends for. TV. Movies. A million other things I can’t think of at the moment, but not women. Women aren’t for laughing, dude.”

  I swallowed the rest of my old beer and tossed the bottle in the garbage. “Yeah, you’re right. If I want to spend time with a clown, I can call you.”

  He laughed at my insult and threw me the finger like old friends did, but I couldn’t help but think how much I liked feeling comfortable enough with a woman to be able to laugh with her.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Summer

  I saw the elevator doors closing and ran full speed down the hallway, praying to God with every step that I didn’t twist my ankle in my heels and go careening to the floor like a fool. Nothing like making an impression that you’re a clumsy idiot on your second official day of work at a new employer.

  “Please hold the elevator!” I cried out as the doors came within an inch of one another.

  A hand grabbed hold of one of them and I breathed a sigh of relief as they slowly began to open. That relief was instantly replaced with utter anxiety when I saw who that hand belonged to.

  Ethan.

  Quickly, I tried to compose myself as I stepped into the elevator with him. A bead of sweat trickled down my neck from my hallway run, making me squirm as I pushed my shoulder blades together to stop it from running all the way down my back. Thankfully, Ethan stood staring straight ahead and didn’t bother to look over at me as I gyrated like a damned idiot.

  That he couldn’t even meet my gaze bothered me, but at that very moment, I had to admit I was thankful for his refusal to admit I existed. Once I solved my sweaty back problem, I had less patience with his rudeness, though.

  “Thirty-fifth floor,” I said as he stood there waiting for some direction.

  That was a lie. I wasn’t going to the executive suites. Why the hell would I be going up there? It wasn’t like Ethan’s father and I had anything to discuss without Tressa standing there. God, this man still had the ability to make me crazy months after we stopped seeing one another.

  My gaze floated over the back of him as he stood ramrod straight in front of me. Like everything else, the dark grey suit he wore looked incredible on his muscular, toned body. His hair looked a little longer in the back and came over the collar of his white dress shirt. I had to resist the urge to run my fingers over his hair to see if it still felt as soft as I remembered it.

  Floor after floor passed as we stood there in silence with me perched at the back of the elevator and Ethan hovering near the doors like he couldn’t wait for them to open so he could bolt out away from me. By the twenty-fifth floor, I couldn’t stand it anymore. I had to say something.

  And what came out of my mouth?

  “For such a nice building, this elevator sure is slow.”

  It really was a wonder why anyone at all spoke to me. God, why didn’t I say something interesting?

  He didn’t utter a word in response. I didn’t even get a perfunctory, fellow employee polite nod to acknowledge he’d heard me. Just complete silence of the deafening variety.

  So I nervously cleared my voice and tried again. “Not that that’s a bad thing. Time away from the office can be nice.”

  There was no device created to measure how little improvement that was from my first statement. For Ethan, though, neither one caused him to even flinch the tiniest bit.

  As the seconds ticked by, my blood began to boil. We might not ever be anything but co-workers, but this ignoring people was downright rude. Stepping forward, I looked up at him as he continued to stare ahead at the silver metal doors in front of us and waited for him to look at me.

  But he didn’t. Not even the tiniest movement to acknowledge another human being was standing next to him. A human being he once spent an entire night making love to and then served breakfast in bed when she told him she didn’t think she could walk ever again. That human stood next to him and still he couldn’t even glance over at me.

  A few seconds more of his brand of shunning and something inside me snapped. “I know you can hear me, Ethan.”

  Still nothing. Christ, this guy had mastered the art of being a complete and utter dick.

  “So is this how you treat people who you once slept with? You’re a real class act, Mr. Stone. A real class act.”

  Not even the tiniest movement in response. I watched for anything—two blinks when there should have been only one, a slightly deeper inhale of breath, any sign my words were being heard—but he acted like there was no one standing not even twelve inches away from him.

  “Nothing? You don’t a single word for me? We spent nearly every night together for an entire month and you can’t even say hi or ask how I’ve been?”

  I waited, but he didn’t respond, so I snapped, “You know what? Fuck you, Ethan. Fuck you.”

  A moment later, the elevator reached the thirty-fifth floor, and the doors opened. Ethan bolted out into the executive suite with its shiny black marble floor, and a few seconds later, the doors in front of me closed. The last thing I saw of him was his back as he slowly walked toward Tristan Stone’s office.

  I pressed the round number one button, making it light up, and hoped no one would interrupt my drop to the first floor as tears welled in my eyes. I shook my head to fight them off, feeling foolish for ever thinking I could be anything to someone like Ethan. He’d told me all I needed to know when he practically blackmailed me to join him in his plan to fool his family, so even though he had turned into the world’s biggest dick, I couldn’t blame him for doing exactly as he said he would.

  The only blame belonged to me for falling in love with him.

  As the elevator slowly descended more than thirty floors, I realized I left my gloves at my desk. I frantically pressed the button for the twelfth floor and hoped I could run to my office, grab them, and be back on the elevator before Ethan descended to his office.

  Another run down the hallway, this time to my office, and I found my gloves on my desk just where I’d left them a few minutes ago. As I turned to leave for the day once more, I heard Tressa call my name.

  “Summer, please come in here. I want to speak to you.”

  If only I hadn’t forgotten those damn gloves. Now if she asked me how I was doing with my real job for her, I’d have to tell her the truth.

  I had succeeded at nothing but being an epic failure.

  Tressa sat behind her enormous cherry wood desk with the light from the window behind her illuminating her nearly black hair that hung way past her shoulders. As I stepped into the room, her dark eyes focused on me and watched my every move as I inched my way toward her sheepishly. Two days on the job and already I had to disappoint her. Things were not starting off well.

  “So, how are you coming along on your assignment?” she asked, her red stained lips smiling as she spoke.

  I stopped walking toward her and looked down toward the grey carpet to avoid facing her. “Not so good. I just tried to talk to him in the elevator and he acted like I wasn’t even there.”

  “Typical Ethan. He can be so difficult, but don’t worry. I know that look he had in my father’s office. I think I might have underestimated how much he cares for you.”

  Lifting my head, I looked at her in shock. “Underestimated how much he cares for me? He looked like he wanted to kill someone.”

  “Not in his eyes. In them, I saw how upset he was. That wasn’t anger.”

  “No offense, but I didn’t see that at all.”

  She waved off my real concern that I’d never get him to speak to me again as if it were a mere trifle. “Trust me. Triplets know one another very well. Too well, sometimes. I’m not worried. Keep talking to him.”

  “Do you think maybe someone else would be better for the job? I mean, I want to keep this job more than you can know, but after what just happened in the elevator between us, I’m not sure he’ll ever talk to m
e again. I’m sure he blames me for losing his job. That might not be something he can ever forgive.”

  I truly wanted to keep this job, but I was prepared to accept being let go for failing. I’d just have to go stay with my parents for a little while. Maybe that’s what I should have done when Tressa approached me with this plan.

  But she didn’t seem concerned at all. “Don’t worry. He’ll come around. I have a good feeling about this,” Tressa said far more confidently than I felt. “I know what I saw in his eyes. Trust me. You’ve only been at it for a couple days. Give it a little while. In the meantime, you and I are going to be planning a party for my mother’s show that’s coming up early next month, so be ready to go first thing in the morning. In the meantime, have faith. I always get what I want, and I want Ethan back to photography and out of Stone Worldwide and I believe you’re the person to get him there.”

  “Can I ask why you think that?”

  As if she’d been waiting for me to ask that very question, she immediately answered, “That night when you two were at my parents’ house for dinner I got a good feeling from you. You’re smart, level-headed, and genuine. My brother has never been with anyone like that in his entire life. Yes, I know he was running some scam, but the fact that you two spent a month together after you told him you wouldn’t lie anymore tells me he cared about you. I think he still does. In fact, I think you’re looking at this all wrong. It isn’t a matter of him wanting you again. It should be a matter of if you want him again after behavior like you just told me about.”

  The way Tressa talked, I was in the driver seat about this whole Ethan thing, but it didn’t feel like I was. “I think you have me confused with someone like you. I’m sure men fall all over you because of how you look and how wealthy you are. I’m nothing like that.”

  Again, she waved away my concern like she was swatting away a bug. “Nonsense. You’re a beautiful woman who has a lot to offer. So you aren’t wealthy. So what? No man who marries me will be getting my money, and they find that out very quickly when I begin seeing them. And still they want to see me. So I have nothing more than you do, except confidence, and that can be learned quite easily. Stick with me, Summer. If you want my brother back, I have no doubt you’ll have him. And if you don’t, that’s his loss and some other man’s gain. Never forget that.”