“You want me to what? Oh, no. No, no.” Laurel shook her head and took a step back, though that only put her back up against a wall. “James, I can’t.”
James took a step towards her and didn’t miss the fear in her eyes. “Okay, tell me why. Why won’t you come to the gala?”
“Because, well, just because. I can’t.” Because everyone from her past would be there, and every effort she’d made to remain hidden would be rendered pointless. “I’m sorry, but I won’t be able to make it.”
James studied her. Her refusal to accompany him to Apollo Records’ annual charity gala was the oddest thing. Not to mention it came on the heels of all the other odd sidestepping, evading, and omitting that she continued to do whenever the subject of her family and her work came up. Not to mention that, they’d been dating for a month, and he’d never seen where she lived. She had just told him that it was in Brooklyn and nowhere near the kind of place he would want to see.
He’d let her evade. Until now.
There was little more frustrating than falling in love with a woman who, by all rights, he barely knew. Their relationship had quickly progressed from casual dating to exclusivity, and they’d been as close, physically and emotionally, as two people could be. Or so he’d believed. Now, he wasn’t quite so sure.
Laurel was constructing walls and barricading herself against his onslaught of questions, and they both knew it. He needed to know why.
“Laurel, I don’t know how much longer I can keep going like this.”
“What?” The statement was a shock to her system, though she told herself that it was no less than what she could truly expect. After all, he’d bared his whole life to her, and she hadn’t. Not the way he deserved. “James, I don’t know what to tell you.”
“Tell me about you. You let me in only so far before you pull back. Tell me what you keep hiding from me,” he whispered. “I can’t keep playing tug of war with you forever.”
She swallowed hard. “I know. I just—I need a little more time. Just a little.”
“The gala is this Friday. Four days.” He brushed a hand over her cheek gently. They both heard what he didn’t say. Friday would be the Day of Truth for her. If she didn’t come clean…
“I don’t want to lose you. That’s the truth.” Her hand lightly gripped his wrist, her eyes holding his. “I need you to believe that.”
“I believe a lot about you, Laurel. About us.” He pressed his lips to her forehead. “I can’t keep flying on blind faith, though.”
She cracked a small smile. “You’re right. You’ll know my decision soon. Friday. I promise.”
“Friday. I’ll hold you to it.”
Laurel hoped she wouldn’t disappoint him. As she slipped out of his apartment building minutes later, she admitted that he deserved better than the half-truths she kept dealing him. But what was she to do? Her whole life had been about hiding herself from everyone, no matter what. Now, James Apollus was in her life. He had a connection to everyone from her past life—people that could destroy her. Yet, he was the first who’d ever made her want to tell the truth.
The truth, though, might push him away. At the idea of losing him, tears clogged her throat. How one man could come to mean so much to her in the space of one month was unbelievable. She’d started sliding when she’d met him, and her heart was very nearly his. The thought of losing him was unbearable.
Restlessly, she paced the sidewalks of upper Manhattan and worried on what to do. When she glanced up at one point, the lights of the city were blurred. It was then that she realized that there were tears drying on her cheeks and yet more slipping out of her eyes. Swiping at them, she turned the corner to step away from the bustle of Times Square.
And bumped into someone.
“I’m so sorry,” the man she’d collided with apologized. “I guess I didn’t really watch where I was going.” He stretched out a hand to help her up. Grasping his hand, she brushed her hair out of her eyes and looked up at him. And gasped.
“Brian!”
“You are my lifesaver.” Nick flipped through the file as the music flowed out of his office speakers. “The producers of the film loved it. You’ve saved my ass.”
Bryna mock bowed. “Well, we’re here to serve and please.” But she smiled. “Glad I could help.”
“And, boy, did you help!” He grinned at her. “I’d just like to take the time to say that I want to marry you and have your babies. That’s how excited I am.”
She acknowledged the hard bump her heart made at his words and continued to smile. “One, that’s anatomically impossible. And, two, we can’t get married.”
“Why not? I feel really grateful to you.” Nick signed off on a few documents as he spoke.
“Well, for one, you don’t even really like me. Remember?”
He shook his head. “I remember we were going to be friends. And I like you just fine.”
“That’s always nice to hear.”
Capping his pen, Nick shuffled the papers on his desk around. “Besides, you’re fun to relax with. Who knew we’d have the same taste in movies, music, and mixed drinks?”
I did. “Ah, the three M’s.” She rolled her eyes good-naturedly. “It must be fate. I told you you’d like those films. You didn’t believe me.”
“Maybe I should just listen to you from now on about my entertainment choices,” he said easily. “You seem to know just what I’d like.”
The effects of spending years studying him. Bryna stood. “Well, whatever works. Unfortunately, I have to get going. Glad I could help out, though.”
“I’m glad I made the decision to contract you,” he replied with a smile. “I’ll call you later about our date tomorrow?”
Date? “Since when is hanging out with me considered a date, Carter?”
He shrugged. “It sure felt like we’ve been dating. Movies, dinners, having great conversations. If that’s not dating, then what is?”
“Nick, we don’t have a relationship other than casual friends. Don’t make it more.” Because it’ll break my heart.
Nick stood now and skirted around his desk to meet her at the door. He rested one hand lightly on her shoulder and met her eyes. There was uncertainty and confusion in them. That he’d expected. What he didn’t expect to see made something warm move through him.
“How can I not make it more, Bryna?” His thumb stroked her cheek. It was soft and smooth, and he wondered why he’d never really noticed how lovely she was. “We spend so much time together, and there are times when something happens and I have to stop myself from calling you. You’ve gone out of your way to help me professionally, and, when you should’ve kicked me to the curb, you took pity on me instead. You became my friend and, if I’m not totally in the wrong, something more.”
“Nick.” His name was a whisper.
“I don’t think I’m making it into anything more than it is. I think I’m finally clarifying, for both of us, what we really have.” Unable to resist, his lips lowered to within a breath of hers. “You touch something in me, Bryna, and I think I do the same to you. Why not be sure of it, though?”
When his lips met hers, Bryna had a second to think, Finally, before his touch made her forget anyone and anything else existed in the world but the two of them and the way he made her feel.
Jason watched with worried eyes as Leighanne paced back and forth across her living room. Seated on her couch, he had a front-row view of her frazzled movements. Her hair, usually perfectly done, stood out all over from her fingers scraping through it nervously. Her face was ravaged by tears, and he wished he could just hold her and make her worries, doubts, and fears disappear. Of course, he couldn’t.
“There’s less than two months to our wedding, and I can’t even be sure, not really, that he loves me!” Her voice wavered. “I mean, I knew it would take some time, and I thought we were making progress, but then…In the last week or two, something just clicked off in him. I can tell, I can just tell!”
He sighed. “Leighanne, why don’t you try talking to him? I’m sure what you’re feeling is just wedding jitters. I know he’s been really busy at work lately, but you know he’ll always make time to talk to you. Maybe he doesn’t even know how you feel.”
“Jason! Try putting yourself in my shoes, would you?” Leighanne pressed her fingers to her eyes as more tears leaked out. “We’re getting married, about to spend the rest of our lives together, and I know that he doesn’t love me. When he looks at me, his eyes are blank. Emotionless. How would you feel if the woman you were about to marry wasn’t happy about it and, by all appearances, didn’t want to be with you?”
“I think I have a pretty good idea,” he murmured to himself before raising his voice. “Leigh, darling. Why don’t you sit? I’m sure that this is all in your head.” He had to duck to avoid the pillow she tossed at him. “Okay, now you’re getting violent. You’re not mad at me, remember?” He held up his arms in defense, just in case.
She let out a strangled shriek. “You are not helping! I thought you’d listen to me, but I can see I was wrong. I thought I’d ask Brian’s good friend what he thought, get some advice, but, instead, you blow it off!”
“I am giving you good advice!” This time, the pillow hit him in the face. “That’s it.”
His voice was low, and the look in his eyes was not so pleasant. It sent a little thrill through her before he moved. Shrieking embarrassingly, she tried to dash into the kitchen but was caught before she’d taken three steps. In the blink of an eye, she found herself trapped beneath him on the couch.
“Not so pillow-happy now, are you?” he muttered. “Next time, don’t shoot the messenger.”
“I wasn’t trying to.” Damn it, why was she breathless? That couldn’t possibly be her voice that sounded so breathy. Could it?
It suddenly occurred to Jason that she was finally in his arms. So close. If he leaned in just a little, he could…No. She was his friend’s fiancée, and he couldn’t. Could he?
Leighanne saw the emotions move through his eyes, and something deep within her fluttered in response. “Jason.” His name was a whisper in her ears.
“Leigh.”
The hell with this, she thought, throwing caution and any sound decision-making to the wind. Curling her free hand around the back of his neck, she tugged.
Their eyes drifted shut as their lips met for one kiss. Then another. And a third…
