Leighanne.
Suddenly, he felt guilty about not once thinking of her in the past few days. Sure, she’d called him, and they’d spoken for a few minutes here and there. That was it, though. Apart from the phone calls, he’d been too busy to really think of her. And that was really awful. She was the woman he was going to spend the rest of his life with, yet she never crossed his mind when they were apart.
No, Brian thought. She was never on his mind, but the woman lying in the room next door was. There hadn’t been a day where he hadn’t thought of Eve—no, Laurel, he corrected himself—and had wondered if he’d ever see her again. She had become a near obsession when he couldn’t afford one.
Unfortunately—or fortunately, depending upon how you looked at it—she was involved with someone else. Someone that appeared to care for her and who she, in return, cared for quite a bit. Once they’d solved their issues, which seemed to be soon, they would probably end up living happily ever after. Where, he wondered, would that leave him?
It was pretty pathetic, he decided. Here he was, a perfectly normal, thirty-one year old man. He had a great job, plenty of money at his disposal, everything he’d ever wanted, and he still wanted the one person he would never have. All of his friends were happy and involved with great people, and he couldn’t be more thrilled for them.
Kevin and Kristin were happy and planning for a family, while Alex and Kyra were expecting a baby. Even Nick and Bryna seemed to—finally—be taking steps towards each other, where everyone could see that they belonged. They had all found each other and loved enough to want to spend their lives together.
The only way he’d gotten himself a fiancée, though, was to make a business deal. And that was just downright pitiful.
A month ago, he and James had been complaining about how depressingly lonely their private lives were, but even James seemed to have found someone he was head over heels for. True, Brian had yet to meet the woman, who’d caught his best friend’s heart, but he knew she was probably absolutely spectacular. James wouldn’t have fallen for just anyone.
So that left Brian and Leighanne. They hadn’t been in love before their engagement, and they most certainly weren’t in love now. At one point, he’d tried to talk himself into falling for her, but he’d failed at it.
What had seemed as though it might work out in the long-run, now seemed like a terrible idea. He and Leighanne deserved better than a business marriage, but they’d locked themselves in and thrown away the figurative key. No way out.
No.
Brian sat up, the moonlight filtering in over his frowning face. No, there had to be a way out. He was sure that if he talked to Leighanne, she’d see that their marriage was the worst idea anyone could have had. They were better off as friends than a couple. There had to be more than a loveless marriage for them.
There, in the dark, Brian sat and wondered. Planned.
There was a storm coming, and she watched the dark clouds blot out the stars towards the edge of the horizon. Dawn was still hours away, and she tried to will her mind to find some semblance of peace. Peace, though, was eluding her tonight.
It was all Nick’s fault.
Bryna sighed, frustrated and edgy. Needy.
The man had kissed her mindless then stepped away and told her he’d see her tomorrow for their date. As though nothing amazing and of enormous proportions had just occurred between the two of them, he’d sat in his chair and gotten busy with paperwork again. She’d stared at him, shocked that he could be so casual about the whole thing when it felt as though the top of her head had just blown away. Then she had gotten angry. How dare he put her aside for work? Had their first kiss meant nothing to him? Resisting the urge to kick his desk or strangle the man, she’d stalked out and slammed the door.
Now, hours later, she couldn’t get her feelings to level out long enough for her to catch some sleep. She needed all of her wits about her, she knew, if she was going to handle Nick the next day. She didn’t know how he had managed it, but he’d turned their entire relationship around on her.
Not that she minded the kissing. Of course.
What Bryna minded was the way he’d treated her like she was just another one of his conquests. That she couldn’t stand. She wasn’t going to be just anybody in his life. She was going to be the somebody for him. If she could just pin him down long enough to knock sense into him, of course.
The view from his windows was magnificent, and, unable to sleep, she’d padded down the hall to his living room and curled up on the floor, leaning against the wall of glass. It was the kind of apartment she’d always dreamt of having once she’d earned enough.
Her inheritance should have been enough to afford her an apartment more incredible than this, but, of course, her evil stepmonster had rendered her invisible and taken control of everything. Now, with that control, Laurel knew Clarissa planned on selling the majority of the company stock. Her father’s hard-earned business was about to be destroyed, and she wanted, so badly, to help save it.
Clarissa was bound to be at the Apollus ball on Friday, which was just one of the reasons she dreaded going. Clarissa would know Laurel instantly, and things would just fall apart. James would never speak to her again because of her deceptions. And everyone else? God, she could just imagine the talk, the looks, the speculation.
The media attention she was bound to receive as the long-lost daughter of the late, and great, Ian Caine.
Restless, she stood and roamed the room, pacing. On the plus side, she told herself, if she did go to the ball, the truth would be out in the open. She could take back control of her life, her father’s company, and have what she was entitled to. She’d never have to live in the dark again.
Running her fingers over the dark, silky wood of a bookcase, Laurel admired Brian’s reading collection. He had all the classics that she loved, plus a healthy handful of books on music theory and business. On the bottom shelf, she found several albums labeled “Memories”. Curious, she plucked one out.
Settling on the rug, she pulled it open. Dozens of pictures of Brian as a baby spread out across the pages of the album she held. He had been adorable, she thought. She could see the same mischievous gleam in his blue eyes when he’d been a baby that she’d seen now.
The album was chronological and followed Brian’s growth up to his second birthday. At the end, there was a picture from his second birthday party where Brian was surrounded by his toddler friends. Something about the picture was eerily familiar, and she stared at the picture, her mind running to figure it out.
“Laurel?”
Startled, she slammed the album shut and whipped around to stare at Brian. He stood at the entrance to the room and frowned down at her. Remembering where she sat, she scrambled up and set his album on a table.
“Brian! I didn’t expect you to be up still.” And looking sexily rumpled, too, she thought, holding back the smile at the thought.
He squinted at her and rubbed his fingers through his hair, making it stand up in all directions. “Uh, yeah. I thought I heard something, so I came out here. And here you are.”
“Here I am, indeed.” She smiled sheepishly. “I couldn’t sleep, so I was shamelessly invading your privacy. I hope you don’t mind.”
“I let you in, didn’t I?”
Laurel watched as he moved around the couch and lifted the album she’d set down. “I found baby pictures of yours. You were adorable.”
“I hope there weren’t any of those naked ones in there,” he muttered, flipping through the pages. “I haven’t looked at these in forever.”
“It’s good to have those pictures.” She settled next to him and studied the pictures over his shoulder, not noticing the way he went still when her breath whispered over his skin. “I don’t have any of my baby pictures. I don’t even know if they exist.”
Brian took a careful breath before turning to look at her. “Why? Wouldn’t your parents have them?”
“My parents died before I was ten, and my stepmother sort of took control.” Thinking of Clarissa pissed her off, but then, it always would. “You could say she turned me into her whipping child. She pushed me into the corners and raised my stepsiblings to be everything that I could have, should have been.”
“Sounds like Cinderella.”
Remembering her own thoughts from earlier, she sighed wistfully. “If there was a Prince Charming for me, he’d have to find a way to get my rights and my inheritance back. I was thirsting for college, too, and never got to go. I left as soon as I turned eighteen. If I hadn’t left, she would’ve kicked me out anyway.”
Her eyes were tinged with sadness and a pain Brian didn’t know how to soothe. His hand covered hers. “I’m sorry. If I could, I’d go back and change things for you.”
The look in his eyes told her that he would have, too. She leaned against him, and he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “Thank you. Really. This is the first time I’ve told anyone about my past. It seems to be so easy for me to just tell you. I think it’s because I know you won’t pull away or look at me with pity. God, I couldn’t handle the pity.”
“I won’t give you any,” he promised. “I don’t think you need it, anyway. I think you’re doing a remarkable job raising yourself the way you have. Your stepmother may have neglected you, but I think you came out perfectly.”
Laurel stared at his hand over hers then turned hers and linked their fingers. When her eyes lifted to meet his, she froze at the look in his. She’d seen desire in a man’s eyes before, but she’d never seen the emotions that stormed through Brian’s eyes. A woman might go her whole life, she thought, without seeing such feelings. But what could she do? She had no right to answer those, no matter how much she might want to. There was James.
“Brian, I…” She cast her mind for a lighter subject and saw the pictures in his arms. “Tell me about your life. Your past. It occurred to me that, though I may be spending the night in your home, I still know next to nothing about you.”
He fought to reign in his emotions. He was too on edge, and he hadn’t meant to scare her with the intensity of what he felt. “What do you want to know?”
“Tell me about this Brian.” She waved her hand over the album. “And the other ones between now and then. Your accomplishments, goals, dreams. What you did for fun when you were younger.”
Brian studied the pictures in front of him for a moment. “I was a rambunctious kid. I always wanted to do everything I saw on television and then some. I had crazy adventures, and, because they loved me, my parents let me have them. Safely, of course. I had the best of friends when I was younger. I told you that I knew a Laurel once, and she, her brother, sister, and one of her cousins were my best friends. We did everything together. I’m still friends with all of them, except Laurel. I’m not entirely sure what happened to her, nor do I remember. I think I was only ten.” He shrugged. “Anyway, I always knew that I’d end up in the music industry. I wanted to sing, but I guess Fate meant for me to work behind the scenes. Which I do.”
“You enjoy your work?”
“Sure, I do. It’s challenging, and it’s rewarding.” He grinned. “I always enjoyed the long, hard work it required to achieve the big prize in the end. Working with fledgling artists is the same way. I can’t imagine doing anything else.”
Like James, she mused. “As far back as I can remember, I wanted to be an anthropologist. I wanted to travel all over the world and learn about the different, exotic cultures that my father used to read books about when I was younger. So far, though, it’s not exactly working out. I’m glad your dreams are coming true.”
He squeezed her hand comfortingly. “I have everything that I’ve ever wanted, and I’ve surrounded myself with family and friends who I love. The only thing missing is my own family.”
“But you’re getting married, so that’ll come soon, too,” she assured him. At the look in his eyes, she frowned. “Right?”
Brian shrugged again. “Who knows? I’m starting to wonder if she and I are meant to be together. Lately, we just haven’t been connecting the way I’d hoped I would with the woman I’d spend the rest of my life with. I’m thinking about breaking it off.”
“Does she feel the same way? Because you might break her heart.”
Guilt rolled through him at the idea of a heartbroken Leighanne, but it reaffirmed his belief that she deserved better. “I think we’d be better off as friends, and, sometimes, I think she’s thinking the same thing. It’s just this feeling I’ve gotten when I’m with her. Our wedding was, you could say, an amiable agreement between a number of parties. A business merger of sorts.”
“That sounds so horribly cold.” She couldn’t imagine it. “It must feel like you’ve trapped yourself.”
“You have no idea,” he murmured.
Laurel found herself at a loss for words and offered comfort, instead, in the form of a hug. Wrapping her arms around him, she rested her chin lightly on his shoulder. After a long moment, his arms slowly came around her and held her close to him. This, she thought, was perfect. It was just absolutely lovely to sit here in his arms and not have to worry about anything. The outside world just didn’t exist in this moment.
Brian loosened his hold on her after a moment. Leaning back a little, he cupped her face in his hands and studied her. His look, the intensity, didn’t frighten her. It exhilarated. It was as though he could see straight into her soul, and she wondered what he saw.
“Laurel. I can’t-” He broke off, shaking his head, though his hold didn’t loosen.
Her hands lifted to grip his wrists. “What? What is it?”
She was in his arms, and he knew what he could and could not do. He just didn’t know how much he cared about rules and restrictions anymore. “I don’t think I can apologize this time. I wouldn’t mean it.”
Before she could ask him what he meant, he pressed his lips to hers in a quietly desperate kiss. She sat, frozen, for an instant before her lips, following her heart, responded. Instead of pushing him away, she found herself pulling him closer until she’d practically crawled into his lap. As his hands slid away from her face to wrap around her waist and bring her more fully against him, her mind went blissfully blank.
