“She’s selling her Starlight stock to Paramount,” he told Laurel.
Laurel was sure her jaw had hit the table, but she found it again as anger began to bubble through her. “That’s ridiculous. She can’t do that.”
“Apparently, she can. And she is.” Jason sighed. “She’s holding onto some of her stock because it’ll keep making her money, but she’s selling the rest. Your aunt and uncle have tried to stop her, even tried to buy the stock from her.”
“She said no.”
“She laughed in their faces.” Jason’s fingers curled into fists as he thought of his mother. “I had a meeting with Kristin’s parents yesterday. They wanted me to try to convince her to drop the sale.”
Laurel reached out and patted his hand. “I understand if you can’t see her, but Jason…”
“Laurie, not even for you. Besides, she never listened to me a day in her life, why would she start now?” He gave her a small smile. “I’m sorry.”
She shook her head. “It’s okay. I don’t blame you for it. I mean, I haven’t seen her since I left either. I just wish there were some way to stop her. That’s a company that my father built with his sister. I’d hate to see it fall apart because my father made the mistake of marrying a heartless, greedy woman.”
“Yeah.” Jason sighed. “Maybe things will work out. There’s still three months to go before the deal is signed. Paramount might decide to drop the whole thing.” But they both knew it was unlikely.
Laurel decided to change the subject. “Tell me about work. What do you do?”
“Not as much as the others do. Actually, I’m one of James Apollus’ advisors. But enough about me. Tell me about the guy you’ll be going to dinner with on Friday,” he said with a smile. “He doesn’t have a clue who you are.”
“James, really. It’s silly of you to act all protective of me. I’ll be fine. Besides, he seems intelligent, sweet, and, well, decent. Let me tell you, there are just not enough decent men in the world.” Laurel thought of James with a smile. Friday wouldn’t come soon enough.
Jason shrugged. “I won’t. But if he hurts you-”
“You’ll break a bone in his body and blah blah blah.” Laurel grinned. “You’re getting back into the groove of being my big brother again. It’s cute. Which makes me want to get back into the habit of having a big brother. So, are you dating anyone these days or have your sight set on a lucky woman?”
He shoved aside the errant image of Leighanne that snuck into his mind and shrugged. “Not really. In a city of eight million, I guess I haven’t found anyone that really sparks my interest lately.”
“There’s always those eight hundred number women,” she teased him. “Or, if you’re really desperate, the Russian mail-order brides.”
He grinned now. “I’ve missed you.”
“I’ve missed you, too. In honor of that, you can buy me dessert.”
Nick felt stupid as hell, but he knew he had to go through with it. He’d barely slept the last two nights, trying to figure out how he’d make things right between him and Bryna. Now, the wrapped box stared at him from the corner of his desk. He’d tried to work with the tunes that were floating in his head, but he couldn’t grasp them long enough to write any notes down. The damn box kept distracting him.
Finally, he threw his pen down and, grabbing the box, he stalked out of his office.
Inches from Bryna’s office door, he stopped. He couldn’t go in there angry and annoyed. That was sure to get her back up again, and nothing would be accomplished. So, he had to chill. He gave himself a few moments to breathe in and out. When he figured he’d be okay, he lifted his hand and knocked.
He pushed open the door when he heard her call out “Come in!” and stepped into an office space that was considerably smaller than his. The company had ferreted out a temporary space for her to use, but he was disgusted at the fact that it was too cramped. Bryna had managed to turn it into a cozy space nevertheless, and he liked the way she’d hung pretty curtains at the window and had candles scenting the air with, he sniffed, vanilla.
Finally, Nick faced the woman who’d tied him up in knots and wondered what he’d do or say now as every speech he’d prepared flew out of his head when he found her seated at her desk, her face displaying nerves and a weariness that she tried to hide. She rose but didn’t come around the desk to meet him and merely gave him a small smile.
“Nick.” Her voice was low and soft. “What can I do for you?”
He shifted the box from one hand to the other as he tried to figure out how to respond. Finally, he blurted out, “I wanted to apologize.”
Her brows lifted. That wasn’t quite what she’d been expecting. After shadowing her work on Monday, she hadn’t seen him since and wondered if he’d just lost interest in her. He’d always been that way with her in the past. He’d torture and tease her to no end for a few days and then forget she existed for weeks. Until the next opportunity arose for him to mercilessly poke at her.
As much as she wanted to believe that he’d come to genuinely apologize, she couldn’t help but be suspicious. Nick had never, in the many years she’d known him, apologized to her. Now that he was, she found herself wondering if there was an ulterior motive behind his apology…
And she was being unfair, Bryna decided. She was just rattled and horribly tired, and the week was only half over. Between her mother actually calling her on both Monday and Tuesday to inform her of the sale of the Starlight stock then commanding her to attend a dinner at the estate the previous night and dealing with her heightened emotions and feelings for Nick, she just wanted to close her eyes and pretend none of her problems existed. Music wasn’t even helping soothe her any longer. That was going to be a problem.
“Apologize?” she asked quietly. “Explain to me what you’re apologizing for, Nick.”
He studied her and wondered when she’d discovered how to make him feel small and not worthy of being squished under her shoe. “For everything. For changing your song, saying terrible things to you, for not trusting your judgement. For making you cry.” He swore under his breath, and she was surprised to see real regret tingeing his eyes when they met hers. “I never meant to make you sad, Bryna. Whether it was last week or a million times in the past, I never meant to cause you pain. It was pointed out to me, though, that that’s exactly what I’ve done. I don’t know how to make it up to you, but I swear to you that I didn’t know I’d made you unhappy. I want to make things right, and I’d like it if you could give me, what, the five gazillionth chance to make it up to you.” He stopped after the speech and waited for her to respond. When she continued to give him a wide-eyed stare, he shuffled his feet and looked down, ashamed, at his shoes. “I wish you’d say something, Bryna.”
“I’m not quite sure I know what to say,” she finally replied. “All these years, I thought that maybe there was something wrong with me. That there was something lacking in me that made you so eager to lash out at me.”
“I didn’t mean it in a malicious way,” he began but was cut off.
“Nick, it doesn’t matter. I’ve practically come to accept and expect the rude barbs you fling my way.” Bryna looked away from him and toyed with her pen as she spoke. “In fact, I’ve thought myself nearly immune to it all. But then…” Her voice faltered as she tried to prevent the cranky, hot tears from clogging her throat. She wasn’t going to cry, she promised herself, but she couldn’t help but want him to just hold her. Even after all that he’d done and said to her, she still wanted his arms around her. The pathetic quality of those feelings sharpened her voice. “Then there are times when you say or do something that hurts. It really digs deep and wounds badly, and I can’t count the number of times it’s happened. I don’t know how to forgive you, Nick,” she told him, truthfully. “I don’t know how you could really make up for years of taunts and cruel teasing.”
His heart plummeted at the words and the tears he could hear in her voice. He’d never seen Bryna weep, but Nick was sure that, if he did, it would probably cut him off at the knees. “Bryna, I…I don’t know what to tell you. I don’t know how else to apologize, but I do know that, if you want to switch that song back to the way it was, I won’t object. I guess, uh, I’ve always been a little jealous of your talent,” he admitted and had her head whipping up, a surprised expression on it. “You’ve always had fabulous tunes, and you’re making such a huge name for yourself. I guess I’d wanted to stifle that because I was jealous that you were better than me. You are better than me, and I guess that’s partly what’s always driven me to tease you.” He sighed miserably. “So the lack wasn’t in you, Bryna. I was the one lacking good sportsmanship.”
She decided she needed to sit and did so. The headache throbbing behind her eyes faded a bit, and she managed to look up at Nick. “Well, I, uh, I don’t know what to say. Thanks, I think? We can’t help what we’re good at, and you’re just as good as I am at what we do. Having fame doesn’t mean a thing to me, and I’m surprised you thought it did.” She paused. “I think our problem is that we don’t know each other as well as we thought we did. We’ve known each other for years, but it’s obvious that we haven’t a clue as to what the other thinks and feels.” And, Bryna admitted, being in love with him didn’t mean she knew that he’d been jealous of her. Maybe it was time to go back several levels. “I think we should start over.”
“Start over?” With what? From where? He just wanted her to forgive him, so that he could work on being a better friend to her. She’d been right in saying that he didn’t know her, but he wanted to learn.
Bryna gestured to the chair. “Why don’t you have a seat, Nick?” When he had, she continued. “It occurs to me that we’re not really friends at all. Acquaintances, sure. But we’ve spent so much time squabbling that we never really got to be friends. I’d like to be your friend, Nick.” And more when the time’s right, she added mentally. “I know it sounds weird but-”
“Not weird. Right. It sounds right,” he assured her firmly, his blue eyes sincere. “You’re a pretty terrific person, Bryna, and I don’t have to know you well to know that. I’d like to get to know you better, though. If you could set aside the fact that I’ve bruised your feelings more times than I’d like to count, I’d really appreciate the chance to be your friend.”
Her heart hummed a little and did a quick jig before Bryna smiled and held out a hand. “Hi. I’m Bryna. What’s your name?” she asked and Nick laughed a little. Lord, she loved his laugh.
“Nick. My name’s Nick,” he said, giving her hand a squeeze. “I have a feeling I’m going to enjoy being your friend, Bryna.”
“Your life’s about to change, Nick Carter,” she assured him with a content smile. “So, are we going to play Twenty Questions or are you going to let me see what’s in that box?”
Nick frowned. “What?” He followed Bryna’s gaze to the prettily wrapped package in his arms. “Oh, yeah. Sorry. This is for you.” He offered it to her, and she took it with a puzzled smile. “I wasn’t sure what to get you, but I brought it as a peace offering.”
“Well, I don’t know a single woman who doesn’t enjoy…Oh!” Bryna lifted out a snowglobe with an elaborately carved brass base. Inside, Belle and the Beast waltzed in a snowy wonderland. “Nick, this is lovely.” She beamed at him before flipping the globe upside down then right side up again and watched the shimmering snowflakes drift down.
He decided that her smile was something he wouldn’t mind seeing more. “I thought it sort of made sense with us. I’m like Beast, there, because of how insensitive I am. And, well, you’re, uh, Beauty,” he added, suddenly uncomfortable for an unknown reason.
“I love it, Nick. It’s just right,” she said sincerely and, skirting around the desk, wrapped her arms around him to hug him. “Thank you.”
As he held her close, the thought flitted through his mind that holding her like this was also just right.
“You’re not stalking me, are you?” Laurel smiled at Brian.
They stood in an Italian restaurant where she occasionally picked up an extra shift or two as a waitress. Brian had dropped by to pick up an order he’d made. For one. Leighanne was teaching tonight, and he planned on spending the night going over the wedding plans she’d made so far. It was about time he started helping her out on that end.
Running into the woman he knew as Eve was an amazing coincidence. In such a large city, it was close to impossible to accidentally run into the same person twice.
“I swear,” Brian said, grinning. “I’m just here to pick up my dinner. You disappeared really quickly on Saturday. I didn’t get a chance to say thanks for the advice. Things are going more smoothly now.”
She smiled and patted the hand he’d laid on the counter she stood behind. “I’m glad. I just thought I’d give you space with your, uh…”
“Fiancée,” he supplied.
“Right. She looked upset, and I could sense some sort of tension. I thought you deserved a little privacy.” She didn’t want to pry, but… “Did the problem you were having involve her?”
Brian nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, it did. I think we’re past it now, though.” He liked the way the muted light of the restaurant brought out little gold flecks in her deep green eyes. “Plus, thanks to your advice, I’m no longer carrying the weight of the world on my shoulders.”
“Really?” The smile played across her lips as she entertained the thought that, if he weren’t engaged, she would have definitely enjoyed spending more time with him. But she did have that date on Friday, she reminded herself. “I’m glad you’re feeling better.” The sound of a bell dinging made her step away from the counter. “That’s probably your order. I’ll be right back with it.”
Brian stopped her. “When are you done with your shift?”
Laurel glanced at her watch. “In ten minutes. Why?”
“Have dinner with me,” he suggested impulsively. “I’ll just sit at a table and wait for you.”
“Uh…” She tried to think of an excuse but couldn’t really find one. What was one dinner, she told herself, in the grand scheme of things? Besides, it wasn’t as though one dinner was a commitment. He was engaged. “Sure,” she said finally. “I’ll get you set up and clock out.”
Ten minutes later, they were working their way through dinner and talked, among other subjects, about the Giants, a team they discovered they’d both been fans of since they were in elementary school. Brian didn’t consider himself sexist, but there had been few women in his experience who knew the intricacies of football. He was lucky to be having dinner with one, he mused. An added plus was her keen interest in basketball.
“You’re seriously perfect,” he told her. “You understand sports.”
Laurel lifted a brow. “As a feminist, I’m honor-bound to bust your balls for such a crappy comment, but, seeing as we’ve only known each other for a few hours, I’ll make an exception. Don’t do it again,” she added, stabbing her fork threateningly in his direction.
He held up his hands. “Forgive me. I was wrong. I’m sure there are a vast quantity of women who know how to play those sports.”
“After all, the WNBA is in existence,” she pointed out.
“Too true,” he agreed and realized he’d all but licked his plate clean. “What do you suggest for dessert?”
Laurel, too, noted that she’d finished off her meal. “The cannolis are always good, but Renaldo, the chef, makes this fantastic cheesecake that he dribbles the most heavenly chocolate sauce over. It’s got an almost minty flavor to it, but…You should try it. I can’t do it justice with words,” she told him.
Grinning, he ordered it, and they shared the large slice when it arrived. Scraping the last of the chocolate sauce off the plate, she glanced at the clock and was shocked to note that it was nearly nine.
“I can’t believe how time’s flown,” she said, pulling out her wallet when the bill was brought to them. “I still have a million things to do when I get home.”
Brian laid a hand over the one on her wallet. “I’ll pay. I kept you from your responsibilities, so let me,” he added when she opened her mouth to protest.
“Okay,” she agreed, knowing it was one of the few times she’d ever had a man pay for her meal.
Once the bill had been paid, they found themselves standing on the darkened sidewalk outside the restaurant. It was a relatively peaceful night in the middle of Manhattan, and traffic was quiet.
“Where do you live?” Brian asked her. “I’ve got a car parked in a lot a block away. I can drop you off, and you won’t have to worry about public transportation.”
Laurel thought of her neighborhood and decided she didn’t want him to see it. “No, it’s okay. I live out in Brooklyn. It’s probably out of the way for you, and I don’t want to hold you up.”
“Are you sure?”
She nodded. “Thanks for dinner, Brian. I really enjoyed it. Plus, you know where to find me on Wednesday and Saturday evenings, so don’t be a stranger.”
Brian smiled. “I’ll be back then.” He leaned forward to brush his lips over her cheek, but Laurel, startled by his sudden proximity, moved her head, and their lips met.
It was like being scorched straight down to her soul, she thought faintly and wondered how she’d ever thought such kisses only existed in romance novels. Her brain had surely melted because the feel of his mouth on hers was damn near magical. She forgot that she was in the middle of Manhattan, on a crowded street, and that she was thinking of dating another man. All she could think of was the feel of Brian’s lips on hers and the hope that he’d never take them move away.
For his part, Brian found her surprisingly sweet, and a deep, secret place, he hadn’t known existed within him, began to ache. Even as he moved to deepen the kiss, he remembered Leighanne and, not without some regret, pulled away.
“I’m sorry, Eve,” he began, “I didn’t mean to, uh…”
Now, she felt guilt. He didn’t even know her name because all she’d ever given him was a fake name. And, yet… “Don’t worry about it, Brian. I think I should be the one apologizing. You startled me, and, well, I shouldn’t have turned my head. Your secret’s safe with me,” she added when he continued to look guilty. “I won’t tell a soul. Besides, it was just a kiss.”
“But…” If she wanted to shrug it off, he thought, then he would, too. He couldn’t imagine what good it would do anyone if they analyzed it to death. “Okay. I, uh, should get going.”
“Me, too,” she replied and decided he deserved to know her real name. “Brian,” she began, but he’d already taken steps away from her.
He turned back and gave her a brilliant smile. “Be safe getting home. I’ll see you around. Soon.” And he was gone.
Laurel leaned against the side of a building and resisted the urge to smack herself. Fantastic, she thought. The first man to turn her insides to mush with just his lips, and he didn’t even know her name. Things were just fabulous.
