She smiles tightly, not showing me her teeth, her eyes raking over my attire and landing squarely on my red Converse. “You’ve got something on your sweatshirt there,” she says, pointing at me and squinting with a look on her face like she smells something bad.
I look down and see a tiny spot of white, which I figure is either sugar from the muffin Spider brought me this morning or, more embarrassingly, my toothpaste.
It feels like Highland Park all over again, and I’m right back in my greasy Jo’s Diner polo.
The tension that has always been between us rears its head, and I exhale.
I return her tight smile. “So, Trenton’s dad got you this job? Couldn’t find anything else in the city?”
“We’re family and we do stick together.” She sighs, placing her hand on her heart, flashing a huge diamond engagement ring. “I’m just lucky to have my real family, ya know? So many people don’t these days.”
My teeth grind at the insinuation.
She leans in over the counter. “Of course, I hope we can work past our differences. Trenton is my cousin, and I want us to be friends.”
“I didn’t think I had the right pedigree to be your friend.”
She shrugs. “We just moved here, and I’m positive Trenton will want to hang out with us. This is a rather large city, and we are family.”
“We?” My eyes land on her diamond again, nearly blinded by its size.
She smiles broadly and holds out her hand. “Garrett, of course. It’s going to be a summer wedding after he finishes his first year of medical school here.”
My hands fist, but I play it cool, smiling. “Splendid. Now, I’m going to see Trenton.”
She calls out after me as I march down to his small office, but I ignore her, opening the door wide.
He stands behind his desk, his sandy blond hair rumpled as if he’s run his hands through it several times. Sitting on a chair next to his desk is his assistant Vivien, a stylish lady in her fifties who I met the first week he started. Papers and folders litter the room.
“Rose!” His face is lined with a frown as he spots me then Aria right behind me.
“I told her you were busy, but she ignored me,” Aria says.
He waves at her over my shoulder. “It’s fine. I can say hi to my girl.”
“Hey,” I say, coming into the room and getting a little thrill from shutting the door in Aria’s face.
He comes around the oak desk and meets me halfway, giving me a hug. “Now there’s a sight for sore eyes.” He kisses me soundly on the lips, and I reflexively kiss him back, feeling wrong—horribly, horribly wrong.
Vivien says hello, her gaze immediately back on her work.
“So, Aria? That’s new.”
He smirks. “Yeah, sorry I forgot to tell you. I hope we can work things out with them . . . if you’re comfortable with Garrett.”
Comfortable? He’s a douchebag. I frown. “I’m not.”
He caresses his hand down my arm. “They’re engaged, so he’s going to be part of my family. Maybe we should cut him some slack.”
I start to say something but clamp my mouth shut when I realize that at this point, Garrett is a moot point.
There’s a reason I’m here, and it doesn’t have jack to do with Aria or Garrett.
“Look, I’m sorry I didn’t call first, I just . . . needed to talk to you. Maybe you can take a break and we can hit the coffee shop across the street?”
He checks his watch, a look of regret on his face. “Can it wait? This client is coming in tomorrow for a conference, and we just got some last-minute additions to the investment portfolio so we aren’t prepared.” He kisses me on the forehead. “I promise you, once the next few days are over, I’ll be all over you, but you have to let me get this done.”
I fiddle with my backpack, not meeting his eyes. “We need to talk.”
He tilts my chin up, blue eyes studying me, a frown knitting his brow. “Is anyone dying? Is everyone okay in Dallas?”
“This is about us, Trenton.”
Impatience flits across his chiseled features. “I’m at work, Rose. This job is new, and Vivien and I have a deadline.”
Vivien clears her throat, and he takes a step back in her direction. “I’ll text you later. Dinner maybe?”
I nod. “I’ll pop by your place and we can order in.”
He nods at me absently, already striding back to his desk.
I send them a final look, although neither of them notices. Hitching my backpack up on my shoulder, I head through his door and out into the main office.
Spider
WHERE ARE YOU?
I hit send on the text to Rose as I sit inside a small, dimly lit bar-slash-bookstore next to our apartment building. I try to not let panic eat at me, but when she told me back at her place that she was going to talk to Trenton after class, worry took up all the space in my head.
She said she was going to break up with him, but there was doubt on her face. Was the doubt about Trenton or me?
Fuck. I don’t know. I’m worried. I just want her back and in my arms. That’s all.
She is a fucking flower, and I want to open every single petal, one by one.
Sebastian sits across from me and sips on a beer. Both of us are wearing ball caps and aviators and keeping our chins down. Maybe the sunglasses are too much at night, but there’s weirder shit in this town. Sebastian has already had a group of reporters somehow get a picture of him on his balcony at the Madison Hotel. Rocco and Max are hanging out at a friend’s place until the concert.
Mila, our PR girl, walks over from where she was looking for some kind of romance book.
I recall how I asked her to come over that day Rose showed up at my apartment in Dallas. I knew Mila had a soft spot for me and I exploited it, asking her to pretend we’d had sex and to turn her skirt backward. Of course, she agreed, and, well . . . the rest is history.
We messed around a little in LA, but it was half-hearted, and we never fucked. Once she realized I was using her to push Rose out of my head, she moved on, and she’s currently dating some country music star.
Dressed in her usual—a pink miniskirt and a white shirt—she slaps down a book of poems about love on the table. “If she loves Jane Eyre and you want to woo her, you better up your game. Maybe read her some poetry.” She chuckles, her eyes taking in the people around us, making sure no one is eavesdropping. She’s our little bulldog and goes the extra mile to protect us.
“I know how to woo.” I waggle my brows.
Yes, they know that I gave her the book, but I didn’t tell them about our night together. I didn’t even tell them she’s my neighbor. I don’t know why I can’t own up to the happiness I’m feeling. Maybe it’s because I’m afraid if I talk too much about it, she’ll disappear. Like Cate and Mum. The thought of losing her again . . . crushes me.
Mila gags. “Please don’t tell me about your sex life. I might vomit.”
I smirk.
Mila stares at me, as if she’s trying to figure me out. “You love her,” she says, a satisfied gloat on her face. “The mighty Spider has fallen.”
I blink. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“Just can’t say the L word can you?” Sebastian smirks as he tips back his beer.
I take a sip of my sparkling water. “We’re not all as in touch with our feelings as you are.” But, he is right. I don’t use the word love.
“Pity.”
“Sod off, wanker.”