Complete Indelible Love Series

by Cee, DW

  In all my years of being Jake Reid’s best friend, he and I enjoyed ribbing one another and competing to be the best. We “stole” from one another when we wanted what the other had and some days, he was on top and other days, I was on top. Today, he was on top of the world and I wanted very much what he had. Without another thought, he sat his wife on a bench and changed out her shoes with a newer, more comfortable pair. It was nothing more than one person putting a shoe on another person’s foot, but the scene was intimate, unconditional, and doting. He must have made a joke because Emily giggled and the unspoken affection between the two made me feel like a voyeur. I had to look away and give them their privacy.

  I caught Delaney leaving the shoe store and walking into the center of the mall. I thought she’d left for the same reason I did, but when I pulled her around to face me, what I saw broke my heart. I hurt to see such hopelessness.

  “Why’d you leave the shoe store?” I wanted to know what she was thinking and why she was feeling so broken.

  “I saw a cute bathing suit. I thought I’d take a look.” Her answer totally threw me off. Was I that wrong about her? Was she not despondent about something? Damn. Had I lost my read on her? We conversed some more about shopping, and once we were ready to leave, Delaney went dead silent in the car.

  Watching Delaney’s stoic face bugged the hell out of me. I would rather see her angry than unemotional. She couldn’t even answer her favorite person in the car, and as soon as I stopped at valet, she jumped out with a cursory good-bye.

  “What’s wrong with our Laney?” Emily asked. “Did something happen between the two of you?”

  I shook my head no. “Can you talk to her for me? Something happened during our shopping excursion that saddened her, and I don’t have a damn clue what it was. In the meanwhile, I need to go back to the mall. There’s something I need to purchase.”

  “All right. I’ll do what I can. See you later.” Emily and Jake waved.

  I went right back to the Louis Vuitton store and looked for a gift, any gift, for Delaney. She never asked for a gift, and I knew she wouldn’t take any more gifts from me, but I wanted desperately to push away my memory of her heartbroken face.

  “May I help you?” A sales gal approached.

  “Can I see that clutch in the deep purple?”

  “Oh, that’s a beautiful one. We only got two in that color.” She handed it to me for inspection and it was perfect for Delaney. Whenever I saw her, she was wearing a cute dress that could use a stylish clutch.

  “I’d also like to see those suede ankle boots.”

  She handed me the sample boots but asked, “Do you know the size you’ll need?”

  Shit! I had no idea. “Give me a sec.”

  I texted Jake.

  What size shoes does Delaney wear?

  It took him no time at all to respond.

  8

  Thanks.

  That’s it? That’s all you’re giving me?

  For now...

  “I’ll need a size 8. I also would like a small piece of jewelry—nothing extravagant. Could you show me what you might have?”

  This sales gal found a sucker in me. I ended up purchasing the boots, the clutch, a letter D charm, and a pair of loafers for me. I felt much better after dropping a boatload of cash at this store.

  I zoomed back to the hotel and bothered Jake and Emily one last time.

  “Come on in,” Emily welcomed, but I only dropped off the large bag of gifts at her door. “I assume these are for a certain cousin of ours whose melancholy spurred you to knight-in-shining-armor mode?” What??? Emily giggled. “Shall I give her the knight’s name?”

  “Negative.”

  “Initials?”

  “Negative.”

  “A clue?”

  “Negative.”

  “Then who bought all three boxes for her?”

  “You and Jake.”

  “All right...” she spoke in a sing-song-y manner. “I’ll see what I can do.”

  Jake and Emily were the two best friends a guy could ask for in a situation like this.

  We were headed home today and already at breakfast, Delaney and I got into an argument. I told her about Kate’s seat up in the front of the plane, but Delaney told me that under no condition would she take anything from Kate. There appeared to be a double entendre to what she said, but I was busy convincing her to sit next to me.

  Even on the plane she chose to sit and talk to Josh rather than me. Where did this Josh Davis come from, and why the hell were the Davis brothers taking away any girl I held an interest in? Delaney promised she wasn’t upset with me, but her body told me differently.

  “She wouldn’t come up here?” Jake instead took Delaney’s empty seat.

  “No. She wants to ‘chat with Josh.’” I imitated her voice.

  “You want to explain your interest in my cousin?”

  “What interest?” I jumped in surprise at this ridiculous question. “What the hell are you talking about?” I said a little too loudly.

  “Softball, golf, clandestine dates, a beach house purchase, LV gifts, constantly looking like you’re lost when she’s not with you...shall I go on?”

  “You’re exaggerating and blowing everyday activities out of proportion. So we happen to like the same sports, we’re not headed to the altar because we love to golf. And contrary to what you believe, I did not buy that beach house because of your cousin. That house caught my interest before...”

  “...my cousin caught your interest?” Jake was humored. “And the gifts? How are you going to explain away the gifts?”

  “I went back to the LV store to buy myself some loafers and I saw the other items. I thought they’d look cute on her.”

  “Then why couldn’t you give it to her yourself?”

  “Because I didn’t want to freak her out and just in case…I didn’t want to encourage her in any wrong way.”

  “You’re so full of shit. You are borderline, if not already, in love with my cousin.”

  “I am not! We are just friends and I enjoy her company.”

  Jake didn’t believe me. “Do you think about her more than any other woman?”

  “Yes...” I admitted.

  “Does it frustrate you when she doesn’t respond to you—i.e. won’t sit up here with you?”

  “Yeah...”

  “Do you feel unstable and emotional when you see her hurting, like you’d rather get poked in the eye than see her cry?”

  I laughed, but had to nod in agreement. “But it’s not like that. OK, I’ll admit. I find her attractive.”

  “You are in love with my cousin. Forget anything you’ve ever said about Jane. Laney is the girl for you. Emily and I agreed a long time ago that you two were perfect for one another.”

  “You did not.” Now, why did that make me happy to know my best friend and his wife pictured us together?

  “We did, and Emily is already planning your wedding in our backyard.” Jake grinned. “We can finally join our two families. It’s perfect.”

  “If perfection is what you’re talking about, it’s me and Jane. We have all the makings of a perfect couple.” Jake looked like he was going to yell at me but I cut him off. “But I know your sister is happy with Max and I’ve told her that I only want what’s best for her.”

  “Good. You’re finally growing up. Speaking of...” I looked where Jake was tilting his head.

  “What brings you up here, Commoner?” I asked the intruder.

  “Ha ha ha!” This intruder was annoyed.

  “What’s with the covert conversation in the corner, here? You even separated yourself from your wife, Jake. Shocking!” Nosey Jane was on the prowl once again.

  “That would be none of your business, and I only moved to the corner because Emily is sleeping.” Damn right it was none of her business.

  “Bummer… I wanted to have a chat with Emily.”

  “Well
,” my buddy answered, “chat with her later, because this’ll be her last peaceful rest.”

  “All right, I won’t bother her. But I do have a question for you, o’ brother o’ mine.” Jake and I waited for the question. “What do you think about Laney and Josh?” Laney and fucking Josh Davis? Aw, hell no! “Well?” She probed again.

  “Negative, little sister. I don’t think the two suit.” Damn straight! You tell her.

  “What do you mean? They’re darling together,” Go back to your seat, Jane!

  “Laney is darling with anyone. She’s a grand prize no matter who the guy is, but Josh is not it.” You go, Brother!

  When Jake wouldn’t agree with her plan, she asked me, “Well, what do you think?” Fuck no!

  “What the hell do I know about relationships? I can barely get my own going. I’m not a Reid. I don’t have a say.” That was about as diplomatic of an answer as I could give.

  The look on Jane’s face pretty much told us to fuck-off and she went off to talk to Emily, who had just woken up from her nap.

  “There are others who will see her worth if you don’t wake up,” my buddy warned. “Men are lined up to date her. Don’t think she’ll stay single forever. Grab her when you have the chance.”

  “I keep telling you...it’s not like that...” I repeated that line to him in the same sing-song-y way Emily spoke to me yesterday.

  “If I sent you my plane, would you come visit me in Hong Kong?” I was seriously going to kick Weston Hong’s ass if he didn’t stop harassing Delaney.

  “Thank you for the invitation, Weston, but I’m going to London as soon as I graduate.”

  “Why London? What’s in London? I do actually have a home in London because business takes me there often. Where are you staying? If you don’t have a place to stay, I’d be happy to let out a room to you.” I was about to say something when Jane stopped me.

  We all came home safely from Hawaii, and it was business as usual. Our clients wanted to treat us to dinner and asked that Delaney join us. I didn’t want to bring her but didn’t have much of a choice when the two insisted she be a part of our celebration. With much hesitation, I called Delaney and explained the situation to her. She happily agreed to come with us.

  Jane and I came together in the company car and we once again had a flirty and fun conversation. She was in full Sherlock Holmes mode looking for answers to what had happened between Kate and me in Hawaii, then with Delaney and me in the hotel room. I gave her a perfunctory answer for the former and a non-answer for the latter. She was satisfied with neither.

  When we arrived, Delaney, too, had just arrived and all was going well until both men started hitting on her. I was mad that she had caught a ride with Josh, and then was furious when Weston asked to come see her in London. Every time I opened my mouth to tell off the men, Jane would nudge me to remind me that these men were our clients. I hated myself for giving into Jane’s censure and for leaving Delaney unprotected. I had resolved to jump in if these men said one more distracting word to her.

  Our next course arrived and within seconds, Delaney bumped into a server and he spilled a bowl of pasta on her leg. I bolted out of my seat and wiped the mess off her dress and leg. Shit. The pasta was scalding hot!

  “You OK?” I was such an idiot for not stepping in earlier. I wanted to kick my own ass for making this girl suffer tonight. “Are you OK?” I whispered apologetically.

  Her big blue eyes had a thin lining of tears and she shook her head no. I’m sorry, Delaney. Please forgive me for not protecting you. She didn’t answer my silent request for forgiveness, but instead got up to leave for the ladies’ room. Jane also excused herself to answer a phone call and this was my chance to tell these assholes off.

  “You may be our clients, but I will cancel our terms of agreement if you say even one more word to Delaney tonight.”

  “I don’t know if that’s the wisest thing to say to us. What will your boss say?”

  “Considering my boss is Delaney’s grandfather, he’ll say, ‘Good fucking riddance!’” I made myself clear. I just wished I’d done it sooner.

  The dinner came to a sooner end than it should’ve, and I knew I needed to let Roland know what happened tonight, in case we might lose these two assholes as clients.

  Jane, not having a clue as to what happened while she was on the phone, sent off Weston and Brad and told Delaney, “Josh is coming to pick us both up.”

  By now, Delaney was exasperated with all of us. “Thanks, but I’m calling a cab.”

  “Who the hell calls a cab in LA? I’ll take you home,” I offered but knew this would be a fight.

  It took an act of God to get this girl into my car. If that wasn’t difficult enough, she refused to talk to me. No matter what I asked, she went mute. In all fairness, I had promised her that we wouldn’t talk on our way home, so I knew what I was getting myself into. I thought with my conversational skills I’d be able to get her to answer a few questions, but her lips were crazy-glued to one another.

  Absolutely nothing worked—until I came up with an unbelievably brilliant idea!

  “Auntie Bee, long time no see.” I gave her a warm greeting.

  “I haven’t seen you in months. What brings you here at this late hour? And who is this pretty, but very young lady?”

  “Bee, Delaney Reid. Delaney, Bee Taylor, technically my aunt, but we call each other cousins.”

  I brought Delaney to meet my Aunt Bee, whom I considered a cousin or even a sister, for several reasons. Because of the dinner that shouldn’t have been, I’d ruined Delaney’s dress. Bee was a clothes designer so I figured I’d buy Delaney a new dress and introduce her to one of my favorite people.

  Naturally, Delaney introduced herself and got along well with Bee.

  “Delaney was helping me and Jane with a client, he came onto her too strong, she got a bit antsy, the waiter dropped the pasta onto her lap, and here we are.” As I was explaining the situation, Bee was already sifting through dresses. She always understood me even before there was anything to understand.

  “That’s why we’re here? Because of this mess?” Why Delaney was so shocked, I didn’t understand. “I don’t need a new dress, Mr. Taylor. Just take me home, and I’ll put some Spray n Wash on and throw it into the wash. It’s no big deal.”

  “Here. Go try this on.” This girl fought me on everything, but with one command, she walked over to the dressing area to try on the dress Bee handed her.

  While she was changing into the new dress, I picked out a few more dresses I thought would look good on her.

  “Wow!” Bee said it, and I seconded her thought when Delaney walked out. “That dress was made for your body. You make that dress come alive.” By the smile on her face, Delaney liked the dress on her just as much as we did.

  “How much can I pay you for the dress?” This girl asked the most ridiculous questions at times.

  “Delaney, I’ve got it.” I hoped I wasn’t in for another verbal fight.

  “What do you mean, ‘you’ve got it?’”

  “I mean, I will pay for the dress. So put your wallet away.” Why was it so damn hard to do anything for her?

  “Why would you pay for my dress?”

  “Did you not hear me telling my cousin that I ruined your dress, and that’s why we are here? I’m going to replace it for you.” I raised my voice.

  “First of all, my dress is not ruined. It just needs to go in the wash. Second of all, I don’t need you buying me a dress.” She raised hers even louder.

  “Why are you so damn stubborn?” Now I was yelling. “I’m offering to buy you a dress, I want to buy you a dress, so can’t you just say thank you and be done?”

  “I don’t want a dress from you,” No surprise, she yelled even louder. “I don’t want anything from you, I don’t want to feel like I’m a part of your…”

  “Yes, yes, I know. You don’t want to feel like a part of my harem. I unders
tood what you said back in Hawaii.” Now, I was fucking pissed she thought so little of my affection for her. Why the hell would she think I’d clump her in with all the other women? “For your information Little Girl, you are not a part of my harem, I never asked you to join my harem, and I never will. You are not my type, you are not my age, and you’re definitely not in my league.” There! That put her in her place, was what I wanted to think, but when she looked like I slapped her, I felt like a dick again.

  “I’m sorry,” she whispered and got the hell away from me.

  “You’re such an asshole. I don’t know why women find you attractive. You were about as smooth as that snakeskin dress over there.”

  I defended myself to Bee, all the while putting more dresses in the bag Bee had started.

  “How much do I owe you?”

  Now Bee was pissed with me. “She seems like a nice girl. Why are you so angry with her?”

  “She just pisses me off all the time. That seems to be her major at school—pissing off Donovan Taylor!” I knew I was acting churlish. “Here.” I handed her a wad of cash and said, “I did a quick calculation of what was on the price tag. If I’m short, let me know next time. Could you let Delaney know I’ll wait for her in the car?” There were too many emotions swirling through my head and in my heart.

  “Um...not necessary to pay me retail. I wasn’t going to charge you at all...” Bee went on, but I waved good-bye and started coming up with ways to grovel for all that had gone awry tonight.

  The ride back to the cul-de-sac was absolute silence. Delaney didn’t give me an inch, and I was too stupid to come up with any cleaver repartees. “I’m sorry Delaney...” The beginning of my sentence was to her liking but once I got to the part about justifying what I’d said back at Bee’s, Delaney walked out on me without even a by-your-leave. Shit! Shit! Shit! Why was everything so difficult with her?

  I was tempted to leave and say, “The hell with you...” but I couldn’t.

  The chief let me in, and I walked up to make things right with this girl who was driving me insane. By the little squeal and jump, I’d say she was surprised to see me in her room. Delaney’s room was filled with trophies and awards from debate tournaments to science fair entries to writing contests. She had an entire bookcase riddled with trophies from every sport imaginable. It was an impressive sight.