Rules of a Rebound (Breakup Bash)

by Crespo, Nina

  Physical attraction. That was what bound them together. That was where that weirdness had come from yesterday when he’d been inside of her, pleasing her. What they had together was heady and wonderful. Rushing forward with those feelings would only lead her back to mistakes of the past—distraction from her career, another relationship built on a rocky foundation. She couldn’t afford that, but she could just enjoy the moment.

  Later that morning, she sat at Rome’s kitchen table with her laptop, finishing her budget report, while Rome folded laundry in the bedroom.

  As she skimmed the project folder for Gull Beach in the cloud account, she opened a file with photos of the male models Olivia had picked out for test shots. Young, blond, and muscular. Dark, lean, and brooding. Something was still missing. What was it?

  She pulled the photos of Rome up on her phone. They needed someone with his natural self-assuredness. It was hard to explain, but Rome’s photos said it all. He’d said he didn’t want his photos shared publicly, but if she just sent them to Olivia to point her in the right direction, that wasn’t openly distributing them. Right?

  Natalie uploaded four of Rome’s photos in an email message instead of the cloud account. She added in her email that the photos were for a frame of reference to help with the model search. That she wanted to explore a casual-with-an-edge aesthetic.

  Rome strolled into the kitchen, dressed for work. “Need anything from me before I go?”

  “No.” She hit send on the email and smiled at him. “I’m good.”

  …

  Natalie settled into the beige office chair behind her desk, ready to dive into her Monday morning schedule.

  Olivia rapped on the doorjamb. “Did you see it? What do you think?”

  “Think about what?” She’d literally just walked in ten minutes ago.

  “The mock-ups for Gull Beach in the cloud account.” A huge smile lit up Olivia’s face. “I almost passed out from excitement when I saw them.”

  “Mock-ups of what? We haven’t chosen any models yet.”

  “I know.” Olivia’s black heels thunked on the carpet, and the wide-legged pants of her black-and-white jumpsuit swished as she hurried behind the desk. “But I had the art gurus make some up using a couple of the photos you emailed me. That guy is beyond perfect.”

  By “the guy,” did Olivia mean Rome? Natalie logged into the cloud account from the wide-screen computer on the desk. A mock-up using a photo with a softly hued background appeared. The room looked familiar, and so did the model. It was the bedroom at the condo, and “the guy” was Rome, standing with his hands on his hips, his chest and ab muscles on display, along with the boots.

  Olivia peeked over her shoulder. “Isn’t he fabulous? There’s more.” Without waiting a beat, she reached over and, using the mouse for Natalie’s computer, opened more mock-ups featuring Rome wearing the boots. “I know you said these photos were just a guide, but is there any way we can just get him in front of a camera?”

  “No.”

  “Oh.” Olivia’s excitement dimmed a little. “Is it the scars? We could put him in a shirt or we can retouch the photos if we stick with shirtless, but honestly, I think he’s good as-is.”

  Yes, Rome was good just as he was. And he brought the type of edge that the Gull Beach Boot campaign required. But they’d have to find someone else.

  Spencer poked his head in. “I heard you found a model for Gull Beach Boots.” He walked behind the desk and peered at the screen. “Interesting. Masculine, tough, tested by life—he’ll definitely appeal to weekend warriors as well as the active types. I think you’ve got something.”

  “No,” Natalie interjected. Spencer and Olivia both stared at her. The forceful tone of her voice had been more than obvious. “I mean yes, we’ve definitely hit the right tone for the campaign, but we’ll have to find another model. He’s not available.”

  Spencer huffed a chuckle. “Everyone’s available for the right price. Do what it takes and make it happen. Of course, you’ll want to run it by Aaron and Carolyn before we move ahead. If you run into a snag, let me know. I’ll help you fix it.” He headed for the door. “Good job.”

  “Natalie, I’m so sorry.” Olivia’s apologetic expression was genuine. “I don’t know how he found out about the mock-ups. I didn’t tell him. What do you want to do?”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  “I promise. They’re only for me.”

  Natalie’s conversation with Rome about the photos plagued her the entire day. They’d gone viral in the office, and everyone, especially her team, was excited. They were fully energized about a campaign featuring him. Where they’d once been stuck, ideas and creativity now flowed. And Spencer, who was probably seeing a clearer path back to L.A. as a business director, kept praising her in front of everyone—something he’d never done before. Her fellow account directors looked at her with a new level of respect or perhaps envy.

  The next two nights at home, she sat on the couch with Betsy at her side, searching online modeling agency profiles herself and listing a few prospects. She compared their pictures with Rome’s. Maybe once they were wearing the boots in front of a camera, their potential would emerge?

  But Wednesday morning, she was dragging herself into the office, dreading her team peppering her with questions. When did she think they’d be able to set up a test photo shoot with Rome? What was his boot size? An intern dropped more mock-ups on her desk, now with sample copy and notes from Jack about what he saw as the next steps.

  After that, Spencer dropped by her office with a wheatgrass shot. He set it in front of her like it was unearthed treasure. “Drink this. It’s good for energy, and we need to keep you at the top of your game.” He parked himself in a chair in front of her desk, waiting for her to drink it.

  Wasn’t Martian blood or the insides of some other sci-fi creature that shade of green in the movies? She drank it down, wishing it was a shot of alcohol instead of something that tasted like she’d swallowed clippings from a lawn mower.

  Somehow, she managed not to choke. “Thanks.”

  “You’re welcome. So…the model. How well do you know him?”

  “He’s just a friend.” Guilt panged inside of her the moment she said it.

  As the day continued, her head started to pound, and the wheatgrass juice had left her feeling slightly queasy. It all drove her to take a half day off.

  Instead of going home, she found herself going to Rome’s place, just needing to sit in his space. He was at Club Escapade, assisting with a major inventory and tending bar for a catered party, so she’d have the condo to herself until that evening.

  Sitting in the middle of the bed with her computer, still dressed in the cream-and-rose wrap dress she’d worn to work, she widened her search for models to a general Google search. No one she came across caught her attention, but maybe she was just biased. And what about what everyone else thought? Especially Spencer?

  “Do what it takes and make it happen.”

  That was what he’d told her to do about getting Rome on board with the idea of being their model. And the night he’d agreed to take her to California with him, Spencer had also said he wouldn’t hesitate in taking her off the Gull Beach account if he felt she couldn’t handle it. Nothing could be worse than being replaced. It was like a scarlet letter that followed you through the company, saying you couldn’t do your job.

  Natalie set her computer and the file with the mock-ups aside. One thing Jada had stressed to her about becoming an account director was the importance of being dedicated to every creative endeavor she and her team developed, beyond her own personal interests.

  She’d fought to get the account. She’d told Spencer she could handle it. And that meant she had to at least try to convince Rome to consider doing it.

  She dialed his number. Rome picked up on the third ring. “Hey, beautiful.”

  “Hi. I know I said we couldn’t get together until the weekend, but I’m not as busy as I thought. In fa
ct, I’m off for the rest of the day. What about us having dinner at your place? Maya can keep Betsy for the night. I’ll cook.”

  “Okay. I’m still trying to process that you’re off early from work. That’s new.” He chuckled. “We should definitely celebrate that over dinner. I’ll be home around six.”

  “That’s perfect.”

  “Hey, but seriously. You never leave work this early. Is everything okay?”

  A part of her wanted to blurt out that his photo had been passed around by mistake. But she wasn’t trying to play on his sympathy. When she talked to him tonight, she’d lay it out like the business proposition that it was, including the money he could make modeling the boots. “I’m fine. Just had some errands to run. See you tonight.”

  Natalie drew up a mental list of food she’d need. It was a simple one. Her go-to meal for birthdays, holidays, and special occasions—roast chicken, rice pilaf, and broccoli. For dessert, she’d pick up the chocolate cheesecake Rome liked. To save herself from driving all over the place, she could shop for the food she needed in that area of town.

  A couple of hours later, on the way back from shopping and the bakery, she realized she’d forgotten something. Wine. She’d need some to bump up her courage. She pulled into a grocery store that was close to Alexa’s house.

  Once inside, Natalie easily found her bearings as she walked through the aisles. She and Cori would often stop there for supplies before heading to Alexa’s place for their Friday girls’ nights. Something they wouldn’t enjoy together once Alexa moved away. Sadness sunk in. She needed to call Cori so they could plan a proper send-off for Alexa. In fact, up ahead, she thought she spotted Alexa. Or maybe that was guilt playing with her mind for trying to avoid the fact that Alexa was actually leaving in a little over a week.

  Natalie got closer to the dairy section and the woman. It was her friend. “Hey, Alexa.”

  Alexa turned left down aisle nine, and Natalie followed her into the wine section.

  “Alexa.”

  Alexa, still absorbed in the wine selections, didn’t look back.

  But she probably had a lot on her mind with the move. That was why she wasn’t hearing her. Finally, Alexa glanced her direction, and Natalie hurried over to her. “Hey, you. Why didn’t you answer me? I called out to you three times.”

  “I heard someone calling me, but I didn’t think it was you.”

  “Who else would it be?” As she kissed Alexa on the cheek, a box grazed Natalie’s thigh, and she glanced down. Boxed wine? What the hell. Alexa was such a wine snob. She only drank wine out of a bottle. A forthcoming teasing comment hovered on Natalie’s lips, but Alexa’s glazed, unhappy expression wiped out everything but concern. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing much, just…” Alexa slid her purse strap that had fallen down her arm back on her shoulder and looked away.

  Had something happened with her mom…or was there an issue with Brad?

  Just when Natalie was about to question her further, Alexa’s chin wobbled, and tears welled in her eyes. She took in several breaths and blinked rapidly, as if trying to compose herself.

  But when she looked back at Natalie, she was far from composed. A full-on, screaming ugly cry was coming, and this wasn’t the place for that to happen.

  “Oh shit.” Natalie snatched the boxed wine from Alexa and slung it back on the shelf. She had to get Alexa out of there. Fast.

  Within minutes, Natalie was in the driver’s seat of her car with Alexa buckled into the front passenger seat.

  Alexa looked around as if just realizing where she was. The tears she’d been blinking away in the store spilled to her cheeks, and her face finally crumpled with the ugly cry she’d been holding back. “But I have to go home.”

  Her pitiful, heart-wrenching sobs made Natalie’s chest hurt. What the hell had happened to her?

  An hour and a half later, Alexa sat in Natalie’s living room on the couch. Cori was with them.

  Through tears and gulps of wine, Alexa caught them up on all that had happened since the Bash. The good news: she wasn’t moving to Seattle. The not so good news: she’d fallen in love with Rafe Dumond, the owner of Club Escapade, but things had fallen apart between them. Apparently, Alexa’s ex-fiancé, Brad, had shown up unexpectedly at her house while Rafe was there alone and spread some straight-out lies to purposely drive Alexa and Rafe apart.

  It was a small world. Alexa had been with Rome’s boss the entire time since the Breakup Bash, but now wasn’t the time to tell Alexa that she’d found someone that night, too, and was happily seeing him. Alexa’s heart was truly broken. Not just bruised like when Brad had left her at the altar, but truly and utterly broken.

  Cori stood from where she sat on the ottoman. She’d come straight from the gym when Natalie had called her. She looked sporty and fit in blue gym tights and a cropped white tee. “We need food after drinking this wine. I’ll go see if there’s anything in Natalie’s fridge besides takeout condiment packets.” Her gaze met Natalie’s. A hint of tease was in her eyes but also concern for Alexa.

  Natalie wrapped an arm around Alexa and gave her a squeeze. “Why don’t you lie down and relax while Cori and I make dinner?”

  “Okay. I do feel a little worn out.” Alexa stretched out on the couch. “It’s probably the wine.”

  And the toll of her emotional outburst. But what had Cori said a minute ago? Alexa was due. “I’ll get you a blanket.” By the time she returned, Alexa had already dozed off. Natalie carefully laid the blanket over her and tiptoed into the kitchen.

  “So,” Cori said, pointing to the plywood door. “I want to know what that’s about, but first, I need an explanation of why there’s actual food in the fridge and why I found these folded neatly on the dryer when I went to the laundry room looking for kitchen towels.” A mischievous grin lit up Cori’s face as she held a pair of Rome’s boxer briefs up by the waistband.

  Natalie could deny it or accept that her secret was out. It wasn’t like she was ashamed to confess. “The hot bartender everyone wanted at the Breakup Bash—he left with me.”

  Cori’s mouth hung open. “Seriously? You spent the night with him?”

  “Try the past few weeks.”

  “You really have been busy.”

  “Just a little.” Natalie plucked Rome’s underwear from Cori’s hands. As Natalie headed to the laundry room, she pointed to the food on the counter. “You’re supposed to be cooking, remember?”

  After putting Rome’s boxer briefs back on the dryer, she returned to the kitchen.

  Cori was preparing the packaged rice pilaf. “So, are you going to catch me up on all of the secrets you’re hiding?”

  Secrets? Natalie leaned a hip against the counter. Other than being responsible for putting Rome’s sexy pictures on blast at her office and setting herself up for blowing the biggest account of her life, nothing. No, actually, there was the more obvious one. “The night of the Bash, hooking up with Rome wasn’t the only thing that happened…”

  She went on to explain about the robbery.

  Throughout the story, Cori’s expression morphed from disbelief that it happened, to anger that the thieves got away, and finally to concern over Natalie’s well-being. “I hope they find those assholes.” She set the spatula down, then hugged Natalie. “I’m just so glad that you or Betsy weren’t hurt and Rome was here for you.” She squeezed tighter. “But I’m not thrilled about you not calling me or Alexa about it.”

  Natalie struggled to breathe as they rocked back and forth. “Okay, Killer. Let go. It’s over now. What about Alexa and all the stuff that was happening with her? What would have happened if I hadn’t found her wandering around in the store?”

  Cori let her go. “Yeah, well, before you get too upset with her, you need to include me in on holding a few secrets. I haven’t been completely honest with you two, either, because you have your own problems to worry about. And honestly…” She looked upward for a moment. “I’m still trying to understand
what’s happening. It’s new, unexpected, and a little bit scary.” A hint of a smile came over her lips. “And exciting, but I’m not ready to talk about it yet.”

  Natalie understood completely. Her present relationship came with its share of fear. She’d fallen hard and fast for Dorian, and, now, in an even shorter time, she had even stronger feelings for Rome. But could she really trust herself? Was she making the same mistake with him by moving too quickly? And if she was, why did it feel more right to be with Rome after a few short weeks than it had after dating Dorian for months?

  She wrapped an arm around Cori. “When you’re ready, don’t forget that Alexa and I are here for you.”

  Cori looped an arm around Natalie’s back. “Day, night, rain, or shine, I know. Let’s change the subject to something more interesting. What about you and Rome? You had all of this food in your fridge. Were you two supposed to have dinner here tonight?”

  “Actually, I was supposed to make dinner at his place.”

  “And now we’re eating it.” Cori’s face lit up. “You two can still go out to dinner.”

  She could, but, right now, her friends needed her more. Natalie went to her purse on the counter and took out her phone. She’d go to his place later and spend the night. “No.” She smiled at Cori. “I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be.”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  As soon as Rome walked inside his condo, the tension from his day disappeared. It was good to be home. Funny. He hadn’t thought of the condo in quite that way since he’d moved there. Truthfully, the house he’d lived in near Jacksonville, when he’d worked as a security specialist, hadn’t felt like a real home, either. That was why he hadn’t hesitated to sell everything when he’d left Florida.

  As he walked past the entryway into the kitchen, he paused, taking in the new furniture, the light beige draperies that Natalie had helped him pick out, along with an oceanscape painting that hung on the wall. She’d even talked him into getting matching kitchen utensils and dishes, and bath towels and sheets that matched the bedroom’s and bathroom’s gray, white, and black color scheme. Those little touches had elevated the condo from a place where he’d just slept and ate, in between working at Escapade, to a home he looked forward to coming back to—especially when Natalie was there.