How to Rebuild (Hearts & Horsepower #4)

by A. K. Evans

  I couldn’t imagine not doing a typical launch.

  Porter offered me a sympathetic look. “It’s up to you, Elise,” he started. “It’s my job to put it out there whatever way you want. I was just giving you my input and thought it might be something to think about. We could probably do our normal thing and be okay, but we’re dealing with the unknown territory right now. I just want to make sure we consider all options before we make a decision.”

  My happy mood returned, and I smiled at Porter. “Okay, I’ll consider this and figure out what I want to do,” I told him. “But let’s be honest… when have we ever backed down because we were scared about entering unknown territory. We didn’t get here by being afraid.”

  “You are right about that,” he replied. “Let me know what you decide, and we’ll figure it out either way.”

  Before I could say anything, there was a knock on the door. I’d been so caught up in my conversation with Porter that I hadn’t even seen Kat walk up to it. I waved her inside as Porter started moving toward the door.

  Kat’s eyes went from him to me before she said, “I figured it out.”

  “What?” I asked.

  “Your good mood,” she explained. “I know this isn’t the type of thing that we typically discuss here, but I’m happy for you.”

  “Happy for me?” I repeated.

  Nodding her head furiously, a big smile on her face, she said, “Yeah. The guy you were with this weekend at Lou’s.”

  “I’m sorry. What?” Porter asked, moving back into the room.

  How did she know that I was with a guy at Lou’s this weekend?

  “Kat, where are you getting this information?” I questioned her.

  “It’s online,” she shared. The look on her face growing even brighter, she added, “Not for nothing, but he’s hot, too. Good for you, Elise.”

  Her words instantly wiped the smile off my face.

  Maybe she had it wrong. Perhaps it was someone else. Someone who looked like me.

  I swallowed hard and directed my attention to my computer. “Where specifically?” I asked Kat as Porter started to round my desk.

  “Oh, you can just do a Google image search for your name,” she instructed. “Several places are reporting on it. Though, I guess I should warn you that the things being said aren’t very nice. Even still, you look fantastic.”

  I opened a browser and typed my name into the search bar. A moment later, I saw the images. There were several. I clicked on one of them, which took me to an article.

  Before I could even bring myself to read the article, I started scrolling through to the images. Nerves filled me. We weren’t even officially dating. I’d just turned him down for a date because I was afraid of this. I was worried that he’d be thrown into something that he didn’t ask to be part of.

  This was going to get back to him. I knew it.

  On that thought, my hand flew up to cover my mouth as I ran to the bathroom and threw up my lunch.

  So much for manifesting what I believed.

  This was the worst possible thing that could have happened.

  I leaned into my palms and stared at myself in the mirror of my office bathroom. How? Why? Hadn’t I suffered enough heartache and drama to last me for the year?

  Who even took the pictures of Kieran and me?

  I sighed and shook my head.

  I needed to know what the article said, so I turned and walked out. As I had suspected, Kat was standing there looking concerned while Porter was sitting at my desk, staring at the computer, wearing a scowl.

  My feet carried me to the sofa in the sitting area.

  “Are you okay, Elise?” Kat asked.

  I slipped off my shoes, laid down on my back, and brought my hands up to rub my temples. I ignored Kat’s question and demanded, “Please read the article to me, Porter.”

  “Maybe that’s not such a good idea,” he suggested. “Why don’t you just tell us about this guy first?”

  “Read the article to me,” I ordered.

  My brother audibly sighed, clearly not in agreement with my wishes. Even still, he did as I asked.

  “Flynn Flaunts Fling Amidst Scandal is the headline of the article,” Porter started. Great. This was just great. After giving me a minute to digest that bit of nonsense, he continued, “Elise Flynn, beauty brand mogul, was spotted out Friday night at Big Lou’s Restaurant and Saloon in Rising Sun, Wyoming, less than three weeks after her company, Flynn Beauty, came under fire for selling and distributing products laced with high levels of toxic chemicals. According to its website, Flynn Beauty, a brand that prides itself on its commitment to clean beauty, seems to have faltered in its promise only to provide products that are safe for their consumers and the environment. Reports are that her newfound love interest might be the reason for Flynn’s sudden carelessness as he doesn’t seem concerned about his health. The man, who has yet to be identified, was covered in tattoos making consumers grow concerned about how serious Flynn is about her clean beauty promise. While there is no word yet on who the mystery man is, it’s clear Flynn is comfortable with him. An anonymous source spotted the pair leaving the establishment together in what is presumed to be the mystery man’s truck after they spent the evening laughing and partying it up with friends, including New York Times bestselling romance author, Scarlet Morgan.”

  I covered my eyes with my hand and took several deep breaths. This could not seriously be happening right now.

  “Is that it?” I asked, hoping there wasn’t anything else.

  “Other than the pictures, that’s all,” Porter confirmed.

  “Damn it. This is bad,” I declared.

  There was a collective silence before Kat stated, “I don’t think it’s bad at all. Yeah, they said a bunch of crap, but it shows that you’re human and have a life outside of work.”

  “A life I shouldn’t be… what’s the word they used? Flaunting. It’s a life I shouldn’t be flaunting when my company is trying to recover from this whole nightmare,” I argued. “Oh, God, this is horrible.”

  “Who is this guy anyway?” Porter asked. “Why didn’t you mention you were dating somebody?”

  My hand that had been covering my face fell to the side and was hanging over the edge of the couch. I stared up at the ceiling and assured my brother, “I’m not dating anyone. This is only the second time I’ve seen the guy. The first time was when I was on the plane returning home from New York the day this whole mess started.”

  “What? You just met him on a plane and decided to go out on a date with him?” Porter asked.

  “I think this is fascinating,” Kat chimed in.

  Groaning in frustration, I sat up and looked over at Porter and Kat. “This is not fascinating, and I’ll repeat, I’m not dating him,” I began. “I never expected to see the guy again after the flight. But as it turns out, Kieran is friends with Scarlet’s fiancé. They work together. I didn’t even want to go out Friday night, but Scarlet insisted I get out for a little after everything I’d been dealing with for the last few weeks.”

  “Kieran?” Kat repeated, her eyes wide. “That’s his name.”

  Shit. I should have kept that to myself.

  “So, nothing is going on between the two of you?” Porter asked, his eyes pinned on the screen. “Because these pictures don’t indicate that it was just a friendly reunion between two strangers who met on a plane.”

  “Nothing is going on between us, and it was just a friendly reunion,” I insisted, knowing I had zero intention of telling my brother just how far things went between Kieran and me.

  “But you left with Kieran,” Kat pointed out, her tone indicating she wasn’t the least bit bothered by my night out.

  My night out was likely going to bring all the rumor mills and mobs back to social media. This was a marketing nightmare of epic proportions.

  “He took me home because I’d gotten a ride there with Ryker and Scarlet,” I explained, not wanting to use his name again. Kat was a
lready stuck on it as it was. “They could go straight home without having to make the stop for me.”

  That was technically the truth. Nobody needed to know that Kieran spent the night with me or that he’d given me the best sex of my life. That was one thing that I refused ever to let get out into the world. I hadn’t shared any specifics with my best friend; there was no way I was sharing anything like that about him with anyone else.

  “Are you telling me this guy doesn’t want anything to do with you other than just to be a friendly acquaintance?” Porter pressed.

  I bit my lip.

  He knew I wouldn’t lie.

  And there was no way I could talk myself out of this one.

  “I didn’t say that,” I responded.

  Kat gasped. “Oh, Elise, you need to get on that,” she insisted. “Did you see the way he looked at you in those photos? You’d be a fool not to let him pursue you.”

  I couldn’t necessarily say I disagreed with her assessment that I was a fool. But I felt like an even bigger fool sitting here discussing things with them that I never addressed at work. I usually reserved this kind of thing for my best friend outside of work.

  Unfortunately, I couldn’t ultimately save the whole thing for Scarlet because this affected work now.

  “What are we going to do now?” I asked, my eyes pinned on Porter.

  He looked at me and shrugged. “Nothing,” he said.

  My eyes widened. “Nothing?” I repeated. “What do you mean, nothing?”

  “Elise, what do you want to do?” he countered. “You’re telling us this was nothing more than a friendly encounter. You’re not dating the guy. And there’s no law against you going out for a night with some friends. Now, if you were dating the guy, I might have something else to say.”

  “What would that be?” I wondered.

  He cocked an eyebrow. “You’re asking me that hypothetically, right?” he confirmed.

  “Yes.”

  After taking a minute to think about it, Porter said, “As Porter Flynn, brand manager and marketer for Flynn Beauty, I’d probably need some time to come up with a game plan. But as Porter Flynn, younger brother to Elise Flynn, I’d tell you to be careful.”

  “Careful?”

  He nodded and hesitated to say anything. I watched him struggle to compose himself. When he did, he explained, “I don’t want to see you go through what you went through with the last guy. I never had a good vibe about Elliot right from the start.”

  I let out a laugh. “I think it’s because you’re like the reporter who wrote that article,” I teased him. “You have a thing against tattoos.”

  Shaking his head, he insisted, “It’s not the tattoos that I’m against, Elise. It’s the needles. Nobody in their right mind has needles shoved into their skin willingly without having something wrong upstairs.”

  The minute he said those words, I couldn’t stop recalling Kieran’s words when I asked him about his piercing. Not that I’d ever tell Porter about it, but I wondered how he’d react to me asking him about men who get cock piercings. Knowing how queasy stuff like that made him, he’d probably pass out just at the thought.

  “Kieran is not crazy,” I assured him. “He’s a really nice guy.”

  I didn’t know why, but I felt this overwhelming need to defend him. It was the least I could do until I could figure out what my next step would be. The last thing I wanted was him to get hit with this. I didn’t know if he spent much time online looking at gossipy news, but if someone did enough digging, this would likely be brought to his attention.

  That thought had me itching to reach for my phone. Maybe I would have to call him after all.

  “Alright, I need some time alone to deal with all of this,” I started. “Between needing to select a new lead project manager, having to reconsider the launch for the spring collection, and now this bit of news, I’ve got my work for the rest of the week cut out for me.”

  “Reconsidering the launch for the spring collection?” Kat cried. “What do you mean?”

  “Porter and I were talking about it before you came in,” I told her. “We’re considering a soft launch on the spring collection.”

  “Why?” she asked, her face contorted with horror. If I hadn’t heard myself say the words, I would have thought she heard me say we were canceling the launch altogether.

  “It’s not set in stone yet,” I assured her. “Porter brought it to my attention today that it might not be the wisest idea to go with the full-fledged launch of the spring collection and that it might be better to release the collection without all the bells and whistles.”

  Something washed over her face, something I couldn’t read, before she reasoned, “That seems counterproductive to what we’re trying to accomplish, doesn’t it? I mean, I didn’t go to school for marketing or anything, but what does it say about our confidence in the brand if we’re not pushing it the same as we always have? I think this is the perfect time to double down our efforts and push even harder.”

  “That has the potential to result in a bigger loss than the soft launch, Kat,” Porter explained.

  “It also has the most potential for a bigger payout,” she argued. “And I’m not just saying that about the money. If we have a successful spring launch, it could be just what the company needs to bounce back from this.”

  My eyes went to Porter’s. He looked like he was deep in thought when he said, “It’s possible. I don’t know what to tell you, Elise. It could go either way. You have to make the call. We’ll do whatever you decide.”

  “I’ll have to think about it,” I said. “Luckily, we still have some time before we need to make a final decision.”

  “Okay, I’m going to get back to work,” Porter declared as he stood from my desk. “I’ll let you know what, if anything, I find out there on the internet that’s of concern. Hopefully, this new stuff isn’t going to make anything any worse.”

  “Keep me posted,” I urged him as I got up off the couch.

  “Will do.”

  After my brother walked out, I moved back to my desk. It wasn’t until I sat down and looked up that I realized Kat hadn’t moved.

  “Kat?” I called.

  “Yeah?” she replied absentmindedly.

  “Is everything okay?” I asked.

  She shook away whatever thoughts had been consuming her mind and answered, “Yeah. Everything’s perfect. I’ll let you get back to work.”

  At that, she turned quickly and ran out of my office back over to hers. I allowed my eyes to drift down to my computer screen.

  There he was.

  Kieran Decker.

  The man who made my heart race.

  The man who was now on the verge of having people dig deep into who he was to add fuel to my already blazing fire.

  I had to tell him.

  I had to let him know what might be heading his way.

  So, before I got back into my work, I opened my desk drawer, pulled out my purse, and dug out my cell phone.

  Then, before I opened my world right up to devastation, I made the necessary phone call to my best friend.

  Two rings later, Scarlet answered, “Hey, Elise. What’s going on?”

  “My life is falling apart,” I declared.

  “Oh, boy. What’s happening now?” she asked. “There can’t possibly be any more bad news.”

  I swallowed hard and shared, “I guess that depends on what you consider bad news. In my opinion, this is the worst yet.”

  “Considering I thought the other stuff was horrible, I can’t even begin to imagine,” she replied.

  “Are you in front of your computer?” I asked, knowing she’d likely be in front of it writing or working.

  “Yeah.”

  “I’m emailing you a link,” I said. Scarlet waited silently while I sent the email off to her. “It’s sent.”

  “Okay, let me go check,” she returned. Then it was my turn to remain silent. I couldn’t bring myself to share the news with her
verbally. She just needed to read it and see it all on her own. I knew that had happened when, a minute or two later, she whispered, “Oh, wow.”

  “You see what I mean?” I confirmed.

  “Well, um, not really,” she responded. “I mean, okay, I get it. They’ve decided to make you out to be some horrible human being, but I’m not sure I agree with you that this is worse than the actual toxic chemicals in the products and finding out that it was a trusted member of your staff that did it. Am I missing something?”

  Was she serious?

  “Did you see the pictures?”

  “Yeah.”

  “And you don’t think there’s any reason to be concerned about those?” I pressed.

  There was a moment of silent deliberation before she answered, “Honestly, no. I mean, they’re grasping at straws here, assuming they know the story between you and Kieran. They don’t. And anyone that reads these kinds of articles should know to take them with a grain of salt.”

  “Scarlet, what about him?”

  “Who? Kieran?”

  “Yeah.”

  “What about him?” she wondered.

  I sighed. “I feel horrible,” I told her. “He didn’t ask for this. Now his picture is plastered all over the internet, and he’s connected to this whole mess. It’s all my fault. I don’t want them digging into this and trying to figure out who he is. And I don’t want his life being upended because of my crap.”

  Scarlet let out a laugh. “I don’t think he’s going to feel that way about it at all,” she said. “But, I do think it might be a wise idea for you to tell him about it before any of that stuff you’re worried about happens.”

  No matter how much I wanted to avoid reaching out to Kieran again, I knew Scarlet was right. I knew I had no choice. Sure, I could have begged her to talk to Ryker and have him deliver the news, but that wasn’t right. If nothing else, I needed to be the one to tell him.

  “I had a feeling you were going to say that,” I confessed. “I was hoping you’d have another alternative.”

  “Sorry, babe,” she lamented. “If it’s any consolation, I think you’re worried about it for no reason.”