Unintentional

by Harkins, MK

  I put my head in my hands. This can be fixed. I can explain this. It’s only been a few days. I’m sure it won’t be too late.

  Laurel

  This is nice. I’m tucked into the most comfortable sofa with a glass of wine, a slice of pizza, and my favorite movie playing. I’m so glad I made the decision to come here. I needed to get off the Cade rollercoaster, and Douglas is the best possible reprieve. I want to give him another chance. I know we’d be good together.

  Douglas picks up my feet and starts massaging them. That settles it. I’m going to ask him.

  “Are you dating anyone?”

  He looks surprised for a moment, but quickly recovers. “No, I’m not, Laurel. Are you?”

  “No,” I answer.

  He smiles, takes my hand, and whispers, “I’ve been waiting for you.”

  “Why?” I ask.

  He laughs. “I know we only dated for three months, but, Laurel, those were the best three months of my life.”

  I’m surprised at his revelation. I remember the months we dated. We had fun, yes, but I don’t remember having the connection he seems to have had. I remember the dates. Douglas always did a wonderful job making sure we went to the places I liked. I’m trying to remember, did we ever go on a date that he chose, or was he always accommodating me?

  He moves even closer to me on the sofa. I’m beginning to question myself. Did he scare me off when we dated? Did I retreat because of my old habit of building walls so I wouldn’t get hurt? Or was he more invested in the relationship and I backed off, not wanting to hurt him, knowing my feelings weren’t going to progress. Now I’m really starting to feel confused.

  These questions are racing through my brain, making me feel conflicted. I should have given myself a few weeks, or even months, to get over my feelings for Cade. Who am I kidding? I’m never going to get over Cade. The realization hits me like a ton of bricks. The nice, warm feeling from the wine vanishes immediately. Douglas leans in for a kiss, and I know I have to stop him.

  “Douglas, I need to tell you something.”

  His brow rises in a question.

  “The bad days I was referring to earlier? It had something to do with Cade.”

  “He turned out to be a jerk, am I right?” His expression turns cold.

  “Yes. No. Well, I think a little bit of both. I had feelings for him, but I found out recently my feelings weren’t returned.”

  “Laurel, I’ll never hurt you like that. Give us a chance. We can be so happy together. I promise. I’ll spend every waking moment doing everything for you.”

  Uh oh. That’s it, right there. This is why I broke up with Douglas. I don’t want a man at my beck and call. Sophie’s right, I need someone to challenge me. Oh hell, now I have to break up with him again.

  “Douglas, I really appreciate your offer, but I don’t want a partner to do everything for me. I need a little give and take. Does that make sense?”

  He sits back into the sofa, crossing his arms. “It’s still Cade interfering, isn’t it? Even though he’s rejected you, you still want him.”

  “No, this isn’t about Cade.” I can tell he’s not convinced. “I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have come.” I start to gather my things.

  “Please stay, Laurel. I got ahead of myself. I’m always doing that with you. I know you’ve been hurt before, and you’re cautious about starting a new relationship. Can we just be friends for now? I’ve really missed you.”

  “You’re all right with that? Just friends?” I look closely at his face, trying to read his expression. I feel horrible I’m doing this to him a second time.

  “Of course. We’ll always be friends. I haven’t seen much of you with your hectic schedule, but I really enjoyed our texts and emails. Please don’t leave, Laurel. Just stay, and we’ll finish the movie and relax. No pressure, okay?”

  I’m so warm and comfortable, I really don’t want to move right now.

  “Okay.”

  Cade

  “Don’t hang up!” I yell into the phone. I hear silence, a good sign. “Sophie? Are you there?”

  “Maybe,” she answers.

  “Can you please listen to me before hanging up again?” I plead with her.

  “It depends on what you have to say. I guess I can listen to your apology before I hang up.”

  This is one fiery woman. I can see why she and Laurel are such good friends. I’ll need to get my point across – quickly.

  “I don’t have a girlfriend. You saw my sister on Saturday.” Silence. I wait.

  “Oh, shit. I mean, hell. No, shit’s a better word. Ugh! What? Cade, you wouldn’t lie to me, would you?”

  “Nope.”

  She sounds mortified. I think I’ll let her sweat for a few moments.

  “Cade, uh, so I guess we were wrong in our assumption?” “Yep.”

  “Shit.”

  “Yeah.”

  “You aren’t going to make this easy for me, are you?” she complains.

  “Hell, no.”

  She sighs loudly. “Here I thought you were going to apologize to me. Okay, here goes. Sorry, Cade. I’m so surprised…your sister…well, she’s downright beautiful. When she jumped on stage and hugged you, we thought she was your girlfriend. Obviously, we were wrong. You sure she’s your sister?”

  “Sophie?”

  “Yes?”

  “I’m sure.”

  “Okay.”

  There’s silence, again. If this wasn’t such a mess, I’d think this situation was funny. It’s rather nice to know she’s squirming after her tirade earlier.

  “I need to tell you something. Laurel went to see Douglas, her old boyfriend. I think she may have rebounded already.” Sophie sounds stressed.

  “What? Already?” I can’t believe this.

  “I just received a text from her. She didn’t want me to worry. I’m sorry, Cade, this is a mess. I can call her and sort this out.”

  The part of me that wants to give up surfaces again. We take a couple steps forward and something like this always seems to happen. Will she ever let her guard down? She is so completely frustrating. Stubborn. Closed off. She’s also warm and funny. Strong and soft. She’s just…Laurel.

  “No, I want to work this out, just the two of us. Sophie, can you get her back up here to Seattle? I don’t want to talk about this with her over the phone. I need to get her alone for at least an hour. It seems like any time we get close to coming together, we get interrupted. Please don’t say anything to her. I’d like to do this in person.”

  “Okay, I’ll do it. I don’t like keeping things from Laurel, but I think you’re right. She might run for the hills out of embarrassment alone.”

  “Let me know what time your flight gets in after you book it. I have a plan starting to form. I’ll pick you up at the airport and drop you off at your hotel. Laurel will be staying with me.”

  “Good luck with that,” she answers.

  Laurel

  “So, tell me again. Why are we traipsing back to Seattle? I’m exhausted, Sophie. Is this really necessary?” I’m so tired after the events of the past week. I just want to crawl into my bed and sleep for a few days, or maybe a month. This must be important if Sophie is willing to fly twice in one week.

  “I told you, our contract with the band expires tomorrow. Cade said if we weren’t here to sign, he’d call Kelly Ricci. You don’t want that, do you?”

  “That bastard! After everything I’ve done for the band this past year, and he pulls this? And, adding insult to injury, he kept the whole girlfriend thing from me. He has his nerve! I’m tempted to let him sign with Kelly. Let’s see how well everything goes with her in charge.”

  Sophie says quietly, “Laurel, I think you probably already know they are going to be a huge hit with whomever they sign. Don’t let your emotions get in the way of this, okay? You’ve worked too hard.”

  I know she’s right. Should I just let him go? I’m back to where I started, working with a man I know I can’t ha
ve. I did it before. Can I do it again?

  “How am I going to do this, Sophie?” Tears form in my eyes. Sophie takes my hand. “Can you trust me on this? I know you can do this. You are so strong, Laurel. I’ve never met anyone with your resolve and determination. Let’s get past the resigning of the contract, and we’ll deal with the emotions later. One foot in front of the other – okay?”

  “Okay.”

  ∗∗∗

  We land at SeaTac airport at three in the afternoon on a raining day. No surprise there. I’m glad we decided to only bring a carry-on. The trip goes much faster this way. All I want to do is get this over with.

  As we make our way over to the exit, I see a familiar head of red hair. I feel like my eyes are going to bug out.

  “Sophie, you weren’t kidding about Cade’s threats. Look who’s here.”

  Sophie looks across the room to where my eyes are glued. “Holy shit! What the hell is she doing here? Cade didn’t call her. I know that for a fact.”

  “How could you know something like that? Didn’t he threaten to sign with her? I’m so angry right now, I feel like turning around and going right back. Who does he think he is?”

  I’m seething. I don’t remember being this angry, probably in my entire life. My heart is pounding so fast, I feel like I can’t catch my breath, and I really just want to punch someone. Maybe it will be Kelly, or better yet, Cade.

  Sophie pulls on my arm and heads over to Kelly and her assistant. What was his name? It doesn’t matter, because at our fast pace, we’ll find out soon.

  Sophie asks, “So, Kelly, what brings you to Seattle?”

  Kelly whips around and takes us in with a look of surprise. “Probably for the same reason you are. I want Cade…I mean…the band. I heard there was a rift between the two of you.” And she looks directly at me.

  Sophie replies, “It looks like you’ve wasted a trip. There isn’t a rift. Everyone is happy, happy, happy.”

  Kelly’s eyes narrow as she looks at me. “Laurel doesn’t look happy to me.”

  Oops. I plaster a wicked, sweet smile on my face. “I am so incredibly thrilled. Things couldn’t be better,” I lie.

  Sophie continues, “Well, we’re off. Cade is waiting for us – with the contract, of course.”

  She takes my arm again and drags me to the exit, leaving Kelly and her silent assistant gaping at our hasty retreat. I forgot to get his name.

  “What was her assistant’s name?” I ask. “I don’t remember.”

  “Rodney. Now let’s go.”

  What’s with her?

  We walk out onto the sidewalk, and I start to hail a cab.

  “No, Laurel, we aren’t taking a cab. There he is!”

  I look over, and there is the devil himself. I freeze in my tracks. Sophie walks over to him while I remain frozen. They have a short conversation I can’t hear. Are they whispering? Cade looks up at me and smiles. No! Put those dimples away. I can’t handle it right now. I also can’t handle his tight jeans, that fitted t-shirt over those broad shoulders, or his seductive, carelessly disheveled hair. I want to mess it up even more. I need to stop this way of thinking. He has a girlfriend. The heaviness descends upon me once again. I hate that feeling.

  “Let’s go, Laurel!” Sophie calls over to me.

  I stride right over, move past Cade holding the passenger door open for me, and hop into the back seat. Sophie rolls her eyes and gets in next to Cade.

  Cade

  I watched as Laurel and Sophie exited the terminal. Laurel looked distracted, while Sophie had a look of determination. We made eye contact, and Sophie headed my way, quickly leaving Laurel a few steps behind.

  She whispered, “We just ran into Kelly Ricci. She thinks she might have a chance to sign you. What’s up with that?”

  I said quietly back to her, “I have no idea. How would she know about any of this?”

  Sophie shook her head. “Sharks! We’ll figure it out later. I didn’t tell Laurel you were picking us up. You may need to carry her.” She smiled at me.

  I hoped she was kidding.

  I opened the passenger door for Laurel. She looked a little shell-shocked, but she moved in my direction. She walked past me, opened the back door, and got in swiftly. Once she entered the car, I could set my plan in motion. First, I had to straighten out the Kelly Ricci situation.

  “Hey listen. I don’t know why Kelly Ricci is in town, or why she’d even think about us possibly signing with her. I never called her. I just used that as an idle threat to get you here.” I check in the rearview mirror to get her reaction. She seems to relax a little.

  We make the trek back to Seattle in virtual silence. Sophie isn’t even talking, so I know I better not say anything.

  I pull up to their hotel. Sophie grabs her carry-on sitting next to her, jumps out, and yells, “Go!”

  Laughing, I nod to Sophie, acknowledging her quick thinking. The child-locks have already been engaged, but I put my foot on the gas as an added precaution before Laurel has time to react. In her current state, I wouldn’t be surprised if she jumped over the seat to get out of the car. If Laurel was given the opportunity to make an exit, I think it might take a few hours to get her back in. I really need to be with her, to explain everything without any interruptions.

  “What the hell! Are you kidnapping me?” Her eyes appear alarmed. She doesn’t want to be alone with me; that’s apparent.

  “Sort of,” I answer.

  “This isn’t funny, Cade! You drop me off now! We can talk about the contract back at the hotel.”

  “I want to talk to you, Laurel—alone. Have you ever noticed, every time we’re together, something prevents us from talking…or whatever.”

  I can’t help but smile, but she isn’t having it. She glares at me. I would be worried if I didn’t know her better. She’s all bark, no bite, at least I hope so.

  “Do I need to make my idle threat an actual threat? Kelly programmed her number into my phone. Should I call her?” I ask, knowing she doesn’t want that.

  “If we’re going to continue to work together, we need to work some things out, uninterrupted. Completely. I have some things I need to say to you.”

  “I already know what you want to tell me. You didn’t have to resort to this ruse. You even got Sophie involved, didn’t you?”

  She sighs, exasperated. “She’s so dead. When I get through with her, she’s going to wish she never heard your name.”

  I chuckle to myself, but she hears me.

  “I’m mad at you, too, Cade. This isn’t cool. You could have just said what you needed to say in the lobby. I’m a big girl. I can handle it.”

  “With most people, Laurel, that’s what I would have done. But every time I’m with you, you either run off or we’re interrupted. All I want is an hour. Is that too much to ask?”

  I peer back through the mirror. She’s still glaring at me.

  “All right, Cade. You have one hour. Where are we going, anyway?”

  “I have an errand at the firm. I still have a few things I need to clear out before we start the tour. Will you come in with me? I’d like to you meet someone.”

  “Who?”

  “You’ll see.”

  Chapter 22

  Laurel

  I’ve basically been kidnapped, and now I have to meet someone? Is this some social hour? Wait, he wouldn’t be so stupid to introduce me to his new girlfriend? My stomach clenches. I’m starting to feel nauseous. Great, now I can look forward to throwing up on his girlfriend.

  “I don’t want to meet anyone. I want to go back to the hotel.”

  “You’ll really like Harvey. He’s a great guy.”

  Relief like I’ve never known surges through every inch of my body. It’s a momentary reprieve though. I still have to sit through “The Talk.” I wonder if I can get through it without wanting to slap, punch, or kick him. Professional, I tell myself. I must be professional.

  We pull up to a six-story building, and Cade par
ks directly in front. He runs around and grabs a guitar out of the trunk.

  I quickly exit the car and ask, “Why are you bringing your guitar?”

  He answers, “I always brought it when I worked here. They’ve come to expect a song every day. I thought I’d give them one last song.” He smiles his gorgeous, drop-dead, killer smile.

  I wonder if I can irritate him to the point where he never smiles. Only then, will I be safe.

  “How long will this take?” I really want to get this day over with.

  He smiles again but doesn’t answer.

  We enter the front entrance, and right ahead are two sets of elevators. I didn’t even think about this possibility today. The first thought that comes to mind is, why me? Why today of all days? This is humiliating enough without having to tell him about my phobia. I pray his office is on the first floor.

  He walks up to reception and greets the man behind the desk.

  “Hey, Harvey, how’s it going?”

  Harvey greets him in return. “Cade! I’ve got everything all ready for you. It’s a go.”

  Hmm. I look over at Cade to try and figure out what he’s talking about.

  “Great. This is Laurel. You remember, the girl I’ve been telling you about?”

  He told Harvey about me? Why?

  Harvey gives me a huge smile. “You are one lucky lady. The girls in the—”

  He stops suddenly. I look quickly at Cade, who has an innocent look on his face. Too innocent. I glance back and forth between them. Now they both wear the same expression.

  What’s going on?

  “Thanks for all your help with my project. We’ll get going now.”

  Harvey hands him a set of keys. I guess he’ll need them for opening up his office.

  “What floor?” I ask. Please God, please let it be the first floor.

  “Sixth. Let’s go.”

  “How about we get some exercise and do the stairs?” I ask, nodding my head vigorously. God, I think desperately to myself, I’ll be okay with the first prayer not answered if you can just give me this. I bargain quickly, desperately.