Sisters in Bloom

by Melissa Foster

  “I hope tonight isn’t all about damage control,” she said as he moved his hands to her ass. “I don’t have time for dinner and…this.” God, I want you. “I swear, we’re like two dogs in heat,” she said as he kissed her neck.

  “Ruff.”

  Chapter Eleven

  After an afternoon of dealing with the demands of actors and actresses, the impending trip to Hawaii that he was trying desperately not to think about, and Kaylie’s silent treatment burning a hole right through his heart, Chaz was looking forward to a night out with Blake. He could sure use some guy time. His house had become estrogen hell in the last few hours—even worse than usual. He’d just make it an early night.

  Kaylie came out of the bedroom wearing a snug little outfit he’d never seen before. The combination of her short, snug, emerald-green dress, her hair cascading over her shoulders, and her tone, tanned legs, caused an instant, heated reaction within him. Damn, she is sexy. He wanted to forget Blake, forget Kaylie’s career trouble and their earlier argument, and take her in his arms, but he’d practiced telling Kaylie about Lea at least fifty different ways, and he knew he had to do it. He realized that he hadn’t even told her about his leaving for Hawaii.

  “You look incredible.” He bent down to kiss her ruby-red lips.

  She ducked away. “Lipstick.”

  He was torn between making sure she was okay—that they were okay—before he took off for Hawaii, and revealing his secret. Springing Lea on anyone was unfair, and springing Lea on her after a fight and just hours before he would be meeting her halfway across the world would be cruel. Seeing her eyes tinged with sadness, he knew there was no easy way to handle the fact that he’d lied. His chest tightened, and he steeled himself to receive anything she thought he deserved.

  “Kaylie, I have to go to Hawaii to meet with a sponsor. Max called and they changed the flight. I leave tomorrow.” Her mouth dropped open. He couldn’t do it. He felt like he was abandoning her, and it made no sense. It had to be the lie that was eating away at his gut. He had to tell her, damn it. Tonight. He’d tell her tonight after she came back from her girls’ night out, when she’d be in a more relaxed mood and the news of Hawaii settled in.

  “Tomorrow?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Tomorrow? Really?” Kaylie frowned.

  “I’m sorry. If there was any other way…”

  She shrugged. “Well, it’s not like we haven’t been apart before. How long will you be gone?”

  “Maybe two nights. It’s gonna be crazy. Between flights, and the meeting, I’ll have no time to sleep.”

  “What time do you leave?”

  “I’m not sure. Max is making the arrangements, but you know it’ll be some god-awful early flight.”

  She glanced at the time on her phone. “I’m late.” She grabbed her purse and keys. “Chaz, the fight earlier—that was all me, and I know it was. We can talk tomorrow or after your trip.” She cocked her head, and the way the light hit her blue eyes gave them a soft, worried look. “We’re okay, aren’t we?”

  Tell her. Get it out in the open. “Yeah, we’re fine.” They were finally on stable footing again. He couldn’t ruin that by telling her now. Jesus, I’m a coward. “Kaylie, I can cancel the trip. I’d rather be with you anyway.”

  “Are you kidding? I know how important the sponsors are. It’s no big deal. One or two nights, even three nights. Oh, I almost forgot. All the girls are staying at Danica’s tonight, so I’ll be home tomorrow, and if I’m home early enough, we can talk then.” She picked up her purse and keys and headed for the door.

  Staying at Danica’s? Chaz had to make a decision fast, and the first thing that came to mind was to clear up what she’d initially been mad about, so that when he revealed what he’d been holding back, at least there would be one less thing to deal with. “Look, I didn’t mean whatever you thought I meant about you staying home and having babies.”

  “I know,” she said with a smile.

  “So, maybe we should talk.” And I should tell you about my lie so my conscience is clear and so that we can move forward together without anything standing in our way. Chaz played with the words in his mind. I need to tell you something. Remember when I said I’d never dated anyone from the festival…No, that’s not right…Kaylie, I lied and I need to clear it up…He could just see the night ending with a screaming match starting with You lied to me? and ending with I never want to see you again.

  She tucked her hair behind her ear and shrugged. “I’ve got a lot to figure out with my career, and I need a little time to do that. I really am sorry for overreacting before.”

  Damn it. Her work. How could he pile his shit on her own pile of worry? He had to try to tell her. “We can figure it out together,” he offered

  She didn’t answer, but when she reached for the doorknob, she spun around and blew him a kiss. It was now or never.

  “Kaylie, we really do need to talk,” he said. “I…have something that I want to discuss.”

  Kaylie smiled. “Can it wait until tomorrow?”

  No! Chaz’s gut twisted. His nerves were on fire and every muscle in his body was tense. He couldn’t let the Lea issue rest. “Can you call me tonight, after you get to Danica’s?” He sounded so desperate; surely she’d hear his urgency.

  “Sure, but it might be late,” she answered. She was out the door before he could gather the courage to spit out the truth.

  As he drove down the mountain, his anger mounted. He was a goddamned idiot. He should have told Kaylie about Lea ages ago. Maybe he should drive straight to Bar None and tell Kaylie about Lea. Clear the air. Who was he kidding? The tension between them had nothing to do with Lea. Telling her now would be adding fuel to her angst. Damn it. He should have told her about Lea ages ago. Chaz swore he’d never keep another thing from Kaylie.

  He passed the only other house on the rural road, the one with the broken For Sale sign. Chaz pushed away his thoughts of Lea and replaced them with thoughts about how much he loved living outside of town. It was as if he and Kaylie had their own little piece of paradise. Kaylie. Her emotions had been so up and down lately. He wished he knew what to do to help her through whatever was spinning around in that pretty little head of hers. Adding his admission about Lea to the mix would only add to her troubles. This was definitely not what he’d planned for the day before leaving town.

  Thinking of Kaylie brought his thoughts to Danica and how different she and Kaylie were. Danica was always picking up the pieces of Kaylie’s life. It figured he’d choose the impetuous sister. Then again, he’d never be attracted to someone like Danica. Danica was great, and pretty, but she wasn’t Kaylie. Hell, no one was. Kaylie touched him in ways that only she could. She calmed him when he was angry and soothed him when he was tired. She didn’t hold grudges, and she never got jealous or possessive. God, he missed the way things were before all this craziness began, before she started losing gigs, and before he realized his mistake about keeping secrets.

  His cell phone rang, pulling his attention back to the present. Blake.

  “I’m on my way,” Chaz said.

  “I’m really sorry, but I’ve gotta cancel.”

  “Oh.” Shit. I need the distraction. “We could hang at your place if you don’t want to go into town.”

  “No, it’s not that.” Blake paused. “I think I’ve got food poisoning. My stomach has been going crazy since I ate. Bad chicken or something. My stomach is on fire. Thank God Danica didn’t eat it.”

  “Ugh, sorry. That sucks. Okay, we’ll do it another time. Do you need me to pick up anything for you at the drugstore?”

  “Nah, I talked to my doc. There’s not much I can do but wait it out at this point. He said it could just be a bug, too. Hydrate and all the usual crap. I’m really sorry to bail on you like this.”

  “No biggie. Feel better.” Chaz decided to take a drive through the Village and blow off steam. Maybe he’d even grab a drink by himself, and he knew just the place.
>
  The evening rolled in and the lights illuminated the trees lining the main road into the Village. Allure was known for two things: skiing and an aura of romance. During the off-season, the lights still shone bright, so even the summer tourists got a taste of Allure’s true calling. It was one of his favorite things about the town. Maybe he’d just walk a little before heading to the bar.

  He parked his car and walked through the Village. Before he knew it, he was at the far end of the main strip, past the last row of stores. He turned down a familiar narrow alley, which separated two rows of town houses. Chaz descended the cement steps and opened the doors to Taylor’s Cove, breathing in the slightly dank air of the basement-level pub. Taylor’s Cove was one of the few bars within the Village limits that tourists shied away from. Joe Taylor’s grandfather had opened the pub in the late sixties, catering to mostly the blue-collar crowd from just outside the Village limits. As the Village grew, the senior Taylor continued to feed the rumors that Taylor’s Cove was a rough place. Even the locals shied away from the hole in the wall. Chaz had been warned about the pub from the minute he moved into Allure, and it was his curiosity that drove him in. He liked the quiet, the older clientele and the lack of fanfare. At Taylor’s Cove, Chaz could relax, thinking his own thoughts without the pressure of the townsfolk asking about the festival or sponsors breathing down his back to get more for their money.

  He climbed atop a wooden stool, realizing that he hadn’t been in since he’d met Kaylie. He tapped his finger on the bar. “Kamikaze, Joe.”

  Joe lifted his chin. “Chaz. What brings you ’round? Isn’t this your festival prep time? Sponsorships and all that?” Joe joked with Chaz because when Chaz had first taken over as the director of the festival, he’d made the mistake of approaching even the smallest of businesses in search of sponsors. Joe had laughed at him, a deep, hearty, what-kind-of-fool-am-I laugh and then proceeded to set Chaz straight about the ways of Allure; Folks around here don’t ask for money from friends. Chaz knew then that he’d be better off keeping his fundraising to bigger companies.

  “That’s what brings me here.” Chaz accepted the glass and held it up high. “To the festival,” he said, and guzzled it down. He nodded at Joe. “One more, Joe?”

  “One-minute rule.” Joe looked down his wide nose at Chaz.

  “Right.” Chaz turned and scanned the pub. He found Max sitting in the corner and laughed to himself. He’d introduced Max to the pub years earlier and she, like him, used it to hide from the world. He turned back to Joe and pointed at Max, lifting his eyebrows.

  “She came in grumbling about having to go to Hawaii.”

  “Bring my drink over there after my minute is up?” Chaz said and went to Max’s table. She held a glass between her palms and didn’t look up. “Mind if I sit?”

  She waved at the chair.

  “This is my haunt. Why are you here?” he asked. Max wasn’t the type to bitch about traveling, so he knew something else was bothering her.

  “You showed me your haunt the second week I worked for you. Remember?” She raised her hazel eyes.

  “When we lost Ross,” they said in unison, and then laughed a quiet, familiar laugh.

  “The first sponsorship you ever blew,” he teased.

  She scowled.

  The thing Chaz respected most about Max was that she hadn’t tried to sleep her way to the top, like many of the other women Chaz had met during his career. She’d turned down Ross’s offer for sponsorship in exchange for a night of sheet wrestling, and she’d gone on to make a name for herself in the festival business by her hard work and efficient organizational skills. Chaz was lucky to have her on his staff. Seeing her now, he wondered if he’d taken advantage of her by dragging her to Hawaii.

  “Look, if you don’t want to go to Hawaii, you don’t have to. I’m a big boy. I can handle it.”

  She pressed her lips into a thin line and crossed her arms. Max wore her long dark hair in a low ponytail, as she had every day since Chaz had known her. Even during the festivals, she’d show up in her typical blue jeans and festival T-shirt, thin red frames perched on her slim, perky nose and not a speck of makeup on her porcelain-white skin.

  “Okay, so maybe I can’t, but I can manage without you. I was fine before you came on board.”

  “Oh, really? With Miss Mouse as your sponsorship coordinator? You were a babysitter and had to do all of her work plus your own. And don’t get me started about you and Lea.”

  Lea. Chaz leaned back in his chair. “What’re you really upset about?” he asked.

  “Let’s just make sure you don’t end up with Lea, all right?”

  “Max, really? You know me better than that.”

  “Why are you even here?” she asked. “We’re leaving before dawn.”

  “What?”

  “You should really check your voicemail,” she said, sucking down the last of her drink.

  Chaz pulled out his phone and saw the message light blinking. Goddamn service. He put the phone to his ear and Max pulled it back down.

  “Red-eye, tonight.”

  “The red-eye? Really, Max? Are you that angry with me?”

  “I’m not mad at you.” She stood and gathered her purse in her arms and then smiled. “And I want to go to Hawaii. I just have other stuff going on.”

  He watched her leave the pub. Other stuff? He’d never heard Max talk about a man, or anyone for that matter. She separated her work life from her personal life more expertly than anyone Chaz knew. In fact, based on her lack of discussing the topic, he’d swear she hadn’t gone on a single date in the past five years.

  “Here you go, one Kamikaze. The next rule is—”

  “Five-minute rule. I know your rules, Joe. I have to wait five minutes before my next drink. Got it.”

  “Hey, keeps the mischief to a minimum.” Joe wiped his hands on a towel that hung over his shoulder and went back to the bar.

  Chaz pulled out his phone to call Kaylie and let her know that he’d be leaving before dawn; then he realized that, between the music and her friends, there was no way she’d hear the phone. He texted her instead. Leaving on red-eye. Love you.

  An hour and several drinks later, Chaz left the pub and headed for his car. Max was leaning against the driver’s side door with her arms crossed. She held her hand out as he approached.

  “Keys,” she said.

  “Wha—”

  “Years, Chaz. You know what I’ve learned in those years of working with you? That some nights, you need taking care of. There was no Kaylie talk today—not one single word—and you didn’t want to bring her to Hawaii, either. That spells one thing to me. T-R-O-U-B-L-E.”

  He handed her his keys and she grabbed a bag from the trunk of her car, threw it into the backseat of his Lexus RX, and opened the passenger door. “Climb in,” she said.

  “You brought a bag to Taylor’s Cove?”

  “I packed when I got home. You know me. I like to be prepared.”

  He climbed in the car and she said, “Phone?”

  “Why?”

  “We’re not repeating your mistake from last year. Remember that call you made to some poor girl you’d gone out with the week before the festival? No more drunken phone calls.” She pushed her hand toward him. He turned his phone off and put it in her palm.

  Chapter Twelve

  Bar None was dimly lit; music filtered through the din of the patrons, and Kaylie, Danica, and their girlfriends sat at a round table near the bar.

  Chelsea immediately declared, “Piña coladas for the girls! Oh, and a virgin colada for the mama of honor! Tonight, we’re pretending we’re in Mexico!”

  Marie told them about a trip she’d taken for the high-end fashion boutique she worked for, and Kaylie spaced out after the part about the company being run by the sexiest man alive. She was thinking of Chaz and how when she’d come out of the bedroom, he’d been turned on. She hadn’t meant to notice. She hadn’t been looking for a reaction—and she was stil
l pissed about losing all of those jobs—but how could she not notice? She wasn’t used to getting that reaction from him by just walking into the room. She leaned back in her seat and looked down at her belly. A sly smile crept across her lips. She was still sexy after all.

  “Oh my God. Are you kidding me?” Danica elbowed Kaylie, pulling her from her thoughts.

  “What?” Kaylie looked at her friends’ stunned faced. Had she had a wardrobe malfunction? She checked both breasts. Nope. She scanned Marie’s frilly tank top. No issues there either.

  “Really,” Marie said with pride.

  “What did I miss? Really what?” Kaylie asked.

  “Mr. Sexy business owner grew up in the same area as Marie before she moved to Allure!” Chelsea said. “And she missed out!”

  Camille and Chelsea had both grown up in Allure with Kaylie and Danica, but they’d met Marie when she moved to Allure in her sophomore year of high school.

  Chelsea laughed. “How could you not see potential in him? Okay, wait. Exactly how sexy is Mr. Sexy? I mean, are we talking Channing Tatum or Ryan Reynolds? Because if you’re talking Channing, there is no way you could miss that.”

  Marie tapped her chin. “He was more Channing than Ryan, but growing up, those boys were off-limits. I mean, the Braden brothers? Come on. You guys knew about them.”

  “Braden brothers? I don’t think so.” Camille looked from Marie to Kaylie.

  Kaylie held her breath. Don’t say Treat. Don’t say Treat.

  “Josh,” Marie said dreamily.

  Kaylie let out a breath. She’d seen Treat while she was at a party in college. He’d arrived with the most beautiful girl on their floor, but his eyes had locked with Kaylie’s. And held. In that moment, everything else in the room—the noise, the people, the music—all fell away. At that moment, only he and Kaylie existed. They’d never spoken. Not a single word, not another look. The moment hit, and then the party crashed in around them. He and the girl left the party soon after arriving, and Kaylie crushed on him for four painful months.