He was right.
"Hi, Clay. I'm sorry I upset you by surprising you. If I'd have known you didn't want me to come, I would have—"
Clay deleted the message. If she ever listened to a word he said, she'd have understood his need for space. But she only listened to herself, and that was a big part of the problem.
Yawning, he started a new movie. Maybe he'd be ready to go to bed when that one was over. His mind was racing, and the last thing he wanted was to toss and turn before falling asleep.
His eyes grew heavy about halfway through, during a picnic scene. Explosions were coming soon, but his eyes wouldn't stay open.
Clay woke with a start. He sat up, gasping for air and clutching the blanket.
Wait.
Blanket?
He hadn't had a blanket when he'd fallen asleep. He looked around the dark apartment. The lights had been on. So had the television.
Had the power gone out?
That didn't explain how a blanket had gotten over him.
His pulse drummed in his ears.
Something tickled his nose. He sniffed the air.
Perfume?
"What the…?" Clay pushed the blanket aside and got up, looking around.
His baseball bat was by his bed. That didn't help him now.
"Lauryn?" he called.
No response.
He went into the kitchen. It was empty. So was the little dining room. He went back into the bathroom—also empty—and finally, the bedroom.
Heavy breathing sounded from the direction of the bed. A silhouette of someone lay on his bed.
Clay's blood boiled.
"Lauryn?" he boomed.
She sat up. "Clay?"
"No, the Easter Bunny," he snapped. "What on earth are you doing here?"
"I was worried about you. You wouldn't answer your phone."
"Did you think maybe there was a reason for it?"
"I thought something might be wrong, so I came to check on you. You didn't answer when I knocked, so I used the key you gave me for emergencies and—"
"There is no emergency! And I want that key back."
"I—"
"Now." He stomped to the bed. "And get out of my bed while you're at it."
"Clay—"
"Hand over the key and get out."
"You'd send me away at this hour?" she exclaimed.
"Let's see… you came in uninvited and slept in my bed after I told you we're through. Yeah, I'd send you away at this hour."
"I covered you with the blanket so you'd stay warm. I want to take care of you. Pay attention to your needs. I'll watch one of these action movies with you."
He turned on the lamp next to the bed and held out his hand. "The key."
She covered her eyes and then picked up her purse from the floor. "Here." She put it on his palm.
"Out."
"Let's talk about this."
A sharp pain stung his temples. "I'm done talking. Remember I told you that I don't want to hate you? That I hope we can be friends?"
She nodded.
"You're making that very hard. Get out."
Lauryn grabbed his hand and stared into his eyes. "Clay, please. I get what you're saying. I—"
"No, you don't. You'd have left already." He clenched his jaw.
"I mean about us. I've been too demanding, not giving you room to spread your wings and grow. You want this job here in Enchantment Bay, and I accept that. I'll stop trying to find you something in Portland. I'll stop telling you what to do about everything. You're right. I've turned into my mom, and I don't want to do that to you anymore." Her eyes pleaded with him. "I want things to be like they used to be."
Clay sat on the bed and ran his hands through his hair.
She pulled some of his hair behind his ear. "I'll stop bugging you to cut your hair. I won't ask you to change anything, ever again. It'll be just like old times."
He sighed and turned back to her. "We can't go back in time, Lauryn. We're totally different people than we were. You're a lawyer now. I'm going to be a businessman soon. High school days are over."
"But it was nice, remember? We used to just enjoy being together. Things were simple then."
The pain in Clay's temples moved to the base of his skull. "I need you to leave."
"What? I thought we were making progress here."
He shook his head. "If I told you I do have feelings for someone else, would you finally leave me alone?"
Her eyes narrowed. "I knew it. Is it your boss? I saw the way that skank was looking at you earlier."
Clay clenched a fist. "Go."
Lauryn's mouth formed a straight line as she glared at him. "I knew nothing good would come from you taking this job. It's only been a couple weeks! You can't possibly be in love. What we have stands the test of time."
He stared into her eyes. "No, I'm not in love—not with you, not with her. But what I have seen is that it's possible to be happy away from you. We don't make each other happy. Someone else could make me happy, and someone else would make you a lot happier than I ever could."
"Clay—"
"Just go. I can't keep doing this."
"Fine." She threw her purse over her shoulder and stormed into the hall. A moment later, the front door slammed shut.
A framed picture fell to the floor. He went to pick it up, and found it fitting that the picture was of them. The glass had even cracked down the middle, right between them.
Twelve
Dakota's new phone rang. It was Clay again. She couldn't keep putting him off forever, but she also couldn't face him. Not after meeting his girlfriend.
She still couldn't believe she'd let herself have feelings toward him. That was exactly why she had her rule—to protect herself since she had the worst luck with dating.
After the ringing stopped, she called Aria.
"Can you help Clay?" Dakota asked.
"Sure. You working remotely again?" Aria asked.
"Yeah."
"When are you coming back? If this is going to be a long-term thing, we're going to need to plan for it."
Dakota released a long, slow breath. She really was being unprofessional. Avoiding work because she couldn't face her assistant. "I'll be in tomorrow."
"Great. Oh, quick question. One of the brides wants to know if they can give their guests silly string."
"What on earth for?" asked Dakota.
"Instead of blowing bubbles as they walk to the limo."
Dakota rolled her eyes. "Outside only, and they're responsible for the cleanup."
"Sounds good. Do you need me to do anything else while you're away?"
"No. You're doing great. Thanks, Aria." She ended the call and stared at her calendar. Tomorrow was Thursday. She'd had three days to figure out how to handle Clay, but she still had no clue what to say.
How could she act normal?
He'd been so sweet and charming, acting like there might be something between them—all the while having a girlfriend. One who didn't even care about weddings.
She shook her head. She'd come so close to telling him how she felt. It was a good thing Lauryn had shown up when she did. Working with Clay would have been a hundred times worse if he knew she liked him. At least now he had no idea. If she could force herself to act normal, everything stood a chance at returning to how it had been before.
The problem was that despite staying away, her feelings were only growing stronger. His gorgeous, dimpled face kept popping into her mind. She couldn't get the bike ride out of her head—more specifically the feel of her arms wrapped around him.
If she actually saw him, her emotions could explode. What would she do if she actually started to fall in love with him? A man with a longtime girlfriend?
Dakota pulled out her phone and found the pictures of her and Clay on the bike. They looked like a happy couple. Not Clay and Lauryn. She was all wrong for him. Dakota couldn't imagine her ever climbing on a motorcycle.
Tears blurred her
vision. She turned the screen off and set the phone down.
Why couldn't she find a nice guy who wasn't taken? Were all the good ones already gone, snatched up by other women?
Her phone rang again.
Charlotte calling on video. She hadn't heard from her since she ran off to save her cat.
Dakota sighed and blinked her tears away.
"Hi, Charlotte. How are you?"
Charlotte appeared to be lying down and had fluffy white towels all around her face. Long, skinny pins were sticking from around her face. "Getting my weekly acupuncture treatment."
"Is your cat okay?"
She rolled her eyes. "It was just a hairball. My maid totally overreacted. Anyway, your tailor keeps calling. So annoying. Can you do something about that?"
"He needs to try the dress on you."
"Sarah sent one of my other dresses down. He can compare it to that, right?"
Dakota took a deep breath. "We just want your day to be perfect. In order for that to happen, you need to let him put the dress on you. He's not going to be able to alter it on the day of the wedding."
"Oh, all right already." Charlotte looked away from the screen. "Sarah, make it happen." She turned back to Dakota. "I'll get fitted as soon as I can. Make sure Clayton's there. Bye." The call ended.
Dakota stared at the screen and then put the phone down. At least she'd agreed to come down. No way was Dakota getting back into that gown.
Her phone buzzed, indicating a text.
It was from Marina.
Emergency!
Dakota's heart sank. Was the building on fire?
What??
Just get over here. Now!
Be right there.
She took a deep breath. Surely, The Chateau wasn't on fire. They would've called the fire department and not her. Dakota grabbed her purse and ran to her car, a light dusting of snow crunching underfoot.
There were no black clouds or smoke in the sky. Maybe one of the refrigerators had gone out or something easy like that.
Her tires squealed as she pulled into the lot. Clay's bike caught her eye.
She looked away and put it out of her mind.
Dakota didn't even bother setting the car alarm before running inside. She didn't see anyone.
"What's going on?" she called.
"Over here!" came Marina's voice from near the kitchen.
Maybe it was just something minor.
She ran to the kitchen, but it was empty. She could hear a commotion past the dining area.
Dakota ran into the laundry room. It seemed that everyone was in there. She stepped in a puddle.
"What's going on?" She shook off her wet foot.
Marina ran over to her. "One of the washers started gushing out water."
Aria ran in with an armload of towels and threw them on the floor. "A little help?"
Marcel ran out of the room with her.
Dakota glanced around. She couldn't see water gushing from anywhere. "Where's the leak?"
"Clay knew where to turn off the water. Now he's fixing the hose to the washer." She nodded toward the back of one of the washers. A pair of legs stuck out from behind it. "If it weren't for him, this whole room would be flooded."
Dakota was relieved, but at the same time, her stomach twisted in knots. She wasn't ready to see or talk to Clay, but she had to thank him for his quick action.
Marcel and Aria ran back in with more towels. Dakota grabbed a few and soaked water up from the floor.
By the time they had the entire ground covered with towels, Clay stepped out from behind the washer. He brushed his hands off on his jeans. "It's as good as new now. The…" His voice trailed off as his gaze landed on Dakota.
Her voice caught and she couldn't pull herself from looking at him.
The room went silent. The back of Dakota's neck heated.
She cleared her throat. "I can't thank you enough, Clay. You really saved the day."
He glanced away and shrugged. "It was nothing. I checked the other hoses and tightened them as well. Everything should be fine."
"Well, thanks again."
He picked up some sopping towels. "We'd better get these washed."
"Right."
Everyone pitched in, and before long, each washing machine was filled with towels. The room cleared, leaving Dakota and Clay alone.
Clay cleared his throat. "So, you've had a lot of work to do at home?"
Dakota tapped her foot and played with the hem of her shirt. "Yeah, you could say that."
"Did you get everything taken care of?"
She shrugged. "Charlotte agreed to come down and finally get fitted."
"That's good."
"She wants you there."
"Of course."
An awkward silence filled the air.
He seemed to want to say something as much as Dakota did.
"How's the new computer system working?" she asked.
"Good. You want to see it?" He glanced up at her.
"Um, yeah. Maybe later, though."
"Oh, okay."
She wanted to run, but at the same time, she wanted to ask about Lauryn. But it was none of her business. If he'd have wanted her to know about his personal life, he would've told her.
"I think you'll like it," he said.
Dakota nodded. "Okay, well… I have to go."
"Where?"
She had to think fast. "Sullivan needs me."
Crap! Why did she have to say Sully? Clay was friends with him. He could easily find out he hadn't asked for Dakota's help.
Clay nodded. "You'd better help him, then. Will you be in tomorrow?"
"Yeah, definitely. See you then."
"Oh, is your phone working? I've been calling."
She wanted to crawl into a hole and hide. "My phone died and I got a new one. It uh… I'm still trying to figure it out." She hated herself for telling a fib, but she couldn't bring herself to say she'd been avoiding his calls because she was falling for him—hard. "I gotta go."
Dakota didn't give him a chance to respond. She ran from the room and out the building, careful not to run into anyone.
The cold outside air hit her like a wall. She hurried to her car and headed for Enchantment Bay's only real estate office.
"Hi, Dakota." Nancy, the secretary, smiled at her. She'd been working there as long as Dakota could remember. Her dad had hired her years ago. "You here to see your dad? He's at an open house."
"I'm looking for Sullivan, actually."
"You're in luck, then. He just got back from lunch."
"Thanks." Dakota went past the front desk and knocked on Sullivan's door.
"Hold on!" he called.
She waited a moment and then came in. "It's your favorite little sister," she said in a similar tone she'd always used when she'd been his only little sister.
Sullivan laughed and then spoke into the phone. "Can I call you back, Ethan? … Okay, thanks." He turned to Dakota. "What brings you here?"
She sat in the chair on the other side of the desk from him and sighed. "Stress at work."
"Another bridezilla?"
Dakota played with a strand of hair. She needed to dance around the subject of Clay to find out what her brother knew. "No. This time it was the plumbing."
He put his pen down and nodded, holding her gaze.
"But Clay saved the day. He knew exactly how to fix it."
Sullivan broke into a wide grin. "Well, there you go. Glad I could help."
Dakota nodded. "I'm glad you sent him." She paused, wondering if she should just admit her feelings or poke around to find out what he knew.
"I sense a 'but.'" He scratched his chin and studied her.
"You know me too well, Sully." Her heart raced thinking of several times he'd teased her relentlessly as a kid for liking some boy. "What do you know about his girlfriend? She's…" Dakota paused, looking for the right word.
"Is he still with Lauryn?" Sullivan picked up his pen and tapped it against t
he desk.
Dakota nodded. "Tell me about her."
"Well, I haven't seen her since college. She was a lot of fun freshman year—always hung out with us and got along with everyone. They were really cute together, but then she…" He paused. "It's hard to explain. The closer she got to declaring her major, she got all intense and only ever cared about grades. She expected him to drop everything, too. By our senior year, they'd really grown apart. I thought for sure they'd split, but Clay was convinced a long-term thing would work while they both got their post-graduate degrees. Must've worked." He shrugged.
"Must have."
"What's she like now?"
Dakota thought back to the other night and held back a shudder. "She, uh…" How could she put it that wouldn't sound bad if it got back to Clay? "She seems driven."
Sullivan glanced at the time. "I like hanging out, but I have to show a house. Can I schedule you in sometime?"
Her mind raced to the fitting. Charlotte had insisted Clay go with them. "How do you feel about meeting Charlotte Pemberley?"
His eyes widened. "Really?"
"Yeah. I don't have a date yet, but it's going to be soon."
"Text me the details and I'll clear my schedule. Thanks, Dakota."
"Thanks for sending Clay, Sully." Even though she'd been stupid to let her feelings get in the way, he'd done a lot to transform the way they handled paperwork.
Sullivan laughed. "If that's how you're going to repay me, I'll send more people your way."
She threw him a playful glance. "I don't know how many celebrities I can line up for you to meet that aren't getting married."
"They don't have to be single. I just like meeting famous people."
"Still have your autograph collection?" she asked.
"It's framed," he said. "You really haven't seen it? We need to spend more time together, sis."
"Yes we do."
Her phone buzzed. A text from Sarah.
Charlotte and Hugh are heading down now.
Arrival time? Dakota's heart raced.
After dinner. They have a few stops on the way.
Okay. Tell her to meet us at the Chateau.
Will do. She says to have Clayton there.
Of course. Text me when you have an idea about the time.
Okay.
"Everything all right?" Sullivan asked.
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