Twice Smitten (A Modern Fairy Tale)

by Melissa Blue

  Barely mid-afternoon, the park was empty and so was the basketball court except for Greg and Drew. A long held tradition to meet up each week had been postponed due to the honeymoon, but Greg threw the ball with practiced ease.

  Drew dribbled once and tossed the ball back. “Check.”

  He rested his weight on his quads to defend the basket. Greg put his back to Drew’s raised armed and tried to maneuver around.

  “I hear you and Ms. Johnson got a thing going on,” Greg said.

  The comment definitely proved they grew up together, but it also made his stomach jolt in panic. He noted the rigid strength in his cousin’s stance. The reason for the ball being thrown a little too hard earlier. The nose-breaking bumps to back him up now.

  “You know…” Greg pivoted, and Drew blocked him though he had to juke back to keep from getting elbowed in the mouth. “I had to hear this from Marilyn.”

  Sweat dripped down Drew’s face. He didn’t bother to wipe at it, because his cousin was about to make his move. “She called?”

  Greg moved to the left. “She came by the house.”

  Drew jumped in hopes of grabbing the ball out of the air, but it sailed over his fingertips into the basket.

  “She did what?” The anger made much more sense.

  “Came by with a wedding and a house warming gift.” Humor flashed in his cousin’s gaze. “I asked her why she didn’t come to the wedding. She said the invitation was a way of being nice. Really didn’t want her there.”

  They both checked the ball, but this time Drew took the offensive position. “I told her to go anyway.”

  “Of course she doesn’t listen.” Greg wedged his arm into Drew’s back.

  He kept his cousin on the run and finally broke from the intense D. He made the shot. They went through the same process ten times before either man spoke again.

  “She at least waited until Yvonne stepped out to get more refreshments to say it. Because how would that look talking to me about an ex with my wife standing there? How can I not look jealous in any way I answer? I’m past it and I’ve been past it a while.”

  An old insecurity rose from the depths and colored Drew’s tone. “I’m not dating her to make you jealous.”

  Greg straightened and turned around, cuffing the ball to his side. He looked puzzled. “The thought never crossed my mind. What’s pissing me off is I had to hear it from Marilyn. She breaks news in a way that has a lasting traumatic effect.”

  Drew looked down at the blacktop and then met his cousin’s gaze. “I wasn’t going to tell you right after your honeymoon.”

  Greg tilted his head to the side. “Let’s be honest. You never wanted to tell me.”

  Drew snorted. “If I never wanted you to know, why would I tell Marilyn?”

  Greg bent down, hands splayed over the ball. “Got me there. From the look on your face, you’re waiting for the other shoe to drop. It’s not that I don’t care.” He paused. “Ok. I don’t care what you and Abigail are doing. Why didn’t you tell me?”

  The reason why had so many layers, but he knew the core. “I didn’t want to jinx it.”

  Greg stood again, taking in Drew’s face and then said, quietly, “You love her?”

  Drew put his hands up. “Whoa, there.”

  Greg took a step forward. “You’re using her for a quick fuck?”

  “Hey, I’ve never done it, and I’m not going to start now, but—” He wiped at the sweat on his face with a hand. “Love?”

  Greg let out a breath, gaze narrowed. “Did you meet the mother yet?”

  “Yeah.”

  “And you still plan to date her?” There was a note of surprise.

  Confused, he shook his head. “What does her mother have to do with anything?”

  “Did you meet the father too?”

  Drew shook his head again. “I repeat, what does this have to do with anything?”

  Greg laughed and tossed the ball to Drew. “You’re in love. Just admit it now and get it over with.”

  He scratched his head, trying to follow the logic. There wasn’t any. “If I were, I would know it.”

  “No, you wouldn’t.” Greg laughed again, walking off the court.

  Where grass met asphalt, his cousin plopped down next to their drinks. Drew followed and sat down on the other side. “I’m insulted.”

  “Not an insult, but you have somehow gone unscathed for far too long. You avoided anything deep and meaningful.” Greg shrugged. “But you went after Abigail. You met her parents and still plan to date her. You’ve never bothered before. You’re not even saying you don’t feel anything for Abigail.” Greg sighed. “It’s more than you’ve ever done with any woman.”

  “Doesn’t mean I’m in love.” Drew picked up the towel and patted his face dry.

  “If that’s the case,” Greg pierced him with a look, “I don’t want you to date her anymore.”

  A vise tightened around his heart at the look, at the words. Walk away from Abby? Was it even possible? Was it ever? He’d gotten to know her. Could he just end it? Everything in Drew screamed no. The thought he’d never get the chance to wake up with her in the morning, like he’d done earlier, filled his mouth with a bitter ache.

  In the middle of the night, he’d woken up to her sprawled across his body, her arms curled around him. The tightness in his chest had loosened, because she hadn’t left. She’d made him breakfast in his kitchen, wearing his shirt. After the blood rushed back into his head, they’d spent the morning critiquing the weekend’s ads.

  An ache to do it all again the next day, and the day after that pressed against his solar plexus, and his cousin, his best friend, needed him to walk away from her.

  “No,” Drew said softly.

  Greg nodded, finished the water and stood again with the ball at his side. “Then since you’re too damn hardheaded to ask for it, you have my blessing. Not that you needed it.” Greg put out his hand to help him up.

  Drew took it. “If I had said ok?”

  “I would have hit you in the face with this ball. Not because it’s Abigail, but because you love her. Don’t have to admit it. Don’t even have to see it, but damn sure don’t walk away from it until it’s done, and there is nothing left in you that will make you stay.”

  Drew slapped the bottom of the ball. It sailed in the air and he caught it. He tried to shake loose the fear his cousin’s words started. Was he in love with Abigail? Infatuated was one thing, but love? Drew wasn’t even sure if he had the well of emotion in him to love a woman unconditionally. He avoided the kind of relationships where the question came into play.

  But Abigail wasn’t a conquest, was never one. She was someone he wanted to spend time with. The need was just that simple. He wanted to fight with her. He wanted to compromise when they couldn’t see eye to eye. He wanted her sated and satisfied in his bed when he woke up in the morning. He wanted all of her, good and bad.

  “You don’t have to look so stricken,” Greg said. “Love happens to the best of us. Welcome to the best.”

  In a dry tone, or maybe because his mouth had gone dry, Drew said, “Are we done with our Kodak moment? Our heart to heart?”

  “Yeah, got my fill.” Greg jerked his head to the asphalt. “Let’s play.”

  *****

  Monday morning, dread pooled in Drew’s stomach like bile at the sight of Janice’s final presentation for the Lancaster account. The materials sat on the conference desk table like a damn albatross for Abigail and her team.

  Janice hadn’t botched the presentation, because that would have been better. From the final mock up the woman had decided to ignore both his and Abigail’s suggested changes. He probably could respect the bold move if Janice had made the final product better, more in tune somehow with what the client wanted. The mock up was exactly what Janice thought the man should want. No, what she wanted, period.

  From the pained expression on John Lancaster’s face, it was the last thing the man had in mind. Drew had alr
eady gone up and had the man practically drooling.

  Like him, Abigail could gauge a room at a glance, but she kept right on selling the hell out of it. She paused every now and again to listen to John’s input. She was everything she should have been for her client, except Abigail had someone on her team who wanted to be the boss.

  The whole thing was a complete mess.

  Finally, with great confidence, Abigail closed out her presentation. John stood to his full height. He’d inherited the small jewelry store from his father, but still John held himself in a way that made you believe he’d built the company from the ground up.

  He stepped forward to Abigail and shook her hand. He murmured softly. Drew couldn’t hear what the man said, but from the tightening around Abigail’s mouth, he could guess. He really wished Janice was there in the room, so he could fire her on the spot. Jim wouldn’t bat an eye, because after this, the man would worship the ground Drew walked on.

  He sighed quietly. The same wouldn’t be said about Abigail. She held the pinched smile as she faced him.

  A broad grin covered John’s face. “Carter, right?”

  Drew stood, rounding the table. “Correct. I’m just glad to have been able to provide my input.”

  He laughed softly. “Whatever they’re paying you, you should get a raise.”

  “Thank you, but my purpose was to make your vision a reality.”

  “Well, you did. I’m looking forward to seeing everything else.” John nodded at Abigail again and left.

  She placed a hand on her hip. “So?” she asked.

  Her ebony hair was clipped back from her face. Those beautiful eyes, the shade and shape of dark roasted almonds, were wide with fear. No one would think that this morning her hair had brushed against his face as she kissed him until they both climaxed. Nor would they believe she’d crept into his kitchen barefoot, in his robe, and then frowned in disgust at the sparse sampling of food in his refrigerator.

  He barely believed she let him see her in such a way. That same vulnerable woman stood in front of him, except for the distance she was already putting between them. He could see her building back up the walls for what he had to say next. And…he hated it. Fucking hated seeing them about to keep him out again.

  “I shouldn’t have to say what I know you saw in the presentation,” he said.

  She let out a frustrated breath, taking out the band keeping her hair back. She tossed it on the table and ran her hands through her hair. When he moved toward her, she stepped back and began to pace.

  “It wasn’t what I thought we had put together, but the presentation wasn’t a complete waste,” Abigail said, but even she didn’t buy the lie from the pained expression on her face.

  Not for the first time he wondered if it was really the team she was fighting to keep together. He chose his words with care. “Abby, if I hadn’t been here, your client would have walked out dissatisfied. Not because you didn’t put together a damn good presentation, but because the one you gave wasn’t it. You had it nailed.”

  Abigail looked up at him, surprise on her face. “What?”

  Drew shrugged and leaned against the table. “What you had in the last meeting, with the notes for changes, wasn’t glitzy or glamorous, but it was on point. Not only that, it took an unexpected direction. In the end it would have been memorable.”

  He shook his head, crossed his arms. “And that’s our job. We want to give the client something that would make the customer buy their product. Even if they don’t need the product, we want them to think that was good marketing and buy the damn stuff.”

  She stopped in front of him. Still she looked surprised at his words, but seemed to consider them now. “You’re telling me my team got it right?”

  He looked away, because this wasn’t just about the team. Maybe it had never been. “No.”

  She sucked in a breath. “What? After all this you still doubt me?”

  “It has nothing to do with you.” Drew winced after the words left his mouth.

  “I picked these people. Me, not my boss. If I got it wrong, what else could I have gotten wrong? What other accounts did I lose because the team I put together can’t get a simple, small account right? From day one it has been all about me.”

  She ran her hands through her hair again with frustration. “So, you’re going to tell Jim my entire team needs to be fired?”

  He wanted to go to her, but that would prove every bit there was a conflict of interest. Would prove no line existed in what they did in here at the office and what they did once they left the building. He had been so sure, so cocky the two worlds wouldn’t collide. What they had begun to feel for each other would win out, but he could see the change in Abigail’s gaze as she waited for him to speak. He wanted to throw something in frustration, but that wouldn’t do him a damn bit of good. Neither would the panic of seeing her slip away.

  Drew thought about what Greg had said. Love. He loved Abigail and from the beginning, he’d told her he knew her, because he did. He believed that with all his being. He knew Abby. If he let her, she was about to break them. Drew couldn’t let that happen. An end game formed in his mind and he hoped like hell he wouldn’t screw this up.

  *****

  Abigail’s breath got stuck in her throat as she waited for Drew’s answer. All she could hear in the silence was affirmation. She’d made yet another mistake. Her gut instincts had again failed her. Abigail’s mistakes weren’t only affecting her, but the company she worked for and the clients who hired them. And her job was something, the only thing, she was good at. She wasn’t the best of friend or daughter. How in the hell could Abigail be any good at being a lover…or wife if she couldn’t even do what she did best right?

  The last had been on her mind the entire weekend she spent with Drew. Waking up next to him. Eating meals at the table. Arguing about who had to wash the dishes or the effectiveness of the latest talked about ad. The tiny voice that had told her to leave every other relationship had whispered, stay. This is right. He’s the one.

  It had nothing to do with every moment with him being perfect. Neither one of them had to live up to an allusion or expectation. He had invited the real Abigail into his home. She’d accepted the offer because the Drew she’d gotten to know was the one she wanted to spend the weekend with. And more time. So much more time than she should crave this early in their relationship.

  He didn’t say another word, just stepped forward and placed his hands on her arms, rubbing them. She shivered as a cascade of remembered touches flooded her mind. The fear set in, the one she’d never let go since her dad left her mother. The one that grew bigger and bigger each time her mother left a husband. A small but valid fear reaffirmed every time one of Abigail’s boyfriends didn’t work out.

  She stepped back from his touch. “Answer me.”

  “Only one member of your team screwed up by putting her career ahead of the client.”

  She kept her hands down at her sides. “Who?”

  “Janice,” he said.

  “Right.” She couldn’t bring herself to look at him. He’d want to tell her this wasn’t a big deal, but in her career, at her job Abigail got it right. Experience had honed her gut instincts, or she thought it had. “You’ll be going to Jim soon and tell him?”

  “Yes.”

  She nodded. “Ok. You can find me in my office.” Abigail walked away from him and the warmth he was silently offering.

  “Abby,” the words brushed against her aching heart.

  If Abigail were braver, surer, she would have turned around. Instead, she tilted her head to the side. “Yes?”

  “You’re looking for a reason, an excuse to make me the bad guy so you don’t have to make a choice.”

  She let out a small laugh and faced him. He stood on the other side of the table, looking handsome as always, but there was no charm lighting his eyes. There wasn’t even anger and that made it hard to say he was wrong. Anger swiped aside the ache. He wanted her to trust
him, trust them together. He was disappointed she couldn’t. It was crazy. Had been the moment they looked at each other in the bookstore.

  “You’re the one who has never taken a leap,” Abigail said. “What’s the real reason why you don’t have all the numbers of the women you’ve slept with or dated in your phone?” She didn’t wait for him to answer. “Because there’s no one who you cared about enough to keep the number.” She lifted her hand in a dismissive manner, so much like her mother.

  Tears pricked at her eyes. “Is that the type of man I should fall in love with? Is that the kind of man I should give my heart to without an ounce of doubt?”

  His laugh whipped out full of embittered pain. “You know me better than that. I played it fast but never loose. I dated and slept with women who wanted the same thing. I have never strung anyone along just to drop them when things became serious.” He shook his head and looked disgusted. “I just want to know one thing.”

  She lifted her chin though her heart ached so deep at the cold tone he used. “What is it?”

  “Did you sleep with me because you thought I wouldn’t, could never possibly love you?” He lowered his voice and met her gaze. “Or, did you know I could and did it anyway?”

  She couldn’t answer any part of the questions, couldn’t trust herself or them as a couple to answer, and the silence permeated in the room.

  “Right.”

  He crossed the room, and she thought he’d breeze right past her, except he stopped in front of her. He gazed into her eyes as if looking at her for the first time, and for the last. Drew placed a hand on her cheek, and took in every facet, every curve and dip of her face. He made a soft sound that stabbed her right in the heart.

  He placed the other hand on her cheek and bent down, breathing heavy. She lifted her chin like she’d done that first time, and he kissed her, soft and slow. And that twisted in her heart.

  When Drew pulled back, he caressed the lips he’d just kissed with his thumb. “You’re right. None of those women meant to me what you do. They never had the potential to. I wasn’t the type of man you should put your everything into. Wasn’t.” He emphasized and looked her in the eye. “But I am now and I would be more for you, if you had let me.”