Louanne’s eyebrows rose. “She seems pretty real right now.”
Blaine was left speechless as she slipped into her car and backed out of the lot.
Turning in the snow, Blaine gazed at the shop where Rosie was no doubt finishing up with her cookie decorating. He’d love to walk back in and watch her, sit on a stool nearby and chat while she perfected her skills.
He wanted to know everything. What college was like. Where she’d been. How she’d ended up dating such an asshole.
Protective anger ripped through him. His fingers curled into a tight fist as he thought about the guy and what Rosie must have felt when he offered her to someone else.
With a hard swallow, he turned for his car.
If he wanted to protect Rosie the way she needed, then Louanne was right. His heart couldn’t be torn between two women. He needed to make a choice, and he couldn’t do that when Rosie was a one-minute walk away.
He needed space.
Time to think.
Not every decision could be made with the heart. Logic had to play a part, and he wouldn’t rush into breaking up with Erin just because he felt like playing Rosie’s bodyguard. She’d had a hold on him for a long time. Was he being overly romantic, or did that kiss in the kitchen mean as much as he wanted it to?
It seemed too farfetched to think that his high school dream could actually become a reality.
But what if it could?
His lips twitched with a smile as he pictured Rosie by his side, her sweet lips claiming his the way they so easily could.
He was so focused on the fantasy that he let the car drift slightly to the right and directly into the path of a car parked along the shoulder. He gave the steering wheel a quick tug, bringing the car back to the center of the road and waving an apology at the shadowy figure still sitting inside.
Dread simmered in the pit of his stomach as his fairy-tale dream was replaced with the reality of talking to Erin.
22
Thursday, February 22nd
9:50pm
Rosie splashed water on her face and dried off before turning back to the cookies. She didn’t feel like decorating anymore, but she’d finish the job because she didn’t want to waste the frosting she’d made.
Filling the bag, she adjusted the nozzle and got set to start her snowflakes when the door creaked open again.
An instant smile pulled her lips wide, excitement skittering through her as she assumed Blaine had come back.
Not that she should be smiling.
He was taken. She barely knew him. The chances of them ever getting together were slim to none.
But just the thought of seeing his tall body fill the doorway, of feeling his soft, affectionate gaze on her…
She bit her bottom lip, unable to control her smile.
But maybe it was Louanne.
She sighed and deflated.
Of course it would be Louanne. Why would Blaine come back? He was going home to a girlfriend.
Her stomach pinched and she neutralized her expression. Louanne looked kind of annoyed that Blaine was visiting Rosie after closing. She’d have to build on her lie about inviting him in, try to think of something casual and meaningless that they were talking about. Play it like Blaine was nothing and she was just being friendly.
Blaine should be nothing, you stupid girl.
Brushing the hair off her face, she pulled her shoulders back, looked up and gasped.
Louanne was not standing in the kitchen doorway.
Rosie’s worst nightmare was.
“Damien,” she squeaked. His name left a vile taste in her mouth.
His upper lip curled as he glared at her. His handsome face was marred with an ugly cut on his left cheek, like someone had taken to him with a razor blade. His eyes were dark with malevolence and rimmed with an edge of fear that made him even more dangerous.
She turned to escape but ended up banging into the wall.
She hissed and then stopped breathing as he stormed around the counter and got in her face, trapping her between his arms.
“Where are they, Rosie?” His fingers felt like daggers as they dug into her shoulders.
It was impossible to speak past her fear. He looked ready to kill her…or maybe ready to drag her back to Brookvale and sell her.
“How’d you find me?” Her voice hitched and she whimpered as his grip tightened.
His spittle hit her face when he leaned down and shouted, “Where the fuck are the drugs?”
“I don’t have them!” She squeezed her eyes shut and turned away from his monstrous rage.
Snatching her chin, he yanked her head back and screamed. “Look at me!”
She couldn’t. She didn’t have the courage to open her eyes. So he slapped her.
The sting made her eyes pop wide. A half-gasp, half-sob flew out of her.
“Look at my face! They paid me back for your nasty reply to Chester.”
Her body shuddered, erratic breaths punching out of her as she glanced at his gnarly wound. It was searing red around the edges, bound together with stitches. It must have hurt like hell. Plus, his sharp, playboy features were tainted. He’d hate that. He prided himself on his good looks.
“Rosie, I don’t think you get it. My boss is going to kill me. He knows. He knows I was skimming pills and selling them on the side. He knows I lied about the drugs I was supposed to sell that night, because the person I was supposed to sell them to contacted him asking where the fuck they were! He’s calling me a damn thief. I need to give him something, do you understand me? So if I don’t have drugs or money, I have to give ’em you.”
Terror spiked through her so sharp and hard that her legs buckled.
Damien pulled her up before she fell, slamming her back against the wall.
She cried out as pain radiated through her shoulder.
Damien barely noticed. His wild glare was a mix of rage and fear. “We need those drugs or we need that money, plus interest. And I had to do some pretty sweet talking to get away with that. They were going to send Chester here to get you, and he’s pretty damn pissed about the way you treated him. I told them you’d listen to me. That I could get through to you.” His voice pitched. “You’ve caused a whole heap of trouble, Rosie girl. And you need to get us out of it. So where are they? Where are the drugs?”
“They're not here.”
“Did you sell ’em? Huh? Did you take the money for yourself?”
“No.”
He raised his hand and she cowered, sliding to the floor with a whimper.
“Shit!” Smacking the wall, he screamed a string of curses before crouching down in front of her. “Stop fucking crying!”
He ran his gloved hand over her head and pressed his forehead against hers. “Would it really have been so bad? One week and they would have been done with you. They could have sold you to some wealthy clients, made some sweet cash, and they’d be off our backs. But you couldn’t even do that for me, could you?”
Anger flashed through her and she pushed him away with a yell. “I’m not some whore!”
“You made Chester bleed! You pissed them off, and now it’s a million times worse!”
“I won’t be sold.” Her voice was deep with venom. Standing on shaky legs, she pointed down at him. “I thought I loved you. I even saved your ass from the cops.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” He scrubbed a hand down his face.
“They came to the apartment. They searched it—every freaking corner of it. They would’ve found those drugs, and you would’ve been arrested.”
He went still, his eyes narrowing.
“I’m not lying!” she screeched. “I thought I was protecting you, and then you turned around and tried to sell me like I’m some piece of trash!”
“I was just trying to buy us some time.” He struggled to his feet, his wet boots skidding on the shiny floor. He grabbed the counter and kept his balance, spinning around to glare at her. “They’ll get that mone
y back any way they can. If I can’t supply it, they want the drugs. So you either need to give them to me, or you need to come up with ten grand.”
“Ten grand?” she choked out.
“Interest, Rosie girl. And the penalty for fucking up.” Her body convulsed as he kept painting the picture. “If we don’t have that for them by Monday night, we’re dead. We’re both dead. They’ll come for you, and they won’t give a shit who else they take out along the way.”
“They know where I am?”
“How do you think I found you? They sent me here like a fucking messenger boy. They’re showing mercy. Three whole days of it.”
“We can’t get that kind of money in three days.”
“We?” Damien poked a finger at his chest and came toward her. Slow, ominous steps echoed through the kitchen as she stood there frozen.
Grabbing her face, Damien pulled her close, his viselike grip painful and unrelenting.
“I wasn’t stupid enough to make a bag full of drugs disappear. This is your problem, Rosie. And you’re going to get me out of it.”
“I can’t. I ca—”
His next slap was blinding. “Shut up!”
She pressed her trembling lips together and tried to lurch away from him, but he pulled her back. His breath, which used to be so warm and tantalizing, was a burning fire on her skin. “If you aren’t willing to flash a little skin and do a little dirty to save our asses, then you will get those drugs or get us that money. Our lives depend on it.”
She whimpered.
“You think I’m bad? This is a fucking tea party compared to what they’ll do to you.”
Her face throbbed, and she didn’t have the courage to look him in the eye.
“Monday night. I’ll call you with a time and place.” He held out a burner phone. “Take it. My number’s the only one on there.”
She hesitated, hating the idea of being linked to him.
“Fucking take it, Rosie!”
Her quivering fingers curled around it and she held it to her chest.
“You better show up with something.” Grabbing the back of her hair, he gave it a tug and forced her to look at him. His face flashed with regret, like maybe he’d loved her a little bit too, but now he despised her for the trouble she’d caused. “Don't even think about bolting, Rosie girl. They'll ruin everyone you know while they're trying to find you. I'm sure Lulu, or whoever the hell owns this place, won’t appreciate finding their little coffee shop in ashes. And that tall guy who walked out of here a little while ago? He'll be dead before he even sees it coming.”
Rosie’s mouth went dry, her rounded eyes no doubt giving away how much those threats hurt her.
He let her go, shoving her back as he stepped away.
She hit the wall and crumpled to the floor, sobs bursting out of her the second the door slammed shut behind him.
Covering her mouth with a trembling hand, she dipped her head and fought to hold on to her sanity. Damien’s warnings crippled her. All she could do was sit on the kitchen floor and weep.
Weep until there were no tears left.
She had no idea how long she stayed curled in a ball on the floor. Her body ached, her face throbbed, and her stomach still jerked with the odd hiccupping sob, but finally she fell silent.
“You have no choice,” she whispered. “They won’t care that Blaine’s a cop. They won’t care that Lulu’s just a sweet lady who’d never hurt anybody.” Her chin bunched, her lips trembling as she fought more tears. “You have to get that money.”
Sucking in a shaky breath, she pulled herself up off the floor and gazed down at the cookies. She slashed the tears off her cheeks and reached for the frosting bag, then one by one mangled each snowflake.
23
Friday, February 23rd
12:15am
Blaine had driven back to his apartment in slow motion, taking such a long route that he didn’t pull into his parking space until a couple of hours later. He was consumed by images of Rosie and what it had felt like to kiss her. How her voice had sounded when she told him about her ex. The way her tears caressed her cheek, and the protective rage that had torn through him.
And then later, after her kiss had sent him reeling, the smile in her eyes when she told him he was a good man and that she’d wasted her time in high school.
He’d wanted her to look at him that way for so long.
It seemed so unfair that she finally was when he wasn’t available.
But he could be.
All it would take was one tricky conversation.
Was it the right thing to do?
With a heavy sigh, he trudged up the stairs to his place. The cold had seeped right into him, and all he wanted was a hot shower and sleep.
But that wasn’t an option.
The second he walked in the door, his heart sank.
Erin was sitting on the couch waiting for him. She was curled up in a blanket staring at the TV screen.
It wasn’t on.
Blaine’s chest hurt as he studied her milky white skin, framed so beautifully by her shock of red hair. She’d always been a unique kind of pretty. That’s what had first grabbed his attention. Her bright green eyes, so full of life and determination. She was a strong woman, and at the time they met, she’d been exactly what he needed.
But things had changed.
He’d found his own strength, and whether they’d been aware of it or not, it had pulled them apart. That was why he hadn’t followed her to Minneapolis. He hadn’t needed to. He’d been fine without her.
Their drifting apart had happened so slowly that he didn’t even recognize the distance until he stood there gazing at her taut, angry expression.
“Are you cheating on me?”
“No.” He shook his head, although the guilt surging in his chest told him he was lying. He may not have slept with Rosie, but his heart had started cheating the second he pulled her over for speeding.
“It’s midnight. I’ve tried calling you, texting. Is your phone broken?”
“I turned it off.”
“Great,” she spat. “So you weren’t at work. You weren’t with Lucas. You weren’t at the tavern,” she snapped. “Where the hell have you been?”
“I had to see someone about a case, and then I went for a drive so I could process.”
Her eyes narrowed but he gazed straight back, knowing it was time to end this. She knew it too.
Pulling at the bunched tissue in her hand, she scoffed and shook her head. “You’re not going to tell me what you were really doing, are you?”
“I wasn’t lying, Erin. I really did go to question someone about a case.” He held back the rest, not wanting to ignite her fire or hurt her feelings. He wasn’t breaking up with her for another woman…at least that wasn’t the only reason.
Throwing the blanket aside, she stood and paced away from him.
“You know, I haven’t wanted to acknowledge it. This distance between us. If anything, I’ve been trying to fight it.” She flicked the hair over her shoulder and spun back to face him. “I’ve been trying to come back as much as I can. Hold on to you. But tonight, as I sat here waiting, not knowing where you were, I realized that you don’t want me to hold on anymore.” Her head dipped forward. “You don’t want to move to Minneapolis with me. And it has nothing to do with Aspen Falls and everything to do with me.”
He winced, hating the broken sound of her voice. “I don’t want to hurt you. I want to be a good, supportive boyfriend, but…”
“But what? You don’t love me anymore?”
The way her eyes shone with tears made his heart ache, but Louanne was right, he couldn’t keep dragging her along. “I’ll always care about you, Erin. But I think our time is over. Life was so different when we first started dating. We needed each other, but now our jobs have taken over and we’ve changed. We’ve both changed.”
She closed her eyes with a heavy sigh and finally bobbed her head. “I know. I just hate to lose.”
Blaine’s lips twitched as his eyebrows pinched together. “You hate to lose me, or you hate to admit that you’re in a failing relationship?”
Her smile and shrug told him the latter was the strongest reason. Erin had been successful all her life. Failing was not an option, which was why she’d fought so hard for so long. But this was a losing battle she couldn’t win.
“We’re going to be okay.”
“I know.” She pulled herself tall. “Hey, I’d still like to be friends…eventually.”
Blaine smiled. “I’d like that too.”
Sucking in a breath, she walked toward him. With a sad smile, she took his hand and rubbed her thumb over his knuckles. “I’m going to miss fighting with you over breakfast.”
He snickered but couldn’t bring himself to say that he wouldn’t. He’d hurt her enough for one night.
Her smile quickly dissolved and she put her game face on. The one that meant no one could hurt her. “I’m due back in Minneapolis tomorrow, so can you drop my stuff off at my brother’s house? I’ll collect it when I’m back one weekend.”
“Okay.”
Snatching her handbag off the floor, she hitched it onto her shoulder and looked at him. “I know you’ll be tempted to call and check that I’m doing okay, but please don’t. Just give me some space to lose myself in work and realize that life without you is just fine. I’ll call you when I’m ready to be friends.”
“Okay.”
They shared a meaningful smile, and then she left.
The apartment had never felt so big as it did in that moment. Sinking down onto the couch, Blaine stared up at the ceiling and exhaled a deep breath.
Part of him was relieved it was over. He didn’t have the pressure of moving in with anyone. He was free again.
But another part hurt.
Breaking up, even when it was right, sucked.
24
Friday, February 23rd
10:25am
The coffee shop smelled rich and enticing. Freshly baked muffins, hot soup and warm bread rolls drove traffic in from outside. The lunch rush was hectic—and exactly what Rosie needed.
Dead of Winter_Aspen Falls Novel Page 13