by Marni Mann
She was holding a grudge.
I guessed I couldn’t blame her. I’d told her once that nothing could ever happen between us, so the last fucking thing I should have been doing was caging her in my arms and kissing her and sending her texts.
I was a contradiction.
But I didn’t care.
I wanted her.
Even though I knew how wrong that was.
“Shot?” Scarlett asked, dragging me out of my thoughts. She held a bottle in front of my empty glass and poured, not waiting for my answer.
I didn’t know how many fingers’ worth of scotch I’d had tonight. I didn’t know how many shots I’d slammed back with my friends. But I knew it was going to hurt when I had to get up early tomorrow morning to go to the office.
As I swallowed what Scarlett had put in my tumbler, an email flashed across my screen, catching my attention. It was another contract for Shawn. One that shocked the hell out of me.
“Brett, you’ve worked with Puma, haven’t you?”
He leaned his elbows on the table and nodded. “One of my actresses was signed with them a few years ago.”
“They’re tricky to work with?”
He laughed. “That’s an understatement.”
I clicked on my Calendar app and pulled up my schedule. The lines that divided the day into hours were blurry, and the words were, too, so I wasn’t able to see my appointments. I’d have my assistant move shit around if I needed.
“You free tomorrow afternoon? I want to talk about your experience with them. It might help if Shawn decides they’re worth it.”
“Yeah, but you’ve got to come to my place. My ass isn’t going into the office tomorrow.”
I held on to the edge of the table. “James must be flying home?”
“Thank fuck. These breaks away from her are brutal.”
“I’m sure it’s hard, man.”
Not that I’d know. I’d never had a long-distance relationship.
Hell, I’d never had anything that lasted more than a few months.
“Do you need me to bring any of your files?” I asked.
He shook his head. “I keep copies of all of them in my home office. I’m sure whatever is there will help you.”
“I appreciate it, buddy.”
When Max and Scarlett walked away from the table, announcing they were going to the restroom, Brett put his hand on my shoulder. “You want to talk about it? I know you haven’t told them, so I was waiting to say something.”
“I was trying not to be obvious, but Scarlett busted me staring at Samantha so many fucking times.”
He laughed. “She knew something was up when you stopped to talk to her outside their suite. Remember, Scarlett misses nothing.”
“Brett, Samantha is the one who got away.”
“Fuck. Dramatic much?”
“Don’t tell me you didn’t feel that way after you spent the night with James the first time.”
He put the back of his fist in front of his mouth, like he was going to cough. “Touché, my friend.” With his other hand, he pounded my shoulder and released it. “It was a bad idea to pursue James. She was way too fucking young for me. But, back then, I couldn’t help myself. I know you’re in a similar place. You’ll get through it.”
I’d been thinking about Samantha since I found out Shawn was going to the Super Bowl.
I couldn’t get her out of my head.
And that was before I even saw her again.
Now, that goddamn body of hers was going to consume me. That face was going to haunt me.
Those lips were going to keep me up all fucking night.
“I don’t know where the hell I’m at,” I told him. “But I know I’m in a rough place.”
He took a drink, and after he swallowed, he touched his chest. “Are you feeling that shit in here?”
I sighed. “It’s so fucking messy.”
“I get it,” he said. “You know I do.” I watched him glance around the room, his stare landing on Shawn. “I told you to stay away from her back then and to end things, but given what I went through with James, I really had no right to give you that advice. You’ve got to do what’s right for you.”
“I don’t know what’s right for me.”
“You know James and I kept our relationship under wraps, so I didn’t have people telling me what I should do, and the public wasn’t weighing in. Had they known, they would have had a whole lot to say. But, Jack, I wouldn’t have listened to one fucking word of it. What I’m trying to say is, you shouldn’t listen to anyone else either.”
This was on me.
And this decision was on Samantha.
And, right now, I couldn’t even get her to text me back.
He emptied his glass and set it on the table. “You ready to get out of here?”
I nodded.
“I’ll go grab Max and Scarlett, and I’ll meet you out front.”
While he walked away, I gazed at the screen of my phone.
One word.
Yes.
That was all she’d given me.
Somehow, I needed to get her to give me more.
9
Samantha
“Wakey-wakey,” Anna said as she came into my room the next morning.
I felt around my bed for the nearest pillow, one that wasn’t currently under my head, and I threw it over my face. “Go away.”
“It hurts?”
“How is it possible that everything hurts?”
“Liquor can do that, and you apparently drank way too much of it. That makes me so fucking proud of you.”
“Okay, okay,” I groaned, pushing the pillow against my ears. Her shouting felt like needles in my eardrums. “I wish you had seen me get Lucy off to school this morning. It was reality-show worthy.”
“I would have paid to be here.” I heard her move over to me. “Open your eyes. I have lots of treats for you.”
“I can smell it.”
Even though the conversation was a little hazy, I remembered Anna saying she was going to bring McDonald’s for breakfast, and now, the scent of it was filling my room.
“You can’t smell the vitamin concoction I made that I swear will cure you.”
“I think I need some of that.” I gently pulled the pillow off my head and slowly opened my eyes to gradually take in the light. “Ugh.”
She handed me a plastic cup with a straw. “You’ll feel better once you have something in your stomach. Start with this and then food.”
I took a whiff, surprised that it actually smelled pretty good.
I tried sucking through the straw, but it was still too thick, and it made my brain feel like it was going to explode, so I drank straight from the cup.
“Ouch.” It even hurt to swallow.
“It’ll start feeling better soon, I promise.” She climbed into the other side of my bed, covered herself with the comforter, opened one of the McMuffins, and took a bite. “Mmm.”
“Good?” Once I had a few gulps down, the coldness coated my throat and made it feel much better.
“Amazing. You don’t even have to be hungover to enjoy it.”
I held my hand out. “Give me.”
“Double-fisting. That’s my girl.”
I took the sandwich and unwrapped it halfway, biting from the top. “Oh my.”
“I’m right, aren’t I?”
I didn’t even bother to cover my mouth when I said, “This is one of the most incredible things I’ve ever eaten.”
“Don’t worry; there are four more in the bag.”
I laughed despite how much it hurt, and I leaned back against my headboard. “What the hell happened last night? I’m almost afraid to look at my phone to see all the drunk pictures my family took.”
“Well…I know you kissed Jack. What didn’t happen was, you going back to his place to get it on.”
“I…” My voice faded as the events of last night began to emerge through the fog.
Jack at
the game, Jack at the after-party, Jack talking to me at the bar, Jack following me outside.
Jack’s lips on mine.
Jack texting me when I got home.
“Ugh,” I repeated.
She turned toward me while she chewed. “I had a feeling you’d remember that part.”
“Maybe I should go back to sleep to see if I can forget it again.”
“Not a chance. We have good shit to eat. Coffee to drink. And we have lots of Jack to talk about.”
Ignoring her, I lifted my phone off the nightstand and scrolled through the messages on the lock screen. There were too many to process, and my brain wasn’t fully functioning yet, so I clicked directly on the Messages app.
Four texts down, I saw his name.
I saw his words.
Gorgeous.
Tasted.
Good.
I immediately tossed it back on the nightstand.
“I think we need to discuss this,” she said.
I filled my mouth with a large bite. “That man can’t come back into my life like no time has passed, like he didn’t just throw me away. He can’t, Anna. He just can’t,” I spoke through the Canadian bacon and the cheese and the egg, and I did nothing to try to hide it because I needed it in my stomach as much as I needed to get this out.
“I know why you feel that way, but—”
“Rewinding is the only way this could ever work. But I can’t go back, and neither can he, so we’re wasting our time even thinking about this.”
Even if I’ll consider it, does Jack deserve me?
I’d tried endlessly to reach out to him through texts and phone calls, even telling him I needed to talk to him, and he ignored every attempt. Then, he’d cut things off like I meant nothing to him.
“You were kids back then.”
I turned in the bed, feeling pieces of egg fall onto my chest. “Are you really sticking up for him?”
“No. Yes. Maybe a little.”
“I know you’re not saying what I think you are.” I could barely get the words out because I was in complete disbelief she could even suggest this.
She shrugged.
“So, you are being serious?”
“Sam, you obviously felt something for him last night, and it rekindled all the emotions you’d had from years ago. You might have pushed those feelings aside, and maybe they lightened, but I know they never went away.” She took another Egg McMuffin out of the bag and set it in front of me. “Thinking about Jack isn’t a waste of time. This is your life, your past, and possibly your future.”
Anna and I had been best friends since we were five. Of course she was inside my head, reading my thoughts and trying to organize them for me.
Still, that didn’t change the obvious.
“You’re crazy. And I’m not just saying that because I’m hungover. This conversation is fucked on every level.”
“Listen to me.” She waited until I looked at her. “There’s a reason you saw Jack yesterday and why he gave you so much attention. There’s also a reason he kissed you. So, why not keep an open mind and see what happens?”
“Because—”
She put her hand up to stop me from answering. “All I’m saying is, things have a funny way of working out sometimes. Who knows what could come of it?”
Anna had been at the University of Florida when I met Jack. I called her from LaGuardia before my flight took off to tell her all about my night with him. And, when he ended things, I drove to Gainesville, so I could sob on her shoulder.
She was the one to pick up all the pieces.
My pieces.
And, slowly, she’d helped me glue myself back together.
Now, she wanted me to revisit it? Go back to that place where he had hurt me so badly? Repair a history that was so marred with scars?
But it wasn’t just me anymore.
There was Lucy to think about, too.
I took a breath, trying to process everything that had been said, and I was interrupted by an alarm that came across my phone. I checked the screen, and it showed I had an appointment in thirty minutes.
Not just any appointment.
A meeting with James Ryne and Brett Young to discuss their house in LA.
“Oh, shit.” I threw the blanket off, watching the sandwich go flying, and I rushed into the bathroom.
“Um, what’s going on?”
Knowing I didn’t have time to shower, I ran my hands under the faucet and then pressed my wet fingers under my eyes to wash off yesterday’s makeup. “I’m supposed to be at James Ryne’s condo in thirty.”
“Yikes.”
“Now, you see why I’m manic right now.”
“How long will it take you to get there?”
“Five-ish minutes.” I patted my face with a towel and lathered on some concealer. “They only live a few buildings over.”
“You’ll be fine then.”
I grabbed a blush brush and swished it across the middle of my cheeks. “Time-wise, probably. I just wish I weren’t so hungover. She’s hiring me to design an entire house, and I have so much to discuss with her.”
“Can you reschedule?”
I laughed and gripped the sides of my head to stop the stabbing pain. “No. Not even a chance. I’ve been waiting my whole career for a project like this with someone as wonderful as her. Somehow, I need to get my shit together and act as though I’m not dying on the inside.”
“Sam?”
I stopped swiping the mascara wand over my eyelashes to glance in her direction. “Yeah?”
“Don’t forget to brush your teeth.”
“Oh God.”
I finished coating my lashes and slathered some toothpaste on my toothbrush. “That would have been scary,” I said, although I was pretty sure she couldn’t understand me while I was scrubbing my teeth.
“Girl, you’ve got this. You just had a few too many cocktails last night. I mean, your brother did win the Super Bowl. I’m sure she’ll understand.”
I washed my mouth out. “She doesn’t know Shawn is my brother.” After drying my lips, I went into my closet and put on a pair of skinny jeans and a tank that I covered with a blazer. Then, I finished the outfit with a pair of sky-high heels. I tossed on plenty of jewelry and went back into the bathroom to put my hair in a ponytail. Once I was done, I moved over to the bed. “How do I look?”
“She doesn’t know Shawn’s your brother? Really?”
“Her fiancé is partners with Jack. I really didn’t want to go there.”
“Jesus.”
“I know.” I twirled in a circle, going extremely slow so that I wouldn’t get sick. “We can talk about all of that later. Right now, I need to know how I look.”
“For being unshowered, dousing yourself in perfume, and forgetting to put panties on, I’d say you’re hot as fuck.”
“I forgot to put panties on?” I reached inside my jeans. “Wow. I did.”
“There’s no time to bother with that now. Go get the stuff you need, and get out the door.”
I went into my closet, picked up my workbag, and slung it over my shoulder. When I got to the doorway, I looked behind me just as she took a bite of her Egg McMuffin. “I’m seething in jealousy at the moment.”
“Don’t. Once your meeting is over, you can rejoin me because I don’t plan on moving while you’re gone. Then, we can pick up right where we left off.”
“What about the breakfast?”
“I’ll put the leftovers in the fridge. You can gorge when you get home.”
I kissed the air and winced from the sharp movement. “You’re the best.”
“Brett, this is Samantha Laine,” James said as she walked me into the kitchen where he was getting some coffee.
Brett turned around, and our eyes connected. He paused for several seconds, as though he were trying to place me. I saw the moment he did, a smile spreading across his whole face.
“Samantha, it’s nice to see you again. Are you feeling as hungo
ver as me?”
I shook his hand, knowing my answer should stay professional even though it would be a lie. “I’m doing okay.”
“You two saw each other last night?” James asked.
My chest filled with anxiety, as I knew the truth was about to come out.
“The guys and I stopped by her parents’ suite to congratulate them, and then I saw her at the after-party.”
“Are your parents partial owners of one of the teams?” she asked.
I opened my mouth, but Brett beat me to it.
“Baby, Samantha’s brother is Shawn Cole, the starting tight end for Tennessee and one of our clients.” He looked at me. “You don’t go by Cole?”
I took a deep breath, eyeing the mug of coffee in his hand. If I wasn’t so queasy, I would be craving a cocktail to ease some of this nervousness, but right now, I just needed something to dull this headache, and caffeine could really help. “Professionally, no, I use my mother’s maiden name. But, personally, yes, I’m Samantha Cole.”
“Samantha, I feel so foolish. I had no idea your brother was connected to The Agency, but I’m thrilled to hear it,” James said.
“Oh no, please don’t feel foolish, and please don’t be offended that I didn’t say anything. I just try to keep family and work completely separate.”
She put her hand on my arm. “Believe me, I understand.” She looked at Brett. “We both do.”
I was so relieved she wasn’t upset or sketched out by my name change.
Now that all that drama was out of the way, I wanted to move on to why I was here.
More anxiety started to fill my chest. “Is there a place you want to sit, so I can show you some of the designs?”
“Yes, of course. How about the kitchen table?” As she signaled me to follow her, she said, “Brett, do you mind grabbing Samantha some coffee?” She smiled at me. “If you’re feeling like Brett right now, I’m sure you could use some.”
I nodded. “I appreciate it.”
Once we got to the space, I opened my bag and took out the stack of drawings. It had taken me weeks to put these together, pulling several all-nighters just to get them the way I wanted.