Blow

by Fall, Lucy

  A few moments later, Sophie sashayed from the other direction, looking as glamorous as ever. Her blonde hair flowed over her shoulders. She was dressed more professionally today, most likely because she thought that Hunter was going to ask her to go the meeting.

  I felt the pain of my guilt slice through me.

  The canary yellow dress with three-quarter sleeves fit her perfectly, stopping a couple of inches above the knee. As she came up behind Hunter, she slid her hand over his shoulder then down his chest, and bent to kiss his cheek. He moved away from her.

  A slight frown turned down her lips, but she seemed to shake it off before she slid in the seat in front of Hunter with a grin on her face. She said something, but I was too far away to hear. Hunter held up his hand, shaking his head, as if to stop her from talking. He spoke for a few moments then Sophie stiffened, blinking.

  The bomb had been dropped. I held my breath, waiting to see if I was right, that she’d accept this gracefully or if Hunter was right and there’d be hell to pay.

  Time seemed to stretch, then rage contorted her face. She shot to her feet, slammed her fist on the table and yelled, “Who is she?”

  A few people glanced in their direction with questioning glances.

  I swallowed. What was Hunter going to do?

  His lips were moving, and whatever he said had an impact on Sophie, because she glanced around and then slowly sat, but the look of fury on her face didn’t ease.

  She spoke vehemently, slashed her hands through throw the air, pointed at him then shoved her chair back and stalked off.

  Hunter sat still for a moment then rose to his feet. I backed away then hurried back to the elevator. I had my clothes off and jumped back in bed, just as Hunter came back through the door.

  I tried to calm my heavy breathing as I asked, “How did it go?”

  He studied me for a moment. “Bad.”

  Yep. That was exactly how it looked. “Like how bad?”

  “She’s certain there’s another woman. I told her it didn’t matter if there was or wasn’t. She was the only one who had any intentions of rekindling anything. I hadn’t thought about her since we’d broken up.”

  “Ouch, Hunter.” I grimaced. No wonder she’d been so mad.

  “She needed to hear it. I do regret that I had to get so blunt, but she kept on and on about how we were supposed to be together and I was blinded by a willing wet pussy. So I needed to make it clear that this was my decision, not because of a woman—you.”

  “You did what you needed to, I guess.”

  “I did.” He glanced at the clock and sighed. “Damn it. I have to go. They have someone picking me up in ten minutes.”

  I waved my hand, dismissing his words while trying to cover my disappointment. Our time was over. Once he finished with the meeting, it’d be time to go to the airport.

  “Go knock their socks off.”

  Leaning down, he gave me a sweet, gentle kiss on the lips. After he left, I sat staring off at nothing.

  We were leaving our fantasy world and going back to reality, the place where everything that had happened here would be forbidden.

  I didn’t want to go.

  Chapter 8

  Coming home sucked as much as I knew it would.

  Weather delays had put us not getting home until late the next night. I had to open the cafe the next morning while Hunter was going in later than usual because of the business trip. As I left, his yummy ass was still in bed enticing me to call in sick and stay home with him.

  As much as I wanted to, I couldn’t call in when I was the one opening. Now I was left with my thoughts, which was never a good thing. I knew I would see Sophie at some point today. My stomach churned just thinking about coming face-to-face with her.

  How was I supposed to look her in the eye after witnessing how angry she’d been over Hunter’s rejection?

  I honestly didn’t know if I had it in me to do it. I worried that I would spill the truth, and then what? Hunter would be furious at me for taking away his need for privacy. But I would feel like a huge burden had lifted off of my shoulders. The same burden that seemed to hang over our time together while in New York, at least on my part.

  The secret.

  The clacking of heels sounded behind me. I paused wiping the table. I guessed now was a good as ever to go with my gut. The moment I looked at Sophie I would do whatever felt right.

  I slowly turned to face her. A sharp, stinging slap whipped my head to the side. I grabbed my throbbing cheek and stared at Sophie, wide-eyed. “What the hell, Sophie?”

  But the woman I’d considered my friend for almost a year was gone. In her place stood someone I did not recognize. Someone that stared at me with a mixture of hurt and fury.

  “Where’ve you been the last two days, Eliza?”

  I opened my mouth to respond, but she continued, “I found it really odd that you disappeared the same time Hunter went out of town. Then you never wished me luck like I asked. To top off everything, Hunter rejected me twice. Were you in the room while he plead sick? Did you laugh after I left?”

  “Sophie, it—”

  The words died on my tongue as I noticed what she held in her hand. I shook my head, trying to dislodge the image, refusing to believe she held my letter to Hunter in her hands.

  My letter. Sophie had my letter to Hunter.

  How had she found it? It wasn’t hers to have.

  Oh my God. Someone other than Hunter had read my words.

  “That’s private.” I tried snatching it from her, but she twisted away laughing.

  People had started to gather, watching our exchange with extreme interest. I wanted the floor to open up and swallow me whole as she unfolded the paper.

  “I’ve dreamed of you touching me, kissing me, Hunter.”

  Humiliation burned my cheeks. “Sophie, please. Don’t.”

  Mean, spiteful eyes met mine. “And so much more. I want to know what it’s like to fuck you, feel the smack of your hand stinging my ass.”

  My eyes scorched with unshed tears.

  “I fantasize about you showing up at my door unexpectedly and taking me, on the floor, the couch, anywhere, sending me to ecstasy over and over again.”

  Closing my eyes released the tears and they slid down my cheeks.

  “I’ll be waiting for you when you home. Come to me, Hunter.”

  There were some chuckles and murmurs from the audience, voyeurs getting their fill of drama at my expense.

  A long silence followed and I opened my eyes. “I wrote that long before we were friends, Sophie.”

  She scoffed. “But you were waiting for him when he got home, weren’t you? Willing and ready to spread your legs for him.”

  I had nothing to say in my defense, because that was exactly what I had done, and I had kept it from her. Knowing that it was wrong, knowing that when she found out, it would hurt her.

  “I’m sorry, Sophie,” was all I could say. “I wanted to tell you about us.”

  “But you didn’t, did you? You let me plot and pour my heart out while you were fucking him behind my back. Some friend you are.”

  I reached out to her, but she recoiled. “Sophie please.”

  “I can’t stand looking at you. You’re fired. Get the fuck out of here.”

  I stared at her for a moment. She didn’t have the authority to fire me, but I wasn’t stupid. I was a lowly barista. She was a Stedman. I didn’t stand a chance in hell to keep my job if she wanted me gone.

  Nodding, I placed the rag on the table and started to walk out. As I passed her, she whispered nastily, “I’m going to ruin you.”

  There was such conviction in her voice it left me shaken. Taking a deep inhale, I lifted my chin and strode forward. I refused to make eye contact with those standing around gawking at the scene.

  I didn’t doubt for one minute that Sophie was going to make good on her word.

  She would ruin me.

  * * *

  I was able t
o keep it together until I closed the door of my apartment behind me. Then I crossed my arms around my middle and all the emotions poured out into the open in loud sobs. I’d made this bed and now I had to lie in it. I’d had a choice. I went against my own beliefs and kept silent, knowing that someone would end up getting hurt.

  Sophie’s anger was justified. I’d lied to her. Allowed her to talk to me about Hunter all the while being with him myself. Finding out the truth had to be humiliating for her. I had betrayed our friendship. And I would pay for doing that, I just didn’t know how yet.

  I wiped at my face with the back of my hand, then went into the bathroom to take care of my nose, then curled up on the couch, still dabbing at my leaking eyes.

  What was I going to do? I’d lost my job. I’d lost my friend, and I would likely wind up losing Hunter over this, too.

  He hadn’t wanted our relationship out there, but it was now public in a very humiliating way. This was a small town and it wouldn’t take long for those wagging tongues to reach more wagging tongues. News would be all over town by this afternoon.

  He was going to be furious.

  A rapid succession of knocks came from the door. I didn’t have to question who it was. Word had already reached Hunter. I sat frozen, terrified of what his reaction would be.

  “Eliza, open the fucking door.”

  God, he was furious. He was here to end it. Fresh tears filled my eyes as I pushed off the couch and I blinked them away. I needed to get this over with so I could spend the rest of the day trying to pick myself up from losing my job, Sophie and Hunter. A horrible trifecta of loss.

  As I reached the door and reached for the knob, I hesitated. I didn’t want this to end.

  Banging shook the door. “Goddamn, Eliza, open up.”

  I did. He rushed inside, cupping my cheek and resting his forehead on mine. “Are you okay?”

  The caring way he held my face, his obvious concern, caused a knot in my throat and prevented me from speaking, so I just nodded. He wasn’t mad. He was here—for me.

  Tears welled in my eyes again. There was no blinking them away. I was so overwhelmed by his reaction, so relieved, I couldn’t stop them from falling and a muffled sob pushed past my lips.

  “Jesus,” Hunter muttered, gathering me in his arms and hugging me close. “This is my fault. I was selfish and you’re paying for it.”

  I wrapped my arms around his waist, so thankful to have his support, to know for sure that he was not angry with me.

  “How did you find out,” I mumbled against his chest.

  He brushed my hair back. “Your letter was sitting open on my desk with a post it note that said, ‘Fuck you.’ It wasn’t hard to put two and two together. I kept that letter in my coat pocket and she must have gone through my stuff when I wasn’t around. Not long after that, I heard the gossiping.”

  I craned my head back to look at him. Eyes full of regret and concern stared back at me as he cupped both my cheeks between his large hands again. “I quit, Eliza. I’m not going back and I won’t let Sophie hurt you. Whatever comes, I’ll be by your side.”

  I grasped both his wrists in my hands and squeezed. “Thank you, Hunter.”

  He kissed my forehead then released my face. Taking my hand, he tugged me to the couch and pulled me down beside him. “Sophie’s not going to take this lightly, Eliza. That is one reason I didn’t want her to know about you. I didn’t want her vindictiveness targeting you. I wanted to protect you from her.”

  He’d wanted to protect me? Going back over our conversations that reason stood out clear. It just hadn’t been a reason I’d allowed myself to fully consider.

  “How bad do you think it will get?” I asked.

  His finger ran across the tender skin where Sophie had slapped me. “She hit you. She’s furious. She is capable of anything when she’s like this. Trust me. We didn’t break up to sow oats. We broke up because she went after a girl I was tutoring because she thought we were fucking. I knew she’d crucify you if she found out.”

  “What do we do?”

  He took my hand in his. “We’re going public. Let them gossip their fucking hearts out. The one thing that will be undeniable is that we’re together.”

  * * *

  Hunter was determined to show our union to everyone in town as quickly as possible. Three hours later, after sitting curled protectively against his side all afternoon, he’d told me to get dressed, we were going out.

  I was a lot more hesitant about it. All I had wanted for weeks was to be public about our relationship, but now I was a nervous wreck over it. I had no idea how Sophie planned to ruin me. If I stayed in this apartment, I didn’t have to find out. Going out there was inviting that chaos into my life.

  I placed my hand on my stomach as I studied my reflection in the full-length mirror hanging on the door of the bathroom. I’d opted for something simple, a pair of jeans and sleeveless black blouse. Nothing spectacular at all. I wasn’t trying to draw attention to myself to tonight over what I was wearing--if it was too sexy or too plain. I’d have enough gawkers just from being with Hunter.

  I stepped out of the bathroom into my bedroom. Hunter was dressed in a pair of khaki pants and red and white plaid shirt. He looked so damn handsome. And he really was mine to claim.

  Publicly. That was at least a positive that was coming out of tonight.

  Hunter apparently wasn’t as thrilled about how I looked. His face had screwed into a disapproving scowl as he shook his head. “No ma’am. Get your beautiful ass back in there and put on something nicer. We’re making our relationship public and we’re doing it with a bang. None of this dressing down shit.”

  All right, when he put it that way, dressing up sounded like a great idea. Walking over to my closet, I started sifting through the clothes. I didn’t have anything nice. The two really pretty outfits that I owned, Hunter had already seen. When I turned to tell him I had nothing to wear, my eyes landed on the powder blue box he held in his hands and the words died on my tongue.

  “What’s that?”

  A mischievous smile came to his mouth. “Open it and see.”

  I pulled at the white bow keeping it closed then I lifted the lid to reveal bright red silky fabric. I lifted the dress and held it up to by body. It was shorter than anything I’d worn before. A naughty side of me was excited about wearing something this sexy.

  “There’s more,” Hunter said.

  I looked back in the box to find the matching spike heels with ankle straps.

  “Now go get dressed,” he ordered.

  He didn’t have to tell me twice. After I gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, I grabbed the shoes, and hurried back into the bathroom, wanting to make a grand entrance for him. Twenty minutes later, I had the dress on, my hair curled and flowing around my shoulders.

  Looking in the mirror, I twisted from side-to-side. The material clung to my curves. The low dipping neckline showed cleavage I wasn’t aware I had. The heels made my legs look long and shapely. I felt so sexy, confident.

  I froze, then slowly shook my head as a soft laugh slipped past my lips. That wonderful, smart man. He knew how nervous I was about going out in public after everything that had happened. Making me feel confident had been his plan all along. He’d succeeded.

  I stepped out of the bathroom. Hunter was looking out the bedroom window with his hands shoved in his pockets. He turned and his eyes widened, then he wolf-whistled his appreciation.

  “You like?”

  He walked over and placed his hands on my hips. “Very much. So much, in fact, I’d rather have you for dinner.”

  Laughing, I wrapped my arms around his neck and tugged his head down to kiss him.

  I figured with him by my side I could face anything.

  * * *

  So far, so good.

  We’d made it into the restaurant, and other than a few sidelong glances and whispered words as we walked to our table, nothing bad had happened.

  Nothing cou
ld dampen the feeling of walking into a room with Hunter’s hand wrapped around mine. The show of solidarity as we sat in a corner both side-by-side was amazing, like nothing I could have dreamed.

  Right now, we’d just finished eating and drinking the last two glass of the bottle of wine Hunter had bought. His arm rested on the back of the bench behind me as his fingers caressed my bare shoulder and I leaned against his side and listened to the soft classical music playing in the background. I didn’t care about anyone else in this room, what anyone was saying, all I cared about was being here with him.

  “Well, I think tonight has been amazing,” he said, kissing the top of my head.

  As I brought my glass to my lips, I smiled, happy that he’d enjoyed the night as much as I had. “Me too.”

  Maybe all my worrying had been for nothing. Maybe Sophie had been letting off steam, which she had every right to do, and would drop it now.

  “What do you say we get out of here? I bought something else for you waiting back home.”

  Home. I loved hearing him say that. “You did? What?”

  He nipped my earlobe then whispered, “We’ll need to go home to find out.”

  Excitement shivered through me and I was ready to be back at my apartment now.

  “Let me run to the ladies room and we’ll get out of here.”

  Hunter nodded. “I’ll get the bill.”

  After doing my business, I started back to the table. I was halfway across the room when I noticed that Sophie was sitting on the end of bench next to Hunter. She was sobbing loudly and Hunter scowled at her, seemingly unmoved by the display of tears.

  Unsure if I should approach or not, I stopped walking. Then I shook myself at the hesitation. Hunter had gone out of his way to make me feel confident, to walk with my head held high, I would not cower.

  Sophie needed to see this, to accept this, no matter how much it hurt. Maybe then everyone could move on.

  I strode forward. The closer I got the more audible her words became.

  “I don’t understand, Hunter,” she said between sobs, speaking way louder than she needed to. “Things were going so good. We were enjoying each other so much.”