by Kate Asher
“I’m so sick of you thinking the worst of me all the time. Why can’t you ever let anything go?” No part of her sister’s reply answered the question. Andi didn’t want Nat on the defensive. She would never answer truthfully that way.
Andi chose her next words carefully. “I’ve crossed his path again. Please answer my question honestly, Nat. I need the truth, for me, no other reason.”
“No, it’s you reminding me you’re better than me and I’m sick of it.” Nat shot back. If it were possible, Andi heart sank a little lower. She wondered, not for the first time, how they were even related.
“Please answer the question,” she replied, shaking her head.
“I don’t know why everyone thinks you’re so smart.” A second text from Nat immediately followed. “You can’t possibly be thinking about him.” Seconds later, another text followed. “Omg, you are thinking about dating him. Trust me, he’s not your type. You’re a princess. You need someone boring and always there to stroke your ego.”
Andi let out a heavy exhale and dropped the phone to her lap. The text messages kept coming, but Andi ignored them. More than anything, she hated to admit Nat was right. Andi tried not to date men with questionable pasts. She’d learned that lesson young, watching her sister. Then when her parent’s marriage had disintegrated after Nat’s brush with the legal system, she’d watched her mother date loser after loser. She’d sworn to never do that. And just because Blake said he didn’t do something, didn’t mean that was true.
“Oh God.”
What if this was a game? Her hand came to her forehead with force as the thought nearly bowled her over. Of course, this was some sort of a game to him. No one on the planet pined for her. Her parents barely had anything to do with her. Her sister— Well, those mean-spirited texts were still coming, weren’t they? Her sister didn’t tolerate her, not even when she demanded Andi send her money for whatever mess she’d gotten herself into. Even Andi’s cat didn’t like her. So with as mean as Andi had been to Blake—both when they were younger and over the last few days—why on earth would he ever want anything to do with her?
Andi flopped back against her mattress. To hurt her like she had hurt him?
Yes, Blake was playing her, and she’d fallen hard for his tactics. Of course, Blake had driven the car for Nat. Heck, he and her sister could still be friends today. Oh no. Had Blake had sex with both her and Nat? Andi shuddered at the thought. She felt dirty and wanted to cry. No, she wanted to throw up. Andi reached for her phone as Felix jumped up on the bed. He came for Andi, uncharacteristically running his body under her arm as she texted her grandmother.
“Grams, I need you to send a new volunteer to Blake’s shop this morning. I can’t be there.” She didn’t even try to come up with an excuse. “I’m sorry for adding more to your plate today. Have a good event.”
She used her thumb to turn off her cell before picking Felix up. Why he’d turned loving didn’t seem to matter as she clutched the cat to her and went for the kitchen. There was no hope for more sleep. Her feelings were too hurt. What had she let herself get involved in?
~~~
Blake glared at the clock again. Andi must have slept in this morning. She’d said she’d get there early to grab a croissant with him before the gang arrived. But he’d been up for hours, helping Wyatt get the day underway with no sign of her. He’d become so attuned to the door chime, eager to see her again, that he worried he’d develop a dick-related Pavlovian response to the sound. He grinned to himself at the thought.
He refused to worry though. It was his fault she deserved a little R&R, the way he’d tackled her to the couch for another make-out session before he’d let her go home. They’d exchanged numbers when he’d walked her to her car last night, but he didn’t want to bother her if she was getting some sleep.
Ryan had arrived about an hour ago and promptly set his ass in Blake’s recliner with a cup of coffee and a grunt. He must have enjoyed his night out.
Blake glanced up at the sound of the chime on the storefront’s door, then deflated slightly when it wasn’t Andi. Bree’s chipper morning gate as she made her way through the main room and the glowing smile she sent his way told him she wasn’t the reason for Ryan’s pre-work nap. Interesting.
“Morning, Bree.” He smiled her way and handed her an apron.
“Morning, boss. Did you get Ryan’s note?” She grinned at him sheepishly. “We figured that even if you guys didn’t work last night, we had more than enough time to finish up today. Hope you weren’t too upset. Ryan said you’d be fine with it.”
As far as Blake was concerned, their disappearance was the best thing that had ever happened to him. He finally whittled his way through Andi’s seemingly impermeable emotional defense system. He’d thought he’d need a scud missile to accomplish that, but it had only required sincerity and a willingness to be open about the past, something he typically avoided. But God…when they’d let down their walls, their chemistry had gone supernova, firing with the heat of a thousand suns.
“That was fine. Andi and I ate the pizza you two had us pick up.” He mock-scowled at Bree and she giggled in response. “Then I walked Andi to her car. We figured we’d pick up today and finish this up. I doubt we’ll be here long.”
Bree glanced around the room. “Where’s Ryan?”
Blake flicked his thumb over his shoulder to point toward his office. “He’ll be out in a minute. I’m sure he’s heard us talking. Nothing wake’s him when he sleeps, but he hears everything.” Blake laughed at the truth of that statement. The man could sleep anywhere, but whisper his name and he could pick up in the middle of a conversation he hadn’t even been part of.
“Yeah, yeah. Stop talking about me already. I’m here.”
Speak of the devil.
“Oh my. What did you get up to after I left you?” Bree’s brow furrowed as she took in Ryan’s recently-sober-and-hating-it look. “I swear I left him completely in charge of his own faculties at ten last night,” she said to Blake. Then looked at Ryan. “How much trouble can one man get into in less than twelve hours?”
Ryan grunted in response and set the coffee mug on the counter.
“No outside food in the prep room.” Blake pointed his friend back to the office, trying very hard not to outright laugh at Ry’s pained expression as he returned the mug to the office.
He walked over to the table they were using for packaging, put on an apron, and set his hands on his hips. “What now, dickhead?”
“Watch it. Ladies present.” Giving a hungover Ryan a hard time took his mind off wondering when Andi would get there.
Ryan scowled at him then took a deep breath as if to control his impulse to throttle Blake. He turned to Bree, waved an arm in the air, ending at waist level as he bent forward in a gallant bow. “Many apologies, my lady, if I have besmirched thy honor.” Bree giggled again at his antics as she went to the sink to wash her hands before bagging cookies.
“Where’s Andi?” Ryan asked as he plopped on a stool, clearly not ready to work yet. And considering he was Blake’s guest and not a volunteer assigned the duty, he could do what he wanted. He missed seeing Ryan every day, so if he wanted to sit and chat while they worked, Blake had no problem with that.
“She looked tired when she left, so she probably just slept in this morning.”
“I’ll bet she did.” Ryan smirked at him.
“She left here at a decent hour. Don’t steer your mind into the gutter, though I know it’s a short drive.” Blake wouldn’t take Ry’s bait, especially not with Andi’s coworker in the room.
“Um…not to burst your bubbles, but you don’t know Andi at all if you think she’d be more than a couple minutes late, and usually with some good reason. She never misses a day of work. She’s usually there before I get there and still working when I leave.” Bree brought over a tray of cookies and set about packaging them and tying them off with festive holiday ribbons. “Maybe I should call her?”
B
lake’s cell rang at that moment. “That’s probably her now.” He pulled it out and answered quickly. “Hello.”
“Hi, Blake, it’s Babs. I got a weird text from Andi at some ungodly hour of the morning telling me to send another volunteer today. And now I can’t get through to her on her phone. Do you know what’s going on?” Babs sounded worried and he didn’t want to have this conversation in front of everyone, not that he even knew what he’d say.
“Hang on a sec.” Blake pulled the cell away from his ear and told Ryan and Bree he would take the call in his office. Once he was in there, with the door shut, he told Babs, “I’m not sure what’s going on. We had a great time last night. We talked about what happened in the past and cleared up some misunderstandings.” Babs made acknowledging noises, but didn’t offer a response, so he continued, “Then we had some pizza and she left about ten, saying she’d be back early this morning.” Blake racked his brain for what could have gone wrong between then and now. “I’m not sure what to tell you.”
“Hmm…I have a feeling there’s much more to your story than pizza and talking, but I’ll let it go because hearing about my granddaughter in a compromising position isn’t an image I want to start my day with.” Babs sighed.
“Nothing—” Blake started to object, but Babs shushed him.
“My girl lets her head rule her life, and her head has some messed up ideas about how life works.” He heard a car door and an engine start, then the phone clicked over to Bluetooth if the change in noises were anything to go by. When Babs spoke again, it was with determination. “You finish up those cookies. Do you need another volunteer to help?”
“No, ma’am. We’re good. Not that many more to go.”
“Don’t call me ma’am. It’s Babs to you. And another thing… I’m going to pull my granddaughter’s head from her posterior. Your job’s to not give up on her, young man.” Babs could have given any of his superior officers a run for their money in the command-issuing department.
“Aye aye, Babs.” Blake grinned. Poor Andi. She didn’t stand a chance if she thought running away would work for her. But if she didn’t want to be with him, there was nothing he—or Babs—could do about it. Babs didn’t even say goodbye, but his phone beeped to let him know she’d dropped the call.
He walked back out to the prep room. “Andi’s not coming. That was Babs seeing if we needed another volunteer, but I think we’ve got this.” He tried to skate over the elephant in the room, but that wasn’t going to happen.
“What did you do?” Ryan asked, crossing his arms and scowling his way.
Blake held up his hands in surrender. “Nothing. We had a blast last night. She said she’d be in early this morning to have breakfast with me. Whatever happened, happened after she left here.” Blake glanced at his phone. “I’m going to call her.” He walked through the bakery and out the front door for some privacy and maybe a bit of the brisk morning air to clear his head.
Straight to voicemail, just as Babs had said. He closed his phone and texted her instead. “What’s going on? Are you okay?” If she needed his help, he’d be there. If she needed to be away from him…well, he didn’t know what he’d do about that.
Chapter 11
Andi sat back in her office chair, her head resting in her palm as she listened to the aging CFO ramble on about current state of financial affairs of the airlines. She arched an eyebrow then rolled her eyes in a dramatic way—something she’d been doing a lot of lately. She closed her eyes and face-palmed her face in a ridiculously drama-filled way of showing what a beating her life had become. She shouldn’t have logged into the call. She’d worked at Rora Airlines for three years and hadn’t missed a single Wednesday corporate call.
The senior management team had a hard time seeing past themselves to let the company thrive. They held on too tightly, controlling every move, but she dealt with the likes of these kinds of men all the time. If she were honest, what had her upset right now had nothing to do with the company conference call and everything to do with the dozen red roses sitting on the desk in front of her.
More than anything, she wished Blake would just leave her alone. Turned out, subtlety wasn’t his forte. No less than fifteen phone calls and text messages, and now these flowers were a testament to his tenacity. Blake played games, and it was just too much for her battered heart to take. She closed her eyes, and like every time she did, instant images of Blake filled the darkness. Today’s obsession had her remembering his smile. Even when he was defensive and distant with her, he still had an easy smile for those around him. Of course, those smiles hadn’t included her, but the people he surrounded himself with were sure lucky recipients of that easy-going charm.
Her tummy twisted. She hadn’t really eaten in days. Well, unless you counted the grapes that made the wine she’d been drinking from the time she’d entered her apartment in the evening until the time she passed out in bed each night. Maybe the best course hadn’t been cheap wine. But who could afford to drink the expensive stuff when the important things was quantity and not quality.
Her mouth was dry and her head hurt, which added fuel to the pain of her heart. She opened one eyelid, looking over at the clock on the credenza, which she had to strain to see from this angle. The dramatic edge her embarrassment and uncertainty had taken refused to allow her to pick up her head and act like a reasonable person. Thankfully, it was time for more Advil. She didn’t hesitate. Andi turned to the bottle on her desk, ignoring the muted conference call and took two of the small pills, draining the almost-full water bottle.
She looked over to see Bree standing in her doorway. She hadn’t heard her enter the office, which spoke volumes to exactly how preoccupied she’d become with her wallowing.
“Andi, what’s going on with you?”
Her gaze went to the phone on her desk, trying to see if she had, in fact, muted the call.
“The call ended. How do you not know?” Bree shut the door behind her, coming to stand at the front of her desk. “Your makeup’s a mess and the side of your shirt has been untucked all morning. What can I do to help you?”
One of Andi’s hands went to her face while the other patted around her waistline, confirming she was rumpled. While Bree pulled off fashionably rumpled remarkably well, Andi kept a strict professional look all the time. “I’m going through something…”
Bree lifted a hand, stopping her in midsentence. “Talk to me, Andi. It’s not just me noticing. It’s everyone. You’re not yourself.”
“I think it’s these flowers. Maybe I’m allergic to them.” Which could be true. She’d never had anyone send her flowers before. “Take them to your desk for me.”
Bree shook her head and came forward, holding two message slips. “I’m not buying it. Just because you keep your cell phone turned off and have these flowers removed, doesn’t mean you aren’t going to have to deal with Blake at some point. He called again. He’s not going to stop, and he sounds like you look. What happened between you two that’s caused this? He’s threatening to come up here if you don’t talk to him.”
“Oh no, don’t let him do that.” Panic at the idea of Blake showing up and catching her off guard had every other thought fleeing. When the flowers had been delivered, his note had asked for her to meet him at the coffee shop in town. She hadn’t responded to that request, nor did she go at the time he had requested. Of course, he’d take it to the next level. “Please tell him I’m not ready to see him.”
“I’ve said that to him. I’m not sure he’s a listening kind of guy. He knows what he wants, Andi, and that’s you. He seems sincere, if a bit hurt by your disappearance.” Bree stood there, staring at Andi, her face softening. “It’s okay to like him. Ryan says he’s a real good guy who’s held a torch for you all these years. I know you two are different—I see it—but sometimes opposites do attract. You could use a little good chaos in your life. Open your heart and take a chance.”
If only it were that easy. For Bree, she fell in and out
of love as the wind blew. She never let herself experience too much emotion either way. Andi wasn’t like that. Her feet were firmly planted on the ground. She had seen the dark side of the world for all it was worth, she never wanted to go there again.
“I can see you’re not going to listen to me.” Bree sighed. “One of these calls is your grandmother. She’s worried about you. She keeps calling your cell and getting voicemail. You should call her and let her know you’re okay or she will come up here. And you know that’s not an idle threat. She told me she stormed your house on Saturday.” Bree left her office, making her feel like a complete heel. This wasn’t her fault.
Andi had been steadfast in her ways until Blake had roared through her life again. It was his fault, but the idea of her grandmother worrying did have her picking up her desk telephone and dialing her number. She was too antsy to continue to sit, so she stretched the cord and anchored her butt along the desk’s edge.
“There you are. I’ve been calling and calling. You promised me this weekend that you’d keep your phone on for me,” her grandmother said by way of a greeting.
“Missing so much work has me behind…” Her grandmother knew her too well and must have heard the lie in her voice but didn’t scold her or blow her off, instead she gave one of her rare grandmotherly toned responses.
“I’ve talked to Blake, Andi. He’s worried.” Of course, she had. Andi’s chin hit her chest. Why would Blake have gotten her grandmother involved in this? What had he hoped to accomplish? She could feel the blush instantly staining her cheek. Andi didn’t try to avoid the subject of Blake or the tension between them.
“Why did you have to bring him back into our lives, Grams?”