by Amber Scott
She didn’t have time for this. “Look, AJ. It isn’t that Brooke isn’t strong. She is. Smart, too. What woman isn’t dumb, when it comes to a guy like Elliott?”
“What exactly does that mean?”
She hated that tone of his. Sweet and patient with her. Millie wasn’t made of glass. “It means I spent a week watching her move farther and farther away from who she is meant to be with. Jason.”
Millie got her coat on, ignoring AJ shaking his head. She had to time her ‘accidental’ run-in with Michelle Shope perfectly. What little information AJ had secured on the co-ed made Millie certain; locating her was a gamble. Millie needed Elliott out of the picture. What better way than with a young, bouncing distraction like Michelle?
“I wish you’d reconsider.”
“I know. But…I can’t.” There was just too much too lose. More than the heartbreak she wouldn’t be around to help her best friend through. She’d lose AJ and that heartbreak, she couldn’t face. Elliott would only hurt Brooke. Better now than later.
Millie arrived at the Book Exchange feeling worse, not better. She sat at a corner table, fingers crossed that neither Brooke nor Elliott would show up. AJ’s warning echoed through her. “Bad idea.”
Apparently, love isn’t a battlefield, no matter who sang it. But she was low on time and high on pressure, and maybe Elliott and Michelle would live happily ever after. Brooke would get hurt, but who was to say Michelle would?
Screw it. With less than two weeks until AJ was taken from her, playing fair wasn’t an option. Manipulating Michelle Shope into unwittingly helping her cause would get Brooke out of cloud sixty-nine and back onto Jason. Last weekend, that Debbie Hines-whoever yard sale incident convinced Millie that Jason and Brooke had never been the problem. Being surrounded by a bunch of jealous, nasty gossips like Debbie who wanted to see Brooke fail, caused her divorce.
Millie knew envy, or, technically speaking, Kiki knew envy. When envy ran deep enough, it changed people. Directed at a person with enough length and force, envy destroyed more than lives. She wouldn’t let herself dwell on past pain now, though.
Millie adjusted her chair for a good view of both the store and the café. This would work. If she did this right, Elliott would move on to a girl his age, Brooke would be glad it went no further, and all would end fair. No matter what AJ said.
For a Wednesday afternoon, the place was pretty packed. She’d better stay and Millie knew in her gut, she’d be here today. Michelle had a habit to support.
A longtime affinity for shoplifting. She’d been caught six times in the last seven years. Music, in particular. Seemed like a bit of a hobby. Maybe more.
Someone needs attention from Daddy.
So, where does a sweet little klepto with a crush hang out between class and an assistant’s office hours? Someplace with a little merchandise. The bookstore/café seemed like her best bet.
To his credit, AJ did successfully put off her final decision. For all of seven days. Millie had waited, hit the files again. Re-wrote their notes, outlined, clustered, the works. She could still smell marker. AJ went back for more files again and again, trying to find help in whatever way he did, wherever it was he went. He even got the bull in the china shop’s file, Elliott’s cousin’s.
Thank goodness for Nancy and her strays. Because of her, Millie had that conversation between Gordon and Elliott about Michelle to go on. And not much else.
“Can I get you more?” the waitress asked.
“No, thanks.” Pushing her sunglasses back on her head, Millie toyed with her latte. Her tongue felt fuzzy from all the sugar. “Do you know what time it is?”
“Almost four.”
Millie nodded as the pregnant girl moved to the next table. How had an hour already passed? To tears didn’t cover how bored she was. What if she’d missed Michelle? Her file had been clear. Thursday. Kelpto. Book Exchange. Like clockwork.
Where did AJ get all those files from, anyway? She envisioned some sterile looking, all white office building, a-glow halos and file cabinets. White and blank, like what little she could recall from her trial. Faces, impressions but nothing solid until he crossed back over. She pictured his return as a cross between Narnia’s wardrobe and Captain Kirk’s sparkling teleportation.
She didn’t actually want to know. She had enough failure on her plate as it was. Adding more to the list of what she should be able to do wouldn’t help Brooke. Maybe one day, she would know it all, including all about AJ. Who he’d been, what he’d done to land here, all of it.
One day.
Millie flicked at her bracelets, which tinkled. Looked like she’d have to go loiter Ross Hall, the second most likely place to find Michelle. Not the safest approach when Elliott could spot Millie and report the sighting to Brooke. If Brooke got freaked over Millie calling her ex-husband, imagine what an appearance outside the building her lover worked in. A lover Millie was supposed to not know about. Bad. Very bad.
Millie wouldn’t kid herself. Brooke was bound to go back for thirds.
Elliott was self-esteem heroin. Charming, young, good-looking. Millie knew the effects of looks like those he gave Brooke. A few hits of that would addict any sane woman. Why, just look at the fool Michelle made of herself over Elliott. She’d thrown herself at his cousin to try to make him jealous. Poor girl.
Brooke deserved better. She deserved a man who would build a home and a life with her. Not burn hot and die cold. She needed steadiness, certainty. A man who would see what Millie saw in Brooke, and want to nurture it.
Elliott should be with a girl like Michelle. Someone young and vibrant who craved being swept up. Someone still at the beginning in life, who had time to make mistakes, time to learn from them.
“Screw this,” she mumbled and tossed her drink in the garbage on her way out. If she didn’t go and do this now, she’d be back at her low point, watching True Hollywood Story’s, Have You Seen This Heiress?, again.
Her past, Kiki’s disappearance. The things she tried not to think about.
Millie strode across campus. The cold wind bit at her cheeks and hair. She shook off wishing AJ had come.
First of all, Kiki wasn’t an actress or a part of Hollywood. Yes, most all her friends were. Rock stars and movie stars. So, she supposed her disappearance’s inclusion in the “Hollywood” series was not entirely off the mark. Still, a stretch.
Maybe she’d watch it one more time after locating Michelle. She could skip the party scenes and the smarmy commentator who only got Kiki half right. She could go straight to the interviews. The good stuff. All the attempts at an interview with Glen. The clues. The last day of Kiki. Maybe she would pick up on a clue, make a new connection that nobody had made.
Ross Hall came into view. Millie wiped her nose.
The DVD was a bad idea. She knew that. Holding her last day’s memories against the dramatized facts for the thousandth time wouldn’t reveal what the police missed.
Millie was at a loss as to how she got here. Was Kiki dead? Glen, the police’s only person of interest, couldn’t have killed her. Her former lover might’ve been a cheater, but a killer? Not likely.
The campus bell jarred her, marking four o’clock. Millie scanned the area. Still no Michelle. Figures. With her luck, she’d have to go in to find Michelle, strike up conversation then have Elliott step right in the middle. Maybe AJ was right. Maybe this idea stemmed from her own insecurities, residue from finding her mom’s third husband in bed with Kiki’s best friend. All Kiki’s fault.
She wasn’t Kiki anymore.
Her aversion to Elliott went beyond her past. She had to trust her gut. This was the best next move. A few yards away, she caught sight of blonde hair. Brooke? Millie’s heart slammed. Brooke shouldn’t be here today!
Millie ducked her head and veered toward another building. She paused near the corner, out of sight, and watched. Turn, blondie, turn. Was it Brooke? The head turned. No. Millie exhaled loudly. Then her neck hairs prickled. AJ. She se
nsed him seconds before he spoke low, near her ear. Millie closed her eyes against the thrill running through her. She had given up, but he had come.
“Aren’t you going to check your trusty photographic likeness again?” AJ said. She didn’t have to ask what he meant. Her internet printout of Michelle’s profile page sat folded in her pocket.
“No. I’m not. I’m good with faces.”
“I imagine you’re good with far more than faces.” AJ stepped beside her. “Tell me, Millicent, will we look odd standing about in the bushes?”
A tingle wiggled in her belly when she caught his sweet scent. “Ah, who cares?”
“Wrestle down what you’re going to say to her yet?”
Not at all. “Of course I have.”
AJ snorted.
“Sort of. Look, I haven’t gotten that far. I’m better on the spot than prepared, any day. Besides, how difficult can it be? Especially now that you’re here.”
He grinned at her in that way of his. The one that made her all gooey and itching for more. Imagine what his touch would do if one look—she dropped the thought before it completed. Maybe later she’d indulge. Not now.
“Do you at least have a line of attack in mind?”
“Of course.” Was it her or did every last passing female look his way and sigh? “It’s not as if I need Brooke to walk in on the two of them in action. Really just knowing he gave in to any kind of urge with Michelle will be sufficient.”
“Blackmail?”
“Maybe.” Yes.
“What makes you think something hasn’t already happened?”
“Because Elliott is too flipping honest. He’d have said so, even in front of a table of strangers on a holiday.” What was a former fling compared to a felon father, after all? Either one had gambled his chances with Brooke.
They waited.
“You know,” she grumbled. “This whole thing would be a helluva lot easier if the files they gave us actually had anything in them.”
AJ shrugged. He didn’t need to say it. She knew. Couldn’t be easy, wouldn’t be a punishment. Blah, blah, freaking blah.
“The IRS has more information on people than we do.”
“Probably.” He nudged her.
Millie followed the direction of his gaze. Michelle. Front and center heading their way. Her pulse picked up. Her first instinct was to hide. Thankfully, she remembered Michelle didn’t know who they were and didn’t dive for cover. She was going to do this, really and truly. She was going to contribute to wounding her best friend? For the short run, remember? It felt like the long run.
She faced AJ.
“Backing down?” he said gently, as though doing so would be okay.
Shaking her head, she motioned AJ to follow her. “Tell me more about how this works. Do they have to be alone to administer it and have it work?” She should have paid better attention during AJ’s attraction lesson. “Do they both have to be there?”
AJ pulled her arm. “You make it sound like a magic potion.”
Better yet, she should have done this before. No use thinking about her failed matches now. “Well, isn’t it? Sort of?”
“I’m no magician.”
“But, that is why you’re here, isn’t it? To help me out and give Michelle some sort of love shot then watch something happen?”
“Why did I hope you weren’t going to come to your senses?”
“Because ye have little faith?” Millie said. They didn’t have much time. “You’re here, why not try to trust me now? Why not go for the gold?” She needed him. “Don’t tell me you’re still against this?”
He didn’t answer her.
“Isn’t there some point when it’s my call, my choice to live with?”
“Absolutely. Which is why I shouldn’t get involved.”
Millie paused. Michelle had entered Ross Hall some odd feet ahead and Elliott was stopped in conversation with her.
Perfect, right? She looked to AJ.
He shook his head.
“Fine. Don’t do it yourself. Just tell me how I can.” Her stomach squeezed tight. Queasy or not, she couldn’t just leave.
Elliott glanced their way. Millie ducked near a cropping of trees to their left, pulling AJ with her. Keeping one eye on the pair and another on where to stand inconspicuously was no easy feat. She stepped on AJ’s toe, almost kneed a bench and still couldn’t decide what to do next.
Maybe she didn’t need to do a thing. Would it be too much to hope Heaven would send a gift in the form of Elliott screwing up right there for her to witness? Pretty please? Unfortunately, his body language read like a do not cross sign. Michelle was either clueless to how put off he was, or persistent in the extreme.
The twenty-ish brunette angled her head and batted her eyes. Submissive, yet seductive. Like a pro. One leg out, a little shift here and lean there. Millie almost found herself cheering the girl on.
Millie closed her eyes and asked herself how sure she was about doing this. How badly did she really need Elliott to show his true colors? Was there another way to get Brooke detoxed from this guy, thereby free and clear for Jason? “Just explain what I would do if I decided to,” she pleaded.
AJ eyed her a moment. “There is an energy between them. In order to amplify that energy you would need to give it yourself. In order to increase attraction, you feel it yourself, then give it over to him. The same with love.”
Feeling attraction herself was no problem. Not with him less than a foot away, oozing sex appeal. But, what if she couldn’t direct it? And, what if she was wrong?
She hated uncertainty. This just wasn’t fair. Seconds ticked by, then minutes. She had to choose. But the longer Elliott stood there, unmoved by Michelle’s best ploys, the less sure she became.
What would Brooke do? If it were AJ standing there and Brooke could, would she test him? Would she stay out of it? Or would she feel protective and fierce, ready to strip AJ down to the truth?
Millie clenched her hands. She looked at AJ. Empathy shone in his eyes. Leave it to him to empathize how twisted this match had gotten her.
Why couldn’t Elliott be the one? It’d be so much easier if Elliott were older and wiser, trustworthy. Young, hot Elliott was too much a gamble with her best friend’s fragile heart. Even if he didn’t use and discard Brooke within weeks to months. Even if they managed to spend years together. Wouldn’t her heart end up breaking worse?
As Kiki, she’d seen the ugly truth. Her poor mom.
Brooke wouldn’t just be older, she’d be old. While Elliott would be hitting his prime. Twenty something’s like Michelle would still be lined up to take Brooke’s place. With every passing year, the pressure on Brooke would close in tighter and tighter. She’d be fifty, researching breast lifts, he’d be thirty-five and distinguished. She’d be sixty-five, worried about her chin waddle, he’d be adjusting to a few sexy forties’ grays. He’d be the hot history professor on campus and every other co-ed would be fantasizing about him.
Brooke would not test AJ. At most she’d stop, watch and prepare a full report. Millie would want her to do more, though, she realized. If it were her heart on the chopping block, Millie would want to know. Black and white. No what ifs.
“Don’t do it,” AJ said softly at her side, sending warmth through her. “Don’t let your fears infect what they might have together.”
Millie couldn’t face him. Doing so would force her to look away from the unfolding scene. Elliott maintained total cool. Not interested. If anything, worse. He might be a little disgusted with Michelle’s antics.
Crap. “What if I give her a boost right now? A little extra confidence to make a move. Can I do that?”
“She doesn’t need it. She already wants him.”
“But what if I did anyways?” Would Elliott pass the test if Michelle tried to kiss him? In the end, though, she wasn’t sure how and didn’t have the gumption for it.
“You will only hurt her. Humiliate her,” AJ implored. “Look at him, Millie
. He’s doing everything he can to get out of conversation with her. He’s hardly making eye contact. He finds her attractive, but he doesn’t want her.”
He doesn’t want her.
Millie could scream. She could stomp and yell and curse Heaven, literally. And get campus security called on her. Nothing like a set of bars to help a girl pout.
AJ took her by the shoulders and turned her to face him. “This isn’t the answer, Millie. We still have time.”
Millie pulled away. A lamppost nearby flickered to life making her realize it was getting dark. Her eyes burned and her breath steamed.
We still have time. Didn’t feel like it. This match may as well be water falling through her fingertips. The more she tried to shape it, to hold it, keep it, the more it fell away. Like the only reason she was there was to feel it wash over her. Leave her wet and confused.
Empty.
Her vision blurred a bit. Millie blinked it back to focus on the pair inside the glass paned doors. Michelle’s flirtation visibly sagged. A sulk began to take over the line of her posture and tilt of her face. Rejection. Millie almost pitied the girl.
Things would have been a lot easier for everyone if Michelle had gotten what she’d wanted. Even for Brooke, eventually.
“Let’s get out of here,” Mille said and looked at the ground.
AJ wrapped his arms around her, held her a moment then guided her back to the parking lot, not a single I-told-you-so in sight.
Chapter Nineteen
What had Brooke gotten herself into?
Saturday morning, Brooke pulled her car into Elliott’s driveway fifteen minutes early. He had said he was ready when she called ten minutes ago. His voice had sounded groggy but she believed him and hoped he would have the same thing she did on his mind. Namely, a few stolen minutes, naked, in his bed? Or on the sofa, or on the floor? Up against a wall? Three days without him might as well be a year. She needed more.
Smiling, staring off into space, replaying every minute over in her head didn’t help time fly. Last night she’d slept like a kid on Christmas Eve. Visions of orgasms dancing in her head. “This is not a date,” she reminded herself, killing the engine. “This is business.”