Fragile Kiss (Fragile Series, #2)

by Lexy Timms

  Really, she was wracking her brain to figure out how to keep it from being an eyesore. That was when her eyes settled on the sleek copper bookshelves Katharina had imported from somewhere in Europe.

  “Give me a minute to look around at what we’ve got left,” she said to Katharina. “We may need to do a little reorganizing to give this room a good theme, and make sure it doesn’t look like all the rest of the moving stuff was thrown in here.”

  Katharina shrugged, and got a lighter from her back pocket. “I’ll let you work your magic, Lily of the Valley.”

  Please don’t call me that, Lillian thought.

  As it did every couple of minutes, Katharina’s phone made a dainty dinging noise and she lifted it to look at the screen in an instant. Mouthing whatever the message said, her brows pulled together and she made a “humph” sound. Tapping twice, she raised the phone to her ear and began jabbering in a language Lillian couldn’t have figured out if she tried.

  “I need to make noise while I move stuff,” she said quietly, beckoning to the furniture left in the room. Katharina nodded and pulled a long, thin cigarette from a little gold case in her pocket. Still conversing in a tone that was less than happy, she held her phone between her shoulder and jaw while she lit the cigarette and walked outside to her porch.

  Lillian turned back to the room and let out a big sigh. She looked at the watch on her wrist. “Not even noon,” she groaned, “and I’m already exhausted.”

  Katharina was definitely not the easiest person to work with. She was constantly going from ultra-pleasant and happy to finding a problem with something and making a hundred phone calls to all her contacts to ensure that the problem was fixed immediately. Despite all this, Lillian couldn’t help but admire her. Katharina had the most drive and ambition of anyone she had ever met, and she absolutely got any job done as best as it could possibly be done.

  I hope I’m like that one day, she thought, and turned her focus back to the room. As Katharina chatted away out on the porch, Lillian walked through the house to see how many items would fit into her potential theme for the third guest room.

  When Katharina finally ended the conversation she came back in, gushing.

  “This is only half of your bookshelf,” Lillian explained, walking over to the copper bookcase under the awkward window. “I took it apart and put the other two shelves on top of the desk.”

  Katharina’s jaw dropped as she pranced over to the desk and ran her hand along the top of the shelves. “How did you take it apart?”

  “It was actually two pieces, just fastened together in the middle.” Lillian picked up a handheld drill.

  “Where was that?”

  “Inside one of these drawers.” Lillian nodded towards the wall unit. “So that takes care of the window. I’m thinking this room would be good to have a rustic sort of feel to it. Wood and metal. It’s a great combination, don’t you think?”

  Elated, Katharina clapped her hands, and her mouth spread into a wide smile, revealing her perfect teeth. “Wonderful. I don’t know how you do it.”

  “Just part of the job,” Lillian smiled.

  “Listen, I’ve got a meeting just after lunch that will likely take up most of the afternoon. Since tomorrow is our last day, do you think we’ll be able to do the rest of the house by the time you fly back?”

  Lillian stepped out into the hallway and peeked around the corner into the other guest bedroom. All the furniture was there, and except for it being scattered all over the room it already had a cohesive aesthetic. “Yeah, we’ll be able to get it done. It’s just this last guest room and the bathroom, and maybe a few tweaks.”

  “We aren’t rushed, then?”

  “Nah, we’re okay. We make a great team.”

  Katharina looked a bit frazzled after her heated conversation during her smoke break, and Lillian wanted to make sure she provided some positive vibes. This woman had spent a lot of money to bring her here—well, it seemed like a lot of money to Lillian, even though she knew it was merely a drop in the bucket for Katharina—and she wanted to make sure she did a good job.

  “Take a break,” came the oft-spoken command. Lillian set down the drill and followed Katharina into the kitchen.

  “Is white okay?”

  “White?” asked Lillian.

  Katharina reached into the fridge and pulled out a bottle of wine with the most beautiful label in the world. It looked like it was decorated with gold leaf.

  Wine? Before lunch? Her first thought was last night’s episode. She felt fine, and the emergency pill seemed to take care of whatever issue was going on inside her, but she wanted to take it easy. She reached into her purse sitting on the counter and pulled out a muffin left over from the hotel’s gourmet breakfast. “Don’t mind if I do,” she said as she nodded and smiled. It’ll be okay, as long as I have some food in my stomach to help soak it up.

  “Let me warm this up for you.” Katharina snatched the muffin away, put it on one of her dainty china plates, and stuck it in her microwave. The pleasant noise of the wine pouring into the glasses almost made her smile.

  Today’s not too bad of a day, she thought, remembering her good dream and even better sex. She was angry at the fact that a small part of her felt guilty for being so intimate with Cayden when they were still broken up, and she didn’t even know the relationship between him and Katharina—or any other woman, for that matter. Not wanting to ruin the moment, she shoved the feelings away and toasted with Katharina, extra careful not to tap the glass too hard.

  With a look of triumph, Katharina put a hand on her hip and looked around her huge open living room. “This looks amazing.”

  “It does.”

  “And we’re already almost done?”

  “We are.”

  Katharina squealed and took another sip of wine. “You’re truly a magic-maker, darling. I have to tell everyone about you.” She set the glass down and began taking photos of her living room from all different angles, reviewing each one after and muttering “Yes, that looks good” to herself every now and then.

  Lillian enjoyed having a seat for the first time since arriving earlier that morning, and seeing Katharina so captivated by her home’s transformation made her feel like the trip was worth it.

  I should send Andrew a text and let him know that this was all a success, she thought, stifling a laugh as Katharina got swept away down the hallway by her photo frenzy. The sound of her phone taking picture after picture became nothing more than background noise. Pulling out her own from her pocket, she tapped Andrew’s name and sent him a quick message.

  I’m glad I came to Los Angeles, was all she said. It was all she needed to say. He would be glad enough. At least she wasn’t sending him a message full of regret and tears he would be able to sense even from hundreds of miles away.

  Katharina reappeared, but instead of the loud shutter noise being emitted from her phone’s speaker, it was her ringtone. “Hello?” she purred, and her face lit up.

  Good, Lillian sighed a breath of relief as Katharina’s face lit up and her mouth erupted into that huge grin of hers. There was nothing that gave her so much anxiety as seeing her face fall and hearing her having a heated discussion—argument, rather—in another language with whoever was on the other end. Even though she knew it had nothing to do with her or her work on the house, Katharina was mildly intimidating in that way. That didn’t stop Lillian from admiring her, of course, but how Katharina was able to bounce from her clear irritation during the fussy phone call earlier to elation now with someone else was incredible.

  Please, whatever god is out there listening, I want to be like that one day. She almost laughed, imagining herself being that free of stress.

  “Did you get the photos I sent you just now?” Katharina paused. “Yes just, maybe, ten seconds ago. You must see the house. It’s fabulous! For a moment—and this is the only time you will hear me say this—dare to recall how atrocious this whole place looked last week.”

>   It did look pretty bad, thought Lillian.

  “You see it in your mind now, right? Okay. Look at the photos I sent.” There was another pause, and Lillian could tell Katharina was so excited for her friend to see the pictures. “Yes!” she suddenly shrieked, her voice ringing out through the house. “That’s the bedroom! The one with the silly window. I was dreading having to find a company to fix it. Reshaping a window is such a hassle, don’t you agree?”

  I wouldn’t know, Lillian thought.

  “Can you believe how she decorated it?” All of a sudden her jaw dropped, and she whirled around to look at Lillian. “I know! Haven’t I told you? Her name’s Lillian. I flew her in. She’s the best of the best, no doubt. It’s only taken two days for her to do my whole home like this. I haven’t even had to buy anything extra. Yes, she gave each guest room a decorative theme, if you will.” Getting carried away by her rant, she held up a finger to Lillian and disappeared back down the hallway. She was glad; her face was beginning to blush like she hated.

  Checking her phone again, she saw Andrew had already replied.

  Good to hear. Everything going okay?

  She knew exactly what he meant by that, and knowing where Andrew stood in regard to her relationship, or lack thereof, with Cayden was only going to make responding harder.

  Maybe now isn’t the best time to say anything, she tried to reason with herself, knowing this was shaky ground she stood on. At the same moment she lowered her phone, it dinged again.

  Listen, Andrew had sent, you don’t have to hold back telling me anything. You’re my family and I want us to always be open with each other.

  “Dammit,” she cursed, clapping her hand over her mouth and looking around to make sure Katharina wasn’t nearby. Not that she would have cared about Lillian saying—well, pretty much anything. The woman had no filter herself, and seemed to get along best with people who also didn’t tone themselves down on any occasion.

  Lillian knew she wasn’t that person. Yet. But Katharina seemed to like her anyway.

  A bird chirped loudly from the railing of Katharina’s porch and Lillian watched it for a minute or so, hoping that in the meantime her brain would come up with some appropriate response. I shouldn’t be over- thinking a text to Andrew this much, she huffed, frustrated. It’s just Andrew. But it’s also a slightly sticky situation.

  She remembered her wine and took another sip, begging it to take the edge off her thoughts. How am I supposed to tell him what’s been going on? Oh, Andrew, things are awesome. I’ve been here for two days and last night I slept with Cayden. It was great sex. It couldn’t be compared with any of the sex we had before when we were together. Last weekend came back to her, but she wasn’t in a place where she wanted to admit to herself, or anyone else, what she had done to him—making their relationship even more confusing by telling him off in her kitchen then seducing him while he was doing yard work.

  I hope I never let that one slip.

  Katharina’s voice, muffled behind the wall, reached her ears; she was speaking in the tone that meant she was about to get off the phone. Hurry, Lillian pressured herself, shaking the phone as if that would help. Just tell him how things are. That’s all he asked.

  Repeating his question didn’t help her reach any conclusion at all.

  “She’s leaving tomorrow, but I’ll ask her if she wants to stay another few days.” Katharina stepped back into the kitchen and locked her gaze on Lillian. “Would you like to stay for a little longer and help my friend Talia when you’re finished here?” she asked, quickly adding, “Not that I’ll ever be done here. I think I’ll always find reasons for you to come back. Do you do interior design as well?”

  “Uh...” Not sure which question to answer first, Lillian cleared her throat. “I’ll have to go back for a couple of weeks, I think. My clients are waiting for me there.”

  “But you see them every week,” Katharina protested.

  “I know, but...”

  “Yes?” she interrupted, turning her attention back to the phone then back to Lillian. “Talia says to call her when you’re free. She’s much more understanding than I am.”

  Lillian smiled awkwardly.

  “Oh, shut up,” Katharina laughed, looking at Lillian again. “Let me correct myself. Talia is much less selfish than I am.” She didn’t look hurt at all by her friend’s accusation; in fact, she looked pleased. “I know I am! Listen, I’m not ashamed of it. How else do you think I got where I am today?”

  The conversation wasn’t going in a direction Lillian wanted to join.

  “Oh, let me quickly tell you about what happened.” Katharina’s tone got serious. “Yes, he dared to call today after what he said to me yesterday.”

  Yesterday? Lillian froze. Certainly she wasn’t talking about something Cayden did.

  “He does have nerve, and he called me this morning. I had to step outside for some air while he tried to explain himself. Of course, it didn’t work in the least.”

  Phew. It wasn’t Cayden. Unless Cayden knew how to speak whatever language it was that Katharina knew. She made a mental note to ask Cayden if he was seeing anyone, but only if the time was right. That wasn’t a question to just pull out of a hat. After last night, she didn’t want another argument.

  “One more moment, dear. Please finish your wine.” Katharina winked and went out of the room again, rambling about the incident from yesterday evening.

  Obediently, Lillian took another sip and pulled up Andrew’s message again. This shouldn’t be so hard, she lamented, bouncing her leg up and down. Why am I having so much trouble telling him what’s going on?

  Because you know how he feels about you, and you know the only person you feel the same way about is Cayden. That was definitely Amelia’s voice. Lillian closed her eyes and saw, as clear as day, Amelia standing in the doorway of her old room, back in the apartment above the nightclub. Girl, you have got to do what’s best for you. Not Andrew. He’s your family, and that’s where it stops.

  Easier said than done, she thought.

  You’re so thoughtful, not wanting to hurt Andrew. A lot of people wouldn’t consider that if they were in your shoes.

  Thank you, Lillian nodded, lost in the memory.

  Take the time that you need to reply. Andrew loves you no matter what. Amelia’s voice faded away, and Lillian opened her eyes. How was there still so much wine in the glass? She took another sip.

  Better than expected, she typed to Andrew. I’ve worked through some things with Cayden. We didn’t have much time to talk last night. She winced. That was fudging it just a little, but he didn’t need to know. We’re meeting tonight to finish our conversation.

  She pressed ‘send’, feeling pretty good about her answer and knowing the wine helped more than it should have.

  I need to work on taking the edge off by myself, not with the help of anything—or anyone—else.

  Nervous that he might reply right away, and she would obsess over her next message, she put her phone back into her pocket, making sure that it was on silent mode. The time for Katharina’s meeting wasn’t too far off, and she needed to focus on getting the rest of the house done before it was time to fly back home. There really wasn’t much left except for little decorations to arrange and a few more storage ideas to implement.

  “I’ll call you later to tell you how it was.” Katharina wandered back into the kitchen with her empty wineglass. “Yes, I’m passing your phone number to her right now. Talk later, love. All right, goodbye.” She hung up and let out a loud “Whew!”

  “Everything okay?” Lillian asked.

  “Yes, darling. Everything is fine. It’ll be more fine after my meeting. Did I give you Talia’s number already?”

  “Not yet.”

  “Hmm. Let me do it now.” In a couple of quick taps, she sent Talia’s contact information to Lillian in a text. “There. Now do not forget to let her know when your appointments with your little children back home are finished. She has a house
so big, it’s maybe...” she looked around the room and muttered something in words Lillian couldn’t understand, “it’s maybe five times as big as this house. You’ll need at least a week there.”

  The surge of excitement at her business spreading collided with the fear of coming back to Los Angeles if things didn’t work out with Cayden.

  If things don’t work out, she repeated to herself, shocked. What, am I hoping things do work out now? Figure out what you want, Lillian! I mean, figure out what’s best for you. I think.

  “I need to get ready now. Are there any small things to finish today before I send you back?”

  Thinking for a moment, Lillian shook her head. “Honestly, the house is about ninety-nine percent finished. Even if we were to leave it today, it’s fine.”

  “Oh?” Katharina beamed.

  “I think so. Well, there are a few minor things I’d like to do, just because I’m an overachiever, but really it’s in great shape. I’ll work on a couple more ideas and send them over to you tonight, so we can brainstorm in the morning.”

  “Do we need these changes?”

  “They aren’t really changes,” Lillian corrected. “Think of them more as improvements. Your house is incredible now, thanks to your impeccable taste in décor and furniture.”

  She could almost see Katharina’s head swell.

  “But since you’re planning on being here for many years, I assume—you did buy this house, after all—there are only a few improvements I would make to help set you up for living here long term.”

  “Talent like yours is a rare find,” Katharina cooed. “Your talent is one thing, but you’re also a beautiful person. I do wish you lived in Los Angeles. I would invite you to all my parties. I want everyone I know to meet you.”

  “You’re too sweet,” Lillian smiled.

  “Honestly, finish your wine. I’ve never met a woman who needed coaxing to drink Pinot Grigio.” She picked up Lillian’s glass and handed it to her. “Why don’t you move here, anyway?”