Dual Hearts (Seduction Series Book 1)

by Emily Vincent

  “This is a nice surprise, even though it’s quite unexpected.” He chuckled and moved closer to me. “How are things with you?” he asked.

  I nodded slowly, then shook my head. “Actually, not great,” I said. “These pictures and articles are getting to me and I’m sure you heard that Xander up and quit.”

  He nodded. “That was quite a surprise,” he said. “I guess the pictures got to him too.” He then hesitated, before asking, “I know this is none of my business, but the relationship you had with Xander…was it serious?” he asked.

  Sure, I didn’t expect to have to answer that question, but I wasn’t going to back down from it. He had a right to know where I saw things going with Xander. “Well, we met up at a pool party. When he took me home we shared our first kiss. We went out on one official date together and it was a good date. However, shortly after that, you and I started dating. Xander didn’t want to try to compete so he backed off.”

  “Hmmm…okay. I suppose that makes sense, but if he stayed in the competition as he saw it, would you have been able to make a choice?” he asked.

  I thought on that. My head and heart were both telling me that if Xander would have stayed and wanted to fight his way through to see who would gain access to my heart, that I already knew what I would do. I had fallen for Chris, even if he didn’t want to see that, and instead wanted to try to push me away.

  “I don’t think there would have been any competition. By this time already, I had gotten closer to you,” I softly stated.

  He nodded, but he didn’t say the same. Instead, he looked around his office, just trying to come up with something to say. When he looked back at me, I wasn’t expecting his words. “I’m sorry I’ve been so busy, Elisha. We’re in the midst of settling some deals and it’s taking time. Maybe when it’s all said and done, we can start by at least going out together into the public.

  “That’d be nice,” I muttered. But there was something about the way he was talking, it had me feeling less than enthused, because then he was quick to say he needed to get off to another meeting and we said our goodbyes. There wasn’t even a goodnight kiss, so it had me wondering what truly was going on and it gave me no answers that I was looking for. I was just left with further questions.

  As the days drug on, Chris messaged me a couple times, saying he was just checking up on me, but never once did we make mention of possibly going out and grabbing a bite to eat, or even taking a midnight stroll and he certainly never mentioned coming over to his place for a nightcap or anything of the sorts.

  I was sad and lonely and it didn’t take much for me to know that I wanted to be happy and I felt that my happiness wouldn’t come along if I stayed in Vegas. Breaking the news to Krystal wasn’t easy. “What? You’re leaving?” she asked.

  “I’m sorry, but I feel I have no choice. How would you like to be the laughing stock of Las Vegas? I can’t even walk down the street without being recognized and it isn’t for the right reasons. I’m tired of people not seeing me for who I am. I could have had a nice relationship with Xander and things were blown before they even started. Then with Chris, I thought things would work out and now we barely even talk. This paper and these Paparazzi…they’re killing me. I need to go where I can get a fresh new start.”

  She groaned. “I don’t want you to go,” she said. The truth was that leaving her was making things hard, because I personally felt that she was one of the best friends I had ever encountered and I didn’t want to lose out on her friendship, but we did promise to keep in touch. “When are you leaving?” she asked.

  “The end of the week,” I responded. Then I spotted Grant walk up and he wanted to know what we were discussing.

  “Elisha’s leaving,” Krystal stated. Her words were sad and I felt bothered by the fact that I was leaving her behind, but she had so much going for her and it wouldn’t change just because I was leaving.

  “Oh?” he asked. “Where you going?”

  I looked at him and shrugged. I hadn’t really thought that far ahead, but maybe I would have luck in California. I just left it vague for him. “I’m not sure,” I admitted. “Guess I’ll see wherever the wind takes me.”

  He nodded. “Interesting,” he mumbled, then left and took care of a customer. I turned to Krystal and she looked sad.

  “Don’t be upset, Krystal. I still have a couple days and we’ll make sure we visit each other often. I promise.”

  She nodded and then went off to work, leaving me by myself. I looked around the cocktail lounge and I was upset myself. I didn’t want to say goodbye like this, but I also wanted more for myself and it was clear that I needed a change of scenery for that to happen. And I needed to make sure that Chris didn’t know what was going on, because I couldn’t bear to see him. It wasn’t the right time.

  Chapter 12

  It was Friday, the day that I was set to go to the bus station and leave. I was surprised when Krystal stopped off at the apartment. She had a bag full of goodies for me to take on the bus. I looked at her and smiled. “Krystal, you didn’t have to do this,” I said. I hugged her and thanked her repeatedly for it, but then her expression went somber.

  “Have you told Chris what your plans are?” she asked.

  “What do you mean?” I asked. “I don’t owe him anything.

  Krystal tilted her head. “You aren’t even going to say goodbye? Isn’t that what you were upset with Xander for doing? It didn’t tell you goodbye and so it bothered you. That’s like the same thing right?”

  I tossed her a look. “It’s not the same thing. Chris isn’t giving me the time of day,” I snapped.

  Krystal nodded. “I understand you’re hurt and everything. But I’m just trying to speak some reason into the situation.”

  “I know,” I mumbled. “I’m sorry.” I looked at my luggage, a pit formed in my stomach. “I really should be going,” I said.

  She nodded, but before I could turn away, she spoke. “I was contemplating whether I should show you this, but I decided that I should.” For the first time I noticed that she had a paper in her hand. She lifted it up and showed me the cover where it read, Trouble in Paradise? There was a picture of Chris and I and it was split down the middle. The article stated that I was leaving town and decided that Chris wasn’t the man for me. It even specified that rumor had it that I was planning on hooking back up with Xander once I got to him. I looked at her and she immediately jumped to Chris’ defense. “You’re not the only one hurting right now. Think of how this makes Chris feel,” she said.

  I shook my head. “I’ve thought about it and he won’t let me in. That’s his fault, not mine. If we could handle this together, then perhaps I wouldn’t be leaving right now.”

  “Yeah, perhaps,” she muttered.

  I walked over and grabbed my luggage and picked it up, then turned back around to face her. “This is all for the best. I’ll be out of Chris’ life and he can go on and pretend like we never met.”

  “Like that will happen,” she said.

  I then walked over and gave her another hug. “Take care of yourself,” I said.

  She followed me out of the apartment and I went to the vehicle I was renting. I tossed my things in the back and turned to face Krystal. “Don’t be a stranger,” she said.

  “I won’t. I’ll call you when I get settled.” I hugged her once more and then grabbed my keys and got in the car. I needed to get out of there and as fast as I could, before the tears would start to fall.

  When I got down the street, I felt a couple tears trail down my cheek, so I flicked them away. There was no time to cry over it. I got to the bus station and grabbed my ticket out of my pocket. I had bought it two days earlier to ensure that I would get to my final destination. I chose a small city in California. It was close enough to Los Angeles, but far enough away from the hustle and bustle of a big crowd.

  I glanced at my watch and heaved a sigh. Only fifteen minutes to go, before I would finally be out of this city. I sat down
on a bench, with my luggage at my feet and waited. It gave me plenty of time to people watch and as I did, I found a few more people pointing to me, as if they were saying, there’s that woman that caused havoc over those two guys. Sure that was just me imagining what they were saying or thinking, but the way they pointed and stared, had me sure that that’s what they were thinking.

  I sat there on that bench, until I heard, All Aboard, spoken by the conductor. I got up and grabbed my luggage and started to head to the bus, for them to load up my bags, when I heard a familiar voice. “Elisha?” I whirled around and looked out into the crowd. I looked over all the faces, but I couldn’t seem to find him, but I just knew it had to be Chris’ voice. Then it came again; this time there was a little more pain in his voice. “Elisha?”

  I stepped forward and it was like the crowd decided to suddenly part, because the next thing I knew the only one I saw was Chris and he was looking around the area, running in my direction. When he saw me standing there, a look of relief hit his face, but I was too stunned to even know what was happening.

  “Oh my gosh, Elisha. I’m so glad I found you.” He ran up to me and swept his arms around me, pulling me into a hug, but all I could do was just stand there.

  My mouth was open like an idiot and when he pulled back, I could only sputter the words, “What are you doing here? How’d you find me?”

  “I saw the latest article in the tabloid and I immediately went looking for you. When I couldn’t find you, it was Krystal that told me where I could find you.”

  Krystal…I’m gonna kill her. I straightened myself up, trying to get over the feel of his arms as he wrapped them around me. I wasn’t that gullible to just let him swoop in and think that all was well. I was leaving for a reason, after all.

  “You shouldn’t have come,” I said. “And Krystal shouldn’t have told you where I was,” I stated.

  “You don’t understand,” he replied. “I had to see you,” he started. “You can’t leave without knowing how I feel about you.” He paused and my heart was racing wildly in my chest as I heard him speak the words. “I’m in love with you, Elisha.”

  I shook my head. It was impossible. “It can’t be,” I stated.

  He nodded and took a step closer to me. “I know I’ve been distant and all, but I really was working on some business deals and I was also working on finding out who was behind the Paparazzi pictures.”

  “And did you?” I asked.

  “I did. And while I’m thankful that I did, I’m very disappointed in who took the pictures.” I was anxious to know what he found out. “Mercury and Grant were behind the pictures.” He paused and my mouth opened. I wasn’t surprised about Mercury, but Grant didn’t like that type. No words could come out as I processed the information. “As we speak right now, they are being fired and I am so sorry you had to go through this.”

  He was apologizing to me, but he was just as much mixed up in it. “Wow…Mercury and Grant really had something to do with it.” I shook my head and he nodded.

  “I’m so sorry, but I mean it, Elisha. I do love you and I don’t want you to walk away from this. From now on, I will put you and I first. Please trust me on that.” He bit his lower lip as I took in all the information. “I guess really the only thing I have to ask is if you love me too?”

  He looked hopeful and as I stood there at that bus station, hearing him speak the words that I desired to hear him say, I knew that I wasn’t about to ignore them. Chris was my destiny and nothing was going to change that. I nodded and dropped the luggage as the conductor spoke his words once more. “I love you too, Chris.”

  He smiled and lifted me into his arms, twirling me around, not caring who was out there to snap a picture of us. We were in love and we would get through anything, as long as we did it together. He lowered me to the ground and moved in, softly brushing his lips against mine. The future was ours and I couldn’t wait to share it with him.

  Epilogue

  Three Months Later

  I couldn’t believe the way life turned out sometimes. One minute I’m certain that I should leave Vegas and never look back, and the next I’m finding that, by leaving, I would be turning away from the one man I don’t want to live without. So, the best decision I could make for myself was choosing to stay at Chris’ request. Besides, the love I felt for him was exactly what I had been searching for.

  A lot had happened after we expressed our love for one another at the bus station. I discovered that maybe acting wasn’t really my thing and decided to go back to school for social work. It was the perfect career choice for me and Chris was super supportive of me living my dream.

  We now lived in a world where we didn’t need to shy away from people learning that we were together and we also didn’t have to worry about the lies that might be spread in the paper. I was happy and Chris and made sure that we spent as much time together as we possibly could.

  There was no denying the chemistry that was between us. As for Xander, he pretty much stayed away. I thought I would never see or hear from him again after he quit Class Enterprises. However, I was mistaken, because one night when I was studying alone, I saw an email come through and the sender read that it was from Xander.

  I nearly lost it as I read his name in the sender column. After more than three months of going without seeing him, I couldn’t fathom how this message would go, but I read through it anyway.

  Dear Elisha –

  Words can’t convey what my heart wants to say, so I’m really going to try to just tell you what’s in my heart and hope that you can understand where I was coming from. So, I want to apologize to you my dear Elisha. You didn’t deserve me leaving like I did. I quit because the tabloids were literally chasing me and I didn’t want to go down that path, but it wasn’t fair to you. You deserve someone that is going to be there to fight with you and I was only letting you down. I apparently wasn’t strong enough or maybe it’s just that I knew in my heart who you belonged with.

  I cared for you Elisha. In fact, you might say that I still care for you. If things could have been different between us, then I would have gladly taken that on. I wanted with all of my heart to be the one that you desired. However, the heart wants what it wants. And I don’t even blame you for wanting it to be Chris, because he’s a good man. He will take care of you and by the time you’re reading this, I trust that the love you two can have for each other has grown stronger. I wouldn’t have backed off the way that I had, if I didn’t know it was the right thing to do. If I felt that there was something to fight for and that you would be as happy with me as you were with him, then I would have fought.

  You are a special woman Elisha, don’t anyone ever tell you differently. I noticed that kind of special from the moment that I laid eyes on you. You two will be very happy with one another, but I couldn’t stand back and not at least express my apologies for running off in the way that I did. It was a coward move and I am so sorry, so please forgive me.

  I wish you only the best and I hope that you can find it in your heart to still be my friend. No matter what, your happiness is the only thing that matters. Don’t lose sight of that.

  All the best,

  Xander

  I read through the letter twice as tears peeked at the corner of my eyes. I couldn’t believe how his message came through. It was what I wanted to hear him to say. I wanted to know that he was happy, but I didn’t know it would come at the realization of how much he believed that Chris was the one that would make me happy. I smiled as I read through his message and knew that I wouldn’t feel right until I had responded, so I ignored my schoolwork, to send him a message back.

  Xander –

  My how good it is to hear from you. I really just wanted to make sure you were doing alright. The tabloids affected us all, no doubt. It was even to the point where I expected to take off myself. However, Chris caught up to me and I am so glad that he did.

  I am happy, Xander, and hearing you express how much you believed t
hat Chris was the one for me, I’m left speechless. Nothing has made me happier, because I feared that you were holding a grudge with me. It turns out that Mercury and Grant were the ones doing the pictures for the tabloids. They’ve been fired and we don’t have to worry about that anymore.

  And you say that you hope we can remain friends and I’m here to tell you that I would love to still be your friend, as I know Chris feels the same. We have talked about it a few times and I can sense that he misses you. I know that you two didn’t always connect or see eye to eye, but Chris saw you as a friend of his and so he would be the first one to say that he wanted to continue that friendship.

  You will always have a special place in my heart, Xander. Even as I’m writing this, I’m thinking how sad it was when you were gone. I don’t want you to ever run away from things like this, for fear that we can’t fix them. Nothing is further from the truth. I cared about you Xander, so much and I was sad to see you were gone, but I know why you did it.

  We can’t go back…we can only go forward. I am so happy that you reached out to me and if you still have my number, then give me a call sometime and we will find a way to get together.

  Thanks for the message!

  Elisha

  After writing the message, I looked over it and I couldn’t wait until I talked to Chris because everything was falling into place. I closed up my books and grabbed my purse, then rushed out of the apartment.

  Chris was still at work, but that wasn’t going to stop me from seeing him. I made it to the casino and cocktail lounge, then went to the elevator to take it to his floor. Once the elevator dinged, I stepped out of the enclosure and Juliet looked up. Her smile brightened. She no longer sent me away when she saw me, so that was saying something.