Possess

by Laura Marie Altom

  “Why? It’s not like I’m double-dipping.” He winked at her before helping himself to more. “Besides, we’ve got more important things to discuss. Willow, meet Julie—your new assistant serving wench.”

  “Hey,” she said to me with a warm smile. “Nice to meet you. Sucks that we both met here, but a job’s a job. Come on.” She motioned me to join her beside a roiling deep fryer. “I’ll show you the finer points of making everyone’s favorite snack—dick on a stick.”

  I laughed. “You mean corn dogs?”

  “Yeah, but where’s the fun in that?”

  Willow was everything I wasn’t. Full of life and fun.

  She had a friend who managed a crap apartment complex and got me a great deal on a one-bedroom. I hadn’t even needed a security deposit.

  We alternated between working days and nights, working together when our shifts overlapped. She taught me a plethora of dirty hot-dog jokes and I taught her more efficient ways of cleaning our equipment, which left her more time to flirt for tips.

  —

  I reached our building’s front door and forced a deep breath.

  It didn’t seem real that Willow was gone.

  I climbed the three floors to our apartment and eased my key into the lock. Usually Nathan was home by now, and my stomach knotted with dread at the inevitable confrontation to come once I told him my news.

  I opened the door to find him seated in his usual spot on the sofa, eating a bowl of SpaghettiOs. Hockey played on the TV. He didn’t even glance my way.

  “Hey,” I said.

  He kept chewing.

  I sat on the lumpy armchair across from him. “You can’t give me the silent treatment forever.”

  “Try me.”

  I thought back to the day we’d first met. To how he’d lied to get me my job, and how when Liam left me, and then I’d left him, Nathan was the only friend who’d been there for me. Willow had succumbed to Liam’s money’s many charms. I was glad our first meeting had been without the bossy presence of his fortune. I’d be lying if I said some aspects—okay, most aspects—of his money weren’t freeing. The notion that we could do most anything imaginable at any time was liberating in a way I’d never dreamt possible. But for him, that freedom came at a price. He seemed tethered to all that cash as surely as if it were a leash. He seemed to believe it was the money that made him desirable, when in actuality, it was his quiet confidence that put me wholly under his spell. His quirky grin and the naughty lock of hair that constantly played hide-and-seek with his left eye.

  I licked my lips, planting my hands against my knees. “You’re going to find out eventually, so—”

  “You’re engaged. Whoop-dee-fucking-doo. Did you forget that I work in a grocery store? I probably saw the headline before you.”

  I bowed my head.

  “Mark my words—he’ll hurt you. Maybe you’ll hurt him. Either way, this will end in disaster.”

  “Don’t say that.” Tears stung my eyes. “Nathan, you’re my friend. You’re special to me. You took a chance on me when no one else would, so why are you shutting me out now?”

  He laughed. “You really don’t get it, do you?”

  “Get what?” I wiped tears from my cheeks.

  “I don’t want to be your friend.”

  “Why?”

  “Seriously?”

  I just stared at him.

  “Julie—Ella, or whatever your name is—I don’t want to be your friend because I want to be your husband. I love you. I found you first—before Liam even knew you existed. The two of us are great together. We have fun. If you’d given us a chance, we could’ve had so much more. You’re just so blinded by this guy’s money that you can’t even see he’s got nothing else to offer.”

  “Nathan…that’s not fair.”

  “Fuck fair. Fuck you.”

  “You don’t mean that.” I went to him, kneeling in front of him to take his hands. “Please, Nathan. Be happy for me. Let’s go back to the way we used to be.”

  “How was that? Remind me, because I forgot. All I remember is how many times I asked you out, and we shared laughs and dinner and beer. I can’t offer you fancy French champagne like he can, but what you get with me is an honesty he can’t touch. I promise, I will never play games with your heart.”

  You are right now. My heart ached. I loved him too, only not in the way he wanted. It could never be that way, because Liam already had me heart and soul. The last thing I wanted was to hurt this precious man, but at this point, my decision wasn’t even a choice. Being with Liam was as necessary as breathing. That’s just how it was. I couldn’t ever foresee that fact changing.

  “Your silence says a lot, but you don’t have everything you need to make an educated decision.” He bridged the short distance between us, kissing me hard and fast and better than I’d care to admit.

  When he drew back, I was dazed and my head was spinning.

  I slapped him for making me feel that way.

  He just sat back and smiled.

  I put my fingers to my lips. “You’re an ass.”

  “You liked it.”

  I had. But that changed nothing. I loved Liam.

  I stood. “Get this—Liam’s my future.”

  “We’ll see.”

  “No, Nathan, we won’t.” I walked to the door and put my hand on the knob.

  “What time should I be at the airport?”

  “Excuse me?”

  “Willow’s funeral? Did you forget I’m invited?”

  No. But I wished I had. “Be at Liam’s hangar by six.”

  7

  Liam

  Help! I need a ride.

  I was in a preliminary purchase meeting for my new pet project when Ella’s text made my phone buzz.

  What happened? Thought I was picking you up at nine? It was only five.

  Nathan kissed me!

  I fisted my phone so hard I’m surprised the screen didn’t crack. I knew this would happen. I’d told her the last thing Nathan wanted was to be her friend, and she’d basically told me I was crazy. It gave me no pleasure to learn I’d been right.

  Regardless, she had an immediate problem I needed to solve.

  At your building?

  Yes.

  Sending car to take you to helipad.

  Thank you! She’d added a kissy-face emoticon.

  Considering the reason for her need for an emergency escape, I wasn’t amused. Sharing wasn’t my thing. Nathan was a good kid, but he was now out of my circle of trust. I sure as hell hoped he wasn’t expecting a ride to Willow’s funeral.

  “What do you think?” Owen paused alongside me, smacking my forearm with his rolled-up meeting agenda. “Pretty tight, huh?”

  “Yeah…” I knew he was talking about Find Me!, our potential new video-search-bot app, but my mind’s eye went straight to the gutter by picturing Ella’s ass.

  “I’ve always thought I was good with computers, but this thing blows even my mind. I get the basic premise. But at the same time, I don’t. You know?”

  I nodded. How long would it take Ella to get here?

  “If you think about it,” we walked in tandem out of the east-wing conference room and back to our offices, “on the surface, it’s an easy enough concept. People have been dissecting photos as long as there’s been film. Now, we’re just getting computers to do the heavy lifting. So I was talking with Ollie—he’s their lead developer. Not sure if you’ve met him yet—and he was saying that they once had a home video test that the bot took two days to locate, but it eventually did. Guess where it was?”

  “The Vatican?” We’d paused in front of Owen’s open office door.

  “That’s too easy.” He made a face before waving off my suggestion. “The video was taken at some guy’s farm pond in the middle of fucking Mongolia. I’m telling you, this shit’s voodoo. I can’t wait till we own it, so I can dig into the coding. Oh, hey,” he shook his head, “almost forgot. You and Ella want to do dinner tonight at our
house? Natalie’s busting my balls about meeting your lady when we’re all sober. I figure sooner is better than later, right?”

  “Sure. What time?” Honestly, now that I finally had Ella to myself, I wasn’t in the mood to share. But I was also curious to see how she handled Owen’s rowdy crew. I hoped she loved his family as much as I did. The thought of us all taking beach trips together made me smile.

  “Let’s say eight. I’ll give Nat a call and let her know you’re coming.”

  “Thanks, man.” After giving my oldest friend a bro-hug, I left him to toss my meeting notes on my desk, then head up to the rooftop lounge to wait for Ella.

  How would she react to my impromptu plans? I hoped she’d be excited.

  I was especially glad for the invite in the hopes that it would distract us both from this issue with Nathan’s kiss.

  The longer I sat there, the more I wished she hadn’t told me.

  My mind should have been focused on how Find Me! managed to pinpoint locations from seemingly insignificant background minutia. Instead, the only image on my mind was the one of Nathan kissing Ella.

  Was the kid dumb and blind? What about my giant ring on Ella’s left hand didn’t he understand?

  Though the lounge had been built for sound control, there was still a rumble as the helicopter approached. I went outside, wincing against the chop of the blades.

  When Zeek, my chopper pilot, hopped out to assist Ella from the craft, I held my breath. The wind caught her hair, lending her a supermodel moment. She resided in a realm above beautiful. And she was mine. Visceral pride tugged at my heart. I’d been itching to start a fight about the whole Nathan issue, but screw it. When she aimed her smile in my direction, I was incapable of thinking about anything but getting her lips pressed against mine.

  She reached me. For a second, I could only stare. “I missed you.”

  I got my kiss. “I missed you, too.”

  I settled my hand low on her back, propelling her toward the door.

  The pilot took off. The gust gave us a shove. “Let’s get you out of this wind!”

  She nodded, then bolted for the lounge.

  The sudden quiet was good. Being once again with her—even better.

  “Whew…” She grinned and made a funny little flop with her hands at her sides. “This is all still so new for me. When I really stop to think about it, I have a hard time believing I’m not living a dream. I mean, really, who has his girlfriend picked up in a helicopter?”

  “Point of fact—fiancée.”

  “Right. I’m not used to that, either.”

  I gave her ass a light smack. “I’ll forgive you this time, but see that you don’t forget.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “Don’t ever do that again.”

  “What?”

  She turned her back to me while digging through her purse.

  “Ell?”

  “You hit me.” She spun back around. “Don’t.”

  “Are you kidding? I barely tapped you. And I meant it in good fun. The fact that you’re in any way comparing me to your husband is sick.”

  Chin raised, she said, “You don’t know what I’ve been through. The way he used to punish me for the most asinine little things. Leaving bread crumbs on the counter. Wearing my hair in a ponytail when he told me to leave it down. I couldn’t even watch TV without his approval that a show was educational and not just a waste of time.”

  Where was this coming from? “Sometimes wasting time is fun.”

  She half-smiled, but her gaze landed somewhere far away. “I know, okay?”

  “For what it’s worth…” I moseyed to her backside, took a knee, then kissed the offended ass cheek. “You have a lovely derriere and I’m sorry.”

  She shook her head. “I’m sorry. This whole thing with Nathan has dredged up a ton of shit I’d rather forget. I was just being hypersensitive.”

  “Is there really such a thing when you’ve been through abuse?” Standing again, I drew her to the nearest sofa. I sat, then pulled her onto my lap where she snuggled against me, returning me to the first morning she’d woken alongside me. She’d reminded me of a sexy-sleepy little kitten and she looked that way again now. Faint circles under her eyes from lack of sleep and wicked bed head. Oh, I knew her wild hair had been from the copter’s chop. But what did it hurt to pretend? “What I went through with my dad doesn’t compare to you and your soon-to-be ex, but to this day, I can’t stand it when someone tells me what to do, rather than politely asking.”

  “This isn’t a competition,” she mumbled against my chest.

  I sighed. “It wasn’t my intent to turn it into one. Trust me, I’m not striving for gold in the Abuse Olympics.” Because I knew she wasn’t herself, I gave her a pass on her snarky comment. “Hungry?”

  She shook her head, snuggling closer.

  I kissed the crown of her head, breathing her in, loving the faint, sweet floral undertones lingering from The Fairmont’s shampoo. This morning’s shared shower felt like last month. I missed our laughing camaraderie. Ella didn’t even seem like the same girl. Who was to blame? Her ex-husband? Or Nathan?

  I toyed with one of her long, loose curls, wrapping it around my finger. “Tell me about this kiss.”

  “You mean the one with Nathan?”

  “Yeah…” Had there been so many today that she needed clarification?

  “It wasn’t a big deal.”

  “Then how come you sounded so shaken?”

  “How do you even know what I sounded like when I asked you for a ride via text?”

  “You know what I mean.” If I hadn’t been afraid of her shutting me out, for her sass, I’d have given her another smack.

  “I don’t want to talk about it.”

  “Okay…” I took a deep breath. “Let’s flip this around. How would you feel if I told you I kissed Carol?”

  She froze, then looked up. “Recently?”

  “No. But hypothetically, how would that make you feel?”

  “I’d punch you and then claw her eyes out.”

  “Wait…” I couldn’t help but smile. “You get to punch me for a hypothetical kiss, but I can’t even give you an ass-pat without raising your ire?”

  She’d once again pressed her cheek to my chest. “It’s not even kind of the same thing, and you know it. You and Carol share history.”

  “You and Nathan don’t?”

  “I never slept with him, if that’s what you’re asking.”

  That was at least some small consolation. If she was telling the truth. This was the first time I hadn’t trusted her, and I hated the pit in my stomach.

  She peered up again. “You believe me, don’t you?”

  “Sure.”

  “That didn’t sound sincere.”

  Maybe it wasn’t. But did I really want to go there? After everything we’d already been through and still had ahead, couldn’t I cut her some slack on this issue? So what if she had slept with the kid. If he’d been so great, she’d be with him now instead of me.

  Maybe…

  The old demons crept in. The ones that tagged along with my money, whispering things like, Why would this super-hot, sensitive, smart girl want you? Without your money, you’d be the same old piece of shit you were back in high school. Back when even your dad didn’t love you.

  “Liam?” This time she didn’t just look up, but sat up and moved to the other end of the sofa. She’d perched herself sideways, kicking her short boots to the floor, then raising her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms around them. The pose made her look vulnerable. A little afraid. “I promise, the thing with Nathan—it was just a kiss. It will never happen again.”

  “Good.” I forced a smile. As usual, where she was concerned, I’d overreacted. The voice in my head once and for all needed its cords cut. She loved me. I loved her. That was all I needed to know. Except…“He’s not coming to the funeral with us, is he?”

  “Nathan?”

  I shot her a look. “Santa.”
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  Her gaze dropped and she drew her lower lip into her mouth.

  Damn.

  “You did invite him—remember? That night at your house when you told me she died.”

  “I remember, but considering the circumstances, do you really think it’s appropriate?”

  “Probably not. But he was her friend, and there’s no way he could spring for a flight on his own. Please, Liam. Try to understand. Put yourself in his shoes. What if your roles were reversed?”

  You mean what if I were broke and didn’t have you? I’d fucking shoot myself.

  “Promise, it won’t be any big deal. You can shut yourself in your cabin and won’t even have to see him.”

  Oh—I’d see him, all right. My ride wasn’t big enough to ensure complete privacy. I made a mental note to have Carol check the logistics on buying a jumbo jet by Friday morning. “Look, can we just put this behind us and move on? I’ve got what I hope you’ll think is a fun surprise.”

  “I’m intrigued…” Her smile made everything right.

  “Have dinner plans tonight?”

  She shook her head. The slight movement immersed me in the perfumed scent of The Fairmont’s shampoo.

  “Good. You do now. Remember Owen and his wife, Natalie? You met her at the party.”

  “Right. Although, that meeting’s a little fuzzy.”

  I laughed. “I don’t doubt it. Anyway, hope it’s okay with you, but I kind of already accepted Owen’s invite to dinner at eight. You on board?” I held my breath while waiting for her answer.

  “Sounds fun. What should I wear?” Fun. Great answer.

  “What you have on is fine. But if you want to change, all of your clothes are still at my house.” Which hopefully would soon be our house. I couldn’t wait.

  8

  Ella

  Liam and I rode in companionable silence to his stark, white Palo Alto house.

  I didn’t especially like the home, but it was quite an upgrade from my place in Rose Springs.

  It was raining. Correction—judging by the way fat, near-horizontal drops clattered against the Bentley’s windows, the weather more closely resembled a hurricane. Or did California get cyclones? I never could remember the distinction.