Tough To Love

by Rochelle, Marie

  Well, she wasn’t going to push him out of her life. For years she watched him with such love and adoration in her eyes. Now, Sage looked at him like he wasn’t more to her than a stranger on the streets.

  Rally promised himself to put an end to this game she was playing. Sage wouldn’t keep avoiding him like this. He never thought his life would feel this vacant without her around. She was such a constant in his life that he felt like a part of him was missing, but he didn’t know how to get her to even talk to him.

  “I’m not going to worry about it,” Rally said to himself. “I’ll find a way to get Sage alone, and when I do she isn’t going to leave until everything is out in the open.”

  ****

  “You must have found a new hobby,” Vanity taunted, staring down at her as she placed a designer purse back on the shelf.

  Sage hoped that she could get out of the store without Vanity talking to her, but she wasn’t so lucky. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She wasn’t going to lose her temper. It took her a while to realize Vanity was a very insecure woman who only felt good when she made other people feel bad.

  “Come on, don’t play dumb. You’re a very intelligent girl. You finally gave up on winning Rally’s heart. It was about time. He was trying his best to be nice to you, but his patience was wearing thin.”

  “I’m involved with Julian now. I’m not worried about getting anything from Rally anymore,” she said. “I already have a wonderful man, so why would I want Rally when he’s happy with someone like you? We aren’t even in the same league. I mean, I don’t have to keep telling myself everyday I’m worth something. I already know it.”

  Vanity’s dark eyes narrowed into slits. “I can’t believe you’re standing up to me. When did Little Spice decide to grow a backbone? I thought you were too meek to ever say anything mean to anyone.”

  “I always had a backbone, but I kept my comments to myself because of Rally. He wanted you, so I thought it would be best to keep the peace. However, since I’m no longer working for him or living with him I can finally tell you what I think of you. I don’t like you and I never have. You are mean, bitchy, and only using Rally for his money.”

  Vanity gasped and took a step back from her. “Wait until I tell Rally what you said to me. He isn’t going to be pleased.”

  Sage sighed. “Aren’t you listening to me? I don’t care what Rally thinks of me anymore. What I do, and especially what I tell you, isn’t any of his business. If you aren’t woman enough to handle it, stay away from me.”

  Tossing her silky black hair over her shoulder, Vanity smirked at her. “Oh, you will care when Rally calls you. He won’t stand for you mistreating his fiancée.”

  Sage stepped back from Vanity. She tried not to feel the pain as it raked through her body, but it was there tearing her apart. She was trying to get over Rally in a fast and furious way, but she did still love him. As much as she hated it to be true, it was still there staring her in the face every morning in the mirror.

  “Rally is really going to marry you? Even after all of the warnings Shawn and I have given to him over the past several months. I can’t believe he would be this stupid.”

  Vanity leveled her eyebrows at her. “I guess what I’m giving him is more important than any of the words coming from your mouth or his brother’s.”

  “God, you are such a bitch,” Sage said, then spun away. She didn’t give Vanity a chance to taunt her anymore as she hurried from the boutique, almost knocking down Shawn’s girlfriend, Lara, as she came through the door.

  ****

  For the rest of the day Sage went through the familiar actions of helping the younger children with their homework at Serenity, but her mind was still on Vanity’s confession. It was a hard blow to know the man she had been in love with since she was sixteen was actually getting married.

  Julian coming into her life when he did was the best thing that could ever happen to her. She no longer had to hold onto the secret fantasy that Rally might come to his senses. It was really over. He belonged to another woman and pretty soon it would be official. It was truly now time for her to grow up.

  “Have you seen the floor plans for the charity fundraiser?” a voice asked her. “I want everything to be perfect.”

  Moving away from the office window, Sage looked at Julian. Today he was wearing a dark blue shirt with a pair of black jeans. He didn’t make her breath catch in the back of her throat like Rally did, but Julian was a good man and any woman would be thrilled to have him. So, why wasn’t she?

  “I think they’re on your desk in your office.”

  “God, I’ve been so busy running errands that I haven’t even been there yet. We have over two hundred people coming to the charity event and I’m nervous as hell,” he confessed. “I want this to go well, and if it does I’m going to donate half of the money to her.”

  “Did you send her an invitation?” she asked, walking away from the window. She stopped in front of Julian. Placing her hand on his arm, she gave it a small squeeze. “I really wish you would stop punishing yourself about this.”

  “I can’t stop trying to make amends for what I did. I killed her son, Sage,” Julian muttered. “God, he was only three years old.”

  “It was an accident. You didn’t know he’d run into the street that time of night.”

  Julian groaned. “Do you think his mother cares? I’d have left the club the same time as Rally; but no, I allowed Evan to talk me into drag racing down that side street.”

  “You were found innocent of killing him. It was an accident. He opened the door and ran outside into the street. You didn’t intentionally plan on hitting him,” Sage uttered, trying to reason with the distraught man in front of her.

  “Do you think that makes me feel any better? I saw how his mother looked at me in court. I swear I thought she was going to pull out a gun and shoot me. I know I might have done something to the man that killed my child.”

  “Does Ms. Marks know why you founded Serenity? Has she stayed in the same room with you long enough to find out?”

  “Would you stay in the same room with me if I murdered your only child?”

  “Yes, I would, because I wouldn’t be able to move on until I finally put this horrible incident to rest,” she answered, hoping she was giving Julian some good advice. “I heard she’s had two more kids since then and got remarried. She has moved on with her life and so should you. You can’t let this continue to eat you up inside.”

  Taking her hand off his arm, Julian’s gray eyes darkened as he held her gaze. “You’re such a good woman. What did I do to deserve such a good friend like you?”

  “Hmmm…I think if you make me some of your famous chocolate chip cookies I might tell you,” she grinned, trying to get rid of the dark cloud in the room.

  “How about you help me go over the final arrangements for the charity event for Serenity and I’ll make you some,” Julian teased back, but he wasn’t fooling her. She could still see the sadness lurking in his eyes.

  “Julian, I’ve a good feeling this party is going to turn out better than either one of us expects.”

  He gave her a sad smile. “I’m not holding my breath, but I won’t give up hope. Maybe you’re right. All I know is I want to give her something to prove I hadn’t forgotten about Clark. I might not have gone to jail, but I feel like I’ve been locked up for years.”

  “You shouldn’t feel so guilty. Julian, it truly was an accident. Nothing you could have done would have stopped it from happening. How about we go and find those floor plans, then I can treat you to lunch?”

  “Are you sure?” Julian asked. “You looked in such deep thought when you were staring out the window. Is there something going on you want to talk about?”

  “Not now, maybe later. You’re the one I’m concerned about right now. Everything else can wait,” Sage replied, meaning every single word.

  ****

  A week later, Sage stood in the back of the cr
owded room watching as Julian performed his magic on the guests at his annual charity event. She couldn’t have been prouder of how well he was holding up. She was the only one who knew how hard this event was on him every year.

  He was a wonderful friend and she wished him only the best. Yet, he had to stop holding onto the past and blaming himself for everything that went wrong that night Clark was killed. He needed to move on so he could get rid of the heartache that seemed to keep him chained to his past.

  Most of the people in town believed she and Julian were in a committed relationship and she didn’t mind at all, because the facade gave her a chance to go around without anyone knowing the true pain she was in each and every day. She still was in love with Rally. Every ounce of her still wanted him in her life, and it was hard for her to even think about him being Vanity’s husband pretty soon.

  Turning her head to the side, Sage spotted Rally as he waltzed through the door with Vanity draped on his arm. She was wearing a white dress that had most of the men doing a double take at her, but Sage couldn’t take her eyes off how gorgeous Rally looked in his tuxedo. Not a thing was out of place; he could have been on the cover of a magazine and sold millions.

  The dark fabric enhanced the richness of his copper skin and even his raven black hair looked sexier since he was letting it grow longer. It was almost to the back of his neck. She had been finding ways to stay out of his line of vision, so they hadn’t spoken since she practically begged him to make love to her weeks ago.

  She took one more look at Rally then turned her gaze back on Julian, who was still on stage talking about how well Serenity had done over the past two and a half years.

  “You look very beautiful tonight,” said a deep voice behind her. The sound of Rally’s voice shocked her so badly that she couldn’t move.

  Sage placed her glass on the table and faced Rally. “Thank you, but I’m surprised you came over here. I mean, Vanity let you get away from her. She’s so possessive of you. I’m shocked she isn’t standing at your side giving me the evil eye.”

  “I didn’t ask Vanity to be my date. She showed up at my door and I couldn’t make her leave. You know how she can be. I’ve been trying to─”

  “Oh, let me tell you congratulations while I have the chance,” Sage said. “Vanity told me about your engagement. I’m very happy for the both of you. She will give you everything I think you deserve.”

  He frowned at her. “What are you talking about? We aren’t─

  “Rally, I need to go. Julian is looking over here at me. Have a good night.”

  Sage turned to leave, but Rally grabbed her by the arm, spinning her back around to face him. “Rally, let go of me.”

  “You aren’t going anywhere until we get a few things settled,” he said, staring at her. “Whatever Vanity told you isn’t true. I’m not going to marry her. She just told you that to make you jealous. She knows how you feel about me.”

  “How I felt,” she quickly corrected.

  The pained look passed over Rally’s handsome face as he slowly let go of her arm. “Are you and Julian really more than just boss and employee? I thought the two of you might have been pretending to make me jealous,” he admitted to her. “I never thought you would really fall for him. I mean, you have been in love with me for years.”

  Unconsciously her brow furrowed. “I can’t believe you thought…Look, Rally, I’m not going into this with you again. Go find Vanity and enjoy the rest of the night. My life is no longer any of your business.”

  He leaned forward and lowered his voice. “You better believe it’s my business. I’ve known Julian for a lot of years and he loves the thrill of the chase. However, once he has won you, it’s over for him. I don’t want him to break your heart.”

  Sage spoke with light bitterness. “Julian doesn’t have the power to hurt me. Only one man had that power and I’ve made a vow to never let him do that to me again. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to find Julian and see if he needs my help.”

  She stepped around Rally’s hard body and started to walk away when he grabbed her arm again. “Sage, wait. Please. We need to talk.”

  Shaking off his touch, Sage shook her head. “Not now, Rally. I’ve things to do. I’ll see you later.” She made her way through the crowd and congratulated herself for not looking back no matter how much she wanted to.

  ****

  Is she sleeping with Julian now?

  Rally’s eyes clung to Sage’s curves as she made her way across the room. She had actually left him to go and find Julian. She was changing, becoming more mature and less dependent on him. He couldn’t count the last time she had come to him for advice or stopped in for a surprise visit at his work.

  The old Sage always found ways to be around him. From waiting outside by his car after work or appearing at a restaurant where he was having dinner with Vanity.

  He hated to say it, but he missed how Sage thought she couldn’t go a day without seeing him. Back then it had gotten on his nerves a little because she was getting to him. Now that he didn’t have her around he missed her like crazy.

  Rally was having an extremely hard time keeping his eyes off her. She truly did look gorgeous with her thick hair pulled to the side, resting on her shoulder. Her black dress hung perfectly to all of her amazing curves, and her beautiful, dark caramel skin glowed under the bright lights.

  She looked like she had a secret and was daring every man in the room to guess what it was. He wasn’t going to let any other man find out that secret. It was his and his alone because Sage was the woman he was falling head over heels in love with.

  Vanity wasn’t like Sage. She wasn’t able to finish his sentences or know what he was thinking, just from a look. She never asked how his day went or volunteered to fix him a home cooked meal. Instead, she always wanted him to make her the center of attention.

  “Sage looks hot,” Shawn uttered, standing next to him. “She’s really turning into a looker, isn’t she? I wonder if Julian has noticed.”

  Rally glanced over at his little brother. “Where did you come from?” he asked.

  “I’ve been here a while. I was standing over at the side when you came in with Vanity, but you only had eyes for Sage so you didn’t see me. It looked like you two were having a heated discussion. Was it over her relationship with Julian? I think there might be another upcoming wedding in our family pretty soon.”

  The hell there would be. Julian wasn’t going to marry Sage. He would make damn sure of that!

  “Julian and Sage are only friends,” he said. “I don’t know why you would think anything different.”

  “Sage may think that, but look at how Julian is looking at her. Only a man falling in love looks at a woman like that,” Shawn pointed out.

  “With a little more time I think Sage may get over her crush on you and give Julian a real chance at winning her broken heart. I can see the two of them together. I want her to be happy and if he can do that for her I’m all for it, and I hope you won’t stand in their way.”

  “Why would you say something like that?” Rally growled, shooting his brother a hard look. “Sage doesn’t belong with Julian.”

  “Why doesn’t she? He doesn’t seem like he would mistreat her and she would finally be out of your hair. Isn’t that what you wanted? For Sage to finally to be gone so you wouldn’t have to see her at every turn? I believe you told me that once. Vanity is the love of your life, she’s perfect for you. So, why are you bothering Sage all of a sudden?”

  “Vanity isn’t perfect,” Rally replied as it finally started to sink in that the perfect woman for him was standing over there with another man.

  “Oh, you could have fooled me with the way you keep shoving her down everyone’s throats. I don’t loathe Vanity, but I would hate it if she became a permanent part of our family.”

  “She will never become a permanent part of our family. I’m going to break up with her. Hell, I’ve been trying to do it, but she keeps finding ways to ma
ke me not do it.”

  “Are you seriously allowing her to get the better of you?” Shawn asked, shocked. “Why don’t you see that Vanity has been playing with you all this time? She picked you, Rally. You never were the one in control, she was. Open your eyes and toss her ass to the curb before it’s truly too late to get Sage back.” Shawn patted him on the shoulder and then left him with his thoughts.

  How could he have been so stupid? Shawn was right. Vanity found ways to get him to see her point of view instead of Sage’s. She was vicious and manipulative. It was past time for her to be gone out of his life. First, he would finally get Vanity out of his life and then he would talk to Sage.

  No! He wasn’t going to wait a moment longer. He was going to talk to Sage tonight. He couldn’t wait any longer or hold back how he was truly feeling for her. Rally wasn’t able to move two steps before Vanity appeared out of nowhere.

  “Hey, baby,” she whispered, and then kissed him on the mouth. “Did you miss me? I’m really sorry I wasn’t here, but I’ve been mingling with other people. I promise I’ll make it up to you later.” She purred sliding her hand down his chest.

  He grabbed Vanity’s hand before it got any further. “This isn’t the time or place for that. Stop it. Anyway, I need to talk to you, and it’s important. You aren’t going to blow me off any longer.”

  “What’s wrong with you?” Vanity asked. Her dark eyes snapped with fire as she snatched her hand away.

  “This is a charity event. It’s in bad taste that you’re trying to come on to me. I thought better of you. You are always bragging about how classy you are, so start acting like it.”

  Rally wanted to be anywhere but here at the moment. He was dying to know what Julian was saying to Sage.

  “I know what this party is about tonight,” Vanity complained, making him look away from Sage and back at her. “I just donated five thousand dollars in our name. Besides, I wasn’t coming on to you. You’re my boyfriend and I don’t think anyone in here cares I was kissing you. Unless…”