by Anah Crow
Holly mused that you’d have to kneecap most men—and some women—to keep them from tagging along. Julie had silky black hair pulled back in a twist that looked like it would come tumbling undone with the right tug, a petite, toned body in a perfectly tailored floral dress and a sweet voice that carried an unmistakably authoritative note. Holly liked her already.
“I need to get these shoes—well, the left ones—on the wall today,” Julie said. She dropped the boxes she was carrying onto a bench in front of an empty shoe display. “This is only the first dozen, and we carry forty-eight different shoes. Fortunately I just need to copy what I’ve done in our other East Coast store. I handle all the visuals and layouts, and I’m too busy to make up new ones for each store.”
“I could handle that if you have the layout.” Holly put the boxes down and then pushed his laptop bag under the bench.
Julie gave him an appraising look. “Let’s see if you can multitask. Shoes are arranged by style, then size, in four racks. This is rack one. We use eights for display. Get going.” She pointed to the back of the store, and Holly’s feet started moving before he’d finished parsing her instructions.
“I’ll be right back,” he said unnecessarily. Of course he would be.
An hour later Holly was on a stepladder, sliding price tags into the top row of shoe holders. Julie was deep in conversation on the other side of the store, talking to Danner. Holly had a better picture of the job, and it wasn’t retail, even though that was what he’d been helping with. Everyone at SAS worked to do what needed doing—Holly could get behind that. Alison hadn’t been kidding when she described the job as “glorified babysitting,” but not in a bad way.
“Someone needs to keep track of Danner,” Julie had said while tossing him shoes. “I can’t go everywhere with him and keep the company on track. I’d also like to have a kid or two one of these days—I mean, other than Danner.”
Arrange promotional events, press releases, public appearances; screen endorsements, charities, movie scripts and anything else people threw at Danner Stone; make sure he didn’t lose any of the half a dozen important items he was always leaving around, including his wedding ring, his favorite video game and his battered lucky water bottle—and keep him company. Sounded good to Holly, except it meant leaving New York. According to Julie, Danner hated New York for reasons such as “it’s pointy” and “it smells funny.”
Holly didn’t disagree, but Nick was here, so it could have been a hot zone in Afghanistan and he’d have been happy. That mind-set wasn’t going to get him employed and it wasn’t any way to pay Nick back for taking time out of his life to get Holly on his feet. So when Julie asked, “Is New York home for you?” Holly had to say, “No, only passing through.”
Just saying it felt like leaving. It felt wrong. Didn’t mean it felt like the wrong thing to do.
Chapter Nine
Another charity event. Nick had never quite enjoyed them. The posing starlets and panting millionaires mingling under chandeliers dripping light, riding waves of bubbling champagne and laughter, seemed daringly hypocritical in the face of the good causes the events were supposed to support.
At this one, huge banners printed with the faces of sick African children and dire statistics hung above the marble floors like the wings of a stage. People passed between them almost without looking. Caroline loved this sort of event. Dresses were her one great indulgence, and she looked stunning, wrapped in blue satin from one shoulder down to her knees, where an explosion of peacock feathers fluttered around her calves, almost outshining her gemmed sandals. Nick wore a tuxedo every time. Sometimes the style changed with Caroline’s whims, but it was always a tuxedo.
There was one reason Nick had been looking forward to tonight: Holly would be there. It was so strange—just last month Holly had been a nervous wreck walking out the door of his apartment, and now he was attending high-society benefits with his new employers. They took him everywhere with them like a new puppy they couldn’t stand to leave in the kennel, right from the start.
Nick wasn’t sure how he felt about that. He hadn’t seen Holly in over a week; they’d taken him to Aspen. Walking by the building that held Holly’s empty apartment on his way to the Gazette each day had been strange, but Nick told himself that would pass once he got used to the idea that Holly was better now. Soon Holly would move to Baltimore, and it would be empty all the time.
“Darling, go get me some champagne,” Caroline said, patting his arm. “I see Betsey’s assistant. I need to talk to her.” She pointed out a spindly, androgynous creature.
“Yes, dear.” Nick kissed her cheek and let her go. He could go through the motions of doing all the right things at one of these events in his sleep, except he had to keep his eyes open in case Holly showed up. He’d snagged two champagne flutes from a passing silver tray when he caught sight of Holly.
He looked incredible. Tan, lean and happy, and perfectly dressed if one could forgive the black jeans and T-shirt he was wearing with his tuxedo jacket. He was on the arm of a delicate woman—and he was definitely on her arm, not the other way around—whose amber skin and black hair were set off by a deep green dress detailed in black lace and beads. That had to be Julie.
On her other arm was a dark-haired young man who could have been Holly’s twin; they looked nothing alike on second glance, but their laughter and movements and irreverent interpretation of the suggested dress were a perfect match. It seemed Sierra Pressley had a type. Her relationship with Danner had ended some years ago with a media bomb even bigger than her show of dumping Holly.
Danner’s early skateboarding career had been impressive enough to gain the attention of even the least sports-minded people, and he’d built on every success with his charm, his physical gifts and his drive to make his name synonymous with extreme sports. Danner and Julie had hired Holly to help them keep track of things, now that they had several high-end sporting-goods stores, a line of video games and a fledgling charitable organization on top of Danner’s usual endorsements and appearances as a professional skateboarder, snowboarder, BMX rider and anything else he could find to test the limits of his talent.
Nick stood there and watched for a moment, enjoying the feeling of seeing Holly happy and healthy again. Apparently the job was a good fit all around, if the way the trio looked tonight was any indication.
Another man bumping into him in an attempt to get to the champagne spurred Nick into action. He crossed the room in a few long strides and shifted both glasses to one hand so he could greet Holly.
“Nick!” As happy as Holly looked with his new friends, there could be no doubt whom he preferred, not the way he slipped away from the woman and came bounding toward Nick. It was like being greeted by a tall, sunny puppy—a puppy who was about to hug Nick with a complete lack of decorum.
Nick knew the exuberant embrace wasn’t appropriate for the event or his position, but he smiled and let it happen. Holly wrapped him in a fierce hug and kissed his cheek. It felt too good to see Holly being Holly again for Nick to even consider trying to tame him.
“How was your trip?” Nick asked, squeezing Holly with the arm that wasn’t busy with champagne flutes.
“Awesome,” Holly said brightly, stepping aside without letting go. Then he looked over his shoulder to glare at Julie and Danner, who were approaching at more sedate pace. “Except when someone made me walk up a mountain.”
“That was totally your fault,” Danner said quickly, pointing at Holly.
“I told you two to stop playing Crocodile Pit on the tour bus,” Julie said archly. She batted at her partner’s hand to make him stop pointing. “Danner, no.”
“Crocodile Pit?” Nick raised his eyebrows. It didn’t seem like Holly had gotten into any real trouble. Something about the way Julie responded to Danner, though, made him think she could handle anything Holly dished out.
“Danner invented it.” Holly still hadn’t let go; he had an arm around Nick’s waist and lingered there
a moment. “So, totally his fault. I was only earning my keep.”
“It’s where the floor of the tour bus is a crocodile pit and they race around on the furniture, trying to push each other in while making the most laps in the least amount of time,” Julie explained. “Only boys used to limos and tour buses would dream it up.”
“Hey, who earns your bacon, baby?” Danner bumped her out of the way with his hip, and she gracefully stepped aside.
Danner was all Holly’s energy turned up a notch. Where Holly had been energetic and confident in spite of the world around him, Danner seemed to be full of himself because of it. And if Nick’s memory served him well, the world—even gravity—loved Danner Stone a whole lot.
“We saw Alison a few minutes ago, by the way. She said you’d be over this way. She’s trying to make us feel guilty for stealing Holly out of the city,” Julie said, “but I promise we’ll let him come back and visit. We have a store here.”
“I’ll have to look for her. Maybe we can commiserate about how unfair it is that you’re taking him away.” Nick smiled to make it into a joke, but it wasn’t. He was happy for Holly, happy Holly was really getting his life together, but he couldn’t help feeling like there was an empty spot in his life where Holly had been.
“You’ll be glad to have me out of your hair,” Holly said. His smile lacked its usual warmth, though, as he stepped away to stand with Julie again.
“I had no idea you were anywhere near Nick’s hair.” Caroline came up and slid her arm through Nick’s. “But that does explain where my champagne went.” She reached across him for one of the glasses he was still carrying.
Oh shit. Nick’s anticipation for seeing Holly again had stolen so much of his focus that he’d forgotten—ignored, for his own sanity—the consequences of Caroline crossing paths with him. Agreeing to attend the benefit had obviously been a severe miscalculation, but there was nothing to be done about it. All Nick could do was hope this didn’t turn into World War III.
“Caroline, this is Julie LaMoor and Danner Stone, Holly’s employers. They own Stone Age Sports. I’m sure you’ve heard of Danner…” He wasn’t sure of it at all—they weren’t the sort of people Caroline liked to associate with. She preferred to focus on celebrities with high-society status rather than popular culture.
“Of course I know who they are. Their clothes—” and Caroline’s voice made it sound like she was examining the bottom of her shoe, “—are quite in demand these days. I’m so very unsurprised to see you’ve landed on your feet, Holly, after that unpleasantness in L.A.” Caroline had such a way with words, saying one thing and meaning another, yet it was all so perfectly clear. The implication that Holly had landed anywhere but his feet was heavy in the air.
Holly looked genuinely horrified, something Nick never saw in public, but then Danner threw an arm around Holly’s neck and kissed his cheek loudly.
“One more thing we have in common, escaping that barracuda with our dicks intact.” Danner grinned wolfishly at Caroline, like he was about to eat her alive. “Her loss is our gain. Always is, when you’re with your own kind.”
“I couldn’t agree more.” Julie smiled warmly at Danner and Holly. “We’re lucky to have him. At least I am. Two of them are so much easier to handle than one, I find.” Her gaze raked Caroline from head to toes. “I love your dress. Quite the statement with the feathers, with that whole primitive territorial display.”
“Thank you.” Somehow Caroline managed to make even that sound vicious. “Yours is certainly something. And those shoes.”
Julie’s shoes were black, but not the pumps Nick would have expected to be paired with her dress. They were high-heeled sneakers with intricate beading in the shape of butterflies.
“You do look lovely tonight, Caroline,” Holly said. He was leaning into Danner, who tightened his grip. He sounded genuine, and he was being very polite, not a hint of a scowl. “It’s good to see you again.” When he raised his hand to pat Danner’s arm, Nick caught the flash of his class ring on Holly’s ring finger. “Sorry to have inconvenienced you by taking up Nick’s time. We’ll let you get on with your evening.”
“I can have him back, then?” Caroline squeezed Nick’s arm and gave him a smile with no warmth to it. “Thank you so much. I have gotten used to having him to myself, what with having married him and all. Have a lovely time, and good luck wherever you’re going, if I don’t see you before you leave.”
Nick finally shook himself out of his shock-induced stupor and forced a tight smile.
“Don’t leave without letting me know,” he told Holly and then nodded to Danner and Julie. “It was nice to meet you both. Take good care of him for me, will you? He’s a good friend.”
As Holly, Julie and Danner walked away, Nick shook off Caroline’s grip and turned to face her. “What the hell was that? I know you hate Holly, but did you have to insult his bosses?”
“Bosses?” Caroline turned cold eyes on Nick. Then her expression smoothed into a pleasant veneer. It only made her words more vicious. “An ex-cheerleader and a skateboarder who happen to have convinced trust-fund babies that they too can have street cred if only Mummy and Daddy will drop five hundred dollars on the right parka. They are Holly’s kind. Attention whores surfing the wave of joy-riding celebutante trash churned out by cable television and video games. And for the record, I don’t hate Holly, Nick. I hate who you are when he’s around. Get it right.”
“A human being, you mean?” Nick couldn’t believe Caroline was being so vile and petty. Or, he could, but he couldn’t believe she was doing it in public. Usually appearances were more important to Caroline than indulging her temper.
“Pathetic, that’s what I mean.” Caroline put her chin up and looked him in the eyes. “Smitten and pathetic and cowardly.”
“Pathetic? Because I actually care about another person beyond his image or reputation? Yes, I guess that would be something you wouldn’t understand, wouldn’t it?”
Nick wouldn’t argue he wasn’t smitten or cowardly; he knew both were true, to some extent. God, Caroline couldn’t have picked a worse time, situation or reason to get pissed at Nick about Holly. Not when he’d been waiting so long to see Holly and make sure his friend was still in one piece.
“Pathetic because you get off on playing lifeguard and always have.” Caroline’s eyes were stony. “How long has he been in town, Nick?”
“Since ‘that unpleasantness in L.A.’ you so tactfully brought up.” Nick wasn’t going to lie anymore. It wasn’t worth it, not now. Not when she already knew Holly had been here.
Caroline’s face went still and pale. “That story. When you left, and…You went to find him. You bastard. I never thought you’d lie to me like that.”
“What the hell else was I supposed to do after the way you acted when I told you I was worried about him?” Nick knew he’d crossed a line, but in the moment he couldn’t find it in himself to be sorry.
“Stop acting like you didn’t have a choice, Nick. You’re not some victim here. You did what you wanted. You live with the consequences. So will I.” Caroline shook her head and laughed. “And all this time, I thought I’d feel terrible right about now.”
Nick had never thought about how he’d feel. He and Caroline never really argued; the only real point of contention between them was his friendship with Holly.
“I did what I wanted,” he agreed. “I helped my friend when he needed me.”
“I hope he returns the favor,” Caroline said briskly. She set her glass on a passing tray and turned back to Nick with a smile. “Since we’re clearing the air about our indiscretions, you should know I’ve been seeing Max for almost a year now, and he’s asked me to move in with him. I kept putting him off because I felt guilty, but thanks to your little adventure with Holly, I don’t anymore. I realize now that we’ve always done what we wanted, haven’t we? We just wanted the same things for a while.”
Max.
“My editor? You’ve been fuckin
g my editor?”
“If I’d only been fucking him, I wouldn’t be leaving you,” Caroline said simply. “Sex is just sex. It’s not a relationship. But really, Nick. If you’re not faithful to me in any way that matters, and I have someone waiting for me who is, why should either of us continue creeping around?”
“You’ve been fucking my editor, and you’re accusing me of being unfaithful?” Nick had stumbled into some alternate universe. This wasn’t his life.
“I didn’t say I did the right thing, but I was always committed to our marriage.” Caroline shrugged. She was always so black-and-white about things. “Max makes me happy, very happy, but I’d made a commitment to you. He knew that. You let me believe that our marriage would mean that—at last—you’d put me ahead of your little train wreck. You made a fool of me, Nick. Even if I could forgive you for that, why should I throw away what I want for something that never existed?”
She was leaving him—for his editor, effectively destroying his marriage and his career all at once—and the only thing Nick felt was numb.
“I’m going to a hotel for the rest of the weekend. Be out of the apartment by Monday or I’ll leave your things out on the street for the homeless.” With that, he turned and walked away and only realized his hands were shaking when champagne dripped down the backs of his fingers. He slipped onto the balcony, which was blessedly empty. He needed the fresh air; that was all.
It wasn’t as peaceful as he’d hoped, even with the solitude. The sky was lit up by the glow from the surrounding buildings, almost enough for it to feel like daylight even though it was past ten. He sighed and, after a moment, headed back inside. He needed to find Holly, to say good-night before he left. He had to take care of the bank accounts, the locks on the apartment and writing his resignation letter. Damn it.
Holly was talking to the same androgynous waif Caroline had made a beeline for, and probably having better luck getting whatever it was he wanted from her. He wasn’t drinking champagne—even now, he was following the rules. Nick watched as Julie popped the cap on a blue bottle of mineral water and refilled Holly’s glass, then Danner’s. Seemed like staying straight was in. Nick couldn’t imagine handling Holly and Danner when they were drunk or stoned. Of course, Nick didn’t have to worry about handling Holly at all anymore.