The other reason I was being quiet was because I didn’t want to wake up Brodie and have him stick his head out and see me with Wes. I felt a little bit guilty about kissing both of them one day apart. Sure, I hadn’t made Brodie any promises, and I wasn’t even sure where things were going with Wes, but my behavior was slightly questionable.
At my door, I noticed it had been freshly painted. It still looked a bit tacky, so I was careful not to touch it or let my dress brush against it. Brodie had been true to his word. I’d have to thank him in the morning.
“Thanks again, Wes,” I whispered. “I should probably get to sleep. Can I return Madeline’s dress tomorrow?”
“You need any help taking it off?” He flashed a dimple.
“No, I think I can manage. I’ll be extra careful.”
He smiled, “I’m sure it’ll be fine. But I should take your necklace and those earrings. Abram would kill me if anything happened to them.”
“Oh, right! I totally forgot.” Before I could do anything, Wes set my clothes and purse down and lifted the necklace over my head. The pendant trailed up the skin between my boobs. Wes just grinned, staring at my totally exposed cleavage.
“Getting a good view?”
“Best ever.” He carefully hung the necklace around his own neck. “How does it look on me?”
“Doesn’t work. You’re like some kind of priest or something.”
“I hear priests are sexy.”
“I hear priests are celibate.”
“Not this one,” he smirked.
“Save it for next time, padre.” I chuckled as I unfastened the earrings and handed them over. He slipped them in the pocket of his slacks. He’d left his jacket and bow tie in the limo and wore only the white shirt, which was unbuttoned just enough to reveal the edges of his hard pecs but still tucked in. I resisted the urge to tear his shirt open and run my fingers all over him. I didn’t want to start anything I wasn’t ready to finish.
“I should go.” I nodded toward my apartment.
He heaved a huge sigh. “When do I see you again, Sunflower?”
“Um, soon?” I didn’t want to commit to anything until I had a chance to come down from my Oscars high and sort through my feelings about Wes, Brodie, and my swansformation.
“Give me the word and I’ll take you out.”
“Where? The Golden Globes? Or the Emmys?”
“The Globes were in January. Emmys aren’t until September,” he grinned. “But the Kids’ Choice Awards for Nickelodeon are coming up in March. We can do that if you want.”
“You know, I might have to take you up on that. Can I bring my friend George? He would love to go to that. I mean, the three of us.”
He narrowed his eyes, “Do I need to be worried about George?”
I snickered to myself. If Wes saw George, he’d laugh. I said, “Depends how insecure you are, Wes.”
He smirked, “I’m not sure what that means.”
“It means, are you man enough to fight for me?” I was picturing skinny little George and tall muscular Wes standing toe to toe. It would be a David and Goliath moment, but in this case, David (George) would be wearing a My Little Pony hoodie and Goliath (Wes) would be wearing a tuxedo. I giggled to myself.
“What?”
“Nothing. Don’t worry about George. He’s an old friend from college.”
“Who’s an old friend?” Brodie asked sleepily, suddenly sticking his head out of his front door. His face was mushed and his hair stood up, but he was no less sexy than always. As usual, he had no shirt on. In fact, all he wore was a pair of black boxer briefs which revealed half a hard on, an impressive one at that. Oh, Brodie. You truly are the man with no shame. As he stepped outside barefoot, he grumbled, “Who’s this dude?”
Wes asked me innocently, “Is this George?”
I laughed, “No. This is Brodie.”
Wes smiled at me, “Do I have to worry about Brodie?”
Brodie sized up Wes, anger in his eyes. “Yeah you fucking do. Who is this prick, C.C.?”
I cringed.
Nothing like a man with a short temper.
Okay, so that happened. I never should’ve let Wes walk me to my front door. So much for taking my heels off to be sneaky.
Wes put his arm around me possessively, squeezing my shoulder. “This prick is her date this evening. Which prick are you?”
Brodie’s face soured and tightened. “Hey, fuck you.”
Oh no.
“I don’t think so,” Wes said, attitude in his voice.
No, no, no.
Brodie stepped right up to Wes. Brodie was less than an inch taller than Wes but slightly more muscular. I didn’t want either of them getting hurt.
“Relax, Brodie,” I said.
“Do me a favor and take a step back,” Wes said calmly to Brodie.
Brodie growled, “I’m not doing shit, buddy.”
“Take a step back,” Wes warned, his tone icy. “This time I’m not asking.”
“And I’m not moving.”
“Have it your way.”
I gasped.
Wes released his arm from my shoulder and positioned himself between me and Brodie, shielding me, but he stood there calmly.
Phew, that was close.
The two men were now nose to nose and looked like two boxers before a championship bout.
Brodie was getting worked up.
So was Wes.
I hissed, “Stop it, you two.”
They ignored me.
“I said stop it! Right—!”
What happened next was a blur. Brodie threw a hooking fist at Wes’ jaw. Wes dodged and shot a punch straight up at the bottom of Brodie’s chin. Brodie took the shot and staggered back but didn’t fall over. The balcony shook under my feet and I shouted at full volume, “Stop!” Brodie charged Wes, slamming him against the balcony railing like he wanted to push him over the edge. I dropped my shoes with my phone and house key, then grabbed for Brodie. Wes fired knuckles into Brodie’s throat from the side. Too late, Brodie threw up a protective hand and twisted his body defensively, knocking me backward while taking a hit to his neck. I slammed into my front door loudly, crying out in surprise.
Both men stopped and whirled, facing me.
I wasn’t hurt, but I was furious. I glared at both men, seething with rage. Somehow, when Brodie had pushed me away, his hand had caught in my dress and torn one of the straps off. There I stood in a half shredded dress, one strap hanging around my waist with my boob hanging out in the open, nipple and all.
I hissed, “What the fuck is wrong with you two?!”
Both men stared at me, shocked looks on their faces.
Brodie took a step forward. “Chelsea, I’m so sorry, I—” He suddenly hunched over and grabbed at his foot. “What the fuck?!” Abram Cohen’s priceless necklace was stuck to the sole of his foot like castaway trash. It must’ve been torn from Wes’ neck during the fight.
And Brodie had just stepped on it.
Wes withered with disgust, smearing his hand across his mouth and shaking his head in disbelief.
Brodie peeled the necklace off his foot slowly. “What the fuck is this thing?” he grunted as he cocked his arm back to throw.
“No, don’t!” I gasped, reaching out to stop him.
Too late.
Brodie whipped it over the balcony railing without a thought.
“Brodie!” I shrieked and dove for the necklace. But I was too late and slammed into the railing, still reaching for the necklace as it splashed down in the pool.
Stunned, Wes grumbled, “Are you fucking kidding me?”
I fired my finger at Brodie and yelled, “You go get that necklace right fucking now, or I swear I will never speak to you again, Brodie Bolden!”
Lights inside the apartments around the courtyard started flicking on, upstairs and down. We had woken people up.
Brodie stared at me, angry.
“Now, Brodie! That is a million dollar necklac
e!” I tried to keep my yelling down to a whisper. I had no idea of the exact value, but a million dollars was close enough to get the point across.
“What?” Brodie chuckled.
“A million dollars! Get it out of the pool right now!”
“Is everything okay?” Mrs. Wiser stuck her head out of her apartment.
Wes was already walking past her, heading toward the stairs, “Nothing to worry about, ma’am. Just going for a late night swim.” As he went, he pulled his shirt off and draped it over the railing without a thought.
Brodie stared at me like a gigantic idiot.
“Go get it, Brodie!”
Wes emerged from the bottom of the stairs. Brodie just stood there watching Wes, trying to piece all of this together.
When Wes reached the gate to the pool, he grabbed the top of it and vaulted over in one smooth motion. His loafers slapped on the cement when he landed on the other side.
Brodie finally figured out what was going on. He glared at me.
I glared back, hating him with everything I had. “Why don’t you just stand there and do nothing, asshole?!”
“Fine,” Brodie grunted. He climbed onto the balcony railing and half squatted, his bare feet seesawing on the railing as he struggled to keep his balance. He was going to jump like a professional wrestler from the top rope.
“Don’t, Brodie!”
The iron railing bowed inward from his weight as he jumped.
Right when Wes was diving into the pool.
They were going to hit each other.
Brodie was going to kill Wes by accident, smashing his face into the bottom of the pool.
There was a huge splash as both men hit the water at the same time.
“Oh my goodness!” Mrs. Wiser gasped.
I ran past her and headed for the pool. By the time I got down to the fence, all I could see was the foaming water fizzing on the surface of the pool. I grabbed the doorknob for the gate and discovered it was locked. Oh yeah. It was always locked and you needed a key. Great. My pool key was in my apartment. I tried climbing over the gate, but with the train of my dress smothering my feet, it wasn’t going to happen. I turned to run upstairs for my keys.
Petrak came rushing toward me, his keys already out. “Please move.”
I took a step back and he opened the gate.
Right as we both stepped onto the pool deck, Brodie and Wes burst through the surface of the water, fighting over the necklace.
“Stop it, you idiots!” I screamed.
“What’s going on here?!” Petrak shouted.
Wes and Brodie kept wrestling and throwing ineffective punches, churning up water in the pool.
I took a huge breath and shrieked at the top of my lungs,
“STOOOOOOOOP!!!”
Finally, the two men separated.
That’s when I noticed Petrak held a cordless phone in his hand. He lifted it to his ear. “Yes? 911? Yes. Two men are fighting in my swimming pool. Yes. Okay, yes. The address is…”
Great.
<<<<<<<>>>>>>>
My neighbors stood on the balcony surrounding the pool, leaning on the railing and watching the drama in their bathrobes, or standing on the ground floor outside the fence around the pool.
Two uniformed LAPD officers were interviewing Brodie and Wes separately. Both men were still wet, Wes in his damp tuxedo pants, Brodie in his damp boxers. Both had tousled wet hair and both had towels wrapped around their bare shoulders, towels courtesy of Mrs. Wiser.
I held Abram’s necklace. To my surprise, it wasn’t broken, except for the clasp, but that was a simple fix, right? Other than that, the only thing wrong with it was the lone diamond missing from the chain. Was it in the pool? On the balcony? In the courtyard bushes?
Who knew?
But I was sure Abram would want an explanation. The fact that only one diamond was missing was testimony to Abram’s craftsmanship, a reason for him to be proud and hopefully a reason for him to not make a big deal about this, right? I mean, the necklace had at least a hundred diamonds and only one was missing.
What was one diamond?
If only.
Abram was going to kill somebody.
Or three somebodies.
When the police were finished, nobody wanted to press charges. Not even Petrak. It wasn’t like anyone had broken the apartment’s property.
Just Abram’s.
And Madeline’s dress. I’m sure she would love me now, darling. She was going to hate me.
Groan.
The officer talking to Brodie told him to go back to his apartment and get some sleep. Brodie nodded and walked past me on his way out, trying to catch my eye.
I refused to look at him.
His shoulders sagged as he trudged up the stairs and across the balcony toward his apartment. He kept looking at me but I kept ignoring him until his door closed and he was gone.
I felt terrible. But I hoped he felt more terrible for what he’d done. I didn’t make him attack Wes. That was on him. But I couldn’t help but wonder, was I a bad person for kissing them both? Weeks apart was one thing, but kissing them one day apart felt a little bit icky. No, it wasn’t like I kissed Brodie last night. He kissed me. I just grabbed his shirt and went along wherever he took me. So what if I liked it? That was his fault. And when Wes kissed me a couple hours ago, Brodie was the furthest thing from my mind. So many things had happened since kissing Brodie, I could hardly be blamed for forgetting. I’d been completely swept away in the moment. I mean, I’d spent the previous sixteen hours assaulted by Madeline Kettner, Abram Cohen, Luca Rossi, and Tori the makeup artist and her assistants as they transformed me into a princess. Then I’d been thrown onto the one and only real red carpet to face an onslaught of paparazzi taking my picture while the world’s most famous movie stars chatted with me one after the other. I was so overstimulated by the end of the night, there was literally no room left in my brain to think about anything, not even Brodie. I just went with Wes’ kiss.
And here we were.
Wes finished talking with the police and came up to me where I sat on the edge of a vinyl lounge chair near the glowing blue pool. I had one of Mrs. Wiser’s towels wrapped around my shoulders too.
Although I’d knotted the torn strap of my dress together, it was nice to have the towel for modesty’s sake, and for warmth. Now that the intensity of the moment had faded, I was getting cold in the pre-dawn chill.
Wes sat down next to me and rested his elbows on his knees. “Sorry about all this.”
“It’s not your fault. Brodie attacked you.”
“Yeah, but I could’ve backed down. I didn’t have to go all alpha.”
I turned and our eyes met. “You’re right, you didn’t.” I closed my eyes and shook my head. “Here’s your necklace. One of the diamonds is missing and the clasp is broken. That’s probably my fault.” My fault for kissing you the night after I kissed Brodie. My fault for agreeing to go on a date with you in the first place. My fault for letting you walk me to my door when my door is right next to Brodie’s. Brilliant idea, Jane. I rolled my eyes at myself. To be fair, this was the first time I’d ever had two men interested in me at the same time. Heck, this was the first time I’d ever had two men interested in me during the same year. I didn’t know how these things worked. Dating multiple men had always been my sister’s department, not mine.
Wes patted my knee. “Nah. You weren’t the one who stepped on Abram’s necklace and threw it in the pool. But don’t worry about it. I’ll smooth things over.”
“No, Wes. I’m as much to blame as you are. Find out how much the missing diamond cost and I’ll pay for it.”
“No.”
“What do you mean no? I said I’ll pay for it.”
“You were right. I should’ve backed down. I should have politely walked away when Brodie got in my face. Or at the very least tried to talk things out instead of egging him on.” He tilted his head back and looked up at the night sky, sighing. �
�That was really stupid of me. I’m an adult. I should know better.”
“Wes, I’ll pay for it.”
“Lemme see the necklace.”
I handed it to him.
“Where’s the missing stone?”
I pointed it out. “See? It’s just that one little diamond. And the clasp.”
He smirked, “I don’t know if you realize this, but this looks to me like a one karat diamond. On the low end, it could be worth three grand. Knowing Abram, it’s not the low end. It could be as high as ten or twelve.”
“Thousand dollars?” I gasped.
Wes nodded.
I didn’t have even three thousand dollars to spare. Especially when I was out of a job. The cost of living in LA would deplete my savings quickly if I wasn’t working. And, until I got my identity crisis sorted out, I’d be hard pressed to find a job. Who knew such a simple thing as looking like someone else could create so many problems?
Wes poured the necklace carefully into one hand and cupped it protectively. He rubbed my back with his free hand. “I’ll take care of it, Sunflower. None of this was your fault.”
If he only knew. I was disgusted with myself. I’d turned into a kissing slut without realizing it. “Maybe you should stop calling me Sunflower,” I muttered.
Now it was his turn to give me a look. He just stared at me. “Is there something between you and Brodie?”
I couldn’t look at him, so I examined one of my nails carefully. It had been torn down to the quick when I’d grabbed Brodie on the balcony. It stung, but not as painfully as the sting of guilt and embarrassment. “No. Maybe. I don’t know. I sort of kissed him last night.”
“You kissed him?” He sounded shocked. And maybe a little bit hurt.
“Last night. Before I kissed you. That was a lifetime ago. Anyway, it was the first time. He just moved in a week ago. I don’t even really know the guy.” I was making weak excuses.
“But you kissed him?” His tone was cold and a little bit disgusted.
“I kissed you and I barely know you. You’re not even my neighbor.” I scowled at myself. Why had I added that last part about neighbors?
Wes’ face died right before my eyes. “Oh, great. What am I then? Third in line? Fourth? Fifth?” He shook his head. “I should’ve known a woman as beautiful as you would have other men in her life.”
If I Were Beautiful (If I Were... #1) Page 22