by Claire Adams
“So I made a big sacrifice for him, for us. I gave up my chance to attend Dartmouth so I could be with the guy I thought was my soulmate. I really thought that he was The One.”
“And then, you found out he wasn't,” I stated softly.
Tears began to well up in her eyes. The sight of her hurting gripped my heart and squeezed. “You don't have to tell me about this,” I assured her. “Seriously, if it's painful to talk about, we can talk about something else.”
“No,” she replied, dabbing at the corners of her eyes with the edge of a sleeve from her sweater. “It’s okay. Les keeps telling me I need to stop avoiding it, so, this is me not avoiding it.”
I nodded. “Alright.”
“So, last year, Andrew and that guy over there, Ben, went on a fishing trip one weekend. Andrew picked up my tablet by mistake thinking it was his, which meant he left his tablet in its place. And, he left it unlocked. Normally, he was super strict about privacy and had everything protected with passwords, so that was highly unusual. I guess that fact alone should have clued me in that something was going on.”
“I see where this is going,” I murmured.
“Yeah, I'm sure you do. So, well, I kinda knew I shouldn't do it, but because he was so crazy about privacy and never let me even touch his tablet or computer or phone, I just had this burning curiosity. And there his tablet sat…all mine for the weekend. I fought with myself over it. So, I went into the settings and completely disabled the password, but then I left it for the first day. I resisted the temptation to snoop. But there was just something gnawing at me. This gut feeling. Like a knot in my stomach. The next day, after I’d had some wine, I caved. I opened it and started looking through the pictures. That’s when I found…” She paused, took a deep breath, composed herself a little, but tears had already began to trickle down her cheek. “I found videos.”
My forehead scrunched. “What? Like porn videos?”
“No. Well, yes. I suppose so. Videos of him.”
“Oh wow.”
“Videos of him having sex with other girls.”
“Wait. Girls? As in plural?”
She nodded. “Yes. He wasn't just cheating on me with one girl. He'd been cheating on me with at least five other girls.”
“Holy hell. Five?!”
“Five.”
“Damn. So what did you do?”
“What could I do? I ended it. Right there and then. I packed up all of his stuff. Since I had a key, I drove to his place and hooked up the tablet to his giant TV and I left the videos he’d made playing on a loop so he'd see them as soon as he opened his front door when he got back from his fishing trip. I packed up anything of mine that was at his apartment and as I left, I dumped all of his stuff just outside of his door in a pile. I didn’t even bother to lock the door as I left. I drove straight to the maintenance office for my apartment and got my locks changed since he also had a key to my place. I told the security guy at my building not let him in. That was it.”
“You guys didn't talk after that?”
“No. He tried calling, but I wouldn’t answer. What could I say? What could he say? The evidence was there. And it was obvious it had been going on for a long time, it wasn't like it had just been a single, drunken one-night-stand or something. You know, something excusable — not that something like that is really excusable, but it would have been way more excusable than repeatedly banging a different girl every night and videoing it.”
“Yeah. That's a real scumbag thing to do.”
“Understatement of the year. Bottom line, it broke my heart and my spirit for quite a while.”
I wanted to reach across the table and take her hand, but I wasn’t sure if that might be overstepping a boundary and we were just making progress, so I decided against it. I didn't know what to do or say. The story took me a little by surprise. I’d expected him to have cheated the minute she said he’d been private about his tablet. I hadn’t expected to hear that he’d been an amateur porn star. It pissed me off. If a guy wanted to be free to sleep around, then he shouldn’t have been stringing anyone along, lying to them, putting them at risk for God knows what. The guy was a douchebag. Plain and simple. The more I thought about it, the hotter my blood boiled. Before I even realized what I’d said, the words just seemed to slip out of my mouth.
“Want me to kick his ass?”
“I appreciate the offer,” she chuckled through her tears. “But no, I don't want anyone to kick his ass. He’s not worth the effort. I just don't want to ever see him or hear from him again.”
“Well, I can’t make any promises. If I ever see him, the odds are I'm gonna kick his ass.”
Her laughter deepened. “Is that so? What if I told you he's seven feet tall and weighs four hundred pounds?”
“I'd still kick his ass…or get my ass kicked trying!”
Her mood began to lighten and the tears stopped as her laughter continued.
“Uh, is he seven feet and four hundred pounds?” I asked. “Because if he is, he'd do really well in WWE.”
She threw her head back and covered her mouth with one hand to keep from cackling. Her head shook back and forth as she composed herself. “No, he's not. Pretty far from it, actually. He's just an average guy. To be honest, I don’t know why I fell so hard for him. He's kind of an idiot, really.”
“Maybe it's because…” I paused for dramatic effect and lowered the tone of my voice. “You know nothing, Jon Snow,” I exaggerated my expression and tried to maintain a straight face.
She crumpled up her napkin and threw it across the table at me.
“Jerk!” she mumbled with a playful smile. “I'll show you who knows nothing!”
“Sorry, had to drop a Game of Thrones line in at some stage tonight.” The grin on my face widened. It was great to see her eyes light up with her smile. I was not a fan of seeing Brooke cry.
Our eyes locked and the chemistry erupted. If we had tried to deny the pull before, in that moment, there was no way to refute it. It was almost palpable. The waiter arrived just in time, holding a silver platter stacked with samosas. We both blinked and looked away.
“Oh, wow, so these are the famous samosas,” she said. “They'd better be as good as you've hyped them up to be or I'm gonna be highly disappointed. Maybe even pissed.”
I laughed. “Do I even look remotely worried? They’re so amazing I’ll pay for dinner if you don’t like them. I'm that confident, Brooke.”
“You’re already paying for dinner,” she joked.
“Valid point. But still, Mr. Patak knows a thing or two about putting together a quality samosa. You won’t be disappointed, I can tell ya that.”
“Well, I guess there's only one way to find out, isn't there?” she said with a smile.
We dug in, completely forgetting about the blast from Brooke’s past seated in the back of the restaurant.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Brooke
I had to admit, I was enjoying my time with Emerson, but the memories that surfaced when Ben and Jess had walked into the restaurant still held a sting of pain. Somehow, opening up to Emerson about what had happened with Andrew eased that sting. I wasn’t even sure why I had been so candid with him, but once I'd started talking about it, the words gushed out. When it was all said, I'd told him everything. Everything! So much for my resolve to keep my guard up and keep my distance. This man was an enigma. One minute, I was certain he was a player and the last person I should trust with anything, the next, I'd felt I could pour my heart out and it would be completely safe with him.
Which is exactly what I did. Part of me was beginning to regret that.
A little.
But there was a part of me that wasn't regretting it. A part that was actually glad I'd opened up. Talking about it felt good, almost liberating. And, Emerson had listened with such compassion that it was pretty tough not to feel even more attracted to him than I had prior to the venting session.
Normally, being more attracted to
a guy because he exhibited admirable qualities wouldn’t be a bad thing. But this wasn’t a normal situation. Being attracted to Emerson was a problem because he seemed like the exact type of guy I was trying to avoid. The kind who would tell me that there was nothing going on with him and Melissa, then jackhammer away at my bedroom wall with her until ungodly hours of the morning. Not to mention, the other girls who came to the parties he and Chris always threw seemed to be just as into him as Melissa.
Granted, I'd seen a totally different side to Emerson on several occasions with his passion for science, his commitment to our lab work together, his interest in Game of Thrones, and his gentlemanly nature, but it was a side I'd never expected to see. It was side that was so much more decent than I'd imagined.
But the parties. The girls. His appalling friend, Chris. The drinking.
I wasn't sure what to make of any of it. Part of me wanted to confide in him, open up even more to him. It was obvious we had a connection of some nature. There was no denying he felt a pull to me as much as I did to him. Magnetism was the word that came to mind. Like it or not, I was drawn to him. What I wasn’t drawn to, were the red flags, the warning signs that kept flashing in my face keeping my suspicions on high alert.
How could I put my trust in a man who may very well do the same thing to me Andrew did? I wasn’t going to put myself in a position to be betrayed again. My heart was still healing and I had no intentions of rushing the process.
I shook my head and pushed hard against my temples as I pulled myself from my thoughts and back into the moment. I took a bite of the samosa before me and groaned a little. They were actually that good.
“So, you're a samosa fan now, huh?” Emerson challenged.
I tried to talk through the mouthful of food. “They're great. I'll have to Google a recipe.”
“I've tried to make 'em. You really do have to get the right ingredients. I'm talking authentic Indian stuff.”
I’d kind of forgotten about the curry Emerson had made and brought over. He was an excellent cook. Yet another selling point in his favor.
“I get what you're saying,” I acknowledged. “If you don't have the right ingredients, sometimes it just doesn't come out like it should and it ends up missing that…” I couldn’t quite think of how I wanted to explain what I meant.
“That certain something that makes the dish unique, that gives it its signature flavor or texture. Crucial elements!”
“Have you ever considered studying to be a chef?” I asked. “It seems like you're really passionate about cooking.”
“I guess I am, but I'm not quite into it enough to go to culinary school. Cooking is more of a hobby than something I would do as a profession. Science is where my heart is. That's the field I wanna be in after I graduate.”
I looked over Emerson’s shoulder as he talked and panic shot through me. Ben was walking toward us and he'd spotted me.
“Shit,” I muttered.
“What’s wrong?”
“Ben's coming this way! Shit! I don’t want to deal with this. What am I gonna do?”
“Tell me this quickly: what does Andrew do? How old is he?”
“Huh?”
“Hurry, just tell me.”
“He's, uh, he's twenty-one, and he's studying business management.”
Emerson shot me a wickedly hot grin. “Play along with me Brooke, okay? Whatever I say, just go with it.”
“What? Are you serious?”
He winked at me. “I've never been more serious in my life.”
I didn’t get a chance to respond. Ben was already at our table wearing a shit-eating grin.
“Well, look who it is! Hey there, Brooke. Damn, it's been a long time, girl. How you been?”
I forced a smile. “Hi, Ben. I've been good. How about you?”
“Can't complain.” He moved his attention to Emerson, looking him over.
“Who's this?” Ben asked me while extending a hand to Emerson.
Emerson grinned savagely as he shook Ben's hand.
“Where are my manners?” I said apologetically. “Ben, this is-” Emerson cut in.
“I'm Emerson. Brooke’s boyfriend.”
Ben raised an eyebrow as he let go of Emerson’s hand. “Is that so, huh? So what, are you guys at the same college or something?”
“No. I finished college three years ago,” Emerson responded matter of factly.
“Really? You look a bit young to be a graduate, no offense.”
“None taken. I get that a lot. I’d like to say it’s because I take care of myself, training for MMA and such, but it’s probably good genes as much as anything.” Emerson exuded an air of confidence and maturity. It was really something to watch.
“So, how old are you, if you don’t mind me asking?” Ben eyed Emerson curiously.
“I don’t mind at all. I'm twenty-five,” Emerson replied.
Ben raised his eyebrows.
Emerson chuckled just a little, a very controlled reaction. “Yeah, people are often surprised when they show up in my office, especially the older guys, and I’m sitting behind the desk. They're not used to seeing a twenty-five-year-old CEO, especially since I look even younger than my age.”
“Whoa, seriously? Where do you work?”
“Pullman-Gretsch Aeronautics. Spacecraft engineering. It’s a multinational company. In fact, I just got back from a meeting with an engineering firm in Shanghai. So, of course, I had to take my girl out to dinner.” Emerson turned and reached his hand out, caressing my face.
It was a gesture so genuine and intimate, even I believed he meant it. His eyes met mine and an electricity shot through me. He held my gaze until Ben spoke and I redirected my eyes to Ben.
“Well, alright then. So, uh, you two are pretty serious, huh?”
“Absolutely,” Emerson said with a smile, still looking at me. “Brooke is the best damn thing that's ever happened to me.”
My attention went back to Emerson, who was looking at me with such conviction I almost had to catch my breath.
“The guy that let this girl go is a real tool,” Emerson announced with more sincerity than I expected. Then he quickly turned to Ben. “Oh, uh, no offense if that was you, man.”
“Er, no, Brooke and I never dated.”
“Oh good. Well then, I can say without worrying about offending anyone, that whoever she dated before was an absolute grade-A moron for letting her go. But, hey, thanks to that prick, she's mine now. I’m not going to be that stupid,” Emerson said as he glanced at me before turning his attention back to Ben. “So how is it that you know Brooke?” he asked.
“I'm Andrew's friend.”
Emerson scrunched his forehead a little and looked at me. “Who’s Andrew?” He directed his question to me, but Ben answered.
“He's, uh, he's the guy who dated Brooke before you.”
“Oh, I see. Well, by all means, please tell him thank you for me.”
I took the opportunity to try to ease the tension of the moment, but only because I didn’t want to feel like I wasn’t involved in the conversation at all. “I’m really glad you stopped by to say hi, Ben. It was really nice to see you. But, I only have about an hour to spend with him before he has to get to the MMA class he teaches, so I’d really like a little alone time. I’m sure you understand.”
Emerson leaned a little and glanced in the direction of Ben and Jess’ table. “I think your girlfriend, or whoever it is at that table is trying to get your attention. It's not good to keep a lady waiting. I believe in treating women with respect, man, you know?”
“Is that Jess?” I asked, looking across the room.
“Yeah,” Ben replied.
“Please tell her I said hello,” I insisted with the brightest smile I could manage.
“I’ll do that,” Ben said and appeared to be about to turn and leave, then pivoted back toward Emerson. “Did you say MMA?”
“Yeah, I teach a class and I'm fighting this weekend. Have to defend my regional
title. Won my last ten bouts with straight-up KOs. It seems I've got a killer right hook. Get my drift?”
“Uh, yeah, man. I guess I better get back to Jess. Er, nice seeing you again, Brooke. I'll, um, I'll tell Andrew you say hi.”
“Please do,” I cooed, smiling maliciously.
Ben turned around and shuffled off, scratching the back of his head, glancing back at us a couple of times as he walked away. The moment I knew he was out of earshot, I let out a stint of laughter.
“Oh my God, Emerson! You totally rock!”
He shot me a satisfied grin. “I saw the smug look on his face when he saw you. I'm sure he was gonna tell you something like how great Andrew was doing and how he was dating some new hot girl or whatever. So, I just pulled a preemptive strike. You know what they say — being happy is the best revenge. And now, that tool is going to go running back to tell his buddy how you're dating a twenty-five-year-old CEO millionaire who also happens to be a champion cage fighter. I can tell you, as a guy, he's gonna feel about two feet tall.”
I beamed an enormous smile. “You really are such a sweetheart,” I said. “Thank you for doing that. It…it means a lot to me.”
“It was my pleasure, Brooke. After hearing what that jerk did to you and then seeing that Ben guy come walking up like he wanted to rub it in your face, I couldn't let him get away with that.”
“Thank you.”
“De nada.”
“You speak Spanish?” I asked.
“Ha! Only the bare minimum of what we had to learn in high school. You?”
“Well, I lived all over the world when I was a kid, so I can speak quite a few languages, but none of them fluently anymore, I don’t think. You know, use it or lose it. I haven’t used it lately.”
A look came over Emerson’s face like he’d remembered something suddenly. “Oh yeah, I’ve been meaning to talk to you about the time you spent in Japan. I really want to visit there someday.”
“Oh, Emerson, you have to! It's such an amazing place. You should totally go when the cherry blossoms are in bloom. There are few more spectacular sights in the world.”
“Sounds awesome! If only you could show me around the place, huh?”