by A. K. Evans
I loved that she was this happy for Cal and me. I never doubted that she would be, but it was still lovely to hear the excitement and approval in her words.
“See? And yet you make everyone think you aren’t a sucker for a happy ending,” I pointed out.
“For you and Cal, I am,” she said. “Not for me. You and Cal are, without a doubt, one of those very few couples that can make it work. You’re perfect for each other.”
I was glad she felt that way because I believed it was the case for us, too. Cal and I were perfect for each other. And with the way he treated me, the way he had always treated me even when we weren’t together, I didn’t think there would ever be any reason I wouldn’t want to stay with him.
It hadn’t even been a full twenty-four hours, and I was the happiest I’d ever been in my life. The only thing that could have made it any better would have been if we’d not missed out on so much time and had gotten together sooner. But because I’d already given Cal a pep talk this morning and insisted that he focused on the good we had between us now, I thought it was imperative for me to do the same.
So, I rid my mind of the negative thoughts and decided to turn the conversation around on Demi.
“Speaking of couples,” I began. “Have you heard from Cash?”
A look of disbelief washed over her face. “Why are you saying the word couples and referring to Cash and me?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know,” I answered. “Maybe I’m just feeling like a big ball of love now that Cal and I are together.”
“I think you’ve had one too many orgasms or something,” she reasoned. “There is no Cash and me.”
“So, he showed all that interest in you and then nothing?” I questioned her.
She bit her lip.
I shot her a curious look. She was hiding something. “What’s the look for?” I pressed her for more information.
Shaking her head, she said, “Nothing. It’s just that… well, Cash asked for my number before he and the band left.”
My brows shot up. “You gave it to him?”
“What? No! I’m not an idiot.”
I rolled my eyes. “You know, I think you’re the only single woman in this world who would refuse to give her number to the lead singer of the world’s hottest industrial rock band right now.”
“I guess that makes me one of a kind,” she stated.
“That’s for sure. Okay, so he asked for your number, and you denied him? Why did you have a look on your face before?”
There was a moment of hesitation before Demi admitted, “If nothing else, the man is persistent.”
“What did he do?”
“He called here for me,” she said.
“Oh?”
“Don’t do that,” she warned me. “Don’t even get any ideas in your head. I’m going to tell you the same thing I told him, which is that there’s not a chance in hell I’ll ever consider anything with him. No way. Not at all. I don’t care how hot he is.”
I couldn’t stop myself from laughing. She wasn’t trying to warn me about anything. She was trying to convince herself that she was making the right decision by not accepting Cash’s advances.
Maybe she had a valid reason for keeping herself locked up tight. Maybe Cash was a player. But maybe he’d found a woman who delighted him in a way no other woman before had. Maybe Demi was the woman he’d make a change for.
“Why are you laughing?” she asked, clearly frustrated with me.
“I’m sorry, Demi. I just think that you’re not so sure you made the right decision to turn him down, that’s all,” I answered.
“Oh, I did.”
“Okay. And how did he respond?”
She huffed and sat back in her chair. “I think it’s a turn-on for him,” she scoffed.
At that, there was no choice. I burst out laughing. Demi sat there staring at me with an unamused look on her face. She didn’t find anything funny about any of this.
“What are you going to do?” I asked when I finally settled down.
She shook her head. “Nothing. After Wednesday I won’t be here anymore. He can call all he wants.”
I tipped my head to the side. “And you don’t think you’ll regret it?” I questioned her.
She took a long pause, and I started to think that maybe she was having a change of heart. I mean, this was Cash Morris. I couldn’t imagine a scenario where any single woman would turn down the opportunity to give him her number. But Demi wasn’t just any woman. And following her moment of hesitation, she answered, “Nope. No regrets at all.”
There was too long of a delay in her giving me an answer. I had to wonder if she was confident in her response. Anyone else listening to her wouldn’t have thought twice about it, but I did. And while I knew that Demi’s heart was fragile, I was certain that somewhere deep down, she wanted to believe that the real thing existed.
Part of me knew that she already did because she saw Cal and me. I knew she wouldn’t just say things to me for the sake of saying them. She believed in what she saw between us. And the woman that she was, I wanted her to have all that I had now. She deserved that… she needed that.
“I hope you know what you’re doing,” I murmured.
“I do. Trust me.”
“It’s incredible, you know?” I said.
“What is?” she asked.
“Falling in love with someone and realizing that their happiness is the only thing that matters to you,” I clarified. “Cal and I lost out on so much time together, and now we’re just trying to make sure that we don’t waste any time doing whatever we’ve got to do to prove to one another just how important this relationship is to us. It’s the best feeling in the world, Demi, and I’m not sure you realize what you’re missing out on.”
She held my gaze a long time before she responded, “It’s not worth the risk.”
“But it is,” I insisted. “When it’s the real deal, it’s absolutely worth everything.”
I watched as my friend struggled with my words. She swallowed hard, glanced down at her lap, and took a few breaths. “I have to get back to work,” she rasped.
“Demi,” I called as she stood up.
“It’s cool, Sam. Honestly. I just… I don’t really want to talk about this anymore,” she said.
“I’m sorry,” I apologized. And I meant it. As much as I wanted Demi to be happy, I didn’t want to upset her.
“It’s okay,” she assured me. “I understand where you’re coming from, Sam. I couldn’t be happier for you. Unfortunately, what you have with Cal isn’t something I’ll ever have. Not with any man, but especially not with Cash Morris.”
I wished she would reconsider her stance, but I wasn’t going to push it.
Instead of telling her that I thought she was making a mistake, I changed the subject and asked, “So, we’re still on for Thursday night, right?”
“Absolutely.”
With that, Demi smiled at me and walked out of my office.
I got back to work and did it hoping that the second half of my day would be a little easier to deal with than the first half was.
Luckily, I’d gotten my wish. Or, maybe it was just that I knew that mere hours after I got home, I’d be able to go to Cal’s house so I could sleep in his bed. The prospect was too delicious not to get excited about it.
The day had arrived. To say I felt like a crazy woman would have been an understatement.
It was Thursday, just after two o’clock in the afternoon, and I was still at work.
If I thought Monday morning had been bad, I didn’t know the first thing about what constituted a bad day. Things had been hectic since I first arrived at work. It had all started with a phone call from a bride who had called me earlier in the morning, utterly devastated. Her husband had cheated on her at the bachelor party, and the wedding was off.
I couldn’t even imagine what she must have felt.
If there was one thing I knew, I was glad Demi’s last day had been
the day before because if she knew about that, it would have crushed her.
Anyway, since that call took up most of my morning, everything else had gotten delayed. Thankfully, I’d just managed to get the last of my work completed, so I was gathering up my things and getting ready to head out.
Just as I was about to walk out of my office, though, my cell phone rang.
Pulling it out of my bag, I saw Cal’s name on the display.
“Hey,” I greeted him.
“Hey. I wanted to make sure everything was okay,” he said. “You never returned my text earlier, and I know you were dealing with a mess of a situation.”
“Yeah, I’m okay,” I told him. “I’m actually heading out now. I’m going to run home and get myself ready. Then I’ll head to the bar. But I’m going to need a drink when I get there. Actually, make that two drinks. One for the work stuff, and one for the personal stuff.”
“Personal stuff?” he repeated. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I’ll explain when I get there.”
“You’ve got it, babe. Are you sure you don’t want me to come back and pick you up?” he asked.
When we talked about it last night, I had decided that I’d just drive myself over to Granite when I got finished at work. But considering the day I had, I was now having second thoughts.
“Actually, if you don’t mind, I’d love it if you wouldn’t mind picking me up,” I said.
“I don’t mind,” he assured me, his voice so sweet and gentle.
“Thanks, Cal. I’ll call you once I’m ready.”
“Sounds good.”
“I love you.”
“Love you, too.”
With that, I disconnected the call and dropped my phone into my bag. Feeling better after speaking with Cal, I put a smile on my face and made my way out of my office.
But just when I thought I was well on my way to getting out of here, I realized I wasn’t.
“Please just tell me where I can find her.”
That came from Cash.
He was standing at the front desk speaking to one of the staff members. I had a feeling he wanted to know where Demi was.
“I’m sorry, but I honestly don’t know.”
“But she worked here,” he argued. “You have to have an address on file for her or something like that.”
“Even if I had access to that information, I’m not sure I could give it out.”
Oh, man. Cash hadn’t just resorted to calling Demi here; he showed up. Maybe I wasn’t wrong. Maybe Demi was the kind of woman Cash needed to make a change.
I wasn’t sure if I was going to regret it, but I had to do something. I only hoped what I did wouldn’t result in my best friend hating me.
“Cash?” I called, stepping forward.
He looked in my direction. “Yeah?”
“Are you looking for Demi?” I asked.
He nodded.
“I can’t tell you where she lives, and I’m not going to give you her number, but she’s my best friend, so I’m going to give you something,” I told him. “But I swear to God if you hurt her, you’ll be answering to me.”
He held my gaze. “Okay.”
“Follow me outside, and I’ll tell you where you can find her tonight,” I said.
With that, I walked away, and Cash followed behind me.
As the doors opened and I stepped outside, I did it hoping I was at least a little bit intimidating and Cash truly had the best of intentions with Demi.
Only time would tell.
Eighteen
Samantha
My heels clattered along the floor as I scurried toward the front door.
Cal was here.
I’d been so excited to see him that I called him just a touch earlier than made sense. I thought I could finish getting myself ready in the time it would take him to make it to my place to pick me up, but I had been wrong.
While I only had my lip gloss to put on still, I had been in the bathroom when he arrived. That meant I went dashing through my home to make it to the front door so he wouldn’t have to wait outside.
I flung the door open, relieved to see him, and instantly declared, “You’re wearing one of my T-shirts tonight.”
Cal’s eyes swept the length of me. His eyes started at my face, drifted over my body, down my legs, and back up again. He did this twice.
Then he stepped forward, closed the door behind him, and slipped an arm around my waist.
“I forgot,” he whispered, his mouth making its way to my neck.
“Forgot?” I asked.
He took a deep inhale before his lips brushed gently against the skin at the side of my throat. I closed my eyes, loving the feeling his affection gave me.
A moment later, he replied in a husky tone, “What it does to me to see you in a dress like this.”
He liked my dress, and I could feel the hard length of him pressed against me. “Mmm,” I replied. “I think I might have an idea.”
I allowed him to continue with the gentle caress of his lightly peppered kisses on me. Each kiss made me feel so love and cherished.
Eventually, Cal pulled back and looked down at me. He shook his head and insisted, “No, you don’t. Your birthday, two years in a row, I thought I’d lose my mind seeing you in those dresses. I loved seeing you in them and wanted nothing more than to be the man to take you home and strip them off your beautiful body.”
What I would have given to go back in time and make that happen. I didn’t quite know how to respond, so I simply offered a seductive smile.
“You look stunning, Sam,” he said.
“Thank you.”
“I’m looking forward to finally having the privilege of taking this dress off of you tonight,” he went on.
I pressed my palms to his chest, slid them up and around his neck, and kissed him on the cheek. Then I whispered, “I have no doubt you’ll make it worth the wait.”
Cal’s grip tightened on my hip.
“Are you ready?” he asked.
“I just have to put my lip gloss on,” I told him. “I need thirty seconds.”
He gave me a nod of understanding before he asked, “Where’s your bag?”
“Bag?”
Cal shot me a dubious look and reminded me, “You’re staying in my bed tonight, babe. Do you not want any other clothes for tomorrow?”
“Crap. I need five minutes,” I corrected myself.
He let out a laugh and ordered, “Go get your things.”
Seven minutes later, Cal and I were in his car on the way to Granite. Not quite ten minutes after that, I had my ass on a stool with a drink on the bar in front of me.
That’s when Cal demanded, “Lay it on me. What was this mess you had to deal with all day?”
“Do you want the good news or the bad news first?” I asked.
Cal thought a moment. “Good news,” he eventually answered.
“Right. Well, remember how I told you I had to work on Saturday for that wedding?” I said.
He nodded. “Yes.”
“I no longer have to work on Saturday,” I shared.
His eyes got a bit devious. “We get to sleep in on Saturday morning,” he declared. “Definitely good news.”
I laughed, liking how he could find a way to make good news even better.
“So, what’s the bad news?” he questioned me.
I twisted my neck and looked behind me. If Demi walked in, there was no way I could share this story with him. “Listen, I’m going to share it, but on the off chance that Demi arrives before we’re expecting her, I’ll have to tell you later.”
“Okay.”
Even though Cal agreed to my terms, I could see that he’d grown a bit uneasy.
“The reason I’m now off on Saturday morning is that the wedding is off,” I started. “The wedding is off because the groom cheated on the bride at his bachelor party.”
Cal winced. “Oh, that’s not good.”
I shook my head. “No, it’s
not. And it’s even worse when you have to spend hours on the phone with the downtrodden bride. I had to try to offer her my listening and sympathetic ear while knowing I had to also tell her that she was going to be out thousands of dollars.”
“I can’t imagine that went over well,” he guessed.
“Surprisingly, she understood,” I told him. “But it just didn’t feel right to me. I mean, this poor woman had her heart broken by a man she trusted and loved and planned to spend the rest of her life with, and her parents, who were paying for the entire wedding, were going to lose all that money. Unfortunately, as much as I would have wanted to return the money to them, it’s not my choice.”
Cal sighed. “I’m sorry, babe. It just seems like this is another reason for you to push harder with your T-shirts,” he noted.
“Yeah,” I agreed.
Over the last couple of weeks, I had been doing a fair amount of work on my T-shirt business. As I’d already told Cal, turning the online store back on was simple. I’d done that in a matter of seconds. But considering I’d taken a couple months’ hiatus from the business, it was taking some time to gain traction again. I wanted to kick myself every time I thought about the fact that I’d let go of a dream so easily.
“Hey, I have an idea,” Cal announced.
“What’s that?” I replied.
“Next weekend we’ve got a live band coming in,” he began. “Why don’t you bring a bunch in and get some business cards made with your website on them? It’ll be a great way to get some new eyes on them and spread the word.”
That was a great idea.
“You’d do that for me?” I asked, feeling myself overcome with emotion.
Disbelief and a bit of hurt washed over him. “Is that a serious question?”
I tipped my head to the side as my shoulders lifted. “I’m sorry,” I lamented. “That’s just really sweet of you to do.”
“Sam, I love you,” he deadpanned. “I want to see you succeed, and if there’s something I can do to help you reach your goal, I’m going to do it. You deserve it.”
I’d put on makeup for the event tonight, and I didn’t want to ruin it, but if Cal was going to say things like that to me, I wasn’t sure it’d hold up.