“When you kissed my brother.”
“Oh, that.” She averts her eyes. “You could hardly blame me. He’s a great kisser.”
“Take it back.” I bounce my fingers under her arms and give a quick squeeze.
She lets out a scream and jumps out of my arms with her elbows plastered to her sides.
“Don’t you dare. I hate to be tickled.”
I take a threatening step forward, a smile tugs on my lips, but I refuse to give it.
“Take it back or I’m coming after you hard.” I wiggle my fingers.
“Never!” She shrieks with laughter and dashes behind the bar. “Carter is a master with those lips!”
“Oh—it’s on.” I make a move, and she bolts in the opposite direction.
Stevie runs in a zigzag pattern all over the house. I could have caught her twice, but I enjoy watching her shirt ride up as that perfect ass taunts me.
“Carter’s kisses rule!” She ducks behind the couch, and I jump onto the cushions snatching her up and pulling her on top of me. I give a gentle smack to her bare bottom.
“Whose kisses rule?” I hook my gaze into her hers as her eyes glow auburn.
“I don’t really remember.” She presses her lips together. “Why don’t you refresh my memory, and I’ll tell you what I think.”
I dig my fingers into the back of her wild, dark mane.
“You are a gorgeous creature, Stephanie Eaton.” Her lips press white before returning to their natural crimson state. “How did I ever get so lucky?” There’s an ache in my chest when I say it. Most things in my life that are too good to be true usually are, but for some reason she’s too good, and she’s still here with me.
“I don’t believe in luck, Ford.”
“You can’t deny that something brought us together twice in one lifetime.”
“What do you think that was?”
“I think God needed another great love story.”
“Divine intervention—great love. I like how you think. Now kiss me, and maybe you can knock your brother off his pedestal.”
I do just that. Our mouths move over one another hot and wild with deep saturating kisses that spell out sex far more than the act of copulating ever could. We make love with our tongues—explore each others soul’s with these blessed-by-God kisses.
The smoke alarm goes off, and we finish making breakfast. We take our plates out onto the porch and watch the waves crash over the shore for hours, talking about everything and nothing. She curls up in my arms, and we fall asleep until the afternoon sun blazes in our eyes.
We make love the rest of the weekend.
This is too good.
But it’s true.
11
Supernova
Stevie
Jinx shines on this crystalline morning. Last night’s rain washed the city anew, and now you can see all the way downtown where the high-rises glitter like the Emerald City of Oz—my father being the wizard of course. My heart pumps wild as Bella and I walk from the car to Evelyn’s office. It wasn’t Evilyn or anything she was remotely capable of that has me rattled like a coffin full of bones, it’s what I’m about to do to myself later this afternoon—outing my true identity to Ford. He said he could never stop loving me. He loved every square inch of my body this past weekend, mapping me out like a skilled cartographer, but it didn’t change the fact I’m about to face the firing squad. Really I have no one else to blame for this mess but me. I found an electric chair and voluntarily strapped myself in.
Evilyn is in prime bitch mode this morning. She’s been denied access to her obsession for three straight days and her bloated frame, those puffy eyes concede to the fact she’s spent the weekend crying, most likely diving into a carton of Ben and Jerry’s as is her God given right—after all, a major rejection is just around the corner.
Bella sets down Evilyn’s cup of morning Joe and backs away slowly to avoid the hammer.
“Have a good weekend, did you?” Her dark eyes flit to mine, sharp as needles.
“Excellent. And you?” I’m not afraid of her—never was. Maybe after I tell Ford about my father, I’ll fill him in on the real reason Evilyn has reacquainted herself with the freshman fifteen. She’s been popping donuts like vitamins just to propagate the work of fiction brewing in her belly, and, unfortunately for her, I’m feeling liberal with the truth.
“I had an interesting weekend myself.” She glowers into me as if I should have a clue to what threat she might be wielding.
Had she seen that I’ve secretly been signing her thank you notes from the Ice Princess?
“Did you get some quality one-on-one time with your favorite dildo?” I don’t move or breathe, but every cell in my body rejoices at the dig.
Bella gives an audible gasp.
“You know”—I continue with a flame dancing on my tongue—“the one you nicknamed Ford? Oh, wait, you like to keep things formal—I bet you’ve named it Crawford.”
“Holy shit.” Bella inhales so sharp it sounds like she’s having an asthma attack.
Evelyn’s affect falls flat. Her walls crumble like a ten-day-old Danish, and she closes her eyes—refueling for round two.
“You win.” She tosses her hands in the air, her face dons a despondent look like a mask. “I guess he’s just not that interested in me. He chose you. I’ve been crying in my pillow for three days straight, and I’m over it.” She flattens her hands against the desk with her fingers fanning out like an arsenal of weapons.
I don’t believe this is over for a minute.
“I’m seeing him at lunch.” She touches her stomach with a look of longing in her eyes. “I should probably say something so the two of you can move on.”
Holy hell. Is this really happening? She nods as if she heard. Evelyn is anticipating my every move, my every thought. I’d bet all of my father’s money that she’s ten steps ahead of me.
The day progresses with Evilyn actually sharing her box of powdered donuts with us. I don’t dare touch them because even though she herself is noshing freely, I’m still convinced they’re laced with arsenic. She and Bella talk all things Rigby while Evilyn regales us with her time as the captain of the swim team. Bella is eating it up like gold-dusted bread crumbs delivered straight from Evilyn’s hand, but I’m weary to take the bait. I’m weary to wander too far off the I-can’t-trust-Evilyn beaten path. Instead, I psychoanalyze every word. After all, she’s been known to have lies shooting out of her mouth like water from a fire hose. Why should today be any different?
“I had a swimmer’s body back then.” She concludes, giving her thighs a hard slap. “Won every damn race, too.” She picks her teeth clean with her fingernail. Her eyes flick to mine. “You have to want to win. In a race like that, everyone is good. Everybody in that pool is primed in top condition. Do you want to know why I won each and every race?”
Bella pauses mid-bite. “Because you were ripped?” She mumbles through a mouthful.
God, it’s as if Bella is ripped, drunk off the outburst of calorie-laden affection Evilyn is trying to drown us with.
Evilyn doesn’t twitch. Her eyes stay trained on mine.
“It’s because I wanted it more.” She leans in, squinting out the threat. Here she is. The bitch is back. She couldn’t hide for long. “Nobody wanted to win like I did. I was hungrier than anyone else in that water.”
It’s clear Evelyn is still hungry, and I’m not talking donuts. I wonder how many dirty tactics she might have resorted to back in her chlorinated heyday.
Evilyn taps her bright garnet-colored nails against the desk as if to rouse me from my stupor, and I lose myself in that familiar color.
“The both of you”—she barks—“back to work.”
“Dragon’s blood-red,” I whisper, still fixed on her nails with a catatonic stare.
“What did you say?” Evilyn bares her fangs.
“Your nails. I was thinking of getting my nails done that color last week and went with pink inste
ad.” I hold up a hand to substantiate the lie. The truth is, that very color jolted me back to the reality this day holds—me revealing who I really am at Shipwrecks where it all began.
Evilyn cracks her face just enough to imitate a smile.
She stares at her nails then at me a moment too long before excusing herself to get a cup of coffee.
“Well, there’s your first red flag.” Bella reclines in her seat. “She never gets her own coffee. And she hasn’t touched the one I brought her this morning. Do you think she’s really going to tell Crawford the truth?”
“I think she’s too hungry to tell him anything that might jeopardize their relationship.” I smirk. “And, knowing Evilyn, she’s already strategizing how to make this work for her in the end.”
Nope. Her affection for Crawford Cannon isn’t going down without a fight. The fact she has to throw punches to keep him should be her first tipoff that his heart isn’t in it. But, then, she isn’t worried about where his heart is—it’s her heart she really cares about.
The Evil One is gone for a solid blissful hour. When she gets back, she sends Bella and me out for a quick break while she and Pepper go over the revamping of Jeneration Jinx. I’m not sure a lot was accomplished due the fact when we return Pepper has already vanished, and Evilyn stands at the window like she’s contemplating a leap. I wish.
“It’s noon,” I say. She mentioned she was seeing him for lunch. Just the idea that Ford is carving out his time for her makes me want to hurl. My stomach has been in knots all morning even before she volunteered to give him up. But then my appetite hasn’t been the same for weeks now. I think all this bullshit is finally starting to wear on me. Plus the tiny detail of me revealing my true identity to Ford later this afternoon has my every last nerve raw and exposed. I suppose that’s the real reason my stomach is twisting like an L.A. freeway.
Evilyn spins on her heels. Her eyes are bright, her mouth shellacked a dark shade of crimson. She looks enlivened by what’s about to take place.
“It’s time.” She cinches her coat around her body. “I want you to be there.”
“What?”
“I want the two of us to head to his office together, and I want you to witness what I’m about to say—that way you can see it all unfold firsthand.”
I glace at Bella who gives a furtive nod.
What more can I ask for than front row seats to the show of the century? Whether or not I like it, Ford will be heartbroken—first over the fact he’s essentially lost another child and, second, because someone he once trusted—someone he was once married to—had stooped so low to deceive him.
“Of course, I’ll go.”
“Good.” Evilyn snatches her purse off the desk and walks out the door.
I give Bella a quick wave.
“If I’m not back in an hour send a search party.” I’m only half kidding. Thankfully, Ford’s office is just one flight up.
Evilyn and I make our way to the elevator where an entire herd of interns clog the entry. Pepper shouts something to her crew, and Evilyn growls with frustration before heading for the stairs.
“So you’re really going to do this?” I ask as we enter the quiet hush of the stairwell.
“No, you are going to do this.” Evilyn jabs a squared off acrylic nail into my chest. “You’re the reason Crawford and I aren’t together. I was so close to getting him back, and out you came from thin air. You’re like a demon trying to steal away all the good things in my life.” Her speech is pressured. “I will have Crawford in the end.” Her eyes bulge. “Let this day to be a lesson to you. Nobody messes with Evelyn Prescott, you dirty little bitch.”
“You and your fake baby can go to hell.” I turn to leave, and she yanks me back by the elbow so hard we topple down the first step. “Let go! You can fake all the pregnancies you want—he still would never choose you!”
A hard blow lands across my face as she offers an open palmed slap.
A throng of footsteps head in this direction.
“Don’t hurt me!” She screams and hurls herself down the steps in time for a group of goggled-eyed interns to spot her.
“Evelyn!” Pepper screams and fights her way through the crowd to tend to her friend.
Evelyn’s body lies twisted. Her hand glides over her stomach as she writhes in pain.
“My baby!” Her voice echoes all the way up the cloistered chamber. A bloom of crimson liquid explodes from between her thighs, and the entire population witnessing the event lets out a collective groan.
“I didn’t do this.” I shake my head in disbelief.
“She pushed me!” Evelyn cries over and over like a chorus. She starts in on a wail that pierces through my eardrums, rupturing right through to my sanity.
How could I have ever trusted her?
I glance down at the red stain between her legs.
And what the fuck is going on?
Ford
Carter and Carson have me trapped in the office a little longer than expected. We’ve been running numbers since the ass crack of dawn trying to figure out just what the hell is happening. The average trading volume is starting to spike, so much so that our own personal wolf of Wall Street, Cash¸ has picked up the redline.
“It’s out of deviation.” Cash booms from the speaker. It’s our third conference call today, and, if anything, that alone should set off all sorts of red flags. “Look, I expect cycles of change based on the metrics of industry, price, volume, general bullshit moves like the Jeneration Jinx debacle—but the standard deviation is way out of the fucking norm.”
Carson pumps out a dull laugh. “After the last quarterly report, the value of the stock decreased, and, sure enough, the vultures came out looking for a bite.”
“It doesn’t make sense”—Carter rakes his fingers through his hair—“we’re not undervalued. Who the fuck is eating us alive for sport?”
A million thoughts race through my mind. “We took a dive because the Jeneration app was stolen from beneath us. The public knew we were about to deliver something big, and when we backtracked and didn’t have anything to unveil, they lost faith.” Like I’m losing faith right about now. “Get our damn legal team on the phone and start a fucking infringement lawsuit against the assholes who took it.” I jab a finger at Carson. “I told you the day it happened, we needed to acquire the software and reverse engineer it to see if there’s a patent infringement.”
My phone beeps, cutting off Cash midsentence.
I glance down. It’s a text from Pepper.
Evelyn doesn’t want me to notify you, but she’s at the birthing center. I’ll be taking her home in a few minutes. Just a heads up, you might want to meet us there. Please don’t tell her I sent this!
“Shit.” I jump out of my seat.
Stevie bursts through the door with my secretary hot on her trail.
“Ford!” Stevie dives into the room, trying to swim past my secretary, Jessa, who’s doubling as security.
“I tried to stop her!” Jessa wails. She’s so afraid she’ll lose her job because of the mishap she’s shaking. Little does she know, if the day keeps going how it is, we’ll all be out of a job.
I snatch my phone off the desk and hang up on Cash without explanation.
“I need to go,” I whisper to my brothers, and Stevie follows me out the door. I pull her into the darkened corridor just behind my office and dig my fingers into her waist. I press my lips over her head so hard I’m afraid I’m going to crack her skull.
“Ford, we have to talk.” She rattles me as if trying to bring me to attention.
“I can’t. There’s an emergency.” My eyes oscillate to each of hers. I soak in every last detail of this beautiful woman in my arms. I want to say screw everything and make love to her right here, forgetting about the grief that might be waiting for me. I want to tell her that I’d rather be with her than chasing Evelyn down. That I’m not choosing Evelyn—I’m simply going to see if everything is all right when, deep in my g
ut, I know it’s not. Instead, I sand her lips with a simple kiss before bolting down the hall. “I’ll call you in a few hours.”
“Ford!” She screams my name so loud, it rings out in my mind all the way to Evelyn’s.
Evelyn lives in West L.A. in one of the few high-rise apartments this urban sprawl of a city has to offer. The doorman gives a solemn nod as I head right up. I give a brisk knock before walking in. It’s unlocked. That’s not like Evelyn.
“Who’s there?” She calls from the living room. Her voice is hoarse, and it scares the shit out of me.
Evelyn and Pepper look up as soon I enter. Evelyn is sprawled out on her sectional lying over a small stack of blankets. She has her jacket on, shoes off, but it’s what’s between her legs that stops me short from saying anything, from moving one inch deeper into the apartment. A dark crimson stain spreads over the inside of her thighs.
“She lost it,” Pepper whispers.
Tears stream down Evelyn’s face. Her eyes are nothing but two red welts.
“What happened?” My legs somehow find the strength to head in her direction. I take a few more mechanical steps before kneeling beside her as if genuflecting in an act of worship. Here she is the mother of my child, of my children, bloodied and broken, my baby already in God’s arms. “I can’t bear it.” My voice croaks out as if it belonged to someone else. “I’d do anything for this not to be true.”
“I’d better go.” Pepper leans in and offers a firm embrace. “I’ll call you.” She lifts a finger in Evelyn’s direction before clicking her heels all the way out the door.
Evelyn shakes her head, despondent, with nothing but empty doll eyes staring out at me.
“I’m so incredibly sad,” she warbles. Tears pour like rain, drenching her cheeks all at once.
I lean in and give her a comforting embrace, and she loses it. She breaks out into a full throttle cry, a wail like that of a child, and my own tears come, fast and furious. As much as I don’t want a lifetime of Evelyn, I wanted that baby and the ones that came before it.