Coming Apart at the Seams (28 page)

“W-w-w-what are you talking about?”

“When you kissed Teagan on New Year's Eve, I told Quinn you were interested in her, but he was insistent that you were drunk, and she was just convenient.”

Nick snorted. Teagan was
anything
but convenient.

“So we made a bet,” Cal continued. “The loser had to forfeit his most prized possession. If I lost, I had to give my Caddy to Quinn, and if he lost, he had to give his blue jean sofa to me.”

Quinn raised his head, spearing Nick with his dark blue gaze. “I love that sofa like a mother loves her firstborn child.”

Nick grimaced. Quinn wasn't exaggerating about his attachment to the sofa. Admittedly, it was one-of-a-kind. It was upholstered with hundreds of Riley jean pockets in different shades of denim, from light blue to deep indigo.

Of course, Cal wouldn't have been any happier if he'd lost his Caddy, which he had inherited from his Grandma Violet. He loved the powder-blue vehicle and drove it everywhere, even though it made an eighteen-wheeler seem fuel efficient in comparison. He'd even named it.

Cal took a sip of bourbon, his eyes steady on him over the rim of his glass. Nick met the younger man's gaze, relieved to see curiosity rather than fury.

“What's going on between you and Teagan exactly?”

“It's complicated.”

Cal laughed dryly. “Since we're talking about Teagan, I would expect nothing less.” He gestured to Nick with his glass. “Are you sleeping together?”

Surprisingly, Cal's voice was mild, almost uninterested. The tight muscles in Nick's neck and upper back relaxed.

“Yes.”

“I thought so,” Cal said, nodding.

“How long has this been going on?” Quinn asked. “Were you sleeping with her in Boston?”

Nick turned his attention to his best friend. Like Cal, Quinn seemed more curious than confrontational. They were taking the news of his relationship with Teagan much better than Nick had expected, and the relief he felt was overwhelming.

“Only one time.”

“One time?” Cal repeated doubtfully.

Flushing, Nick looked down into his bourbon. “One night,” he clarified.

“Was it a one-night stand?” Quinn asked.

Nick didn't know how to answer that question. Teagan had accused him of treating her like a one-night stand.

He met Quinn's gaze. “She thinks it w-w-w-was,” he admitted.

Quinn frowned thoughtfully. “When she moved back home, she was so different. Sad, but angry, too. I thought it was because of Dad. What happened?”

“I fucked up,” Nick answered simply, “but I w-w-w-want another chance.”

“Priest, that was a long time ago.” Cal sighed. “Maybe it's better to accept that things are over. Just move on.”

Nick studied Cal. The other man's eyes were shadowed, and Nick knew Cal was thinking about Saika. Quinn had told him that Cal had been ready to propose when Saika's ex-husband had come back into the picture.

“Why are you so determined to get her back? Was the sex that good?” Quinn joked.

“Quinn! You're talking about our sister!” Cal slapped his
older brother on the back of the head like they were two of the Three Stooges—or maybe not, since that would make Nick the third Stooge.

“Sorry,” Quinn grimaced. “I forgot for a second.”

“It w-w-w-wasn't just sex,” Nick said quietly. “I'm in love w-w-w-with her.”

His words stunned the O'Brien brothers so much their mouths fell open and their eyes bugged out. Despite the seriousness of the conversation, he couldn't help but laugh at their expressions. He decided to really shock them.

“I w-w-w-want to marry her.”

Cal sucked in a surprised breath as Quinn leaned forward in his club chair, his eyes fixed on Nick's face. “Are you serious, Priest?”

“Yeah.”

“Holy shit!” Cal exclaimed, turning to look at Quinn. “Priest is going to be our brother-in-law. How fucking
great
is that?”

Cal held out his fist to Quinn, and his older brother bumped it with his fist. The O'Brien brothers returned their attention to Nick, and he eyed them suspiciously.

“I thought you w-w-w-would be angry. I thought you might b-b-b-beat the shit out of me.”

Cal chuckled, his eyes sparkling with glee. “If you take on Teagan, you're in for a lifetime of trouble, Priest. You don't need us to add to it.”

“Amen, brother,” Quinn said emphatically.

Nick laughed. He would give anything—do anything—for a lifetime with Teagan.

“I'm ready for a lifetime of t-t-t-trouble,” he assured them.

“How does Teagan feel about you?” Quinn asked, cocking his dark head. “Frankly, she doesn't seem to like you much. You know she tried to get out of working with you, right?”

“She loved me . . . back then.”

Nick swallowed to ease the pressure in his throat. It always made him sick to remember that she had told him she was in love with him, and he had rejected her. He had been so stupid.

“And now?”

He didn't want to give voice to his deepest, darkest fear that Teagan no longer loved him. He was terrified he was never
going to get her back. Terrified he would have to live the rest of his life without her.

“Now she avoids me. I've tried to apologize, to explain, b-b-b-but she refuses to listen.”

“Yeah, you don't seem to be making much headway,” Quinn noted.

Unfortunately, Quinn was right. In fact, Nick thought he might be losing ground with Teagan. Obviously, the house hunting had been a disaster, since it had ended with her in tears and him writhing on the ground in agony.

When he had decided to get Teagan back, he had known it would be difficult, but he hadn't had any idea just how difficult. Maybe he was arrogant or just plain stupid, but he had never imagined he would be in the exact same place now as he had been almost two years ago.

“I don't know w-w-w-what to do,” Nick admitted.

“If your current plays aren't working, you need to throw out the old playbook and create a new one,” Quinn said.

Nick considered Quinn's suggestion. Obviously Nick's efforts to talk to Teagan had failed, and having sex seemed to make things worse. Maybe he should try a new strategy.

“Any ideas?”

“Are you sure you don't have a single pair of shoes that match your bridesmaid's dress?” Bebe asked skeptically.

Teagan shot her best friend a warning glance. “I already told you I didn't.”

Bebe sighed and picked up a pair of shiny silver shoes with a kitten heel. She held them up for Teagan's inspection.

“What about these?”

“No. My dress is darker, more pewter. Ava Grace's maid of honor dress is closer to that color.”

Bebe was in town for a huge biotech convention that would kick off Monday morning, and Teagan had suggested that Bebe fly in Friday night so they could enjoy the weekend together. The two of them were spending Saturday afternoon shopping for shoes in Union Square, and later tonight, Amelia and Ava Grace were going to drop by Teagan's loft for a girls' night.

“What's your dress like?”

“It's a Monique Lhuillier. It's strapless and floor-length. It's made out of chiffon, and the bodice is fashioned in a crisscross pattern. The waist is tight, and the skirt is floaty.”

“It sounds pretty.”

“It's gorgeous. Amelia has good taste.”

Bebe evaluated the shoes displayed on the table and picked
up a pair of strappy silver stilettos that were less shiny than the kitten heels. She twirled them by the heel, her eyebrows raised in a silent question.

“Maybe,” Teagan said.

Bebe passed her the shoe, and Teagan inspected it. She didn't know if she'd be able to stand for hours in these shoes without taking painkillers. The straps would probably rub her poor feet raw.

She caught the eye of the sales associate roaming the floor and held up the shoe. The woman nodded and headed off to find Teagan's size, and Teagan put the shoe back on the table.

“What about these?” Bebe said from behind her.

Teagan turned, and when she saw the shoe Bebe held, she gasped in delight. The textured, metallic leather gleamed under the recessed lighting, drawing attention to the sharply pointed toe. The pleated vamp had little crystals scattered on it, and a skinny strap fastened around the ankle.

She grabbed the shoe from Bebe's hand to study it, caressing the one-inch platform and four-inch heels with her forefinger. It was
perfect
.

The sales associate had returned with the other shoes, and Teagan waved the metallic heel. Without a word, the woman passed Teagan the box she held and walked away.

“I hate places like this,” Bebe said, rolling her eyes. “The women who work here are so snobby.”

Teagan nodded. Most employees at really expensive boutiques were more haughty than helpful, and the woman assisting her today was ruder than usual.

“I really want to ask, ‘Why are you so stuck up? Can
you
afford the shoes you sell?'”

Teagan laughed and transferred the box to her other hand so she could hug Bebe to her side. She leaned her cheek against her best friend's silky hair.

“I've missed you, Beebs.”

“I've missed you, too,
kanya
.”

Bebe had recently returned from a three-week trip to India. Because of the time difference, they hadn't been able to talk as frequently as they normally did. Teagan still wasn't clear on why Bebe had gone to India or what she'd done while she was there. She had been evasive when Teagan had asked her about it. As far
as Teagan knew, Bebe's company had no offices in India, so she could only assume the trip had been personal.

With her arm around Bebe's shoulders, Teagan headed to one of the plush chaises scattered around the shop. The two of them took a seat, and Teagan put the box with the silver stilettos on the floor. She wanted to try on the metallic heels first, since she liked them so much better.

“How are things going at work?” Teagan asked.

“Good.”

Although Teagan was happy Bebe had done so well at BioEdge, she secretly hoped that one day her best friend would take a job with a firm in the Bay Area. It would be so fabulous to see Bebe on a regular basis rather than every couple of months.

Over the past three years, Bebe had quickly ascended the corporate ladder at BioEdge to head up the company's investor relations group. She was a member of the executive team, and she regularly met with Wall Street analysts and large, institutional investors.

“What about you,
kanya
?”

“Things are okay. We're negotiating with some new suppliers for the materials for Amelia's accessories, and that's keeping us busy. Plus, we're working with the real estate department on a bunch of new deals. And I've been traveling quite a bit.”

Bebe shifted on the chaise so she could see Teagan's face. After a moment, she sighed.

“You've been traveling so you can avoid Nick.”

Riley O'Brien & Co.'s vendors, suppliers, and partners were scattered across the world, but thanks to phone, email, and FedEx, ninety-nine percent of Teagan's job could be done without any travel. Before she had been forced to work with Nick, she'd only traveled occasionally.

“I've said this before, and I'll say it again—if you had told Quinn about what happened with Nick, he never would have hired him. You could pick up the phone right now, call your brother, and tell him what Nick did, and Quinn would fire him.”

“You're right.”

“Then why haven't you told him?”

“I don't want to hurt my family. Quinn and Cal are so happy that Nick's in San Francisco and working for Riley
O'Brien. You should see them together. They're like the Three Musketeers. And my mom and dad act like the prodigal son has returned.”

Bebe snorted. “So you're sacrificing yourself so your brothers can have a buddy to drink beer with, and your parents can have one more guest for Sunday dinner?”

Bebe's sarcastic tone made Teagan frown. She really didn't want to hurt her family, but part of her reluctance to talk to Quinn was pride. She didn't want anyone else to know how stupid she had been to sleep with Nick. Her lack of judgment embarrassed her.

And there was another reason she had decided to avoid Nick rather than get rid of him: he was really good at his job.

“How much longer do you think this particular avoidance tactic will work? I have a hard time juggling travel with my everyday workload. One day of travel puts me behind by two days. Do you know what I mean?”

Yes, Teagan definitely knew what Bebe meant. She was exhausted from being on the road, going to meetings during the day and catching up on the rest of her work at night in a hotel room. If she kept up this kind of travel schedule, she would end up sick.

“I didn't know what else to do,” Teagan admitted. “If Nick and I aren't in the same city, I can't do anything stupid.”

The sales associate returned with another box stamped with the words “Yves Saint Laurent” and passed it to Teagan. After asking if Teagan needed anything else, the snotty woman left.

Teagan handed off the box to Bebe so she could remove her shoes. By the time she'd finished, Bebe had the metallic heels ready for Teagan to try on. She slipped her feet into them and fastened the tiny buckles before standing and walking around the room.

“How do they feel?” Bebe asked. “They look gorgeous.”

“Pretty good. As good as four-inch heels can feel.”

Bebe laughed. “I've never worn a pair of shoes with more than a two-inch heel. I can't believe you can even walk in them.”

The conversation gave Teagan a strong sense of déjà vu. Bebe had been with her when she'd purchased the nude patent leather stilettos she had worn the night of her birthday dinner
with Nick. Her best friend had said almost the exact thing when she had seen the five-inch heels.

A wave of sadness swept over Teagan. She had been so happy that day—so excited to celebrate her birthday with Nick. More than anything, she had been full of hope.

She wished she could go back and relive that day . . . have a
Groundhog Day
do-over. In the new version, she would have canceled dinner with Nick and spent the evening with Bebe. Or maybe she would have been better off reliving that first day when Nick had shown up at her door. Instead of inviting him in and eating brownies, she would have ignored his knock.

Bebe called her name, and Teagan realized she was staring into space. Facing the mirror, she studied the shoes from the front and the side.

“I think they're perfect,” Teagan announced.

Bebe exhaled loudly. “Thank God. Hurry up and pay for them. I'm starving. You need to feed me.”

Teagan followed Bebe's directive, and ten minutes later, they sat in a cozy booth at a brasserie in Union Square. Bebe spent a few seconds reviewing the menu before snapping it closed. The gold rings on her fingers glimmered from the sunshine filtering through the windows, and Teagan wondered again what kind of significance they held.

When they had graduated from Harvard, the rings had been confined to Bebe's left hand. Now, every one of her fingers on both hands was covered in the wire-thin bands. If Teagan had to guess, she'd estimate Bebe wore more than a hundred rings. They were unique and pretty, just like the woman who wore them.

“So tell me what's been going on with Nick. When I left for India, you were still spending most of your time in the office instead of traveling, so something must have happened to make you even more desperate to avoid him.”

“I went house hunting with him a couple of weeks ago.”

“Why, for God's sake?”

“Because Nick sicced my mom on me. He told her that I hadn't made time to help him find a place to live, and my mom called me and lectured me for half an hour about how I couldn't offer to help someone and then not do it.”

Bebe laughed. “Oh, he plays dirty. If I didn't hate him so much for what he did to you, I'd admire him for exploiting your weaknesses.”

Teagan frowned. “He's conniving and manipulative.”

“Now that's the kettle calling the pot black! Are you forgetting what you did to Quinn and Amelia?”

Bebe had warned Teagan that her plan to revamp the women's division behind Quinn's back would blow up in her face, and she'd been right. More important, Bebe was the one who had helped Teagan understand why she had been so fixated on the redesign and why she had been so angry with Quinn.

“Did you have sex with Nick in a closet while the real estate agent was in the other room?” Bebe joked.

When Teagan didn't answer, Bebe narrowed her eyes and leaned forward. “Oh, my God! Did you?”

“No. Not exactly.”

“Then what exactly?”

Teagan recounted the entire house-hunting debacle, including the make-out session and Rayna's well-placed kick. She also shared Nick's revelation that he wanted a family and his claim that they'd been in a long-term romantic relationship.

“Did you ask him what happened to change his mind about wanting a family . . . wanting to get married and have children?”

“No. I was too shocked to say much of anything except to comment on his lack of relationships.”

“You know what I think is interesting . . . the fact that Nick realizes the two of you had a long-term relationship. He must be smarter than you are because you
still
don't seem to realize it.”

“He said we had a long-term
romantic
relationship, Bebe. I know we had a relationship. We were friends. But I definitely don't think the term ‘romantic relationship' applies, since he was having sex with other women.”

Bebe's eyebrows shot up, and Teagan realized her voice had risen to a volume where other people in the restaurant stared at them. She gave them a rueful smile before returning her attention to Bebe.

“I'm not sure I agree with you. You had romantic feelings for Nick long before you two had sex, and he had romantic
feelings for you, too. Have you ever thought about it this way: you and Nick dated for ten months before having sex?”

She considered what Bebe had said before shaking her head in frustration. “It doesn't matter what it was or wasn't. It's in the past.”

*   *   *

Teagan had just fired off an email to the head of Riley O'Brien's business development group when the guest receptionist called to let her know Bebe waited in the lobby. Since the biotech convention had started this morning and Bebe was supposed to be there, Teagan was immediately concerned. She rushed from her office to meet the other woman, and when she pushed through the double doors and saw the smile on her best friend's face, she let out a relieved breath.

“What are you doing here?” she exclaimed. “You're supposed to be at the biotech convention.”

“I have some good news, and I wanted to tell you about it
tout de suite.
”

“What is it?”

“Can we go to your office?”

Teagan nodded, and once the two of them were back in her office and seated at the conference table, she turned to Bebe. “Well?”