Kissed Blind (A Hot Pursuit Novel Book 2) (20 page)

Twenty-Two

Vance walked toward Cici and met her on the sidewalk. “Hey, you made it.” He escorted her back to my car in the driveway.

A breeze blew, and the chill ran straight to my bones. I rubbed my arms in a self-embrace. “Hey, how’s it goin’?” On the outside I smiled, but inside I wanted to cry, though I wasn’t sure why. My heart felt like it was going to break.

“Hey.” She grinned and seemed to be assessing something. “Hope I’m not interrupting anything.”

Vance chimed in. “No. Di was getting ready to take off.”

His words stabbed me in the gut. “Uh, yeah, I was just leaving. Where are you two going?”

“I’m showing Cici the town. She’s been cooped up and runs errands for other people all day long. I thought she could use some fun.”

Cici hooked her arm around his. “I live my life for someone else every day. Vance insisted I get out for me. You have the best partner. He’s like a mind reader or something. He just knew how I was feeling. Not to mention everything that just happened with Oliver. I had to get away before I went crazy, you know?”

I gave a tightlipped smile. “Yeah, he’s great that way. Very perceptive.”

“Be careful getting home, okay?” Vance said, opening my car door.

I huffed. “Sure. You two have fun.” I slipped into my seat, and before I shut my door, Cici giggled at something Vance had said, and the sound made me cringe.

My stomach churned on the drive home. Had Vance admitted out loud for the whole world to hear that he liked—no, loved—kissing me? His words replayed like the most annoying earworm of all time, playing over and over, driving me to the brink of insanity.

Had I missed something way back when? We’d been friends long before Gabe ever came along. He never hinted he was even remotely interested in me. Ever. Or, had he? He’d had plenty of chances when we first started training together.

I cranked up the radio to drown out my thoughts. I pulled up to the curb in front of my building and retrieved the food from my back seat. Walking to my apartment, I was in a fog. I fiddled with my keys in the lock and was finally able to open the door. I kicked it shut, depositing the containers of food on my kitchen table. I had to talk to someone. I shoved everything in my fridge and went next door to Becca’s apartment.

“Hey.” She glanced down at a fancy watch on her wrist, donning a classic Rolling Stones t-shirt with the tongue sticking out. “It’s kind of late, what’s up?”

“So, I just heard the craziest thing, and I can’t make sense of it. Can I come in?”

“Of course. Oliver Pierce hasn’t confessed his undying love for you, has he?” She held her door open and laughed as I walked in.

The layout of her apartment was the same as mine: a small kitchen with an eating area just off from it, a quaint living room that led into the bedroom and bath. Her style, though, was a stark contrast to mine. She had scientific posters all over the walls: the DNA double helix, a portrait of Albert Einstein, and a magnified image of some type of virus. Science was her life.

She took one look at me and stopped. “I guess not. You look like you saw a ghost. Can I get you a beer?”

“Uh… yeah, actually I would love one.”

She left and came back with two open bottles and sat down next to me on her couch.

“What happened?”

I took a large swig of beer and turned my legs toward her. “Vance knows.”

She pinched her brows together. “Vance knows what?”

“I mean, I guess I should say, he remembers.”

She gasped and set her beer down on a coffee table that looked like a stack of suitcases. “This is huge! I told you, did I tell you? I told you he knew. What guy makes out with someone and doesn’t remember? How did it come up? You have to tell me every single juicy detail. I mean, it better be juicy based off the expression on your face.”

I thought back to how the whole scene had played out, since I’d chosen to only replay that one segment of our conversation. “He was goofing around like he always does and I told him to stop then, I don’t know, he kind of just blurted it out. He’s been pretending he didn’t remember all this time.”

She squinted. “Did he say why?”

“So things wouldn’t be weird between us?”

She shrugged. “All right, you guys work together. I guess that makes sense.”

“But then he told me he loved kissing me.”

Becca fell back into her sofa and fanned herself. “Oh my God, that’s so hot. I knew he had a thing for you.”

“I think ‘did’ is a better word. He
did
have a thing for me, but he never acted like it.”

“Maybe you missed the signs?”

“Seriously, I’m a girl. How would I have missed that? He always hung around me, but he never did anything but train with me.”

“Ever?”

I ran through myriads of memories. “I don’t think so. I’m pretty perceptive most of the time. I’d like to think I would have picked up on something. I’m telling you he never made a move, and then I met Gabe. I just figured, you know, whatever. The situation was what it was. We got along great and got offered the job at B&B. End of story.”

“But Gabe is out of the picture now, more or less. Seriously, I’m dying for you. This is so exciting.”

“The corpse of my relationship isn’t even cold. Plus, I don’t know if Gabe is out of the picture completely. Probably though.” I frowned. “And then Oliver’s stupid personal assistant Cici showed up for a date. Vance apparently offered to take her around for a night on the town.”

Becca curled her lip up in a snarl. “Ugh, well that sucks.”

“Ya think? How about standing there and getting shooed into my car. Vance treated me like a third wheel.”

She blinked and took a moment to digest what I’d said. “Ouch.”

“It still stings.” I slumped back against the couch.

“That’s so not how I was hoping this story was going to end.”

“Ugh, yeah. He caught me off guard, but if he would have kissed me, I would have let him.”

“What, like, you never would have before?”

I furrowed my brow. “No… Yes...I don’t know. Am I making any sense?”

“You’re making total sense. Does Vance know about what’s going on with Gabe?”

“No way.” I shook my head.

“Why haven’t you told him?”

I drank a big gulp of beer. “Because of the Oliver thing for starters. This is too much for me to think about. With work, Gabe, and now this, I can’t freaking think straight. I don’t know my ass from my elbow.”

“Well crap. You do have a lot on your plate.” She picked her beer up and clanked her bottle against mine. We both took big swigs. “By the way, should he be going out with someone you’re working with?”

The bitter beer burned my throat. “She’s not really our client, Oliver is. There’s nothing written in our rules saying anything about that. I don’t like her though.”

“Obviously. Why would you?”

“She’s fake and bubbly, and ugh, you know? Just ugh.” I groaned.

She blew out a big breath. “This kind of stuff can mess with a girl’s head.”

“Hell yes, it does. I can’t get over the fact that he’s known all this time. It’s twisting my stomach in knots.”

“Because you have a thing for him.”

“I don’t.” But maybe for the first time ever, I realized I did, or at least, I might.

“I’m sorry, but you do. Part of you wants that hot thing of a partner.”

I grimaced and drank. “It doesn’t matter anyway.” I set my beer down and covered my face with my hands. “Why Cici? Why her?”

“Well, she’s not going to be here forever. It’ll be over soon then what will you do?”

I blinked, sighed, and blinked some more. “I don’t know. What the heck do I do?”

She pursed her lips and glanced at the ceiling. “The only thing you can do. Continue on like nothing ever happened. He said he didn’t want to tell you he remembered because he didn’t want it to be weird. Well, he told you, and now it’s weird. Hashtag, fail. Try to put the incident behind you and go about your business until this assignment is over.”

“I guess you’re right.” I smiled. “This too shall pass, right?”

“Exactly.”

“Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it. Now, we need to solve my dating life, or lack thereof.”

We finished our first beers, and she told me some of her woes from work. Later that night, after I was buzzed from having one too many, I fell into bed.

Twenty-Three

I got up and went through the morning motions, nursing the slightest of hangovers. I swallowed a couple Advil and suited up to burn the alcohol out of my system. As I ran, the Vance earworm wiggled its way back into my brain, but this time it was worse; it had multiplied. Drinking and sleeping had done nothing to help me.

I blasted my music and only made it around the block before I decided to call it quits. I wasn’t in the running mood. I hit my weights and did some kettle bell exercises instead. They satisfied my need of throwing heavy things around and somehow fed an inner strength I needed to get through the day.

I huffed and puffed and felt better by the time I finished my routine—minutely, but better. To torture myself a little more, I called Gabe, and it went straight to voicemail, the same as it had been.

I set my weights back in the corner of my living room and someone knocked on my door. Through the peephole a man stood in the hallway with what looked like a garment bag slung over his arm.

“Who is it?” I asked, but I had a good idea.

“I have a delivery for a Miss Diana Cain.”

Just what I thought, my clothes for the event in California had arrived. Trying on pretty clothes could turn any girl’s mood around. I pulled open the door, and my excitement was swallowed by a sinking pit of despair. The man who stood before me also had a box of items at his feet. I recognized the contents immediately. My flat iron, cosmetic bag, and shampoo sat on top. And what he held in his hands were my clothes from Gabe’s closet.

I clutched my stomach, and my blood ran cold. My face must have read like an open book.

“Mr. Montgomery has sent these over.” The man held out the items in his hands, and I stared at them for a moment.

I picked my heart up off the floor, and took what he held.

“I’m very sorry,” he muttered.

I smiled to make him feel better, no sense in both of us feeling awful. “No, it’s fine. Thank you.”

He crouched down and lifted the box of my things. “I can set these inside if you’d like.”

“Sure, that’d be great,” I said it with such false enthusiasm I almost convinced myself.

He set the box on my floor and did me the courtesy of seeing himself out. I stood staring down at my things. Years of accumulated items are what we’d been reduced to, and all crammed into one little box and garment bag. This was it: the end.

I found my phone, typed,
I’m sorry
, and hit send. Maybe Gabe would get it, maybe he wouldn’t. I grappled with
Good-bye
. I even typed out the words, but they were too final, and I deleted them. That was when the waterworks began. Hot tears dripped from my chin, and I couldn’t have controlled them if I’d tried. My nose ran, and I wiped it with the back of my hand. I leaned against my couch when my legs threaten to give out. I stayed like that for a while and nearly drowned in my misery.

I entertained the thought of calling in sick. In the years I’d worked for B&B, it would have been the only time it would have been a lie, though my stomach did hurt. But, what good would it have done me anyway? I would have driven myself crazy if I stayed in bed all day moping. It was best to stay busy and to keep my mind occupied. I had to get moving; I couldn’t let Vance find me a hot mess.

I picked myself up and dragged my things into my bedroom, shutting everything into my closet. Out of sight, out of mind, or so I hoped. I managed to get myself ready, and when I was finished, I sat on my couch in complete silence with my hands folded in my lap, thinking and waiting. My refrigerator kicked on, and the sound transported me to the last time Gabe was in my apartment. My legs began to bounce uncontrollably, and I picked at my fingers. No, waiting inside wasn’t working. I moved outside, at least there would be distractions.

A few cars drove by, and I spied a few daffodils and purple crocus that had sprouted around the neighboring oaks and sycamores. The fine mist of morning dew sat heavily upon freshly mowed grass, the smell carried on the wings of birds tweeting joyous melodies. Spring was such a happy time normally, but I couldn’t extract an ounce of it.

Vance pulled up to the curb right on time. He rolled the window down as he approached. “What’s up? Why’re you pacing out here?”

“I wanted to get some fresh air.” My smile quickly rose and fell.

“Everything all right?” I heard the concern in his voice but couldn’t bring myself to look in his eyes.

“Totally fine. I woke up with a headache.” I opened the door and pinched my diamond stud earrings tighter onto my lobes. “Let’s go.”

“Liar.” He put the car in gear and started driving. “You’re not coming down with what Oliver had, are you?”

I almost laughed. He had kissed me, so if he had been sick, it would only be a matter of time before I came down with it. A ticking time bomb.
Perfect.
Just what I needed, a little salt to rub in my wounds. “No,” I answered. “I don’t think so. I hung out with Becca kind of late last night. I didn’t get enough sleep.”

He took a quick glance at me as he turned onto the main road. “Now that you mention it, your eyes look a little tired.”

“For the record, don’t ever tell a girl she looks tired, m’kay?” I crossed my arms and looked out the window.

He winced. “Geez, guess you woke up on the wrong side of the bed too.”

“I guess I did.” I watched the traffic as we drove along and didn’t say another word.

As we walked across the parking lot outside of Oliver’s apartment, I ambled ahead of Vance. He grabbed my shoulder and tugged me back. “What’s going on? You’re not yourself at all.”

“Maybe I had a bad night. I bet you had a great one.”

He was silent for a beat. “Is that what this is about? Because I went out with Cici?”

Well, yes, but not entirely
. “Please, not everything is about you.” Like I was going to give him the satisfaction after the way he treated me. I had so much piss and vinegar flowing through my veins I was practically a salad.

“Holy crap.”

“Just give me some space today. I’m not in the mood for this, or you.”

He held his hands up in submission and let me walk on. When Cici let us in the apartment, I read way too much into the way she said hello to Vance. The extra flutter in her eyes, the higher pitch in her voice, the tilt of her head, everything said they’d kissed. The thought of it made me want to go insane. Who did this girl think she was to waltz in here and take him from me?

And then it hit me: I’d officially arrived at Irrational Town. Population: 1.

“How’s Oliver doing?” I asked.

“He’s so great. I swear, what happened energized him in some way. He has this, like, new appreciation for life or something. I think Camille was more shaken from the experience than he was.”

“Really?” Vance said.

“Yeah, she’s been taking it hard and has been pretty upset. But at least it was kept out of the media, which seemed to be what she wanted.”

“Hello, good morning, everyone!” Camille said, sauntering down the stairs. “How are my favorite bodyguards doing?”

If this was Camille distraught, I guess I had no idea what chipper Camille looked like. The woman had more faces than
Eve
.

“Morning, Camille,” Vance said.

“I can’t thank you both enough for what you’ve done for me and Oli.” She inhaled a deep breath, which seemed to be laced with roses and sunshine. She floated on air toward us and held out a slip of paper in each of her hands. “Here’s what I promised.”

Vance and I took our checks for twenty thousand dollars.

“Thanks,” I said, folding it in half and putting it in my pocket.

“Great. Thank you,” Vance added.

“No, thank you both. You have no idea what you did for me.” She smiled. “Oliver should be right down.” She spun around and gave Cici a once over. “Do you have that tea I asked for?”

Cici’s mouth dropped open like she’d realized she’d forgotten. “I was just getting ready to when they arrived. Give me one second.” She held up a finger and shuffled into the kitchen.

Camille sighed and rolled her eyes. “Bring it up to my room when you find the time. I have to get ready.”

“Ready?” Cici called.

“I swear, sometimes...” She moaned looking at us, exasperated. “I have the designers from Milan coming today with dresses for the event this weekend.”

“Oh, that’s right. I’m sorry, I forgot.” The lid to the coffee maker shut and foil popped on a small plastic K-cup of tea.

“You’re forgetting lots and lots of things lately, hmm?” She turned and started back up the stairs. “I’m sure I’ll be seeing you both during the week. Be safe out there protecting the precious cargo.” She grinned at both of us. “I’ll be waiting for my tea.”

“Yes, Camille. It’s already almost finished,” Cici called.

The machine in the kitchen spurted and coughed as Camille disappeared to the second floor.

Vance and I walked into the kitchen and stood around the island as Cici mixed the correct blend of things into Camille’s tea: a splash of almond milk and a teaspoon of raw honey. She stirred it up and placed it on a saucer.

“I’ll be right back.” Cici nearly ran with the cup up the stairs.

“Boy,” Vance whispered under his breath. “That woman is a piece of work.”

“We talking about Cici or Camille?” It was snide and petty, but what can I say? It felt right.

Vance huffed and walked away from me. He looked through the large windows out at the river when Oliver came down the stairs. Seeing Oliver again after all that had happened wasn’t something I’d prepared myself for. And when I saw him this time, he wasn’t as cute or mysterious as he used to be; he was just a man.

“Diana,” Oliver said, “May I speak to you privately for a second?”

I glanced over at Vance, and he shot me a peculiar look. I quickly turned away. If he saw my eyes, he’d see right through me and know. I adjusted my ponytail. “Sure,” I answered.

Oliver led me to the office. He closed the French doors and sat on the sofa, patting the spot next to him. “Please, sit for a second.”

I joined him and every squeak of the fabric echoed the emptiness of the room. My cheeks grew hotter by the second, and I couldn’t look at him.

“Those are pretty flowers. Peonies and irises are some of my favorites.” They sat in the center of a table close to the window.

He grunted acknowledgement, but that was all the attention he’d given to the flowers. “How’re you doing?”

“I’m fine. I feel like I should be asking you. You were the one who went through the ordeal.”

“I’m doing well, very well actually. The experience opened my eyes to things going on in my life lately, and I think it’s time to make some changes.”

“Oh yeah? You’re not stepping away from acting are you? You’ll have millions of disappointed fans.”

“No. Not that.” He chuckled. “I’m at the top of my game. I wouldn’t dream of stepping away now.”

“Then what?” I gathered enough courage to look at him.

He shook his head. “No, I came in here to check up on you not bore you with the details of my personal life. Is everything all right? I threw a huge wrench at you because of my… moment of weakness.”

I tittered. “Oh, you mean Gabe? We talked everything out and we’re fine. We ended up having a great weekend.”

His eyes shot open. “Wow, that’s great. I guess my concern was ill-spent.”

I smiled despite my bleeding heart. “No need to worry anymore. We’re good.”

He leaned back and relaxed a bit. “I’m relieved. I’m glad it all worked out. Hold onto that guy of yours. He sounds like an exceptional person.”

“Yeah, well…” I trailed off and smacked my hands down on my thighs. “I guess we should get going so you’re not late.”

I started to stand, but he stopped me. “Wait. One more thing.”

I took a deep breath and sank back down into the leather. What else could we possibly talk about? “Did the fitting go okay for the event next weekend? Cici said you’d picked out a gorgeous number by de la Renta.”

“More than okay. I don’t think I’ve ever worn anything as pretty.”

He smiled warmly. “Great. I can’t wait to see you in it.” He studied my face like he was learning every feature, and an empty feeling settled into the pit of my stomach.

“Oliver?” Cici said, knocking on the door. “Cadence called and wanted me to give her your ETA. You want me to make you a tea to go?”

“Yes, please,” he answered. “I guess we should get going, shouldn’t we?”

When we walked back out into the living room, I avoided Vance. He’d look for an explanation I couldn’t give. In fact, talking with him as little as possible for the rest of the week sounded like a good idea. California was only a few days away. I needed to clear my head and to leave my life behind. It would be just what the doctor ordered.

I hoped.