Stubborn Love (10 page)

I could see his hesitation, and it made me even more anxious. This was why I didn’t want people to see my work before it was ready. “Your work, it’s different.”

“What do you mean? Different than what?” I pushed, even though I was unsure I wanted to hear the answer.

“When I saw your work online, I don’t know, there was a sadness to it. This one is different, though. There’s so much vibrancy and movement. It’s—it’s different.”

“I can’t tell if you think that’s a good or bad thing,” I said giving him a slight playful shove in the arm.

“No, don’t get me wrong, I like it. It’s beautiful, actually.”

“Don’t sound so surprised,” I jested, my insides smiling secretly from his praises.

“All right, all right,” he said laughing and stumbling closer to the lift. “Clearly you’re determined to give me a hard time, so I’ll let you get back to work.”

“Yeah, you do that,” I called out after him, not moving from the spot where I stood.

“Oh yeah, you’re coming this weekend, right?” he asked as the gate hovered above his extended arm.

“This weekend?”

“Half Kings? Don’t tell me Paige forgot to tell you.”

I didn’t know what to say. I simply assumed Paige had exaggerated when she said Colin wanted me to come. “No, she told me. I’m just really busy with school.”

“Nonsense, I want you to be there, so you’re coming.” Before I could respond, the gate was closed, and the lift had begun to move. I wasn’t sure why he wanted me to go so badly, but even more so I couldn’t figure out why I wanted to go now.

Paige ground the chips between her teeth so loudly I could hear it over the music. Looking over my shoulder I stared at her for a moment. I wasn’t sure how this small, frail being could possibly consume as many calories as she did in any given day and yet remain so petite. It was starting to annoy me, because all I could think about was grabbing that bag of black pepper and sea salt kettle chips from her delicate little hands and stuffing my face with them. I knew for me, however, it would mean not being able to button my jeans for the next week if I even stared too long at the delicious treat.

“You know, you can wait for me at the apartment. I won’t be that much longer,” I offered, more for my own sanity than hers.

“Yeah right,” she mumbled with bits of chip flying from her mouth, finding their way into the fibers of the black carpet. “You said that like an hour ago. If I leave you here, you will never go tonight.”

“What does it matter if I go?” I asked, unsure of why my presence was so important.

“Colin asked me to bring you, and I promised him I would,” Paige explained, shrugging her shoulders as if to say she were simply the innocent messenger.

“I don’t get it. Why does Colin care so much if I go?” I investigated, not wanting to let on that I missed seeing him. It had been two days since he brought me the furniture. I had considered, on several occasions, making an excuse to stop in at his loft.

“I don’t know—” Paige replied, her eyes suddenly widening.

“What is it?”

“Oh my God, you like him, don’t you?” She gasped. How on earth could she sense such a thing from what I had said? Not that I did like him…

“What? Are you crazy?”

“No, you are. You’ve got it bad for him.”

“I’m not doing this. You’re certifiable,” I replied, dropping my soiled brush into the nearby bucket. Wiping my hands on a rag, I retrieved my iPhone and slid it into my pocket.

“You do! That’s why you’re avoiding the question.” Paige sat up quickly, watching me as I paced around the space like a caged animal.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I insisted.

Paige stood and started to walk away from me toward the lift. “Fine, if you say so. But I think he’s got it just as bad for you.”

“What?” I cried, freezing.

“If you don’t like him, though, I guess that doesn’t matter.” It was too late, Paige had me in her tight little grasp. I followed closely behind, trying to fish out any small detail of what she might be talking about.

“I don’t care, but what would make you say something like that?” I asked, following her all the way out to the street and back to our apartment.

“Yeah, you don’t care, whatever. He asks about you every time I see him,” Paige explained.

I thought about the evidence for a moment, quickly deciding it was flimsy at best. “I’m your roommate, of course he is going to ask about me.”

“Then why has he asked me like ten times if you’re coming tonight? Please, you two are so obvious. Better hurry, we’re leaving in thirty minutes.” Paige laughed, walking into her bedroom and pushing the door closed in my face.

I rushed into my bathroom without another word. Paige’s notions running through my head, I wasn’t sure how I felt about this revelation. Perhaps outraged… I mean he could have been playing me all along. Maybe the sofa and his kind behavior recently was just a ploy to get me to let my guard down. I wondered what his lips felt like. Wait, this was not why I was here; look how things went with Stryker. He was a complete loon, and even worse, I couldn’t get away from Colin—he was my landlord and now an employer. This was very bad idea.

Stepping into the steam-filled shower, my body tingled, the hot water rushing over my nakedness. Before I even realized what was happening, an image of Colin popped into my head. I thought of the day we met and his shirtless body. As the steam danced around me, I remembered the feeling of his breath on my shoulder.
Damn it, Em!
I scolded myself.
Snap out of it!

Stepping from the shower stall, I quickly dried off, then used the towel to wipe away the moisture on the bathroom mirror. I had huge dark circles under my eyes, and my hair had become a kinky, frizzy mess. I didn’t have much of a choice based on how little time I had. I pulled my hair up into a high ponytail, allowing a few strategic strands to encircle my face. Once my makeup was applied I actually started to think I looked human again.

There was a knock at my bedroom door. “Five minutes, Emmie,” Paige warned.

Without a word in response, I darted to my closet. There wasn’t time to search through Paige’s wardrobe for the one or two things that might fit me. I would somehow have to find something in my own closet that made me look good. My fingertips grazed over a red summer dress that was covered in a white paisley-like pattern. It would have to do. Slipping it on, I quickly realized the cleavage was a bit on the extreme side so I grabbed my cropped jean jacket and threw it on top.

Searching my closet further, I pulled out my favorite pair of brown cowboy boots, which had a lot of character from years of wear. I placed them on my feet and then stared in the mirror. I could only imagine the taunting that would ensue when Paige saw me, but it was what I had to work with. I turned and took a deep breath, opening the door and walking into the living room, closing my eyes, bracing myself for the snickering.

I waited, hearing nothing. I opened my eyes. Paige stood in front of me, still looking me up and down—examining me. At last she simply noted, “Cute. Let’s go.”

Seriously? Paige always had something horrible to say about everything I wore. Did she actually just say I looked cute? I thought in that moment I might have a heart attack, but that thought quickly faded to relief for the hope that I actually did look cute… and I would look cute when Colin saw me. Not that it mattered.

When we arrived at the bar Paige explained we were only a “fashionably” thirty minutes late so it wouldn’t be a big deal. Personally, I never understood the term. As far as I was concerned, late was late, and it meant you didn’t respect my time. I kept quiet, however, assuming Paige must know of these matters in New York better than I.

I followed closely behind her; I could feel my heart starting to race. I had seen Colin dozens of times before this, and I couldn’t figure out why all of the sudden the prospect of it made my head spin. It didn’t help that Paige was filling it with all of these notions that Colin might actually be interested in me romantically.

“Em, you look great.” I heard Colin’s deep voice behind me. Quickly I spun around, where he was now only inches away from me. Paige wasted no time leaping into Christian’s arm and beginning the make out session. I figured after being apart for hours, for Paige it felt like being deprived of oxygen. They were enough to make a girl want to vomit.

“Thanks,” I replied with a sideways grin. “Jesus, you would think they’d not seen each other for a year,” I commented, nodding toward the lovebirds.

Colin laughed, but didn’t take his eye off me. “I’m really glad you came tonight. I think you’ll really like this band.”

“Oh yeah?” I asked, the hair on my arms standing up on end.
He’s just some guy
, I told myself firmly and silently.

Giving Christian a slap to the back of the head, Colin managed to tear him away from Paige for a moment, allowing the four of us to make our way to a booth near the edge of the stage. We continued to talk to one another for a few moments about my painting, about his renovation work, and I found myself wishing there was no band. I loved music, and I had never wanted to talk to someone more than I wanted to listen to music, but amazingly enough, Colin managed to change that in me. He was genuinely interesting, though he could never know I thought so.

“Do you want a drink?” he asked, standing and looking down at me.

“Sure. Whatever is fine with me,” I answered. Our gazes lingered for a moment, and I could feel an ache between my legs.

“Colin Bennett!” A high-pitched squeal came from across the bar. All of us turned in sync and looked to the source. Running toward our booth was a woman in a miniskirt and blouse tied up in a knot below her ample bosom. Her skin looked as though she might have fallen asleep in a tanning bed on more than one occasion, and her hair was so black it glistened even in the dim light of the bar.

Without hesitation the girl threw her arms around Colin and began passionately kissing him. Based on the amount of tongue she was delivering with the greeting they were no strangers. My stomach turned inside out, and I worried I might actually get sick.

I hopped to my feet and made my way around the outside of the booth. Colin broke away from the grasp of the girl and delivered a horrified stare in my direction. I looked down at Paige who looked equally horrified for me.

“Hey girl,” my voice trembled as I spoke, “I have a lot to get done, so I really should get going.”

I didn’t wait for an answer, and I didn’t turn around as I heard Colin calling out after me. In fact, I didn’t stop until I was all the way back home, in my room, with the door locked behind me.

I don’t know how I could have been so stupid. I knew who Colin was from the moment I met him, yet somehow I let myself be fooled. I didn’t know how I would avoid him moving forward, but I did know I couldn’t see him right now. I would deal with it when I had to, but for now I didn’t want to think about anything that had to do with Colin Bennett.

Slipping my dress off and letting it fall to the floor I pulled on one of Ashton’s oversized shirts. It was sad, but familiar, and I could handle familiar.