“We have to get going, we have reservations,” Jared says.
“You two have fun.” Sadie blows a kiss in our direction.
We hear their muted conversation as they reach the door. “You do have underwear on, right?”
“Sort of,” Sadie elusively responds.
“Do I even want to know what that means?”
“You will later.” The door closes behind them.
I tuck my feet under me on the couch and sip from my glass. “So, to what do I owe the pleasure of this surprise visit?”
Flynn gets up and tops off my wine glass, even though it’s not even near empty. “Drink up.”
“You came here to get me drunk?” I tease.
“No. But you’re going to need that drink for what I came to tell you.”
My head pounds, whirling with questions. I make Flynn repeat everything twice, even though I heard every word he said loud and clear the first time.
“Why would Miles tell you this now?” It doesn’t make any sense.
“He had too much to drink. We were celebrating my signing on to do another show with Mile High.”
“What show?”
“Beat. He’s going to follow my band on our upcoming tour. Sort of a day-in-the-life with a rock band … that lasts three months.”
“He has to be lying.”
“I don’t think so. He was pretty proud of himself. Taking credit for breaking you two up so I could have you.”
“But if it’s true, why would he do it?”
“He said the finale needed to be between you and Jess. The audience loved the vixen-versus-virgin angle.”
“I take it I’m the virgin.”
“His words, not mine.”
“And Cooper agreed to dump me, just like that?”
“Miles said he had leverage. He was pretty drunk, none of it really made sense … but he babbled about a video of the two of you at a guest house in Barbados and your brother’s trip to the emergency room.”
“My brother? Kyle?”
“Yeah. Something about causing trouble with a clinical trial.”
I barely make it to the bathroom when the two glasses of wine empty from my stomach. Flynn strokes my back gently. “You okay?”
“Not really.”
He helps me to the couch and tucks me in, kissing my forehead sweetly. In the last month, I’ve grown to adore this man. “Maybe it’s not too late for you two. I know you still have feelings for him.”
“I’m sure he has feelings for me too. Some pretty powerful ones after watching that finale.”
chapter forty
Cooper—
1 week later
“There’s a Mr. Beckham here to see you,” Helen’s voice announces over the intercom in my office.
“Who?” I had to have heard that wrong.
“Flynn Beckham. He was on your …”
“I know who he is.”
“Would you like me to tell him you’re busy?”
I’d like you to tell him a fuck of a lot more than that. I hit the button to respond. “Tell him …” I say angrily, but then think better of how I want my message delivered. I’ll definitely take more joy in doing it myself. “Send him in.”
Dickhead walks in and I have to fight the overwhelming urge to go straight to him and punch him in the face. I stay behind my desk; it’s safer with a barrier between us. He walks to me and the idiot extends his hand for a shake. I look down at it and then back to him, my face clearly relaying my disdain as I fold my arms over my chest.
“What do you want?”
He lowers his hand. “I came to talk to you about Kate.”
“I’m pretty sure you and I have nothing to discuss in regards to Kate.”
“I just need two minutes of your time.”
“The clock just started. Say what you came to say and get out.”
Dickhead takes a deep breath. “I fell in love with her.”
“That’s what you came here for? You wasted your time, don’t waste any more of mine. I really don’t care to hear about your love life. I think you got the wrong brother.” I pick up a stack of documents for my next meeting. But the moron doesn’t take the hint. Instead, he sits.
“She doesn’t love me.”
I glare at him and say nothing.
“She loves you.”
“Didn’t look like it when she was leading you into that honeymoon suite.” The words taste as bitter as they’re spoken.
“It was an act.” Dickhead rubs the back of his neck. “We cheated. She told me about her family and why she really did the show. We pretended to be together because that’s what Miles wanted. I chose her so she could win the money.”
“So you didn’t spend the night together?” I have no idea why I ask, because anything but an unequivocal no is going to kill me.
“Dude, she made me sleep on the floor. Wouldn’t even share the big bed with me.”
“So the whole tension between you and Jessica and Kate was an act?”
“Well, not all of it.”
I glare at him.
“Turns out Jessica was on your brother’s payroll the whole time. He was paying her to stir the pot.” He shrugs. “Plus, I ended up sleeping with Jessica after I figured out I had no chance with Kate. Probably wasn’t the smartest move. I was wishing it was Kate the whole time.”
“Quit while you’re ahead,” I warn.
Dickhead chuckles. “Anyway. She’s a great girl. But I never had a shot. She’s in love with you.”
“A lot’s changed.”
“That hasn’t.”
Dickhead stands and extends his hand. This time I take it. He gets to the doorway before I call after him. “Hey.”
He turns.
“Thanks.”
He nods with a defeated smile.
“Maybe you’re not such a dickhead after all.”
chapter forty-one
Kate—
1 day later
Today I’m reminded why I did the right thing. The smile on Kyle’s face when he returned home from spinal cord stimulation therapy is contagious. He’s regained a small amount of voluntary control of his muscles, enough so that he could “flex” for me as I helped him back into bed. His hope shined so bright, a little even warmed me today.
Ever since Flynn came by to tell me about his conversation with Miles, I’ve regressed back to the depressing state I was in right after Cooper and I broke up. I feel like I’m missing a few pieces of the puzzle still. Even if it’s true that Miles blackmailed Cooper into breaking things off, and he did it to save me from myself, how could he have turned to Tatiana so soon? Why wouldn’t he have come to me? I spend hours trying to figure out why I feel like something’s missing, but in the end the only thing I’m clear about is that I’ve lost a piece of my heart.
My phone buzzes and I smile seeing his name on the caller ID.
“What, you don’t call, you don’t write?” Frank’s jovial voice booms loudly through the car speaker.
“You miss me, don’t you?” I say.
“I do, kid. I do. Are you too big and famous to play cards with us anymore?”
“Is that an invitation or just a general question?”
“Can you come tonight? Eight o’clock.” There’s a smile in his voice. “Grip and Ben took all my money last time. I need you to teach the bums a lesson.”
I laugh. “I’d love to come.”
“All right, kid. I’ll see you later.”
I park and sit in the car for a few minutes outside the studio. The memory of the first night I played cards here months ago still affects me, even through my sadness. I had no idea who Cooper was, but the flex of his forearm almost had me losing hands a few times—my focus so thrown by the effect the man had on me from the moment I laid eyes on him.
Taking a deep cleansing breath, I push the memory to the back of my mind and lift the case of Stella out of the back of my Jeep and head into the studio.