CHAPTER TWENTY

We stayed in bed all day yesterday. We didn’t discuss Trevor, nor did we discuss why Steele was there. Instead, our bodies became personally acquainted. We touched each other. We kissed like first-time lovers. Steele showed me a few things. He opened me up. I found myself wanting things that I’d normally be afraid to desire

I wasn’t ready to roll out my heart, but I didn’t want it to end. I didn’t want to get dressed, and I never wanted to leave. I wanted to stay in Steele Kane’s safe embrace, embellish a little longer in his capable hands, and remain lost in the ecstasy of his euphoric world. But eventually, like everything else in this damn world, all things come to an end.

We took separate flights home because his was a day earlier than mine. It gave me time to say goodbye to Lucy and the fairly odd parents. Cosmo and Wanda had some questions, only a few, but it was good to have them show interest in my life again. After everything that happened before, they sort of turned off their parent switch. They didn’t know how to deal with the damage in my life because they couldn’t fix it. So, they opted to just turn it off. Granted, I didn’t seek comfort from them. I returned to the little apartment Trevor and I lived in and reserved my pain for myself. I refused to share it with anyone. They were probably right to shut me off because they couldn’t have helped. Anything that could have was buried in the ground.

Usually, I can’t get a good night’s sleep at any hotel, but with the day off, I slept in this morning and didn’t get up till ten. It’s odd for that to happen on any given Tuesday. Got a call last night that Steele was able to finish the last two stunts yesterday while I was still in New York. Now, I just need to go in after the editing is complete on Thursday to give the insurance’s final approval. After that, I’m done. That must be why I haven’t heard from Steele. He was busy yesterday finishing the stunts, and now, he’s finished with me. I’m glad I kept my heart in check after I took what I could from him this past weekend.

And I think he was right. I needed to know why he was damaged, and after finding out what his mother did to him, it made him more real. I now understand why he refuses to do any water stunts. I’m sure watching someone you love trying to drown your little brother, someone else you love, would scar you for life. Breaks my heart when I think about what those two little boys went through in that apartment all those years ago. His mother did so much damage to Steele’s heart, breaking it in such a way that he believes it’ll never be whole again. That must be why Steele thinks he’s unlovable.

I take a shower, and since I don’t plan on going anywhere today, I slip on a pair of yoga pants and a tee shirt. Hungry, I pick up the phone to call room service. There’s a light knock on the door. I set the receiver back down, my heart skipping a beat.

What if it’s Steele?

I shake my head when I hear another knock. His knuckles could never strike the door that softly. I walk over to the door and peek through the hole. Shit! It’s … oh, what’s her name? I open the door and smile. “Hi, Harley.”

“Hey, I need to go shopping for a dress for this shindig I have at the theatre on Friday. I would ask Jaggs to go with me, but well, Jaggs and I really aren’t on the same wavelength about a lot of things. Anyway …” She pushes a few strands of long dark blond hair behind her ear. “I had a good time with you and Steele the other night. And I hope you don’t mind, but when I bumped into Steele at Crash’s shop earlier, and he mentioned that you had the day off, I asked him where you were staying.” She smiles big, revealing the top row of her pearly whites. “So what do you say? How about a girls’ day out? We can go get a couple of mimosas at The Vanilla Factory, maybe get our nails done at Polish Me Pretty, and do a little shopping at the Chateaux?” She stops, her smile starting to fade. It makes me wonder what my face must look like right now. “I’m really not good at doing this shit.” Her shoulders drop. “Token says it’d be good for me to make new friends, and while I know you’re going back to Chicago soon, I just thought⸻”

“Sure, it sounds great,” I say, trying to save her. I get it. Friends come few and far in between in my world as well. “Come on in.” I open the door and step back. “I just need to change.”

“Okay.” Her smile resurfaces. “Thanks.”

I close the door, but my curiosity gets the best of me, and I turn back to Harley. “So Steele’s over at Crash’s?”

“He was this morning, but he said he had to stop by work for something. That’s what got us talking about you. Are you two, um … I’m sorry.” Her cheeks flush pink. “It’s none of my business.”

“It’s all right.” I smile. “Did Steele say what we were?”

“No. He’s pretty private about stuff like that. I shouldn’t have said anything.” She waves her hand.

“That’s okay. We’re sort of friends, I guess. It doesn’t seem fair to try to be anything else, because as you said, I’m going back to Chicago. Honestly, Steele’s not the kind of guy I’d date, anyway. His occupation is a huge turn-off for me.”

“Really? But don’t you work with him?”

“No. I work for the insurance company that covers his stunts. My job is to keep my company protected by keeping him safe.”

“Interesting. Well, thanks for keeping Steele safe.” She lowers her voice. “He’s my favorite Kane brother.”

“Yeah, there’s what, like five of them?”

“Yes, not including Lurlene, of course, but I’m sure you haven’t met her yet. She lives in Manhattan.”

“No but yes, Steele’s mentioned her.”

A couple of hours later after a couple of mimosas, we’re laughing at each other as we take turns trying on the most outrageous outfits. And bent over, laughing hysterically, I realize that Harley and I could be friends. Cosmo always said you surround yourself with people who have qualities you admire but feel you lack yourself. She shines in my faults, and I appreciate her for it.

I prance around outside the dressing room in a huge puffy dress covered in feathers.

“Oh, that’s … hey …” Harley waves a finger at the awful thing hanging from my body. “We should throw an ugly dress party. Ya know, like they do for Christmas sweaters, and you could wear that.” She starts laughing again as she digs through her purse to find her ringing cell.

I twirl around and look in the mirror. “This is horrible. Who would wear this thing?” My eyes shift to Harley’s wide ones, her expression falling from happy to … “What’s wrong?”

“It’s Steele.” She blinks, lowering the cell from her ear. “He’s, ah, been in an accident.”

I stare into the mirror, heart racing and palms sweating. Not again. I can’t do it again. “Is he …?” I swallow down the fear clawing up my dry throat. “Is he okay?”

“I don’t know. All Token said was that he’s on his way to the hospital now.”

Unable to move my cemented feet, I take another long look at the ugly dress, wishing it was the worst part of the day, but I know it’s not. Tragedy is always trying to be my friend, lurking in the corner just waiting to come out. I don’t want any part of it. I can’t do it again. “Okay.” I look back at Harley who’s patiently waiting for my reaction. “I’ll go change, and then you can take us to the hospital. You know which one he’s at?”

She nods.

“Okay, good.” I nod my head a crazy number of times before heading back into the changing room.

Please make him be okay. I can’t do it. I just can’t do it again. If he’s okay, I’ll leave. I promise, tragedy, I’m gone. I’ll hightail it right out of here the minute I know he’s okay. You got Trevor. You can’t have him too.