Chapter 26

Alice

I raised my index finger dramatically into the air and brought it down onto the period key. Just like that, I was done. The article was written, and I could finally put all of this nonsense with Connor behind me.

My eyes moved over the page, going over the last few paragraphs of what I’d written. I couldn’t tell if I was in the midst of a high from finally being done or what, but this really did look like the best work I’d ever done. I would need to make a pass or two over it to iron things out here or there, but so far it was a piece to be proud of. I was even a good girl, fighting off the urge to stick in a barb here and there about Connor. I was professional, through and through.

That is, aside from the “fake marriage” thing. And the part where I slept with him…multiple times.

But it was all over and done with. That strange little chapter of my life was close, and I was ready to celebrate. I put some lively music on and danced-walked my way to the kitchen, where removed a bottle of pinot grigio from the fridge and poured myself a tall glass. Then, drink in hand, I leaned back against my kitchen counter and took a sip.

And felt totally, unbearably lonely.

I couldn’t wrap my mind around just why I felt this way. The work was done, the music was cheerful and upbeat, and the wine was delicious. But, despite all of this, Connor, that stupid prick, had managed to work his way back into my thoughts.

The image of him with that chick on his lap was still fresh in my mind, and set my blood boiling every time I called it up from my memory. But once I managed to cast that aside, I was left with the rest of the time I’d spent with Connor over the last few weeks. It was so strange how he’d managed to go out of his way to show me how he’d changed, what a different man he was, only to throw it away. And for what? A make-out session in his boss’s office?

Something about all of this just seemed so strange, so incongruous. But then again, if Connor really was the same man then everything made perfect sense. He’d let the mask slip, and that was that. But whatever happened, it didn’t change the fact that the time I’d spent with him had been some of the best days of the last few years. He, and Hunter, had brought something into my life that all the professional success in the world couldn’t hope to replicate.

And now, here I was, all alone in my little house trying to ignore the wound in my heart. I knew that I’d need time to recover. But where to even begin? Drown my sorrows in white wine and reality TV?

An hour later or so and, sure enough, that’s where I was. Plopped on the couch, wine in hand, the TV a low din of picture and sounds to which I couldn’t even pretend to pay attention. I understood that I needed to take some time readjust, to remember that the life I shared with Connor was nothing more than a game of pretend that had gone on for long past its expiration date. Of course, this did nothing to ease the ache that thrummed in my heart.

About halfway into my second glass, however, as the pretty brunette on the reality show stood in front of her three generically handsome suitors, trying to decide which one was the man for her, my phone rang. I snatched it up from the coffee table and looked at the screen.

Unlisted number. I knew that I should just put the phone back and return to my sad little night, but something compelled me to answer.

“Hello?”

“Hey there.”

I gasped. It was Connor.

My first instinct was one of total joy. But I tempered my reaction as I remembered that Connor had done me about as wrong as a man could.

“What do you want?” I asked with a sharp tone.

“Listen, I know you’re mad at me, and I know that you likely decided that you never want to talk to me again.”

“Nice to see that big brain of yours isn’t just for heart surgery.”

“But,” he continued, “before you hang up the phone, why don’t you take a look out the front window.”

“What, did you buy me that pony I’d always wanted as an apology present?”

“Just do it,” he said, his tone light. “I promise it’ll be worth your while.”

I took in a slow breath and walked to the front windows of the house. Sure enough, standing dressed in one of his sleek suits, a long limousine parked behind him, and a bouquet of flowers in his hand, was none other than Connor Rex.

My heart thudded in my chest, but I knew I had to play it cool.

“You’ve got a lot of nerve showing up here like something out of an eighties teen movie,” I said.

From my vantage point I watched as a broad smile formed on his lips.

“John Cusack’s got nothing on me,” he said.

A light laugh slipped past my lips. In spite of how angry I was at him, Connor’s charm was almost impossible to resist.

“Come on out,” he said. “We’ve got some stuff we need to chat about.”

“And why would I do that?” I asked. “Already tired of your redhead?”

“No,” he said, “because I want to take you out on the date I should’ve all those years ago. And put on something nice.”

“You get jeans and a non-oversized T-shirt.”

“Deal.”

The hand holding the phone dropped to my side and I hit the button to end the call. I couldn’t believe that I was giving him another chance after what he’d put me through, but I just couldn’t resist him. Connor had a hold on me with which no other man could hope to compare.

“This had better be good,” I said, stepping toward him outside after I’d thrown on some new clothes.

“It will be,” he said.

With that, he opened the back door of the limo and gestured for me to get inside. Shaking my head, as if in disbelief at my own actions, I entered the car. Connor followed me into the sleek interior, shutting the door behind him. Once seated, he gave the glass partition between the back and the driver a quick rap, and we were off.

“You know,” I said, looking around the low-lit back of the limo, “there wasn’t a girl at Hemswood High that didn’t dream of being taken out for a night on the town by you.”

“So I hear,” said Connor.

“Never thought it would be me,” I said. “And even if I’d let my fantasies take me away, I never would’ve guessed I’d be in a limo with you while fighting off the urge to pour a glass of wine and toss it in your face.”

“I suppose there’s a first time for everything,” he said, cracking open a bottle of white and pouring two glasses.

“I suppose so,” I said.

“You walked into that office at the most inopportune time imaginable,” Connor said.

“No freaking kidding.”

“It was so inopportune, in fact, that I couldn’t help but feel that there was something going on. But you should know that what was happening between that woman and I wasn’t what you thought, what any of you thought.”

I crossed my arms over my breasts and lowered my eyes.

“I didn’t do anything with that girl. In fact, all I could think about while she was throwing herself at me was, well, you. I told her over and over that I wasn’t interested, but she wouldn’t take no for an answer. Then she pounced, and that’s when you all walked in.”

Connor went on with his explanation, getting to the part where Richter let it slip that he was behind the setup.

“You’re serious?” I asked. “It was all a ploy to make you look bad?”

“Never underestimate the underhandedness of the envious,” he said, shrugging slightly.

“And now what?” I asked.

“Meeting with the board tomorrow. They’re going to find out everything, and whatever happens, happens, I suppose.”

If what he said was true, then there was nothing else to be said about the matter. Connor had been set up, and I’d fallen for it.

“And what about…us?” I asked.

“That’s why I’m here,” he said. “I know that I can’t go back in time, and that I can’t make up for the way I treated you. But I can show you a night out that a woman like you deserves.”

I couldn’t help but smile.

“And just what do you have in mind?”

Right at that moment, the limo came to a halt.

“Take a look—we’re at the first stop.”

I glanced out the window and gasped. We were in downtown Hemswood and parked in front of La Poisson Rouge, one of the fanciest restaurants in town—at least, fancy when you’re a sixteen-year-old-girl.

“Well, well,” I said. “You’re finally taking me to the number one restaurant choice for any Hemswood boy hoping to impress a girl.”

He flashed me a smile.

“Is it working?”

“My inner high-schooler is very, very impressed.”

He matched my smile with a wry grin of his own.

“Then shall we?”

“We shall.”

The interior was lovely. I’d never eaten at Le Poisson Rouge before, and though I was more than happy to give Connor shit for taking me here, it had always been a dream of mine in high school to have a boy take me here, to be seated at one of the white-linen-covered tables in the back, the Hemswood downtown alive with evening pedestrians outside of the window. I would fantasize about ordering the crème brûlée after our dinner and cracking the crusted sugar on top at the same time as my date.

“Wait,” I said after our meal when our crème brûlée was placed in front of us. “We gotta do this at the same time.”

“Is that right?” asked Connor, his spoon raised and ready to go.

“Just go with it,” I said.

Connor complied, and with a backward count from three we both broke the sugar at the same time. Call me silly, call me sentimental, but it was exactly what I’d dreamed it would be.

After our meal, Connor and I took a stroll through downtown, the familiar sights bringing to mind memories of the brief time he and I shared together so many years ago. As the night went on, as he and I laughed and reminisced, I felt the bitter memories I had of Connor fade, to be left in the past where they belonged.

“Where to now?” I asked, half-jokingly. “Cupid’s Crest?”

Cupid’s Crest was the famous make-out spot in Hemswood, and the concluding point of any good date.

“Hey,” he said, a playful expression on his features, “I guess it’s true what they say about great minds.”

I gave Connor a playful nudge, my joking suggestion now seeming quite appealing. We made our way back to the limo and we were soon off, the car making its way up the curving roads to the bluff overlooking the city.

Once we came to a halt, Connor looked away pensively, as though he had something on his mind that he didn’t quite know how to say.

“I’ve never been one for big declarations like this,” he said, his voice heavy with emotion. “But here goes.”

He took a slow, deep breath and went on.

“I love you, Alice,” he said. “I love you more than I’ve ever loved another woman. And not knowing what I had back when I had it was one of the greatest mistakes of my life. Thinking about how different my life might’ve been if I hadn’t run away from my feelings all those years ago… Well, it’s too difficult to really think about. But you’re here now, and there’s not a chance I’m going to let you go for a second time.”

My heart ached with his words, and I waited for him to go on.

“Commitment has always been a four-letter word to me, but something about you makes the idea of it less frightening. And not just that, you make the idea of it seem wonderful. So, if you’re ready to give you and me another chance, I’m ready for you.”

It was all I’d wanted to hear and more. Leaning in close, I kissed him softly on the lips.

“Let’s see where this takes us,” I said.

He pulled me close and kissed me back hard.

Well, I thought, my heart pounding with excitement—here we go.