But it’s a small world. These things happen.” I paused until she looked at me. “But what matters is I care about you, and I don’t want to lose what we have. And we don’t have to.”
She bit her lip, considering my words. I could sense she was thinking the same thing as me. Her phone shook on the table. Without thinking, I glanced over and saw who it was.
Andrew.
“Shit,” she said, snatching up her phone and looking at the screen. “He’s been messaging me all day. Apparently, he thinks I was in on it.”
“He’s dealing with it in his own way. How about this – you let me handle it with him. You and he aren’t a couple any longer, and there’s no reason you need to explain what happened.”
“Are you sure?” she asked.
“Sure. I’ll take care of it.”
“And…where does that leave us?”
“Wherever we want. I know I want you still, and I’m ready to put all this behind us if you are.”
She shook her head in disbelief. “God, this is about the craziest thing I’ve ever dealt with in my life.”
I laughed. “You and me both. But it’s worth it. If I have to deal with a little craziness for a woman like you…” – I lifted her up from where she was seated and put my hands on her waist – “…it’s more than worth it.”
She smiled sweetly. “And thanks for the flowers. That was really sweet of you.”
Gazing into her eyes, I couldn’t resist her any longer. I placed my hand on the side of her face and leaned down, kissing her slowly. The kiss only went on for a few moments before my phone rang.
“God,” she said. “Watch that be Andrew.”
“I doubt it,” I said, taking my phone out of my pocket. “He’s been giving me the silent treatment.”
And I was right – it wasn’t him. It was a call from my office, letting me know there’d been an issue in a Denver office that needed addressing.
“Shit,” I said. “I need to go. Finish this sometime soon?”
Another smile. “You bet.”
We kissed again, and damn was it hard to take her lips from mine.
When I left, I felt a keen sense of relief. But I had a feeling my troubles were far, far from over.
Annie
I was in a total daze after Duncan left. All I could do was go to my fridge, take out the bottle of wine I’d opened the night before after that totally insane meeting with Andrew, and pour a glass.
Happily, however, before I could take a sip, a text from Gia asking me how the evening was going appeared on my phone. I told her I was home, and she said she’d be on her way over soon. It was like she had a sixth sense for these kinds of things, knowing exactly when something happened to get me all out of sorts.
I raised the glass of pinot grigio to my lips, my eyes on the bouquet of flowers Andrew had left for me at the top of the garbage can. They were wilted and broken, a reminder of the end of our relationship. Of course he would try to get me back. And of course, he’d decide this just as my relationship with a man who turns out to be his brother is becoming stronger.
His freaking brother. Small world, alright. So small I was beginning to feel hemmed in, like there was nowhere for me to go. I wanted to scream in frustration. But instead, I sipped my wine.
Throwing a fit or getting bent out of shape wouldn’t do me a damn bit of good. I needed to be rational, to wrap my head around the situation and not let myself feel overwhelmed.
I knew exactly what I needed to do.
After taking a sip of my wine, I set down the glass and made my way over to my violin case. I popped it open, my eyes moving over the shape of the instrument. I picked it up, positioned it and the bow where they needed to be, and let loose.
The music that came out was high-energy and frenetic, with a tight melody that required total focus as my fingers danced over the strings. I played and played, channeling all my frustration and confusion into the music. Right as I hit the peak of the improvised song, I saw Gia out of the corner of my eye.
Feeling a touch exposed, I hurriedly returned the violin to the case, doing it so awkwardly