A Redo (The Sterling Shore Series #6) (4 page)

Chapter 7

ALLIE

“What time will our muscle be here?” Bella asks from the kitchen as the sound of box tape scratches my annoyed ears. I didn’t realize how much we hadn’t packed.

“Any minute now. He said he was bringing help.”

I still can’t believe how quick his response was. Or that he thanked me for asking for his help. And I really hate that it made me smile.

“Awesome.”

Angel comes skipping in, swaying from side to side with her tiara on like she’s a princess.

“When is Wren coming? I want him to see my doll collection before I finish packing. He’s going to get me a new one for Christmas.”

“You already asked him for one?” I ask, swallowing hard. I hadn’t thought about Christmas. His is going to seem so elaborate next to what I can afford.

“Nope. I’m going to show him my dolls, and then tell him which ones I need. He told me to be thinking of what I want for Christmas because he’s got a big family, and they all buy the kids presents. There are only three kids. That means a third of the presents will be mine.”

He has a big family? I’ll add it to the list of things I didn’t know. I’ve done my best not to stalk his information online, because the web portrays him as this amazing guy. He’s the wounded, recently divorced, rich, gorgeous guy, and women from everywhere are offering to kiss away his pain in ways that makes my head hurt to imagine.

“Well, he’ll be here soon, but we have to get everything out today, so don’t take long. We won’t be able to—”

A knock at the door interrupts me, and I take a deep, steadying breath before wiping my nervous hands on my jeans and moving to answer it. But my overeager daughter beats me to the door and swings it open to reveal Wren Prize in all his glory leaning against the doorjamb.

With his sunglasses on, his inky black hair sweeping his brow, and his easy grin, he looks like every swoon-worthy dream I’ve ever had. His tight T-shirt, frayed jeans, and new tennis shoes make me work hard to breathe.

“Hey, beautiful,” he says to Angel, and I might wobble. Just a little. Even his voice is unsettlingly perfect today.

“Hey, Wren. Come on. You need to see my dolls so you know which ones I need for Christmas. Mommy is making me pack them up soon.”

His laughter wraps around me and teases all my senses, making me really regret doing this. I didn’t want to enjoy how well they interact. What was I thinking?

“Can you give me just a minute to show the guys in and get them started? It might be rude to dump all that on your mom,” he says, keeping his eyes on her and not focusing them on me.

That’s what I wanted, but for some reason… I at least wish he’d acknowledge me.

“Yeah. Sure. Meet me in there. Mommy will show you which one it is.”

He smiles and nods, and she runs off to her room without a backwards glance in my direction. That’s when he pulls off his sunglasses, and those heart-stopping blue eyes find mine. “I brought an army. Hope you’re ready,” he says, grinning, and… yeah… This time I’m forced to wobble noticeably.

He moves quickly, bridging the small gap between us, and his hands move to my waist, steadying me. Oh damn. He shouldn’t be touching me, because it sickens me to know how much I want him to touch me more.

“I’m… fine,” I say hoarsely, making his eyes fill with concern.

“You sure? You should have asked me to come over sooner if you’re already this weak, Allie. I could have gotten this all packed up for you.”

I do feel weak. Just not the way he thinks.

Damn him and his words right now. Really don’t need this confusion, and I hate the way my body is reacting to him. Anatomy and psychology seem to be at war within me.

“I’m fine,” I say again, sounding stronger as I clear my throat.

“Holy hell. There’s like… a bunch of people down there,” Bella says while coming back into the apartment. She left? “And they’re all—” She stops speaking when her eyes land on Wren’s hands that are firmly placed on my hips. Then her grin slowly spreads across her face when her eyes meet mine. “—here, looking for our place. I told them the apartment number, and then I raced up the stairs while they waited on the elevator,” she finishes.

Wren lets go of my hips, and he moves past Bella to the elevator across the hall just as it dings. Bella continues grinning, and I cut my eyes toward her in warning. That wasn’t what it looked like. I don’t think.

Wren laughs in the hallway as loud chatter arises, and I tilt my head curiously, moving closer to see… Holy shit! How did he get this many people to come help him on a Saturday at the last minute?

“Everyone,” he says, motioning toward me, “this is Allie, and that’s her roommate… Bella.”

He points to Bella and then he jogs toward Angel’s room, knocking first to gain her permission before entering. It’s a small act of respect that only pisses me off more, because he keeps rewriting everything I thought I knew.

He sticks his head in the door, and Angel walks out, smiling when she sees all the faces around us.

“And most of you have met Angel a time or two. It’s the only time she’s not bored with me,” he jokes, and Angel laughs loudly, only warming me more.

He’s introduced her to his friends. Why does that make him seem even better?

“There she is,” a strikingly gorgeous woman says on her way to hug my daughter. Um… who the hell is she?

Wren grins at the woman too affectionately, and my jaw works tensely when she picks Angel up and hugs her. Angel hugs her back, but it’s stilted. Obviously this woman is more comfortable than she should be. Angel doesn’t let people in easily.

“Oh,” Wren says, laughing when he sees me. There’s the asshole I know. “Sorry. This is my mother—Melanie Prize.”

My jaw drops. Painfully so. In fact… there are no words. She’s not old enough to be his mom.

“Don’t look so shocked, dear,” the woman says with a soft smile, but she seems uncertain about how to approach me. I’m sure Wren has told her I’m a bitch. In fact, now I’m a little self-conscious because he’s probably told everyone I am, but I doubt he’s told anyone about how he treated me. “A woman can look young for decades these days.”

I force a smile, feeling uncomfortable in my own home with all his friends. Until I see a face I know.

“Hey,” the familiar woman says, and I sigh in relief.
I
was really nice to her.

“Brin,” I say, proud of myself for remembering the name Wren once gave me on the way to stitch up her boyfriend’s hand.

Her smile brightens the mood, and she turns just as the tall, tattooed man walks closer, stretching out his hand that has the faintest scar.

“You did good work. We came to repay the favor.”

I smile while shaking his hand, and then I glance back and forth between the two of them. “I guess you two are more than neighbors now?” I muse, needing someone to bond with out of this crowd.

Brin snickers while nodding. “You caught us on a bad night. Things are a lot different. Hope you’re ready to get moved in within a few hours. Wren assembled an army.”

I turn back to see the numerous other faces, and Wren starts introductions. Most wave and smile before asking us for instructions. Bella handles most of the delegating, since I’m still not fully in the moment. I can’t believe he was able to get so much help so quickly.

While Bella is putting everyone to work, Wren and Melanie sneak off to join Angel in her room. Being nosy, I follow, making sure to look as though I’m packing up the rest of a box near the doorway of my daughter’s room.

“I think we can fill in the gaps just fine. You know, we do have six Christmases to make up for, so we’ll have a lot to do. Not to mention, let’s just say… your father’s house is rather… boring, I hear. Maybe we could speed Christmas up and put some things there for you to play with,” Melanie says, and my heart sputters.

I never really thought of parenting as being competitive, but what if Angel realizes Wren can give her so much more than me? It’s so frigging insecure, but I can’t help it.

No. I won’t do that. I can’t. My daughter deserves all the things she’s ever wanted, and if Wren can give them to her, I’m sure as hell not going to be petty and stand in her way.

“I’ll write some things down,” Angel says matter-of-factly, prompting me to hold back my laughter.

“You can write?” Melanie asks in surprise.

“Yep. And I can read, too. Not the big books like Mommy, but I can read the smaller books she buys me.”

They continue to ask her questions, and I peek in to see Wren smiling at her while putting the last of her stuff in boxes, treating everything with care like it can’t be replaced. I decide to give them privacy instead of hovering, so I move to the kitchen. Or try to.

Bella intercepts me half way and pulls me to the side by my elbow, intriguing me.

“What the hell?” she grumbles, releasing me to cross her arms over her chest.

“What the hell what?” I ask, rubbing my poor wounded elbow that did nothing to deserve her violent use for upheaval.

“Every guy in there is taken. The Dane guy owns half of Sterling Shore, and he’s here despite some big party he’s having, because he’s a good friend to Wren. So obviously I’m intrigued, but no. He’s married. To the hot blonde girl in our kitchen who happens to be a frigging bestselling author. And the hot guy with the tattoos all over his arms is with the short girl who is tripping him every time he walks back and mocking him with insincere apologies. And the other guy, Kode, is with the dark haired girl who happens to be sisters with the striking blonde. Kade, the youngest one of them, yeah… he’s engaged to the chick who keeps griping about them leaving her out of their poker night. It’s like mega-hot-but-don’t-touch-city in there. Did he do that on purpose?”

I bite back a grin as she blows a hair out of her face, scowling at the door she closed on our way out.

“I don’t know. But since when are you looking for a guy?”

She turns that vicious scowl on me, and my laughter leaks out just a little.

“I’m not. But it wouldn’t hurt to enjoy the view. I feel like I’m going to get in trouble if I enjoy the eye candy in there. And for the record, those guys might as well be blind to all other women in the world. They haven’t even noticed that I exist. They’d be sleaze if they did notice, considering they’re taken, but still. I’ve never felt so teased.”

My laughter starts pouring out, and she takes a step back as though I’ve lost my mind. Then again, I can’t remember laughing this hard at something so small.

“Since when the hell do you laugh at something so mundane?” she asks, doing the thing where she makes me worry that she’s in my head.

“I don’t. I don’t know what’s wrong with me,” I utter through the fits of laughter.

Wren managed to assemble a small army of help, yet he also made sure not to bring anyone single that might hit on Bella. Obviously he doesn’t want to risk anything going wrong with our rocky start. He certainly didn’t do it because of me, considering he knows I’m dating someone. Or… at least I think he does.

That makes me appreciate him even more. Just knowing he’s giving this all he’s got is a good sign. It takes me at least five minutes to finally stop laughing, but Bella can’t seem to stop smiling.

“Fine. I’ll deal with all the hotties being taken if you keep laughing like that. It’s nice to hear.”

I just roll my eyes while she opens the door, and I trek back into the house as two of the said hotties use the open door to walk out our sofa. Bella checks out Rye’s ass, but quickly looks away when the smiling Brin sweetly clears her throat.

“Torture,” Bella whispers, prompting me to snicker softly while moving back toward the kitchen where the girls are all quick to swarm me with questions about Angel. This I can talk about easily. Maybe this won’t be so bad after all.

***

ALLIE

This is hell. Pure and utter hell.

Wren Prize is freaking amazing. He’s nothing like the Wren Jacobs I met in Cancun. In fact, this Wren would kick that Wren’s ass for his behavior. How can one person change so much in such a short span of time?

Albeit, seven years is a long time, but not enough for someone to be this incredibly different. The girls all talk about him being the voice of reason amongst the group—the most mature. They keep acting as though it’s impossible he was a jerk. Not that I mentioned it. He apparently told them he was an asshole to me, yet they still can’t believe it.

I wouldn’t believe it either if I hadn’t seen it for myself, because after spending a whole day with him, I can’t even picture him as the same guy. In fact, I’ve questioned my memories of that night, which pisses me off.

“You know,” Bella says as she sidles up next to me, climbing onto a stool so that she can properly hang a picture, “Wren Prize is definitely becoming my favorite person on a moving day. All of our stuff is almost unpacked, and it’s just barely getting dark. And
all
of his friends have stayed. That’s pretty amazing. Loyalty like that, well, it’s rare. I thought only we had it, yet they all have it to him.”