My Chance (Chance #2) (22 page)

“No, I’m not having issues with Val. I’m having issues with Jess.” I opened my mouth to say something, but he stopped me. “Don’t say anything please. I know she shouldn’t be an issue. She called me last night and was really upset. I didn’t know what to do.”

I lowered my brow. “So what did you do?”

Mark sat in the extra chair in my cubicle and took a sip of his coffee. He didn’t say anything.

I was uneasy. “Mark?”

“I talked to her. Well, I mostly listened while she talked. She’s so sad about everything. I just don’t know what to do. She lost her job and her boyfriend, or whatever he was. She lost her money. She’s just sad. I don’t know how else to say it.” He shrugged, leaned back, and exhaled. “I don’t have feelings for her anymore, but she needs a friend.” He took a sip of his coffee and looked at me.

I knew my mouth was open, but no words came out.

“You don’t have to say anything. You probably think I’m stupid for even giving her the time of day, but what would you have done?” Mark exhaled. “I don’t know. I suppose I should tell Val, right?”

I put my hands up in surrender. “Please don’t ask me that.”

He half smiled. “Too late. I already did.”

“Ugh! I think that being honest is the only way to go. God knows I learned my lesson. Don’t be upset with Val if this sends her for a loop. You have to know it will upset her, but I think she knows the kind of guy you are. If you want to be Jessica’s friend, then I hope Val understands that.”

He nodded. “Just like you understood her friendship with Alex?”

My heart hurt a little because they had had a sort of “relationship.” I nodded. “Yeah, like I did. It might not be easy for her. Just remember that.”

Julie came around the corner with her coffee cup. “Hey, guys. What’s going on?” She seemed as though she was in a good mood.

“Hey, Jules, how are you?”

She tilted her head back and forth. “I’m okay. Trying to get over everything. I’ll be fine. How are you? How was your weekend? Oh my God, Aubrey, I totally forgot you went to the cemetery yesterday. Everything go okay?”

“The cemetery was sad and happy at the same time. I was glad to share that time with Alex and being close to where his mom and sister were buried was sad. Then his dad showed up.”

Mark and Julie both looked concerned.

“It was one of the best parts of the day. Alex and his dad spoke, and I think they’ll be fine. He’s even coming to our engagement party. Then… Are you ready for this?” I beamed and spun in my chair.

Julie laughed. “Spill it! What did you guys do after that?” She winked at me.

“I think this is my cue to leave.” Mark stood.

Julie hit his arm. “Shut it and sit down. So what? Dish!”

“Well, we went back to the club and…” I looked around as though I was about to tell them juicy news. “Alex had hired professional ballroom dancers to teach us. He even hired a stylist for me!”

Julie gasped. “You’ve always wanted to do that! He’s the best!”

Mark chimed in. “He’s a jerk.”

“What? How does that make him a jerk?” I wasn’t pleased by his statement, and by the look on Julie’s face, neither was she.

“Do you know how horrible your boyfriend makes the rest of us look? Shit. I hope Val doesn’t find out.”

We all laughed, and Mark said he needed to get to his desk. He kissed us both on the cheek and left.

“You really are lucky, Aubrey. I’m so happy for you I could burst.”

“I want you to be happy too.”

“I will be, I promise,” Julie said. “Now I need to get to my office. I have a lot to do. I hate Mondays.”

I usually hated Mondays too, but I was happy. I thought about the day before, and it had ended up being one of the best days I’d ever had. I picked up my phone and called Alex. I was looking at a picture of us when he answered.

“Hello there, future Mrs. Logan.”

I couldn’t help giggling. “Hi.”

“What’s up? Miss me already?”

“As a matter of fact, yes, I do. I was thinking about you and the amazing day we had yesterday. I just wanted you to know you were on my mind.”

“Yesterday was pretty incredible, wasn’t it? I love surprising you. I intend to keep doing so for the rest of our lives. I was thinking about you too actually. Everyone I invited to our engagement party has accepted. It should be a lot of fun. I can’t wait to make the formal announcement that you will be my wife.”

I closed my eyes and let the word wife linger in my mind. I pictured him in a tux and me in my white gown with Julie by my side. Then I pictured Brett next to Alex, and my daydream ended. “Yeah, I can’t wait either.”

“That didn’t sound enthusiastic. What’s wrong?”

“Do you know if Brett is bringing a date? I don’t want anything to make Julie sad.”

Alex was quiet.

“Alex? Did you hear me?”

“Yeah, sorry. He did ask if he could bring a date, and I told him yes.”

Shit.
“Oh.” Yup, that was all I said. Julie was going to flip. I would have to tell her. I shouldn’t have asked.

“Aubrey, what was I supposed to say? ‘No, you can’t bring a date because your ex-girlfriend will be there’?”

Yes.
“No, I just wish he hadn’t asked. I don’t know how Julie will react. I’ll tell her.” Not a conversation I wanted to have.

“I’m sorry, babe. She knows he’s already been with someone else, so do you think she’ll really care?”

“I don’t know. This sucks, ya know? I hate this. I’ve never seen her so sad. It breaks my heart, and there’s nothing I can do to help her. I’ll talk to you later. I love you.”

After we hung up, I stood to go into Julie’s office and almost ran into her. My hand went to my chest. “You startled me, Jules.”

“Sorry. I take it that was Alex on the phone?”

I nodded.

“So Brett has a date for Sunday?”

Shit. How much did she hear?
“Yes. I’m really sorry. I wish he’d wake up.”

“I don’t want him.” Julie looked down. When she looked up, she had tears in her eyes. “I love him, but he slept with her. How can I love a man who would do that to me? He must be totally into her since he’s bringing her to your party. If he wanted me back, that would be the perfect opportunity. He’s not taking it.” She wiped tears away.

I hugged her. “I’m so sorry. You still want to be there, right?”

“Yeah, yeah, of course I do. It’ll be okay, I promise.”

“Okay, if you’re sure.” I almost told her she could bring someone, but I knew she wouldn’t. “Want to grab a drink after work? We don’t have to go to the club. We can go somewhere else.”

“Sure, that sounds great. But we can go to the club. I’d like to thank Alex for being the man we all dream of. Ironic, isn’t it?”

“What is?”

“Alex. I mean, he’s done some shitty things, but all in all, he’s an awesome boyfriend… fiancé. Look at everything he’s done for you. It still blows my mind that he was in Paris with you. What man does that? What man leaves his business, his friends, his life? A man who knows what it means to love unconditionally. I know I didn’t give him a fair shake and I wanted to kick his ass after the Leah debacle, but he has to be the best man for you. I’m so happy for you.” Julie pulled me into a hug. “I love you.”

I was crying too. “I love you too.”

We got ourselves together, and Julie went to her office. I sat down to edit some marketing copy Mark had sent me. I read the words, but nothing made sense. I knew it wasn’t the copy—it was me. I put my forehead in my hands and my fingers in my hair. I was so frustrated I felt like pulling my hair and screaming. I tossed my pencil instead and leaned back in my chair to look at the ceiling.

“Stressed?”

For the second time, my hand covered my chest and I jumped. “Shit.”

Alex stood at my cubicle wall. He had on his designer jeans that hung low, a rugged black leather belt, a baby blue T-shirt, and his black leather jacket. His hair was messy, very JFL, and extremely sexy. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. Is everything okay?”

I shook my head. “No.” I got out of my chair and fell into his chest.

His arms wrapped around me. “Sweetheart, what’s wrong? Are you not feeling okay?”

My words went into his chest. “I feel bad for Julie. Brett’s being mean to her.”

His hands went to my shoulders, and he moved me so I was no longer plastered to his chest. He brought his palms to my cheeks, tilted my head up, and looked into my eyes. “I feel badly too, but I don’t want you getting so upset. I can tell Brett to come alone if that’s what you want.”

Yes, that is exactly what I want.
“No, he can bring someone. I just want them to get back together.”

“Babe, Sunday is about you and me.” He kissed my lips. “I don’t want us to concentrate on our friends’ messed up relationship, okay?”

“You’re right. Sunday is about us. Have you talked to your dad?”

“Not since yesterday. I emailed him the party details. I need to go back to work, but I was in the neighborhood, so I wanted to pop in and see you. Did you speak to your parents about the wedding?”

“Yes, I did, and my mom agreed to let you cover the costs. She said if you need anything to let them know, and they would be more than happy to contribute.”

“I’ll talk to them about it when I see them. Want to meet me later for a drink? We can go home after that.”

“Yeah, actually Julie and I are planning on going out. I’m not even going to ask if Brett will be there. It’s Monday, so it shouldn’t be too busy, right?”

“I’m trying out a new DJ. He has a following, so I don’t know how busy it’ll be. I wanted to see if having new music during happy hour would bring in more people. Today’s the first night, so we’ll see.”

“Shouldn’t you have brought in your marketing team for that? Do people even know?” I asked.

“We announced it over the weekend. If we don’t get a good response, then I’ll set something up with you guys. I have to go, though. I’ll see you tonight. By the way, this is for you.” He handed me a white orchid.

I didn’t know where he’d been hiding it. I laughed. “Adding magic to your many talents?”

He winked and walked toward the door. I smiled and set the orchid on my desk.

Julie and I arrived at the club around six. Alex had been right—there were more people than normal.

“Man, this place is jumping. I guess your fiancé knows his shit,” Julie said.

I looked at the bar. It was packed. Before I could walk toward it, I was scooped up from behind and spun around.

“Hey, beautiful. I have a table for you guys upstairs. I don’t know why you would want to sit at the bar when you have a VIP table reserved for you,” Alex said.

I looked at Julie. “Shall we?”

Julie scanned the room. “Sure, lead the way.”

We went upstairs. It was much nicer than the bar.

“I’ll send someone over to get your drink order,” Alex said. “I need to go check on the DJ and a few other things. See you guys in a few.”

I looked at Julie, but she was staring at something behind me. I turned around, and all I saw was Alex’s backside. “Um, Jules? Like something you see?”

“Yeah, your boyfriend has a really great ass.”

We laughed.

“I can’t wait until Sunday. It’ll be like practice for your wedding!”

“This all happened so fast,” I said. “If you think about what has happened in the past year, it’s crazy.”

“Sure is. But everything worked out the way it was supposed to, right? You found romance, your muse is amazing, and you’re getting married! I’m so excited I could burst.”

Julie was so cute. Even though her heart was crushed, she was still enthusiastic for us.

“Want to go and look for dresses this Saturday?” I asked.

“Finally! I thought you were going to walk down the aisle naked! Yes, let’s do that. You have less than a month, so you’ll probably have to buy something off the rack.”

“No, she won’t.” Alex appeared. He must have heard us talking.

“What are you talking about? Are you in the wedding gown business now?” Julie laughed.

I looked at him. “What do you mean?”

“No, I’m not in the wedding gown business, but I have a friend who will design whatever Aubrey wants. So your job is to make sure she gets what she wants. I don’t care if she wants real diamonds on her dress. Got it?” Alex kissed my forehead and left.

“Okay, I’m officially jealous.” Julie stared at the door Alex just walked through.

I waved my hand. “No, you don’t need to be jealous.”

“You can brush it off if you want to, but that is crazy cool.”

Julie was right, it was cool that he would give me anything I wanted. I never really thought about Alex’s money, except when his father brought it up. “At least I know it’ll fit, right? Since I don’t have to worry about mine, how about we go look for yours? What color do you want to wear? I can call Val and see if she can come too.”

Julie’s expression changed. “Sure. I really don’t care what color. No, scratch that, yes, I do. I don’t want to wear cotton candy pink or anything like that. What about black? I can rock black, and if Dumbass brings someone, I want to look hot.”

“Jules, who knows? By then, your two could be back together.”

“I don’t think so. But let’s not worry about it. I’m sorry I brought it up. I’m going to have to deal with him on Sunday anyways.”