Preserving Love: A Contemporary Romance Series (Nick & Lexi Book 2)
NICK & LEXI:
BOOK 2
Preserving Love
By Kay Brody
This is entirely a work of fiction. All people, places and events contained have been completely fabricated by the author. Any similarities to real people, places, or events are completely coincidental.
Preserving Love Copyright © 2015 Kay Brody
All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced in any manner or used in any way without advanced written permission by the author.
A Special Offer!
Once you’ve finished the story, be sure to continue on for a special offer from me, Kay Brody!
I promise it will be worth your while (
if you like what I write, of course
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And it will only be the beginning of what I’d like to offer you!
Dedication
This is for those guys who make you so mad you just want to kiss them…
Chapter 1
Lexi
“God, this is delicious,” Kendall bit into her brownie, caramel dripping from her lips. “So, what are you gonna do?”
The fork in my hand slid a slice of lemon pie around the plate, silence lingering between us. Her question seemed to hang mid-air, neither unexpected nor answerable. It was the first time Kendall and I had spent any time together since I’d learned the news, so she wasn’t even aware of how much sleep I’d lost since then-- let alone my inability to decide how to handle it.
“I dunno,” my voice barely above a whisper, I shot back the only response I knew.
She continued to eat her desert as I sat unable to even touch mine. It wasn’t fair. We’d planned this outing long before my life collapsed around me. It was our day. We would shop, talk, see a movie and enjoy lunch at one of our favorite little cafes. A day to escape the world. Time for us away from everything that weighed us down.
Yet there I sat, across from my best friend at a tiny table for two, absorbed in nothing but the problems weighing me down. It wasn’t fair to her-- but I couldn’t seem to break away from it.
It’s not like I’d had all that long to adjust. Maybe a week and a half had passed since the night that turned my life upside down all over again. That was when he’d gotten the message. That was when he’d told me.
Shit, it was even my fault. Evan had been planning to turn it down. He wasn’t going to let something like a building come between us. Not after the last time. I’d encouraged him. I’d insisted he accept. Of course, that was before I knew.
The condo he had designed-- the one they were going to build-- was the same place I would be fighting to prevent. It was akin to living in a sitcom and the same tired plot was being repeated.
“You really gonna go through this again?” Pushing her empty plate to the side, Kendall resumed her game of twenty questions. “Are you up for it?”
It was a fair question. She was there when Evan and I had went through it the first time. The company he worked for was dead set on putting a retail center smack dab in the middle of my little neck of the woods. Our history and preferences would have been defiled.
Naturally I’d joined the Society in fighting it every step of the way. That meant fighting Evan with all I had - and I did. I was ready to bury his Yankee ass and not give a damn.
Of course I had no clue he was the same person as my anonymous friend Nick from Facebook. The guy I looked forward to hearing from, flirting with and even venting to about my life. Finding that out had been a shock.
We’d made it though. Even with the drama and the battles over property. His devastation at the way the community saw him had tugged my heartstrings. So when that battle had been over I’d worked hard to help him blend in.
The Society was a harder sell than some of the residents. They were getting to know him. Considering his potential as a member and then this happened.
God, I hadn’t even talked to the Society. They were probably livid. I’d brought him in, he’d agreed to help fight the condo development. They’d gotten damn near trusting him. Then it turned out he’d be on the opposite side.
“Do I have a choice?” shrugging, I took a sip of my coffee. It was about all I could stomach.
“Lex,” elbows on the table, Kendall leaned forward and looked directly into my eyes. “You always have a choice.”
“Sure,” shrugging again I turned from her gaze, afraid she’d see my own fear boiling to the surface. “Lose Evan or lose my passion.”
Mouth scrunched and brow furrowed, Kendall leaned back in her chair to contemplate what I’d said. She knew it was true. I could give him up, give up my work or suck it up and deal. Which so far had been the choice.
I was just scared. What if it became too much? It could ruin our relationship and I didn’t want that to happen. He was the first man I’d ever really felt like I belonged with. It just worried me.
“Then I suppose you will just have to make do,” obviously she’d decided to support my choice. “Not like anything could take you down.”
Kendall was the supportive friend to the max. Sometimes I wished she’d play devil’s advocate. Tell me I was nuts. Say it’d never work. Remind me of the disaster that was waiting for me on the other side of this. Support was nice, but sometimes honesty was better.
“What’s he think about it?”
The question I’d dreaded. How did I even give her an answer? Evan was always positive things would be good. I was sure that was how he felt. I just didn’t know for sure. I’d spent a while avoiding him.
Not totally. We’d talked on the phone or text - occasionally even back to the old Facebook - but I’d kept the topic away from the condo development. Like a giant neon elephant in the room, it stood to the side reminding us both that we weren’t being totally honest. With each other-- or with ourselves.
Going out hadn’t even been an option. The shop was busy and he was hard at work on the design and development. Mostly on doing everything in his power to thwart my attempt to block it.
The forgotten pie on my plate caught my attention as I avoided my best friend’s. I knew I’d have an answer soon. We had a date that night - the first since he’d been offered the deal. No way we’d make it the entire evening without it coming up.
“He’s positive,” pushing the pie with the fork I only half lied to her but it was enough to stop me from looking into her eyes. “He always is.” The afterthought conveying more of my emotion than the answer.
“Good,” Kendall hadn’t picked up on my hesitation. If she had, she’d ignored it. “If you both believe it’s manageable then it is.”
“Right,” I picked at the pie, still avoiding her gaze. “We’ll be fine.”
It was the single biggest lie I’d told in a long time. Not because we wouldn’t specifically. Mainly because I didn’t believe it. I was not convinced that the two of us could withstand another battle over land.
We’d barely been on speaking terms the first time and that was just his job against my passion. This time we were facing his lifelong dream. He finally had the chance to see one of his designs built. It was all he’d wanted.
No doubt that would push Evan to fight with everything he had. I would do the same. There was no way that a new relationship could survive that.
“Are you gonna eat that pie or just fondle it all day?” Kendall’s laugh filled the empty dining room. We’d picked an odd time to enjoy our lunch. “Because I mean….”
Sliding the plate across the table I had to smile. I had no clue how she didn’t weigh damn near a ton with all the junk she stuffed into her body. I had to fight tooth and nail to keep an extra ten pounds off and I didn’t eat half of what she did. Genetics.
“We are going out tonight,” I changed the subject again. “There’s a band playing somewhere downtown.”
I heard her mumble something between bites of food. Kendall always said she was a fat kid in training and watching the pie disappear as quickly as it was-- I believed her.
“I should probably head back early to get ready.” Just as I pulled my phone out of my pocket to check the time I heard the chirp of a text message.
“That’s probably Mr Facebook now,” she teased, reminding me of our humble beginning as strangers.
“No,” the air left my lungs in a giant heap. I couldn’t believe what I was reading.
“Lex,” Kendall stopped eating when she saw the look on my face. “Everything okay?”
“No,” sighing I sat the phone down on the table, trying to decide what I was going to do next. “It’s the Society.”
“Okay?”
“They called an emergency meeting. It’s mandatory. If I’m not there, I will be kicked off.”
“Oh,” Looking at the table instead of me, Kendall tried to find the right words. “When is it?”
Glancing around the room I tried not to think. It was already happening. This was already interfering in life. In my relationship. In my sanity.
“Tonight,” I answered her, heart heavy with sadness over my missed date. “I have to tell Evan that we can’t go out so that I can meet with the Society to discuss how to ruin his hopes and dreams.” The words spilled out before I could filter. “Yea,” I continued. “We will be just fine.”
*****
Chapter 2
“Alexis,” Grant stood and acknowledged me as I walked up to the table, but his face was hard and cold. “Thank you for joining us.”
“I wasn’t given a lot of choice,” I mumbled, taking a seat at the table. “A little notice would have been nice. I had plans this evening.”
“Sorry,” Patty offered, barely looking at me.
She had been the one to send the text and that was likely why she was the one apologizing for it. Truth was, Grant would have been the one to call the meeting abruptly. Judging from the look on his face, the subject matter wasn’t pleasant.
I watched as everyone looked over the menu, trying to decide what they’d like to eat and drink for the meeting. Personally I just wanted to get it done and over with.
Evan hadn’t replied to my text and that worried me. I’d told him I had to postpone the date as I’d been called to an emergency meeting with the society that I wasn’t allowed to miss. I’d asked if we could do it a little bit later. He hadn’t said a word.
Not sure whether to eat or save my appetite for a late date, I ordered an appetizer and a drink. I really wished Evan would at least contact me so I knew what to plan on. Besides, the silence made me think that he was angry and I didn’t like that feeling.
“Do we want to get down to business, or wait until the food is served?” Grant asked, still cold and silent for the most part.
I wanted to ask about Anna. I wanted this to be our typical friendly meeting. The problem was that it wasn’t. I could feel the tension in the room and if I was correct, most of it was directed at me.
“I say go for it,” Vincent spoke up, echoing my own thoughts. “I got things to do.”
Everyone at the table agreed and Grant sat down his glass, folding his hands and preparing to begin.