LEAH
Shuffling after Isabelle, I grunted with each shirt, dress, and pair of shoes thrown into my arms. The stack of clothes was intolerable now—I could hardly see over the last pair of heels resting on top. I spotted an empty shopping cart and hustled over to it before Isabelle could load me up again.
We'd been shopping around this store for over an hour at this point, going back and forth between the dressing rooms and sales racks. I had to admit the prices here were crazy good. A good bargain was too enticing for even my distracted mind to pass up.
Throughout the day, I found my thoughts drifting to the man who shall not be named. I cursed myself every time and tried to bury my focus in finding new shoes or a flattering dress. And when I'd tell myself that something would be perfect for a first date, I refused to let guilt of imagining anyone but James get to me.
Well, I tried to refuse, at least.
My heart and my body were on very different pages and they were both currently ignoring each other right now. The attraction I felt toward him was consuming me. After convincing myself for so long that no man would ever like whet my appetite like Jarrod, finding myself gravitating toward someone felt like a cure.
But why does the cure to my madness have to be his brother?
I was still daydreaming of his daring eyes and self-assured smirk hair when I realized I was staring through the storefront window. My eyes fell on a young couple standing on the sidewalk outside.
The man had dark hair, golden skin, and dark-wash jeans and the woman wore skin-tight jeans and a sweater. Her head was enshrouded with kinky black curls that kept me from seeing her face.
As I was mentally complimenting them, the woman shifted and I could see the man's face. Timothy's face, to be precise.
The woman's hair danced as she shook with laughter. Tim reached out to touch her shoulder, a broad smile on his face.
My stomach sank. Maybe they were relatives. Or friends. Or lovers.
I couldn't take it. Spinning around, I searched every aisle for Isabelle's head of iron-straight, dark hair.
She was scrutinizing the zipper on a pair of heeled boots when I found her. Dashing across the store, nearly killing multiple people with my cart, I tried to decide how to explain what I'd just witnessed without making it more or less worse.
How I could tell her what I saw without coming off wrong? It could mean nothing. I hoped it meant nothing. That nagging feeling was back, though, and I had oblige.
If I was wrong, then fine. I'd take the blame for jumping to conclusions. If I wasn't, though, Isabelle needed to know.
"What?" Isabelle asked as she took in my breathless appearance. "You better have found fucking god for all effort."
I sucked in a long inhale and then released it. "Uh, I just saw Tim. Outside the store."
Her nose scrunched. "Did you? That's weird. I mean, I did invite him but he said he was busy."
"Well . . . is it possible he was hanging out with some friends?"
"What? I don't know," she said, squinting at me. "What's going on, Leah?"
"He wasn't alone." I scratched at my neck, blushing at how stupid I felt.
The woman was probably just his friend and I was throwing drama and stress at poor Isabelle.
What the hell is wrong with me?
"What do you mean?" she asked slowly, like she didn't want to know the answer.
"There was a woman—"
"Oh, hi, baby," Isabelle said, cutting me off. "We were just talking about you. What a crazy coincidence." She shot me a look.
The heat drained from my face. I turned to acknowledge Timothy, noticing that the woman wasn't with him.
His eyes bounced from her to me as he moved straight to Isabelle's side. When he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, I felt a cold, icky sensation slither around my guts.
"Better be about my good cooking," he retorted with a serrated smile, that empty stare never leaving me.
My teeth clenched, my body tense.
"Leah saw you with another lady," Isabelle stated and all the color rushed back into my face. "You got a side piece I need to know about?"
Tim's head cocked to the side and I wanted to melt into the floor.
"My cousin," he said. "I just happened to pass her on my way in."
"Sorry . . . I wasn't trying to make any assumptions, but I wanted Isabelle to know." I swallowed heavily. "In case something was off."
"In case I'm fucking around on her," Tim clarified with a scoff. "For the record, I would never do that to her. But I guess I'm glad you got her back. That's a good friend." He winked at me before kissing Isabelle's temple. "You ladies spend enough money yet? I'm starving."
Just like that, the tension in the air dissolved. Isabelle and I both agreed we could eat and then we were off to get lunch.
Timothy's reaction circulated in my head for the rest of the day. I didn't know why, but he seemed strange to me. I decided it was best to keep my doubts to myself, given there was no evidence against him.
Isabelle would probably assume I wanted her man or that I was jealous of their relationship if I voiced my unfounded concerns—and that was seriously the very last thought on my mind.
By evening, we found ourselves at a new bar downtown. We were two martinis deep and Timothy had wandered off to take a call sometime ago.
"So what does Mr. Sexy Brother have you do when he's not getting those knickers twisted?" Isabelle asked while taking a sip from the delicate v-shaped glass.
I choked on air at that, earning a laugh.
"He doesn't twist my knickers," I muttered, avoiding her probing gaze. "I just handle his appointments, deal with donors, get new donors, and things like that. I'm supposed to help plan this gala thing coming up, but thank god the planning committee took over. I am not an event coordinator, let me tell you."
"I'm sure you did the very best you could," she assured me with a pat on the arm. "My little Leah is always a do-good-er."
I snorted. "That is not a word, ma'am."
"Sure it is! But anyway, when's my invitation coming for this thing? Sounds fancy."
I grimaced. "Yeah, there will be a lot of big money clients there. You want to come to a work thing? I didn't even consider that you'd be interested."
"Of course, I would," she insisted. "Any excuse to come visit you! Not to mention I'm dying to meet Mr. Sexy Brother again. I can't believe he hasn't crawled into that sack with you yet."
Rolling my eyes, I rubbed my clammy palms against the tops of my thighs. I hadn't told Isabelle that her doubt would be spot on since James did crawl into the sack with me already.
The main reason for hiding my truth was because I knew she'd want to know every last detail. I wasn't prepared to share the gory facts when I hadn't allowed myself to fully process them.
That, and I didn't want to admit how I left him and refused to sleep with him ever again. All the while, I wanted to very badly.
"I'll talk to him about inviting you," I told her, "but I wouldn't get your hopes up. He's an asshole about 90% of the time."
A figure appeared behind her and I jumped at seeing Timothy's face emerge from the bar's dim lighting. His smile looked sinister in the dark, white teeth gleaming, before he nestled his cheek to her neck.
She jolted in her seat, gasping in surprise before giggling. He whispered in her ear and smiled at me. My stomach lurched instantly, every instinct pleading me to run away.
"I'll be right back," I excused myself.
As I slid off the chair, slinging my purse over my shoulder, Isabelle started chattering about my work gala and how I was going to score them tickets. I sighed and headed to the bathroom, where I locked myself in a stall.
Crouching, I was careful not to touch the toilet. I waited to see if I'd vomit but it seemed I was just nauseated.
The ring of my phone forced me to stand up and fish the device out of my purse to silence it. I saw it was from an unknown number so I rejected the call. Before I could put the device away, it started ringing again.
"Hello?" I answered.
"Get your ass back here now," demanded a female voice.
"I'm sorry?"
"It's Julia," she said. "James is in an ambulance headed for the hospital. You need to come back pronto."
My pulse jumped. "What?" I gasped. "Oh, my god! What happened?"
I threw open the stall door, not even flinching at how loudly it banged the door next to it, and rushed out.
"James was attacked by that fucking bear!" she cries. "There was so much blood—I had to chase it off. Scariest shit of my life. This is all a nightmare." She sniffled and I hoped she wasn't driving. "I need you here, Leah. Please hurry."
"Yes, of course!" I assured her. "I'm on my way now. I'll be there soon, I promise."
As I surged out of the restroom, I plowed right into a hard chest. I stumbled back and stiffened at the sight of Tim standing there, arms crossed.
"I have to go," I said and bolted around him.
Isabelle saw my approach and slid off her stool. "Babe, what's wrong? Are you okay?"
"I have to go!" I said, my voice so high it was unrecognizable. "James is in the hospital and I have to leave now. I'll call you later!"
"What? Leah, wait!"
I was already flying outside and hailing a cab back to her house before anyone could stop me. All I could think about was how fucking far away I was and whether I'd get there in time. While I'd been out partying, James was fighting for his life.
My heart filled my throat. The nausea in my stomach was replaced instantly with dread.
I understood he was in critical condition from her tone. Although I didn't know the extent of his injuries, I knew she wouldn't panic for no reason. James could die.
What if he died today? What would I do? Think? Feel?
My world felt shattered and he was still alive, as far as I knew at least. A pain so heavy that it hurt to breathe weighed on my chest.
James had only been in my life for a few weeks, but I couldn't bear the thought of him being hurt. I felt strongly for him. That was undeniable.
Please be okay.