MAY 26 / 5:39 PM
Eli Hardy
THE LAST TIME I’d visited this apartment I’d been here for another woman. It was ironic that I was back. A place I never expected to return to. Not that I had any emotional damage from the time I’d spent with Lila. I knew now what I’d felt for her wasn’t deep or real. Losing her to another man hadn’t broken me. It hadn’t done more than hit my ego. The woman that lived here now eased the real sorrow I held inside. That’s why I was here. Ophelia did more to make me forget than the whiskey did.
The door opened before I reached it and Ophelia appeared. She was wearing a hot pink sundress that hung loosely and hit mid-thigh. She hadn’t put on makeup and I liked it. The whole natural sexy look. Even her feet were bare. There was no attempt at trying to impress me.
“You made good time on that thing,” she said. She was looking past me to my Harley.
“That thing goes as fast as a car does,” I pointed out the obvious.
She lifted her left shoulder as if that meant nothing. “Dinner will be done in about fifteen minutes. But I have cream cheese stuffed jalapeños wrapped in bacon for an appetizer.”
I hadn’t eaten since this morning and the mention of food sounded good. “Thanks, I’m starving.”
She beamed at that and I walked past her inside the studio to find it completely finished and very impressive. The last time I’d been here, it looked very different. Lila had done a lot with the place. “This turned out nice,” I said as I scanned the area.
“Yeah, it’s a great studio,” Ophelia replied. “Lila Kate has put a lot of hard work into it.”
I followed Ophelia to the back door. I knew the stairs that led to the flat were back there. Even if the place was finished now. It was the same layout structurally.
Watching Ophelia’s perfectly rounded backside as she climbed the stairs was a bonus. I needed a distraction today and this was the best idea I’d had. When I had tried to think of what to do or where to go to get my mind off Gran . . . Ophelia had been the only thought in my head. She eased the inner turmoil like nothing else. Finding out that Gran’s life was going to be cut short meant I wasn’t leaving Sea Breeze as soon as I’d planned. I could go nowhere knowing my time with her was limited.
I needed a diversion from the thoughts roaring through my head. Ophelia was the perfect solution. Not only did she do an excellent job easing all the chaos inside me but she was safe because she didn’t get attached to men. She was a free spirit with fucking walls protecting her from anything real. I’d laid in bed last night thinking about that and why she had those walls. There had to have been pain in her past that taught her to be careful. Protect herself. I knew neither of us were in danger of falling in love or wanting more. Which was why coming here was so easy. No one needed to love me. To love me would be tragic. For any woman.
The door swung open and Ophelia waved me inside. I noticed the difference immediately. The exposed beams and stainless steel appliances and countertops were the same. The industrial feel, however, wasn’t as noticeable with the way it was now decorated. It was full of energy where once it had been more classically decorated. A mix match of color and a free wild style was the only way to describe it now. The furniture was eclectic. A bright blue sofa with pillows covered in yellow feathers on each end was the first thing that caught the eye when you entered the open flat. The massive painting of what was an abstract of what I recognized immediately as New Orleans French Quarter.
“Where did you get that painting?” I asked, nodding my head in the direction of it.
“It’s amazing isn’t it?” she said with a wistful smile. “It’s Lila Kate’s. I don’t get to keep it. She’s moving it to her master bedroom in her new house once she decides on the new furniture she wants in there. I can’t remember who the artist is that painted it. I just know it’s all the places that mean something to her and Cruz. Their story . . . I guess . . .” She trailed off then and looked away as if she realized I had been a part of that story too. It was her time in New Orleans with Cruz that she’d fallen in love with the bad boy and realized I wasn’t what she wanted.
“He had it made for her then?” I asked, truly not at all bothered by the idea. I was glad Cruz Kerrington had turned it around before he lost the best thing that ever happened to him. I was also glad I hadn’t loved a woman that could never love me equally. To Lila, I would have always been second best.