Dane
Now . . .
Audra Kelley. My ex-wife. Holy fuck. I tipped the shot back, and the alcohol left a trail of fire as it slid down my throat. I grimaced and poured another, but simply stood holding it as I gazed unseeing out my office window. For a while my eyes lingered on the fountain, the bubbling water almost restoring some calm.
I still thought of her as Audra Kelley, though the last time I’d seen her, she’d been Audra Townsend. Briefly though. That time was so filled with pain despite the possessive joy I’d felt when I’d slipped my ring on her finger and knew she was mine forever. As it turned out, forever was a short thirteen months, seven days, and a handful of hours.
I knew she’d taken her name back because I’d checked in on her—without her knowing, of course—six years before when her father had died. It’d fucked me up for months afterward, so I hadn’t done it again until last year. That had been different, though . . . and of course, I’d asked Luella about Audra’s business when we began planning the industrial park. Luella had told me Audra was planning to move, and maybe I’d wanted to believe it. I certainly understood her wanting to. Why would she want to work every day in a building I’d given to her as a wedding gift? If she felt the way I did, she’d want to put any reminders of me in the past. They were too painful.
Goddammit, she still did something to me with that stubborn little chin and those big dark eyes. I could still feel her smooth, supple skin beneath my palms. She was still so fucking desirable to me, and I hated it because she wasn’t mine anymore. I didn’t want to be affected by her when she’d stood in my office and accused me of being cold-hearted and unethical.
Attraction could be a ruthless bitch. Sometimes you couldn’t get rid of her even if you wanted to.
The magnetism I felt toward Audra seemed rooted in my bones, threaded through the fabric of who I was. I responded to her on some primal level, and I had from the first moment I’d laid eyes on her. She was still slim, maybe too slim even, and it made it more obvious how delicate-boned she was. I’d loved that about her, loved how small and slight she’d always felt in my arms, and how she’d wrap those slender legs around my hips.
Why was I even thinking about that? Fuck.
It had seemed like she was hurt by the idea that I could be conspiring against her, and yet I couldn’t really tell what she’d been thinking. Then again, she’d only ever shared her secrets haltingly, secrets I’d cherished and held tightly to me like priceless treasures. Toward the end, she’d withheld her private thoughts completely, retreating inside herself. I’d had no earthly clue what she was thinking, cut off forever from that inner world of hers.
A light knock sounded at my door and I turned, but before I could even answer, it opened and my brother stepped inside. I watched him as
he took in the shot in my hand, his eyes moving to the mostly full bottle sitting on my desk. “A little early, isn’t it?”
I threw the second shot back, grimacing and setting the tumbler I was using as a shot glass on a pile of papers on my desk. “Want one?”
He walked toward me, his expression managing both amusement and concern. “What’s the occasion?”
“My ex-wife stopped by.”
He frowned. “Audra?”
“Do I have another ex-wife I’m unaware of?”
He rolled his eyes, walking to the bar cart near the corner where I kept a few bottles of alcohol so I could offer clients a drink if a meeting ran late. He took a glass before strolling back, uncapping the bottle, and pouring himself a generous shot. He held it up to me and then threw it back, shaking his head with the burn. “What the hell is Audra doing in California?” He held the bottle to me in question but I shook my head, then walked to the couches and sank down onto one.
After he’d poured himself another drink, he joined me in the sitting area, taking a seat on the couch across from me where Audra had sat only an hour before. I leaned back and staring at the ceiling, told him the gist of why she’d traveled from Colorado to California.
Dustin whistled long and low and I sat up. The two shots had hit my system so I was feeling warm and calm, though still not completely back to normal emotionally speaking. “Luella really knows how to hold a grudge, huh?”
“I don’t fucking know. She always had such a stick up her ass when it came to Audra, but why she’s doing this now, I really have no idea. Other than that the opportunity arose and she’s being a bitch because she can.”
Dustin frowned. “I know she never thought Audra was good enough for you. But I’d have thought after . . .” His eyes flew to mine and he blinked nervously.
“You can say his name, Dustin.”
He let out a whoosh of breath, looking a little guilty, a little sad. “After Theo, I’d have thought Gran would take it easy on Audra. Hasn’t she suffered enough?”
I shook my head slowly. “Apparently not, according to Gran. I’m flying to Colorado for the meeting with the developers on Monday. I’ll get to the bottom of this then.”
Dustin studied me for a second. “You sure this is a good idea, Dane? I remember how you were seven years ago—”
“What choice do I have, Dustin? I’m not going to let Luella railroad Audra. It isn’t right. You know it isn’t. She’s not my wife anymore, but hell if I can just stand by as her whole life is obliterated.” I did that once. And once was one time too many. “Whatever problem Luella still has with Audra started with me. I’m going to end it.”
Dustin pressed his lips together. “Yeah, I guess you’re sort of between a rock and a hard place. Just . . . be careful, okay?”
“Think Luella will cut me out of the business again if I tell her to quit this bullshit?”
“No, you’re too damn good at your job. That’d just be stupid on her part and Luella’s many things, but stupid isn’t one of them. But in any case, it’s not Gran I was warning you about.”