Always in my Heart (The Subzero Series, #2) (16 page)

I sigh. “Okay but I can’t stay any longer than thirty minutes.”

“Deal.” She walks over to the cream colored couch, her hips swaying as she moves.

Shit. What have I gotten myself into? I need to stop checking her out and get out of here as soon as possible before I get myself into even more trouble than I am already in. 

Cath hops onto the couch and pats the spot next to her.

“Come sit and we can watch some TV or something.”

I sit down next to her and she immediately scoots closer to me. She starts nudging my arm with her elbow and I know she is hoping I move it – either to put it around her or across the back of the couch so that she can scoot closer to me. Either way it’s not going to happen. Cath sighs softly as she realizes it’s a lost cause but she doesn’t move away. She picks up the remote and clicks through the stations a couple of times before settling on some movie that actually turns out to be pretty funny.  The next thing I know, my cellphone starts beeping like crazy.

Jack – What happened to you tonight???

I glance at the clock and my heart literally stops. It’s nine thirty. I can’t believe it. I spent all day looking forward to finally being able to talk to Abby and now I’ve gone and completely missed opening day at her bakery. A string of profanities come flying out of my mouth as I leap off of the couch.

“What’s the matter?” Cath asks innocently.

“Look at the time. The bakery is closed now. I can’t believe I’ve missed it.”

“Well...you might as well stay then.” She smiles at me and sinks her teeth into her lower lip.

“I can’t. I have to go.”

I run out the door as fast as I can, heading towards the elevators. Once I am outside, I pull out my phone and text her.

Me – Abby, I am so, so sorry. Please let me make this up to you.

~*~

G
lancing at the clock I sigh and massage my temples with my fingertips. I’ve spent the majority of the night at the recording studio not wanting to go home. As soon as I left the hotel I went to Jack’s to talk to Abby. She positively hates me. I can’t say I blame her. I just wish she would talk to me. I just want the chance to tell her what exactly happened last night and then if she still wants to be done with me then fine but at least I can say I tried and I was honest with her. 

I would have camped outside the door but Jack told me to go home. Home...I can’t go there. The longer she is gone, the harder it is to be there. It’s my own fault too. If I wasn’t such a prat she would be home by now...actually that isn’t quite true because I would have never done anything to make her leave in the first place.

I should be at home in our bed with my arms wrapped tightly around her body. Instead, I am sitting at the piano in the recording studio playing and singing “Forgive Me” by Evanescence, “Sorry” by Buckcherry and “The Reason” by Hoobastank over and over again. I’m not completely alone though. Domino is here avoiding his girlfriend, though he ran out for some coffees when I start singing for the tenth time.

I have to walk away from this piano. I need to get these songs out of my head. I take a deep breath and blow it out slowly as I place my hands on the seat of the piano bench and push myself up. There’s no sense in my going home now since everyone is due to start arriving in an hour or two. I walk back to the lounge area where there are a couple couches and such and drop down into a chaise lounge. I try to fight sleep because I don’t want to dream about her but eventually my eyelids feel so heavy that I just can’t keep them open any longer and I nod off.

When I wake up I feel disoriented for a moment as I try to remember where I am.

The recording studio, but what am I doing here? Oh yeah, that’s right, a colossal fuck up on my part last night.

I get up and walk into the bathroom to splash some water on my face. When I come out I can hear people talking and laughing and I know everyone is arriving.

“What the hell happened to you last night?” Jack asks as soon as I walk into the control room.

I drop down into the seat next to him and glance around to make sure no one is listening to us. Satisfied that no one really cares enough to pay attention to what we are discussing, I twist in my seat and lean in towards him.

“Cath said she thought that guy was following her so I walked her back to her hotel. I checked her room to make sure there was no one in it and she asked if I could stay until she calmed down. I told her I could only stay thirty minutes max. She puts on a movie and the next thing I know it is half past nine.”

“What did I tell you?” Jack hisses through his teeth.

“I don’t want to get into that right now. I just need to talk to Abby. Maybe if I just explain what happened she will understand.”

“Tyler you blew her off to hang out with the girl you got caught kissing a month ago. Do you really think Abby is going to give a fuck about what you have to say right now?”

I close my eyes, take another deep breath and open them again. “Probably not and anyway it wasn’t like that. I didn’t intentionally blow her off to hang out with Cath. Could you call her? You could ask her to come down here. If she thinks she’s meeting you she’ll come.”

Jack’s eyes widen. He shakes his head as he waves his hands out in front of himself. “Noooo...No, no, no, no, no. You are not dragging me into this like that. She is staying at my flat and I am engaged to her sister. If I do that, I am going to have two angry women ready to inflict bodily harm on me. I mean Chloe I can handle but Abby...I think she could take me out with that glare she does when she is overly pissed off.”

My face falls and my heart feels like it is dropping into my stomach. I pick up a random piece of paper sitting on the corner table next to me and begin ripping it into small pieces.

“No, you’re right. I shouldn’t have asked. I’m just starting to get desperate here.”

Jack reaches over and pats me on the back in a sad way that seems to mirror the look of pity on his face.

“Look you are like a brother to me so I’ll tell you what. I’ll talk to her. I’m not going to convince her to talk to you because, quite frankly, if I was her I wouldn’t want to talk to you either but I’ll at least try to find out if you still have any chance at all.”

I nod and fight the urge to give him hug. “Thanks mate. I’ll take anything I can get when it comes to her right now.”

“You have to promise me something though.” Jack says seriously.

“What’s that?” I ask warily.

“Two things. Stop being such a cock up and Stay. Away. From.
Her
.”

He doesn’t have to say which “her” he is referring to. I know who he is talking about.

“Not a problem.

––––––––

I
’m late. By late I clearly mean at least a week if not a little bit longer...I haven’t really been paying attention so I’m not sure exactly. It would be easy to chalk it up to stress. I mean, that is an obvious contender in the game of “Where has Aunt Flo gone?” I just opened my bakery a week ago, I’m already getting hit with a ton of custom cake orders and, reason number one, this whole ordeal with Tyler has my heart broken, my stomach in knots and me in sweatpants with a pint of Ben & Jerry’s on more nights than is socially acceptable for anyone my age...or anyone in general.

That’s not it though. I’m exhausted. Just decorating a dozen cupcakes makes me feel like I need a nap. I’ve been nauseous all the time for the past week and I mean literally twenty four hours a day. I swear I can smell anything in a ten mile radius, which unfortunately includes that horrific cologne Juan Pablo wears.

Grabbing my day planner, I count how many days it’s been since Tyler and I had been “together” last. The only reason I know exactly when that was is because it was the night we went to the speakeasy bar. After that is when everything went downhill.

My God! Has it really been that long?

I walk into the bathroom and take the bag containing the three boxes of tests I bought the day before out of the cabinet. I stare at the box for a moment before ripping it open and pulling one of the two tests out. Removing the foil packaging, I take a deep breath before taking the test and sitting it on top of the counter.

Three minutes. Funny how such a short amount of time can easily feel like an eternity. I feel like I am going to go crazy when, finally, my three minutes is up. I close my eyes, take a deep breath and move to the counter to find out my fate.

And...

~*~

W
hy did I agree to bake a cake for this party? Oh right, because Tyler asked me to when we were still together. The only reason I didn’t back out is because I am a professional and I love to bake. That and it wouldn’t be right to do that to Dean. This isn’t his fault. I walk into the room looking for Chloe but my eyes settle on Tyler immediately. Then they flicker over to the girl standing to the left of him.

If Caroline hadn’t worked so hard making little chocolate replicas of Dean and his guitar, I would heave the cake right into Cath’s pretty little face. At least I can do it over and over in my head – and I do too. I smash it in her face, I dump it on her head and I squish into her brown and pink curls.  The thought of her standing there covered in my vanilla bean, salted caramel filled, chocolate buttercream topped cake brings a smile to my face.

Someone calls my name and I turn to my right to see Caroline, Marco and James walking towards me.

“We got the cake set up in the far corner like you asked,” James says. “Where should we set the petit fours, mini éclairs and gourmet biscotti?”

“Just set them in the kitchen. I can move them myself when it’s time for them to go out.”

“Are you sure you don’t want us to stick around?” Caroline asks.

I glance over at her and catch her eyeing up Tyler and Cath.

“If you want to stay you can. I can take you home but its Friday night. Let the boys leave.”

Caroline nods and mouths the words “I’ll stay.” I reach over, grab her hand and give it a grateful squeeze. She has been such a good friend to me throughout this whole thing.

I turn towards James and Marco. “You two can go after you put the trays in the kitchen.  Just drop off the truck at the bakery and give the keys to Marci. Tell her I said you can leave early. She can call me if she wants to confirm it.”

“Thanks Abby.” They say before turning to walk through the door towards the parking lot.

“I’ll be right back.” Caroline says.

I begin to walk through the sea of people that is starting to form, continuing my search for Chloe when the mention of Tyler’s name coming from a feminine voice stops me in my tracks.

“So you two are together now?”

“It’s official!”

“Wow...he really got over that baker chick fast.”

“Yeah well, he clearly wasn’t as in to her as he led her to believe.”

“What happens when you get back to New York?”

“I’m hoping he’ll come with, for a while anyway. He can always come back here when his band needs him. He’s got nothing else to stay for after I leave.”

I turn towards Cath, my hands balled into tight fists. She looks at me dead in the eyes and smirks, clearly pleased with herself.

I have to walk away before I do something that is both very unprofessional and extremely unladylike. I turn around, heading for the door to go out and get some fresh air. Out of the corner of my eye I can see Tyler making his way towards me.

Great...this is the last thing I need tonight.

Instead of walking out the front door, I turn down a hallway hoping to find another way outside. I can feel Tyler’s eyes burning into the back of my head, so I know he is still following me.

“Abby please talk to me”

I don’t say anything, I just keep on walking. There is only a handful of people mingling in the hallway but it’s still too many to hear the discussion we are about to have. I walk through a door marked
Rear Exit
and I am relieved to see that no one is hanging out back here.

“Abby.” Tyler says again.

I whip around angrily, which stuns Tyler, causing him to jump back.

“You’re dating her now?” I ask through gritted teeth, my eyes are narrow and furious.

“What? No!”

“Well according to her you are.”

“She’s lying.”

Tyler takes a step towards me and I take a step back. His face drops and he looks as though I have just slapped him.

“Abby please.” He begs, his voice faltering.

“Please what? Please give you another chance?”

“Yes.”

“Why should I have to give you
another
chance Tyler? Why couldn’t you just get it right the first time?”

“I’m sorry. I should have told you about Cath kissing me. I honestly didn’t want to upset you. It meant nothing to me and that’s why I didn’t say anything.”

“It’s not just that. It’s everything. It’s her kissing you and you kissing her back. It’s the fact that you don’t take anything seriously. It’s me not being able to trust you or count on you.”

“What do you mean not be able to count on me?”

“The opening of my bakery last week...does that ring a bell? No? Maybe that’s because you weren’t there. You were the one person I wanted there the most and you didn’t even show up.”

I squeeze my eyes shut in an attempt to keep myself from crying in front of him. It doesn’t work and a couple stubborn tears force their way through and slide down my cheeks.

Tyler hesitantly steps closer to me. He reaches one hand out and wipes the tears from my face, which only makes me cry harder. I feel Tyler’s hands grab my arms as he pulls me towards his body and he wraps his arms around me.

“Abby, what can I do? Please tell me what I can do to get you back.”

I place my hands on his chest and push him back. A pained look crosses his face and his arms drop limply to his sides.

“I’m not sure there is anything you can do.”

Tyler shakes his head. “I’m sorry but I cannot just accept that and walk away. I love you and I want-“

“This isn’t about what you want any more Tyler!” I yell out cutting him off. “This is about what’s best now.”