Jude (Beautiful Mine #2) (14 page)

EVIE

Three weeks later…

“First day today?” Carys asked, groggy-eyed as she cupped her coffee mug and shuffled around our apartment in her fuzzy slippers.

“Yep,” I said, practically breathless with anticipation. My first real nursing job at one of the top hospitals in the nation started in less than an hour. I glanced around our new apartment, filled to the brim with unpacked boxes from Carys’ move.

I’d managed to score us a condo not far from Jude’s place, though it paled in comparison. It was a modest two-bedroom, one-bath with a tiny living room and an even smaller kitchen, but it was all we needed. What it lacked in amenities and character it more than made up for in location. Excitement was just a short walk away. Everything we needed was right outside our door.

“You going to finish unpacking today?” I asked Carys, running my hands down my dark blue scrubs and looking at myself in the mirror in the hall. I tried to swallow, but my throat was dryer than the Sahara.

“You need to eat something before you go,” she mother-hened me, ignoring my question.

“Not hungry,” I said. I couldn’t have eaten if I’d tried.

“Jude picking you up?” she called out.

I rolled my eyes, walking into the kitchen. “Of course. He insists on taking me until I can get a car. Who the hell knows when that will be?”

I hated that he had to take me to work and pick me up. I told him I could take the bus, but he refused to allow it, saying girls like me didn’t take the bus. Never mind that I could probably walk there from where I lived.

“What’s your plan for the day?” I asked her.

Her lips twisted into a devious smirk. “Jax. Need I say more?”

She’d been in town a mere week, and she’d seen Jax at least five of those seven days. In the history of our friendship, I’d never seen Carys so obsessed with a guy before. They couldn’t get enough of each other.

“No, you need not say a thing,” I teased. A small part of me was well aware that, deep down, Jax may have had a little something to do with Carys’ motives to move west.

My phone buzzed on the counter.

“Sounds like your ride is here,” Carys said in a sing-song voice as adrenaline pumped through my veins. I scrambled around, grabbing my cell phone and shoving it in my purse and pulling a bottled water from the fridge on my way out.

“Wish me luck,” I said, stopping in the doorway for a second. “And if you could get a little, um, unpacking done today, that’d be great.”

She rolled her eyes playfully and nodded. “Yeah, yeah. Have fun at work. I’ll probably be at Jax’s when you get off.”

“Shocker,” I said, shutting the door. Heaven help us if those two ever had a falling out. As feverishly as they got along, I could only imagine the kind of ugly break up they’d have.

“Morning,” I said, slipping into Jude’s BMW. “Aw, is that for me?”

Jude handed me a cup of coffee, warm and toasty. “You sleep much last night?”

“Nope,” I said, taking a careful sip. “How’d you guess?”

“I offered to come stay the night with you,” he playfully reminded me as we pulled out onto the busy street.

“I know,” I sighed, sipping my drink. “I thought I’d sleep better on my own.”

“Ha,” Jude laughed. “And now you know.”

“I have orientation from eight to five for the next two weeks,” I said. “I really need to get a car, Jude. This is a lot of carting me around.”

“I don’t mind. I told you that.” He pulled up to a stoplight and switched his blinker on. I could already see the hospital, and we’d only been in the car a couple minutes.

“I can’t depend on you forever,” I muttered.

“Why not?” He turned to me, flashing a smile that instantly brightened my day. He loved taking care of me. Almost too much.

He pulled up into the drop-off lane of the employee entrance of the surgical wing.

“I’m going to miss our days together,” I said, leaning in to plant a kiss on his hot mouth.

“Me too.” He kissed me back, our mouths like magnets not wanting to let go, until I gently pulled myself away. “Have a good day, Ev. I’ll see you when you get off. I’ll be right here.”

Outside it was just an ordinary Southern California Monday. Light, tepid breeze. Millions of cars. People going to work, running errands, and taking their kids to school. I stepped up to the entrance and swiped the badge HR had given me the week before when I came in to fill out paperwork.

This is what you were born to do, Evie. Your life is only just beginning.

JUDE

“Where’s the G.F.?” Veronica twirled her siren red hair on the tips of her manicured fingers, throwing her best sultry look my way as I slid into the booth at our restaurant.

“Working,” I said. “She’s a nurse at Cedars-Sinai now. Not that it’s any of your concern.”

“Ouch.” She feigned hurt feelings. “Just trying to make conversation. Geez.”

“We’re not here to make small talk.” I grabbed a drink menu. One in the afternoon was a perfectly acceptable time of day for a craft beer, in my book.

“I ordered your usual,” Veronica said as a server carried a tray of food toward our booth. Despite the fact that we’d been broken up for years, she was constantly in girlfriend mode. She couldn’t shut it off if she tried.

“I want to buy you out,” I said, cutting to the chase.

Veronica became very still, her eyes locking onto mine like a bull ready to charge.

“No,” she said. “Not happening.”

“We both know J-Corp was my idea. I’m the founder. I gave you a job and made you partner because we…” my voice trailed. We both knew why. We were stupid and in love, or so I’d thought. Two years with her and all I’d learned was that I didn’t really know what love was.

“Because we were in love,” Veronica finished my sentence, her green eyes burning intense with a nostalgia she couldn’t find the strength to let go of.

“But we weren’t,” I said. “That wasn’t love. That was fire and ice. We had no business being together.”

“You made me partner,” she pouted. “I’ve helped make J-Coro what it is today.”

“Right, but I’m ready to move forward,” I said. “And I’m prepared to buy you out. A million bucks, Veronica.”

“Ha,” she scoffed, leaning back and tossing her long, red hair over her shoulder. “That’s insulting. J-Corp is worth a lot more than that and you know it.”

“It’s a fair offer, Veronica.” My jaw clenched as her name left my mouth. I’d yet to tell her I’d found a buyer. The shit storm was brewing, and it was only a matter of time before Caroline found out that I wasn’t her dutiful little minion. “I do most of the work, anyway.”

Her red lips formed an “O” shape and her angled brows furrowed. “I handle our social media. I do all the networking. I go to all those stupid parties you never want to attend.”

“It’s time to move on,” I said. “
You
need to move on.”

Veronica’s lips trembled for just a millisecond, long enough for me to notice, and then her face warped into a bittersweet smile.

“How can you love that girl,” she asked, “when you couldn’t even love me? You’re not capable of loving another human being, Jude. You’re a fucking idiot if you think one girl can change you.”

“I’m buying you out, Veronica,” I said, a slight boom in my voice that told her it wasn’t up for debate. “I own the majority of the company, and I’m buying you out.”

For the first time in forever, Veronica actually looked defeated. She’d tried for years to get me back, using her sexual napalm as her M.O. But the night I returned home from Halverford after meeting Evie, Veronica became chopped liver, and she knew that.

“I’m not hungry,” I said, pulling my wallet from my pocket and slapping some cash on the table as I stood to leave.

“Where are you going?” she asked, her eyes watering as she peered up at me through her makeup-caked lashes.

“I’m meeting with my attorney this afternoon. He’s going to handle the transaction for us.”

“This isn’t about the company or us or me,” she muttered under her breath. “This is about her. I know it.”

“You don’t even know the half of what this is about,” I said, holding my voice low. “My lawyer will be in contact with you. I think my offer is more than generous. Goodbye, Veronica.”

***

“How was your first day?” I asked Evie as she climbed into my car. A sort of exhausted exuberance claimed her face.

“I’m ready for a nap,” she sighed. “It was fun though. I think I made a couple new friends.”

“That’s always a plus,” I said, pulling out into traffic.

“I wonder if Carys unpacked anything today?”

“Doubtful,” I said. “She was with Jax all day.”

“Those two!”

“You have no one to blame but yourself,” I reminded her. “You just had to play matchmaker.”

“And how was your day?”

I pursed my lips, cocking my head to the side. “All right.”

She turned to study me. “Just all right? Why’s that?”

“I’m in the process of buying Veronica out,” I said. “She’s not excited about it.”

“Why do you want to buy her out?” Evie asked. It never occurred to me that she would care.

I opened my mouth to answer, but she wasn’t ready for the real truth. Not yet, anyway. “I own the majority of the company. It’s a strategic decision. I don’t want to bore you with the details.”

“Oh, okay,” Evie said with a shrug, much to my relief. “What are we doing for dinner?”

Back at my condo, Evie scampered off to bother Carys and Jax while I pulled up my email. Residing at the top of the list with a big red exclamation point was an email from Caroline.

My eyes scanned the room to make sure no one was around. It’d been weeks since I’d last reported to her, and I’d yet to tell her Evie had moved out West.

JUDE,

WE NEED TO TALK. NOW.

MOTHER

I deleted her email. Just the mere sight of it made my blood boil. The sound of Evie and Carys laughing in the next room was a stark reminder of everything I had to lose. I didn’t want to deal with her yet, not until I bought Veronica out and sold off my company to the highest bidder.

I shut my laptop and joined the other three in Jax’s room, where Carys was perched in his lap like an excited puppy dog and Evie was leaning in the doorway.

“Did you hear?” Carys said, fixing her eyes on me. “Jax found me an agent. I’m going to start doing some modeling.”

I flashed a smile. I was happy for her. But every girl with long legs and big boobs in L.A. claimed to be a model or an actress, or a model-slash-actress.

“You have the face and body for it, babe,” Jax said. “You’re going to be the next big thing.”

“Good thing your boy there is well connected in this town,” I said. “You’re already miles ahead of the competition.”

Jax’s dad was the head of 21
st
Century Meredith, a decades-old film company with a long list of successful movies in their vault. He was practically Hollywood royalty, but he never acted like it. In a lot of ways, we were two peas in a pod, born into prominent families and forever living in their shadows. Only Jax’s family were good people.

Carys shrugged, and I realized Jax probably hadn’t told her who he was. And Carys, being from Kansas, hadn’t the slightest clue.

“I have a meeting tomorrow with my agent,” she said, eyes twinkling with excitement. “He’s going to set me up with some headshots and shop me around to some agencies. I might even try my hand at commercials.”

She popped up from Jax’s lap. “We’re going out for dinner tonight. You guys wanna come?”

Evie turned to look at me, and I shook my head. “I’m fine with staying here.”

“Me too,” Evie said. “You guys can go on with out us.”

Evie left Jax’s room, grabbing my arm on her way out and tugging me along with her.

“I could go for a nice, quiet night. Just us,” she said as she stood on her toes and leaned in for a kiss. I slipped my arm around her waist and brought her in tight. “Oh, shoot. I need to do this quiz thing for HR tonight. Mind if I use your computer for five minutes?”

“It’s all yours,” I replied, letting her go and watching as she traipsed down the hall. I’d never seen her so happy. One day of having a job and it was like she’d won the lottery, or something.