Those Red High Heels (21 page)

“Did I mention how lovely you look, Emma?” Greyson whispered before we made it to the end of the aisle.

I looked at him and didn’t know what to say. The only thing I knew was that I didn’t want him saying things like that to me, and I needed to get out of there. It was too much being around him. I broke free from his arm and walked over to grab my purse. I found Brynn and gave her a small wave before I headed outside. The wedding party was done, but Brynn and Collin needed to stay behind for a few last details. I’d already told them that I would meet them at the rehearsal dinner.

When the spring air hit my face, I instantly started to feel better. That was until I heard my name being called. I looked back over my shoulder and saw Greyson running after me. He must have been a glutton for punishment, because I sure as hell didn’t want to be around him. It was too hard.

“Emma, please. Wait!” he hollered at me.

I picked up my pace and tried to get out of there before he caught me and we had to have one of those uncomfortable confrontations where we’d tell each other that we could still be friends and we didn’t want it to be weird between us. I wasn’t ready for that. Just as I was going to round the corner, I felt my heel slip in a hole on the sidewalk, and before I could catch my balance I went down, landing straight on my palms. I felt a sharp pain run up my right arm, knowing I must have cut it pretty good on a sharp rock.

Greyson ran over, finally catching up with me.

“Emma, are you okay?” he asked as he reached down, examining my hands. “You scraped your right one pretty bad. Let me see.” He helped me stand up, and that’s when I felt it. I didn’t give a shit about my hand at that moment, because I knew the instant I put my left foot down on the sidewalk that my favorite pair of red high heels were done for.

“No,” I said when I looked down and noticed a red heel lying sideways on the grungy New York sidewalk. I couldn’t help but think when I saw my broken shoe, that it was a metaphor for my life. What I thought was perfect, something that would always make me happy, was broken. “My shoe,” I said with a small sob. I bent down, picked up the small heel, and held it against my shoe. There was no way they were going to be able to be repaired.

“Shit, Emma,” Greyson said and helped me balance while I stood back up, on my now uneven shoe. “Can I take you to your place to get a new pair? The cab fare will be outrageous.”

I pushed him away and shook my head. “No, that’s okay. I can find a way. I don’t want to get you in trouble.”

“Emma, this was my fault. I shouldn’t have chased you, but I can’t stand this. I don’t want us to be like this. We are in each other’s lives, whether we like it or not, but I cannot have you hating me.”

“I don’t hate you,” I whispered as I wrapped my arms around my waist, feeling my hand throb.

“I know this is hard. Believe me, if I could change things I would. Emma, it kills me every day not to be with you, but I need to do this. It’s the right thing.”

I lowered my head down and agreed with what he said. “I know, Greyson, and I’m proud of you. I have accepted it, but I agree with you. It’s hard to be around you.”

Greyson reached out, pulled me into a hug, and softly said something into my ear that made me want to cry. “I’ll always thank you for giving me the feeling of freedom. No one can ever take that away from me. So please, let me take you to get a new pair of shoes, and we can look at that cut.”

When I pulled away from him, I shot him a quick nod. He texted Tony, and had me in his car within a few minutes.

“Thank you, Greyson, and I’m really sorry in advance if this causes any grief for you.”

Greyson waved his hand and settled back in his seat. “Let me see your hand.”

I reached out and placed my hand in his. He turned it over and inspected the cut before looking back at me. “It’s not too bad, a little antibiotic cream and a Band-Aid should do the trick. I am sorry though, about your shoes. I think I loved them as much as you did. Can I get you another pair? Where did you buy them?”

His expression made me smile, but it was hopeless. “I bought them at a really high end boutique in Chicago. I don’t think they carry them anywhere else, and I was able to enjoy them. Don’t worry about it, it was an accident.” The truth was it wouldn’t be impossible to find another pair. I just couldn’t fathom spending that much money again on another pair of shoes.

“Well, let’s get this cut cleaned up and hurry over to the rehearsal dinner. It shouldn’t take too long.”

I looked at Greyson and wondered why we had such a strong connection, but that we weren’t able to be together. Life was a bitch, but as I had learned, there’s always a reason for everything that happens. Who knows what our future held. “How are you?” I finally asked, needing to know what was going on in his life.

Greyson ran his hand through his hair and shut his eyes. I wasn’t sure what his situation was with Nora. If they were back together because of the baby, or still living separately. “Everything is so fucked up, Emma. I'm getting excited about having a baby, but Nora can’t comprehend the fact that I’m not in love with her. I'll take care of her and my child, but I don’t love her.”

I put my hand in his and we both let out a sigh. We were quiet the rest of the way, not breaking our hands away from each other until his car pulled up in front of my apartment.

“I’ll be right back,” I said quickly as I jumped out of the car hoping Greyson wouldn’t follow me up to my apartment, but when I looked back, there he was right behind me.

“I’m going to help you clean that out, whether you like it or not.”

We didn’t say another word until we reached the inside of my apartment.

Greyson walked in and looked around, letting out a whistle. “Look at this place. You've done a lot to it. It looks wonderful.” Greyson walked into my kitchen and asked where I kept my first-aid kit.

“It’s on the top shelf, over to the right.” Watching Greyson in my kitchen brought back all the memories of our night together months ago. I wondered what we would be doing, if Nora had never sent that last text message.

“Hop up here,” Greyson said while he motioned to my kitchen countertop.

I kicked off my shoes, and mentally said goodbye to my favorite purchase. It had been a fun ride. I walked over and put my hands on the countertop, ready to heave myself up, but the pain that radiated through my hand made me pull it back and wince.

“Here, let me help.” Greyson wrapped his hands around my waist, and effortlessly pulled me up onto the counter, setting me down right in front of him. The mood had quickly shifted, as our mouths were only inches apart. Greyson looked up at me with those gorgeous eyes, and an expression that I had seen before passed through them. He dug his fingers into my sides and started to pull me closer to him.

“Greyson,” I whispered, as our mouths were a mere inch away. “We can’t, you can’t.”

“You’re all I think about, Emma. You have cast some kind of spell on me. I need to know you feel the same. That our connection was real.”

I only nodded once, and before I could get a word out, Greyson was placing his lips softly over mine. That feeling, the feeling I had the first time he kissed me was still there. This time, however, it was wrong. We shouldn’t have been doing this. If I was in Nora’s shoes, I would have been so hurt and devastated. I tried to pull back, but when Greyson moved his hands onto my thighs, all of my logic went straight out the window.

Greyson slightly pushed away from me as he started to move his hands up my dress. “Please tell me you haven’t been with another man. I know that’s selfish, but I couldn’t stand it. I’ve wanted to call you so many times, to make sure you were okay, but I also knew that I needed to let you move on.”

When I placed my mouth to his ear and said, “There’s no one else, Greyson. I couldn’t do it. I told you, you were the guy who would always be at the top of the pyramid. No one will compare to you.”

We both lost it, and even though my hand was killing me, I didn’t care because all I could think about was Greyson’s hands pushing my dress out of the way. “Your skin, it’s so soft,” he said as he pulled my head back and placed a trail of kisses down my neck. “And these legs.” His hands stroked the skin of my inner thighs, making me want to rip his shirt off and watch the buttons fly around my kitchen.

When he pulled the strap off my shoulder and slowly brought my dress down to bare my chest, I started to think about where we should be going, and who was waiting there for us. I would have no one, and Greyson had his pregnant fiancée. When reality hit me, I knew what I had to do. As much as I wanted Greyson to throw me on my bed and do all the things I knew he was capable of, it couldn’t happen. I didn’t want to be the other woman.

“Greyson, wait,” I said and pushed him away from me. His look was wild and full of want, but I needed to stand my ground. “We can’t do this. We need to go to the party. Nora will be waiting for you.” I said quietly as I pulled my strap back up onto my shoulder.

Greyson shot me a hurt look, but I could tell the truth was sinking into his brain as well. “I want one more night with you. To go back to when we thought we could be together, to do things as a couple. I want to take you to the goddamn Empire State Building.”

“Me too, I want all of those things, but they can’t happen right now.”

Greyson leaned forward and placed his head against mine. “This sucks.”

I let out a laugh that I didn’t know I even had in me, and nodded, making him mimic my motion. “It totally sucks.”

Greyson reached around my waist and pulled my dress back down, covering my legs. He proceeded to clean my cut and was very gentle when he placed the bandage over my now disinfected wound. “There, this should heal fast. The ointment will take some of the sting away.”

I smiled at him and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Thank you.”

“Careful. With you wearing a dress like that, it’s taking everything I have not to rip it off your body.”

I jumped off the counter and went to my closet to grab a new pair of shoes. “I was thinking the same thing about your shirt.”

Greyson made a little grunting noise and waited for me by the door. I knew we couldn’t ride together to the venue, so I decided it was time for him to go.

“Greyson, go ahead and go to the rehearsal dinner. I’ll take a cab and be right over. We can’t show up together, it would cause too much drama, and that wouldn’t be fair to Brynn and Collin.”

Greyson ran his hand through his hair and leaned against my front door, probably debating our situation. “I was wondering how we were going to make that work. I was thinking maybe I could let you out a block away and then we wouldn’t show up in the same car. That way you don’t have to pay for cab fare.”

I had thought about that too, but it made me feel cheap and sleazy. That was what the other woman had to do, and like I said before, I didn’t want to be her.

“No, really. I’m fine, and I’ll see you there.” I slipped on some black heels, and walked over to grab my purse. Greyson opened the door and looked back at me with an expression I couldn’t quite read. It had sadness, but also was mixed with a hint of hope.

“I’ll see you there. Be careful, no more falling.” He shot me a wink and walked out of my apartment.

That was crazy. If I hadn’t stopped our moment, there would be no doubt we would be naked in my bed reliving something that I had fantasized about a million times over the past few months. My inner devil was kicking the hell out of me, while my angel was patting my back. Life sucked sometimes, but as Greyson walked out of my apartment, I had to say goodbye to him. I knew it would be our last time alone.

I took one more quick look in the mirror and noticed my lips were still a little swollen. A few strokes of lipstick and a new layer of powder did the trick and had me looking like a girl who was ready to party.

When I finally got a cab and was heading to the rehearsal dinner, my phone rang and Brynn’s picture popped up on the screen. Shit, she was probably wondering where I was.