Until Then (Cornerstone Book 2) (24 page)

At ten o’clock at night on the last day of February, there was a sudden knock at her door. Michelle wasn’t expecting anyone, so she cautiously peeked through the peephole to see who it was.
Simon?

She opened the door and was about to ask how the photography conference went, when he took her face in his hands and kissed her.

Her heart skipped a beat or ten. This kiss was so much better than their first, because he was the one to initiate it this time.

She leaned away to look at him, wondering what he was thinking.

His hands dropped to his sides, and he searched her face. He looked completely unsure if he should have done that.

One corner of her mouth raised up.

He smiled at her and slid his arms around her waist, drawing her to him, kissing her again.

She felt
this
kiss all the way to her toes.

Stepping back into the apartment, she pulled him with her. He kicked the door shut behind him, and they laughed, breaking their kiss.

She stroked the side of his neck. “I thought you didn’t wanna risk our friendship.” She raised an eyebrow at him.

His hazel eyes were alight with something new — a look he had never given her before. “I changed my mind.”

Was it attraction? Passion? Love? All she knew for sure was that she never wanted him to stop looking at her like that. Ever.

16

Being with Simon was fun and crazy and intoxicating. She couldn’t get enough of him. She had always wondered what it would be like if they ever got together. Would it change their friendship? Would it mess things up? But the past two months had been wonderful.

Simon went out of his way to include her in his busy photography schedule. They spent most weekday evenings together since he worked weddings on weekends. She went with him and Uncle Pete to the big Grand Opening of the photography studio in Hastings. He even invited her to join him for a photographer event at Rose’s, a quaint little restaurant on the shores of Reeds Lake.

They settled in at a table near the back with a group of Simon’s fellow photographers. He introduced her to several people, so many that she couldn’t remember all their names. She didn’t care much. She was with Simon, and that was all that really mattered to her.

“Hey, Chelle,” said a familiar voice.

Simon’s whole body tensed up next to her, and she turned to see Maggie standing beside their table with a lovely brunette. Michelle stood and greeted her with a hug.

“How are you?” Maggie asked.

“Really good.” She smiled and raised her eyebrows up and down.

Simon was looking anywhere but at them.

“You and Simon?” Maggie whispered, and glanced in Simon’s direction.

Michelle smiled happily and took her seat next to Simon again. She leaned in and kissed him on the cheek.

He turned and gave her a soft kiss on the lips, then looked straight at Maggie.

Michelle looked over at Maggie, who glanced at her friend.

“We’re gonna go get a drink,” the friend said, and they walked to some empty seats at a nearby table.

“Who’s that with Maggie?” Michelle asked.

“Her assistant, Sarah. She’s dating Maggie’s brother, Tom.”

Simon had mentioned Tom quite a bit during the past couple months. Ever since Uncle Pete had moved permanently to Hastings, Simon had been spending a lot of time with Tom, and they had become good friends. She still thought of Tom as the flirty teenaged kid who hit on her their first day of college. Michelle was happy that Simon had found a friend in Tom, but she didn’t like that he was in such close proximity to Maggie. Something was going on there. She sensed an uncomfortable vibe between them. There was something strange about the way he tensed at the sound of her voice and the way he looked at her after he kissed Michelle. It sort of felt like … well, like he was trying to rub it in Maggie’s face. And that did not sit well with her at all.

The photographers were all very passionate about their craft. Michelle listened to them talk for a couple hours about weddings and photography and everything that surrounded their businesses. It was interesting, but it left Michelle with the old familiar feelings of confusion and uncertainty. They all knew what they wanted to do with their lives. She wished she could figure out what to do with hers. What was her purpose? Where was her joy? She sure hadn't found it working ten years in a boring office. The only thing that made her happy these days was Simon.

After a delicious dinner, they moved along the hallway toward the exit. Jamie and Shannon, two photographers who had been seated at their table, walked ahead of them with Maggie and Sarah.

“Girl! I have not seen you in months,” Jamie said to Maggie. “You need to fill us in on what happened in Vegas.”

“What do you mean?” Maggie replied.

“We saw you and Simon kissing at the party, then you just took off. We need details!”

Michelle gasped and stopped in her tracks. She looked over at Simon in shock.

He glanced at her, guilt written all over his face.

“You kissed Maggie?” The entire room spun around her, as Maggie and her friends rushed out the door.

His shoulders sank, and he looked down at the floor.

“Simon?”

He took her arm and led her from the restaurant.

“Answer me!” she demanded as they walked across the parking lot.

“Let’s talk somewhere else.”

She was fuming.
He kissed Maggie?
She couldn’t believe it. Maggie hated Simon.
How could this happen?

They climbed into Simon’s car, and she turned to face him.

“You better start talking,” she demanded.

“Calm down.”

“I will
not
calm down until you tell me the truth.”

“It happened at my party the last night of the conference.” He paused.

“OK?”

He let out a breath. “We were drunk.”

She raised an eyebrow. “That’s it?”

“What?”

“That’s it? You were drunk, and you kissed?”

“That’s what happened.”

“Maggie was drunk? I highly doubt that.” Michelle was fairly certain Maggie had never touched a drop of alcohol in her life.

“Well,
I
was. I don’t know about her.”

“I want more of the story. How did it happen? Where were you? What were you doing?” The old familiar jealousy kicked into high gear.

He fidgeted in his seat. “We were dancing, and the song turned slow. I kissed her, but she didn’t kiss me back. Then she left, I guess.”

Michelle didn’t know what to say or whether to believe him at all. Her mind was racing a mile a minute, but it suddenly came to a screeching halt when she was struck with a horrible thought — one that she could not easily dismiss.

“She’s not the reason … I mean, that’s not why you had a change of heart about us is it?”

“No!” he replied a little too quickly. “Chelle, that’s ridiculous.”

“Is it? Because it was after Vegas that you came to see me.” She felt sick to her stomach. “Maggie turned you down, then you just suddenly changed your mind and wanted to be with me?”

He reached across the space between them and took her hand.

She looked out the window at a passing car.

“Michelle, look at me.”

She did.

“I do wanna be with you, and it has nothing to do with what happened in Vegas.”

As he drove them to his apartment, she stared out the window. More than anything, she wanted to believe him. He had never lied to her before, but she had a feeling he wasn’t telling her the whole truth this time. She thought about the events leading up to this night and tried to piece everything together to fit with what Simon had told her. She reached the same conclusion every time. If Maggie hadn’t rejected him in Vegas, they probably wouldn’t be together right now.

For some reason, her mind wandered to high school basketball, to sitting on the bench, barely getting to play the game she loved. She had
that
feeling again — that second string, watching from the sidelines, never gonna be first choice feeling.

17

Since the events at Rose's, things had felt strained between them. She wasn't sure if Simon was purposely avoiding her or not, but things seemed to be going south fast. More of his time was taken up by work as the most popular month for weddings kicked off.

Michelle received multiple messages from Maggie wanting to explain about Vegas, but she didn't want to hear it. Simon and Maggie had kissed. It didn't matter that the kiss happened before she and Simon got together. They had kissed. And all the old jealousy was back in full force. She couldn't control it. Perfect Maggie, with her perfect family and perfect photography business, who always seemed to get everything she wanted and then some. Beautiful Maggie, who was taking Simon away from her without even trying.

She decided to focus all of her pent-up aggression on something positive — convincing Simon that he had made the right choice, that
she
was the one for him. And she was determined to show him that she was.

"What's all this?" Simon entered his apartment and dropped his camera bag on the floor after a long day of shooting.

The place was spotless. She spent all day cleaning his apartment from top to bottom. The carpets were vacuumed, floors mopped, shelves dusted, windows washed. The glow of two tapered candles lit the dining room table, which was set for two.

He walked into the kitchen, where Michelle was stirring chunks of chicken, vegetables, and rice around in a skillet.

"I'm making you dinner." She smiled at him over her shoulder. Something was wrong. She could tell by the look on his face.

"I'm not very hungry, but thanks." He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.

"What's the matter?"

"I'm just tired."

"Are you sure? Did something happen at the wedding?"

He shook his head and ran his fingers through his hair. It was his telltale sign of frustration.

"Simon. What happened?"

"Nothing, Chelle! Just drop it!” He stomped off to the bathroom in a huff.

Whatever had happened that day most certainly had to do with Maggie. She was the main photographer for the wedding, but Simon had also been hired to take fashion formal portraits for the bride, which had become his signature style. Michelle didn't like that they were working together, and she couldn't shake the feeling that something more might be going on between them.

Michelle turned the burner off and dumped the half-cooked meal in the garbage. She blew out the candles, and put the plates and silverware away. Just as she grabbed her purse from the counter, Simon emerged from the bathroom.

"Are you leaving?"

"I think I should. You're clearly not in the mood for company."

Simon took her purse and set it down. He pulled her into a tight hug and kissed the top of her head. "I'm sorry I snapped. It wasn't a great day, that's all."

"Do you wanna talk about it?"

"Not really. Can we just watch some X-Files or something? Like old times?"

She smiled up at him. "That sounds perfect."

“The apartment looks amazing, by the way. You didn’t have to do this.”