Never Standing Still (The Never Duet #1)(3)
“I am close to people, Adam. Just not you.” My words flew out and they were rude, harsh, and pointed. I aimed them at him and hoped they hurt. I didn’t need him psychoanalyzing me, didn’t need him sticking his nose in my business, and I didn’t need him to tell me something I already knew. I had let him in and that was obviously a mistake. And if I’d known it would come back to bite me like this, I never would have.
“Yeah, okay, Kalli. I get it. Back to the ice queen. Just remember, if you ever feel like melting a little, or taking down all your armor, you can call me.”
“Well,” I said as I turned from him, not wanting to see his eyes full of pity staring at me anymore. “Don’t hold your breath.” I kept riffling through the rack of clothes until I heard footsteps and then the sound of the door closing as Adam left. I exhaled and sagged down onto the bench seat along the wall of the trailer. I hadn’t come to work this morning anticipating a verbal smack in the face. The most jarring part of his tirade was the truth he pushed at me, the way his insight reminded me that I was, in fact, damaged. He called it armor, I called it bandages. I was merely trying to manage the hemorrhaging. I couldn’t prevent the wound from being torn open.
It had happened years ago.
Later that day, when I found myself walking into Poppy, my mind was reeling with Adam’s words, my heart was heavy and I really needed a drink. My eyes immediately saw Megan behind the counter. When she saw me, she smiled her warmest smile and I felt a little of my tension release.
I never really wanted to make friends. Business contacts? Yes. Girlfriends? No. But I’d walked into Poppy, a cute clothing boutique, two months before when I was in Portland working on a movie and met Megan. Her outgoing personality had drawn me to her, and then when I’d met her sister, Ella, I was even more pulled to her. The two of them together offered me a no-questions-asked kind of friendship I hadn’t known I’d needed, but by now it was obvious I couldn’t get rid of them if I tried.
Besides, their lives offered a reprieve from my personal issues which gave me a kind of escape. Listening to Ella, who’d had amnesia for the last six weeks, trying to recover her life, was not only heartbreaking, but distracting as all get out. If I could lend my ear to Ella and give her half the support she offered me, then I’d do that without question. Being there for her, listening to her troubles, offering some insight—it allowed me to forget all the shit in my life. Plus, her sister Megan was a hoot. I adored them both.
I listened to Megan chat about the customers she’d encountered at the store that day, and when Ella came in, I listened to them talk about Porter. I hoped, deep down inside, that Ella and Porter would figure their relationship out. He sounded like someone worth taking a chance on, and Ella deserved only the best. She was obviously smitten, even if she couldn’t remember falling in love with him just weeks before.
Eventually, Ella went home but Megan agreed to get a drink with me. We found ourselves, just an hour later, at Bartini, a trendy martini bar that looked like you had walked into a genie bottle. Lots of jewel-toned fabrics, fluffy pillows, and gold.
“Are you really going to try to keep Ella and Porter from seeing each other?” I asked her because I was insanely curious. I knew Megan and her parents had only good intentions when they kept Porter’s existence from Ella, seeing as how she didn’t remember him, but now that he’d made his presence known, it seemed like a waste of energy.
“Kalli,” Megan said with the sarcastic drawl to her voice I’d become so accustomed to. “You didn’t see Ella and Porter when they were together before her accident. There’s nothing in the world I can do now except watch with popcorn readily available.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Those two are like the strongest, most electrically charged sexual batteries you’ve ever seen.” She took a sip of her drink, a long island iced tea. “I wouldn’t want to stand between them. That crossfire is hot.” She laughed a little, swirling the straw in her drink. “Patrick and I were pretty steamy when we first got together, but it was more of an excitement from two young kids just exploring their sexuality. Ella and Porter are, well, more like two very mature people who seem to have found that one person who could light you on fire.”
“You think that’s a thing? Like, one person for everyone? A soul mate?”
Megan shrugged. “I think that if you find someone who makes it impossible to imagine yourself with anyone else, then what’s the point of continuing to search?”
I thought about her answer, but mostly pushed away the idea that someone out there was destined to be with me. I didn’t need that kind of pressure.
Chapter Two
It Wasn’t Glamorous
I was in my Range Rover, headed North on I-5, when the ding from my Bluetooth alerted me to a phone call from Ella. I pressed the button on my dash and heard the crackling of the phone call connecting.
“Hey, Ella. What’s up?”
“Hi! I’m calling to see if you’d like to get lunch today. I feel like I haven’t spoken to you in a while and I miss you.”
“Damn, I’d love to, but I’m on my way to Seattle. I wrapped yesterday so I left this morning to go home. Sorry.”
“Oh.” The disappointment in her voice was apparent and guilt crept though me. “Okay, well, do you know when you’ll be back in town?”