Take Three (The Jilted Bride #2)(65)

I didn’t have to use “the look” all week, but there were times I was really tempted to. To all the interviewers, Phillip Hartford and Matt Sterling were the hot topics in my life, but the only man I could think about was Ethan Lockwood.

Each time I climbed back into my SUV, each time I went back home to my apartment, and each time I lay in bed at night, images of our time together in Fayetteville crossed my mind.

I cried any time I was alone, and even though I was livid with him, a part of me wished he was there to hold me, to tell me that things were going to be okay.

Chapter 26

Ethan

The board meeting dragged on and on—corporate sponsorships, European expansions, employee pension plans—and all I could think about was kissing Selena and hearing her voice.

I was erratic. Angry. Hurt.

I was also extremely confused as to why these feelings were starting to surface.

I’d only known Selena for a little over a month. I’d known Jade—dated her, traveled with her, did everything with her—for two years and I was over her in two weeks.

I hadn’t slept in forever, and I was crankier than I’d ever been: My executive assistant slid my daily updates under the door for fear of me taking my pain out on her. The company employees avoided looking at me directly and didn’t bother greeting me in the hallways.

“Mr. Lockwood? Mr. Lockwood?” the regional development chair tossed a pen in my direction.

“What!” I snapped.

“During your extra time in Arkansas were you able to get the official recipe for that cherry bourbon pie?”

“No. I was not…”

“Oh well. We’ll just stick to what we have then,” he shrugged. “Sweet Seasons is closed anyway, so people won’t have much to compare it to after a while. Next order of business: It’s come to my attention that Starbucks is opening an underwater café in Florida. Anybody have ideas on how we can beat them to it?”

I drifted into my own thoughts again, wondering if Selena would return my phone calls, if she would ever speak to me again.

“You know,” Barry threw a mint at my face and sat across from me, “I preferred the days when you actually pretended to listen in board meetings. Now you’re not even trying.”

“I messed up, Barry. I should’ve told her about Autumn Wonder as soon as I found out Sweet Seasons was her mother’s shop.”

“Why don’t you call her?”

“I can’t just call her. Her assistant screens all her calls now…Since she’s ‘Selena Ross’ again I guess I don’t matter anymore.”

“Whoa! It was Selena Ross?” Barry practically lost it. “The actress? In Fayetteville?”

Am I the only one who didn’t know who she was?

“Yes,” I felt a tug in my heart.

Why do I keep feeling that? And why does it happen every day?

“Wow, you are officially the luckiest guy I know…What was your reason for not being upfront with her again?”

“I was supposed to be undercover when we first met. I didn’t know she was Selena Ross until I had an intern look her up. We didn’t start dating until after I’d already sent all the pies…And then she told me all about her mom’s bakery but…”

“You’re in love with her, aren’t you?”

Impossible…

“No. I just get tingly feelings when I think about her.”

“Tingly feelings?” he rolled his eyes and stood up. “My son says that right before he has to poop. Just keep calling her. And could you please stop moping around every day? The employees are starting to think you’re dying. No one can focus on Autumn Wonder when they think their sexy CEO is dying.”

“Wait. Before you go…What happened to us, Barry? How did we get to this point?”

“What do you mean?”

“We were supposed to be the anti-Starbucks, not bigger than Starbucks. We were supposed to be friends to the local community bakeries, not enemies.”

He stretched his hand out. “Okay, write me the check right now. You owe me two million dollars and I’m cashing the check today.”

“What? Why?”

“When we first started this company, I told you that you were going to say this to me one day. I told you if we ever got bigger than Starbucks, you would regret it. And what did you say to me?”

I leaned back. He was right.

I remembered the exact day we had this conversation eight years ago. We were arguing about expanding the store past Boston, whether or not we wanted to bring more investors aboard to make it happen.

Barry made everyone else leave the room and looked me right in my eye. “I’m your best friend so I’m down with whatever you choose to do, Ethan. But for the record, if Autumn Wonder ever gets as big as Starbucks, if it ever gets bigger than Starbucks, it’s not going to be anything like the original store we had in mind. It’s not going to be community friendly anymore and I’m willing to bet you two million dollars you’re going to regret it at some point.”

I remembered laughing at him. “If we get bigger than Starbucks, we’ll both be billionaires! Why would I even care about being community friendly anymore?”

I snapped out of my recollection and realized his hand was still outstretched.