Beautifully Shattered (The Beautifully Series Book 1) (12 page)

Without realizing it, I
start snapping away. I capture the scenery, a couple holding hands,
and an older woman reading a book underneath a tree. I click until
the memory card is full. As I put away the camera, my phone rings.
Startled, I notice that two hours have flown by and I have several
missed calls from Logan and Connor.

Crap,
I’m so late.
I jog towards the exit to catch a cab.

After sitting in
traffic, I’m at the boys’ office in Manhattan with our burgers. I
promise the security guards that I’ll bring them cupcakes from the
bakery tomorrow before I swipe my ID to access the elevators.

Gloria, Connor’s
assistant, stops me from entering my brother’s office. “Hi Addie,
Mr. Evans informed me that you will be having lunch in his office
today. Your brother will join you two shortly.”

“Thanks Gloria. Have
a great day!” I say before opening Connor’s door.

Ignoring the fact that
Connor is on the phone, I whisper, “Mr. Evans, your lunch has
arrived.”

Connor holds up his
index finger, the universal sign for one minute. “Are you the boss
or am I?”

I cringe, I know that
tone. I feel bad for whoever is on the other line. Giving him a
knowing look, I steal two waters for Connor and I, and a Gatorade for
Logan from his fridge. Setting them down on his glass coffee table, I
open up the bags. I place Connors burger and fries in front of him
before drawing mine out of the bag.

“Exactly. So either
do what I pay you for or I will find someone else to do your job.”
He eats a fry. “Last time I checked, it’s not my problem. It’s
yours.”

I shake my head and
mouth “be nice” to him which he ignores.

“I expect a copy on
my desk by the time I walk in tomorrow morning.” He hangs up
without waiting for a response.

“I’m so glad that
you’re basically my brother,” I state as he joins me on the
couch.

“Me too, if I wasn’t,
you wouldn’t have a cool brother,” Connor says with a mouth full
of fries. “You know you would love to work for me.”

I ignore his last
comment. This isn’t the first time he’s suggested it.

“If you have to say
you’re ‘cool,’ you really aren’t.” Connor waves me off and
digs into his burger. By dig in, I mean devour. He’s done with his
burger before I’m able to take more than three bites.

“Someone was hungry.”

“I may have worked
through breakfast,” Connor says with a shrug.

I don’t say anything
back. There’s no point reminding him that he has an assistant that
can order him breakfast. We’ve had that talk so many times I’m
tempted to record myself reminding him how important it is too eat
just so I don’t have to repeat the speech. Connor takes being a
workaholic to a whole new level. He practically lives out of his
office. He has a suite discreetly tucked away to the right of his
desk that he uses regularly.

For some reason I think
about the note from Kohen that is burning a hole through my purse. I
want to get Connor’s opinion on the Kohen thing before Logan comes
in because I know my brother will make a big deal out of nothing. I
open my mouth to bring it up, but quickly close it. I don’t even
know where to start, until now, I haven’t been interested in anyone
but Jax.

I thought I didn’t
want to see where things could go with Kohen, hence me being a
complete bitch to him the other day, but after using the camera Jax
bought me, I have a new urge to take Liv’s advice. I need to live
again. And it’s not like Jax will be my boyfriend anytime soon.
Maybe it’s time to see what else is out there. I fiddle with the
straps of my purse, coming up with a brilliant idea. If I have
Connor, the man whore, help me, maybe Jax will find out. I wonder if
he’ll be grateful that I’m not lusting after him anymore or if
he’ll be jealous. I hope for the latter.

When I peek at Connor,
he’s already staring at me with his eyebrow raised. I reach into my
purse and hand him the note. After reading it, he passes it back to
me without saying a word. I swear, he constantly makes me want to
give him a high-five in the face! Glaring at him I return the note to
my purse.

“Really, you’re not
going to say anything?”

He leans back onto to
the couch, and stretches his feet in front of him. “What would you
like me to say, Addie?”

I could smack him right
now. I’m tempted to just drop it and ask Logan. Who am I kidding,
that’s not an option and Connor knows it. He’s my only option
since there’s no way I can ask Jax. Ha! I’d rather get my
brother’s advice. And Logan wouldn’t give me any advice, he would
lock me in a tower, away from the much older doctor.

Knowing he’s just
going to drag this out as long as possible, I spit out, “Well, do
you think I should go out with him or not? You don’t have to be a
jerk about it and purposely mess with me.”

Connor doesn’t even
have the decency to pretend to be apologetic. “If I don’t mess
with you, who will?”

“Can you help me out
or what? I’m really confused, I’m kinda out of my element in case
you didn’t notice.”

“Okay, okay, Addie
relax. You caught me by surprise, I couldn’t help it. I would have
been less shocked if the note contained that address to where you
hide dead bodies instead of someone asking you out . . . again.”

“Body.”

He frowns in confusion.
“What?”

“You said ‘bodies.’
It would be body. As in one body. Yours.”

“Ha ha ha Addie. But
in all seriousness, if you’re asking for my permission then, yes,
you have it.”

“Really?”

“Yes, Addie you don’t
need my permission or even Logan’s. Don’t you dare tell him I
said that.” I nod in total agreement. “The question isn’t if
you should go out with him, it’s do you want to? Do you want to
finally see who else is out there? Or do you want to continue to play
head games with a certain tattooed man we know?”

“You know?”

“It’s you and Jax,”
he says simply as if it’s the most logical answer in the world. I
raise my eyebrow, begging him silently to go on. He does. “Anyone
with eyes knows.”

I gulp. “Logan?”

He shakes his head. “I
think Logan chooses not to see it because you’re his little sister
and Jax is his best friend. But when he does find out, make sure I’m
there so I can restrain him.” He laughs. I don’t find the image
of my brother and Jax fighting as amusing.

“When did you—”
The question dies on my lips as Logan strides into Connor’s office.

His eyes immediately
find my camera bag on the floor next to Connor’s desk. As Logan
gives me a hug, I can see the questions forming in his head. I’m
grateful that he doesn’t voice any of them. As much as I want to
tell my brother why I was late, I can’t. I know he will make a big
deal out of this and I’m not ready to acknowledge the significance
of today. Not yet anyways.

When Logan is almost
done with his burger he asks, “Do you want me to pick you up or
just send a car tomorrow?” I give him the what-the-heck
look. “The Annual Masquerade Ball we always put on, to
raise money for rare diseases, it’s tomorrow. The same ball I’ve
reminded you about at
least
once a week for a month now. The same ball that I knew you would
forget about, like you do every year.” He mocks exasperation.

How do I forget about
this every year? It’s mind-boggling that my brother hasn’t
strangled me yet.

I scrunch up my nose.
“I didn’t need you to explain yourself, dear brother. I’m
irritated that you assumed I forgot again. How could I with you
reminding me all of the time?” I think I’m convincing enough, but
just to make sure I add, “Oh and not to make a big deal or anything
but I already have my dress, shoes, and a mask.” I throw up my
hands. “But no big deal or anything.”

As I talk, I realize
how much I have to do in such little time.

Logan grunts at my
antics. “I won’t even pretend that I’m not surprised, Addie. I
thought for sure you forgot like you do every year.” Shaking his
head, he addresses Connor. “Well shit, I guess Jax won the bet
after all.”

Connor groans as he
explains, “Our dear brother here has been making a big deal about
how you would forget yet again. So Jax, of course, bet Logan a small
sum that you wouldn’t forget. He kept going on and on about how you
actually would have your dress and everything by tonight. It was
annoying how he was defending your honor and whatnot.”

“What!” I say in
mock outrage.

“I’m with your
brother on this one, Addie. I can’t believe you remembered. You
have the worst, and I mean the worst memory when it comes to planned
events.” Connor ties his long shaggy blonde hair into a knot at the
back of his head.

“Man, I kinda want to
ditch the rest of the day. I do not want to run into that smug
bastard,” Logan tells Connor.

“Well, then I guess
next time you won’t bet against your sister!” I say.

I can’t imagine how I
can possibly get myself out of the hole I’ve dug myself into.
There’s no way I can find a dress last minute. Not for an event of
this stature. The only option is for the earth to open up and swallow
me whole. If I don’t want to be so dramatic, I can always wear my
dress from last year. They’re men, they won’t notice . . . I
hope.

“Oh shut up. Like you
would have bet any differently.”

I don’t have time to
listen to them. I have a dress to find. I make an excuse to leave.
After giving my brother a hug, I ask, “How much was the bet
anyways?”

“I’ll see you
tomorrow night, Addie,” Logan says, ignoring me, which only piques
my interest.

As Connor gives me a
hug he whispers, “Let me know when and where if you decide to take
the hot doc up on his offer,” into my ear so only I can hear.

Once I’m in the cab I quickly
calculate that I have about six hours and tomorrow morning to find
something. This is New York, I’ve totally got this. Will my plan
work? Will Connor blab to Jax? Only one way to find out. With that
thought, I find enough courage to stick to my game plan and text
Kohen.

Me:
Hey it’s Adalynn. Sorry about yesterday, let me make it
up to you . . . dinner on me?

I get a text back from him within
seconds.

Kohen:
One condition

Me:
And that would be . . .

Kohen:
Dinner’s on me. How does eight sound?

I contemplate if that’s enough
time or not. Doubtful since I’ll need to jump in a quick shower and
reapply my makeup from spending the rest of the day shopping. I’ll
need at least an extra hour to make sure I’m presentable for the
first date I’ve had in six years. I force myself to stop thinking
about that and text Kohen back.

Me:
Make it nine and you have yourself a deal ;)

Kohen:
Great. See you tonight.

As the cab pulls up to
the first store, I hold back a groan. I am in no mood to shop. I have
a date to prepare for and I’m in desperate need of at least one
bottle of wine to help my nerves.
I’ll
have more than enough time tomorrow before the ball
. With
that settled, I close the door and tell the cab driver my address. He
doesn’t hold back his grunt of irritation. As he veers into
traffic, I call Connor.

“Miss me alr—”

“So I have a date
tonight at nine.”

“HOLY SHIT!” Connor
says so loudly I have to pull the phone away from my now sore
eardrum.

“It’s not that big
of a deal. You were the one that told me I should take the hot doc up
on his offer.”

He lets out a breath.
“Yeah, but I never thought you would. Holy shit,” he says again
but in a much more normal tone.

“Am I making a
mistake?” I ask after a moment of silence.

Connor doesn’t even
hesitate. “Don’t Addie, don’t go there. Don’t talk yourself
out of this. Kohen is a great guy, granted I’ve only met him that
one time but still. He even asked you out in front of all of us. He
gets major points for that.”

My face heats up at the
mere mention of how Kohen asked me out in the emergency room hallway.
“I’m not talking myself out of it.”

“Tell your bullshit
to someone who believes it. You’re going on this date and you’re
going to have fun, even if I have to drag you there myself.”

“Well, okay, then, I
guess I’m going. Twist my arm, why don’t you.”

Connor laughs.
“Seriously, though, I think this is a great idea and I don’t
think you could find someone better than the doc. Obviously I’m
taking myself out of the equation because that just wouldn’t be
fair.”

“Obviously,” I say
dryly.

“What about Jax?”

“What about him?” I
ask.

“So you’re going
with avoidance? Let me know how that works out for you.”

“Connor . . .” My
voice dies off. I have no idea what to say to that.

The driver idle at the
curb of my building. Connor breaks the silence. “Look, I’ve got
to go, but let me know where you’re going, and if you need another
pep talk, I’m just a phone call away.”

“This was a pep
talk?”

“Yes and you’re
welcome. Gotta go. Love you, sis.”

“Love you, too.”

Even though he’s more
annoying than not, I still love him with all my heart. All jokes
aside, he’s serious when he needs to be and can always make me
smile even when I’d rather not.

Hours later, I find
myself standing in the mirror, not really remembering how I was able
to get ready, but somehow I did. There’s no evidence that I’m
nervous; it’s shocking how I’m able to mask my emotions so well
and show the world what I want them to see. I want to pretend like
this isn’t a big deal, even if I’m freaking out inside.

The woman staring back
at me is beautiful. There’s a fire in her violet eyes. Her long
brown hair cascades down her back in curls, and she’s wearing a
simple creme top, paired with designer black skinny jeans, and red
booties. She seems perfect, she’s me, but I’m anything but
perfect. Is this how Kohen is going to view me? Perfect, my life in
order, happy? Do I want him to see the real me?