Take A Chance_Be A Doll Spin-Off Novella Read online

  He nodded and threw back what was left of his wine before he answered me. “She said you’re always distant and dating isn’t on your radar.’’

  In normal circumstances, anybody would be upset knowing that a friend was running her mouth to a man who invited you on a date, but I wasn’t. One, it was the truth. Two, Cleo was a girl I could only describe as entitled and gorgeous who reveled in everybody’s attention. She liked me because I was perfectly fine blending in the background and pushing away men’s attention when it was presented to me.

  “Why didn’t you listen to her then?’’ I asked, curious in spite of myself.

  “You’re a stunning woman. I saw an opening, I took it.’’ He shrugged, snatched his wallet from his slacks and threw a few bills on the table to cover our dinner. “I have no idea who has you so tied in knots, Megan, but I think we could have been fun.’’

  On these words, he stood up, offered me a defeated smile and walked away without a backward glance. I was left there to my own demons and wishes that would never be granted and would always hurt me.

  I stared without seeing the vacated chair on the opposite side of the table for two. There, I could almost picture Chance Atwood looking at me with his incredible blue eyes that seared you to your bones and saw to your very soul, coaxing it to the surface and pushing away the shadows lurking. I could almost make out how his big body and large shoulders would look sitting there in front of me, taking in my vision and pushing away the rest of the world. I could almost feel what his wide smile would do to me and how weak at the knees I’d be if only it were directed at me.

  But I was alone in a crowded restaurant, nursing a broken heart from a man who had no idea I pinned for him, a man who only saw me as the kid sister to his standoffish best friend.

  For the first time since I could remember, I could use a friend. A real friend.

  MEGAN

  After spending a hellish night beating myself up and feeling sad for myself, I couldn’t take it anymore and did something I had never done in my life.

  I called asking for a friend.

  Strangely, the only person that came to mind wasn’t one of the people I had known for a long time, but a brand new addition to the Grimes family.

  “Thank you again for meeting me for coffee,’’ I said. My smile so weak and tired the muscles in my cheeks ached.

  My usually bright green eyes were dull and makeup hadn’t been able to hide the rings under them. I finally gave up in front of my mirror and left in a hurry to meet with Lila, my brother’s wife. I wasn’t feeling well anyway and for once I didn’t want to hide it.

  “You’re offering me the perfect excuse to leave the apartment,’’ she said, an encouraging smile on her beautiful face. Her blue eyes shone even though I saw through her façade. She had nothing of the newly wedded bride so happily in love she glowed. With the Grimes family, nothing was a walk in the park.

  I frowned in silent question, but Lila shook her head. I wanted to press her, but I learned enough from Mathis’ closed off ways to know when to let it go. If she didn’t want to talk about my brother, I wouldn’t push.

  “Megan, what’s wrong? You look like...’’

  “A mess?’’ I sighed, my cup of hot chocolate secured between my hands. I shrugged and then unwound my deep green and cream scarf from around my neck and absentmindedly dropped it on the back of my chair on top of my leather jacket. “I didn’t sleep much last night.’’ Understatement. I didn’t have a wink of sleep. My mind was too busy firing off and screaming at me. I brought that stupid pain on myself and nurtured it for years.

  “Your date didn’t go well?’’ Lila asked slowly, almost as if she weighed her every word.

  “Let’s just say that I should have come to dinner when you invited me.’’ Then maybe I wouldn’t have ended up in tears in a taxi heading back to my place.

  A strange look passed on her face, but it was too fleeting for me to pinpoint what it was about. If there was something that Mathis and Lila shared, it was the way they protected their thoughts and feelings behind a poker face. “Is that why you didn’t sleep?’’ She pushed away her hair when it fell into her face and elegantly took a sip of coffee.

  “Yes and no.’’

  I glared at my hot chocolate and pushed it away. My empty stomach churned at the prospect of my next words while a small voice screamed in my head that I should keep my mouth shut. But where my head usually won with me, my bleeding heart took over this time. I couldn’t keep breaking my own heart like this while staying quiet.

  “Megan?’’

  Worry tainted her voice and it brought me out of my thoughts.

  “That date made me realize something I’ve been trying to fight for a while now and I...’’ I trailed off, my voice getting choked as my eyes welled up with tears. “I don’t know what to do, Lila. I need to talk to someone and my friends... they wouldn’t understand or they would spread rumors and I don’t want...’’

  She put a hand on mine in a gesture so comforting my throat closed even more. I shivered at the contrast between her warm hand against my cold one.

  “You’ve welcomed me with open arms, Megan. The least I can do is listen and keep your secret.’’

  “You can’t say anything to Mathis.’’

  “I won’t.’’ She squeezed my hand and offered me a small smile a lot more genuine than her usual stiff one made to be more polite than anything else. “We’re not big on sharing every aspect of our lives anyway.’’

  I chuckled weakly at her understatement. Mathis was distant, cold. Honestly, I had a hard time picturing him opening up to his wife or anybody these days. Hopefully, it wouldn’t last. Somehow, I held onto some hope for Mathis and Lila. A part of me would always be optimistic.

  “You’re going to think it’s ridiculous.’’ I shook my head and color rose to my cheeks in embarrassment, warming my face quite uncomfortably.

  “You didn’t judge me for being a hired wife and you could have. I’m not going to judge you either.’’

  I took a deep breath and nodded, relieved even though I knew it before she said it. That’s why I called her.

  “The first time Mathis brought Chance home I got a huge crush on him and it never went away.’’

  She blinked at me, surprise etched on her face. Her blue eyes widened briefly before she schooled her face and seemed to think something over. “Were you on a date with him?’’

  “No.’’ I grabbed my hot chocolate again and took a sip, my eyes still on Lila as I gauged how she took my news. Now that the initial surprise vanished from her face, she seemed interested, but not scandalized. Then again, I knew that Lila went through a lot in her life and even if we were almost the same age, she wouldn’t be rattled as easily as I would be in any given situation. “I went out with a man hoping he’d be able to make me forget Chance, but it failed, and actually it made me realize how deep my feelings for him run.’’

  “Does he know?’’

  My eyes got bigger at the prospect as sudden fear made my heart stumble in my chest. I shook my head vehemently, eyeing other tables around us suddenly worried someone I knew could hear us and somehow find out my deepest secret.

  “Of course not. I was a gangly kid when we met for the first time and he’s never seen me as a woman. I’m the little sister of his best friend. It’s not going to change.’’ Defeat and another bout of sadness hit me square in the stomach, and I ached in the deepest part of me. I’d rather avoid thinking of Mathis if by some miracle something could happen between Chance and me. That wouldn’t be pretty.

  “You don’t know that. It’s true that Mathis is quite the obstacle and would very well hinder a relationship between you and Chance, but if you can’t forget him and you’re unhappy in this situation, you should do something. I’m not saying Chance will fall in your arms, but at least you’ll know for sure.’’

  “Right,’’ I said and laughed humorlessly. That sounded so easy and not messy at all when bluntly spelled l
ike that, but nothing was as easy or without any emotions involved. “I’ve never went out of my way to call the guy or meet up with him and I should just walk up to him and give him my heart on a platter so he can give me his charming smile and a speech on how he sees me like a kid, his best friend’s sister and nothing else.’’

  “You have no idea what he’d say or how he’d react. You could get your heart broken, but don’t you think it’s best to get your heart broken once and move on rather than being stuck on a guy for years and failing at every relationship you have because he’s the one in your heart? If he’s still in your heart after all this time, it means a small part of you holds onto hope. At some point in life, you have to make decisions.’’

  “I knew you’d say that.’’ My eyes went to my hot chocolate that had lost most of its heat. “I’m so scared.’’

  “Of course you are. You care.’’ She forced a smile, once again stiff but it didn’t lack emotions. Somehow I perceived her emotions behind the shutters in her eyes. It helped with the fear plaguing me and the weight of what awaited me when I would finally lay my heart at Chance’s feet. For the first time in forever, I saw the invaluable price of what a friend was. Lila just walked into our lives, but I saw in her a trusted friend who wouldn’t judge, who would be there if I needed a shoulder to cry on, someone who would keep a secret. I had never let myself have that before.

  “What about Mathis?’’ I asked, worrying my lower lip with my teeth.

  “Mathis?’’ She pursed her lips and took a sip from her mug. “Chance won’t breathe a word to him. Not yet, anyway. Right now, you shouldn’t think of other people. It’s not about Mathis, after all. It’s your life. Yours and nobody else’s.’’

  “And if Chance breaks my heart?’’ I said, voicing my worst fear, the one that kept me awake the whole night once it became obvious I needed to do something since burying my feelings didn’t work.

  “Then you call me and we have a girl’s night, something I’ve never had, might I add.’’ She smiled again and it soothed me. “No matter what, you’ll have an answer and you deserve that.’’

  I nodded, but doubts still lingered. “It’d be easier if he were a man I wouldn’t cross paths with regularly.’’ My mouth twisted in repulsion. “I’m going to humiliate myself.’’

  “Of course you won’t!’’ She tapped on the back of my hand holding the mug. “It’s not because you’re taking your situation into your own hands that you’re going to humiliate yourself. If he doesn’t respect your feelings, he’s not the man you thought him to be.’’

  I blew out air and straightened in my chair, steeling myself by repeating in my head what she just said. She was right. I wasn’t that self-pitying woman. I was stronger than I looked and more independent than that. No matter what, I didn’t need a man to be happy. I could do this. I nodded to myself. I went through much worse in my life, and I was still there, so a broken heart wouldn’t be the end of me or my world.

  “I’m going to do this.’’ I gulped the last of my hot chocolate as if it was hard liquor and put down the empty mug with more strength than necessary. “Today. I should do this today because the man appears to always be with some amazon of a woman on the weekends.’’ I cringed at that part, remembering the dark-skinned woman he left the wedding reception with. Just one of the women I caught him flirting with since I had met him. “Thank you again, Lila.’’

  “You’re welcome.’’

  We both stood up and I didn’t hesitate. I went to my sister-in-law and hugged her. After a few beats, she returned the hug and it only drilled home that Lila was a keeper. She could very well be the key to my brother’s tightly locked shields, and if she wasn’t, she was my friend.

  “I need to catch Chance for his lunch break,’’ I said and pulled back, determination making me braver than what my wobbly legs had me feeling.

  “You should go now then. Good luck and let me know how it goes.’’

  I nodded and waved after thanking her for paying for our drinks. I felt her eyes on me as I walked out and away from the wide window of the coffee shop.

  Now, I needed a taxi.

  And a miracle.

  CHANCE

  “Alicia, get me the business plan for GreenStance, the startup company. I need to check something after my lunch break,’’ I said to my assistant as I walked past her desk on my way out, my mind still busy on the latest reports and numbers I went through that morning. Business and numbers came easily to me, and that’s probably why my college friend, who is also my best friend, Mathis Grimes hired me as his CFO for the now huge empire GM Enterprises. That, and the man had issues trusting people, but my winning personality earned me brownie points over the years.

  “It’ll be on your desk when you get back, sir,’’ she promptly replied, her smile carving deeper the wrinkles around her eyes as she started typing on her computer.

  “You never fail to come through, Alicia. Don’t forget to get a good meal. I don’t want your husband suing us for overworking you,’’ I threw over my shoulders with a smile that made her blush and laugh.

  That was me. I worked hard, gave away my smiles as if I threw out sweets and flirted my way through the available women around New York City. But I never ever mixed business with pleasure and everybody knew it.

  I pressed the button to call one of the elevators and snatched my phone from my pocket when it vibrated. Distracted, I didn’t pay attention to the elevator on my left when it opened and instead, smirked down at my phone when I saw the text waiting for me. It was from the sexy, exotic woman I left Mathis’ wedding party with to spend a decently hot night.

  “Chance?’’

  At the sound of my name called from a familiar voice, I jerked my head up and turned to my left, phone in hand with a dirty response at the tip of my finger and came face to face with Megan.

  “Megan? What are you doing here?’’ I blinked and then walked to her, by-passing a few overzealous employees and put my phone in my pocket, the text unanswered. “I think Mathis already left.’’

  She glanced around, so nervous she seemed ready to bolt at the first opportunity. My eyebrows lowered and I focused all my attention on the short brunette. Where her brown eyes usually glowed, they appeared dull, showing exhaustion. Her complexion while as fair as usual, she was a lot paler than just the other night when I saw her at the bar.

  “Are you alright?’’ I asked, voice lower and leaned closer, ready to cart her away if something was wrong and she needed to be away from prying eyes.

  I didn’t know Megan very well even though we would meet a few times a year through the company, or other social events the Grimes family partook in. I knew almost nothing about her other than the bits and pieces I got through Mathis when he was in a rare talkative mood, which happened rarely and consisted of two sentences to resume someone’s life when it would take an hour for anybody else.

  But it was all the same. As my best friend’s little sister, if something was wrong with her, I couldn’t possibly hand her over to Alicia and go my merry way for a lunch break and a few flirting-dirty texts with a woman I didn’t care much for.

  “Megan?’’ I prompted her when she kept quiet, her eyes now on my face and round.

  “Do you… Do you…’’ she stammered and then clamped her lips and crossed her arms in front of her, molding her leather jacket to her thin shoulders. Then she took a deep breath and waved over my shoulder to where I came from. “Could we go somewhere private?’’

  I frowned deeper at her timid voice. I gripped my briefcase tighter as I surveyed our surroundings. I considered staying at the office but then thought better of it. She didn’t seem to be here for Mathis and if she wanted to talk about him and Lila, whatever it was would be best kept away from the office. GM Enterprises didn’t need the scandal regarding the truth about Mathis and Lila’s wedding to come out.

  “I was on my way out for lunch. Join me.’’

  ***

  MEGAN

&nbs
p; What am I doing? What in hell am I doing?

  All the way down to the building’s lobby I kept on repeating that to myself, quietly freaking out so much I was sweating buckets under my leather jacket.

  For the first time, I was spending alone time with Chance and it was at my initiative. With how tall Chance was I felt even more insignificant standing next to him in the packed elevator with the lunch break crowd more or less noisy through the buzzing in my ears.

  The door opened and we quickly exited, following the flow of people. At my every two steps I risked a glance at Chance and every time my eyes took in his naturally tanned skin, his blonde hair and his incredible blue eyes, my stupid heart did somersaults in my chest, pumping so much blood through my veins I got dizzy.

  “I was planning on going to get tacos over there,’’ he said, pointing somewhere over my head to a place I couldn’t see considering most of everybody around towered over me.

  “Hm… it’s fine. I… I like tacos,’’ I mumbled and mentally slapped myself for being so tongue-tied in front of him when I usually wasn’t. Not that I had ever talked his ears off, but I sounded like a teenager short of words when talking to her crush right then. Of course, there was only the teenager part that was wrong in that statement.

  The walk to the taco place went by really fast, so much that one moment we were walking down the street and the next we were seated with a cheap kind of menu in hand while my eyes fixed the paper napkin in front of me with zeal.

  Sometimes I would daydream about having lunch or dinner with Chance, but not once in my dreams had I felt sick to my stomach and considered making a run for it instead of reveling in the handsome man seated in front of me, wearing a suit that made him look seriously hot in a corporate way.

  The silence started to get more awkward then, and I finally risked a glance up and bit my lip when I locked eyes with him. My cheeks started to get warmer when it hit me that he’s been staring at me since we walked in. I swallowed past the boulder in my throat and dropped the menu on the small table sitting two.