Page 101 of Fresh Canvas
Val’s soft lips twitched, cruelly concealing the smile Ineededto see. The one I so desperately missed.
“You still have a habit of running into people, it seems.”
“Yeah.” My voice felt as weak as my smile. “Sorry.”
Alarm stoked a fire in my cheeks at the sight of prints in Val’s arms. Had he seen the keycard logs? Were they accidentally buried under his own prints? If so, it was only a matter of time until he’d realize my crime.
Orange jumpsuit, here I come.
Composing a mask of indifference, I brushed past him without another word. I had a job to do, and residual feelings for the traitor weren’t part of it.
I sagged against the copy machine when I saw my smoking gun still in the paper tray. Papers clutched to my chest, I made a beeline to my desk. Breathing wasn’t an option until they were stuffed into my bag beside the condition report.
My sweaty palms refused to be wiped off. Removing the sensation of Val’s hand on my shoulder was even more impossible.
“You okay?” Kate peered over her computer. “You’re being weird.”
My chest rose and fell, staccato and dysregulated. “Just peachy.” I forced a smile, but it probably looked more like a baring of teeth.
Kate lifted a suspicious eyebrow. “Listen. If you keyed his car, don’t tell me. Just invite me next time.” Her black hair, piled high in an effortlessly cool bun today, disappeared behind her screen.
Barricaded by the fortress of my computer monitor, I let a single tear escape.
One tear, Val. That’s all you get.
One tear for the ache he left that still wanted him back.
A deep breath of resolve filled my lungs as I straightened up. It was becoming increasingly difficult to identify the bigger traitor: Val, or my heart.
twenty-eight
AMANTHA
Stained glass windows painted the dreamy chapel in multicolored hues. Anthony bounded through the doorway, his lavender tie askew.
“Mom, this is so embarrassing. I can’t believe you’re making me do this.” His freckled nose wrinkled in disgust as he held a woven basket away from his body like a pair of dirty underwear. He turned and ran from the room with it, rose petals fluttering out as it bounced.
“Anthony, come back!” I tried to follow, but cement might as well have puddled around my ankles. A pair of arms slid around the white satin of my dress as a firm chest pressed against my shoulder blades.
“Babe, I can’t wait to marry you.” Hot breath nuzzled the shell of my ear.
Babe?My eyebrows furrowed. That couldn’t be right. The only person who called me that was?—
Ryan stepped into view, his blue eyes an ocean of adoration. “You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.” He gathered one of my caramel-colored hands and pressed it to his lips.
A rock dropped into my stomach.
That’s not my hand.
I trembled as the unfamiliar hand shook too. It looked a lot like?—
“Vanessa, it’syou.It’s always been you.”
I heard—no, I felt—Vanessa’s tittering laugh rise from my own throat. Horrified, I clapped my hands over my, orher, eyes as Ryan’s kisses continued to dot my face and hands.
I tried to move my frozen legs.
Tried to push him away.
