Anticipation(37)

And if he kept pushing - or screaming at Blue because he was wild with  jealousy - he was going to lose her altogether, and that wasn't a  prospect he was prepared to face.

He pushed himself to his feet. "I'm going to go find Steffi. Sorry for being such an asshat at the moment."

"You had months of me being an asshat after Lena left. Fair's fair," Raf said.

Eddie mustered a smile from somewhere before going straight down to  reception. Steffi was dealing with a customer when he entered, making a  booking for an appointment, while Hans was sorting the body jewelry in  one of the display counters. They both glanced at him surreptitiously,  clearly worried he was going to blow up again. He lurked  self-consciously, feeling like the world's biggest jerk until the  customer had exited, then he caught Steffi's eye.

"Can we talk?" he asked.

"You don't need to apologize," Steffi said quickly. "You were right, I  should have been more on top of things since we knew there was a problem  with the system doubling up appointments sometimes."

"Humor me," Eddie said.

"Okay."

He led her back to the scene of the crime - the staff room - and turned to face her.

"I was out of line," he said baldly. "I was in a shitty mood, and I took it out on you. It won't happen again."

Steffi blinked, then her shoulders sagged with relief. "Okay. Um,  thanks. I appreciate you taking the time to talk it out. And being so  honest."

"Why don't you take Monday off and have a long weekend?" Eddie said. "On us."

"Seriously?" A smile tugged at her lips.

"Seriously. You're a valuable part of the team and I don't want you thinking that we don't know that."

Steffi lowered her head for a second, blinking rapidly, and Eddie  realized she was on the verge of crying. Bloody hell. He really was an  asshole.

"Come here," he said, opening his arms. Steffi walked into them and he  patted her on the back. "Next time I even look at you funny, you tear me  a new one, okay?"

"Okay."Steffi sniffed as she stepped away from him. "Thanks for the holiday."

"It's the least I can do."

Steffi gave him a small smile before heading back out to reception.  Eddie sighed, grateful Blue would be with her client until after five or  six. He needed more time to get his thoughts together before he  attempted to fix things with her. Needed to find some way to put the  white-hot jealousy he felt to one aside - along with his desire - so  they could get on with the business of being friends.

He had a client of his own due in half an hour, so he spent the next  fifteen minutes setting up before going to grab a coffee and greeting  his client. They talked styles and ideas for fifteen minutes, then Eddie  did a couple of sketches before hitting jackpot.

Four hours later, he wiped the last of the excess ink from his client's  skin and studied the intricately detailed tiger lily decorating her  lower back. The color was good, and he'd managed to create some  convincing dimension with the shading.

He worded his client up on the care and feeding of her new tattoo, then  escorted her back to reception. Blue was there, seeing off her own  client, and his gut got tight at the mere sight of her. He wasn't even  close to being ready to have the conversation he needed to have with  her, but he knew he couldn't let it go any longer.

She finished seeing her client off, then walked past him without saying a word, her back very straight.

He contemplated the toes of his boots for a long beat, absorbing her  anger, conscious he'd earned it, then he headed for the rear of the  premises. He was just steps away from the staff room when Blue emerged,  her over her shoulder, car keys in hand.         

     



 

"You're going," he said.

"Yep."

"Can we talk first?"

"Not right now." She didn't look at him as she brushed past.

"Blue -" He reached out to catch her elbow, but she jerked it out of his grasp.

"Not tonight, okay?" She shot him a look, and there was something behind  her eyes, some emotion he couldn't quite put his finger on. Then she  was walking toward the rear exit, her stride long and determined.

Eddie told himself to go after her, but he was still trying to work out  what it was that he'd seen in the depths of her eyes. Something dark and  sad.

Had he put that sadness here? Was that on him?

"Hey, have you seen Blue?" It was Hans, one of the cordless phones from  the front desk in hand. "That chick who called for her before is on the  line again. She said she's got important information for Blue."

"She just left. Take a message and text it to her."

"Damn." Hans hit a button on the phone and lifted it to his ear. "I'm  really sorry, but you just missed her. Can I get a message to her?"

Eddie frowned as Hans' expression became serious and focussed. "Hang on a  minute, I'll just grab a pen so I can make sure I've got this all  right."

Curiosity piqued, Eddie followed as Hans ducked into the staff room and  grabbed one of the handful of pens scattered on the coffee table.

"Okay, go ahead." Hans jotted something down on the back of his hand,  then read it back. "Alice Wilton, White Groves Funeral Home, Albury,  this Thursday at three. Is that it?"

Eddie tensed, then leaned forward to read what Hans had written on his  hand to confirm what he'd heard. Sure enough, it said Alice Wilton.

Hans added a phone number to the information before assuring the caller that Blue would get her message.

"Was that Alice calling?" Eddie asked the second Hans ended the call.

"She's the one who died. Why? Did you know her?"

No, but Blue did. She didn't talk about her years in the foster system  much, but Alice's name had come up more than once and he knew Alice was  Blue's last foster mother. The one she spoke of most fondly.

"Not personally," Eddie said, already walking toward the exit.

He knew what he'd seen in Blue's eyes now - grief. And she hadn't said a  word to him, just walked out the door after putting him off.

Because of this morning. Because of Friday night.

Blue's car was already gone, and he got into the Ferrari and shot out  into the street. Even though there was a chance she hadn't gone straight  home, he headed there anyway. If he had to, he'd wait until she came  home. Whatever it took.

He parked opposite her block and climbed the stairs to her apartment.  His knock echoed loudly off all the hard surfaces in the stairwell -  concrete and bare brick and metal railing. He glanced around, wishing  she'd find herself somewhere nicer to live.

He heard a footfall inside, then the click of a deadlock being twisted.  Then Blue was standing there, her eyes big and bright with tears, her  cheeks wet. Pain sliced through him as her chin wobbled.

He didn't hesitate, stepping forward and pulling her into his arms. She gave a choked sob and buried her face in his shoulder.

"No matter what, I am still your friend," he said fiercely, his arms tight around her. "No matter what, okay?"

She nodded, her face still pressed against his chest, her arms tightening around him.

"I'll take you to the funeral on Thursday, okay? We'll go up together," he said.

"Okay. Thank you." Her words were muffled by his chest.

He pressed a kiss to the crown of her head. All the anger and jealousy  of last night and today drained away. None of that bullshit mattered,  only Blue's happiness.

A pretty simple idea to hang onto, when everything was said and done.





Two days later, Blue stood waiting in front of her apartment block,  dressed in a pair of black trousers, plain black shirt and her most  sedate pair of black boots. The most conservative items of clothing she  owned. She'd even slicked her hair back instead of wearing it in one of  her more flamboyant styles.

Alice had been a pretty simple person at heart, and she'd never been a  fan of Blue's crazy hair or tattoos. Blue figured the least she could do  in honor of her memory was turn up looking the way Alice would want her  to.

The rumble of a car engine drew her attention to the street and she  frowned as she recognized Raf's Bentley. She stared at the black tinted  windows, disappointment biting hard.

Eddie wasn't coming with her.

She pressed a hand to her stomach, stunned by how much the realization  hurt. Then the car door opened, and Eddie climbed out, dressed in a dark  charcoal suit and a white shirt with an open collar, his hair -         

     



 

She blinked. He'd had his hair cut.

The messiah locks were gone, replaced with a crisp, edgy GQ-cover-worthy  cut that drew attention to the clean angles of his cheekbones and the  clarity of his green eyes.

"You didn't need to do that," she said.

"Yeah, I did. I was starting to look like a roadie."

She laughed, something she hadn't thought she was capable of today until  the sound came out her mouth. She glanced at the Bentley, mostly  because it gave her an excuse not to look at him for a couple of  seconds. He was so dazzlingly gorgeous, he almost hurt her eyes.