Bound to Hope: A Forbidden Romance (The Hope Series Book 2) Page 5

  “Do you mind letting me ride up front, dear? I get car sick very easily.” She pulls her scarf tighter around herself.

  I look at Holden. He’s heard the exchange, and he’s shaking his head behind her.

  “Well the thing is…”

  “Hope gets carsick too, Jane. If I remember correctly, you’re just fine as long as the trip isn’t long. And we’re only going a few blocks.”

  “Oh, you poor thing. I completely understand, dear. You go ahead.” She opens the back door and climbs inside, slamming it a little harder than necessary.

  I quickly walk to the back of the Jeep, and Holden pulls me against his chest. “I’m so sorry, Hope. I’m going to have a talk with her when we get home. The way she’s treating you isn’t okay.”

  I pull back. “You noticed it too? I thought I was just imagining it.” I laugh.

  “No, this is one of her games. I’ve seen her do it plenty of times when an annoying neighbor crashed the cook out. I’ll make this up to you, I promise.”

  I hold onto his lapels. “No need. We’ll be fine.” I quickly press a kiss to his lips and turn to get inside the Jeep.

  Chapter 6

  Holden

  I carry Jane’s bag up to the apartment for her and place it on the bed in the guest bedroom. When I walk out, I find Jane and Hope trying their hardest to avoid one another. Jane is walking around the place, looking over my pictures, and Hope is in the kitchen making a cup of tea.

  “Want a cup?”

  “Sure, but I think I need mine a little harder.” I pull out a bottle of whiskey and pour a little in both cups. “Jane, would you like a cup of tea?”

  “No thank you.”

  Hope rolls her eyes, making me laugh. “I think I’m going to take a shower in hopes of washing the stink of this day off me. Would you like to join me?” She wraps her arms around my waist.

  I press a slow kiss to her lips. “I’ll be there soon. First, I’m going to have that talk with Jane.”

  She nods, presses a kiss to my lips, and then walks into the bedroom, closing the door behind her.

  I leave the cup of tea, grabbing the whiskey instead and walk into the living room. “Jane, we need to talk.”

  “Okay.” She sits down next to me on the sofa. Her closeness makes me uncomfortable, but I try to ignore the fact that she could’ve chosen the lounge chair, so we faced one another without having to turn our heads.

  “The way you treated Hope tonight, that won’t be tolerated.”

  Her brows pull together. “What do you mean? I thought I was polite.”

  “It’s the same tactic you always used at the neighborhood cookouts when someone you didn’t like showed up. You poked and jabbed at them. You said things that shouldn’t be said, but you used your overly-friendly tone, so it made it sound okay. And I won’t have it. I have no problem ending these yearly dinners once and for all.”

  She rolls her eyes. “I’m sorry if you don’t approve, but what could I possibly have to talk about with that girl?”

  “She’s a woman, not some girl who just turned eighteen. She’s going to be my wife soon, and you will treat her with the respect she deserves.”

  Her mouth drops open. “The respect she deserves? How in the world does she deserve my respect? She slept with my son and is now sleeping with my husband.”

  “Ex-husband,” I correct.

  “I mean, I can’t even believe this is happening again. And the fact that she isn’t picking a wedding date?” She scoffs. “That right there screams commitment issues. She’s only using you, you know?”

  I laugh. “Using me? For what?” I know it isn’t true, but I feel like playing along.

  “I don’t know. Your money, maybe.” She shrugs.

  “She’s not using me for my money, Jane. That’s just ridiculous.”

  “Is it?” she questions with a lift of her brow. “Between the two businesses you own, they’re worth half a million dollars, Holden. Don’t be so naive.”

  “She doesn’t know about any of that! How do you even know?”

  She rolls her eyes and takes the bottle from my hands. “We have the same lawyer.” She uncaps it and takes a long drink.

  First things first, I need to hire a new lawyer. That’s not acceptable. Luckily for me, the business didn’t mature until I opened the new shop. Meaning Jane didn’t get any of it.

  I take the bottle away from her and take a drink myself.

  “I mean, what do you two even have in common anyway? She’s half your age! You can’t tell me you have long, interesting talks. You want her because she’s young with firm breasts and a tight pussy. But why does she want you? I mean, you are handsome for your age, but I see handsome twenty-year-old men all day long.”

  “Jane!” I stop her rant. The stress of this whole conversation is getting the better of me. I rub my forehead, trying to ease it away any way I can.

  “Seriously, tell me what drew you to her the first time. Don’t lie. It was your dick, wasn’t it?”

  “This is absurd. How much have you had to drink tonight?”

  “Not nearly enough to put up with all of this. I was hoping to finish what we started last year. You can’t say you didn’t notice when I showed up in your favorite dress.”

  Truthfully, I didn’t notice. I didn’t notice anything but Hope. The way her tight, black dress hugged every one of her curves I love makes me hard just thinking about it.

  Turning to face her, I don’t want to hurt her, but I need her to hear me. “I didn’t notice, Jane. I didn’t notice anything but Hope if you couldn’t tell. We’re over and have been for many years. Before the divorce even. What happened last year was a mistake. I knew that, and that’s why I stopped it.”

  She shakes her head and scoots closer to me. I jump up, needing to get away from her, but she stands along with me. “That’s not true. You were enjoying what we were doing. You liked it, and if you’d give me the chance, you’d like it again.” She walks closer to me, so I step backward.

  “The only reason I even got hard was because I tricked myself into believing you were her.” I point toward my bedroom.

  She shakes her head, not taking no for an answer. “No. No, I know you. We spent over twenty years of our lives together. You knew it was me last year. Matter of fact, I think a part of you still loves me — still wants to be with me. Get back what we lost all those years ago.” With each word she says, she steps closer to me, causing me to step backward. But now, I’m out of steps. I’ve backed myself up against the bar in the kitchen.

  She smiles when she sees she has me trapped. “You make me sick, but at the same time, I’ve never found you sexier. All I can think about is how passionate of a lover you were. How you’d whisper how much you loved me in my ear when you slid deep inside me. I can still see your muscles flexing as I rode your —”

  “Jane!” Hope yells.

  Jane quickly backs up, and I damn near scurry away as Hope comes barreling into the kitchen.

  I’m pretty sure she intends on going after Jane, so when she tries walking past me, I latch onto her side — not holding her back, but reminding her that I’m here, with her. Not Jane.

  “You need to leave now,” Hope firmly tells her.

  Jane laughs. “You can’t make me leave. This is Holden’s house, not yours. And if I have anything to do with it, you won’t ever get your grubby little fingers on it.” She points her finger at Hope. “You just want everything I had, don’t you? You took my son. And then, as soon as I had my back turned, you swooped in and stole my husband and my life!” she yells.

  I see it now. This is another one of her breakdown’s. Hope sees it too. I can tell because her whole demeanor changes. Seeing me and Hope together tonight at dinner, and then seeing how we live, it’s too much for her.

  “Jane, I suggest you leave, take your meds, and call your therapist,” I tell her, putting Hope behind me. Jane’s gotten violent in the past, and I refuse to let her get to Hope.

&nbs
p; Jane laughs and rakes her fingers through her hair, making her look even wilder. “This is absolutely absurd, you know that? I mean Hope? What does she have that I don’t? You didn’t spend twenty years of your life with her! You didn’t raise a child with her! She wasn’t there through all your failed attempts at opening a successful business! That was me! All me! I picked you up each and every month the shop lost money instead of made any. It was me that was with you when you had to file for bankruptcy the first time your dream failed. And it was also me that encouraged you to try again. Everything you have right now is because of me!”

  “Hope, please grab her bag for me,” I say, refusing to leave Hope alone with her long enough to get it myself.

  “With pleasure.” Within seconds, she’s back at my side with Jane’s bag. I take it from her and take Jane by the wrist, lightly enough it won’t hurt her, but still strong enough she’ll know I’m serious and this is over.

  I walk her to her door, and when she’s through it, I hand her the bag.

  Big tears stream down her face, and her breathing is frantic.

  “Calm down before I have to call the police. Now, please leave, and don’t contact me again.” I shut the door, leaving her in the hallway. After I lock all four locks on the door, I lean against it. Suddenly, I’m too weak to even support myself. I slide down to the floor.

  Hope rushes over to me and collapses next to me. She wraps her arms around me and runs her hands through my hair.

  “I’m sorry, Hope. I should’ve known she couldn’t handle seeing us together.”

  “It’s not your fault, Holden. You’ve always seen the best in people.”

  “You came out of the bedroom at the perfect time.” She has a guilty look cover her face.

  “To be honest, I was listening the whole time.”

  I laugh. “You heard everything?”

  She nods. “Yeah, and I think we need to find you a new lawyer.”

  A deep laugh rumbles through my chest. “It’s already been added to my to-do list.” I stand. “Come on, let’s go get that shower.”

  Monday morning comes and with it, comes Hope’s first day of work. I’m still worked up over all the shit that happened with Jane but adding the worry of her going to work for this complete douchebag doesn’t help. I don’t know how, but I know he’s up to no good. I saw the way he looked at her. Hope is just blinded by the prospect of landing her dream job.

  We both shower and dress, then head to the kitchen for a cup of coffee.

  “Did you bring any other clothes with you?” I ask as I hand over her cup.

  “No, why?” She looks down at herself. “Does this not look good?”

  I look at her tight skirt and white button up dress shirt. “No, it looks too good. Why don’t you button a few more of those,” I say, motioning toward her shirt with my cup of coffee.

  She smiles and lets out a small laugh but does as I ask. Now that there isn’t any cleavage showing, I feel a little better.

  “Please don’t worry, babe. I promise, I won’t let anything inappropriate happen.”

  “And the contract?”

  She takes a sip of her coffee. “I think I’m going to see if I can’t get around it, or at least, put it off a little while to make sure I like the job. The bonus would be nice, but…”

  “We don’t need it. I have everything we need,” I promise her.

  She looks at me from the corner of her eye. “I don’t want you supporting me. You might not need the money, but I do. I have four hundred dollars in my account. That won’t last long, and Brad’s kept us above water for months now. I need to pay him back. And I want to help with the cost of our wedding.”

  I put my cup down on the concrete counter top and pull her against me. “I can pay Brad back, and I can pay for the wedding. I’m not worried about money.”

  She takes a deep breath.

  “And if you want, I can buy you your own studio. You wouldn’t have to work for that asshole or anyone for that matter.”

  She shakes her head. “No, Holden. I want to do this myself. I don’t want you paying my way. I need to start at the bottom, gain some experience and clients. I have to earn this, not have it handed to me. Please understand.”

  I nod. “I understand completely. You remind me of how I was when I was starting up my first shop.”

  She laughs. “Learning you had to file for bankruptcy doesn’t make me feel any better.”

  I laugh at her teasing me and swat her on the ass. “Let’s get this day started, huh?”

  She nods and presses a long kiss to my lips. “Let’s do it. Kick ass and take names.”

  Chapter 7

  Hope

  I take a cab to Mr. Woods’s studio. The whole way, my nerves are through the roof. Not only am I worried he’ll take one look at me and think this is a mistake, I’m also nervous about meeting this high-profile celebrity. I can’t believe he’d give me such a big shoot on my first day.

  I try to push it to the back of my mind by thinking about Holden. Thinking of him always calms me. But this time, thinking of him leads to thinking about the wedding. And thinking about the wedding leads to thinking about my parents. I haven’t spoken to them since I graduated from college—not a call, email, or text. I have to reach out to them soon. They have to know about the wedding. It would mean the world to me if they’d give in and just support me. I miss them, and I want them in my life. I want my mom to go over wedding plans with me. I want my dad to walk me down the aisle. I just want a normal life. Is that too much to ask for?

  The cab comes to a stop outside the studio, and I hand over some cash as I climb out. I adjust my now wrinkled shirt and straighten my skirt. I look down at the buttons Holden asked to me button up. I never button them all, choosing to show a little skin. But now, I want to honor his request. It’s best to stay covered and look professional. Plus, I don’t want to send the wrong message to Mr. Woods. I really don’t think he’s interested in me, but Holden does. Maybe he can see something I can’t.

  Pulling open the glass door, I step inside. My heels click on the black linoleum as I walk across the floor. I begin walking around the gallery, looking over the pictures hanging on the walls. It seems as if there’s a different section for each group. One wall holds nothing but pictures of beautiful landscapes. One wall is nothing but people doing all different things: getting married, having parties, and even rock climbing.

  “Can I help you?” someone asks.

  I spin around to see Mr. Woods. “Good morning, Mr. Woods,” I say, walking toward him with my hand outstretched.

  He shakes my hand. “Hope, please, call me Scott.”

  “Okay, Scott.”

  “Are you ready to get started?”

  I nod and pull my camera bag up higher on my shoulder. “Can’t wait.”

  “Let me show you the studio. Follow me.” He leads me into the back to a big, white room. There are tons of backdrops and props. My nerves haven’t settled in the slightest. I’ve never worked in a real studio before.

  “You can set up here, and our subject should be arriving any minute. Do you have any questions?”

  “Yeah, is there a certain look they’re hoping to achieve with this shoot?”

  He brushes his dark hair away from his face and smiles. “I’m going to assist you on this shoot because I pulled you in at the last minute. But basically, we’re just going to do a few different backdrops and props to find the perfect album cover.”

  “Sounds great. I can’t wait to show you what I can do.”

  “You’ve already shown me, Hope. Relax and have fun.”

  Scott runs to grab us both a cup of coffee while I get busy setting up my camera. It isn’t long before several men in black suits and sunglasses come walking into the room with Victoria Young following behind them. She must be my celebrity.

  “Ms. Young, it’s a pleasure to see you again,” Scott says, taking her hand. “I’d like to introduce you to the newest member of the team. This is
Hope Daniels.”

  I softly shake her hand. “It’s so nice to meet you.”

  “You must be talented if Scott has brought you on. I look forward to seeing what you can pull off.”

  “I promise, you’ll look as gorgeous as always.” My face heats up. I’m so nervous, excited, and a little scared.

  Victoria removes her coat to reveal a beautiful white dress. Already I can envision the perfect picture. Scott sets up the shot, placing her on a black couch, and automatically I can tell he’s going for a black and white theme. But I see something different. I know her work, so I kind of have a feeling for what she may be interested in.

  That’s one of the most important jobs of a photographer: know your subject, know what they want even when they don’t.

  I take several shots of the scene Scott set up, but on the next round, I place the orders.

  “I want the white back drop. The white chase lounge chair pushed over there. That table with a bottle of champagne and a glass on top. And you…” I walk up to Victoria. “I want you covered in diamonds and gold.”

  She smiles widely. “That sounds amazing. Scott, you may have outdone yourself with this one!”

  I turn to look at him from over my shoulder and catch his grin.

  Once the scene is set, I get back to work snapping pictures. I spend almost the whole day with this one client, but I know it’ll pay off. I took some amazing pictures.

  Once they leave, Scott turns to me. “That was awesome, Hope! How did you think up that set?”

  I shrug as I put my camera into my bag. “I know her work. I know she likes to look elegant and classy. Crisp whites, champagne, diamonds, and gold… perfect match.”

  “What do you say we celebrate?”

  I look at my watch. “I actually need to get going. But listen, I wanted to talk to you about the contract.”

  “Oh, what about it?”

  I put my bag on my shoulder and walk closer to him. “I’m not comfortable signing something like that right off the bat. I mean, I’d like to make sure I like the job, and that you and I get along creatively before signing. Is there any way around the contract?”