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Brandt was waiting for Milo when he got to work and Milo had to bite back the snarl that threatened. He knew exactly why Brandt was in his office, looking triumphant. He waited for Brandt to speak first then, when he didn’t, he met the other man’s gaze defiantly. Brandt grinned.
“You really going to make me say it?”
Milo feigned ignorance. “Say what?”
“You’re dating Astoria Vine.”
Milo felt his shoulders tense. “No. I’m dating Ori Herd.”
“Come on.” Brandt sat down without being asked, crossing his legs and smiling that obsequious smile that made Milo want to punch him. “That girl is Astoria Vine, I’d know those eyes anywhere. You’re a sneaky one. How long you been shtupping that?”
Milo’s jaw set and his eyes burned as he looked at his subordinate. “Watch yourself, Brandt.”
Brandt held his hands up. “Sorry, bad turn of phrase but tell me, Milo…are you trying to persuade her back into the business? Because that would be…well, I don’t have to tell you that would send us through the roof. We’d be the envy of every record company in America, hell, the world. She may have been away from the scene for a few years but no-one, no-one, has stopped talking about her. That almost never happens – an artist goes on hiatus, the momentum is lost. Not with her.”
He was getting into the swing now, his color up, excitement in his eyes. Milo waited until he’d finished his speech then got up and closed his office door, went and sat behind his desk. He fixed Brandt with a look of pure steel.
“Brandt, let me say this once. Astoria Vine is gone. She doesn’t exist. My girlfriend, Ori, owns a bookshop, is putting her younger sister through college and is happy with her life choices. She has no interest, none, in revisiting her past. Do you understand me?”
Brandt was silent. Milo waited, his stomach roiling with anger and anxiety. Finally, Brandt sighed. “You know what? You’re the boss. It’s a shame but there you go.”
Milo didn’t trust Brandt’s easy acceptance but he nodded. “Good.”
Brandt got up to go. When he reached the door, he turned. “You know what, Milo? I remember something your dad said to me at the Christmas party a couple of years ago. He said he was proud that you’d built the business to what it is but he was surprised too. Because you don’t have the killer instinct. You don’t take the chance. You’re looking at the golden ticket and you’re throwing it over for what?”
He didn’t wait for an answer. Milo stared after him, his eyes narrowed. “For the woman I love, you son-of-a…” He said the words out loud because he needed to hear them, needed to know he had made the right decision. He had no doubt that he had…or that he indeed loved the heck out of Orianthi Herd.
***
Ori lay on her stomach, next to him, and shivered with pleasure as Milo ran his fingertips up and down her spine. It had been a month since that first night in the bookshop and Ori had gone through the days in a haze of almost delirious happiness. It showed too, her regular customers all commented on the flush in her cheeks, the shine in her eyes. All day she would think about him, watching the clock until he called and said he was leaving work. They would go back to hers or his and eat and talk and make love until they fell asleep in the other’s arms. On the weekend, they would go out to the islands or someplace fun or hang out with Yas. Idyllic didn’t cover it.
She smiled at him now. “You’re just about perfect, Mr. Shaw.” Milo grinned then pretended to look affronted.
“Just about?”
She snickered. “You’re about…” and she jokingly measured the distance between their groins, “Twelve inches from being perfect.”
“Dirty girl.” He kissed her. “Hey, I have a random question.”
“Shoot.”
“Why ‘Astoria Vine’? If you don’t mind me asking.”
She smiled and rolled onto her side, propping herself up on one elbow. “Astoria was my mother’s name. Vine came from…and this is so dumb…from Herd…as in ‘I heard through the grapevine’.” She crossed her eyes to show how dumb she thought it was. Milo started to laugh.
“You’re kidding.”
“One hundred percent not kidding.”
She joined in with his mirth and soon they were laughing and kissing and Milo was pushing her back onto the bed, covering her body with his.
As they made love, slowly, leisurely, Milo trailed his lips along her cheek and nuzzled her ear.
‘Ori?”
She was breathless as she smiled up at him. “Yes?”
He gazed into her deep brown eyes. “I love you.” He saw tears spring into her eyes then roll down her adorably plump cheeks.
