Lingerie Wars (Invertary 1)

“You’re right, and I understand if you decide to hang up. It’s the least I deserve.” Her ex-fiancé’s voice oozed sincerity.

Kirsty felt the room lose focus as her breathing sped up.

“What do you want? Are you calling to tell me that you plan to return the money you stole?”

“I wish I could,” Brandon said with a sigh. “You have no idea how much I regret that, Kirsty. I was a fool.”

Her heartbeat started to pound in her chest. She grasped the phone tighter. Suddenly, she felt the weight of Lake’s hand on her shoulder. For some reason, her breathing slowed a little, so she didn’t shrug him off.

“I don’t have words for what you are,” she said tightly. “You left me in a hospital while you stole all my money and ran away.”

“I know, I know, baby,” he cooed in her ear. “I was in debt. I feared for my life. I was planning to borrow money to repay the debt, but there was no time left. I felt like I was in a corner and then we had the accident. I saw a way out and I took it. It’s something I regret every moment of every day.”

“Not as much as I regret it. All of it.” Her voice had become weak. She felt weak.

Her palms began to tingle.

Lake stepped in closer. He placed a hand on each of her shoulders and gently rubbed his thumbs in a circle at the base of her neck. For once, Kirsty didn’t think about the scars. She was grateful for the touch that soothed her and stopped her from losing control completely.

“I shouldn’t have called,” Brandon said. He sounded upset. “I still love you.”

She gasped at the words. Shocked he could even say them after what he did. Lake’s fingers gently massaged her shoulders, reminding her that he was there.

“I just thought,” Brandon said in her ear, “after seeing the pictures of you that you still loved me, somehow, even a little bit.”

Kirsty’s mind was reeling. Nothing he said made any sense.

“What pictures? Why would you think that?”

“You were posing, at home in Scotland. You were wearing the necklace I bought you,” he said. His voice cracked a little, as though the emotion was too much for him. “It was the last present I gave you, remember? I thought it was lost in the crash, but there you were wearing it for the world to see and I thought...I thought that if you kept it, if you wore it again, that it must mean there was hope. That you might be able to forgive me. It is the necklace I gave you, isn’t it?”

“Yes, it is, but I don’t see how that could make you think I would take you back.”

“I understand, I understand,” Brandon said. “I shouldn’t have called. It was a mistake.”

The phone went dead. Kirsty held the phone long after the dial tone sounded in her ear. She didn’t know what to think. Or what to feel. She was sure that she would have lost her mind completely if it wasn’t for Lake’s grounding presence.

“You’re breathing too fast,” Lake said behind her. She felt the rumble of his voice through her whole body. “Put the phone down, honey, and work on breathing slowly.”

Her mind was too full to concentrate on what he was saying. A second later, he took the phone out of her hand and placed it on the desk.

“I want you to shut your eyes and concentrate on your breathing. Listen to me, Kirsty.”

Since she didn’t know what else to do, she did as she was told. Short, slow breaths, taking time between each breath to rest—making sure she didn’t gasp for air and hyperventilate her way back into hospital. There was nothing like a full-blown panic attack combined with too much oxygen to make you feel like you were going to die. Lake whispered encouraging words as he kept up the slow circular motions at the base of her neck. Kirsty worked on breathing and, slowly, began to feel more in control.

“That’s it,” said Lake. “Your heartbeat’s a lot slower now. You’re doing great.”

They continued that way for a few minutes. At last Kirsty felt like she was normal again. Lake seemed to know that and stopped touching her; instead he perched on the desk beside her.

“Want to tell me what that was about?” he said.

“Like you didn’t hear it anyway.”

He smiled and his beautiful eyes sparkled, taking her breath away in a good way for a change.

“You must be feeling better. You’re giving me a hard time again.”

Kirsty rolled her eyes. She was about to point out that she’d ordered him from her office, but the truth was she was grateful he’d been there.