Chapter 54
54
William
After dropping off the pink roses at Scout’s workplace, I got back in the rideshare I’d ordered and had him head straight to Turquoise Crown. My plan is to surprise Opal and then confess my sins to her.
She deserves to know my truth.
My only hope is that after she hears it, she’ll want to give us a fighting chance. I’ve been a front row witness to many couples falling in love. In most of those cases, I played a part in bringing them together, but that spark that’s ignited when two destined souls find one another is out of my control.
What happens next between Opal and me is out of my control, too. I know she said that a casual relationship is all she wants, but there’s potential for more between us.
I feel it. I believe she feels it, too, and that’s why I’ll bare my soul to her.
I have to. It’s the first step toward a future with her.
I exit the rideshare carrying the two dozen violet roses Lola tracked down for me. They’re fragrant and perfect in every way. I can’t wait to place them in Opal’s arms.
I tug on the door handle of the bar, but there’s no give to it. I can’t say I’m surprised, so I knock gently, hoping Opal will appear behind the glass door.
I see movement inside, and instantly, my heart thunders in my chest. I want her so desperately that I’m feeling things I’ve never felt before. Fear is paired with a nervous energy that is coursing through me at lightning speed.
I suddenly wish I had ditched the suit for jeans and a T-shirt today because all of this clothing is making me feel like I’m overheating.
I curse silently when I see a black-haired woman peeking through the glass. It’s Myra.
She opens the door with a flourish, her gaze trailing over the roses. “Oh, wow. They’re for Opal, aren’t they?”
“They are,” I say, looking over her head so I can search the interior of Turquoise Crown for the woman I need to talk to.
“Come in, William.” She motions me in before she locks the door behind me.
“Where is she?”
Myra brushes past me before turning to face me. “Not here, I’m afraid.”
“Dammit,” I don’t try to mask the disappointment in my voice. “Do you know where she is?”
A knock at the bar’s door steals her attention away from me. Without a word, she sets off toward it.
I use the opportunity to rid myself of the roses. I plop them down on the nearest table before raking my hands through my hair in frustration. As I’m tugging my phone from my suit jacket pocket to send Opal yet another text message, I hear a familiar voice greet Myra.
I turn to see Chuck handing a cardboard box to her. As soon as he does, his gaze wanders over her shoulder and lands on my face. “Hey, William!”
“Chuck.” I raise a hand in greeting.
I’m not in the mood for small talk. I need to get out of here and search for Opal. The fucking problem with that is I have no idea where to look.
“How are your kids?” he questions with his eyes still pinned on me.
I tap my chest. “You’re asking me that?”
Myra inserts herself into the conversation, luring Chuck’s gaze to her. “You have kids, William?”
I’m shaking my head, but neither of these people is aware of that because Myra is now looking at Chuck as he answers the question she posed to me. “He has two little ones. Girls, I think. Maybe a year and a half or so.”
“You’re wrong,” I say, trying not to sound as frustrated as I feel. “I don’t have children.”
Chuck chuckles. “I saw you last night with them outside your building. You and the woman you were telling me about.”
The only woman I discussed with him was Opal, and I sure as hell wasn’t with her last night. I wanted to be, but it didn’t happen.
He goes on, likely because I’m staring at him with a blank look, “I saw you go into that building in Tribeca after we met up at the bar, and you gave me that advice. I was walking across the street with Jan last night and saw you helping your family get into an SUV outside of that same building.”
“That was one of the women I work with and her kids. They’re twins. Super sweet little girls.”
He smiles. “That’s what I get for watching from afar.”
“You could have come over and said hi,” I tell him, turning my attention back to my phone so I can finish the message I was typing out for Opal.
“I would have, but I was with Jan and Opal.”
My head snaps up as he continues talking, “I’m actually glad I ran into you, William. I took your advice about the early morning proposal. She said yes.”
“Someone said yes?” Myra asks as realization sweeps over me. “As in a marriage proposal?”
Opal saw me with Aleena and her kids. Does Opal think I’m a father, too? Does she believe I’m involved with someone else while I’ve been sleeping with her?
“I popped the question, and my girlfriend said yes,” Chuck tells her. “We saw Opal on the sidewalk and told her the news.”
“Did she see me with Aleena?” I question Chuck. “Did Opal see me with the girls?”
“She did,” he acknowledges with a nod. “I told her what you said about being knee deep in it with a woman, so she jumped to the same assumption as me. She thought you were crazy about the woman with the kids.”
“I’m not,” I point out.
“Yeah, I get that.” He laughs it off. “There seems to be a lot of misinformation floating around. For some reason, Opal thinks you live in Brooklyn. She brought it up a couple of times while we were watching you with your co-worker and her kids.”
Fuck. Just fuck.
“I told her you lived in Tribeca since we hit up your neighborhood bar.”
Anger is racing through me, but I don’t blame him for any of this. Every ounce of frustration I’m feeling is self-directed. I never should have taken Opal to my apartment in Brooklyn. It was a mistake that’s costing me now.
She told me she wanted things between us to stay casual, but the last time I saw her, she said she had never met anyone like me. She looked into my eyes, and I swear I saw something there; something that spoke to the unmistakable deep connection we share.
I face Myra again. “Tell me where I can find Opal.”
Her gaze darts over my face. “She’s the woman you told him about, isn’t she? You care about Opal, don’t you?”
“What?” Chuck asks, but I don’t have time to offer him an answer.
I’m a man on a mission, and that mission is telling the woman I’m falling for that I’m not the lying cheat she thinks I am.
“I care very deeply for her,” I explain to Myra as I hold her gaze with mine. “If you have any idea whereshe might be, please tell me.”
“She went to get a coffee hours ago.” She points toward the door. “There’s a coffee shop around the corner that she likes. I don’t know if she’s still there, but it’s worth a try.”