Page 76 of Since Always

It's afternoon by the time I make my way to the kitchen to get us some coffee.

"You stay," I say, kissing her before I go. "Relax. I'm sure you have a million happy birthday texts to field."

I grab my phone before I head downstairs and, once I've got the coffee brewing, I glance down at it. I have two missed calls. Both are from Mark Reynolds.

It's not normal for him to be calling me, and after last night, it is unsettling, to say the least. I debate ignoring it, knowing whatever he has to say is going to screw up an otherwise perfect morning, but my curiosity is too strong. I hit the call button.

"Hey, Owen," he says. "One second, just let me step into the other room."

His voice sounds friendly enough, but I also know he is around other people, so that means nothing.

There is silence on his end, and then the shutting of a door. A moment later, he speaks again.

"Thanks for calling me back."

"What can I do for you, Mark?"

"It's not anything you can do for me. I wanted to give you a little heads-up."

"Again?" I say. "You are so considerate these days."

"I like to think so. Listen, you know as well as I do how small our little world is. Well, it turns out one of the aides in my Denver office is a friend of a bartender at Violet. He was working at Cassidy Sloane's birthday party last night."

Well. He certainly has my attention now.

"Mmmhmm," I say, trying to sound nonplussed. "And?"

"Now, please don't get me wrong. I don't even know this kid's name, and I didn't talk to him last night. I certainly wouldn't have asked him for any information about you, and I will have a conversation with him about privacy."

"Get to the point, Mark."

"Well, this morning I woke up to an interesting email that contained a picture the kid was sent last night. A picture of you. And Ms. Sloane."

"I'm friends with Cassidy Sloane, Mark. I'm friends with her whole family."

"You are being more than friendly in the photo, Blaze."

The memory of the kiss flashes in front of me. It had taken us far too long to pull away from one another before we made our way back to the crowd to say our goodbyes and get back to my place.

"I don't know what you are talking about."

"I'll just text it to you," he says, and a few seconds later the phone dings.

It is what I feared it was. Close and clear enough there is no mistaking either of us. Though it had been dark in the corner, there was plenty of light to identify us. I don't know where exactly the bartender was standing—we were behind the back of the bar itself, but nonetheless, he saw. Thank you, technology, for putting a 12-megapixel camera with 10x zoom in every single person's pocket.

I steady my breathing. "What are you going to do with this, Mark? You're going to release a photo of me kissing someone. Not exactly groundbreaking."

"Well, no, I guess not. But I do think it would be interesting for people to see when they see the other picture that I was looking at this morning. Hang on..." There is a slight pause. "Okay, sent that one too."

I glance at my phone again. The photo comes in. I don't need to open this one to full size to know what it is. I've seen it a million times.

It is our wedding day. Kaitlyn and mine. And the photo is of our wedding party. Chris is there, smiling at my side. And standing just next to Kaitlyn is an eight-year-old Cassidy Sloane. Our flower girl.

Fuck.

"What do you want from me, Mark?" I ask, my voice hard. "Is this you trying to get me to kill the bill?"

"I'm not calling to blackmail you. I don't have to. You've pretty much screwed yourself here, haven't you? Look, I'm a fan of the young ones as much as anyone, and I've taken a few girls in my bed I probably should have carded first..." My stomach turns even as he says it. "But this isn't just a random girl in your bed. This is a woman you are having a secret relationship with. A child."

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