Free FUSE by Deborah Bladon Page A

at the text that Zoe sent to herself from my phone.
    The Yankee loves cocoa.
    Four words. They'd mean nothing to anyone but the two of us. I need that. I want that. I crave to have that kind of intimacy that surpasses what happens in bed.
    I hit reply before typing out a simple reply.
    I want you to be okay. Please tell me you are.
    ***
    "H ave you met someone?"
    My head pops up from where it's been buried in the newspaper. I've been sitting in the corner of this coffee shop since dawn broke. I'd fallen asleep on the couch in my studio and when I'd finally woken just after six, I immediately checked my phone. There was dozens of new text messages but not one from Zoe. Nothing. I'd dragged myself down to the lobby to get a coffee and now I don't have the energy to go back up to my studio.
    "Clive." I motion towards one of the two empty chairs at the table. "What are you doing here?"
    "Jax told me that you're using your studio again." He unbuttons his suit jacket before sitting across from me. "I was hoping to catch you there on my way to work."
    Clive Parker is my first cousin on my mother's side. Our relationship has never been close but since I've been back in New York, we've hung out a few times. He's a tech genius and his company is breaking ground with new developments all the time. The man has a brilliant mind.
    "I'm trying to get back into it," I offer. I don't like talking about my creative process with Clive mainly because it's a foreign concept to him, just as tech stuff is foreign to me.
    "That's because you met someone." It's not a question. It's a statement.
    "Why would you say that?"
    "You've been avoiding work for years, Brighton." He leans back to cross his legs. "Someone has lit a fuse under you."
    I can't talk to Jax about this. If I do, he'll tell Ivy and I'll be bombarded with questions about how I feel about Zoe. I can't even answer those questions myself yet.
    "What's her name?" He presses as he opens the plastic tab on the lid of the paper cup he brought to the table with him.
    "You're not going to tell Jax about this conversation." My tone is clear and decisive. "My brother can't know about this."
    "Sure." He dips his chin towards me. "What's going on?"
    "I met someone," I begin before I stop to take a sip of coffee. "Her name is Zoe."
    "Zoe," he repeats it back. "It's different. I like it."
    "She just moved to Manhattan. She's going to go to law school, does some volunteer work. She's gorgeous."
    "This is what you didn't want me telling your brother?" He chuckles softly. "That you finally met the perfect woman?"
    "Something happened yesterday." I stare down at my smartphone. "She froze up over something when we were out for lunch?"
    "What was it?"
    I know that Clive doesn’t know her and yet I feel a sense of betrayal telling him about this. I doubt that Zoe shares many details of her life with anyone. I can't keep this inside of me though. I need someone else's perspective and my cousin is, by far, the most logical person I know.
    "I took her for a hotdog. I wanted her to have an authentic New York experience."
    He nods with a slight grin on his face. "Romantic, Brighton. You're a true romantic."
    I can't help but crack a smile. "I wasn't going for that. We agreed to be friends for now and..."
    "Friends?" He leans forward a touch. "She told you she just wants to your friend?"
    I'm so far into this now that I don't see any reason not to be completely honest. "I did it. I told her we should be friends."
    "Why?"
    "That's the thing, Clive." I race my index finger over the edge of my smartphone's case. "I could tell when we met that there was something holding her back. She's guarded and wary."
    "You wanted to ease her into a relationship with you." His tone is thoughtful. "That's smart."
    "I did it as much for myself as for her." I'm not about to dive into the sordid details of my past relationships with Liz and Alexa. That's not going to add anything to what's going on with me and Zoe.
    "What happened