He puts his hand in mine and we walk down the stairs together. “Are you leaving?” he asks.
“Only for a few hours.”
“Where are you going?” he asks, looking up at me with sad eyes.
“Just to the movie and dinner. You can wait up for me if you want.”
“Okay. I’ll play with my action figures in your room.”
“Do that. But don’t pull any of their heads off because that’s weird.”
“Only assholes do that,” he says.
I mess up his hair. “Yep. Only assholes behead their dolls.” I lean down and kiss him again. It strikes me that I don’t have to lean so much anymore. My little bro is growing up. Maybe that should make me happy, but it doesn’t. It makes me worry.
“Bye, turd basket,” I say.
“Bye, Sister turd basket.” Jersey leaves me and runs up the stairs, no doubt to dump his entire box of toys onto my floor. I won’t let it piss me off this time. I feel like he’s slipping out of my life with all this growing up stuff. Maybe seeing Alissa pregnant and alone has me going all soft. Jersey won’t mind. He loves the attention. It makes me smile to imagine the look on his face when I get down on my butt to do a Han Solo war. He loves Han Solo wars.
I open the door and stand there with a frown on my face as the man before me smiles.
Does. Not. Compute.
Brain meltdown commencing…
“What are you doing here?” I finally ask.
“Mick asked me to pick you up for him. He got hung up at work.” Colin grins at me like only Colin can.
I cock a hip and stare at him some more. He looks way too happy. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say there’s trouble-making afoot here, but his explanation makes sense and I cannot imagine what kind of prank he’d be pulling by picking me up for his brother, so I walk outside onto the front porch.
“Okay. If you say so.” I shut the door behind me. “Where are we going?”
“Just come with me,” he says, walking down the front walk with his hand at the small of my back. “It’s a surprise.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
COLIN IS DRIVING IN A direction I’m not familiar with.
“So what’s the deal? What was so important at work that Mick couldn’t pick me up?”
“Car has to be delivered tonight. Last minute thing.” Colin seems distracted. He’s focusing really hard on the road which makes me suspicious. He’s usually way more interested in charming pants off, or at least trying to.
I take my phone out of my purse and stare at the screen. No messages. Wouldn’t Mick have texted me if he were going to be late? I look over at his brother. I guess not. Maybe Mick is one of those anti-technology people, so he used old-fashioned personal interaction to send his message.
“When will he be done?” I ask.
“Soon. Probably real soon.”
I remain silent for a few more minutes as Colin navigates the streets. It’s just too weird to be in a car with him driving and me not knowing our destination, so I can’t keep my mouth shut for long. “Where are we going exactly?”
“You’ll see.”
My phone buzzes in my hand and I turn it over to look at the screen. Before I can move my finger to see the whole message, Colin snatches the phone and drops it into the side pocket of his door.
“What the … Colin?! Give it back!” I go from confused to pissed in half a second.
“Just give me two minutes without interruption and it’s all yours.” He pulls up to the curb next to a big building. We’re in a ritzy part of town I don’t generally go to.
“That is seriously fucked up,” I say, both angry and nervous. “Why did you take my phone?” Sweat breaks out under my arms and I start to shake a little. I’m not sure if it’s because I’m mad or scared. This whole situation is just … weird.
He puts the car in park and shuts off the engine. “I just need your undivided attention for five minutes. That’s it. I promise, you’re safe.” He takes my phone out and puts it in his front pocket.
I back my chin up to my neck. “Safe? What the hell does that mean?” Okay, now I’m shaking from fear. This is wrong. I can feel it. It was stupid for me to just get in his car. He’s a felon for shit’s sake! I don’t know him at all!
Colin stares at me and the hard lines of his face along with the tip of a tattoo I can see coming up to his neck from his chest over the top of his shirt are adding up into something I never fully appreciated before. Trouble. There’s a reason he’s known as Trouble around town, and it’s definitely not because he’s a choirboy. Gah! I am such a stupid asshole!
“You kidnapped me, didn’t you?” I slap my hands down on the seat. Anger is way better than fear. I’m going to go with that emotion instead. “I cannot believe this! Kidnapping is not supposed to happen in the real world! It’s bad enough it happened to Teagan! This is not a club I want to join! It’s not even civilized, Colin!”
He frowns at me like I’m the lunatic. “I didn’t kidnap you, don’t be ridiculous.” He gets out of the car and comes around to get my door. “Just come inside and then I’ll bring you to Mick.”
I glare up at him as he stands in the open doorway. “He didn’t tell you to get me, did he?”
“Could you please come inside with me?”
Part of me is saying I should shut the door and lock myself inside. Another part is telling me to run, run, run for a populated area. But the look on his face is speaking to another part of me; the part that sees a vulnerability there and nothing at all that looks like trouble.
“If I come with you, are you going to rape me?”
“Do you really think I’m capable of something like that?”
“Not before, but right now, I’m not so sure what you’re capable of. This is kidnapping. I wouldn’t have called you a kidnapper before.”
“It’s not kidnapping. Jesus.” He runs his fingers through his hair. “I just wanted to show you something without anyone else seeing it.”
“Is it your junk?”
He laughs and growls at the same time. “No, for God’s sake, it’s not my junk. If I wanted to show you the money I would have done it a long time ago.”
“I’ve only known you a few weeks,” I say, almost ready to put my foot outside the door.
“Like I said. I would have shown you a long time ago.” His sexy look is back and it’s not scary at all.
I swing my legs out and hold my hand up. “Help me out of this stupid kidnapping mobile. It’s too low to the ground.”
He takes my hand and acts like a complete gentlemen helping me out and shutting the door behind me. Maybe I should be more nervous about the death march I’m probably about to take, but I’m not. I’m kind of excited about what might be behind the curtain. Or the door, I guess. He’s leading me to the door of a building. For the first time since our arrival, I notice what the place is.
“This is an art gallery,” I say.
“Yes, it is. You’re very observant.”
“Shut up.” I step up over the curb and stop in front of the door. “Are you seriously taking me to look at art? Is there such a thing as a kidnapping date?”
“First of all, it’s not a date. And second of all it’s not a kidnapping. And third of all…”
“Third of all, my ass. I’ve been kidnapped. Don’t try and take that away from me.” I step up to the door and wait for him to open it.
“What, is that like earning some kind of medal? To be kidnapped?”
“Well, I’ll tell you what … when I get back to the real world and I tell them about how you threw me in the car and I fought you off with my bare hands and handed you your ass on a platter, it’s going to be.”
“You’d better not tell anyone that,” he says grinning. “Rebel will kill me.”
“I think it’s Mick you’re going to have to worry about. He’s supposed to be my date tonight.”
Colin pauses with his hand on the door. “I don’t give a shit what that little assho
le thinks.”
I frown at him. “What’s the deal with you two? Why all the bro-hate? You guys are blood. What happened to brotherly love and all that stuff?”
“I don’t like what he does or what he stands for, so let’s just leave it at that.”
“Oh, no, no, no, no, sir, we are not going to just leave it at that.” I cross my arms. “Tell me the details. I’m drooling here.”
“After I show you the money,” he says, smiling and opening the door. A blast of air conditioning hits me in the bare arms, making me get goosebumps.
“I knew it. You’re going to show me your junk in here, aren’t you?” I step into the bright interior, trying to keep my eyes on him and not trip in the entrance at the same time.
“Nah.” He lets the door swing shut behind him. Leaning down so he can whisper in my ear, he says, “I’m going to show you my heart and soul.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
“COLIN!” AN OLDER WOMAN SAYS in a very smokey voice. She’s just on the border of sounding like a frog; one thousand more cigarettes and she’ll be there. “So nice of you to come. Please, please, come in and meet our guests.”
My jaw drops open as I take in the scene around me. All I can think is, Damn, good thing I did the smokey eye look tonight. Every single person in the art gallery is wearing black … every single person except Colin and me, that is. He’s in jeans and a t-shirt and I’m in my red top and bedazzled blue shorts that cost me a chunk of babysitting change. I would fit in perfectly at a date consisting of dinner and a movie with a hot mechanic. Here, I look like the cleaning crew. I sigh, knowing I either need to slink around in the shadows or just own this thing. I decide on the latter and raise my chin just a fraction of an inch.
The cigarette lady smiles at me indulgently. “And who is your friend?”
“This is Quin. She’s my brother’s girl and my biggest fan.”
I’m too shocked to respond. He’s nervous, that much is clear from his voice. And the fact that I’m his biggest fan after only seeing one painting is not only an honor, it also makes me sadder than I can remember being in a long time.
“Quin, this is Barbara. She’s the lady who put on this show for me. I finally answered her calls after you came to my apartment and told me I should.”
I shake her hand kind of numbly.
“So nice to meet Colin’s number one fan. Did he tell you how I found him?”
I shake my head, still unable to speak.
“Oh, it’s a great story. I saw his graffiti work downtown and tracked him down through some very questionable characters and harassed him until he caved. You would not believe the people I had to interrogate to get that far.” Her gaze sweeps the room as she keeps ahold of my hand in her cool boney one. “I’m afraid you’re going to have to duke that title of biggest fan out with a few people who are here tonight, though.” She lets me go to squeeze Colin’s arm. “Darling, you are a hit. A hit! I already have four pieces sold and the night is still way too young.” She pulls on his forearm. “Come with me. I want to introduce you to a few people.”
I move to the left, thinking I’m going to let him go as I look at the paintings that are placed along the walls, but Colin has other ideas. He grabs my hand and drags me along. I try to look graceful getting back on balanced legs.
“What are you doing?” I ask, running on tiptoes to keep up. My heels make clop-clop-clopping sounds on the marble-tiled floor.
He pauses to lean down and whisper in my ear. “Do not leave me with these vultures!”
I’ve never heard him scared before. It’s freaky. “Fine.” I say under my breath. I’ll be a superhero if I must. I really wish I had my phone right now, though. Not only would I text Teagan to tell her I’m okay, I’d also be taking some serious pictures and video. There are several people standing around drinking champagne in front of Colin’s paintings. All of the canvasses have lights shining from the ceiling on them, showing them off so well it’s like they’re alive or something. Several of the onlookers are pointing and nodding heads as they discuss the work.
We arrive at a group of people standing in a circle and Barbara introduces Colin. I am apparently dog meat, since I don’t get a mention.
And then the fawning begins.
They ask him questions, tentatively at first and then more enthusiastically as his answers come out in short, simple sentences devoid of emotion. He’s playing the weirdo artist perfectly. I know he and Rebel aren’t blood brothers, but obviously some of Rebel’s attitude about minimalist talking has worn off on him. I think part of the attraction from this crowd is coming from the fact that his paintings have so much emotion, but he himself displays so little of it. Still waters run deep and all that junk.
I squeeze his hand and step closer to him. “Loosen up,” I whisper at the back of his head, before looking around the room again. I feel him visibly relax against my arm. Now his answers come more smoothly and he sounds not quite as uptight.
There’s a redheaded guy standing nearby on his phone. Glancing at the side of Colin’s face, I see that he’s otherwise occupied, now at ease with this group of fans. I whisper something about getting some champagne and leave his side. As soon as I’m close enough, I grab the ginger guy by the elbow.
“I need to use your phone,” I say, steering him away from Colin. Looking over my shoulder, I verify that he’s not paying me any attention.
“Who are you?” the man asks, annoyed.
“Your worst nightmare if you don’t let me call my friend.” I snatch the phone out of his hand. There’s a photograph of one of Colin’s pantings on the screen.
“Hey,” I frown at him, “can’t you read?” I point to the sign on the wall right next to his face.
NO PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE ARTWORK, PLEASE.
“Dick.” I give him another frown for good measure and delete the photo. “I’m with gallery security. I’m going to let you stay here tonight but only after I delete your photos.”
The guy looks around nervously and I have to work really hard to keep my smile inside.
When I’ve deleted five photos of Colin’s work and one really weird picture of a cat wearing a tiny mustache and sombrero that is wrong in more ways than I can count, I type out Teagan’s phone number. Thank God I never figured out how to put it in my speed dial and memorized the damn thing.
She answers in one ring. “Quin! Where are you? Mick is looking all over the place for your dumb ass.”
“Listen, I don’t have much time. I’m at an art gallery downtown with Colin.”
“You’re where? Doing what? With who?”
“You heard me. I need you to come down here with Rebel. Do not bring Mick. I’ll deal with him later.”
“What the fuck, Quin! He’s worried and now he’s going to be pissed. What am I supposed to tell him?”
“Tell him I’m fine, that there was a bit of a misunderstanding, and that I’ll go out with him in just a little bit. I just need to finish up here.”
“Where is here?”
I look around, trying to find some sort of identifier. The ginger is staring at me. “Dude. Stop looking at me like that. Your white eyelashes are freaking me out. Where are we?”
“Are you on drugs?” he asks.
“No. Where are we? What’s the address here?”
“You seriously don’t know where you are? And you expect me to believe you’re not high? You’re not security, are you?”
I roll my eyes at the man and leave him standing there. At the front of the room by the door I find a stack of cards with the gallery’s address on it. I rattle the number and street off as the ginger comes to my elbow.
“You’re not fooling me,” he says. “Don’t even think about running out that door with my phone.”
“Teagan, come now. I’ll see you when you get here.”
“But! … I don’t get it!” she yells.
“Just come! And bring your muscle!” I hang up as the ginger is reaching for my arm.
“
Touch me and I’ll tie your dick in a knot,” I warn, stepping back while holding his phone out at arm’s length towards him.
He snatches it from my hand. “You need to learn some manners.”
“And you need to learn how to match your clothes better. Plaid and stripes do not match, okay? And redheads should not wear orange. It’s just … wrong. And so is dressing up your cat like a tiny Mexican musician, for the record. Get a life dude. One that doesn’t include torturing animals.”
“I don’t torture animals. Ginger likes it!”
I bark out a laugh. “Your cat’s name is Ginger?”
“Yes. She’s named after Ginger Rogers if you must know.”
I don’t even know who that is, but I don’t need to. This guy is a freak. I leave him standing there and grab two flutes of champagne off a tray before going back to Colin’s side.
I feel like a total ninja with my undercover phone moves until he turns around and glares at me. “Who did you call?”
My eyebrows go up. “What? Who? What are you talking about? Me?”
One of the women standing in front of him puts her hand on his forearm and steps closer, asking a question that seeks an answer she clearly could care less about. All she wants is to get a whiff of his Colin-ness and honestly, it’s just kind of sad to watch.
“I’ll be over there looking at the paintings,” I say, rolling my eyes and leaving Colin to the cougars.
As I stroll across the floor and stop at the first piece, I’m struck by how light and happy it seems. The one of Teagan was beautiful, but there was this tinge of darkness to it. I thought it captured her perfectly and assumed it was his signature look, but this painting tells me otherwise.
“He’s very talented,” says a man’s voice behind me.
I turn around and find a guy in a black turtleneck and a matching eye patch behind me. I believe it’s his partner next to him, judging by how close they’re standing to one another.
“Do you know him?” the other guy asks. He’s wearing a similar outfit but without the eye patch. “He’s just this big mystery. Came out of nowhere I hear.”