Rock Chick Reckoning

  “So, the last girl Kai got serious about was the daughter of a senator.”

  Yikes.

  Really?

  A senator?

  I hid my surprise and repeated, “So?”

  “My God,” he muttered. “You really are stupid.”

  Now totally pissed off, I leaned forward and hissed, “Stop saying that.”

  “You don’t get it, Stella. What I’m saying is that you aren’t good enough for my son.”

  He was not for real!

  I sat back and crossed my arms on my chest and threw one leg over the other, bouncing my brown, dusty cowboy-booted foot.

  “Let me get this straight, big man. First you tell me your son is responsible for your daughter’s murder and he’s not a good man. Then you act like a poorly-written character out of a formulaic romantic comedy and tell me I’m not good enough for him. I gotta tell you, it’s not me being stupid. It’s you that’s not making any sense.”

  “Maybe I should have had a picture book drawn up so you could follow along,” he returned.

  “Yeah, too bad you didn’t do that so I could take it away from you and beat you with it, you crazy loon,” I snapped back, leaned forward and pounded on the smoky partition that separated us from the driver. “Take me back to the bar!” I demanded.

  “Sit back, Stella, I’m not done with you yet.”

  I looked over my shoulder at him. “You might not be done with me but I’m done with you.” Then I turned around, banged on the partition again and shouted, “Take me back to the bar!”

  “Sit back!” Preston Mason’s voice had risen and he sounded pissed off.

  I again looked over my shoulder. “All right, Mr. Mason, I’m having a bad day. And I mean bad. You do not want to mess with me. Not today. Seriously.” Then I turned back around and banged on the partition and shouted, “Take me back to the goddamned bar!”

  “Your father has fallen behind on his mortgage payments,” Preston Mason said and I stopped banging.

  This, I knew without a doubt, was not a fortunate turn in the conversation.

  Slowly, I turned around and looked at him.

  “How do you know that?”

  “Because I own his mortgage.”

  Shitsofuckit.

  “Mr. Mason, you know a lot about me so I’m guessing you know I haven’t spoken to my father in years. So I have to ask, this would mean something to me because…?” I prompted.

  “Because your father has a lot of debt. Your mother’s been sick. He didn’t have insurance and she certainly didn’t. Chemotherapy costs a great deal when you’re too proud and too stupid to take Medicaid.”

  Oh no.

  No.

  I didn’t just find out my mother had cancer and my father was too proud to help her out with government funded healthcare (which the stupid jerk would be) from Mace’s asshole father.

  Did I?

  I stared at him.

  And, for some reason, I knew he wasn’t lying.

  Okay, it was safe to say my bad day just got worse.

  My… fucking… shitty… luck.

  I tilted my head back and looked at the ceiling of the limo.

  Then I closed my eyes.

  Then I sat back, crossed my arms and legs and looked out the window.

  “Take me back to the bar,” I said quietly.

  “I’ll foreclose,” Preston Mason warned.

  “No you won’t,” I told the window.

  “Oh yes, Stella, I will.”

  My head turned slowly and I looked at him. “No. You won’t. This morning Mace broke up with me.” I flicked out my hand. “Your whole scene was a waste of time. It’s over between us.”

  He watched me closely, likely assessing my honesty.

  I stared him straight in the eye.

  Then I watched his face relax.

  “Well, that’s good news,” he said softly, the tips of his lips going up in a humorless smile.

  How on this earth did Mace come from this man’s loins?

  “Promise you won’t foreclose,” I demanded.

  It was his turn to sit back but he looked relaxed and at-ease.

  “Money’s money. They don’t pay, eventually, they’ll be –”

  “You foreclose, I go after Mace.”

  His brows drew together. “You just told me Kai broke up with you.”

  “Mace broke up with me, yes. We had an argument. It was bad. But I’m under his skin. He told me so his damn self. You leave my parents alone; I’ll just be a scar. You turn them out of their home, I’ll start itching.” I uncrossed my arms and leaned toward him. “And, Mr. Mason, I’m an itch he likes to scratch.”

  Mace’s father’s eyes moved over my face, my hair and down my torso. It took a lot out of me not to squirm but I held my body and gaze steady.

  Finally, he said, “As long as I own the loan, I won’t foreclose.”

  I wasn’t that stupid.

  “You keep the loan for as long as my mother’s alive,” I returned.

  “Stella.”

  “Something happens to them while she’s still alive, you’ll be staring at me during Thanksgiving dinner.”

  He muttered under his breath and I was pretty certain it was a curse word.

  He hit a button and said into the car, “Jon, we’re taking Ms. Gunn back to the bar.”

  It was my turn to smile a humorless smile.

  * * * * *

  We hit the outskirts of Evergreen before either of us spoke again.

  And it was me who broke the silence.

  “You’re wrong,” I said, again staring out the window and not facing him.

  “Yes? And how’s that?”

  “Mace is a good man.”

  I heard him laugh. It was as humorless as his smile.

  I watched Evergreen slip by and saw The Little Bear. There were black Explorers everywhere and my heart hurt a little to see Mace standing, hands at his hips on the wood walk outside the bar with Tex, Lee, Hank, Hector, Eddie and my entire band standing with him.

  Lee saw us first and jerked his chin at the limousine. I watched Mace turn and I noted two things immediately. The first, he was the most handsome man I’d ever seen in my life. The second, he was furious.

  “You’re also right,” I went on quietly.

  “And how’s that?” Preston Mason’s voice was also quiet and as I was turned away from him I didn’t notice his eyes were also locked on Mace.

  The limousine slid to a stop but before it did, Mace was already at my door.

  “I’m not good enough for him,” I whispered.

  The door opened and Mace leaned in, his hand wrapped around mine and he yanked me out. My hand held firmly in his, he kept me at his side as he leaned back into the limo.

  He pointed at his father and he said in a tone that sent chills up my spine, “We’re not done.”

  “Kai –” Preston Mason started but he didn’t get any further.

  Mace slammed the door and pulled me toward an Explorer.

  I yanked at my hand. “Mace.”

  He kept going.

  I yanked again. “Mace.”

  He stopped us at the passenger side door and pulled it open. “Get in.”

  I looked up at him then I noticed movement and saw that the limousine was still there, Preston Mason had alighted and was watching us.

  I felt my heart skip then squeeze then stop.

  It wasn’t a good thing for your heart to stop. It hurt your whole body.

  “Get in the car, Stella,” Mace ordered.

  I looked at him again and his voice rumbled in my brain.

  This shit goes both ways. This doesn’t end until I know you won’t walk away but also you won’t let me walk away. Never again.

  I could get him back.

  I needed you to make a statement, Kitten. You didn’t.

  If I made a statement, I knew, I just knew, I could get him back.

  Then his father’s voice came to me.

  He’s resp
onsible for his sister’s murder.

  I didn’t believe that for a second.

  What I did believe was that, whatever happened with his sister, Mace believed it.

  At that moment all I needed to do was make a statement.

  And making a statement put my Mom and Dad on the line.

  And I sure as hell didn’t have the money to help them out.

  And I wasn’t about to make Mace take care of yet another of my problems.

  Which would only be another in a long line of problems, of the past and undoubtedly well into the future.

  Yep, Kai Mason was too good for me.

  Mace got closer to me. “Babe,” he said softly. “Get in the car.”

  His voice washed over me like soothing elixir.

  I knew I had my opening. His father gave it to me. Mace didn’t like it when I was in danger. He didn’t like it at all. He didn’t like it enough to get over being mad at me for being stupid.

  I allowed myself to feel it for only a beat then I asked. “Are you taking me to Eric?”

  Mace’s eyes narrowed. “No, I’m not fuckin’ takin’ you to Turner.” I shook my head, he let go of my hand, his fingers wrapped around my upper arm and he leaned in. “We’ll talk at your place, now get in the car.”

  “Take me to Eric,” I said softly.

  I felt his fingers tense spasmodically on my arm but that was the only reaction he allowed me.

  I could take no more.

  “God damn it, Mace, take me to Eric!” I shouted.

  He stared at me.

  I held my breath, kept my outward calm as my insides were shivering and stared back.

  The pain slashed in his eyes again.

  This time, it also slashed through my heart.

  He let go of my arm, turned and walked back to the doors of the bar.

  “She wants to go to Turner,” he told Lee as he tossed Lee the keys in his hand. Lee caught them but in turn Hector lobbed some keys at Mace, Mace nabbed them and went straight to another Explorer. I watched as he swung in, started up the SUV and drove away.

  “Get in the car, mamita.” Hector’s heat all of a sudden was close, beating into my side and he was talking to me softly.

  “You’ll take me to Eric?” I whispered and with Mace gone I didn’t fucking care that Hector could see, plain as day, the tears in my eyes.

  “I’ll take you wherever you want to go,” he replied.

  Without further hesitation, I got in the car.

  * * * * *

  I felt the bed depress.

  Then I felt the weight of my hair being lifted away from my neck.

  “You all right, sweetheart?” Eric’s voice came at me in the dark.

  No.

  No, I was definitely not right.

  I didn’t know what time it was but it had to be late, I’d been lying in that bed for hours. It was coming on summer and the days were longer but the light had faded and night was pitch black.

  “Yeah,” I lied.

  “You need to eat something,” Eric told me.

  The very thought made me want to hurl.

  “I’m not hungry.”

  “Stella, that tells me you aren’t all right,” Eric said then he waited for my response that didn’t come then he went on. “What the fuck happened with Mason’s father?”

  “He’s a jerk,” I told Eric.

  Eric laughed but it was short and I got the feeling he didn’t think anything was funny.

  “Preston Mason is a definitely a jerk.”

  I tried to focus on him in the dark but he was just a shadow so I focused on where I thought his head was.

  “Do you know him?”

  Eric was silent a second then his voice came at me and it was heavy with surprise. “Everyone knows Preston Mason, Stella. The man’s famous.”

  I got up on an elbow.

  Just so you know, I knew I was doing wrong. I wasn’t only playing Mace, I was now playing Eric.

  Earlier, I had thought for a brief moment to ask Hector to take me to his place but Hector had to work with Mace. If Hector took me in, Mace would freak out, their working relationship would deteriorate and I’d be to blame for that too.

  No, the only way to make a surgically clean, never to be healed break with Mace without dragging anyone into it that mattered was to be where I was right at that moment.

  In Eric Turner’s bed.

  Mace wouldn’t ever forgive that.

  Ever.

  “Famous for what?” I asked.

  Eric moved, leaning forward, he turned on a lamp that lit the room with soft light.

  It was a decent room, an impersonal room, the room of a man who probably didn’t live there but was staying there for an assignment.

  Eric had wanted to put me into protective custody but I wouldn’t let him. I had a life to lead. I would go back to my ultra-safe apartment but only when I knew Mace couldn’t get in anymore.

  That was a phone call I was not looking forward to.

  My mind went from the phone call to Eric who was watching me.

  His hand came to my jaw and he murmured correctly, “He’s on your mind.”

  I closed my eyes and bit my lips.

  Then I opened my eyes and whispered, “I’m sorry.”

  Eric got up and grabbed my hand. “Come to the living room.”

  Not letting go of my hand, he led me to the equally impersonal living room. He sat on the couch then he pulled me down on his lap.

  I should have resisted but I didn’t. I also didn’t resist when he pushed me so my back was to the couch, my head was on the padded arm rest and he was on his elbow at my side. My ass was still in his lap, my legs over his thighs, his other arm lying loose across my belly.

  Somehow this intimate position felt more comfortable and reassuring than sexual and predatory. I figured it had a lot to do with the worried, gentle look on Eric’s face.

  “I’m tryin’ to figure out how you spent so much time with Mason, fell deep for the guy and don’t know who his fuckin’ father is,” Eric said to me.

  I was trying to figure that out too.

  Though, if I was honest, I knew the answer.

  Because I was a big, screaming loser.

  When I didn’t say anything, Eric went on, “Preston Mason is loaded. Stinking rich. He’s got shitloads of money.”

  “I kinda guessed that with the limo and the suit.”

  Eric smiled, it was a good smile and some girl some day would be super lucky when he smiled at her like that. Unfortunately, that girl was not going to be me.

  “As rich as you think anyone can be, sweetheart, he’s richer.”

  That was a little surprising considering I could think of being filthy rich.

  “Yeah?” I asked.

  “Yeah. And he didn’t get where he is because he’s a nice man, either.”

  I pulled in breath and before I could reconsider or even think of what a bitch it made me that I was laying on Eric’s couch with Eric and playing at his feelings for me in this whole fiasco, I said, “He told me Mace was responsible for his sister’s murder.”

  Something in Eric’s eyes flashed and I didn’t like it, mainly because his face got tight along with the flash and he looked supremely pissed off.

  “What?” I used the hated word again but Eric stayed silent then, as humiliating as it was in outing how shallow my relationship with Mace had been, I shared, “I didn’t even know Mace had a sister much less that she was murdered.”

  I knew this, too, surprised Eric. The anger went out of his face and he shook his head. Then his face went soft again.

  “Figure I had you, warm and willing in my bed, I wouldn’t talk about my sister’s kidnapping and murder either.”

  My breath felt like exploring the coast of Maine and I felt my eyes go huge.

  “Kidnapping?” I breathed.

  “Oh fuck,” Eric muttered before he looked at my knees.

  My hand went to his face and I turned him to look at me.
>
  “What the fuck happened to Mace’s sister?”

  Eric watched me then he did it some more then he sighed and it was heavy.

  “I’m gonna let Mason tell you this story.”

  “Mace and I are done,” I replied quickly.

  His mouth formed a smile that didn’t reach his eyes.

  When he spoke, his voice was sweet but weirdly sad. “Sweetheart, as much as it kills me to admit it, you aren’t done. And it’s his story to tell.” I opened my mouth to speak but he shook his head. “It’s his to tell, Stella. It isn’t pretty and if he didn’t share it with you, he didn’t for a reason. But I got no doubt he’d planned to get around to it eventually, the time’s got to be right for that kind of shit. The time isn’t right when you find a good woman. You don’t want to lay your shit on her up front and freak her out.”

  This made sense.

  And any story that involved a jerky asshole of a father and a kidnapped and murdered sister was definitely shit you didn’t want to lay on anyone, good woman or not.

  I was already freaked out and I didn’t know what the ef happened!

  What I did know was that I would have known because Mace was going to tell me that morning.

  I closed my eyes and turned my head away from Eric.

  “I’m such an idiot,” I whispered.

  Eric moved, stretching to lie by me full out on the couch. His arms moved around me to pull me full frontal, his legs tangled with mine and I pressed my face into his chest.

  After a few minutes of holding me, Eric asked, “You want me to take you back to him?”

  I did.

  I definitely did.

  And I definitely knew that I’d been wrong about Eric.

  He was a good guy.

  A good guy I was using and another good guy I’d never have because I was thinking I was exactly as stupid as Preston Mason thought I was.

  I answered, “Mace and I are over.”

  Eric’s arms got tighter and his voice got lower and I could swear I heard a hint of anger when he asked, “What did Preston Mason do to you in that car?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Bullshit.”

  I tipped my head back to look at him. “Seriously, Eric,” I lied through my teeth. “Nothing. We just talked.” At least that last part wasn’t a lie.

  He wasn’t buying it. “Preston Mason doesn’t make a move without an ulterior motive. He didn’t kidnap you from a gig to have a chat.”