Well, he wouldn’t have. He’d have proven it to her this morning, if she’d given him a shot.
“She wasn’t, trust me. I didn’t even know you were hanging out with Candace.”
“I’m really not. And I doubt I ever will be. So ease your mind.”
Evan paused for a second, and lost the sharp prosecutorial edge to his voice when he spoke next. “You don’t sound too happy about that.”
“Look, does it matter?”
“I was already itching to tell the woman to take a flying leap. I would’ve done it, but I didn’t have the details. She didn’t like what I did tell her.”
“And that was?”
“I said I wasn’t aware of the situation with you and her daughter, but if she had a problem with it, she needed to take it up with you and Candace. Not me.”
Brian blew out the breath he’d been holding. Just when he thought he had his brother pegged, Evan surprised him. Evan could’ve shown the same outrage as Mrs. Andrews and trashed him on the phone to her for half an hour and promised her he wouldn’t let his evil thug of a brother near the poor defenseless maiden again. He could have, but he hadn’t. “Bless you.”
“They have to start letting her live her life sometime. But I have to say, if you’re trying to add a notch to your belt, then she really is better off without you.”
There was the Evan he knew. No matter what, he was always hiding in there somewhere. “Hey, just drop it now. All right? I appreciate what you said to her, but I can handle it from here without your input on who I should or shouldn’t hang out with. What the fuck am I, fourteen again?”
Evan sighed. “Sometimes you act like it.”
He bit down on a crude, juvenile comment that would only have proven his brother’s point, something like I got your fourteen right here, but suddenly, he was utterly exhausted. Spent. He didn’t want to deal with it anymore, just wanted to get through tonight and post up at home. For days.
“I gotta go. I do work, believe it or not.”
“I know you do, Brian. And believe it or not, I’m proud of you.”
He nearly choked. It was the first time he could ever remember hearing those words out of anyone’s mouth in his family. Focus, dude, he told himself, struggling to stay in the purple line on his client’s skin. Any second now it was going to start to blur, and how uncool would that be? Christ Almighty, he was a sap lately.
“Damn, for once I’ve stunned you into silence.” Evan laughed. “Hey, don’t be a stranger, okay? I dread to see you walk in the door, but Kelsey likes for you to come around, for some reason.”
“How’s the baby?”
His brother seemed taken aback that he would ask. “He’s great. He’s amazing. Come see him anytime you want, all right?”
“I will soon. See you.”
He clicked off the phone and tossed it back to Starla behind the front desk before things could become any gooier. He had a girl fully lodged under his skin and his brother trying to make him cry. What the ever-loving hell.
Who did Candace’s mother think she was? The Andrews family might be affluent, but the Rosses could buy and sell every one of their asses. Did they think he’d paid for this establishment by standing out on the street slinging rocks? That old shrew had no clue who she was dealing with. And as far as moms getting dragged into this thing…
His outraged line of thinking derailed, and he stopped before he could screw up the tattoo. He put up the pretense of straightening his cap and popping another stick of gum in his mouth while the wheels spun in his head.
Seriously, how had Sylvia Andrews known? Had Candace told her? Surely not. Not after the way she’d reacted. Some PI wearing dark glasses and sitting crouched in a car across the street taking notes seemed more feasible than her fessing up to hanging out with him. Candace probably mentioned it to a friend, who took it upon themselves to report her bad behavior to her parents. Something like that.
He had to believe it. Because the thought of her biting the bullet and facing down a mother who obviously terrified her started a melting in his chest that he didn’t want to examine right now.
“Hey, B,” Ghost called out to him as he was leaning down to get back to work. “You did know that Korn is coming to Dallas in a couple of weeks, right? Big rock festival up there.”
“Yeah, I’d heard.”
“Kara called earlier today while you were out and said they have tickets and want us to come up. Said we could crash at their place.”
“Man, I’ve already seen Korn eight times.” But he mulled it over. The “Freak on a Leash” video was playing on the HD flats, one of his favorite songs of all time, and the lyrics sank in at that moment more than they ever had before.
When he’d first heard about the concert, he’d been tempted, but figured there was too much stuff to do around here to take off for a day. The show was on a Saturday, their busiest day.
“Come on. You can never see Korn too often.”
True. Maybe it was exactly what he needed. To get lost in the pit, work out some of this anger, do permanent damage to his hearing, and quite possibly get shitfaced drunk. Old habits were threatening to rear their ugly heads and wreak havoc.
“Is it on, dude?” Ghost asked.
How would Sylvia fucking Andrews feel about that?
“It’s on.”
If he could see her right now, he would think she was a crazed stalker. She’d reached new lows of wretchedness, sitting outside his parlor like this, but in her own defense, she’d come here hoping to grab him as he left and try to explain. Not to spy on him. The longer she sat, though, the more her courage ebbed. It really was shaping up to be a spying session, after all.
“So what’s going on now?” Macy asked over the cell phone Candace had pressed to her ear. She was gripping it so tight, her knuckles ached.
“Nothing yet.”
“Candace, please. Just go home. Forget about him.”
“That isn’t possible.”
“You told me how your mom reacted. She freaked. They’ll never accept him. Think of how hard your life is going to be if you end up with a guy your parents hate. With any other parents, it might not be that big a deal, but with yours…whew.”
“Whose side are you on, mine or theirs?”
“I’m on yours. That’s why I’m telling you this. Find someone all of you can agree on.”
“I don’t want to agree with them on someone. I want to be madly in love, and if they like him, great, and if they don’t, tough. I wasn’t ready for it all this morning. I panicked. I won’t make the same mistake again.”
“I hope it’s because you won’t see him again. It’s not just your parents, you know. There’s Michelle to think about. Maybe she won’t like the idea of you with her ex. Taking him around her at holidays and stuff might be uncomfortable for everyone.”
Then we won’t go, her mind returned immediately. But the truth was, Michelle was her primary concern. If her cousin hadn’t been with her today, she’d have lost her damn mind hanging out with her mother and Deanne. Michelle had saved her sanity so many times, and if she truly had a problem with Candace seeing Brian, it was going to be devastating. Because of that, she hadn’t been able to confess. She wondered if she’d ever be ready.
The silence stretched out until Macy finally spoke. “Please don’t lose your head over him.”
“I’m not. I just…” I just want to live my damn life. Is that so much to ask? She didn’t want her parents making any more decisions for her. Brian wasn’t the only issue here. The situation with him was only dredging up emotions that had been festering within her for years. Giving them an outlet.
“Candace, everyone else aside, I don’t think he’s good for you, either.”
Her vision was momentarily washed in red. “Why not? Yes, he’s different. But other than that, what’s really wrong with him?”
“Because he is different. I’ve known you for a long time. I’ve known what your dreams were since we were twelv
e years old. You wanted the white knight on horseback coming to rescue you. You wanted a romance novel hero. You wanted a guy like John Cusack in Say Anything, standing under your window, holding up a boom box.” Macy laughed. “Remember?”
It was hard not to chuckle at the memory of them sneaking out of bed to watch movies in the middle of the night, comparing notes over which movie star they were going to grow up and marry. “I can see Brian doing that. Except instead of Peter Gabriel, he’d be playing, I don’t know, Slipknot or something.”
“I don’t think you’ll ever have your fairytale ending with him.”
“Who needs a fairytale? In the end, I only want to be happy with a guy I love, and who loves me just as much. That’s all I need. As far as sweeping me off my feet…he did that last night.”
“With all due respect, you haven’t been swept enough to know. Don’t confuse lust with something deeper. As far as your parents, they’re like me, just trying to protect you.”
“It’s not their job anymore. Or yours.”
Macy was depressing her so much, she finally had to hang up to keep from bursting into tears. Was she really crazy, and everyone else totally sane? Should she simply lock last night up in her heart, keep it a delicious secret she could revisit whenever she was enduring sex with a man she and her parents could agree upon?
Hell, no. She shuddered, thinking of allowing someone else to do all the things Brian had done to her last night. She couldn’t live like that. She wouldn’t. She’d rather die a virgin. Her parents could send her to a convent and she would gladly go.
But oh, God, she didn’t want that. She wanted him. His gaze gently roving her bare flesh. His mouth on her breasts, his fingers invading her body. He had to be the one. It had to happen. The very thought made excitement zing through her as she wondered if he would be sinister and aggressive and push into her hard and fast, getting it over with in one blinding instant of pain and ecstasy. Or if he would be gentle and considerate and take all night coaxing her through. Some moments last night and this morning had been so intensely sweet, and some so dark and frightening, she had no idea what to expect of him. And she didn’t know which she’d prefer. The mere speculation stirred an ache deep inside her and made desire pool anew in her breasts and lips. When she saw him tonight, she might not be able to control herself.
What if he didn’t forgive her for her hasty overreaction this morning?
Minutes ticked by. Another hour passed. She couldn’t remember what time the place closed, and she didn’t dare get close enough to see if their hours were posted out front. There were still cars in the parking lot, so she imagined they operated until the last customer walked out the door.
Her eyes were beginning to drift shut and she was contemplating going to get a coffee when movement caught her attention, and she sat straight up. Brian was leaving. She knew it was him from his tall, lean figure and the way he walked, with a loose, easy confidence that sparked off a tremor from the roots of her hair all the way to her toes. Her heart rate doubled, and she reached for the door handle, only to stop cold when the door opened behind him and a girl rushed out. A girl he stopped and waited for.
Damn. Was she an employee? Candace couldn’t remember seeing her in there the day she’d gotten her tattoo.
She squinted, leaning as close to the driver’s-side window as she could, but it made no difference. It was too dark, but the lights from inside haloed the girl’s blond hair. She fell into step beside Brian as the two of them headed toward the vehicles in the side lot, where the employees parked. Brian’s dark blue truck sat in a pool of dim light cast down from one of the overhead lamps.
She was an employee, then. They were leaving for the night. Candace nearly collapsed in relief. But unfortunately, it dashed her plans on the rocks. She wasn’t about to rush up on him when there were other ears in the vicinity. She would just have to find the guts to call him.
Once Brian and his companion reached his truck, they lingered, talking about something the girl seemed especially passionate about, given her wild gestures as she spoke. Candace fought down the urge to crack open her window. She wasn’t going to eavesdrop. She was not that far gone yet.
Brian listened to the blond girl, occasionally laughing and interjecting. Candace began to get a sinking feeling. Especially when he hooked a thumb toward his truck and she nodded. He popped open the door for her and she climbed in, making sure to put her ass in his face as she did. It was already half hanging out of the skirt she wore.
No!
It took everything she had not to fly out of her car and run screaming toward them. But all she could do was sit and fight tears.
And follow them, of course.
What was that about not spying on him, you psycho?
She ducked frantically before his headlights could sweep over her car, letting a couple of seconds tick by before she dared to pop up and crank it.
Macy’s voice still echoed in her head. Go home. Just go home, Candace. You don’t want to see this.
But she did. Maybe it was nothing and she could ease her mind. If she didn’t go see what was going on, how would she be able to sleep tonight? She would find out where they were going, that was it. That way, it would be decided whether she should try to pursue this or settle into the life of agony her parents had chosen for her. Agony would be any life that didn’t include him.
She didn’t pull away from the curb until Brian’s truck made a left at the intersection up the street, and then she sped to catch up, making sure she kept several car lengths between them. Speculation over what was being said in that cab started a burn in her chest she feared would turn into tears if she couldn’t get a grip on herself. If he was moving on to someone else the very damn night after staying with her, he was a colossal asshole, and she wouldn’t mind telling him that in front of his skank.
She was working on gnawing a hole in her bottom lip when his right blinker flashed to turn into a sports bar.
“Damn him,” Candace murmured, quickly hitting her left blinker to zip into the lot across the street from the bar. It didn’t take an expert in quantum physics to realize what would happen here tonight: they would get drunk, go back to his or her place, and do all night the very thing he’d denied her over and over again.
Well, he would do it with the knowledge that he’d been caught. Candace screeched to a stop in an empty parking space and grabbed for her cell phone.
Chapter Ten
Brian slammed back his whiskey and tried to ignore whatever Starla was jabbering about.
This might have been a huge mistake. He’d known her for years, but he could imagine it wouldn’t take too many shots before the flicker of her tongue ring would begin to get more and more enticing, and he might end up taking her home and putting it to use. Crazier shit had happened, and he was damn sure frustrated enough.
But Starla had love life problems of her own and she loved to dump them on him, for some reason. Or anyone else who would lend an ear. She’d wanted to come here because she was hoping to find a distraction, but if he had anything to do with it, it damn sure wouldn’t be him.
She was pretty enough, with white-blond hair shot through with pink and purple and lips that could give Angelina Jolie a run for her money. Three years ago, there wouldn’t have been a problem. Not now. Not when she worked for him. And not when there was Candace smoldering in his thoughts.
“I’m probably cramping your style,” he informed Starla, amidst howls of excitement when the Astros hit a homer on the flat screens mounted around the bar. It was getting close to midnight, and the game was on so late because of extra innings and the two-hour time difference between here and San Francisco, where they were playing.
For probably the first time, he was thankful for the smoking ban, so he didn’t have to sit and watch in misery as people lit up all around him. Otherwise tonight might have been the night he fell off the wagon.
Starla craned her neck to look around the establishment. “Oh well, it??
?s a dog fest in here anyway.”
He laughed and gestured toward her AMF. “A few more of those will help the situation, I’m sure.”
“I figured that asshole would be here, but I don’t see him. I see one of his scummy friends, though. I should go throw a drink in his face.”
“Just don’t get me arrested.”
“Thanks for bringing me. You’re an awesome boss. You can take off, if you want. I just hate walking into one of these things by myself.”
“I hear you. But you’ll need a ride back to your car.”
She waved her hand dismissively, still twisting around on her barstool to assess the situation. She wasn’t paying much attention to him, anyway. “Nah, I got it. I’ll either hook up with someone or find the asshole if he shows up or get a cab. No biggie.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yep.”
“Cool. But while I’m here, I think I need a few more of these.” He signaled the bartender and ordered a beer.
With a sigh, Starla turned around and faced him, toying with her drink glass with black-tipped fingers. “So what’s got you down, Bri? I noticed you were in full-on funk mode all night.”
“Was I?” he grumbled, hating that he was such an easy read. “More than usual?”
“Yeah, way more. Who is she?”
He grinned before taking a swig of the beer the bartender set in front of him. “Has to be about a girl, huh?”
“Unless you swing the other way.”
And the drink he’d taken nearly ended up sprayed all over her. He cringed and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “Uh, no. That wasn’t what I meant.”
“Just making sure what I was dealing with, here. So, who is she?”
“Someone I’m sure you don’t know.”