by Lindsey Hart
“Look, man,” Chet started. He ran out of steam and plowed a hand through his curls, one of his nervous tells and he knew it. Shane’s eyes slowly returned to his face. The anger burning behind those icy blue depths was obvious, but so was the hurt. “I’ve been a shit brother and I know it. I’m not going to pretend that I have any answers, because I don’t. I’m sorry. If it’s possible to just- uh- start fresh, I would do better this time.”
“Yeah?” Shane frowned. “That so?”
“Yes. That’s so.”
“You could prove it by planning on staying in Houston, at least for a while. Come over to the house for dinner. Mom’s been asking.”
“She hasn’t called me.”
“She doesn’t want to intrude. She thinks she’s a nuisance. She’s scared, just like I am, that you’re going to split town and that will be that. It would hurt her, a lot. I think she’s trying to be tough.”
“She always tried to be so hard. Even as a kid, I knew how much dad leaving hurt her.”
“Obviously I don’t remember dad, and I don’t remember anything about him being gone either.”
“No. He left when she was pregnant with you. I remember, though, hearing her crying at night. She didn’t know that I heard or that I knew. Mom was stronger after that, after you were born. It was hard growing up, but she held us together. And now look at us.”
“I work at a shit job, nothing to be proud of.” Shane hedged.
“It’s an honest living. You have your own place. You have good friends around you. That means something.”
Shane’s eyes darkened again. “Be careful with Nina. She’s a good person. She has this front, kind of like mom, but underneath, she’s not hard at all. She’s easily hurt. She wants to be a teacher or special needs kids. Did she tell you that part when you made fun of her?”
Something hard and uncomfortable, something close to shame, unfurled in the pit of Chet’s belly. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean anything by that. We were just talking. I gave her my opinion on the current state of things. I wasn’t trying to insult her.”
“I don’t think she was truly insulted. I’m just saying. She’s my best friend. Tread carefully. She told me you want to paint her. I think this whole money, contract thing is fucked up. You could have just asked her. Or asked me to ask her.”
“I know. That’s what she said too. I… I don’t know why I came up with the money and signed that contract. It was stupid. I guess it was a way to guarantee that I’d get what I wanted. I see very few people I want to turn into art.”
“Nina is very beautiful.” Shane ground the words out. “Don’t fuck around with her. You hurt her, and I don’t care that you’re my brother. You’re dead fucking meat.”
Right at the moment, Phil brought over two full pints. He said nothing, just thumped them down on the table, shot a glare at Chet and left. Apparently, all of Shane’s friends, whether they were truly friends or not, had his back. What was it about his brother that inspired such loyalty? To say he wasn’t jealous, would have been a lie. He’d spent so much time bouncing from place to place, he had acquaintances. He knew a hell of a lot of people, but he didn’t have any true friends.
“I’ll drink to that.” Chet raised his pint glass. Shane was momentarily taken aback, but it took all of a few seconds before he picked up his glass and clanked it against Chet’s. “I’m not going to do anything to hurt her.” That at least, he hoped, was the truth. “I respect that she’s your friend and you want to watch out for her.”
“Just so you know, maybe the money thing wasn’t the worst idea. Nina never would have agreed to let you paint her. Never in a million years.”
“Why not?” Chet’s breath caught in his throat for a second before he pushed it out. Even the mere mention of Nina’s name, the thought of her actually posing for a canvas and his sketches, live, living, breathing, beautiful, incredible art, tied his stomach into a wad of knots.
“She doesn’t think she’s pretty. I mean, she knows she’s okay looking, but she doesn’t know how beautiful she is. I’ve had to kick more than one guy’s ass over the years just to defend her honor.”
“And you’ve never found her attractive?”
Shane wrinkled his nose. “Nope. I mean, she’s pretty. I know she’s beautiful, but I just couldn’t imagine… it would be like-uh- having a crush on my sister or something. That’s how I think of Nina. As close as a sister.”
“Understood.” Except it wasn’t. Was he so transparent that Shane knew exactly what he wanted when he himself wasn’t even sure? He knew that no matter what he said, if he had a chance to touch Nina, to memorize the details of her skin, her sweet softness, to commit every single characteristic, every curve and every plane, every muscle and inch of sweet, soft skin, her scent, the sweet rasp of her voice, husky with desire… he knew he would do it.
And there it was. Sometime over the years, Nina had gone from being a muse, a sketch, a drawing in his mind and on paper, details of her face and her tiny, bohemian body, incorporated into artwork, and tattoos, to something else entirely.
He wanted her. That’s why he’d done the unthinkable and resorted to basically bribing his brother with the money from the will. It had been left to him, but even if Shane had said no to the dates, he would have still given him what he knew was his. He was every bit their father’s son, just as Chet was, even though their dad left before Shane was born.
“I have another toast,” Shane said quietly.
Chet snapped out of thoughts he shouldn’t even be having. He remained on edge, his body charged up, amped up in a way that was entirely uncomfortable. He felt like he’d done something stupid and stuck a fork in an electrical socket and the current stayed inside of him, looking for an exit, pent up, burning, driving him wild. Now that Nina was so close, a real person, alive and breathing and not just a photograph, it was so much worse. She was the spark that could blow everything up.
Shane never should have told him that she found him attractive. What was he supposed to do with that? What was he supposed to do now that he knew he was under that cool, calm, almost aloof exterior?
“Shoot,” Chet croaked out.
“To new beginnings. To a friendship with my older brother. To the past being the past and to us putting it all behind us and keeping it where it belongs. To a new start. This time, you fucker, you better make it worth knowing you.”
Chet raised his glass and mumbled a few words. He tried to mean what he said. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to have a relationship with his brother. He’d wanted that for years. He’d been filled with regrets. He wished he could go back and undo the past and change things.
He might be able to keep a promise not to hurt Nina, but he couldn’t promise not to get involved. Not to want her. Not to fall slowly and horribly in love with her. He couldn’t promise, because it was already happening.
CHAPTER 7
Nina
Date two and she could just strangle Shane. It turned out that his buddy-buddy brother bonding night had corrupted his damn mind. He’d been so inclined to give her address and her phone number out to his Chet. For all his warnings about playing it safe with his brother, he wasn’t taking any precautions.
Maybe because she’d promised and to him, that meant everything. She’d never had a reason to break a promise before. She kept her word. If only he knew what she really felt about his brother. Maybe then he wouldn’t have been so free with her information.
Maybe’s aside, Chet texted her the day before and arranged their second date. All she knew about it was that it was casual enough for jeans and runners, because she’d asked, and that the rest of it was a complete surprise. Chet was picking her up at six. Which left exactly ten minutes to try and do something with her unruly mass of hair.
Nina let out an undignified groan of frustration. She’d bothered with only the lightest makeup, since after studying and writing the first quarter of a massive paper at school left her little time to actually make he
rself presentable. Which she didn’t want to do anyway. It would be best if she walked out of the house wearing her most hideous baggy sweater and ugliest set of holy leggings she reserved for gardening and painting projects around her mom’s house. It would serve him right if she’d gone for a jog right before and worked out hard enough to get a good lather going and not showered afterwards. If she’d had time and actually enjoyed jogging, she might have been tempted to give it a try.
As it was, she took the time to do her mascara and add a light dusting of peach colored blush along her cheekbones. Hopefully that would help hide the blushing she didn’t seem to be able to get a handle on. She’d put on tinted lip balm, because that wasn’t really lipstick and because her lips really were dry. It was Texas after all. The sun was unmerciful.
Though the frumpy sweater, ugly leggings deal was tempting, she went instead with a loose fitting cut of faded blue jeans. They were retro, from her favorite thrift shop. They totally had the boyfriend look to them and the holes were soft and frayed. She had on a black body suit underneath, the kind that doubled as a shirt. That way it kept the high waisted jeans from rubbing above her belly button and it made double sure that there wasn’t any gapping when she bent over.
As a last-ditch effort to scrape some sort of style out of messy hair that hadn’t been washed in four days because she just didn’t have time, she bent over, swept her hair up, and piled it in a messy bun at the top of her head. As an afterthought, she grabbed a lace headband and threw it over her forehead, just to hide the fact that her hair was extra oily right at the front.
She stepped back, and satisfied, was about to grab a snack for the road when her phone went off. The shrill sound echoing in the bathroom startled her. She grabbed it up and sighed when she recognized Chet’s number. She didn’t really think that anyone else would be calling her.
“Hey, I’m parked out front. Silver sedan. It’s a rental. It has the stickers on the back. You can just come down as soon as you’re ready. No rush.”
Nina tried desperately to ignore the volley of shivers that raced down her spine. She glanced at her arm and was unnerved to see that the fine blonde hairs were actually standing on end. “Okay. I think there’s only one guest spot. Don’t take someone else’s. They’ll get angry about it if they come home in the next five minutes that it takes me to get my shoes on.”
“Understood. I’ll park on the street. There are a few spots left.”
“That’s shocking. It was full when I got home.”
“People must have left.” She could hear static in the background, then a slight whirring sound, then Chet came back over the line. “I’m parked right behind a black minivan. It has one of those families on the back, except it’s funny, the husband dude is blacked out. They tried to rip him off the window, but he’s just missing limbs.”
Nina giggled. “Yes, I know exactly which one you’re talking about. I noticed that too. Hold on, I’ll be right down.” She hung up and not wanting to appear too eager, she went into the kitchen and cut herself a few pieces of cheese off the block, her guilty pleasure. She savored the pieces before she moved over to the entrance and slipped into a pair of sparkly purple high tops. They had little lips and lightning bolts, clouds and rainbows and happy faces all down the tops. They were a gift from her dad and she loved them to pieces. They were vastly far too expensive for what she would have been able to afford. She didn’t wear them out often.
Not that this is a special occasion. It most certainly was not a special occasion. Just like her breath was definitely not short and her palms were definitely not moist, and her heart wasn’t fluttering like crazy in her chest. For shit’s sakes.
Nina slammed her apartment door harder than necessary. She winced and waited for the elderly woman next door to yell at her like she sometimes did when the music in Nina’s apartment was ‘too loud.’ Nothing. Silence. She slipped the key into the battered deadbolt and hurried down the two flights of stairs to the front door. She noticed that someone had messed up the flyers that had just been delivered. They were scattered all over the floor. Sometimes she actually did stop to pick them up, but she was in a hurry. She flew out the door and tried to regulate her steps as she walked down the sidewalk.
She spotted Chet’s car immediately. It felt weird, walking up to it and letting herself in. She’d been on precious few dates. Most of her interactions were more casual than that. She’d told Shane she didn’t have time for dating and relationships and she really didn’t. She wanted to stay focused on school and give what little free time she had to family and friends.
Her hand trembled on the door handle. She took a deep breath, solidifying her courage. “Hey.” The word was breathy anyway, when she slipped into the front seat.
The scent of the car, which smelled like Chet’s aftershave or deodorant or cologne, something spicy and manly and completely delicious, hit her first. His gorgeous blue eyes, deep and soulful and somehow ancient, hit her next. Her stomach started spinning and she had to force down another breath into painful lungs to keep herself from losing her mind completely.
“Hey.” His reply was equally as soft. “I didn’t have any plans for this date before. When I went for drinks with Shane, he told me that you liked dogs.”
Because putting on a tough front was the only way for her to protect herself, Nina reached for her seatbelt. “Seems like Shane told you a lot of things. I don’t know why I was a topic of conversation,” she grumbled.
Chet wasn’t rattled by her forced grumpiness. He actually had the nerve to laugh as he started up the car and navigated out of the tight parking spot. “You weren’t our main focus of conversation. It actually came up in a roundabout way.”
“Like my number and address did?”
“Shane thought it made sense for me to have it to get in contact with you directly. He said he didn’t want to be some kind of middle man. If I wanted to get in touch with you, I’d have to grow a set of balls and do it myself.”
“Sounds like something Shane would say.”
“Yes. I’m getting to understand that he definitely has a defined set of word choice.”
“It doesn’t take long to realize.”
“So, anyway, I thought I’d take you somewhere with lots of dogs.”
“The pet shop? The dog park? Are we going to borrow someone else’s dog?”
“No. Something better.”
Their twenty-minute drive was silent. Nina pointedly tried to ignore the heat in the car, the heat of the sun shining on her through the window, the heat of Chet, the heat of her own damn attraction.
She didn’t clue in until Chet pulled into the parking lot that they were actually going to the shelter.
Real smooth. Win me over with puppies. She undid her seatbelt and all but fled the car. Chet caught up with her near the front of the large blue metal building and held the door open for her.
“I used to come here a lot as a kid. Well, not a kid. When I was younger. Fourteenish. I took the bus out here. Sometimes I’d get my mom to drive me. I just walked dogs or brushed them and petted them or whatever. It means a lot to them to get some human interaction. If they’re happier, I’m sure it increases their chances of being adopted.
“Probably.” Her voice came out as a little squeak.
She was thankful that the shelter provided a pretty good distraction. The strong smell of urine and pets and industrial cleaner assaulted her nose as soon as she walked in. The friendly faces at the front desk, two young women who looked no more than twenty, greeted her and Chet.
“I was wondering if we could walk a few dogs tonight.”
“Oh. Sure.” The blonde at the reception desk stood up. She eyed Nina discreetly before her gaze moved over to Chet, who stood beside her. She appraised him freely and when her eyes flicked back to the clipboard the brunette girl passed over, Nina was met with a hint of hostility in the gaze.
She didn’t exactly blame the girl. Chet was- well- he was something. He was one hell o
f an attractive man and the blonde obviously thought they were together.
Which we’re not. Not really. Not now. Not ever.
Chet filled out the forms quickly and then, thankfully, the brunette was the one to take them to the back. She passed by a few cages with barking, excited dogs and stopped in front of a cage with a scared looking Rottweiler cross. The cross part was undefined, but the heart shaped face and the pretty black and tan markings on the coat were obviously rottie.
The woman slipped a leash into the plain blue collar. She handed it over to Chet. He took it, but the dog hung back.
“We just got her in. She’s six. Her family surrendered her. She’s quite intimidated by all of this. Her name is Charlotte.”
“Such a beautiful name for a beautiful girl.” Chet reached in and ruffled the dog’s ears gently. He offered his hand for her to sniff after, which she did reluctantly. Apparently, she decided that Chet was trustworthy enough because a big pink tongue snaked out and lapped at the hand.
And just like that, Nina was pretty sure she lost whatever battle she’d been fighting. All it took was seeing Chet with a dog to melt her heart and wear down the walls that she’d tried so hard to slam up to keep him out. For some women, it was seeing a man with a baby. For her, it was definitely dogs.
She’d always wanted one. Her mom didn’t want the responsibility though and her dad worked too much. Shane wanted one growing up as well, but his mom didn’t have the money to feed let alone look after a dog in case something went wrong.
“You want to come out with us girl?” Another few scratches on top the head must have assured Charlotte that she was in good hands because she wagged her tail. She looked up at Chet with soft, trusting velvet eyes.
“You’re a natural.” The brunette smiled at them both. “You can just go out the back door there. We have a fenced off area. Just try not to let her off the leash in case other people come out with other dogs. We don’t want anyone getting overexcited. You can put her back in her kennel after and shut the door and just come back out to the front. I can give you another dog to walk if you like, after.”