I step inside Nerdvana and find it filled even midday in the middle of the week. I don’t know what half the stuff in here is, but I know these two know their business. They succeed in a field where women have a hard time competing, or even existing. These chicks know their shit. Superheroes and villains grace the walls, and there are little touches here and there from Travis’ hand and my design. When Everly and Becca found out the old video rental store was up for sale, they jumped at the chance, but they didn’t have a lot of money to renovate. Travis and I stepped in, did most of the work pro bono and having Becca and Everly pay for supplies only. We covered the costs of contractors. A part-timer is working the register, a high school student from the looks of it. I can see Becca is helping a customer in the Manga section, and I know for a fact Everly is here. She’s more of the creative genius of duo. Becca is the people pleaser. Everly, not so much.
I find her in the office. She’s working at the computer on a spreadsheet of some kind. She’s dressed in her usual manner of jeans, Kicks, and a t-shirt that says, ‘Whatever doesn’t kill me had better start running.’
She notices me in the doorway and smiles at me. “Hey, superstar.”
“Superstar?”
“Dude, you still have your sunglasses on.”
I roll my eyes, then lift said sunglasses up and settle them on my head. Jesus, Travis has me completely flustered.
“I’m still a little hungover, although we didn’t drink that much last night.”
“I hear you. I’m exhausted today. I’d nap if we weren’t so busy.”
“Things should be okay out there for a little snooze,” I say.
“Oh, yeah, but the moment I lay down,” she says nodding to her couch, “something will happen in the store. Worse than being tired is being cranky after a nap. That’s like wasted time.”
“True.”
She chuckles. “What are you in the store for?”
“I was in town, plus I had a question.”
“Shoot,” she says leaning back in her chair.
“Does Wyatt have video surveillance around the bar?”
She frowns. “Yeah. I got a text from him about Josh asking for video, but I didn’t know about what.”
I sigh. “My tire might have been tampered with, so I was wondering if we could look at the footage. Apparently, Josh is looking at it but didn’t tell me.”
And that irritates me. I know that he might not have wanted to worry me, but still, he should have said something.
“You think it was on purpose?”
“On purpose—yes. Not actually against me, you know what I mean? We get tourists through here all the time, and sometimes there are assholes who just feel the need to let off some steam.”
“And there are a few of our residents that way too.”
I nod as I think about the last time someone vandalized the sign welcoming people into town. It had turned out to be a few drunk high schoolers who were bored on a Saturday night.
“Hopefully that’s it,” she says, breaking into my thoughts.
“What?”
“That this was a random act. I would hate to think that someone was targeting you.”
I fend off the tremor of fear that fights to break free. I can’t let it take over in my life. Not right now when I am trying to figure out if I should or shouldn’t deal with Travis.
“Agreed. But I don’t know why someone would know about that, you know? Who would know where I was and what my car looks like?”
“Unless they are already stalking you.”
“Gee thanks.”
She smiles. “I don’t think it’s come to that. I mean, how can you get away with that in this town?”
“One of the reasons I would stay here.”
She smiles. “I can agree with that. Just…be careful. You guys are really blowing up now, and it’s going to get worse with this new season.”
Yeah, we recently had all of our episodes hit Hulu for the first time. More and more we are getting recognized in public, and I had my first uncomfortable encounter in a bathroom. No, Karen, I do not want to sign a picture you shoved under the stall door.
“Hey, Travis,” she says, and I realize she’s looking behind me. I glance over my shoulder and see that Travis has snuck up on me. Ugh.
“Hey, Everly. Busy out there today.”
“Yeah, it’s been like that all summer.”
“Great.”
I can feel that familiar need rushing through me and I try to hide it. After being in lust with Travis for several years and having to work closely with him, I have become a master at concealing it. He shifts behind me, and I can feel heat radiating from him to my back. I’m glad that Travis can’t see my face, but Everly notices. Her gaze zeroes in on me, but I stop her before she can say anything.
“So, you were in Colorado recently?”
She smiles. “Yeah. Had to get out of town for a vajacation.”
“Vajacations?” Travis asks and I smile.
I look over my shoulder at him and fight the urge to move away. He’s so damn close. It’s a blessing and a curse. “You’ve never heard about those?” He shakes his head and I turn to Everly. “Go ahead. Tell him.”
She smiles and without even blushing she says, “See, I learned early on that any relationship with a guy in town is complex. You run into each other after the inevitable break up, and there is no such thing as discreet with the LOLs in this town. So, I go out of town. A vacation for my vagina. A vajacation.”
I bite my lip as I watch the horrified expression on Travis’ face. I know he thinks of her as a little sister, so it is kind of weird hearing the explanation.
“I don’t want to even hear about that,” he says, his voice strained.
I laugh. “Didn’t you have another name for them at one time?”
“Oh, yeah. I wanted to call them fuckations, but Becca said that would be crass.”
“Good lord,” Travis mutters. “Do your brothers know about this?”
“Oh, you mean do my brothers know that I am a healthy twenty-seven-year-old woman who has no plans to settle down and still have a sex life? You know, like both of my single brothers? Yeah, they know. And if they don’t like it, they can go eat a bag of dicks.”
I laugh out loud. Sibling relationships are always hilarious to me. I have a few half siblings and step siblings, but I have no relationship with them. Not really. My friends all have insane sibling rivalries.
“I thought Syd was bad.” He points at me. “Don’t tell her I said that.”
I widen my eyes. “Me? I would never.”
He rolls his eyes. “Never mind. Going to check out.”
“Okay.”
Once we are alone, Everly smirks at me. “So, you have the hots for Travis.”
Not a question. Definitely a statement, and if I don’t stop her, it will end up a rumor and then I will die from embarrassment.
“I do not.”
She chuckles. “I should have picked up on it with a best friend who has had the hots for my older brother, but I didn’t.”
“I hate him.” But even as I say it, I recognize that my voice lacks conviction.
“There’s a thin line between love and hate.”
“What the hell are you talking about? Seriously? You have vajacations.”
Her smile widens. “No reason to get so defensive, babe. And I do that because I definitely don’t want to date anyone in town, or sleep with them. That gets awkward. Like really awkward. You know that. I don’t plan on getting married or having babies. It’s just easier.”
I don’t condemn her for her choice at all. It’s smart since she says she is not made for marriage or a family. Living in Juniper and running one of the most successful businesses would make it difficult to avoid whoever she’d slept with. But I don’t need anyone getting ideas about Travis and me. If they do, the rumors would start to fly and then we would have to put out a statement. That would be humiliating.
“Whatever,�
�� I say, stomping off. Her cackle is her only response. My face is still burning when I find Travis cornered by Jenny Harper, who is all of seventeen. Her mother was a barracuda from what I heard and apparently, Jenny doesn’t fall too far from that crazy tree. I should leave him to her flirting. But the look of panic on his face is too cute. Lots of people think Travis is some kind of stud and has always been that way, but he wasn’t. He grew up poor and awkward and super nerdy. It’s hard to believe the sexy man I work with every day was ever like that. Although, he was pretty damned adorable.
There’s a part of me that wants to leave him to her devices, but since he’s my ride, I figure I better help him.
“Time to roll, Travis.”
Relief fills his expression. “Sorry, uh, Jenny? Yeah, sorry,” he says slipping away from her.
When we are on the sidewalk again, he says, “I owe you my first born.”
A rush of happiness hurtles through me before I can stop it. The idea of actually having that first born—and how to go about creating that baby—leaves my heart trembling. I clear my throat trying to dislodge the idea.
“Interesting. Why would I want your first born? I mean, that sounds like something you do to punish someone.”
He continues walking beside me and not saying anything. It’s weird because he seems to always have some kind of barb comeback. That’s how we work. It’s what has garnered us our many fans.
“Come on, you know you do. I mean, who wouldn’t want a little Travis or Travita to raise.”
I stop in my tracks. “Travita? What the hell, Travis? Don’t do that to a girl. That’s just horrible.”
He leans down closer to me, his mouth curving into his signature smile, the one I know he uses when he is truly happy. It isn’t the one he flashes at the camera, or the one that tells me he is just a few minutes away from killing someone. This one is the one I have known for a huge chunk of my life. His eyes light up, his dimples wink at me, and the breath I was just about to take seems to get backed up in my lungs. When I can finally gulp in a breath—it takes some effort—I draw in that sawdust scent of his. The one mixed with pine and Travis’ unique musk. Seriously, he should bottle that up and sell it. He’d probably become a millionaire overnight.
“Nancy?”
He’s looking at me like I’ve lost my damn mind, and maybe I have. I’ve gone over a year without sex, and if I remember the last encounter, it wasn’t anything to write home about. Hell, it isn’t anything I should even think about. It was bad. Or at least, I think it was. I guess the worst thing I could say about it is that it was unremarkable. Completely forgettable. Now, I know part of the reason I am like this is I have been in lust with Travis for a while, but part of it is the dry spell I’m going through. Fame doesn’t make it easy to find a man to sleep with, either for a fling or a long-term relationship. It’s hard to get involved with people outside of the business, and those in it…well, I don’t trust a lot of them. Travis and I have the most popular show on At Home. Lots of people would love to break us up and then snap us up. Although, I doubt I would do a show without Travis.
We make it back to his truck without having to stop three or four times. He isn’t saying much, and I don’t know what is going on with him. But, right now, I need to keep my head screwed on straight and think about myself. Otherwise, I’ll put his concerns before mine and, for the first time in my life, I have to be sure I consider my wants and desires before him. It goes against my nature, especially when dealing with someone I care about, but I’m at my breaking point.
We’re almost home when I remember that he went to see Josh.
“Did Josh have any more information?”
He shakes his head. “He’s worried though.”
I smile. “He always worries. It’s his job.” I remember the comment Everly made. “Wyatt apparently has some security video, so I assume they will go over it soon.”
He grunts but says nothing else. And yes, if you were wondering, I find even that sexy. You don’t need to tell me I have issues. I know I do. At some point, I will have to make a decision, but I am not going to force it right now. Right now, I am going to go back home and enjoy a long hot bath and some wine.
Chapter Twelve
Travis
Traffic is light as usual back to her house. I don’t know why exactly I didn’t tell her about the video. Truth is, I need to get hold of Grady on the sly and talk to him. I don’t trust my sister not to blab. The only thing I can trust is that she will tell Nancy. I don’t doubt that at all.
I can feel you judging me right now. But the truth is, I need Grady to look at the situation objectively. My sister will not. She’ll spill the beans, without a doubt. I know that Nancy needs to have some kind of security, but I know when we talked about it in the past, she had a freak out. Syd had said that it had something to do with Nancy’s father insisting on security most of her life. She probably should have a shadow. Her family isn’t well-known by the public, but those who know anything about the richest Texans know the Howard family. She has to be some kind of kidnapping target—at least I would think.
I park in her driveway, and she just sits there.
Then, she looks at me. “What’s going on Travis?”
“What?”
“Josh called Wyatt asking about a video feed, and apparently whoever attacked my car was seen on it. So, I’m gonna ask you again: What’s going on?”
I roll my shoulders and try to come up with something, anything.
“Never mind,” she says, opening the door and slipping out of the truck.
Panic surges, as I follow her. “Nancy, wait!”
“I’m not in the mood for more lies, Travis.”
“No, wait, it’s just that I didn’t want you to worry.”
She stops and spins around, anger turning her cheeks pink. She shoves her sunglasses up on top of her head. Her eyes darken, and she takes big gulps of air. I’m trying to ignore just how sexy she appears, but well, my dick isn’t getting the message. This is what’s wrong with me. She’s pissed at me and I just want to nail her.
“I’m not some little woman who needs to be put in her place. I’m an adult, one who is just as smart and capable as you are. I don’t need some big, bad man to shield me from the scary things in life. I’ve been handling this kind of crap all my life. And the fact that you just lied to me isn’t helping your case, Travis.”
She turns to go to her door, and I curl my fingers into the palms of my hands. It takes every bit of my control not to grab hold of her and go first. When she opens her door, the alarm beeps. After stepping in, she keys in the code, then looks back at me.
“Thanks a lot for not showing me respect, once again.”
“Nancy, dammit, I didn’t want to freak you out until they looked at everything. Josh is coming by later to talk to you. I promise.”
Her eyes narrow as she studies my face. “Fine, but I’m still irritated with you. Go away.”
“Nancy.”
She growls—I mean literally growls at me. I should be worried, but instead, I find it sexy as fuck. Seriously. The woman has no idea just how sexy she looks right now. There’s a flush to her skin that I know is because she’s angry, but my dick doesn’t register that. Instead, all he can think about is how far the flush goes. Are her tits red…and does she get that look when she’s aroused?
“What? Just what?” Frustration drips off each word.
“Uh, I think you might want to wait to tell Syd. She’s liable to come up here, once she hears about it. Grady will be tagging along with her. That would be—”
“Ugh, you’re right. Just so you know, I will blame this all on you if she finds out before I can tell her.”
“I’ll take it.” I hesitate. “You sure you don’t want me hanging around?”
“Absolutely not. I have an alarm, and I’m sure the LOLs will be keeping an eye on me now.”
I nod, taking my time to leave. It feels wrong, as if I leave, she will be exposed.
<
br /> “Oh, and don’t tell my family. I have it bad enough without the Howards showing up.”
“You got it.”
I wait until her door closes and then I head to my truck. I’m getting in when I hear Mrs. Peterson calling my name. I’d avoid her, but she’s holding a container, and there is a good chance they have her double chocolate chip cookies in there. They are a gift from god and I never pass up free food.
“Hey, Travis, how are things going?”
“Okay. Just went to breakfast and checked in on Nancy’s flat.”
“Oh, really?”
I don’t miss the speculation in her voice. She’s over here trying to get information, which means that Josh kept a lid on the situation for now. It’s hard to keep a secret in Juniper, especially about Nancy. She’s always been the cause of gossip because of her family.
“Yeah. They don’t have anything right now, but I know Josh is making sure that nothing weird happened.”
“Oh, that’s good. I hate to go out of town with anything amiss.”
“Out of town?”
“Yes. I’m meeting up with a few friends on the coast for a little vacation. Sort of a girls’ trip, although none of us have men to give us issues anymore,” she says with a cackle. I know a lot of people complain about the LOLs, and they can be annoying, but part of the reason they keep up with things that happen here in Juniper is because they care about the town. Most of them have children, and many of them are widows. It’s their way of keeping things safe. And, while some of them take it a little too far, having Mrs. Peterson living across the street from Nancy has been a Godsend. I know that more than once, she’s checked on things for Nancy. “I’ll be back in a week.”
“Well, I better get going. I have some work to do at the office.”
“Oh, you’re staying at the office?”
Like she doesn’t know. I read the Express this morning. There were all kinds of discussions on why I was there and not at Nancy’s house. That’s where I usually stay.
“Yeah. I wanted to spend more time in the office, get a real vibe from it. Since we just wrapped up work on the show, I plan on spending all my time getting that up and running. There’s a full bath and little kitchenette area.”
Love to Hate You: An Enemies to Lovers, Best Friend's Brother Romantic Comedy (The Fillmores Book 2) Page 11