Now I’ve got sneaky Alexis Cocker cornered in the living room where we grew up. “Look into my eyes and tell me it’s really over with you and this Brad guy.”
She pushes past me, vanilla perfume in her wake. “You’re my brother not my keeper.”
“I’m both!”
Flipping me off she heads into the kitchen.
Samantha tries to follow but I grab her arm and whip her back to face me so fast that she squeaks. “Is she lying to throw me off the scent?”
“Are you a dog now?”
“You want me to bite you and find out?”
“Okay, calm down! She ditched him. It’s fine. Why are you acting so weird about it?”
Lowering my volume to match hers I explain, “If she’s telling Mom about him before me and Caden, he’s bad news.”
“Why is that bad?”
“Because it’s gathering the troops before battle. Gets Mom on her side, then we’re outnumbered.”
“Not if you include me,” Dad says, long legs walking down the stairs in a leisurely fashion.
I straighten up. “I thought you were out back.”
“I am all places,” he smirks, pale green eyes crinkling with humor. “And you need to give your sisters some wiggle room, Max. I know you’re their big brother. Believe me, I get it.”
“No you don’t. You never had a sister.”
“I have two daughters. You think I don’t watch over my girls?”
“Dad, hate to break it to you because the majority of civilization already knows this, but parents usually have no clue what their kids are really doing.”
Dad’s lips go tight. He can’t argue with me. We’ve heard some stories from his youth. No way Grandma Nance and Grandpa Michael knew what he and his twin were up to. Not to mention his other four brothers. “Fine, watch over Lexi, but don’t be so obvious about it!” He heads into the kitchen, motioning to Samantha. “And don’t make her spy. We didn’t raise snitches!”
Sam exchanges a look with me. “I’d turn you in for a dollar.”
“Shut it, Blondie.” Wrapping my arm around her neck in a fake chokehold we walk into the kitchen like this.
Mom sees us and motions to the mess. “Grab the biscuits and gravy, Samantha. Max, would you carry this chicken dish to the dining room for me?”
“Sure, where’s Lexi?” I ask.
“She had to take a phone call from the yoga studio.”
“How’s it going for her over there? She like working for Paige?” I lift the platter and snag a plate of sautéed broccoli on my way, too.
Mom’s volume raises so I can hear her. “Well, it’s just working the counter but I’ve been encouraging her to maybe get certified as an instructor. I think she’d be good at it. But she says yoga’s boring.”
Dad mutters, “I hope she doesn’t tell the customers at Om This how she feels,” as he walks by with a bottle of white wine.
Sam sets the bread down and adjusts everything so it looks nice, telling us, “Stop worrying about her! They love Lexi over there.”
From the dining room window I can see our backyard. I freeze, watching my redheaded sneak smiling in a way you don’t smile when talking to your boss. Unless it’s me and Natalie, and that just proves my suspicion.
“Should we light the candles tonight? Just for fun? Max? Where are you going? Mom needs more help. Max!” Sam chases after me as I whip open the back door.
CHAPTER 11
M AX
“G ive me that phone!”
Lexi takes off running, and flings it over the back fence. It goes flying. We all stare at it and listen to the thump on the other side. Flipping around Lexi crosses her arms and has the balls to give me this innocent look. “What?”
I’m speechless, dumbfounded, pissed the fuck off, but astounded even more than that. “You just threw your phone over the fence so I wouldn’t see it!”
“No I didn’t!”
“You did!”
“That’s so weird, Max. I would never do that.” Her green eyes flick to Samantha’s wide brown ones. “Did you see me throw my phone, Sam?”
I turn my head to watch my sweeter sister lie to my fucking face, “Why would she do such a thing, Max? That’s weird.”
I leap onto the fence, climbing it as both of them claw at my legs. “Get down!” “Stop it!” I kick them off but hear one cry out in pain. Real pain. Looking back from the top, her phone spotted just two seconds away—so close!—I see tears in Lexi’s eyes and her mouth covered. “You kicked my tooth out!”
Dropping to the ground I reach for her. “Let me see. I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to. I wasn’t looking. Let me see.”
She pulls back her hand, teeth all there, but her lip is cut. She really did get kicked. With liquid eyes she asks, “Is it bad?” like only I can help her. “My tooth is pounding. Are you sure it’s not loose?”
My heart melts and I tug on her tooth as fresh tears rise. “No, it’s just a little cut. I’m sorry, Lex.” Cupping her face with both hands I ask for her forgiveness again, “I’m so sorry!”
She sniffles, “It’s okay,” and goes in for a hug, burrowing into me. Kissing the top of her head I look over at Samantha who’s frowning with concern, too.
I feel like such an asshole. That I took it this far. All of us acting like children. I’m almost twenty-seven. Lexi is only twenty-two. Samantha’s twenty. She’s not even able to legally drink yet.
Releasing Lexi from the hug I realize it’s a metaphor for letting her out of her cage too. “Look, it’s your business. You have a right to your privacy. My bad, okay?”
From her profile she looks at me, unsure if I mean it. “Yeah?”
“Yes.”
“Thank you.”
Samantha echoes, “Thanks, Max.”
At Caden’s voice overheard from inside, I brighten up but point a finger at them. “You keep quiet about my kicking your face and I won’t tell Mom and Dad you ditched your phone after you said it was from work calling.”
“Fine,” she grumbles. “But it was!”
“Bullshit, but I’ll drop it.” We walk in the house and I call out, “Caden! What the fuck took you so long?”
He laughs, “I’m lucky they let me out of there,” and gives me a hug, slapping my back before his eyes land on Lexi. “What happened to your lip?”
“Max kicked me.”
The room freezes. Dad’s wine bottle hovers above Mom’s glass while she blinks from her chair. Hunter joined us just in time, and his feet are frozen mid-entry into the dining room.
Caden’s eyebrows are up.
My mouth is wide open.
Sam looks sheepish.
This all happens in the span of three seconds.
The spell breaks as Lexi laughs, “He didn’t mean to! A lizard ran up the fence and he tried to chase after it. His legs flailed and bam.” She knocks her head back. “Heel right in my face!”
Everyone relaxes except me who gives her the death stare as she prances to the table, loving making my blood curdle.
Hunter practically flies into his seat, mumbling, “I’m starving, let’s eat,” his shaggy strawberry blonde hair hanging over his eyes.
Mom picks up a biscuit and tosses it at his head. “Just because you turned eighteen doesn’t mean you don’t give your mother a hug when you see her!”
He laughs and jumps up, embraces both her and her chair before dashing back for the chicken platter. “Am I good now?”
“No,” she wryly smiles. “Jason, I blame you for our rude children.”
Pouring his own wine he chuckles, “I’m the nice one in this marriage.”
“Whatever makes you sleep at night.”
“You happy makes me sleep at night.”
Her grin sneaks out and he winks at her, locking eyes with me next. “Max, how’s the film coming along? Hey, you want a beer or something?” He glances to Caden and I, skipping Lexi. None of us are big drinkers. Our parents have wine with dinner, and Dad drinks beers wi
th his brothers sometimes, but I’ve never seen him drunk. It just makes his story with Bernie Lancaster all the more compelling to me. Such a polar opposite from the woman he chose to be his forever.
Shoveling broccoli onto my plate I tell him, “Found a producer.”
“Oh?”
Mom’s eyes soften with encouragement. “Does he have experience, Max?”
“It’s a she, and no, but she’s more than willing to learn.” As I set the serving spoon down I explain, “Her name is Natalie, and I kinda met her by coincidence. Someone gave me her number, tried to hook us up. I never called and then she crashed my interviews because she happened to be in the building. Crazy, huh? She hates her job, but she runs several businesses. Brought them a huge profit. Great with numbers, so I decided to give her a shot.”
Caden is watching me. “You slept with her.”
My fork hovers before my mouth, and I deny his accurate guess with a head shake. His eyebrows shoot up and he nods. I shake my head again. The rest of our family is darting looks between us.
Dad wants to know more, so he casually asks, “What business does she help run?” He takes a bite of chicken.
Without emotion, I answer, “Swinging Richards.”
He chokes and grabs a napkin. “The male strip club?”
“Yeah. And a couple of ladies ones, too,” I shrug, not thinking it’s a big deal. “Southern Comfort. The Dollhouse. You know ‘em?”
Mom holds Dad’s eyes a moment, a silent conversation happening before she asks, “Max, you really think that’s a good person to have for a film producer?”
My mouth stops working on my meal and I stare at her, then him, then her, then rake a glance around the faces of my amused siblings. Swallowing more than is comfortable to, I ask, “What’s wrong with a strip club? I didn’t say she was dancing at one. And even if she was, who cares? I get paid tips at the bar. I’m clothed, but it’s practically the same thing. She’s doing the books, helping them budget. She even came up with marketing strategies, exactly what I need on my film. Someone who can run payroll so the crew gets paid on time. Someone who comes up with new ideas about how to get eyeballs on my film. Handles contracts so that the Screen Actor’s Guild doesn’t shut us down mid-shoot. Natalie will handle all of that so I can do what I’m good at.”
The family is silent and I lean back in my chair, scanning their unconvinced faces. Only Hunter is still eating like nothing is happening. When nobody says anything I lose my temper. “Stripping is the same as any kind of performance, and she’s not a stripper anyway. Dad, you produce music. You’ve been to tons of shows in your career—people were half-naked in a lot of them! At the strip clubs they’re just…a little more naked.”
Caden chuckles, “You’re digging yourself into a hole, man.”
“She just does their books, and does them well.”
“You don’t think she hasn’t done one of the male strippers?”
I stand up so fast I knock my chair onto the ground.
Dad shouts, “Max, sit down!” and Mom says something I can’t even hear.
“Yo Caden I’ve seen some of the girls you’ve taken home. They were no saints. And you Lexi, your bad boy addiction is out of hand. Hunter, we’ve never even seen anybody you’ve been with, but with the way you hide I wouldn’t be surprised if you had some cougar in your apartment!”
“What about me?” Sam asks, feeling left out of the list.
We all look at her for a second, then resume the argument.
Dad motions to the chair. “Sit down, Max!”
I steady my temper as I pick the damn thing up, and lower myself into it.
Leaning back in hers, Mom grumbles, “He’s like Justin.”
“No, he’s not,” Dad barks before focusing on me. “But you kind of are. Look, you want to spend all that money without my help, fine. It’s yours, you made it on your own. But do not—I repeat, do not!—think with your dick on this one, Max. It’s every cent you’ve saved since you started working for my brother at fifteen. You took on so many jobs. No, listen, I need you to remember how far you’ve come. You’ve invested well. Ethan gave you good advice in the stock market. But this is your company now, not some Fortune 500 with years of stability and shareholders behind it. Be smart.”
Sucking on my teeth I mutter, “Okay.”
“Alright?”
“Yeah. I’ll be smart.”
Dad huffs through his nose and glances to Mom.
She’s locked on me. “Max, check this girl out at least. Make sure she is who she says she is. Don’t just take her word for it that she’s good at business. People lie.”
“Yeah, Max, people lie,” Lexi says with meaning. I glance over to see real concern in her eyes. She frowns and blinks to her food. “Let’s eat before Hunter scarfs it all.”
He reaches for a wing. “No, you guys go ahead. Tasty goodness in my mouth.”
We hurriedly fill our plates to our satisfaction. But everyone’s silent. To blow off some steam I jog my chin at Lexi, “I’m going searching for that lizard later.”
She cocks an eyebrow. “I would advise against that.”
Tearing off a chunk of biscuit I tell her, “I think he might still be out there.”
“He’s gone by now.”
“Let’s hope so. For his sake.”
CHAPTER 12
N ATALIE
C andy Land’s applying makeup to hide a pimple on her bikini-line as I walk through the dressing room at The Dollhouse.
I’m used to naked women prettying themselves up with thongs, removable pasties, gallons of glitter, Pussy Catz’s caged python waiting nearby.
“What brings you here on a Monday, Nat?”
“End of the month reconciling.”
“Ah,” they all hum.
With two swift knocks on the door to Paul’s office I alert the owner that I’m here. It’s our code so he shouts, “Come in, Nat!”
Hiding my disdain for the nickname they all gave me despite my insisting it sounds like I’m a bug, I enter his dirty shack and avoid the mess.
He’s not filthy—the place doesn’t stink.
But the stacks of crap he refuses to throw away take up so much space that I have to twist and turn my body to get to his desk. The man is a hoarder in the making, and his toupee is god-awful.
“Here’s your computer.” All the important information for his company is in there and he trusts me with it. I’m kinda proud of that.
“How’d I do?” He asks as he thumbs through headshots of dancer-hopefuls.
“Another gain. You really should take my advice and start investing in a 401 K for yourself.”
His eyes flick to me long enough to say, “It’s a rip-off,” then drop back to the pretty girls in his hands. “I like my money now, not in my future. What if I never have one?”
“What if you do?”
He grumbles, “I’ll think about that later.”
“You mean when you need the money?” I head for the door and pause with my hand on the cool knob. “Paul, why are you looking at those? Why actual printed copies?”
“I’m tired of looking at computers, Nat. My eyes are sore.”
“So you’re hiring more dancers? I thought the girls were griping about not having enough hours as it is.”
He mutters, “They say that but then they snort coke all night long. One of these days I’m gonna walk in and three will be dead on the floor, you watch.”
“Nice image, thanks,” I sigh, as I go to leave.
“Why is Max Cocker calling me up and asking about you?” He meets and holds my eyes for the first time. “This isn’t the Cockers, is it? I don’t recognize his name.”
“What did he say? Wait, he called you? When? Did he call for you, or just call about me or…”
Paul snaps, “Stop rambling, you’re hurting my ears.” Grasping an 8x10 photo with all ten digits he stares at me over his reading glasses, chin dipped. “He said you applied for a job and he wanted a reference
. Are you leaving me, Nat? Because I wouldn’t like that if you did. Especially for a Cocker.”
I stammer, “It’s not a real job, Paul. It’s a film some guy is working on. I said I’d help with the books on it. But it’s not full time or anything. Directors only do a film like every four years, right? We all know that.”
“Tell him you won’t take it.”
“Why?”
“I don’t like back-stabbers.” He stares at me, his voice taking on a strange quality I haven’t heard before. “You’re part of the family, Nat. And family never leaves.”
“Paul…”
“If I hear you’re working with him on this movie,” He said that like it’s foul to even voice the word. “Let’s just say I won’t be happy. And my silent investors won’t be happy. And you won’t like what happens then.” Like he didn’t just threaten me with bodily harm, he returns to the photos, muttering, “This one’s got no tits. Could be a novelty act.”
Shaken, I turn the doorknob and walk back into the dressing room.
Just like he’d said, Candy Land and Juniper Rising are bent over a compact, snorting fine lines of white powder. They don’t try to hide it. Why should they, when nobody here has any plans to stop them?
Paul’s mantra: As long as they can put bodies in the seats they can do what they want. They’re not children.
But they were once.
And when I look at them that’s what I see.
Candy Land sees me blinking at them, head spinning from his threat. She holds the mirror out, “Need a bump, Nat?”
“I don’t do drugs, but thank you.”
Juniper sneers, “Look at Miss High and Mighty!”
Narrowing my eyes I ask, “I’m snobby because I don’t want to fuck up my life?”
She snaps, “My life is worlds better than yours is, Miss I’ve Got A Stick Up My Ass!”
“Wait, which is it? Because you just called me another stupid name, so I’m confused.”
She gets in my face and I straighten up to meet her challenge. Candy Land tries to come between us but we both shove her out of the way. Pussy Catz walks out of the small bathroom and runs up on six-inch stilettos and nothing else. “Whoa whoa whoa! What the fuck is with you two?”
Max Cocker (Cocker Brothers Book 15) Page 5