I righted my dress and flung my hair out of my eyes to glare at him. My palm twitched with the urge to slap the smug, condescending look off his face. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
The bastard actually had the nerve to smirk. “It means you were the one to climb me like a fucking tree the second my front door clicked shut. You wrapped yourself around me so goddamn tight I was concerned you’d break my ribs.”
“Oh please,” I scoffed with a roll of my eyes to mask the fact that I was pretty sure he was telling the truth.
Somewhere in the background of our fight, a cell phone began to ring. I was too wrapped up in the scene unfolding around me to question whether it was his or mine.
“And you’re fucking lying to yourself if you think you aren’t going to come crawling back.”
“You’re disgusting!”
The phone stopped ringing only to start back up two seconds later.
“And you’re full of shit!”
“Am not!”
“Are too!”
The phone started going for a third time, causing Caleb to snap. He stomped over to the counter separating the kitchen from the living space and snatched his phone off the black granite countertop.
“What!” he barked through the line. He dropped his head a moment later and began rubbing between his eyes. His entire expression went from furious to browbeaten in a heartbeat. “Christ, Mom. Now’s not really a good time. Can’t you just—” He stopped and pulled in a deep breath. “Yeah. Fine… I said yes. Just give me an hour.”
He hung up and threw the phone at the couch across the room before turning his attention back to me. The way his entire demeanor had shifted in that handful of seconds had cooled my temper drastically. The pompous jackass from minutes before now seemed deflated.
“I have shit I have to handle, so I gotta go. But this isn’t over.” He stressed his point by stepping close and pointing directly at my face. Then he turned and rushed toward the bedroom. I took that as my opportunity and bolted out the door.
My body could be as pissed as it wanted, but whatever twisted shit I had going on with Caleb was most definitely over.
Whether he was willing to accept that or not.
Chapter Seven
Caleb
It was barely ten in the morning by the time I pulled into my parents’ driveway, but I was already so exhausted I could feel it all the way down to my bones.
The only silver lining was the fact that Mom hadn’t been slurring her words when she called earlier to tell me my father hadn’t come home the night before. She typically waited until the clock struck noon before starting up.
I pushed the front door of their sprawling mansion open and called out for her. “Mom? I’m here. Where are you?”
“In here, darling.”
I followed her voice into the formal family room to the left of the foyer. Walking in there was like walking onto the set of a crappy soap opera. The shades had been drawn, blocking out every bit of sunlight and creating the illusion of nighttime in the morning hours. She was lying on the couch, her head resting on the toss pillows with a chenille blanket wrapped around her. She’d thrown her forearm across her eyes dramatically, ever the picture of the poor, neglected housewife despite having willingly placed herself in that role.
I sighed and reached for the light switch on the wall. “Jesus, Mom. It’s too damn early to be this morose.” I made my way to her and pulled the blanket back, revealing her ivory silk dressing gown. “Come on, let’s get you up. You’ll feel better after you get showered and dressed.”
She let out a beleaguered sigh and allowed me to pull her to a sitting position. “I don’t possibly see how I’ll feel better knowing your father spent the night with her.”
Between my mother and the bullshit that went down with Daphne earlier, I was dangerously close to losing my shit. That goddamn woman was driving me crazy. She ran so hot for me one second only to turn ice cold the next.
With one hand resting on my hip, I dropped my head and used the other to pinch the bridge of my nose, hoping to lessen the tension building in my skull. “Who’s ‘her,’ Mom?”
“Well I don’t know who for certain, but what other reason would he have for being gone all night if there wasn’t another woman involved?” Her top lip curled into a sneer as she continued, “He said it was because of work, but I know that’s a lie.”
I didn’t need to see proof to know she was right, but my empathy was in really fucking short supply. My father had been exhibiting the same behavior for the past thirty years, and the longer she stayed, knowing he’d never change, the less I was able to tolerate her self-pity.
“Why don’t you just fucking leave him already?” I snapped, speaking to my overly delicate mother in a sharper tone than I ever had before.
She put her hand to her chest and sucked in an appalled gasp. “Caleb,” she admonished. “Watch your language. And how could you ask me such a thing?”
My mouth dropped open in bewilderment. “How could I ask? Are you kidding me? Because the man’s cheated on you for years! With god only knows how many women!”
“He’s my husband,” she returned in a weak voice. “You don’t just turn your back on your vows, Caleb. I love your father, and I know he loves me too. He just… can’t help himself.”
I let out a loud, booming laugh devoid of all humor. “Wow. You’ve come up with some creative excuses for his fucked-up behavior over the years, but this one takes the cake!”
“You don’t just walk away from your soul mate!” she argued, her tone growing stronger. “You’ll understand when you finally meet the love of your life.”
I couldn’t hide my dumbfounded reaction. “That’s a joke, right?” I didn’t give her a chance to answer before speaking again. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned from watching you and Dad, it’s that love and soul mates are a goddamn joke. If this is what it’s going to turn me into, I want nothing to do with it.”
She sucked in a stuttered breath. “If that’s what you truly believe, then I’ve completely failed you as a mother.”
It was a sucker punch of guilt right to the gut. Despite the resentment I harbored, she was still my mother, and upsetting her sat like stones in the pit of my stomach. “Shit,” I hissed, blowing out a puff of air. “Look, Mom, I’m sorry, okay?”
Tears began to well up in her eyes, but I’d had all I could take for one day. I leaned down and placed a kiss on her cheek. “I love you, but I have to go.”
“Wait!” she called after me as I headed toward the door, but I didn’t stop. “I thought you were going to speak to your father for me.”
I paused with my hand on the doorknob. “I will,” I seethed through clenched teeth. “Just not today.”
My dad, with his impeccable timing, was pulling into the driveway just as I reached my car.
“Caleb? I’m surprised to see you here so early, son.”
“Yeah?” Bitterness laced my words. “Well I didn’t expect to be here so early, but seeing as Mom called me in a fit of fucking tears because you didn’t come home last night”—I threw my arms out at my sides—“here I am.”
“Jesus, not this again,” he sighed, running a hand through his sandy blond hair, so similar to mine. I got my coloring from my old man. With the exception of the salt and pepper liberally laced in his hair, and the extra wrinkles around his mouth and eyes, we looked freakishly similar.
“Are you surprised? For Christ’s sake, Dad, could you make it any more obvious? How about a little discretion? I don’t even know why you bother making up lies anymore. Why not just tell her you can’t make it home because you’re out fucking other women?”
“Watch your goddamn mouth,” he snarled at me, stepping so close we were toe-to-toe. I had about an inch and a half in height on him, and a good thirty pounds of muscle, but my father was the kind of man who’d attempt to cow anyone he felt was inferior to him. And he felt everyone was inferior to him. “I’m your father and you
’ll damn well show me the respect I deserve.”
My head jerked back as I scoffed. “The respect you deserve? Are you kidding me? What the hell have you done to earn my respect?”
Spittle flew from his mouth as he hissed, “I created you, you ungrateful little shit. And don’t you dare lecture me on discretion. Do you have any idea how much fucking money I shelled out to remove your name from the papers when you were younger? You humiliated your mother and me. And let’s not forget how much your little stunt with the dean of admissions’ wife cost me. It’s a miracle you weren’t kicked out of college!”
“I was a kid, for Christ’s sake! And anything I did was because I had you to look up to. Such an upstanding role model,” I chided sarcastically. “Leaving his poor wife home alone so he can get his dick wet with any available pussy on hand. At least I’m not committed to another woman when I’m screwing around.”
The back of his hand came up, smacking me in the face so hard my head jerked to the side and I tasted blood. I stood motionless for a second before facing my father again. I spit the bit of blood on the concrete directly beside his shoe. “That’s the last time you lay a hand on me, old man,” I warned ominously. “Next time, I’ll disregard the fact that you’re my father.”
With that I climbed into my car and sped off.
“Look, man, I’m not one to judge, but isn’t it a little early to be sucking back scotch? It’s barely past eleven in the morning.”
I set the glass back down on the bar top with a loud clank. “I’ve had approximately three sips. I’d hardly call that sucking it back. And you didn’t seem to have a problem pouring it for me when I asked, did you?”
Deacon lifted his arms innocently before smiling. “Well I can’t pay for this bar with smiles and hugs, now can I?”
I looked around at the few people who’d come in for lunch. “Not like anyone would want to hug your ugly ass anyway,” I returned with a chuckle.
Deacon went back to stacking clean glasses on a few of the shelves behind the bar. “So, what’s up with you this morning? I’d have thought you’d be in a better mood considering you left here with that hot chick last night.”
“I don’t want to talk about it,” I grumbled, taking another sip from my glass. “That woman’s off her freaking rocker.”
“She’d have to be to go home with you.”
“God, you’re an asshole. Why do I put up with you?”
“Because of my winning personality and access to top-shelf booze,” he deadpanned, making me laugh.
“What are you doing here, anyway? I thought Saturdays were your days off?”
He finished stacking the last glass, moved to the whole limes and lemons set up along the bar, and began slicing as he talked. “Got some family thing tomorrow at my folks’ house.”
He sounded as excited about a family dinner as he would a root canal. “You don’t seem too happy about it.”
“I’m not.” His knife banged harder against the cutting board. “Grayson’s bringing his new girl over to meet the whole family, so my presence is mandatory.”
“You talking about Lola? I’ve met her. She’s a good woman. Seems to have your brother twisted into knots.”
“About time someone finally did.”
I slid my glass back and forth between my hands as I studied his blank expression. “You finally want to tell me what the hell happened between you and your brother?”
He stared daggers at me. “You want to tell me what’s got you day-drinking in my bar?”
I knew he expected me to back down. Maybe it was my agitation. Maybe it was the scotch. Or maybe it was just the fact that I’d had my fill of bullshit for one day, but I decided to call his bluff. “I’m in here having a drink because my fucking father’s fucking around on my mother again. And she’s still got her head so far up her ass that she refuses to leave him, so she expects me to somehow fix it for her again. On top of all that, the one woman I can’t get out of my head, who just so happens to be the best lay I’ve had in my fucking life, is certifiable!”
He stood stiff for several seconds before muttering, “Shit, man. That’s harsh.” Then he grabbed two shot glasses, filled each with tequila, and slid one to me. We downed the shots, slamming the glasses back on the bar.
“Your turn,” I hissed past the burn of the alcohol.
Deacon’s hands rested on the bar top as he let out a heavy breath. “Remember Fiona Prentice?”
My brows dipped in confusion. “Of course I do, we grew up with her. Not to mention she’s Gray’s ex.”
His knuckles turned white with the pressure he exerted pressing them into the scarred wood of the bar. “Yeah, well, she never should’ve been his ex. She never should have been his fucking anything.”
My eyes went round and I pushed the shot glass back in his direction for a refill. “I think it’s safe to say you and I are going to need a few more of these.”
Chapter Eight
Daphne
The past several days had been unbelievably stressful. I was worried about my friends. Sophia was pretending like she hadn’t had a bomb dropped on her when Lola informed us that her brother Dominic, who just so happened to be Soph’s ex-boyfriend, was in town for an indefinite period of time. I tried to get her to open up, but she insisted that she was totally fine. I wasn’t buying it, seeing as the man had completely demolished her heart ten years earlier, but I let it go.
Lola, on the other hand, was quickly spiraling out of control. After a meeting with Grayson’s family had ended in catastrophe, she’d slowly started slipping. But when pictures of him out with his ex-girlfriend, a stunning redhead named Fiona, hit the papers, Lola had officially lost it. She’d gone from moping around like someone had run over her beloved puppy to on-air tangents with our callers during our radio show. Sophia and I tried our hardest to get through to her. It was obvious she wasn’t handling her split with Grayson well—I’d never seen her so lost in all the years I’d known her—but trying to convince her to talk to him was like beating our heads against a brick wall.
The final straw had been when she punched our station director, Sam, in the nose. Granted, the asshole had it coming with his chauvinistic remarks about Lola and Grayson, but the situation could have been handled much more professionally. It led to yet another meeting with HR and the higher-ups. If we kept going down the road we were currently on, I had no doubt that the station would can Girl Talk without so much as a backward glance.
The only plus side to all the drama happening around me was the fact that I hadn’t had much time to think about Caleb and how my body still yearned for him.
I let out a heavy sigh as I made my way from the conference room. To say Lola had gotten off lucky with just a mandatory three days off for breaking our boss’s nose was putting it mildly.
“Well this is really going to make the gala interesting, isn’t it?” Sophia asked.
I looked at her, confused for a second. Then it dawned on me. “Ah hell, is that this weekend?”
I couldn’t believe I’d forgotten about that. The charity gala at the Seattle Art Museum for the Wave Foundation was something Bandwidth hosted every year. And as hosts of KTSW’s most successful talk radio show, Lola, Sophia, and I were always a big part. This year we decided to up the stakes and auction ourselves off for dates to the highest bidders in the hopes of raising even more money.
“You forgot?” Sophia asked in shock. “How could you forget? It’s your favorite event of the year!”
She was right. I loved the gala more than Christmas, New Year, and Oscar season combined. It was the one time a year I got to dress up like a movie star walking the red carpet and not feel guilty for spending way too much money on designer gowns and shoes. The expensive dresses I wore for the event each year were the closest I was ever getting to a wedding gown again, so I basked in it.
“Can you blame me for being a little distracted? You and I have been kind of consumed with helping Lola to not self-destruct. And lo
ok how well that’s gone. She broke Sam’s nose, for Christ’s sake.”
Sophia gave me a lopsided grin full of mischief. “You sure your distraction doesn’t have anything to do with a certain sexy blond dude with a skill at giving orgasms?”
I nearly choked on my tongue. I hadn’t confessed to her that I’d fallen off the Caleb McMannus wagon again, and had no intention of ever admitting it to anyone, but it was almost as if she was reading my mind. I laughed maniacally. “What? No! Of course not!”
She looked at me with narrow-eyed suspicion. “I don’t know who you’re trying harder to convince, me or yourself.”
I released a very loud snort, like every word out of her mouth was utterly ridiculous. “I don’t even know what you’re talking about. I’m totally over the whole Caleb thing. I’m going to grab a latte from the cart in the lobby. You want one?”
She crossed her arms over her chest, grinning knowingly. “No, thanks, but nice effort to change the subject.”
I shrugged and started for the elevators. “It’s just one of my many gifts.”
“You know, you can’t avoid talking to me forever,” she called at my back as I jabbed the button to take me down.
“But I can sure as hell try,” I murmured to myself as I watched the floor numbers light up above the elevator. I gave the Down button a few more good stabs with my manicured finger, letting out a sigh of relief when I heard the ding and a set of doors slid open.
Closing my eyes, I rested against the back wall of the car and dropped my head back against the mirrored panel with a frustrated sigh. I’d have given anything to be back at home with a bottle of wine and my recorded episodes of Outlander. Jamie was the only man I could count on to never let me down. Unfortunately, my beloved ginger was a fictional character. And I’d already discovered the brutal truth that real-life men could never live up to the ones in books.
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