by Isabel North
* * * *
By the end of the day, Derek was wiped. He closed up the garage and stood there staring at the Rawlings’ Auto Repairs sign. He became aware of a large, solid presence beside him.
“Everything okay?” Burke asked.
Derek rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. “No.”
He hadn’t told the guys about the sale yet. The time was coming he’d have to. God knew when the new owner was going to want them out. He could get notice to pack up the workshop tomorrow. He might not get notice at all.
As Marshall had started to say, maybe the new owner was looking for a rental property.
His luck, the new owner wanted to open a Starbucks.
He glanced at Burke. “Want to go get a drink?”
Burke shrugged. “Sure.”
Derek did a double take. It had been a joke. Burke never went to Kurt’s, even though the men were close. Burke rarely went anywhere. He was the most self-contained soul Derek had ever met. “Yeah?” he said.
Burke shrugged again. “Look like you could use the company,” he said in his gruff voice.
“All right. Let’s go.”
It was quiet when they walked into Kurt’s. As quiet as Kurt’s got, anyway. People were eating in the restaurant area and the bar was beginning to fill with the after-work crowd. Derek strolled up and ordered a couple of beers. He and Burke sat on stools at the far end of the bar, closest to the television, and Derek zoned out. Burke was quiet beside him.
Derek’s mind was running through options and he was trying to stay positive and find a way to solve this nightmare rather than fall into despondence, when he heard Jenny.
He turned on his stool, a smile breaking over his face as she and Lila came in, heading for the booths. He was about to slide off and intercept her but she walked past without seeing him, all the way to a booth where two men sat.
One of them was Dean Hansen.
Her ex-husband.
Dean was smiling at Jenny. And Jenny?
She was smiling back.
Derek stalked after her, reaching her as she was about to take a seat. “Jenny.”
She spun around and when her eyes collided with his, she paled. “Derek,” she said breathlessly. “What are you doing here?”
His gaze flickered from her to Dean. He gritted his teeth. “That’s my line.”
“Um.” Jenny tucked her hair behind her ear. Her hand trembled, making Derek even angrier.
Dean stood. “Hey, Tate.”
Derek whirled on him with a snarl. “Sit down.”
Startled, Dean thudded back to his seat, along with the other guy who’d stood when Jenny had approached.
Derek assessed the stranger and discarded him as unimportant. His attention went back to Jenny. “You want to tell me what’s going on, Jen?”
Dean spoke up before Jenny could answer. “What’s going on is family business between me and Jenny, and we’re on a clock, so if you don’t mind?”
Derek didn’t even look at him, kept his gaze on Jenny. Her face was tense and she glanced over at Lila as if desperate. Derek touched her chin, bringing her attention back to him. He tilted his head. “Honey,” he said.
Jenny clasped his wrist. “It looks bad, I know it looks bad, but Derek, I’ve got it under control. I promise.” Her fingers tightened and she shifted toward him.
“Jenny,” Dean said. “We haven’t got all night.”
They both ignored him.
Jenny’s fingers tightened again, a gentle squeeze. “This won’t take long, and then I’ll explain. Okay?”
“Mind if I sit in?”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” She bit her lip. “You seem kind of mad already.”
Already? As in, he’d get more mad if he sat in? “Been a hell of a day. Got a feeling it’s going to get worse.”
“It isn’t. It isn’t. This is just bad timing. I’ll get it done, and we’ll talk. Okay?”
“Come on, Derek.” A fist wrapped in the back of his T-shirt and tugged, hard. “Buy me a drink,” Lila said. “Come on.”
Derek scowled over his shoulder. Lila was leaning back, still with his T-shirt in her grip. “You’re going to rip my shirt clean off,” he said.
She gave an extra-hard tug. “Oh, the horror, please no. Lord save me, anything but a shirtless man. Come on.”
“Stop pulling me.”
Lila stepped to one side and held out her arm like an usher.
Derek glanced down into Jenny’s worried face. “Make it quick?” he said.
Chewing her lip, Jenny gave him an abrupt nod.
Fuck it. Derek bent his head and kissed her, fierce and claiming and he didn’t give a damn who saw. He feathered his fingertips around her throat and didn’t stop kissing her until he’d felt her relax and sink into him.
Then, although it went against the grain, he left her as she’d asked, and strode to the bar. He placed a hand at the small of Lila’s back, scooting her none-too-gently ahead of him.
“Well?” he demanded when they reached the bar.
“Margarita, please.”
Not what he’d meant. Derek lifted a hand to Kurt and pointed at Lila. Kurt nodded. Derek tried again. “Well?”
Lila hopped up onto Burke’s empty bar stool—he must have slunk off at the first sign of drama, and Derek couldn’t blame him—and rested her elbows on the bar. “Nope. You can wait and get it direct from Jenny.”
Derek swept up his bottle and drained the beer. He grunted his thanks when Kurt put Lila’s margarita and a fresh beer in front of them.
“Sooo,” Lila began. “About the garage.”
Derek cut her off with a sharp shake of his head. “One problem at a time, Lila.”
“It’s all going to be fine,” she reassured him, patting his arm.
Was it?
He hadn’t spoken out loud, but Lila repeated, “It’ll be fine.” Then five minutes later, she looked in the long mirror behind the bar, and said, “Uh-oh.”
Derek followed her gaze, and stiffened.
Uh-oh indeed.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
“That was interesting,” Dean remarked, and knocked back the last of his whiskey.
Jenny sat opposite him and his lawyer. “Hi.” She held out her hand to the lawyer. “Jennifer Finley.”
The man reached across the table and gave her a light press of his hand, along with a short nod. “Raymond Hubble. Ms. Finley, I’d like to begin by reassuring you that this is nothing formal. It’s a casual conversation between ex-spouses about their daughter. I’m here in a neutral and observatory capacity.”
“Dean mentioned you’re on the clock.” She smiled. “Is Dean paying you to be here?”
Mr. Hubble hesitated. “Yes.”
“Then this is formal, and it isn’t neutral.”
“We’re off to a great start,” Dean said with heavy sarcasm. “No, wait. The great start was when your boyfriend attempted to swallow your tongue in front of half of Emerson.”
Jenny felt her eyebrows crawl to her hairline, then she burst out laughing. “Since we’re not bothering to be polite, then, can we get to it? I haven’t seen Derek since last night, it’s been a long day, and I’d like to give him another chance at swallowing my tongue. Or maybe I’ll swallow his.”
Dean flushed.
Hubble cleared his throat. “May I jump in?”
“Aaaand not in an observatory capacity either,” Jenny said. She sat back and waved a hand. “Be my guest.”
“Ms. Finley, the purpose of meeting with you this evening is to open negotiations on the custody and visitation rights my client has over his daughter.”
“No,” Jenny said.
“I beg your pardon?”
“I do believe you heard me the first time, but I don’t mind repeating myself. No. The purpose of this meeting is for Dean to bully me.”
“Now wait a minute—” Dean protested.
“To bully me into letting him claw back the rights he was m
ore than happy to give up when we divorced, and somehow thinks is okay for him to want again because his gambling is working out. For now.”
“Jenny—”
“You are of course entitled to your opinion, Ms. Finley,” Mr. Hubble said.
“How kind.”
“The fact remains, my client finds himself in improved circumstances and in the position of being able to offer his daughter things that he wasn’t able to offer at the time you divorced. A father. Financial support.”
“My finances are adequate to meet Kate’s needs. She already has strong, stable male role models in her life, and I expect she will soon have a strong father figure.”
“Tate?” Dean snarled.
“I am talking about Derek, yes.”
“He is not raising my child.”
“Derek will be involved in raising our child, since he will be permanently in both our lives. Do you hear the vocabulary I’m deliberately using, Dean?”
“Tate.”
Yeah, she’d gotten the message that Tate was all Dean could hear. “I said our child. Yours and mine. I’m not withholding her from you. I’m not pretending she’s not your daughter, too. There isn’t any reason for this. I understand it’s a knee-jerk reaction to seeing me move on. But it’s not cool. We can stop it here. What do you say?”
Dean’s gaze tracked over to where Derek sat at the bar.
Derek had one boot hooked on the rung of the stool and one planted on the floor, watchful gaze on them. Ready to move.
“I say no.”
“Dean, take some time and let it percolate. Nothing’s happening immediately. I know it all feels like a big change, but it isn’t. If anything, the big change in Kate’s life is you coming back, not Derek being in it.” She winced and shook her head. “Forget that. Just, think. Please. I know what you’re doing. It’s silly.”
Silly was the wrong word to use. Dean went rigid and his face locked down into that stubborn expression Jenny knew well. He wouldn’t be swayed.
“You know what I’m doing?” he said. “Right. I’m bluffing. That’s it, isn’t it?”
“Yup. And I’m calling it.” She allowed herself a dangerous smile as she mirrored his crossed-arm posture. “We both know I always kicked your ass at poker.”
“This is hardly poker, Ms. Finley,” Mr. Hubble chimed in. “This is the well-being of a child.”
Dean, however, showed a flicker of doubt in the face of Jenny’s confidence.
She continued, “You expected me to be naive enough to come here today without my own legal counsel, didn’t you?”
Dean’s doubt drained. “I know you can’t afford a lawyer.”
“Do you? Do you know for sure? Or are you gambling on it?”
“Raymond is costing me a shit-ton an hour, because he’s a great lawyer. But he doesn’t have to be great, Jenny. All he has to do is drag out a custody case long enough to burn through what small amount of money you have, and then you’ll have to settle. You’ll have to do it on my terms.”
“Dean.” Jenny hated the way her voice sounded, soft and hurt. “You really want to ruin me twice? Because you’re jealous of Derek?”
He shifted his jaw from side to side. “It’s not about Derek.”
She looked at him.
“It’s not,” he said.
“Why don’t we stop the grandstanding, and lose the lawyer? You and I can have a drink. When you’re ready, we’ll call Derek over, and the three of us can talk.”
Dean leaned back and gestured at his lawyer. “Raymond brought a proposal.”
Jenny eyed the document Mr. Hubble tried to pass her, but didn’t take it. “Guess that’s my cue to call in backup.”
Mr. Hubble set the document on the table and slid it toward Jenny.
“If Lila kicks me in the junk again, swear to God I’ll prosecute this time,” Dean said. “My lawyer is right here.”
“Hah. You’re going to wish I called Lila to nail you in the nuts, but no. I mean my lawyer.”
“You don’t have one,” he scoffed.
“You don’t want me to have one, Dean. You don’t know me anymore.” If he ever did. “You don’t know my life. You have no comprehension of the resources at my disposal.”
“I do know you can’t afford a lawyer better than mine.”
“That’s your gamble. And you’d be right.” She picked up her phone. “But my buddy, a man I trust to have my back, is rolling in it. I’m talking shove his doubloons around with a backhoe, swim in it, totally Scrooge McDuck it. Next to Lila, he’s my best friend. When I told him about you, he insisted that his top guy would represent me. He’s pretty sure it’ll be an afternoon’s work.”
“You got yourself a sugar daddy, Jenny?”
She controlled herself. It was tough, but somehow Jenny managed not to lunge over the table, grab Dean by his tie, and bang his head against the wood. “Friend. His name’s Gabe Sterling.”
Dean appeared entertained. He made a show of looking around. “Is he here? I’d like to meet him.”
“No he’s not here—”
“How about his top guy? He here?”
Mr. Hubble had taken a laptop from his briefcase and opened it up.
“No,” Jenny said, “he’s not here, what with this being nothing formal and you assuring me that I didn’t need legal counsel of my own. I can always go ahead and give him a call, though.” She turned to Mr. Hubble. “If you’re looking Gabe up, the surname is Sterling with an e, not an i. You know what, type in tech billionaire. He’ll be on page one of the search results.”
Jenny rested her chin in her hand and waited.
Dean was the first to look up, incredulous. “This guy?” he said. He the lawyer’s laptop to face Jenny, pointing at the screen.
It showed a picture of Gabe, smiling at the camera like he wanted to bite it. Or have sex with it. Possibly while biting it.
Also, the photo was from back in his fauxhawk days. Taken with the tattoos visible at his shirt collar and where he’d pushed the shirtsleeves over his forearms, he looked…not much like a billionaire. But maybe like someone who was going to go after Dean with a lead pipe and a lustful enthusiasm for his kneecaps.
Either way, he worked.
“How do you even know him?” Dean said. “How would you even meet him? He’s a tech genius from San Francisco and you’re…you. From Emerson.”
“Have you ever heard of Alex Zacharov, the famous sculptor? No? Anyway, Alex is Elle’s fiancé. Gabe is Alex’s best friend. They’re more like brothers.”
Dean, who had always been oblivious to Elle’s polite dislike of him, brightened. “How is Elle?”
Jenny shook her head. “Still pissed at you.”
The brightness dimmed. “I can understand that. And,” he said, “I don’t believe for a minute that this dude is providing you with a lawyer for free.”
“Call him.”
Dean looked at Jenny. “What? Sterling?”
“No, the lawyer. Sorry, I never said his name. Bill Anderson.”
Mr. Hubble squeaked. Dean looked at him, wide-eyed.
“I’ve heard of him,” Mr. Hubble said, looking rattled.
“Is he any good?” Dean asked.
Mr. Hubble gave a hollow laugh.
“I’ll call Bill for you.” Jenny hoped her cell phone still worked after Lila had spiked it into the kitchen floor earlier.
“Right.” Dean was watching her closely. His cheeks were flushed. He was enjoying this. “D’you think I’m stupid? You could call anyone. I’m not falling for your tricks. I’m calling your bluff, Jenny. I’ll call Sterling Enterprises, and we’ll see if they put me through to this Anderson. I’ll make sure to tell him its regarding his important client, Jenny Finley from Emerson.”
“Go ahead. He’s expecting you. Do it.”
“No need,” a voice said behind her.
Jenny turned on the bench seat and looked up into the amused face of Gabe Sterling, and the somewhat less-amused face of Bill An
derson. “Oh, shit,” she said.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
“Oh, shit to you, too,” Gabe said. Bending down, he gathered Jenny up into his arms for a big hug.
Gabe was warm, and solid, and familiar. Jenny couldn’t help giving him a big squeeze back. She briefly rested her forehead against his chest and murmured, “You bastard. You just got me into so much trouble.”
“I’m here to get you out of trouble.”
She patted his waist. “I appreciate that.”
Keeping Jenny tucked into his side, Gabe turned to face Dean. Bill had sat down in the booth opposite Mr. Hubble and was gazing placidly at the other lawyer. Gabe lifted his chin at Dean. “This the ex?”
“Yup.”
“Are we playing with him, or do you still want this shut down nice and surgical?” Gabe asked Jenny, his eyes on Dean, who blanched. “I vote we play.”
“I prefer surgical.” Which it would have been with a phone call, the way she’d planned it, rather than having Gabe show up like hired muscle. She had to roll with it now, didn’t she?
Jenny risked a quick peek over at Derek and, when her gaze clashed with his, wished she hadn’t.
Gabe followed her attention. “Hey, Tate.” He raised a hand in greeting.
Derek thrust up from the stool and stalked over.
“Hmm,” Gabe said. “This doesn’t look friendly.”
Jenny realized she was still standing in Gabe’s embrace, and shoved him away. He glanced at her, brows going up.
By the time she’d gained a little space between them, Derek had made it to the booth and stood in front of her, toe to toe. He was trembling with suppressed emotion. She had a horrible feeling it might be rage.
She’d never seen rage on Derek before.
His face was set, mouth a hard line. He looked like a stranger. “Jen. What is this?”
“This?” she said, whirling a finger in the air to encompass the men she’d somehow found herself surrounded by. Dean, Gabe, Derek. “I believe the technical term is clusterfuck.”
Derek stared down into her eyes, and Jenny lost her breath. Maybe flippant wasn’t the way to go. Derek reached out and took her hip in a possessive grip but then, instead of pulling her away from Gabe, from Dean…he gave a light push.