by Eve Gaddy
“Nothing.” He knew he’d have to tell Gabe sooner or later Delilah was staying with him, but he didn’t want to just then. For one thing, he doubted Gabe would believe he wasn’t sleeping with her and that his only interest in her was platonic. Platonic, my ass. If she’d been a little older, if she weren’t working for him…
But she wasn’t older and she was his employee, so he might as well put that idea out of his mind.
“We’re done, Cam,” Martha said, coming over to the bar. “I’ll make the deposit for you if you want.”
“Thanks, I’ll have it ready in a minute.” He went to the register and started totaling the cash. Tomorrow he’d run the checks and credit-card receipts, but he liked to get most of the cash into the bank at night. The Scarlet Parrot had never been robbed but Cam didn’t believe in tempting fate.
“Hello, handsome,” Martha said to Gabe, who was one of her favorites. “I haven’t had a chance to talk to you tonight. You found yourself a lady friend yet?”
Gabe grinned and winked at her. “Waiting for you, darlin’. When are you going to dump that husband of yours and run off with me?”
Martha laughed, like she did every time they went through the routine. Cam always wondered why neither of them got sick of it, but they didn’t.
She called out to Delilah, who was sweeping the floor. “Come meet the boss’s brother, Delilah.” She elbowed Gabe in the ribs. “Pretty, isn’t she?” she said in a stage whisper.
Delilah glanced at them but continued to work, coughing a little as she did so. “Let me finish sweeping.”
“Cam can do that. It would be good for him to get some exercise.”
“I don’t mind.” She continued sweeping for a few moments, then came to the bar.
Martha introduced the two. Cam had to go to his office to get the bank bag and deposit slip. When he came back to the bar, he didn’t need a crystal ball to know Gabe had hit on Delilah and she had blown him off. It was clear as a bell from the strained atmosphere and the dirty look Delilah shot Cam when she saw him. Being a woman, she naturally blamed him for something he had no control over.
No surprise there. Gabe liked young, pretty women as much as the next guy. Even in jeans and a T-shirt, Delilah was something to look at. No, what surprised him was the irritation he felt for his brother and the strong urge he had to protect Delilah. Yeah, right. Protect her from Gabe so he could have her himself?
“Crash and burn, did you?” he asked Gabe.
“That is one unfriendly chick,” Gabe said, watching her wash dishes at the sink in the bar. “I swear all I did was ask her how she liked it here and offer to take her fishing on her day off.”
“You don’t need to hit on every new employee I have.” Which was a little unfair because Gabe didn’t, usually.
“I didn’t hit on her. I asked her if she wanted to go fishing. It’s not a big deal.” He tilted his head, considering Delilah. “Maybe she’s gay.”
Cam laughed. “Because she shot you down? I don’t think so, Gabe.”
Delilah walked over to him, holding a pitcher. “Where do you keep this?”
“Above the bar, but let me get it. You won’t be able to reach it.” One problem with his setup, it wasn’t made for short people. He took the pitcher from her and hung it up.
“So, Delilah, where are you from?” Gabe asked.
“Around,” she said shortly.
“Yeah, but where?”
She gave him a dirty look but she answered. “A little town north of here. You’ve probably never heard of it.”
She didn’t add anything. Most people would have dropped it when it became clear she didn’t want to talk, but not Gabe.
“Hey, I know a lot of towns in Texas. Especially on the coast. Which one is it?”
“It’s not on the coast.” Delilah shot Cam an irritated glance, then shrugged. “Alice,” she said, naming a small town to the west of them. “Do you know it?”
Cam winced. He and Gabe had driven through there not a month ago.
“Never heard of it,” Gabe said, but he looked at Cam and raised his eyebrows.
Ignoring him, Cam handed Martha the money bag. She put her jacket on and turned to Delilah. “Need a ride, hon?”
“No, thanks, Martha.”
Like Gabe, Martha never let anything go. “I know you don’t have a car and we don’t have any buses in this burg. It’s no bother, let me give you a ride.”
Delilah didn’t answer. Her eyes met Cam’s and he swore silently. “Delilah doesn’t need a ride. She’s staying here for now, Martha.”
Gabe looked from one to the other. “Uh-huh. Now I get it. Why didn’t you just tell me?” he asked Cam.
Martha looked surprised. “She’s staying with you? Upstairs?”
“That’s right.”
“But you don’t take boarders. At least, you never have before.”
Gabe choked on a laugh. “None of them looked like Delilah, either.”
“Shut up, Gabe.” He glanced at Delilah and wasn’t surprised to see her frowning. At the moment he’d gladly have fired Martha if it would have gotten her to shut up. But nothing ever shut Martha’s mouth once she started. “Let it go, Martha.”
“Well, okay. You don’t have to tell me to mind my own business. I’m not one for gossip,” she added in an injured tone. Her statement should have amused him, since Martha was undoubtedly one of the town’s prime gossips, but somehow it didn’t.
Gabe sent him a knowing smile that made Cam want to punch him. “Don’t start, Gabe. It’s not like that.”
He spread his hands innocently. “Did I say anything?”
“You were about to.”
Gabe stood. “Hey, it’s none of my business.”
“Yeah, you got that right.” But that wouldn’t stop Gabe from ragging on him.
“Come on, Martha,” he said, taking her arm. “I’ll walk you out. I think they want to be alone.”
Martha shot them a speculative glance, but she let Gabe lead her away.
At the door he paused. “Come to think of it, Delilah, I have heard of that town.” He scratched his head, looking puzzled. “But I thought Alice was about forty miles west of here. Not north. But hey, what do I know?” He waved and they went out.
Delilah stared at the closed door, then looked at Cam. “Shit. I told you I was a bad liar.”
CHAPTER THREE
THERE WAS SILENCE for a long moment after Gabe and Martha left.
“Couldn’t you think of a town that really was north of here?” Cam asked her.
Delilah propped her hands on her hips and glared at him. “Obviously not, or I would have said it. I wasn’t expecting the third degree.”
He snorted in disgust. “Or here’s a shocker. You might have tried the truth. Houston’s a big place, what would it have hurt?”
The truth? How could she tell the truth when it might land her in jail? Or worse, get her killed. “Where I come from is none of your brother’s business.”
“True.” He locked the front door to the restaurant and turned out the lights. “But it is my business.”
“You know I’m from Houston. You saw my ID.”
“Yeah, but that’s all you’ve told me. And you didn’t tell me that. If I hadn’t found your wallet I wouldn’t know squat about you.” He didn’t say anything else, but walked into the kitchen, leaving her to follow.
She hated it, but he was absolutely right. Cameron Randolph had given her food, shelter, and even more importantly, a job. And she had repaid his kindness by lying. Not willingly, but she’d lied nonetheless. For a notoriously bad liar, she’d told a ton of them today. She wondered if it would get any easier, the more lies she told.
By the time she went upstairs, he’d gone into his bedroom and shut the door. Debating, she waited outside his door, then decided she couldn’t leave things like they were. If nothing else, she needed to know if he was going to kick her out. As she raised her hand to knock, the door opened.
; He stood in the doorway wearing jeans and nothing else. Though she told herself it was a mistake, her eyes were drawn to the broad expanse of his chest. Damn, he looked good. Shocked, she felt a tug of attraction.
Forget that, she told herself. Her instincts about men were obviously screwed up.
Cameron didn’t look very happy to see her. He leaned a shoulder against the door jamb and frowned at her. “What do you want, Delilah?”
“I know you’re mad at me and I can’t blame you. But I have a reason for—for not talking about my past.” Fear. That was a very good reason.
“Lying isn’t usually a good idea, no matter what your reasons are. Lies come back to bite you in the butt if you’re not careful.”
“I know.” She bit her lip, wishing she could talk to him, but she couldn’t risk it. “I’m sorry, I still can’t talk about it.”
“Because of this?” He laid his fingers gently on her neck, over the bruises that had finally begun to fade. “You’re afraid of whoever did this to you.”
This time she didn’t flinch. His fingers were warm, his touch soothing. They stood close together, so close she could have laid her head on his chest. And she had a brief, insane urge to do it. She could smell him, a clean, masculine smell mixed with a hint of spicy aftershave. She could feel the heat from his body and the awareness simmering between them.
Their gazes locked and she almost leaned forward. What the hell was she doing? She drew back and his hand fell away, breaking the contact. “That’s part of it.”
Thank God, he looked irritated again. She could handle irritated. She couldn’t handle sincere and kind and…oh, hell, sexy.
“Part of it, but not the whole story. You’re not going to tell me the whole story, are you?”
She shook her head and braced herself, waiting for him to tell her to get out.
For a long moment, he simply looked at her, his gaze inscrutable. “Get some sleep,” he said. “Sundays can be brutal.” He shut the door in her face.
“Thanks,” she told the closed door. At least he hadn’t put her out on the street.
For the first time in over a week, no nightmare woke her in the middle of the night. A certain blond and very hot bartender figured prominently in her dreams, but she wouldn’t complain. Anything was better than waking in a cold sweat, terrified for her life.
AS CAM HAD PREDICTED, the lunch rush kept them busy. Delilah kept her ears open and her mouth shut and learned a lot about her boss and a number of other people she hadn’t yet met. Apparently the Scarlet Parrot was one of the small town’s hot spots.
Martha wasn’t Cam’s only employee who liked to talk. During the afternoon lull, Rachel, another waitress who came in part-time, gave her an earful of gossip as well.
Rachel, a frizzy-haired blonde, was nineteen and wore an eyebrow ring, a belly-button ring, and more rings on her fingers than Delilah had ever seen. At the moment, she was whining about the lack of single men in Aransas City.
“So I go to school in Corpus Christi and date like, the guys from around there but they all think Aransas City is like the Twilight Zone.” She smacked her gum and picked up the dirty dishes from one of the tables as Delilah bused the one next to it. “Which it is. And the only available guys in town are geeks.”
Delilah made a sympathetic noise and wondered if she’d ever been that young. If so, she couldn’t remember it. Her mother had died when she was sixteen and she’d been on her own ever since.
“You think he’s a geek?” Delilah asked, motioning at Cam. “He’s single, isn’t he?”
“Cam? Oh, I think he’s a total hottie, but I meant guys my age. Besides, Cam dates really gorgeous women. You know the type, with boobs out to here,” she said, waving her hands in front of her small chest. “I couldn’t compete if I wanted to.”
She cast a calculating look at Delilah. “You sure could, though. You’d have to do something about your clothes. They’re pretty boring.”
Delilah laughed. “Thanks, but I’ll pass.”
“Cam doesn’t hit on his employees, anyway. Martha says it’s a rule of his.” She shrugged. “Which is kinda nice.” She looked a little doubtful about that.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Delilah said.
“Cam’s got a brother,” Rachel said, brightening. “A younger brother. He’s hot, too, but way different from Cam. He’s a fishing-boat captain.”
“Gabe? I met him last night.” Gabe Randolph didn’t much like her. Not that she blamed him. She hadn’t been very tactful when she’d turned him down. And of course, the fact that she’d lied about where she was from and he knew it didn’t help much either.
Rachel stopped working to look at her. “You didn’t like Gabe? He’s always been really nice to me.”
“Other way around. He doesn’t seem to have much use for me.”
Which became abundantly clear just a little while later. Gabe came in and took a seat at the bar, in what was apparently his usual place. Delilah avoided him as long as she could but eventually had to pick up a tray at the bar where he was talking to Cameron. They were talking so intently neither of them noticed her.
“I just think you should be more careful about who you hire,” Gabe said.
“Who I hire is none of your business,” Cam replied. “Delilah isn’t a problem.”
“She’s a liar, Cam. Do you even know where she’s really from? Because it sure as hell isn’t Alice.” Cam didn’t answer and Gabe continued. “Do you know anything about her? Does she even have any references?”
“Since when are you so concerned with references? I’ve known you to take on deckhands with no kind of history other than them swearing they don’t do drugs.”
“At least I have a feel for if they’re honest. She’s not, that’s pretty damn clear.”
Cam looked up and met her eyes. “You need to give it a rest, Gabe.”
Gabe turned around and looked at her. He wasn’t embarrassed to be caught talking about her. If anything, his gaze was even more unfriendly. He turned back to his brother. “You’re asking for trouble, Cam.”
Delilah didn’t wait to hear any more.
Late that afternoon, Delilah was behind the bar helping Cam stock up for the night. Cam had gone downstairs to bring up another case of beer when a woman came in carrying an infant seat. She walked directly to the bar and set the seat on the floor, reaching down to unbuckle the straps and pull a baby out of it.
“You must be the new waitress,” she said, holding the fair-haired child in the crook of her arm. She held out her other hand. “Gail Kincaid. I’m one of Cam’s sisters. This is my son, Jason,” she added, smiling fondly as the baby kicked his legs and waved chubby arms.
“Hi, I’m Delilah,” she said and shook hands. “Cam should be back in a minute. Can I get you a menu?”
“No, thanks. I’m waiting for my husband to meet me for an early dinner.”
Delilah left her. A few minutes later, after Cam came back, she heard the baby crying. She watched him take the child from his mother and put him up on his shoulder, saying something that had Gail laughing. In no time at all the baby quit crying and started chortling.
Cam plainly liked children and was good with them. From what Martha and Rachel had said, he was close to his family. She gathered that all of his siblings dropped by his place often. He was a good boss, too. Every single one of his employees she’d talked to thought he was great.
So why wasn’t this piece of masculine perfection married? And why in the world was she so curious about him? After all, it was none of her business. She wouldn’t be around long enough to find the answers, either.
CAM HANDED HIS NEPHEW back to his sister. “That kid has some set of pipes. But then, all your kids are loud,” he said, remembering Gail’s daughters at the same age. “And speaking of all your kids, how are the little darlings and why haven’t they been in?”
“Mel and Roxy are great. They’re with Barry this weekend,” she said, referring to her ex-husband. “And
they were in last week.”
He put a glass of iced tea in front of her. “Talk to Gabe this morning?”
She tried to look innocent, without success. “Just for a minute. Why do you ask?”
“Because,” he said as he leaned forward and flicked her cheek, “I know Gabe and I know you. Besides, Gabe’s already been in and couldn’t find anything out, so he’s bound to try to see if you can do any better. Am I right?”
“All right, I admit it. He wanted me to come pump your new waitress for information.”
“Naturally, you went along with him.”
“No, but he did make me curious about your new help. I didn’t think you’d mind if I came in to meet her for myself.” She glanced across the room at Delilah, then back to Cam. “Gabe says she’s living with you. A little younger than most of your women, isn’t she?”
He gritted his teeth, thinking of ways to get even with his brother. Who the hell did he think Cam was, James Bond? “Delilah is not one of my women. I let her stay in the spare bedroom. She’s in a jam and has no place to go.”
“If you say so.” Gail looked at Delilah again. “She’s very pretty. Are you sure you aren’t interested in her?”
“Sure as hell’s hot and a Popsicle’s cold,” he assured her. Liar, liar. He hadn’t slept well the night before. Instead, he’d lain awake thinking of her. And after he finally did manage to sleep, he’d woken up this morning hard as a rock.
She was pretty. No, she was beautiful, but he’d had his share of beautiful women. What was it about Delilah that got to him? Because she was in trouble?
Jay came in and, seeing them, walked over to the bar. “Hey, Cam.” He kissed Gail and took his son from her. “I’m in desperate need of the shrimp plate,” he told Cam as he sat beside Gail and settled the baby in his arm.
“You’re always in desperate need of the shrimp plate.” He glanced at Gail. “Which I can’t order for you because Gail here is too busy yammering at me. Can’t you keep your wife under control?”
Jay gave a bark of laughter. “No. One thing I’ve learned is never to get in the way of Gail and her family.”