by Raine Thomas
What was he supposed to say to that? As he considered that question, he took another sip of his drink.
“Look, Cole,” she said, reaching over to touch his bicep. “Haven’t you ever done something that you regretted? Something you wished you could take back or do over?”
He shrugged. “Sure.”
“Well, I’m asking you to give me a chance to take back my stupid decision. We had a good thing going. We can rekindle it.” Her hand drifted down to his upper thigh. “Right now, you can help me stop feeling like I made the dumbest decision in the history of dumb decisions.”
Whoa. He reached down and moved her hand, telling his body to calm down. It was easier thought than done.
“You know we had something together, Cole,” she said, her voice little more than a whisper as she leaned closer to his ear. Her hand once again slid along his upper thigh. “We move in similar circles. We have common friends. We have similar interests.” Now, her lips brushed against his earlobe. “We couldn’t get enough of each other in bed.”
Lord help him.
He took another drink, but it didn’t make his body any less responsive to her touch. All he could think about was the two of them in the sack.
“It was wrong of me to call things off,” she said into his ear. “I was feeling insecure.” Her hand moved even higher. His breath seized. “But I know now that I have no reason to be.”
A throat cleared behind them. Rebecca moved slowly away from him and glanced over her shoulder, then turned and took a sip from her drink. Cole looked up and saw a teenage boy standing behind him holding a napkin in his hand. His pronounced Adam’s apple moved up and down as he stared at Cole.
“Um, excuse me,” he said in a voice clearly going through the change. “Mr. Parker, I’m sorry to bother you.”
The interruption was like a bucket of cold water. Cole released a pent-up breath and gave him a smile.
“It’s all right. What’s up?”
The kid extended the paper napkin and pen toward him. He had yet to blink. “I, um, was wondering if you would sign this.”
“Sure thing.” Cole took the napkin and pen. “What’s your name?”
“Willie. With an ‘ie’ instead of a ‘y.’”
Cole paused with the pen above the napkin. “Willie, huh? You play ball?”
“Yes, sir.”
“You aspiring to be like Willie Mays, maybe?”
The boy’s eyes widened. “My mama named me after him, sir.”
Cole smiled. “Well done on her part, then,” he said. Then he signed the napkin.
Willie took it and read it. Then his wide eyes moved back to Cole. “Thank you, Mr. Parker.”
“You’re welcome, Willie. Don’t ever stop trying, hear?”
Nodding and smiling wide, Willie held his napkin like a rare piece of finery and hurried away. Cole watched him go, then looked at Rebecca. She gave him a sultry smile as she ran a finger along the rim of her martini glass. His gaze watched her finger for a moment. Then he looked her over from head to toe, really seeing her for the first time.
Hair colored in a salon. Skin probably tanned in the same salon that did her hair and nails. Eyes that he knew from personal exposure were colored gray by tinted lenses and that he suspected were enhanced by fake lashes. Artificially white teeth. Surgically enhanced breasts.
Once, it had been appealing. Now, for reasons he couldn’t quite identify, it wasn’t.
“Rebecca, what is it you hoped I’d say when you called things off in April?”
Her smile faded. “What do you mean?”
“You said you hoped I would beg you to take me back. What is it you hoped I’d say?”
Her brow furrowed. “I don’t understand what you mean.”
“I think you do. I just don’t think you expected me to ask.” He took another swallow of his drink, then said, “Here’s the thing. I have an older sister. I know something about how females think. If you went through the process of trying to provoke me into begging you to come back, you’d have this whole scenario in your head about what I’d say, what you’d say in return, and how it’d all turn out. Nine times out of ten, it would read like some kind of Lifetime movie with me pronouncing my undying love and you reluctantly letting me back into your life. Then we’d float away into the pink sunset or some such crap. So what were you hoping I’d say?”
He watched her as he spoke. Her expression went from surprised to thoughtful to something more than thoughtful that he couldn’t interpret.
“I’m no ignorant young girl, Cole,” she said. “If you’re thinking I was trying to manipulate you into saying you loved me, I know better than that. Our relationship isn’t to that point yet.”
Despite the drinks he’d ingested, he was suddenly thinking quite clearly. “You’re right, Rebecca. And we both know it never will be. So why should we pretend any different now?”
Her eyes widened. He watched as they filled with tears as if on cue.
“How can you say that?” she asked. “We haven’t even had a chance to explore that level of our relationship.”
“We don’t have a relationship, Rebecca,” he said. “I think you know that as much as I do.”
She couldn’t seem to decide how to react to that. Her expressions ranged from anger to fear to sadness. Eventually, she settled on confusion.
“I don’t know what you mean. Are you saying you don’t love me?” A tear rolled down her cheek.
Seeing the tear, he downed more of his drink. “What I’m saying is that it’s a waste of time for us to try and force something that will never be,” he said. “I like you, Rebecca. You’re a beautiful woman. But—”
“Oh, give it a rest,” she snapped, lifting her drink. Her tears dried in an instant. “This is all on account of that little waitress of yours, isn’t it?”
He froze. “What?”
“Everly Wallace, right?” she continued, finishing her drink.
His blood chilled. How did she know about Everly? Did she know about his injury, too?
“She has nothing to do with this,” he managed to say.
She snorted. “You’re a man. You don’t think with your brain. Today wasn’t the first time I’ve been to your house. I know she’s there almost every day. It’s easy enough for my connections to run a license plate. Tell me, are you planning on turning up at some of your big upcoming PR events with a struggling waitress on your arm?”
She didn’t know that Everly was a PT student. Relief flooded through him.
Then he thought about it more clearly.
“You’ve been monitoring my house?” he asked. “Checking up on my schedule?”
She shrugged. “I saw Wayne the other day. He told me you have some engagements with heavy hitters coming up. In fact, he asked if I’d be going with you. I gained the impression that he hoped I was. He didn’t sound pleased when I mentioned your involvement with the waitress. As for why I went by your place, I had to know why you’ve been avoiding me.” When he just looked at her in disbelief, she quirked an eyebrow. “You think I’m crazy, but I’m not the one who’s been admitted to a mental hospital.”
What was she talking about?
“Your new Flavor of the Month hasn’t told you?” Rebecca asked, reaching for her coat. “Well, I wouldn’t expect anyone who’s been institutionalized to tell just anyone about it. I’m sure someone as destitute as she is would be especially unlikely to talk about it.”
She got to her feet, her coat and purse in hand. Cole struggled to come up with something to say, but his brain wasn’t coming to the rescue. He realized Rebecca had used her resources at the courthouse to research Everly and she’d discovered more through that search than Cole had learned in two weeks of almost daily interaction with her.
“She’s just using you for your money, Cole,” Rebecca said, leaning closer to him so he had a clear view down the top of her dress. She gave him a gloating smile. “I’m also willing to bet she hasn’t talked to you about Aiden.
”
Cole met her gaze. All he saw was triumph.
“So much for honesty,” she said. “Thanks for the drink.”
Then she walked out of the restaurant without a backwards glance.
Chapter 14
Everly was glad to be busy after her work with Cole that afternoon. She hadn’t been able to think clearly once she walked into the pool bathroom for her shower and spotted the shampoo, conditioner, and variety of body washes lined up on the counter by the sink. Cole hadn’t ever asked her what brands and scents she preferred, so it had shocked her to see those that she used all the time sitting there for her.
How had he known what she liked? Had he been paying that much attention to her? If so, why? She was only an employee working with him thanks to Wyatt.
Right?
Although she had no plans of asking him that question, she decided she had to thank him for his kindness. She then received her second surprise of the night. Cole speaking with another woman over the security camera. Despite knowing that it shouldn’t, it bothered her to hear him making plans with that woman.
Stupid, she told herself. She was just plain stupid.
She was grateful that he’d left the gym before she headed out to work. It had mortified her to get caught standing there like an eavesdropper. Terrible timing on her part. His business was his business, and that was that.
Despite her best efforts, thoughts of him intruded throughout her shift. Every time a happy couple was seated in her section, it brought him to mind. Was he enjoying his time with that other woman? Who was she? Was their relationship serious?
Why did she care so much?
Then, when she was about an hour from close, he was suddenly there. She almost plowed right into him behind the server’s station when she reached for a tray.
“Cole.” She couldn’t help but smile. Had he come just to see her? Her heart did the flutter thing again. “What are you doing here?”
He took her elbow and pulled her over to the only quiet corner in the restaurant, down the small bathroom hallway. He still wore his leather coat, she realized. She resisted leaning forward to sniff it.
“Cole, I’m in the middle of my shift. I can’t just—”
“Your customers can damn well wait a couple of minutes,” he said as they stopped.
She frowned over the slight slur she detected in his speech. “You’ve been drinking.”
“Yeah, well, I’m not driving.”
He just stood there staring at her. His light brown eyes had predominantly green flecks, she noticed. There was a dangerous gleam in them, too. She felt pinned in the corner and suddenly wanted to escape.
“Cole, I’m not comfortable with this.”
“With what?”
“With whatever it is you’re doing right now.” She waved a hand to indicate the less than twelve inches separating them.
“What I’m trying to do is find out why you think I should trust you not to tell anyone about our arrangement when you haven’t been honest with me about your past.”
Her stomach clenched. “My past?”
“Yeah.” His body inched even closer. “How am I supposed to trust someone who was institutionalized?”
Now, she leaned against the wall for support. She couldn’t believe he was standing here discussing this with her right now. Her eyes shifted down the hallway. Anne caught her gaze from behind the server’s stand. She waved with her hands to indicate she’d do a fly-by of Everly’s tables. Everly could only nod.
“Won’t even face me, huh?” Cole said. “I should have known. You act like we’re friends, but you never talk about yourself. You must have figured it wouldn’t exactly earn my trust to know you’re not mentally stable. Tell me, do any of your other friends know?”
She tried to control her breathing. When she met his gaze, she flinched over the judgment she saw there.
“Oh, wait. Do you even have any friends other than my brother?” he continued in a mocking tone. The scent of whiskey blended with the leather of his jacket. “You never talk about any friends when we’re together…when you’re acting like my friend and making me think of approaching you as more than a friend. You never tell me anything about you. You didn’t even mention Aiden.”
Her head snapped back as though he had struck her.
“You have no right,” she said, her voice ragged as it worked to get past the blazing pain in her chest. “No right to come here and talk to me like this.”
“I have every right to be here, Everly. It’s a public place.” He leaned even closer. “And if you didn’t have anything to hide, you’d talk about it when a friend gives you the chance. What’s the problem? Is Aiden the reason you don’t have any friends? Does he smother you?”
She couldn’t catch her breath. She had to get away.
Had to escape.
Her eyes darted to the side door just a few feet away. It was all she could do not to shove away from Cole and out that door. But even as that instinct railed at her, she thought of her grandpa. If she walked out of this job, they’d have nothing.
“You’ve overstepped yourself,” she said. Her voice somehow sounded calm, though she wanted to scream at him. Her heart squeezed like an ache. “I understand that you no longer wish to work with me, and that’s perfectly fine. I quit.”
She pushed away from the wall and moved to walk past him. He reached out and grabbed her arm.
“Everly—”
Grasping his hand, she twisted it until he staggered to his knees with a yelp of pain.
“You’re right, Cole,” she said in the same level voice. “I don’t have any friends. But I have friendly neighbors, one of whom is a policewoman who teaches self-defense.”
She let him go. “Don’t ever come near me again.”
Then she grabbed the tray she had come for and went back to work.
* * *
The painful wounds that Cole ripped open hadn’t eased by the time Everly collected the payment from her last customers of the night. She’d seen him leave shortly after their confrontation, his gait unsteady. She hoped he hadn’t been lying about not driving.
Once she no longer had to focus on managing her tables, she had no choice but to dwell on their conversation. The memories that she kept so carefully buried now sat at the front of her mind, haunting her. She swept the wood floor beside the bar as other servers handled other side work nearby, but she was barely aware of what she was doing.
How had Cole found out about Aiden? About her hospitalization? Why had he been so cruel in confronting her?
“Well, it wasn’t a stellar Saturday night in the tip department, but I’ve had worse,” Anne said, interrupting her thoughts. “I should be able to spend the next ten days before Christmas making use of all this hard-earned cash.”
“Yeah,” Everly agreed.
“Hey, is everything all right?”
Catching Anne’s gaze, Everly forced a smile. “Sure. Just got a lot on my mind.”
“I hear you.” Anne finished emptying small bowls of bar snacks and collected the bowls in a stack to bring to the back for washing. “Was that Cole Parker I saw you with earlier?”
Everly nodded. She looked at the door leading out to the parking lot, wishing she was done with her tasks so she could get out of there.
“What’s going on there?” Anne asked in a low voice with a conspiratorial smile.
“Nothing. You know I work with his brother, Wyatt, right? So we sometimes talk if he happens to be in the restaurant.”
“Oh.” She made a face, then chuckled. “Well, that isn’t terribly exciting.”
“Not at all.” Everly gave her another smile to keep things more comfortable. Inside, she longed to escape.
Fortunately, it seemed that Anne was satisfied with that explanation. Everly finished her side work and gathered her things, bundling up in preparation for the wicked cold. Since it was late and the restaurant was located downtown, she waited until a few of the other servers were headi
ng out and then walked out to her car with them.
She waved at them as she got behind the wheel of Champ. She turned the ignition and flipped the switch to get the heat started.
Then she burst into tears.
All of the emotion she’d been containing over the past couple of hours flooded out. She dug in her purse for her travel pack of tissues, but didn’t bother wiping her face until she was completely done. Then she took the time to clean her face enough that her grandpa probably wouldn’t notice that she’d been crying if he was still awake when she got home.
Finally, she shifted into reverse and backed up. There was a strange noise as she did so…a loud flapping sound. When she tried to turn the steering wheel, it fought her. Something wasn’t right.
Lovely. A perfect topper to this craptacular night.
She put Champ back into park and then got out. Although the parking lot was well lit, her nerves rattled over being the only person in it. The only other cars were closer to the restaurant. Looking around to make sure there wasn’t someone waiting in the shadows, she decided she was alone. Still, she felt like someone watched her as she looked down and saw that her rear tire was flat.
Yippee, she thought.
Shaking her head over her miserable luck, she reached into the car and turned it off, grabbing the keys so she could unlock the trunk and get the spare. When she closed the door, she chanced to glance down at her front tire.
“What the hell?”
She walked around Champ, fear and anger rising with each passing moment. Once she had gotten all the way around the car, she looked around the parking lot again, holding her coat together at the throat.
All four of her tires had been slashed.
Chapter 15
Cole went to his favorite downtown nightclub after leaving Prix Fixe. He’d been avoiding going out since his accident, but what the hell. He wasn’t driving.
He wasn’t interested in being alone, either. Fortunately, some of his teammates were there. Marshall wasn’t one of them. In his alcohol-influenced mindset, Cole decided this was a good thing. He was likely to punch his friend.