by Various
“Abuela, you wound me. Do you have any idea the kind of energy it takes to create and sustain a reputation worthy of the Evans name? Frankly, it’s about time Dad jumped in here and helped me out.”
Hale rubbed his head in waning enthusiasm. “Yes, well, it’s entirely likely I’ll be soaking up the limelight when the news breaks. I’m mostly concerned about Genevra’s in-laws. All those DuVals. They don’t know me. It could go either way with them. And even so, our little Spyder driver has kept to herself for a very long time. It’s bound to be news.”
Emelina snorted inelegantly, causing both masculine heads to turn in her direction. “Get your heads out of your asses, will you? Henderson is going to be mad for this. They all think you are gay!” she shouted at her beloved son. Then she flung her hand toward Vance. “And they think you are trying to make up for it with all your tomcatting around.”
“Gay?” Hale and Vance shouted.
“What the hell are you talking about?” Hale followed up.
“Well, of course,” Emelina said, clearly exasperated. “When your wife up and leaves you and you spend the next twenty years rebuffing the advances of every woman in town, single or married, well…what do you expect?”
“Gay?” Hale said again, rubbing his hands through his hair. “Shit!”
Vance was laughing so hard he could hardly make a sound. His eyes were tearing, his face was squinched up in glee and he held his stomach because he could barely catch his breath. “Oh, this is classic!” he squeaked out through his mirth. “No wonder you can’t get a regular game at the Club.”
“Shit. Shit. Shit. Why didn’t you tell me?” Hale yelled at his mother. “I would have endeavored to dispel the rumors had I known.”
She shrugged with a how-was-I-to-know-you-weren’t-gay face.
“Are you insane?” he said in disbelief. Vance bent over in hysteria.
“Well, darling boy, it will all come out soon enough,” his mother assured him. “Hopefully Mrs. DuVal isn’t as discreet as she seems. A few innuendos to her best friends and the word will spread. You’ll be back to being heterosexual toot sweet.”
Hale groaned, sliding the palms of his hands up his forehead and over his hair. “Again! Shit!”
“What?” his mother implored. “What is with all this cursing?”
“I have yet to give Genevra a truly intriguing reason to throw innuendos around.”
“Well, why the hell not?” Emelina yelled, while tears of mirth slid down Vance’s face.
Through unrelenting and almost painful laughter, Vance squeezed out, “Oh, this just keeps getting better.”
“We’ve been taking it slow,” he yelled. “We aren’t adolescents like the boy here, for God’s sake. I’ve been…romancing her,” he admitted more quietly.
His mother granted him a genuine smile. And Vance did his best to choke back his riotous laughter. “I’m sorry, Dad. It all just struck me as ridiculous,” he said, wiping his eyes and simmering his amusement.
His dad broke into a short smile and then smirked. “All of Henderson thinks I’m gay. Well, that explains a lot, I suppose.” He rubbed his forehead. “But what do I care, really? As long as Mrs. DuVal is willing to stick around long enough for me to prove otherwise.”
***
Brooks entered his home that evening with a returned sense of optimism. The night had gone better than anticipated. Thanks to Harry’s magic, he felt like he’d been on a second date with Lolly rather than a co-ed group assignment led by Vance.
Lolly.
His mind went a little fuzzy at the memory of her tongue against his. He stood inside his refurbished ranch home allowing the feeling to drift over him again as he relived the kiss. All the little ones that led to the long one. And the long one that led to her itty-bitty moan in his mouth. That led to his hands finding their way to her ass, which led to her running her fingers through his hair and saying his name, which led to him pressing her against his erection….
God, she was hot. Hotter than he anticipated and man, didn’t that jack this shit up another hundred notches.
He opened his eyes––unaware that he’d closed them––and looked around his home, seeing it through Lolly’s eyes.
Fucking A.
He pulled out his cell and phoned his sister as he walked down the hall to his bedroom, unbuttoning his shirt as her phone rang.
“You haven’t apologized to Lewis yet.”
Motherfucker. He didn’t have time for this shit, he really didn’t. He took a deep breath. “Is Lewis there?”
“Yes.”
“Put him on.”
“Hey,” came Lewis’ voice.
“Sorry! Now put Darcy back on the phone.”
“Right. Okay then,” Lewis said, his anxiety clearly relieved. Brooks smiled.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Darcy scolded.
Brooks interrupted. He had to. Because if he didn’t, he’d just hang up on her, and if he hung up on her this wouldn’t get done. “Darcy, you were right.”
Dead silence.
Brooks looked at the phone and then smiled. “Man, if I knew it would get that kind of reaction I would have said it a long time ago.”
“What am I right about?”
“My house. It looks like a man-cave. Which has been fine and what I wanted…up until now. Now, I need that—” Fucking A “woman’s touch you were—” blathering, “educating me about. Can you do it?”
There were three heartbeats of silence. Three heartbeats where this deal teetered on the brink of life. Because if his sister said one wrong word, this conversation was over. Gratefully she offered the only words Brooks could stand to hear.
“Give me your credit card information. I’ll take care of everything.”
“Thank you,” he said on an exhale, pulling out his wallet. He read her the credit card number and expiration date and agreed to new bedding for the master and guest bedrooms, along with art, throw pillows, and accessories for the great room. His sister seemed to know when to quit, so when he thanked her again, he really meant it. “And you’ll make it look…like me, right? Not New York.”
“It will be you, only better,” she assured him.
Me, only better. Well, he figured, that was the least he could offer Lolly DuVal. Which reminded him.…
“Darcy, why are you and Lolly so dead set on seeing Henderson in your rearview mirror?”
“Hmm, let me try to put this into words you’ll understand. Henderson is not New York or Boston or D.C. It’s not even Richmond.”
“Great places to visit if you like that kind of thing. But to live life day-to-day? How can you not see that this town is a Field of Dreams? Once Vance and I put our economic plan into effect, it’s going to be the place to live, work, and raise a family in the mid-Atlantic. Mark my words. And frankly, I’m starting to take it personally that you won’t move your business here and show a little support.”
“I don’t own my own business, Brooks.”
“Well you could, that’s for damn sure. Your video game is still a top seller. Quit working for somebody else and start your own damn company. And bring that ungrateful fiancé of yours with you when you do. His company alone could employ half the town.”
“Listen, if you want Lolly to come back to Henderson, you need to convince her to do it.”
“I’m in no position to convince Lolly to do anything.”
“But that’s what this conversation is about, isn’t it?”
“Yes and no.”
“How much yes and how much no?”
Brooks rubbed his chin. “It’s all part and parcel of what I want for this town and my life, and there’s no denying Lolly’s wrapped up in that good.”
“Well…you have good taste. And it’s only going to get better now that I have your credit card,” she assured him before hanging up.
Getting into bed that night, Brooks found a dog-eared, rag-tag paperback novel on his pillow. There was a Post-it note covering the title with
Vance’s tell-tale scrawl. ‘As promised, my secrets of success. (And I am dead serious.)’
Brooks ripped off the Post-it and read the cover.
His Wicked Ways by Samantha James.
Fucking A.
Chapter Ten
Monday morning, Brooks sat at his desk looking over three Youth Protective Ordinance violations involving the same fifteen-year-olds caught hanging out past curfew last month. He’d offered to meet with the boys and their parents this time and chuckled, thinking he should take Vance with him. A bit of their good cop, bad cop reputations might serve them well during this visit. His cell vibrated in his pocket.
It was a text from Lolly. ‘Ran with Vance. Kept his hands to himself.’
He texted back. ‘Glad to hear it.’
‘Does he own Tenderfoot? Acted like it. Bossy.’
Brooks laughed, texting back, There is a high probability. Then he texted a new message. ‘Enjoyed last night.’
And as he sent that off, Lolly’s came in. ‘Still reeling from the kiss last night.’
Brooks about split his face smiling. Damn woman doesn’t beat around the bush much. He texted back. ‘My point exactly.’ But he didn’t think she’d appreciate knowing he’d woken up early this morning thinking about that kiss and had to take himself in hand to be able to make it through the day without a perpetual hard-on. His idea of taking it slow where Lolly was concerned was not going to be easy. Especially with the whole nice, safe, boring thing hanging over his head like a guillotine. Where the hell was he supposed to draw the line between being a gentleman, respecting Lolly, and not being classified as nice, safe, or boring?
And a paperback titled His Wicked Ways probably wasn’t going to help him figure that out. Fucking A.
Vance arrived in his running attire, sweating and breathing hard. Bent at the waist, he took a few deep breaths and offered, “I didn’t touch her.”
Hmm. “Did you want to touch her?”
Vance stood erect, squinting as sweat fell into his eyes. He swiped a hand across his brow and then used the bottom of his shirt to wipe his face. “Who wouldn’t want to touch her?”
Brooks smiled at that. What could he say?
“She’s built for running. Long, long legs. Lean. Tiny ass. Firm," he said, before sucking in another deep breath, grabbing his foot from behind and pulling it up to stretch his thigh, “Not a lot of cleavage going on that she has to worry with. I tell you her body—”
“Enough!”
“Oh. Sorry. Yeah. I was just, um, admiring the running form. Seriously. I…you know.”
“Whatever. Shut the hell up.”
“Done.” Vance hopped on Brooks’ desk like he always did.
“Do you own Tenderfoot?”
“If by own, you mean do I have controlling interest in the place, then yes.”
“Isn’t that the type of thing your dad does?”
“Sort of. Yes. I figured with as much money as I spend on running shoes and apparel, I might as well be buying from myself. Plus, I make sure they stock what I like.”
“Right. So, what the hell is this?” Brooks slapped the dog-eared paperback he’d found on his bed onto his desk.
Vance covered it with his hand and looked around quickly. “Christ, I told you this was top secret. What the hell did you bring it here for? I do not want this getting around.” He grabbed a file folder, dumped out its contents, and stuffed the book inside. “I’ve got a mind to take it home and keep it under lock and key.”
“Please tell me how a stolen library book with a ridiculous title could possibly be your secret weapon.”
“Just so you know, I felt very guilty about stealing that book. But…I took care of it.”
Brooks cracked a grin. “What do you mean, you took care of it?”
“When I became an officer here, I replaced the copy anonymously and left a hundred dollar bill as a bookmark. You know me. I love the library. Plus, let’s face it. That book has garnered me a lot of lovin’.”
“See, that’s what I don’t get. How is that possible?”
Vance leaned closer and talked in a low tone. “Back when we were freshmen, maybe right after we met, I was hot, hot, hot for one Marla May Higgins.” Brooks squinched up his nose. “I know, she wasn’t the cream of the crop, but she sat next to me in algebra and back then proximity was all it took. So one afternoon––at your house as a matter of fact––I overheard women talking in the kitchen. You had run upstairs to grab your mitt and I was waiting there. I don’t know if it was your mom or not, because I didn’t know her well enough then. Anyway, one of them said that if a man really wanted to know what a woman wants, he should read His Wicked Ways. Since I had no idea how to even talk to Marla May, I figured I could use information like that. So I repeated the title over and over in my head until I couldn’t forget it. It took me two weeks to find the damn book in the library and then there was no way in hell I was gonna check out a book with a cover and title like that. So I stole it.”
“Right. So you’re telling me that you read this book, and from this work of fiction, you’ve managed to seduce countless women over the past fifteen years?”
“Correct. Got to second base with Marla May. Which I gotta tell you was so easy I decided to set my sights higher. Worked like a charm. Now, I’m not saying I was the ruiner of virgins. I’m just saying by the time I hit college, having read this book a half-dozen times and practiced on a variety of females, I could charm the pants off most anyone I wanted.”
Brooks stared in disbelief. “Because of this book?”
“Well, I’d like to think it’s because of my good looks and charm, but yeah, the book allowed me a glimpse into what women want. How they want to be treated. What their fantasies are. And it answered the age-old question: How the hell is it possible for a dork to end up with a hot babe?”
“I don’t believe this.”
“In truth, this book got the ball rolling. Once I figured out the basics, I started reading up on all kinds of…you know, skills.”
“Skills?”
“Bedroom skills, idiot.” Vance hit Brooks over the head with the file. “Which is all well and good and makes boring sex better, but…the key to getting to the bedroom in the first place is romance.” At that, Vance shut up abruptly and appeared lost in thought.
“And this book teaches romance?”
Vance blinked and then rolled his eyes. “This book shows the proverbial romantic hero in action. Back in the day. It’s your job to translate yourself into Lolly’s modern day romantic hero.”
Brooks wasn’t even sure what that meant, and his face must have shown it.
“Just read the damn book. This whole conversation never should have happened.” Vance shook his body like he was getting freaked out. “But I’ve got something else I want your opinion on and…well, let me just tell you everything. Then you give me your gut reaction. I don’t want to…you know, discuss it, okay? Just tell me what you think and we’ll move on.”
Brooks sat back in his chair, crossed his arms over his chest, and indicated Vance had the floor.
Vance ran a hand through his hair, looking around the room and making sure no one overheard him. Then he placed both hands on the desk and looked at Brooks in earnest. “That girl I told you and Lolly about last night. The one in fourth grade.”
Brooks nodded, his gut tightening as he thought about how Vance had suffered.
“Well, I’ve sort of found her. I used the resources available to me here to get her full name, her parents’ names, et cetera. And then I Googled her. Turns out she’s an attorney in Raleigh. Just an hour away. Apparently her dad got a job in the Research Triangle, and she’s been living just down the road all these years. I was wondering if I should call our lawyer pal, Duncan, and see if he has a contact at her law firm. See if he can, you know, find out if she’s married or whatever.”
“So you want to contact her if she’s not?”
“I’m thinking about it. I’ve been thinki
ng about it for a while now. She’s just…you know…someone I haven’t forgotten. I know we were just in fourth grade, so it’s squirrelly. But, whatever.” Embarrassed, Vance hopped off the desk and started to move away.
Brooks understood—in fact, all too well. He slid his chair closer to the desk, moving his hands nervously above the surface while he debated exposing more than he wanted to about his situation with Lolly. Finally he forced himself to call out, “Third Base!”
When Vance turned, Brooks looked him in the eye. “If someone had made that kind of difference in my life, I’d do whatever it took to find her. And then I wouldn’t let her go.”
When the silence stretched out between them, Brooks lifted a brow. “Besides. It’s romantic.” Then he reached across his desk and grabbed the file he’d copied the day before. “Read this at your leisure and then tell me what you think.”
“What is it?” Vance came forward and took the file in hand, opening it and scanning the contents.
“It’s a very old file on Jake DuVal.”
“Jake DuVal? Is that…?”
Brooks nodded. “Lolly’s dad.”
***
Genevra DuVal drove her sporty little yellow Spyder home from work with the top down. It was a top-down kind of day, and if she wasn’t worried about being overheard she’d be singing along with the radio as loud as she could. She absolutely loved having Hale Evans in her office. And that thought made her smile as she cruised to the curb and put her Spyder in park.
She laid her head back against the black leather and closed her eyes, smiling—relishing the feeling of having Hale in her life. The fact that their personal relationship was still a secret had her laughing out loud and popping her eyes open. The two of them working in the same environment and not raising eyebrows was becoming more and more challenging. Even though she adored keeping what was blossoming between them quiet, the sexual tension was currently hitting 7.5 on the Richter scale and heading higher. Pretending they were only business associates was getting trickier by the day.