by Amy Starling
“You didn't mind?”
“Hell no. I love that she's always around to read to them, help them with school, you know.” He was starting to get misty-eyed. “You'll see. It's amazing.”
It all sounded pretty terrifying to me. I never thought I wanted kids. Then again, never thought I'd be getting hitched, either.
“Man, this ain't the place to be talking about that crap.” Max flagged down the bartender and shoved another drink in front of Carter. “It's my birthday, and I order you to have fun.”
I nursed my beer, even though part of me wanted to get hammered, too. Knew I couldn't, though. If I wasn't up bright and early to help Elle with those repairs, she'd kill me – and I had a shift at the station after that. Boss wouldn't much like me showing up hungover again.
But then Brett ordered shots for the lot of us.
“To Max.” He raised his glass in a toast. “To another awesome year for him. For all of us.”
I gazed at the caramel liquid in the glass. Ah, tequila. I could normally slam back ten of these in a row and barely feel it. I supposed just one wouldn't hurt.
I downed the alcohol with everyone else. Max laughed and clapped me on the back while my throat burned in that way I'd grown to love.
“There's my boy! I knew you weren't totally gone.”
Brett had reserved us a private room. We had six gorgeous, half-naked girls dancing around us in no time.
I couldn't help but stare. Couldn't stop myself from hardening. What man could?
But still, they weren't as pretty as Elle. They didn't have her adorable face or those luscious, curvy hips – the hips I longed to put my hands on while I pounded her from behind.
Mmm, that did it. Next time I got her undressed, we were getting it on doggy style for sure.
If there ever was a next time.
“Here you go, sugar.” The girl with dark skin, Cocoa, handed me another shot. “Drink up.”
“Oh, no, I really shouldn't.”
She pushed it back. “It's on the house. Comes with the room.”
Well, I did hate wasting good liquor. Down the hatch, I guess.
Max already had a girl hanging off of him with her chest in his face. He grinned and fanned a stack of dollar bills in front of her.
“This here's for whichever one of you who impresses me the most. C'mon, let's see what you got.”
The redhead, Candy, busied herself grinding all over Brett's lap. I wished I didn't look.
I wouldn't have been so horny if Elle just let me have her. Why wouldn't she let me? Not getting laid in over three weeks was becoming literally painful.
Miku, a cute Japanese girl, approached Carter with a giggle.
“No thanks,” he warned her, holding up his hand with the ring on it. “I'm a married man.”
Would I have that kind of resolve when I got hitched? I hoped so. Last thing I wanted to do was disappoint Elle.
Yeah, our marriage would be a fake one, but no way could I stand the thought of hurting her.
What was I gonna do, then? Sleep with no woman but her for months, or maybe longer? The idea used to terrify me.
Now, it sounded kind of nice.
It didn't take long for two more women to arrive, each holding another shot for me. I knew them only as Honey and Sugar – which was kind of a problem, given I'd slept with both of them a couple months ago.
Had I really done that? Did I actually screw these girls and I didn't even know their real names?
“There's our favorite customer.” Sugar cooed and put the glass to my lips. “We had so much fun last time.”
I reluctantly took the shot – but with all the alcohol building up in my veins, that reluctance was beginning to fade a little.
Honey fed me another drink as she climbed into my lap. Even as my body responded, my mind screamed in protest.
No, damn it. What are you doing? Don't do this. It's wrong.
“We've missed you.” She groped me through my jeans. “And we've missed this, too.”
Oh, God. Why? Why couldn't I push her off me? Why was I such an asshole?
The other side of my brain argued back.
What's the matter with you? You don't owe Elle anything. You're not really getting married. You're not even dating her. She knows how you are. Doesn't expect you to be monogamous. It's not like this is really cheating.
Besides, how could I cheat when we weren't even a couple?
Except I'd told her to her face that the only woman I wanted was her. And I meant it.
No matter how I spun this, I couldn't make excuses for my behavior anymore.
The girls had their hands all over me. It felt good, but it was meaningless.
“C'mon, handsome. We've got a special birthday surprise for you.” Max's girl already had his pants half unzipped as she led him to the back room.
If I let this continue, I'd be getting laid too. And dear Lord, I needed it.
But I'd much rather go home to Elle.
Don't worry about her. It's not like she'll give you what you really need. She'll probably let you beg like a dog, then turn you down anyway.
“What's wrong, Jayce?” Honey's fingers trailed down my chest and opened my shirt. “Oh, a new tattoo! This one wasn't here last time.”
Sugar peeked, too. “It's very pretty. Who's Elle?”
Carter cleared his throat. I caught him looking at me for just a second, but it was clear he disapproved.
Max called to me on his way out the door. “Live a little, man. This could be one of your last chances.”
Honey put her arms around my neck. “Well? Who is she?”
I took a deep breath. Thought for a moment.
Then I told them exactly who she was. How special she was, how much I cared for her.
Think I needed to hear those words more than they did. And you know what?
I meant every bit of it.
Chapter 15 - Elle
Heather filled my glass up with vodka and not enough Sprite. I chugged it anyway. Burned like hell, but better that than dealing with reality sober.
I coughed and sputtered, but kept it all down. Heather sighed and brushed the hair away from my eyes.
“It's gonna be okay, Elle.”
I rolled over on the bed to look at her. “My mother is going to marry David. You know what he's like. That would make him my stepdad.”
She forced a smile. “At least you didn't have to grow up in the same house with him. You can just ignore him.”
“Right. If I do that, mom will lose it. She'll say I'm tearing the family apart. Then she'll threaten to disown me.”
“She wouldn't. Aunt Angie always has been a bit melodramatic.”
Heather's bed was covered in a mound of stuffed animals. I flopped on top of them and buried my head under the giant rabbit.
“I just feel so betrayed. She knows David's after Shady Acres. That he's a greedy, selfish piece of crap who'd do anything to make a buck. That he'd go so far as to ruin her own daughter's business. But she's dating him anyway.”
Some annoying talk show on the TV was starting to give me a headache. I slapped at the remote and managed to mute it.
“You really care about this place.”
“It's not so much this place as what it represents.” I lifted the bunny off my face. “I always wanted to have my own business. When your mom asked me what I'd do when I grew up, I told her I would be a CEO one day.”
“Running a ghetto apartment building is a far cry from being company CEO.”
“Thanks a lot.” I launched a teddy bear at her head.
“Sorry! I just mean... You're really smart, Elle. Even if this place goes down, you can start another business. Build it up. Make it your own.”
“With what money? Debbie gave me a golden opportunity here. The place was already up and running. All I had to do was keep it going.”
And if all the pieces didn't fall exactly into place, I was going to fail.
“Is it really worth all t
he stress? Isn't there anything else you'd be happy doing?”
Maybe, but I didn't even know where to begin.
“I love houses. Old buildings, like this one. I like looking at a place and seeing all of its potential.”
Could also be why I had such a thing for Jayce.
Yes, he was a bit rough around the edges. But underneath his rough, tattooed exterior, he also had the potential to be a good man.
A good husband, though? I still had my doubts about that.
Heather was quiet for a long while. Then she took my hand. “Let's face the facts, Elle. Hidden Cove is stealing away our tenants, more of them everyday. New people who move to town go straight there instead of even considering us. Why would they, when the other guys are cheaper?”
And all I could do about that was lower rent – after I'd just raised it. Had I made a major mistake?
“They've got amenities we can't even dream of affording.”
I grunted. “Yeah, and I know what's up. David owns the place. He's offering all that for so little to steal our tenants on purpose!”
“So he can get the property for himself.” Her shoulders slumped. “He'll end up winning even if Jayce does get married. Which won't happen in this lifetime, I promise you.”
I'd thought about telling her, actually. Letting her in on our plan. But what was the point now?
“I hate that guy,” she continued. “How could he fall in love with your mom as soon as my mother died? How could they be getting hitched? I feel like it's totally disrespectful.”
A sickening thought came to me, but I didn't want to say it. Didn't have to. Heather thought of it first.
“Oh, no.” Her eyes widened. “You don't think maybe... They were seeing each other before my mom passed?”
“You mean, was he cheating on Debbie? I wouldn't know. I haven't lived anywhere near my mom in years.”
Poor Heather paced the room. She eyed the vodka bottle but, unlike me, didn't give in to temptation.
“We moved into David's house a few months after they began dating. A big place, but I never noticed anyone there that wasn't supposed to be.”
“He travels a lot for work, though. Could have been doing anything when he left home.”
Heather tried not to cry. I swore if mom had been screwing around with David behind her sister's back, she and I were through. David was a dick, but Debbie had loved him. I couldn't look mom in the eye knowing she'd done something so callous to her own flesh and blood.
“It's not like either of them would admit the truth.” I tried to soothe her. “I guess all we can do is deal with the mess we're in right now.”
The phone rang – the emergency ringer.
“I'm getting really sick of hearing that noise.” I reached for the thing to shut it up. “Hey, Frank. What is it?”
Frank, our latest maintenance guy, didn't waste time. “It's the elevator, Miss Gardener. It's, well... Stuck.”
“Stuck?”
“Yes, ma'am. Caught between floors four and five. There's a couple people on it.”
Heather must have seen my panicked eyes. She waved and silently mouthed “What is it?”
“So can you get it open?”
“You got any emergency access to it? Maybe through the stairwells or a wall panel, something like that?”
I told him to hold on and asked Heather.
“Emergency access? I highly doubt it. This building was built in the 1960s. We're lucky the stupid elevator even runs.”
“Well, it's not running anymore.”
“What?”
I considered pouring myself a shot straight from the Smirnoff bottle as Frank went on.
“Sorry, miss, but this is kinda out of the realm of my abilities. A busted pipe or window I can fix, but I ain't got any experience with elevators.”
Crap. Okay. All right. Do not overreact.
“It's not going to fall, is it?” My squeaking voice did nothing to calm Heather down.
“Fall! Damn it, Elle, what is going on?”
“I seriously doubt it. Wouldn't have far to go even if it did. Still, if we're gonna get those people out, we need to call the fire department.”
“The fire... Oh, Jayce!” I whipped around to Heather. “Where is he? I've been trying to get hold of him all day.”
“He was at work earlier. Haven't spoken to him since this morning.”
Of course. The one time we seriously needed his help, he was out slacking off again. But where, exactly?
I got off the line with Frank and dialed his number. Went right over to voicemail. He didn't have a home phone, either, and a quick glance at the parking lot told me his truck was gone.
“Where are you, Jayce?”
“Oh, man. I knew that thing was going to fall apart someday.” Heather sprinted out the door. “There's a phone in the office that connects to the one in the elevator. I'm gonna see if I can talk to the people that way. Make sure they're okay.”
Jayce had given me a personal number to call the station if I ever needed it. I dialed, and a guy named Oliver picked up. There was raucous laughter in the background.
“Yo. Who's this?”
“Is Jayce there? I'm at Shady Acres and I have a problem.”
“Uh... No. He's not.” Oliver coughed loudly into the speaker. “What's going on?”
“There's people stuck in our elevator.”
He sighed, clearly bothered by having to actually do something. Wherever firefighters got their badass reputation, I had no earthly idea.
“I'll send a couple of guys down in a minute. Is there anybody in immediate danger?”
“No, I don't think so.” Not knowing where that slacker was really gnawed at me. “I've got a question. Do you have any idea where Jayce is? I can't find him anywhere.”
Oliver yawned. “There was a party for Max tonight at Twinkles. That's all I know. Probably there. Lucky bastard.”
Then he hung up on me. Twinkles? A party?
I found Heather and Frank in the office. She held the phone to her head and paced in circles.
“Don't be scared, Mrs. Plum. Someone will be there to get you out very soon. Promise.”
Mrs. Plum yowled like a banshee at her. I couldn't understand a word of it.
Frank ran a hand through his thinning gray hair and whistled. “You kids always have this much excitement here? I think I'm getting too old for heroic stunts.”
“The department's sending some guys to help,” I announced. “And I think I know where Jayce is. Either of you guys ever heard of Twinkles?”
Heather shrugged. Frank's face reddened.
“Frank? What's wrong?”
He chuckled weakly. “It's, ah... You really don't know?”
I did not like the sound of this.
“No, I don't.”
“It's... How do I say this?” He looked away. “It's what you might call a gentleman's entertainment venue.”
My stomach churned. “A strip club?”
“Well, that's one way of putting it.”
I nearly exploded with rage. All the vodka in my blood made the fury burn even hotter.
Jayce was partying at a strip club while I busted my ass for this place!
I normally wasn't the confrontational sort. I tended to let things go easily and never held a grudge.
Now, I wasn't sure who to be angrier at – Jayce, or myself for being stupid enough to believe his lies.
Hot tears streamed down my face as I fled from the office. Heather ran after me, begging me to come back.
“Elle, please! Why are you so mad? Jayce does crap like this all the time. You know that's just how he is.”
Maybe he used to be like that. But lately, he made me think he'd changed. Made it sound like he was mature enough to knock this crap off.
Told me there was only one woman he wanted. Me.
Until something better sashayed along in front of his face, just like I told him would happen.
“Elle!”
H
eather grabbed my shirt, forcing me to stop. She really had no idea, did she? Probably thought I was effing crazy for acting like this.
“Why are you crying? There's no need to be so upset.”
I knew what I had to do.
Jayce said he wanted to marry me. Was he serious? Who would believe such a sham, when he was acting like the man-whore he'd always been?
And if I let that go on, I'd look like a complete fool. Like the poor wife who couldn't keep her man under control.
Jayce didn't want to be controlled, but the moment he signed that paperwork, he didn't really have much choice. He couldn't be pulling stunts like this anymore.
I fumbled for the keys in my pocket as I checked my phone for the club's address. Old Farm Road, huh? That was on the outskirts of town. A good spot to put a disgusting place like that.
“Whoa, girl. Where do you think you're going?”
I slipped and almost fell as she pulled me back. There was some brown, sticky liquid spilled on the tiled floor just in front of the entrance.
No wet floor sign. Someone could slip, fall, and sue us into oblivion.
Right about now, I didn't care.
“I'm going to Twinkles.”
“You're not going anywhere. You're drunk.” She furrowed her brow. “And please tell me why, for God's sake, you're chasing after Jayce? He's a big boy. He'll probably be home around two or three.”
Two or three? Why was he acting like a college frat boy at 28 years old? Anger boiled up in me even more.
“Not this time. I'm going to get him.”
She stood in front of me. “It's almost midnight.”
“Don't care.”
She sighed heavily. “Look. If you're absolutely serious about this, let me drive you.”
I rubbed my eyes. They burned with the need for sleep.
“It's not your problem, Heather. You stay here and wait for the fire department to show up.”
“What's not my problem? You're making no sense.” She put her arm around me and walked me to her car. “Come on. We're family. I'm not just gonna let you drive drunk and kill yourself in an accident.”
“Yeah, because then there would be nobody left to run this place. Lord knows he'll never do it.”