by J. H. Croix
He nodded slowly. Understanding crossed his features. “I get it. You’ve got your hands full and your schedule backward.”
Inclining my head, I pressed my lips together and blinked yes. “I would’ve liked to take you up on dinner.”
“Did I say dinner?” His eyes were slightly unfocused before they slid up to mine. “I meant breakfast.”
I felt a crease appear between my brows. “What?”
“Your schedule’s backward, right? So instead of dinner, let me take you out to breakfast. That way, you won’t miss any time with Emery, and you’ll get the most important meal of the day without having to make it for yourself.”
Despite myself, I felt my lips curling upward and heat blooming through me. I planted my hand on my hip and cocked my head, narrowing my eyes on his. “You’re not going to give up, are you?”
He shook his head, a glint entering his gaze. “I wasn’t raised that way, so no.”
A hint of darkness crept into his eyes for a fraction of a second when he mentioned how he was raised. It was fleeting, gone before I could be sure it was there. He flashed me a disarming smile. “What do you say? Breakfast?”
My resolve was melting. I didn’t have time, but Evan had somehow found the one slot that I might be able to fit him into. I didn’t dwell on how crazy that was. Yet, with desire sliding through my veins and my curiosity to know him better cracking at me like a whip, my common sense didn’t stand a chance.
When he looked up at me, his eyes boring into mine with so much light and the promise of breaking out of my normal life for only an hour or so, I couldn’t talk myself out of it. One meal. It couldn’t hurt. Could it?
No. Just one meal would only make for a nice break, nothing more. An hour speaking to an adult who wasn’t Lori or one of my co-workers.
Finally, I smiled at him. “Fine. Breakfast after I get off work tomorrow.”
Evan grinned triumphantly and chatted with me for another couple of minutes before Mr. Ray started glaring again and I brought Evan his check. While he paid, I stopped by my other tables. My shift was officially over, and it was time for me to cash out.
After Evan said goodbye, I carried his billfold to the register. Opening it, I rang up his order, and when I saw the tip he left me, both my brows jumped up. It was way more than he should’ve given me, but I couldn’t hide the smile on my lips as he walked out the door with a last smile and wink tossed my way.
Chapter Thirteen
Evan
I bit back a sigh when I arrived at the shop to find Beau waiting for me. I loved my brother, but he had to be here to talk about our father again, and I wasn’t up for that. The more I thought about it, the less I understood the sudden pressure of concern for our father and for me to do something about it.
It didn’t make sense. Beau, Tyson, and I had been living like the man didn’t exist ever since he’d gone behind bars. With no choice but to deal with my brother, I parked and climbed out of my truck.
He was standing outside the garage, leaning against his truck with a pair of dark sunglasses over his eyes. I lived in jeans and T-shirts. Beau, however, again looked like he’d stepped out of some magazine with his fitted white button up and slick leather shoes.
“Can I clear out one of my offices for you?” I asked when I got close to him. “You’re here so often nowadays, I feel like I should give you your own space.”
Waving a flippant hand, he pushed his hair back and pulled off his sunglasses. “I like my office fine, but thanks for the offer. If I ever need a second office, I’ll keep it in mind.”
“You want some coffee?”
He glanced down at his watch. “Not today. I have a meeting in thirty minutes.”
I led him to a bench under a tree in our parking area where our customers occasionally waited for their cars to be repaired if it was a quick job. Beau sat down, spreading his long legs out in front of him.
I took a seat next to him, putting my elbow on the backrest of the painted wooden bench and twisted to face him. “What’s up?”
“You went to see Dad.” It wasn’t a question. I had texted Beau when I was on my way to the prison, but I hadn’t spoken to him since. “How did it go?”
“A lot like I expected. It’s a fucking hassle to get in to see him. Took longer to get through security than the time I spent with him.”
Beau nodded thoughtfully, his gaze focused. “What did he say?”
“He needs my help.” Exasperated, I ran a hand through my hair and checked around us to make sure no one was listening to our conversation. “Apparently, he’s gotten word from someone on the outside that people are getting close to some of the money he has stashed away somewhere.”
Beau lifted a brow, blowing out a breath. “Fuck. Okay. That’s as close as he’s ever gotten to admitting he did it.”
I shrugged. “He didn’t say it in so many words.”
“What’s he want you to do about it?” His eyes swept to the entrance of the garage where Phoenix was saying goodbye to a customer.
I lowered my voice, giving Phoenix and the customer a friendly wave before I continued. “What do you think? He wants me to get his money and bring it to a bank here in Cypress Creek.”
“Shit,” he muttered. “Are you going to do it?”
Taking a deep breath, I let it out with a heavy sigh. “No fucking way. Are you crazy?”
“No more than you are. Why’d you say no?”
Anger rippled through me. Clenching my jaw, I turned the question back on him. “Why wouldn’t I? What’s with your sudden interest in Dad anyway? He’s been sitting in that cage for a long time, but you’ve never given a damn before.”
“I do give a damn.” His eyes darkened, flashing with anger. Good. Maybe he would finally be honest with me. “I always have.”
“Bullshit.” I called him out. “Jeremy has given a damn. Sonny gives a damn. You’ve never been to see him, and you don’t talk to him or about him. What’s changed?”
Beau’s cheeks puffed up with a breath, and then he released it and shook his head. “It’s not like that, okay? He’s our father. Of course, I care. I just tried to move on with my life. Same as you, same as Ty. There’s never been any point to wallowing about it.”
Which begged the question. “And so I ask again. What’s changed, Beau? I get trying to move on. We’ve all had to, but why stop to look back now?”
His lips tightened in a line, and he hung his head to rake back his hair before meeting my gaze again. “I’ve been receiving threats. It’s been going on for some time now, but I was handling it.”
Shock hit me hard. “What?”
He nodded. “Some of Dad’s associates, or whatever the fuck you call these people, have been contacting me. I’ve never been the fighter you were, Ev. Maybe that’s why they’re coming after me. I don’t know why I’m the one on their radar, but whoever is after Dad is targeting me to get to him.”
“Have you told anyone else?” Sonny was actively investigating Dad’s case and anyone who might be after him. He was convinced Dad was only a fall guy and that there were bigger players behind everything. The people threatening Beau may be another lead he could follow. “Sonny can help you.”
Immediately, Beau shook his head. “I don’t want to go to him with this, not yet. I wouldn’t even have come to you with it if you hadn’t told me Dad called you for help.”
I narrowed my eyes on his. “Why not go to Sonny? He’s a detective now. He’s on this case. He’ll know what to do. We may even be able to help him with whatever he’s trying to achieve with all this. I’m still not convinced of his theory, but he seems damn sure.”
“I know. Fuck, I know,” Beau said. “I heard he’d sprinted headfirst into some nasty stuff a couple of months ago. That was before I started receiving threats.”
“Doesn’t explain why you don’t want to go to him now,” I pointed out.
He shook his head again. “Dad needs our help, Ev. It’s not so much about the thr
eats to me. I told you, I was handling it and could keep handling it, but that wouldn’t change that he’s our dad and he’s in trouble. If we go to Sonny…”
“We can’t help him,” I finished.
He nodded. “Exactly. Sonny’s our brother. We could go to Tyson too, but what kind of position are we putting them in? They’ll be forced to make it all official or risk their jobs. While we’re sorting out the bureaucratic bullshit, something could happen to Dad.”
Sighing, I leaned my head back, eyeing the blue sky. The soft breeze and the clouds drifting across the sky created a sense of peace, belying the turmoil churning inside of me. I hated it when Beau, or any of my brothers, were right. “I don’t want to get us in trouble. If I agreed to do this for Dad, it would feel like I was walking into the same mess he left behind. I can’t believe we’re even having this conversation, given how we’ve got two brothers in law enforcement.”
“You know I wouldn’t be talking to you about this if I didn’t think it would all be okay, that you’d be okay.” Beau’s expression was deadly serious. I could see he wasn’t taking any of it lightly.
Searching his eyes, I knew what he wanted me to say. “You think I should do it anyway.”
He rolled his head back and then acquiesced. “I do. I think you need to reconsider Dad asking you for help. There has to be a reason he came to you and not to any of the rest of us.”
“That’s the million-dollar question I’ve been asking myself since he first started calling.”
Beau’s lips kicked up at the corners. “It may not be a million dollars.”
I rolled my eyes. “Fine, but it’s still a pretty damn expensive question hanging out there. I’m going to go ahead and assume Dad doesn’t want me to move a hundred dollars on his behalf. It must be a substantial amount of money if people are threatening you over it, and Dad’s antsy enough about this account to ask me to move the money.”
“True.” Beau checked the time again. “I’m going to be late. I’d better go. Keep me in the loop with what you decide, okay?”
I waved and watched him drive away before finally walking into the shop. Phoenix gave me a puzzled look when I walked inside. “Your brother again?”
I nodded. “Family stuff.”
“You can talk to me if something’s going on if you want,” he offered, sitting down on one of the stools at the counter with one foot on the floor and one on the top rung. “I might be able to help.”
I doubted he would be able to help in that situation, but maybe getting an outsider’s perspective was a good idea. Phoenix was trustworthy, and I’d spare him any details that could get him in trouble.
Beau and I were both too close to it and too close to our brothers. I understood Beau wanting to protect them, considering their professional capacities, but that felt like exactly the kind of reasoning that could and probably would land us in trouble.
Sonny would also be furious at me when, not if, he found out about all that. He would tell me that Beau and I should’ve gone straight to him. So would Tyson. I didn’t need to even wonder about that.
I knew all of that, but I was still reluctant to call either of my brothers. They’d both been through hell and back because of our father already—Tyson when he joined the prosecution team during the trial, and Sonny for trying to help Dad by finding out who might be behind what happened to our father.
Surely, they deserved some peace in their lives. Maybe it was time for Beau and me to take a spin in the ring on it. Inhaling a deep breath, I wondered again if I was nuts for not already being on my way to tell Sonny everything.
Phoenix was still waiting for my answer, patiently and with a concerned expression etched onto his features. Deciding that gaining perspective was probably the best thing I could do for myself right then, I nodded.
“The family thing, it’s about my dad. There’s some new stuff going on with him.”
Phoenix frowned, confused. “What do you mean by new stuff going on?”
I belatedly recalled Phoenix hadn’t been around back at the height of the public mess around my father. Damn. Although I’d had my suspicions that he’d heard the rumors, I could see from the confusion on his face that he didn’t know what had gone down.
It was better that Phoenix not know the story. I laughed, pulling the work log for the day closer to see which of the vehicles that still needed to be done I could get stuck into. “Never mind. Leave it alone. It’s nothing my brothers and I can’t deal with. But now you know why I’ve been distracted, just personal stuff.”
“If you say so.” He shrugged, lingering for another few seconds before he sighed and went back to work when I didn’t speak again.
This day had gone to absolute shit. My mind flashed to Sadie. I hadn’t expected to see her today. Her bright green eyes and the sweet curve of her ass had given my body a jolt. She’d looked tired that morning, and I didn’t like thinking about how much she worked. Even then, she still had that spark, that flash in her eyes, and a hint of the fire I knew shimmered under the surface.
The day might’ve gone to shit, but I had something to look forward to. I didn’t quite know how she’d gotten under my skin so quickly, but she had. I wasn’t one to chase after a woman, but with her, all I knew was I wanted her.
The draw I felt to her was powerful, though I didn’t know why. The best I could come up with was that she was light where I was darkness. Everyone was drawn to the light, right?
Chapter Fourteen
Sadie
The early Saturday morning shift at the diner was the worst. No one was ever in a good mood, customers or staff. The customers were usually either people who partied through the night on Friday and came in still drunk, nursing the early phase of a hangover, or people who were trudging through the weekend on the way to their own work shift.
The only redeeming feature working that shift had was that I could be done and home before Emery woke up. It also counted as working a weekend shift. Since I wouldn’t get away with never taking any shifts on weekends, it was the least invasive one I could pick up. That way, Emery and I still got our days together, and my boss had someone who consistently volunteered to work one of the worst shifts available.
With my shoes pinching my toes, I limped to the door at the end of my shift and shielded my eyes from the morning sun with my hand. My phone buzzed in my purse. Pausing in the doorway, I fumbled in my bag to find it.
“Hey, Lori,” I answered. “How’s everything going there?”
“We’re fine. Nothing to report. Are you done?”
“Yeah. I’m on my way out of the diner now.” A young family parked in front of the diner, and I smiled, moving out of the way for them to enter. As I turned to where I was parked, I saw Evan waiting by my car.
Lori said something, but I stopped listening to her when I saw Evan. I blinked, but he was still there and looking like he was posing for a movie poster with the sun behind him and his hip against my car. What is he doing here?
As soon as that thought rolled through my mind, my memory kicked in. I had a date. With the most attractive man in town, or so I’d concluded. His jeans were riding low on his hips, a very fitted black tee hugging his chest.
He grinned when he saw me, straightening from the car.
“Sadie? Hello?”
I started, having totally forgotten I was on the phone. “Sorry. I’m here. I’m going to be a little while longer. Is that okay with you?”
“No problem. I’m working on my blog, and Em isn’t even awake yet,” Lori said. I could hear her keyboard clicking on her side of the line.
“Thanks. I won’t be longer than another hour or so.” At least I’d warned Evan that I wouldn’t have much time.
“Take your time. I’m not going anywhere,” Lori assured me “Emery’s bound to be asleep until at least then, so there’s no need to rush home.”
Ending the call, I smoothed my hands over my uniform, self-conscious that I didn’t exactly look good. He didn’t see
m to mind at all, his eyes drinking me in as I approached.
“You forgot, didn’t you?” he asked when I got close enough.
My cheeks heated, and I shrugged apologetically. “I’ve been really busy. I’m happy to see you, though.”
One corner of his mouth lifted in a smile. “Likewise. Ready for breakfast?”
Ready? I was starving. “Definitely.”
“There’s a café on Church that makes a mean eggs benedict. I thought we could go there,” he said, opening my driver’s door for me when I unlocked it.
“Sounds perfect,” I told him, sliding into my seat. “Lead the way.”
He’d known I would want to take my own car. A curl of warmth spun through me as I appreciated his effort to meet me at work while still respecting that I’d have to take off soon after breakfast. My weariness lifted on the short drive over. By the time we were seated, I was buzzing. Whether it was the depth of my attraction to Evan or that I hadn’t gone on anything even resembling a date in years, my body was, simply put, alive.
Evan brushed his hair back and leaned forward, his eyes focused on mine. “How was your shift?”
I lifted a brow and allowed the corner of my mouth to twitch up. “Between the drunks, the hungover, the self-pitying, and the children screaming for pancakes, it’s always such a fun shift to work.”
He cringed, chuckling. It was a low, freeing sound that made me want to bottle it so I could listen to it every time I felt down. “You have my sincerest condolences. Strangely, I get a lot of those in the shop as well. A cranky customer sure does make the day seem a lot longer.”
“You get drunks in the shop?”
He laughed that time. “You’d be surprised at the number of people who need a quick ding or scratch fixed after a night on the town.”
After ordering coffee when the waitress stopped by our table, I asked, “Don’t they wait until they’re able to drive properly again before bringing it in?”