by Cathryn Fox
“There is nothing they can do. Don’t worry. It will pass. Actually, it’s almost gone now.”
He opened his mouth to protest, but she leaned forward and pointed to her parents’ house, which was alive with activity. “Right there.”
Garrett hopped from the cab. “Wait here, I’ll be right back,” he said to the driver, then came around to help Tallulah from her side.
She accepted his hand. “You really are a gentleman.”
He gave her a bad boy wink. “That’s our little secret too,” he whispered. When they reached the top landing of the stairs, he stopped and really looked at her. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
She placed her hands on his chest. “I’m fine. Now go have some fun.” She gave him a grin. “But not too much fun, otherwise Jenny might have something to say.”
The front door flung open and Kat came rushing out. “Lu,” she squealed, grabbing the bag of presents. “About time you got here.”
Warmth and need unfurled inside Garrett’s chest, producing an unfamiliar fullness when Tallulah’s eyes lit, her smile so sweet and real as she hugged Kat. As the emotions caught him off guard, he suddenly wanted to take her back to the hotel so he could have her all to himself. Jesus, he couldn’t believe he was actually jealous of her best friend.
Kat broke the hug and Tallulah went up on her toes to give Garrett a small kiss on the lips. “I’ll see you soon.”
Kat gave a knowing smile when he and Tallulah exchanged kisses, but it fell from her face as she looked past their shoulders.
“Oh shit.”
Both Garrett and Tallulah spun around at the same time and when he spotted a man climbing from his car, an intense look on his face, Garrett stiffened, his body preparing for battle.
“I take it that’s Jason,” he said to Tallulah as she leaned in to him. When she nodded, Garrett felt his protective instincts come out full force. Anger washed the lust from his gut when he felt her tension. “I’ll get rid of him.”
With his speech slurred, Jason stormed toward them. “So it’s true then.” His glassy eyes locked on Garrett. “You the guy everyone’s talking about?”
“Yeah, I’m that guy.” Garrett pulled Tallulah in closer.
Jason stumbled a bit, and held his hand out to her. “Come on, Lu. We had a pact.”
“Jason,” she murmured quietly. “You should go.”
Jason made a step toward them, and Garrett matched it. “You heard the lady. You should go.”
“So it’s true then?” Jason asked, glaring at Garrett. “You’re engaged?”
“That’s right,” Garrett said. “You’ve got a problem with that?”
Jason’s nostrils flared. “Hell yeah, I do.”
Tallulah’s body tightened as the two squared off and Garrett cursed silently. While he wanted to punch the guy in the face, he’d never be disrespectful and cause a scene in front of Tallulah or her friends and family inside. Plus it wouldn’t be a fair fight since the guy was shit-faced drunk.
“Okay, fine,” he mumbled. “I’ll let you have your fun with this guy until you get him out of your system. But when you’re done slumming, you’ll realize that I know what’s best for you and that’s when you’ll come back home, to me.”
Garrett took a threatening step forward. “Okay, time to back off, pal.”
“We’re not through, Lu,” he said before stumbling backward.
“Yeah, you are.” Garrett stormed toward the man’s car. He pulled the keys from the ignition, and opened the cab door as the driver sat inside and silently watched the exchange. “You have two choices. You get in, or I make you get in.”
Jason looked at him for a moment and wobbled on his feet. “You and me. We’re gonna have it out,” he said, and took a wild swing at Garrett.
Garrett easily dodged it and when Jason stumbled, Garrett tossed him into the back seat of the car. Kat ran down the steps and gave the driver the address. Garrett slammed the door shut, then made his way back up the stairs to Tallulah.
He pulled her close and dropped a kiss onto her forehead. “You okay?”
“Yeah.”
He ran his hands through her hair and held her head against his chest. He cursed under his breath, hating that everything about her made him want to care. “So that was Jason, huh?”
She nodded as the scent of his skin filled her nostrils. “He’s upset.”
“He’s an asshole,” he said working to tamp down his rage.
“He’s drunk.”
“Okay, he’s a drunken asshole.” Garrett held her shoulders and inched back. “I know it’s not my business, Tallulah, and believe me I don’t want it to be, but he just told you that you had no idea what was best for you, and was okay with you sleeping with me until you got slumming out of your system. That makes him an asshole in my books.” Anger churned in his gut, and his nostrils flared. He put his mouth close to her ear and said, “Believe me, if this thing between us was real, I’d never tell you what to do, never cheat on you, and I’d never, ever share you with anyone. Not in a million years.”
“You might be right, Garrett. Maybe he’s not the guy I thought he was. Kat always said there was another side to him. Maybe I shouldn’t be trying to protect his feelings.”
“You’re a considerate person.” Dammit if he didn’t love that about her. “And you really care about other people. That’s not a bad thing, believe me. But I think sometimes people mistake your kindness and compassion for naivety.” While Garrett appreciated that she cared about other people’s feelings, he knew if she didn’t speak her mind, she’d never be able to alter people’s perception of her. Not that it was his business. It wasn’t. And he wasn’t about to say more and overstep his boundaries with her or her family.
“You’re a real life hero, aren’t you?”
He pulled back fast and gave a hard shake of his head. “I’m nobody’s hero.” Eyes perplexed she opened her mouth, but when the screen door behind them creaked open she shut it again. Garrett looked over her shoulders to see her mother, and her perceptive eyes widened when they locked on Garrett’s.
“Is everything okay?” she asked.
“It’s fine,” Garrett said. “I was just taking care of…” He paused, looked back at Tallulah and said, “Business,” putting extra emphasis on that one word to let her—but more importantly himself—know that what just transpired here was part of their business transaction. Part of the charade.
He handed Kat the keys to Jason’s car when she came back and gave her a thankful nod as she ushered Tallulah inside. Since Tallulah’s folks lived just on the outskirts of town, only a few miles from the city core, he decided to walk to the The Hop Yard. The fresh air would help him let off a little steam and figure out why it bothered him so much that Tallulah would even think about having a child with that asshole. He walked down the driveway and headed to the town’s downtown core.
The road was dark, and not one car passed him on the way, the only noise cutting through the deafening quiet was the chorus of crickets moving about in the towering hills hugging the road. He drove his hands into his pockets and picked up his pace, but the sound of a woman’s angry voice echoing in the still night stopped him cold. He glanced to his right and at the top of a winding driveway, floodlights came on and lit up the area with noon day brilliance. That’s when he spotted the big old Victorian house, and a woman standing outside on the wraparound porch.
Without giving it another thought he took off running. When he reached the peak of the long driveway he noticed the elderly woman was dressed in nothing but her housecoat, a pellet gun in her hand.
Garrett stilled, and approached with caution. “Is everything okay?”
She waved her pellet gun as egg yolk and broken shells ran down the front of her house. “Those kids are up to mischief again.”
“Shit,” he heard from behind a woodpile haphazardly stacked near the garage. He turned toward it and when he spotted two kids running toward the road he bolted after them.
He picked up pace, and lengthened his strides, but Jesus they were fast. At the end of the driveway, he finally closed the distance and caught one kid by the scruff of the neck. He lifted him clear off the ground, his feet flailing helplessly. The kid, who looked to be about thirteen, struggled valiantly, but couldn’t break free of Garrett’s firm hold.
“Jimmy,” he called, his pubescent voice rising an octave. “Jimmy, shit. Get him off me.”
Jimmy stepped from the dark, but when he caught sight of Garrett, who towered over the boys, he shrank a little.
“Come on, let him go. We were just having a little fun with old lady Henderson,” he said.
“You think scaring an old lady and egging her house is fun?” Garrett let the kid go, and nudged him toward the house. “Let’s go, and don’t even think about running again.”
The kids stumbled a little. “Where?”
“Where do you think?”
“You’re not going to call the cops on us are you?”
Garrett didn’t feel the need to involve the law. Christ, they were just bored kids doing what bored kids do. It wasn’t like he had never delved into mischief when he was a teen. But it didn’t mean he wasn’t going to teach them a lesson.
He scowled and said, “When I’m done with you you’re going to wish I had.”
“Shit.” Jimmy grudgingly walked toward the house.
Garrett marched them up the steps, and Mrs. Henderson glared at them. “Well if it isn’t Jimmy and Kent Tanner.” She shook her head. “I should have known. Your papa is going to give you both an ass whipping when he finds out.”
“Please don’t tell him,” they both said, eyes wide and fearful.
The old screen door creaked as Mrs. Henderson stepped behind it, propping her gun on the doorframe just inside.
Garrett folded his arms, and gestured toward the egg. “Clean it up.”
When the one named Kent gave him a defiant look, Garrett stepped up to him and put on his best hard-ass face. “You have two choices, you either clean it up, or I borrow that gun from Mrs. Henderson and practice my shot.” He went silent for a moment, to give more impact to his words when he added, “And I’m a pretty damn good shot already.”
The kid swallowed. “Shit,” he said, and Mrs. Henderson disappeared inside. Garrett could hear water running from inside the house. She came back out with paper towels, two sponges, and a bucket full of sudsy water.
Garrett stood there, arms folded as he watched the boys reluctantly take it from her. Then he glanced around the property, taking note of its run down condition. “I think you boys need to find something productive to do with all that extra energy you seem to have.”
With his sponge poised over the bucket, Kent glared at him.
“Mrs. Henderson can use a hand around this place. I expect you both here tomorrow to take care of the lawn, and that woodpile.”
“Ah, come on.”
“Where’s that gun?” he asked Mrs. Henderson, who was hovering just inside the door.
“Shit,” Jimmy said.
Keeping the grin from his face as the kids went back to cleaning, he stepped inside the house to speak quietly to Mrs. Henderson. The scent of warm gingerbread filled his senses and reminded him of home and hearth as she beamed up at him, her cloudy brown eyes narrowing with careful regard. “You’re that young man I’ve been hearing so much about, aren’t you? The one that’s keeping Tallulah from moving back home.” She shuffled across the room, grabbed a tin off her counter and held it to him.
“I’m not keeping Tallulah from doing anything.” The sweet smell of spices and sugar reached his nostrils and he peered into the container. “She’s a grown woman who makes her own choices.”
She eyed him. “You weren’t really going to practice your shot were you?”
He grinned and accepted a cookie. “Sure I was.”
She laughed. “Are you a lawman?”
“No, ma’am.”
“Well you should be. You got a way with delinquent kids. Look at them out there; you scared them straight.”
“If they give you any more trouble you just let me know.” He winked and said, “I’ve been feeling a little trigger happy lately.”
Mrs. Henderson smiled. “You’re a nice young man. Barbara and George got nothing to worry about with you. You’ll take good care of that girl of theirs.” She scowled. “I never was too fussy about that Jason fella, anyway.”
Garrett finished his cookie and she tried to give him another. “I’m good, thanks.” He jerked his thumb toward the kids outside. “But I think those two might like a couple when they’re done.”
She snarled, but said, “I suppose you’re right.”
Garrett went back outside and stayed until the boys finished cleaning, then when they were done, Mrs. Henderson plunked herself down on her wooden bench and opened her tin for them. While they munched, she began talking, and their eyes widened with genuine interest when she began telling them stories of her own youth, and the things they did for fun.
With that Garrett retraced his steps down her long driveway and began his trek back to town. He pushed through the doors of the pub and since he was still a bit early, he grabbed a stool at the bar. He ordered a beer, and as he nursed it, Brad took the stool beside him.
“Hey,” Garrett said, and gestured the bartender to bring two more brews.
Brad tossed a handful of nuts into his mouth. “I heard what happened.”
Garrett turned to him. “What are you talking about?”
“The fight you had with Tallulah’s ex.”
Surprised at how fast news spread, he said, “There was no fight.”
“That’s not the way I heard it.”
“Then you heard it wrong. The guy was drunk. I sent him home in a cab.”
“Ah, now that makes more sense. I’ve never seen you fight just to fight. I knew the rumor had to be wrong because the Garrett I know only goes to battle when he’s got something to fight for.”
Garrett took that moment to think about how much he wanted to pummel Jason for disrespecting Tallulah and her family, but he wasn’t about to cause a scene at his sister’s bridal shower. Plus, Tallulah was upset enough as it was. He wasn’t going to add to it.
Beside him Brad remained quiet, too quiet, and since his best friend had an opinion on everything, it made Garrett uncomfortable. “You got something to say, Brad?”
“No.” He chuckled and said, “I was just thinking about that little speech Tallulah gave at dinner.”
Garrett tossed a peanut into his mouth and chewed. “She’s quick on her feet.”
“I’d say she knows you better than you think.”
Striving for normalcy, he rubbed his temple and explained, “Yeah, well she got some things wrong.”
“Really, and here I think she got everything right.”
“Then you’d be wrong.”
“So this thing between you two, it’s just pretend? Because I saw the way you were looking at her.”
“It’s an act, Brad. A charade. We had a room full of people we had to convince we were lovers.”
“Fine,” he said, sounding unconvinced. He took a huge swig of beer, and rolled the bottle his palms. “Since you’re not a real couple when this charade is over maybe I’ll go for it with her. A sweet thing like her could really make a man change his ways.”
Something dark and dangerous rumbled inside Garrett’s gut. “Stay the fuck away from her.”
Brad set his bottle onto the countertop, patted Garrett on the shoulder and with a wry grin on his face said, “Yeah, pal, it’s real clear that she means nothing to you.”
As his words hit like a round of mortar, Garrett dropped his empty bottle on the bar top and gestured for another.
He drained half the beer in one gulp, and tried not to think about Tallulah, or how she was getting under his skin. Ving and the rest of the guys came through the front door, interrupting his thoughts, and soon he was lost in drinking games and good old camara
derie amongst comrades.
Halfway through the night a stripper came from the back room, and cheers erupted around him. While he always enjoyed a good show, he couldn’t seem to focus on anything besides Tallulah, couldn’t help but think how every other woman paled in comparison.
“Hey, how about a lap dance for the groom?” Matt shouted out, and the pretty girl with next to nothing on shimmied up to Ving.
Ving laughed, shook his head, and held his hands up palms out. “No way, man. Jenny would kill me. I can look but I can’t touch.”
“Then how about you, Garrett?” Matt said. “Since you’re the next guy on the chopping block.”
Garrett tried to smile, tried to loosen the knot that had taken up permanent residency in his gut, and shook his head. “Sorry,” he said. “I only have eyes—” he stopped to wiggle his fingers, before adding, “—and hands, for Tallulah.”
He caught Ving’s glance and when the man gave a nod, guilt swamped him.
Shit.
As the party went on Garrett knocked back another beer, but the alcohol did little to relax him. Even though it was a bad idea, all he wanted was to make his way back to the hotel, to Tallulah.
At least the wedding was in a couple of days, and Sunday evening, the day after the ceremony, he’d be returning to Austin. Once his feet were on familiar ground he’d be able to get her out of his system and get his mind back on his work and off all the things he suddenly found himself wanting, but could never have.
A short while later, once the party ended, they all climbed into a cab and made their way back to the hotel. He took the elevator to his floor, and wondered if Tallulah would be awake. Perhaps he’d get lucky and she’d be sound asleep, then he wouldn’t be tempted to take her again.
He slipped inside and the warmth of the room fell over him as his eyes adjusted to the dim light. A movement near the window drew his attention and lust hit like a high voltage jolt as Tallulah perched on the edge of the sill, her sweet scent permeating the room.
“Hi,” she said, her voice low, seductive as the moonlight spilled over her.
He shrugged out of his jacket and pitched his voice low to match hers. “What are you still doing up?”