Reflections

by Susan Griscom

  Aiden, while not quite as adept as Gerry, had a few supernatural abilities himself. One such power was seeing five minutes into the future, which came in handy during his youthful escapades with Gerry. Together they’d made quite a pair and gotten away with many pranks. Than Aiden had that little thing he did with fire. Aiden’s firepower was nothing like Addie’s but he always managed to impress the ladies, pretending to perform simple magic tricks. Aiden gave Gerry a half twitch of his lip, and nodded to his friend in acknowledgement.

  Poor Finn never saw it coming. The fist came across Finn’s jaw like a fourteen-pound sledgehammer. He toppled backwards, the chair he sat on shattering into toothpick-sized pieces.

  Addie stood, rags in hand, mouth gaping. The door swung open and in walked Cael and his Uncle Bart. Both men stopped short. Gerry stood over Finn and the broken bits of what was left of a chair, rubbing his fisted knuckles.

  “Stay out of this.” Gerry pointed his finger at the two new additions, figuring they might want to help the poor bastard and stop Gerry from pounding Finn’s face again. Cael had experienced Gerry’s wrath not too long ago and if it hadn’t been for Bart, Gerry would have creamed Cael a second time the minute he’d stood up.

  “Get up, you slime bag. Why the fuck didn’t you say she’d be coming?”

  Finn started to get up and thought better of it. “Gerry, she came here with me. She’s with me. We’re together, a couple. Why would I think you’d care?”

  “It would have been nice to know. You know the way she is.”

  “What you and she had was a long time ago. She loves me now,” Finn said, rubbing his chin.

  Gerry wasn’t sure if Finn was stupid or just so love-struck with Careen that he was blind to her bewitching spells. The latter made more sense. He held out his hand to help Finn up and glanced over at Cael and Bart, waving them over. “Give us a hand here, will you? Let’s get this mess cleaned up before Maia comes back. I don’t want her getting upset.”

  And he certainly didn’t want Careen thinking she’d had any effect on him whatsoever. Careen was bad news. She’d made his life miserable in the past and he’d come close to using his compulsion ability on her more than once to make her forget she even knew him. Now he wished he had. Gerry knew she was just using Finn and damn it if he didn’t feel sorry for the guy.

  Chapter 6

  A Vixen Comes a’Calling

  Addie brushed by Darcy, who had been filling in behind the bar during the meeting and stayed on afterwards to help while Cael and Gerry took off to set up the sonogram machine they’d acquired earlier that morning. Addie joined her since the guys didn’t need her in the way.

  Gerry had Darcy tending bar quite often recently. Addie knew Darcy enjoyed fraternizing with the customers while waiting on tables, but the more things she learned, the more valuable she’d be to Gerry when Maia went into labor.

  Addie looked up and smiled when Cael and Gerry came walking in from the back after materializing in Gerry’s office. Addie was supposed to be keeping Maia occupied while the guys prepared the surprise, but Maia was tired, insisted on leaving and Addie couldn’t think of a good excuse to keep her there. Addie sighed with relief. “I’m glad you’re back. Maia just left. She said her feet were hurting and she needed to go home and rest. I couldn’t convince her to stay.”

  Cael gave her a quick brush on the lips before settling down on the stool next to his uncle Bart. “No worries. We got it done and didn’t run into her.”

  She laid her hand on the bar in front of her fiancé. Fiancé. She liked the sound of that. “Do you want something?”

  He ginned back at her, undressing her with his mesmerizingly gorgeous blue eyes. She knew that look and tried to ignore it, which was nearly impossible most times.

  “Let me have something on tap,” Cael said.

  “Anything?”

  “Sure. I’m feeling adventurous.”

  Addie turned to fill a glass with something she thought he might like and placed it in front of him.

  Darcy caught Addie by the elbow and leaned in close to Addie’s ear. “Man, I thought I was going to have to call 911 for that guy Gerry decked during the meeting,” Darcy said, careful to keep her voice down as the bar was starting to fill up with the evening regulars.

  “Yeah, Gerry has a strong right cross, that’s for sure.” Addie glanced at Cael, who sipped at the pint of Heffenweisen she’d given him. She grinned uncontrollably, remembering Cael being pissed off at what he’d called Gerry’s “sucker punch.” Gerry had decked him when he’d thought Cael had given Addie some bruises on her arms. The bruises were from a workout with Cael, a small combat against one another so she could demonstrate her martial art skills. She smiled thinking about how impressed Cael had been.

  Darcy and Addie were close friends and now that Darcy was in a relationship with Jared, the chef at the bar and grill, Addie and Cael hung out with them quite frequently. Before approaching the next customers to take their orders, Darcy glanced at her reflection in the mirror, taking yet another opportunity to flip out the side of her dark hair that seemed to want to go flat.

  “Who was that woman? She sure seemed to know Gerry pretty well.”

  “I guess she was someone from his past.”

  “Wow. I wonder how Maia’s going to deal with that,” Darcy said.

  “Maia will be just fine. She’s not the type to let someone of Careen’s low caliber get to her.” Addie hoped she was right. Maia seemed to hold herself in check very well and Addie was proud of her. Too bad she couldn’t say the same for herself, but causing the coffee to spill down Careen’s dress and legs and watching the woman squeal and then exhibit such baffled embarrassment was extremely satisfying. Addie knew she should feel some sort of remorse, but Careen deserved it.

  Addie observed as Darcy managed to fix three cocktails and pour two more beers without so much as a thought to what she was doing. “You’re catching on to this pretty fast.”

  “Yeah, well thanks to you and your supremely splendid beau being away so long, I had no choice but to either learn fast or run away screaming. Gerry can be quite boorish as I’m sure you know. But you’re right. Maia will be fine. Besides, she has far more important things on her mind these days than worrying about some bimbo from Gerry’s past.” Darcy looked up as the door opened. “Oh, speak of the devil,” she mumbled.

  Careen glided over to the bar sporting another outrageously sexy outfit. Her skintight pants were shiny and black—not leather, more like plastic, or pleather, Addie guessed—and they hugged every crease and curve from her butt down to her ankles. Her short red leather jacket was unbuttoned and the skimpy piece of material masquerading as a blouse revealed as much cleavage as Addie thought humanly possible without showing any nipple. One slight move in the wrong direction and those puppies were sure to pop right out.

  Addie wanted to kick Cael in the shin for gaping at the tramp’s chest, but he was on the other side of the bar.

  Cael looked at Addie’s glaring eyes. What?

  Stop looking at her.

  Sorry, baby, but you have to admit, they are quite remarkable.

  Yeah? I’ll show you remarkable.

  Careen plopped her oversized bag on the bar, looked Cael up and down, and smiled. Her smile disappeared when she looked back at Addie. “Is Gerry in?”

  “Yeah, he’s in his office. I’ll go get him.”

  “That’s okay. I’ll find my own way.” Careen waved her hand in the air as though she owned the place and walked right past Addie toward Gerry’s office.

  Addie stopped and turned toward Careen, supposing she should protest and refuse to let Careen back there, but her impish mood overwhelmed her moral senses. Let Gerry be surprised. What harm could it do, except, maybe piss him off again. Addie found Gerry’s unchecked rage amusing to say the least, especially concerning Careen. Let’s just see what happens here.

  “Yeah, go right ahead.” Addie gestured with her arm toward the door to his office.

/>   Once Careen was out of earshot, Cael said, “You are a troublemaker.”

  Addie snorted, “Yeah, this should be interesting.”

  ***

  Gerry saw the door open out of the corner of his eye, but didn’t bother to glance up. “Yeah, what is it?”

  “Gerry?” Careen’s voice cooed coyly.

  Gerry looked up, abandoning the shock on his face. “Reenie, how did you get …What are you doing here?”

  “I wanted to come by and … apologize for Finn.”

  “No need. I know it wasn’t his doing. You shouldn’t be in here.” He stood, with what he hoped an air of intimidation, wanting to lead her back to the door and lock it behind her.

  She sashayed to him, close. Too damn close.

  Gazing into his eyes, she spoke softly. “Yes, I know. I couldn’t stay away.” She lightly brushed her fingers down his cheek. “I haven’t seen you for years.”

  Gerry didn’t react; at least he hoped he didn’t. He glared down at her. There was a time when her touch would have had him on his knees, a time when he would have done anything to please her. He swallowed. Those days were gone. “Well, now you’ve seen me.” Stepping away from her he added, “Now leave.”

  “Yes, and you look good too. Good enough to cause my tummy to flutter.”

  “What do you want?”

  “I told you. I want to apologize.”

  “No, what do you really want?”

  “Okay. I can see you’re not going to make this easy.” She walked closer to him, lowered her gaze to his chest and put her hand there, her fingers toying with the button on his shirt. “I wanted to see if there was anything still there. Still here.” She ran her finger in a circle around the spot on his chest where his heart was. “Between us.” She looked back up into his eyes. “And … I can see in your eyes, that maybe with a little coaxing …”

  “You’re wrong so don’t flatter yourself, Reenie; you should have your eyes checked. I’m in love with Maia.”

  “Yes, well, you’re not married to the woman, are you?”

  Married? Gerry hadn’t thought about it. Married? No, he’d never been the marrying kind. Did that make him an uncaring man, considering Maia was pregnant? Did it mean he loved Maia any less? That was something he should think about—later. “No. I’m not.”

  Placing her hand on his shoulder, she slid her tongue over her bottom lip. “Well, then, what’s to stop you from having a little fun with me? Do you still own the sexy little silk boxers I so enjoyed seeing you in?”

  “No. I don’t.” Did he? He wasn’t sure. Underwear was underwear, not something he gave much thought to. Like marriage.

  “I still have the little silk number you gave me. Ahhh ... we had such good times back then, didn’t we?” Not waiting for a response from Gerry, she went on. “I’ve been thinking about you for such a long time. You can’t tell me you haven’t thought of me, Gerry. Do you remember what you said to me when I left? You said you didn’t think you’d ever forget me, or even could forget me.”

  “No, what I said was I didn’t think I’d ever forget what you did to me.”

  “Oh come on, Gerry,” she purred. “Don’t be that way. I’ve had a difficult time getting over you. In fact, I don’t think I have gotten over you, not completely. I told you I was sorry about the money. You know I would have given it back. I just needed a loan, a short-term loan. I had plans to double that money for us. For us, baby.”

  “You took everything out of our joint account, fifty grand to be exact. You had a one-way plane ticket to Paris, your bags were packed, and your bulldog bodyguard by the name of Raul, I believe, who continually referred to you as ‘baby-cakes’ stood by your side ready to pound my head in if I tried to stop you. It didn’t look like you were planning to return the money anytime soon. It may be petty of me, Careen, but I don’t like women who lie, cheat, and steal.”

  “I was not stealing your money; I was going to invest it. And Raul, well, he was just a stepping-stone, a foot in the door, so to speak.”

  “And a good lay,” he added, remembering walking in on the two of them sprawled naked across his bed that afternoon. “You’re nothing but a two-bit whore and I don’t know what kind of game you’re playing with Finn, but this time you’re going to have to leave me out of it.”

  Vitriol surfaced in Careen’s eyes. She took a step back, poised herself to strike and swung her hand out toward Gerry’s face. He caught her arm in mid air and she gasped.

  “Do you think I’ll stand here and let you strike me, Reenie?” He had a tight grip on her arm; too tight perhaps, judging by the pained expression on her face, but he had a point to make. “Don’t come in here playing the poor little innocent. You’ll end up getting hurt.”

  “Gerry, please. I’m sorry you think I deceived you years ago, but I’ve changed. Really, I have and I’ve missed you something awful. Won’t you please give me another chance?”

  He still held her arm, but loosened his grip just a bit. He didn’t want to cause any bruises. He looked into her blue eyes, full of what he knew without a doubt were fake tears, hoping his own green eyes portrayed the cold depth of the sea. Uncaring and hateful.

  “I could make you forget,” he said through clenched teeth. Careen actually had no idea what Gerry meant by that. He never shared that particular little talent with her. He didn’t like using his abilities on women anymore. In fact, he hated that he was actually thinking of doing just that. But Careen was relentless, insisting that she still cared for him. He could block those feelings altogether but having her forget about what they once had wouldn’t change her ways. She’d still be a conniving, manipulative little tramp. He’d rather she grow up and stop using people, but that wasn’t likely to happen.

  “I’ll never get over you, Gerry. You could never make me forget,” she said as a single tear dripped down her cheek.

  “You really should stick to singing. Your acting skills leave a lot to be desired. Do you actually think I could possibly have feelings for you after what you did?”

  “But you loved me once. I know I can make you love me again.”

  He had loved her. She’d broken his heart. All he had left for her now was pure unadulterated hatred. This was mad, ludicrous that she would actually be standing here in front of him like this. He didn’t know what her game was this time, nor did he care.

  “Enough.” He walked to the door and swung it open. He stood to the side, holding it wide. “Get out. Let Finn be your lapdog now, but if you end up hurting him, you’ll have me to deal with and believe me, Reenie, you won’t be enjoying it.”

  “Finn doesn’t need your help. He’s all the man you seem to have forgotten how to be.” Careen picked up whatever dignity she still possessed and stomped out of the office. Gerry stood in the doorway, glaring at her back as she huffed her way past Addie and Cael, brushing her long strands of auburn hair over her shoulder in a gesture of disgust as she walked out the door. Gerry shook his head as he closed the door. Why Careen insisted on making a fool of herself was beyond him, but he was glad Maia had left the bar earlier and hadn’t been around to witness it.

  Gerry ran his hand over the back of his neck. The woman had a way of getting under his skin and he needed complete composure before facing his employees and friends. He knew they would all be curious.

  He walked over to the window again, stood, stared. “Nothing to do,” he muttered. If he mentioned Careen’s visit to Finn, it would only start an argument Gerry didn’t want to have. He liked Finn, was sorry he’d decked the guy earlier, but he’d had it coming. He really didn’t want to hurt him anymore. He hated Careen, though. He hated that she had her claws in Finn, hated that she tried to play him against Finn, hated that the woman even existed. He had to do something about that.

  When he finally had himself calm enough and was certain the flames behind his eyes had dissipated, he left his office to face his employees and wasn’t surprised to find Bart sitting next to Cael. They, meaning just abou
t everyone, all stopped what they were doing and waited for Gerry to speak.

  Gerry ran his hand through his short dark curls and said, “Listen, Maia doesn’t need to hear about this. It won’t help her condition if she gets upset.” When they all only stared at him without saying anything, he added, “There’s nothing to tell anyway.”

  ***

  The night dragged on slower than Addie could ever remember—slower than she thought possible. The first day back at work, she was ready for another vacation, and her feet hurt. She’d been pampered like a queen for a month, walking along soft, powder-like beaches in the Caribbean, and then two weeks later, the most romantic beaches of Bora Bora. This job, which required standing on her feet the entire time, would take getting used to all over again.

  She glanced down toward the other end of the bar where Gerry stood laughing with Nick. Nick was taking a break and Gerry was filling in for him. It wasn’t really all that busy, but Addie figured Gerry needed a small break from his computer and office. It was normally Gerry’s night off, but he said he had paper work to do, plans to make for the future. The idea of adding a stage and musical performances had all the customers buzzing with excitement and speculation about the bands that might perform.

  Addie frowned as she stared at Gerry. What had gone on in his office with that woman? She couldn’t believe Gerry wasn’t going to tell them anything and now she imagined all sorts of things that could have happened, her mind a sexual mélange, swilling around like a merry-go-round at a playground. Of course, she didn’t really think Gerry would cheat on Maia. Addie didn’t know Careen very well, but the woman definitely had her sights on Gerry. Anybody could see that.