False Hope (McKay-Tucker Men Book 2)

by Marianne Rice

  Making sure her blood sugar numbers were in order, she laced up her sneakers and hit the treadmill. It was too hot to run outside, and she didn’t want anyone to see her when the waterworks fell. She needed to get it all out before she talked with Paige. If she or her mother saw any indication of tears in Emma’s eyes, they’d be all over her like a diabetic on a sugar rush. She cringed at the terrible analogy.

  Katie Perry sang in the background while Emma’s legs moved automatically, pushing her further and further, but going nowhere. She had made no progress in accepting her father, his disease, and the possibility of his death. She was the target of someone’s foul play, and she had crazy monkey sex with Mason, who quickly dumped her like an infectious disease. And to make matters worse, they didn’t use protection. Her cycle came and went as regularly as the sun, and thankfully she was due to start her period in two days. No chance of getting pregnant, and she couldn’t imagine Mason having regular unprotected sex. She was sure he had a clean bill of health.

  “Let’s prioritize,” she said aloud to the empty gym. “What sucks the most in my life right now?” Hands down, Mason’s rejection. It was personal, more personal than the crazy stalker person who cut her brakes, since she couldn’t even fathom who it could be. More personal than finding out her birth father raped her mother—that was more painful for her mother than Emma. More personal than finding out her birth father was dying—she didn’t even know the man and didn’t know if she ever wanted to.

  Mason took her trust, her love—no not love, but she could easily have fallen in love with him had he given her the chance—and shred it worse than her favorite pair of pink Victoria’s Secret panties. The tears mingled with her sweat and slowly dripped off her face and onto the treadmill as she ran her last mile to Carrie Underwood’s angry lyrics. No need to heed Carrie’s advice. No need to worry about Mason thinking before he spoke, only before he acted.

  After her workout, she took a quick shower in the locker room and headed home. The black jeep in the driveway made her heart leap, and she smacked her chest telling her heart to stop overreacting. Ignoring the temptation to look inside Cole’s windows, she let herself in her apartment and headed straight for the freezer.

  She barely had time to swallow her first mouthful of iced therapy when she heard the start of an engine and Cole tapping on her back door, letting himself in. “If you were a booger, I’d pick you first,” he spoke softly in her ear.

  Damn him, but he could make her laugh. “That has to be your worst pickup line yet.”

  “I’ve been saving that one for you. I know how you secretly enjoy the disgusting, pigheaded side of me. That and my ass.” He kissed her on the lips and inspected her facial wounds. “Seriously though, you feeling okay, poptart?”

  “Yeah, sure. Other than a few scrapes and bruises.” Emma licked her spoon and put the evidence of a broken heart back in the freezer.

  “Is that why I found you cuddling up with Ben?”

  “And Jerry,” she corrected.

  “Mason came over for dinner. You should have joined us.”

  “You should have asked.”

  “Would you have come over?”

  “Sure. Maybe. I really wasn’t hungry though. I just got back from a workout,” she said.

  “Yeah, I heard.”

  Emma eyed him suspiciously. “What exactly did you hear?”

  “That you did the hanky-panky with my brother.” Cole tousled her hair and helped himself to an apple from the fruit bowl on the counter.

  “Why would he tell you that?” Emma ripped the apple out of his hand and slammed it on the counter.

  “Hey, I was eating that.”

  Emma jabbed her finger into his chest. “Cole Robert Tucker you tell me exactly what that idiot brother of yours said right now!”

  “Wow. The full name. And I thought I was the idiot brother.” Cole picked up the apple took a bite. “You aren’t in high school anymore. I’m not playing ‘he said-she said’ with you.”

  “You pompous, arrogant jackass. I had no intention of having this conversation until you brought it up.”

  “I just wanted to know if it was true.”

  “What, you didn’t believe him? Do the Tucker brothers have a habit of making up stories about their sex lives?”

  “Easy now. Every word you’ve heard about my sex life is one hundred percent true.” Cole winked.

  “Ah! You’re so aggravating. Why exactly did you come over here, Cole?”

  “I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

  “Why wouldn’t I be? What did Mason say?”

  “Now, now. I don’t betray my comrades. On a serious note though, what’s the deal with you two?”

  “Serious? You expect me to have a serious conversation about this with you?” Emma laughed, but there was no humor in it. “Absolutely not. There’s the door. Use it. I’m going to bed.” She looked back at Cole, who was exactly like Mason in every physical way, yet stirred no sexual desire in her.

  “Alone.”

  * * * *

  Not one to mope, her unusual disposition over the past few days caused alarm to her clients and to Harry and Becca.

  Four days after her embarrassing scene at Mason’s, Harry stepped into Emma’s office and gently shut the door. “You know I’m not one to pry, Emma, but I’m worried about you. If I’m putting too much responsibility on you, please let me know. I know diabetics have a tendency to feel worn down when their blood sugar is too high or too low. And on top of that, your accident…”

  Diabetes had been a perfect cover for her mood and aloofness, and she planned on using it as an excuse until she could compartmentalize her feelings. “I’m okay, Harry. Really. And I’m sorry if I’m not up to par this week. I guess the accident took its toll on me. I promise to work harder.”

  “No, gosh no, Emma. I didn’t mean to imply you weren’t working hard enough. You’re practically running the place these days. The old clients love you; the new clients love you. You’re very good at your job. But I don’t want you to be too hard on yourself. Take some more time to recoup. Isn’t that what you tell your clients?” He smiled.

  “Meaning I can dish it out, but I can’t take it?” she teased. “I do make a terrible patient. Thankfully, I didn’t suffer from whiplash like Paige did. She, by the way, is the most adorable patient.” The highlight of her week had been working on Paige’s neck and back. Which didn’t speak highly of her week.

  “You’ll be honest with me, Emma, and let me know if you need some time off?”

  “Absolutely,” she lied.

  Cole had left her alone in the evenings, after he had stopped by Sunday night to deliver the purse Mason had dropped off with him and stick his nose where it didn’t belong. She had waited for Mason to come over and talk to her, but he let Cole do it instead. After Cole left her alone, she ate the entire pint of Cherry Garcia. Good ol’ Ben and Jerry always had a way of soothing her heart.

  Chapter 10

  Thankful to have Connor with her to help her wheel and deal at the local car dealerships, but more thankful to finally settle on a new Nissan, Emma filled out the endless pile of paperwork and signed her savings away to a five-year commitment to the bank. She’d miss her cute, dependable Honda but was excited to have a new car.

  A week had passed since Detective Walker had contacted her, and other than being screwed and dumped—literally and figuratively—by Mason and doing extensive research on Lou Gehrig’s disease, Emma’s life had been pretty quiet. She had opted to stew in her misery alone, but excluding her friends and family from her life added another layer to her already decrepitated heart. And so, minus the Mason incident, she decided to go back to her usual blunt self and lay it all on the line.

  Meg and Connor were visibly shaken by the news that someone had tried to harm their daughter. They needed and wanted to protect Emma so she allowed Connor to hover for the day and play big overbearing father with the car dealerships. She allowed Meg to dote on her a
nd spent Friday afternoon and evening with her mom and little brother and sister. The home-cooked meal and awesome whoopee pies were an added bonus.

  She needed to confide in Paige. She was Emma’s best friend, her confidant, and she didn’t even know Emma had been pining away at Mason, trying to seduce him, and driving him mad at physical therapy and at North Country. Paige had suspected a strong, lustful attraction, but she’d be shocked to hear about the brief—as in minutes—affair last week.

  After giving Connor a big hug and kiss, she drove away in her cute, sporty, new black car. Paige ran out the front door as soon as Emma pulled in to the driveway.

  “Oh, how sexy! I love your car. Congratulations!” She bounced up and down and hugged the new car owner. Oh, how she missed Paige. “It’s perfect for you. Flashy, yet still a little badass and incredibly adorable. Let’s go for a spin.”

  They decided on Mexican and chatted over chips and salsa and sizzling fajitas. This time, Emma checked her blood sugar and covered her extra carbs with insulin before she started eating.

  “So what’s the scoop with you and Mr. Hottie Detective?”

  “Hmm, yes, he has earned his graduation from the Lone Ranger to Hottie Detective. But I don’t know.” Paige twirled her straw in her margarita. “He hasn’t shown any real interest in me. I mean he’s talked to you more than me. I think I’ll just have to dream about him as I fall asleep every night.”

  “Oh, don’t sell yourself short. You should have seen the look on his face when he saw you in the front seat of my banged up car. He called you Paige.” Emma wiggled her eyebrows.

  “That is my name. Not seeing the love connection there.” Paige pouted as she reached for another chip, wrapping the strings of melted, gooey cheese around her finger before bringing it to her mouth.

  “He calls me Miss Fulton and refers to you as Miss Thorne. However, at the scene of the crime—” Paige cringed. “Sorry, at the scene of the accident he used your real name. Because he wants your body,” Emma teased.

  “Yeah, I don’t know, Em. I think you’re catching the romantic bug and are making more out of it than there really is.”

  “You beautiful, little fool. He’s a professional and is doing his job, but he totally wants you. We’ve got to hook up with him off duty so you can work your little love potion on him.”

  Dinner stretched out over the next few hours where they talked about Emma’s father and Paige’s new teaching job and were interrupted from time to time with tactless pickup lines. They’d heard them all before—mostly from Cole—and had they been on a mission to meet men, they’d be flattered. Instead, they were annoyed.

  “Okay, girlfriend, we awed over your new wheels, we made up fantasy stories about my detective, now it’s time to get down and dirty. You have something to dish. You’ve been hedging all night. I’m paying the bill, we’re going back to my place, slapping some mud masks on our face, hanging with a bottle of pinot, and then you’re going to spill.”

  Emma sighed, knowing she’d been had.

  * * * *

  “Oh. My. God. I can’t believe you had wall sex with my cousin.” Paige sipped her wine and eyed Emma, careful not to crack her mud mask. “I think I’m speechless, but I keep talking, even though it’s getting harder and harder to move my jaw. I knew you were acting peculiar around him, but I didn’t connect the dots. Wow. And you’re blushing. I can see it through your facial peel. You never blush when you talk about your guys.”

  “My guys? I haven’t been with a guy in ages. I’m practically a nun.”

  Paige snorted.

  “Well, I was until…until Mason ruined me.”

  “Girlfriend, it sounds like you ruined him as well.”

  Emma stretched out her toes, checking to see if her bright, purple toenail polish had dried and set her near-empty glass on the coffee table. “This is so unlike me. I don’t let emotions fester. I confront them. But I don’t know how to confront Mason. Should I tell him how I feel? Not that I feel much right now. I think it’s just lust.”

  “If it was simply lust, you’d be over it by now and it wouldn’t be keeping you up at night. You have feelings for him that you need to sort out, and he obviously has feelings for you. Em, you need to talk with him.”

  “I will. Soon. But you’re wrong about him. The guy feels nothing. He’s an emotionless rock.” Strong, solid, but unmoving.

  An hour later, Emma returned to her empty house. It felt good to tell Paige everything bothering her, but she still had a hole in her heart. Tomorrow she’d stop by Mason’s and ask him to fill it.

  * * * *

  Being stuck at his computer dealing with fourteen companies’ computer problems should have kept Mason’s mind busy and off of the dark-haired beauty he mauled like an animal in heat. Cole’s indifference to his deception was another distraction. Instead of trying to figure out his brother, Mason avoided everyone. It was much easier that way.

  The knock on his front door startled him. He logged off of his computer, stretched his arms, and cracked his neck. Surprised to see his mirror image standing at his front door he asked, “What are you doing here?”

  Cole laughed. “Not exactly the welcome I expected.” He walked past Mason and plopped himself on the couch. “Came over here to ask you a favor. I figure you owe me.”

  Dreading whatever was coming next, Mason lowered himself on the other end of the couch and dropped his head in his hands.

  “I need you to go on a blind date.”

  “No, no, no.” Mason stood up. “I am not letting down one of your cast-offs by trying to convince her I’m you. I thought you’d be more loyal to—”

  “Take it easy, Mace. She’s not expecting to go out with me. She’s Al’s daughter. I met her one day when I was at the hardware store picking up some piping, and I thought you two would hit it off.”

  “I’m not interested, Cole. I’m not in to blind dates.”

  Ignoring his refusal, Cole said, “She’s meeting you at Maria’s at seven tonight. Name’s Maria. Couldn’t help picking the restaurant. I crack myself up sometimes.” Cole laughed and got to his feet. “Reservation is under your name.” He patted Mason on the shoulder and left, ignoring Mason’s curses.

  Trapped, not wanting to hurt the girl’s feelings, and knowing he owed his brother his life, he showered and dressed in khakis and a navy polo. It wasn’t the poor girl’s fault she made friends with a manipulative, charming bastard. Knowing Cole, Maria was an attractive woman in her twenties looking for a good time and not a commitment. He could deliver the second part but wasn’t so sure about the first.

  “Reservation for Mason Tucker,” he said to the hostess two hours later. She led him to a booth in the back corner where a pretty, little blonde sat sipping a glass of wine.

  “Hi,” Maria said, flashing a beautiful smile. “You’re obviously Mason. There’s no way you can hide that pretty face.” She stood up and kissed him on the cheek.

  “Hi, Maria. It’s, uh, nice to meet you.” Nervous as a teen on a date with a girl way out of his league, Mason concentrated on breathing and tried to recall his list of conversation starters he researched after Cole dumped the favor on his doorstep. “So where are you from?”

  Before she spoke, their waiter came by to take their order. “Can you come back in five minutes? I haven’t had a chance to read through the menu,” Maria said. Yet she had time to order and drink half her wine before he showed up. Where did Cole find these women?

  Maria rattled off her story of being an army brat, never living in the same area for more than two years. He listened intently, politely adding in little noises and simple questions to reassure her he was interested in what she had to say. In Maria’s defense, she was pretty and easy to listen to, but she didn’t have the long, dark hair or the piercing blue eyes he’d daydreamed about.

  “So what’s your story, Mason? I know a little about your brother and all he’s told me about you is that you’re the exact opposite of him.”

 
“Yeah. Pretty much sums it up.”

  “You haven’t lived here for a while, or I’d have bumped into you by now.”

  “I’ve been living in New York.”

  “Oh, why did you come back?”

  He’d asked himself the same thing many times. He told his family it was because he didn’t like the city life and traveling, but he knew it wasn’t the truth. Mason fed Maria the same lie.

  “Oh, that’s sweet. So what kind of work do you do now?”

  “Computers. Software.” She stared at him, expecting more of an answer, but he wasn’t one to elaborate.

  “Wow. Cool.” Maria glanced over his shoulder and smiled. “Oh, look who’s here!” Maria stood up and greeted Cole with a kiss on his cheek. “And you must be Emma.” They shook hands while Mason glared at his brother.

  “Hey, you two. I didn’t mean to interrupt. Emma and I just came out to grab a bite to eat.” Cole sat next to Maria. “Mind if we join you?”

  “Oh, we were about to order. Perfect timing. Emma, sit down and join us,” Maria said with more excitement than seemed necessary.

  He felt Emma’s reluctance but didn’t acknowledge her. His glare didn’t leave his brother’s face. Her left leg brushed up against his, and he felt her quickly pull away. Not that he could blame her. The waiter came by and took their order. Amazingly, Maria ordered without picking up the menu.

  “Emma, Cole tells me you’re a physical therapist. Where did you go to school?” Maria seemed to know a lot about his happy little family, yet this was the first he’d ever heard of her.

  “Uh, yeah. I went to Northeastern.”

  “Wow. Very impressive. And how long have you lived in Newhall?”

  Emma started to speak when Maria opened her purse and took out her cell phone. “Oh, excuse me. I have a call I must take.” She got up and walked away from the table to talk in private.

  “What are you doing?” he growled at his brother.

  “Eating dinner. Well, I will be when they bring out my lasagna. Why, what’s wrong?” Cole attempted to look innocent, but Mason knew his brother better than anyone else. Not wanting to make Emma any more uncomfortable than she already was, Mason stayed mute.