I’d had the best day yesterday, and not only because I rode on a motorcycle for the first time in years. My great mood had more to do with the company I’d had than anything else.
If you’d have told me a month ago—or, hell, even a week and a half ago—that I could have so much fun with the moody, broody Xander Caine, I’d have laughed in your face and questioned your sanity.
But that was exactly what had happened. I’d had fun. And a whole hell of a lot of it.
“Morning, Rox,” I greeted as I moved through the front lobby toward the hall.
“Mornin’, honey,” she returned. “You have yourself a good weekend?”
I looked back with a dreamy grin and replied, “The best,” just before I rounded the corner toward my office. Dropping my purse and coffee on my desk, I turned and started for the control room.
It had been less than twelve hours since I last saw him, but, as weird as it may have seemed, I actually missed him.
When I’d stopped for coffee at Muffin Top earlier, I saw a flyer for a trivia night that was happening at The Tap Room tonight, and I had the best idea.
I entered the control room and moved straight for Xander. “Morning, big guy,” I said as I reached his desk and hopped up.
He looked from where I was sitting to my face. “You really don’t have any issues with boundaries or personal space, do you?”
“Nope,” I answered, giving him a little wink that made him roll his eyes. “So, I had a great idea this morning, and I couldn’t wait to tell you.”
“Yeah? And what’s that?” he asked while turning back to his computer screen to resume pounding away on his keyboard. He might have asked, but his tone made it sound like it was only out of politeness, not because he cared. I chalked it up to being early in the morning, and let it go as I continued, “They’re having trivia night at The Tap Room tonight, and you’re gonna be my partner,” I announced cheerfully.
That got me another bland, less-than-thrilled look. “Pass.”
“Oh come on!” I cried, giving his big shoulder a shove. It’ll be so much fun.”
“Not gonna happen, Shortcake.”
“But I need you in case there are any nerdy tech-geek questions. And it’s for a good cause. One dollar of every drink sold tonight is going toward getting Hope House state of the art computers.”
Hope House was a home Cord and his girl, Rory, had opened a couple months back. Everything that led to them opening that home had happened before I hit Hope Valley, but, this being a small town full of people who talked, I’d heard the story.
Rory’s bar had been vandalized a while back, and when Cord found the assailant, they were both shocked to discover it was just a boy. He’d been living in foster care in deplorable conditions for far too long, and when they found out, Rory’s head had nearly exploded. She did what she needed to do to foster the kid and had eventually moved to adopt him. But after seeing how he and his foster siblings had lived, they’d started a foundation and built Hope House so kids without families could have somewhere safe to live.
It was a great cause, and after I learned their whole story, it made me respect Cord and Rory—two people I already liked—that much more.
“If you don’t want to do it for me, do it for the kids,” I pleaded. “Just think. You could be the difference in whether or not those kiddos get new computers. If you don’t come tonight, you could be depriving some young computer geek of his passion. And as a computer geek yourself, that’s sacrilege.”
Pushing back in his chair, he blew out a frustrated breath and raked a hand through his hair. “You aren’t gonna drop this ’til I agree, are you?”
My smile was positively giddy. “You know me so well. So does that mean you’ll be my trivia buddy?”
“Fine,” he relented unhappily, but I ignored his sourness and let out a little cheer, hopping off the desk to lean in and hug him, planting a loud, smacking kiss on his bearded cheek.
“Thank you so much. You’re the best!”
What I’d failed to notice in my excitement as I skipped away was that my embrace and that one small kiss had frozen Xander to his chair.
And because I missed that, I also missed the way the black in his eyes grew impossibly darker as those shadows exploded through the surface.
* * *
Trivia night started at eight thirty, giving everyone plenty of time to get off work and do what needed to be done before heading to the bar.
I decided to get there early so I could get Xander’s and my names in and find us a table. When I made it to the entrance of The Tap Room, I saw a long table set up just outside the doors where teams could register.
Rory was standing behind it, with Nona beside her, sprawled out on a chair with her hands on her growing belly, looking miserable as hell.
The moment Rory spotted me, she smiled big. “Hey, babe. I didn’t know you were coming tonight.” She rounded the table, bypassed the crowd gathered around signing up for tonight’s event, and pulled me into a big hug. “Great to see you.”
I returned her embrace, loving how open and friendly everyone I’d met over the past few weeks was. “Good to see you too.”
The group of people in front of us shifted, making an opening so I could get to the table.
“Hey, doll,” Nona said with a small wave. “I’d come around to hug you, too, but I’m about a million months pregnant with ankles the size of elephant trunks, so I’m not moving.”
I gave her a sympathetic look. “It’s all right, honey. You stay where you are, and we’ll hug it out the next time you’re on your feet.”
“So are you just here to watch, or are you participating tonight?” Rory asked.
“Oh, I’m totally participating. I’m gonna make this trivia night my bitch.”
She and Nona both laughed. “Awesome. Do you need a team? Eden, Tempie, Linc, and Hayes are playing. Marco and Gypsy had a thing at the kids’ school tonight, so they couldn’t make it, and Trick and Cord are working the event with us. If you want, you can join their foursome. Teams can be anywhere from two to five people.”
I bent down and started scrawling mine and Xander’s names on the clipboard. “I’m all set, but thanks.”
“Xander Caine?” Nona asked, her eyes going round as she leaned forward and read what I’d written. “Xander’s on your team?”
“Yeah. He’s meeting me here in a little bit.” My head tipped to the side in confusion at her dumbfounded expression. “Why?”
“It’s just . . . Wow,” she said on a big exhale. “I’m just surprised. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen him in here. From what I know of him, he’s a nice guy, but he’s kind of a loner.”
“And way scary,” Rory added.
My back went stiff, and I grew offended on his behalf. Rationally, I knew they didn’t mean anything by their comments, but before I could stop myself my mouth opened and the words poured out in Xander’s defense.
“He’s not scary. He’s actually a really sweet guy. He’s just . . . private. We’ve gotten to be friends, and there’s a lot more to him than you would’ve guessed.”
The women gave each other a knowing look before turning their attention back to me. Nona’s face split into a huge grin. Rory’s was much smaller, but still packed the same punch.
“What?” I asked, feeling leery all of a sudden. “What are you guys smiling at.”
“Nothing,” Nona said on a shrug.
“We’re just glad you two are hanging out,” Rory added. “It’s nice.”
“Yeah.” Nona leaned forward, resting her arms on her protruding belly. “And maybe scary was the wrong word. He’s . . . intimidating. But even then, I’ve always thought that man was fine as hell in that tall, dark, mysterious way.”
“Definitely hot,” Rory said, agreeing quickly. “And you’re so little, I bet you guys look adorable together.”
Oh hell. “It’s not like that,” I blurted quickly, feeling my cheeks begin to heat. “We’re just friends.”<
br />
Did I love spending time with him now that he wasn’t being the world’s biggest jackass? Yes. Did I think he was one of the most gorgeous men I’d ever laid eyes on? Definitely. Had I started having hot dreams at night, featuring a certain bearded man doing deliciously naughty things to me until I came so hard I screamed myself hoarse? Maybe.
Yes, I wanted him like crazy, and the better I got to know him, the stronger that desire grew. But it didn’t matter.
After John, I’d given up on men.
“Uh huh.” Rory let out a giggle. “Keep telling yourself that, babe.”
I shot my friends a scowl. “I will. And I’m going inside before you two get anymore crazy ideas in your heads.”
“See you later, doll,” Nona called as I started inside. “And don’t worry. We’ll send Xander to you the moment he arrives.”
I gave them both a killing look over my shoulder that I knew had no effect since my lips were tugged up in a smile, and moved inside, secretly counting down the minutes until Xander arrived.
Because no matter how much time I spent with him, it never seemed to be enough.
* * *
I hit the button on my phone, bringing the screen to life so I could check the clock and see if any texts had come through in the past five minutes since the last time I checked.
Still nothing.
Xander was late.
No, that wasn’t right. Xander had been late forty-five minutes ago, which was five minutes after the trivia contest started. And he’d been late ten minutes after that. Now, forty-five minutes into a competition in which he was supposed to be my partner, it was clear he wasn’t late. Oh no, that asshole stood me up.
I didn’t care that I was sitting in the middle of an insanely packed bar at a table all alone. I had no problem doing things by myself. It was the fact that my friends had been giving me pitying glances for the past thirty minutes or so as I waited for a man who was never going to show that made me feel fifty kinds of foolish.
Obviously Nona and Rory had told Eden and Tempie about my trivia partner, and the longer I sat by myself, the sadder their looks got.
Turning from Eden’s latest sympathetic glance, I cast my eyes down to my lap where I had my hands clenched into tight fists. The silver bangles on my left wrist glinted in the light, and I stared down at them, incensed at what they represented.
I hadn’t thought about it as I was getting ready earlier, but now that I had the time—thanks to one bearded bastard bailing on me and ignoring all my texts—it hit me that I’d gone all out in an effort to look nice tonight.
I’d forgone my standard jeans for my favorite pair of faux leather leggings. The white V-neck tee I was wearing was simple, but I’d layered on a bunch of silver necklaces, slid on a bunch of bangles, and added some chunky red earrings to amp the look up.
All that paired with black, high-heeled suede booties, a good compromise between my motorcycle boots and a pair of stilettos. And they had the added effect of giving me an extra four inches of height while keeping my feet warm in the chilly temps outside.
My hair was hanging long and wild down my back, and while I’d gone subtle on my eyeshadow, I’d used a liquid eyeliner in black for that cool winged effect.
The whole look was me, but in a fun, flirty way, and I’d done it all for him.
So stupid.
I was pulled from my unpleasant thoughts as a cheer rang out through the bar signaling teams getting another question right. I’d been so lost in my own head, I hadn’t been paying attention to the questions Cord was throwing out.
Deciding enough was enough, I stood, grabbed my cool-as-hell distressed leather moto jacket I’d slung over the back of my chair, and slipped it on before moving toward the bar.
“Hey, I’m heading out,” I said to Rory, pulling a twenty out of my purse and sliding it across the bar top. “I planned on having more drinks, but since that didn’t happen, here’s my contribution to Hope House.”
She reached out and took the money with a tender look. “Oh, honey. You don’t have to leave. Stay up here. We can chat and hang out for a while. Or go join up with Eden and Tempie. You could still have fun.”
“Maybe next time.”
She leaned onto her elbows and dropped her voice low enough for only me to hear. “I don’t want you to go home and wallow. That’s the worst thing you could do right now. Wallowing leads to ice cream which leads to snack cakes, which leads to not being able to fit into those badass pants you’re wearing. Trust me, that’s a road best left untraveled.
I appreciated her advice, but I wasn’t one to wallow. I never had been. I’d taken all the licks life had given me, picked myself up by my bootstraps, and moved the fuck on.
I hooked my purse on my shoulder and took a step back. “I’m not wallowing, so you don’t have to worry. Right now, I’m going to find that dickhead who stood me up and kick his ass.”
Her mouth split into a huge grin just before she knocked her knuckles on the scarred wooden bar. “Then give him hell, babe. You look hot tonight. Make him regret not being here to enjoy all that you’re rockin’.”
Oh, I planned on it.
After I ripped him a new one.
Chapter Fourteen
Sage
As I pulled up to Xander’s cabin, the only light I could see for miles came from the moon and my baby’s headlights.
The house was pitch black, not a single light to be seen.
I kept the engine running and the headlights burning to light my way as I climbed out and stomped up the front porch steps. I banged on the front door then waited, getting nothing in response.
I knocked a second time and pressed my ear to the door, listening for sounds from the other side.
The place was empty.
I turned to start back to my car when I heard something clicking against the rough wooden boards of the porch.
My heart leapt into my throat, and I was just about to take off at a dead run when I saw Bear come around the corner.
“Hey, boy,” I said gently, going down to a crouch. He opened his mouth wide in a doggy yawn that ended in a high-pitched whine before loping over to me and falling to his butt right between my legs. “I’m sorry, cutie. Did I wake you up?”
He lifted a big paw and gave his ear a slow, lazy scratch.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to. I was just looking for your daddy so I could kill him. But don’t worry,” I added, running my fingers through his soft, surprisingly tangle-less fur. “When he’s gone, you can come live with me.”
He let out a little chuffing woof, and I took that to mean he was on board with that. Giving him one last scratch, I stood to my full height and started down the steps. As I headed for my car, I ran through all the places he could possibly be. I knew he wasn’t a fan of crowds, but I recalled the conversation with Gypsy at The Tap Room a while back where she’d mentioned he preferred a bar called Rebels.
It was a long shot, but it was the only one I had, and I was still pissed enough to follow it.
It was one thing not to want to hang out, but I knew for a fact he’d read each and every message I’d sent him earlier, asking where he was. Each one had that “read” status underneath them, so he’d not only seen them, but had purposely decided not to reply, leaving me hanging when all he had to do was shoot me a reply saying he wasn’t going to make it.
That was just common courtesy, and as his friend, I felt I’d earned at least that much from him.
Not having the first clue where Rebels was, I pulled my phone from the cupholder where it was resting and did a search. Twenty minutes later I was pulling into the parking lot of a seedy biker bar on the outskirts of town.
As I parked beneath one of the only lights not burned out in the lot, the first thing I saw was an overweight dude in a black leather vest giving it to a woman, who could only be described as a bar skank, against the side of the seedy brick building.
“Jesus Christ,” I muttered under my breath as I turne
d away from the nauseating display to the front of the building.
It definitely wasn’t much to write home about. Both of the Es and the S of the red neon sign that were supposed to spell out the name were burned out, and the corrugated metal awning that covered the front door looked like all it would take to bring it down was a small breeze. The parking lot was littered with broken beer and liquor bottles, and I got the distinct impression I’d need a tetanus booster just to step foot in this place.
But I was there on a mission, and I wouldn’t be led off course.
Grabbing my purse, I pulled my ID from my wallet, stashed the bag beneath the front seat, and climbed out, locking my baby up and stuffing my keys and license into my jacket pocket.
Stomping toward the entrance, my anger grew with every click of my heels against the blacktop. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been this mad.
Sometimes guys could be jerks, and this wasn’t the first time I’d been stood up, but this one really pissed me off. And honestly, I wasn’t even sure why I was so mad.
No, that was a lie. I knew why. It was the same reason I’d taken such care selecting my outfit for the evening. I just wasn’t going to allow myself to think about it at that moment.
The guy manning the door gave me a top-to-toe look as I got closer. “Not sure this place is your scene, baby,” he said when I got close.
“Not sure you have the first clue what my scene is, baby,” I fired back, pulling out my ID and passing it his way.
He took it and scanned the information before looking back to me. “You’re in the mood to slum it tonight, I’d be more that happy to give you a ride you won’t forget if you come back in a few hours. But I’m tellin’ you now, this isn’t the place for you.”
I snatched my license from his hand and planted my hands on my hips, giving him a look that said I most definitely wasn’t in the mood to be fucked with. “You gonna move out of my way or not?”
The guy studied me for a few more seconds before muttering, “Your funeral,” and stepping out of my way.
Out of the Darkness: a Hope Valley novel Page 11