“O
H
,
COME ON
, F
AITH
. One drink won’t hurt you.”
Faith eyed her date with dislike. “I already had a glass of wine. Why are you so anxious for me to drink more?” If he thought alcohol would make her easier, which she suspected he did, he had another think coming.
“Because you’re the most uptight woman I’ve ever taken out. You need to loosen up.”
Not in this lifetime. And not with this loser. “Look, Brent, why don’t we call this a wash and you take me home?” She glanced around for the waitress but, not surprisingly, couldn’t find her. A four-star restaurant it was not.
This made two dates for two that had been less than fun. Not a good start to getting back “out there.” Was this all there was?
To be fair, her first date hadn’t been as bad as this one, but she hadn’t enjoyed it all that much, either. And Brian had cured her of wanting to date him again, when he’d implied the man was only out to seduce her. But that wasn’t the real problem. No, the real problem was no man was going to measure up to the one she really wanted to be with.
Firmly, she turned her thoughts away from him. He was the reason she’d gone out with this guy in the first place. She was trying to forget about Brian, but instead she’d done nothing but think of him all night. Damn it.
But just because she had to forget about Brian didn’t mean she had to endure Mr. Buff but Boring here. “Take me home, Brent,” she repeated.
Half an hour later, she got in his car and breathed a sigh of relief. Damn Brian for being right. She should never have gone out with a man she’d met over produce. But no, she’d been determined to go so she could prove Brian wrong. Hah.
Glancing out the window she realized they were nowhere near the highway that went to Aransas City. “Where are you going? I thought you were taking me home.”
He shot her an insufferable grin. “Relax, baby. Just one more quick stop and then I’ll take you home.” He winked. “Unless you want to come to my place instead.”
“I’ll pass. I don’t want to go anywhere else. Please just take me home.”
He scowled at her and kept driving in the same direction. Away from Aransas City. Nothing she said—and she said a lot—got through to him. Finally, he pulled into the parking lot of a seedy-looking bar named the Rusty Nail.
Oh, fun. Just what she wanted. To go to a dive with a complete jerk. “Are you crazy? I want to go home.”
“One drink. Then I’ll take you home.”
She didn’t believe him for a minute. But she didn’t like the looks of the parking lot, so she decided to go inside and call a cab from there. Enough was enough. She pushed her door open, got out and stalked inside ahead of her would-be lover boy. She hoped Brian was asleep when she got home. She didn’t want him to have a clue as to just how bad her date had turned out.
D
AMN
,
TWENTY
-
ONE LOSSES
in a row. That had to be a new record. Brian sighed and checked the time on the computer. Two minutes later than the last time he’d checked. Good God, he needed to get a life.
He got up, opened the door of his office and listened for the babies, but they weren’t making a sound. Still exhausted from the party the night before, he figured, since they’d both been tired and cranky all day.
The TV was on in the den but all he heard was a low murmur of voices. Roxy was in there watching a movie she’d brought with her, some kind of comedy. She was babysitting Lily while Faith was out on her date.
Brian had met the guy when he came to pick up Faith. Not much to write home about in his opinion, but once the door closed behind them his niece had sighed and said he looked like McSteamy, whoever the hell that was. Some dude on a TV show he didn’t think her parents knew she watched. Whatever. According to Roxy, the gym rat was hot.
He wondered if Faith thought so.
Roxy had asked him if he wanted to watch the movie with her after the babies went to bed, but he’d begged off, saying he had work to do on his computer. Some work.
God knows he needed to work. He had paperwork coming out his ears. He’d tried to take care of it but it just wasn’t happening. Instead, he’d been playing Spider Solitare all night long, and losing. Probably because his mind really wasn’t on the stupid computer card game.
He wondered if Faith was having fun. If she was steaming up the windows with the steamy gym rat. If she was letting the guy hold her, touch her…Shit, why torture himself? He ought to put Faith and what she might or might not be doing out of his mind.
He closed the door and walked to the window. Pushed aside the blind and peeked out, but since it was dark—and his office window faced the backyard—he couldn’t see anything. He ought to turn his thoughts to Corinna. She of the amazingly supple and curvaceous body. Corinna, who, after he’d broken down and called her for a date for Saturday night, had intimated he could be in for a night of truly unforgettable sex. He’d decided to hell with a woman’s brain. Faith had one and look where that had gotten him.
Playing Spider Solitaire on his computer on a Friday night waiting for the nanny to come home. Can you spell
loser?
he asked himself. With a capital
L
.
The phone rang, but he didn’t bother to answer it. Roxy would have the cordless right beside her. Besides, it was probably Faith calling to check on Lily and he didn’t want to talk to Faith right now.
A minute or so later Roxy tapped on the door. “Uncle Brian?”
“Come in,” he called.
She walked in holding out the cordless phone. “Faith wants to talk to you.” He took it from her and she added in a stage whisper, “She sounds funny.”
“What’s wrong?” he barked into the receiver.
“Nothing’s wrong. Except…uh, I’m going to be a bit later than I’d planned. I’d told Gail I’d have Roxy back early and I won’t be able to make it home for a while yet.”
“Why?”
She floundered until he wondered if she’d ever spit it out. A disturbing thought occurred to him, but he dismissed it almost as soon as he had it. No way would Faith spend the night with some guy she barely knew.
Finally, she sighed and said, “I’m waiting for a cab. I’m not sure how long it’s going to take and I’m in Corpus so even if one gets here it will be a while.”
A cab? She’d called a cab? For an instant his mind blanked, then he saw red. “What did that sorry son of a bitch do to you?”
Roxy gasped and her eyes widened.
Damn, he’d forgotten she was there. “You didn’t hear that,” he told her, wishing she’d leave the room and knowing she wouldn’t. “Faith, what happened? Are you all right? Is he drunk, is that the problem?”
“I’m fine. I just…needed a cab. I’ll explain it when I get home. The cab’s pulling up right now.” She hung up before he could say anything else.
“What’s going on, Uncle Brian?” Roxy asked, her eyes big.
“Trouble, that’s what,” he said grimly. Within minutes, the phone rang again and he answered. “I’m coming to get you,” he said, before Faith could say anything.
“Thanks. I hate to ask, but I don’t know what else to do. I feel like a fool but the cab driver won’t bring me that far without the fare up-front and I don’t have that much on me.”
He paced away and turned his back to Roxy. “Where the hell are you?”
“At a club in Corpus. Let me go inside and ask the bartender for directions. I really don’t know where it is.”
A few moments later she gave him an address in a not-so-great part of town.
“I’ll call Jay and have him come stay with Roxy and the babies and then I’ll be there. Are you at the bar?”
“Yes. The bartender is very nice. He’s the one who—Well, never mind. He’s nice, though.”
“Good. Just stay put until I get there. And don’t, for God’s sake, go outside again until I come in and get you.” What was she doing in what was undoubtedly a dive? In that part of town, she’d get mugged or worse waiting for him outside.
He disconnected then dialed his brother immediately, hanging up again after Jay promised to come right over.
He looked up to find Roxy staring at him. “I guess you figured out from my end of the conversation that I have to go pick up Faith.”
Roxy nodded, her eyes still huge. “Is Faith hurt, Uncle Brian?”
She’d better not be or her date was a dead man. But he didn’t want to scare Roxy—no more than he already had. “I don’t think so. She said she was fine.”
“Then why do you have to go get her?” Roxy asked reasonably. “Is her date drunk? Is that why?”
He rubbed the back of his neck. Where was Jay? He was Roxy’s stepfather; he should be the one explaining shit like this to the kid. “I’m not sure. Maybe. He might not be willing to give her the keys to drive home. Men do stupid things like that sometimes.”
Roxy nodded wisely. “I know. My mom told me all about that and what I’m s’posed to do if that happens to me when I start dating.”
“You’re way too young to date.” Didn’t he have enough to worry about without thinking of his niece going off with some creep? In a car?
“I know. Mom says I can date at sixteen, but Jay and Daddy don’t like that idea.” She rolled her eyes and giggled. “They both said, ‘absolutely not,’ but Mom said we’d see.” She shot him a mischievous glance. “I expect Mom will win, though. She usually does.”
Brian barely repressed a shudder. “That’s your parents’ business. But if you ever get into trouble or a situation you can’t handle, you call your dad or Jay or me and we’ll come get you. Okay?”
“’Kay.” She fell silent a moment, then asked curiously, “Are you gonna kick his ass, Uncle Brian?”
Brian laughed. The kid had ears like a bat. She’d probably heard his brother or her father say that when they didn’t know she was listening. “That depends on what he did. But yeah, if he hurt Faith I’m going to kick his ass from here into next week.”
T
HE DOOR TO THE BAR
slammed open and a man stood silhouetted against the night. Faith sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly. Brian. Looking like the ultimate romantic fantasy. All he lacked was the fiery steed. Tall, dark, dangerous…and mad as hell. It depressed her, but didn’t surprise her that her first response to seeing him was a tsunami of pure, unadulterated lust.
And after the lust came embarrassment that she’d had to call him to come to her rescue.
His gaze zeroed in on her like a laser and seconds later, he stood in front of her. She reminded herself that it wasn’t a crime not to have the fifty-buck cab fare she needed to get home. Raising her chin, she met his gaze head-on.
“Are you all right?” He managed to infuse the words with a wealth of meaning.
“I told you on the phone, I’m fine.”
Thank God
. She pulled her jacket closer around herself.
“Where is he?” Faith simply stared at him. “The gym rat. Where is he?”
“Yo. You botherin’ my girl there?”
“It’s all right, Joe,” Faith said hastily. “He’s a friend of mine.”
Joe looked Brian up and down, then shrugged. “You gonna take Faith home, man?”
Brian flicked the bartender a glance before fixing his gaze on her again. “Yeah. After I find someone.”
Joe, a six-foot-five white man with a gold tooth to match the gold chains hanging around his neck, swabbed down the bar with a grimy rag. “If you’re lookin’ for the dude who was hassling her, you ain’t gonna find him here. My bouncer threw that jackass out.” He gave Brian a measured look. “Good thing, because if you think you’re gonna bust up my bar, think again.”
“No, of course he won’t,” Faith said. “Thank you so much, Joe.” She slipped him a twenty, all she had on her. That was the last time she went on a date without at least fifty in cash. “You’ve been very kind.”
He waved a hand. “Comes with the job, honey. But thanks for the tip.”
Someone shouted for the bartender. “I’m busy, dip-wad,” he yelled back. “Hold on to your panties.” He sighed and shook his head. “Pretty lady, do me a favor and don’t come back. You don’t belong here.”
“I know. Don’t worry.” She slid off the bar stool and stood. No, the Rusty Nail was definitely not her type of place.
Brian put his hand under her arm and propelled her to the door. “I’m sorry you had to come get me. The cab driver absolutely refused to take me to Aransas City without the money up-front.”
“The question is, Faith, why did you need a cab in the first place?” He’d stopped in the doorway and stood there like the Rock of Gibraltar, clearly not budging until she answered him to his satisfaction.
“For the usual reasons.” A man came through the door and jostled her, shoving her against Brian and cursing her for getting in his way.
Brian’s arm came around her in a steel grip. “Back off,” he snarled and, after a considering look, the man left them alone. “Come on,” he said to Faith, his arm still holding her tight against his side.
She really, really wished it didn’t feel so good to be near him.
Brian halted, unmoving, and stared at her, his gaze riveted to her chest. Her jacket had opened, and her brand-new pink blouse could be seen—ripped to expose her sheer white lacy bra. Her quick fix in the ladies’ room obviously hadn’t held. Hastily, she jerked the jacket closed again, but it was way too late.