The Bargain (19 page)

Michael set each drink in front of its respective owner, pretending he didn’t notice the looks they were giving him. “Margarita, gin and tonic, house ale, and club soda with a twist of lime,” he finished, sliding it before an attractive blonde who had an air of authority about her and was likely the ringleader of the group.

The blonde shook her head and switched the drinks. “That’s hers,” she corrected him with a coy smile and a nod of her head to one of her companions. “She’s the designated driver. Unless, of course — ” Here she leaned closer to Michael, “someone else winds up taking me home tonight.”

Her friends giggled into their drinks.

Michael gave the blonde a polite but indifferent smile. “Not your first round of drinks tonight, is it, ladies?”

There were more smirks and appraising glances.

Michael subtly extracted his arm from the grasp of one of the four giggly women and took a step back and out of their reach. “Enjoy your drinks,” he said politely, and then he turned around to head back to the bar —

And froze as brilliant coppery hair caught his eye and he met Shannon’s gaze where she stood just inside the doorway.

She lifted one hand in a half-hearted flicker of a wave, her expression uncertain and uneasy.

Michael blinked at her in shock and might have stood there staring even longer if a passing customer hadn’t bumped into him and jolted him back to awareness. Finding his voice at last, he wound his way around a couple of tables and stopped in front of her. “Shannon?” Her unexpected presence there sent a wave of pure pleasure through him so sharp it was almost painful.

She shoved her hands into the front pockets of her jeans and dropped her eyes to his chest. “Hi.”

Her hair was down around her shoulders, which reminded him immediately of the evening they spent together in the high school parking lot. And of the kiss before that. His pulse grew erratic. “Why — what are you doing here?”

Her eyes darted up to meet his briefly, then dropped again. “I, uh … there’s something I need to — I mean — ”

A group of happy customers a few tables over erupted in hoots and guffaws at something one of them did, and whatever else Shannon said was drowned out. Michael bent closer to try and hear her. “What?”

She took a deep breath. “I said — ”

But more noise interrupted her. “Here,” Michael said, putting a hand on the small of her back to steer her toward the back room. “Come with me.”

She jumped at the contact, and Michael quickly let his hand fall away from her. He gestured ahead instead, and she moved in that direction. His eyes followed her every movement even as he followed her: the way she kept nervously brushing her hair back behind one ear, the way each step drew his attention to the natural motion of her hips … He tore his eyes away from them a second before she glanced furtively over her shoulder at him.

What was she doing here?

Michael closed the door behind them once they were inside the makeshift office, shutting out the noise of the bar. The size of the room made it impossible to put much space between the two of them, so he remained by the door while Shannon hovered by the wall farthest from him. She seemed tense, and he racked his brain trying to figure out what reason she might have for tracking him down like this instead of simply calling. It would have to be something important, something —

He stiffened. “Did something happen? Is Drew okay?”

Shannon turned away from the wall to face him. Sort of. Her eyes looked everywhere but at his, and her hands remained rigidly in her pockets. “Drew’s fine. Everything’s fine.”

“Oh,” he said with relief but also confusion. He was back to square one then. “Okay. I just figured … I’m just surprised to see you here.”

“Yeah,” she acknowledged, her voice strained. “I Googled you, and … ” She swallowed hard as if her mouth had grown suddenly dry. “Nice place.”

“Thanks. Small business, backbone of America, right?”

She made a noncommittal sort of sound, and then she began biting her bottom lip. His eyes fixated on that tiny action, and an image of him sweeping his desk clear and bringing her down on top of it suddenly flickered into his mind. He forced it out again and crossed his arms over his chest in an attempt to keep his hands out of trouble.

Shannon leaned back against the wall as if for support. “So,” she said finally. “The dedication ceremony was yesterday.”

Michael nodded grimly.

“It was nice. It’s going to be a good place, Michael. Your parents would like it.”

“I hope you’re right.”

She scuffed at some invisible mark on the floor with the toe of her shoe. “Drew gave a good speech,” she continued softly.

“I’m sure he did.” A new image popped into his head then, one of his brother and Shannon at the ceremony. Had their eyes met during his speech? Had they exchanged special smiles meant only for each other? Michael’s stomach turned suddenly queasy, and he mentally berated himself. Who was he to get jealous and possessive? She was with the man she should be with, and it was for the best. But the words just seemed to refuse to sink in no matter how many times he repeated them in his head. Just a few more minutes, he told himself. Just a few more minutes of hanging on to whatever slim bit of his resolve remained, and then she would say whatever she had come to say and leave. He could fake nonchalance for a little longer, couldn’t he? He forced a smile onto his face and spoke with false cheerfulness. “So, you two — ”

She shook her head. “No.”

That single word sent a sudden rush of pleasure and relief through him, and he was grateful her eyes remained downcast so he had time to wipe those feelings from his expression before she could see them.
Bastard. Don’t you want her to be happy?
“You aren’t? Why not?”

Then she finally did look up at him, and her eyes were filled with what he had fantasized about seeing there since the day he said goodbye to her on her deck. Her eyes were filled with him.

Oh, hell, he thought with despair.

• • •

Shannon held Michael’s gaze long enough to see his eyes widen with realization, and then she was forced to look down again, too overwhelmed by her nerves to maintain eye contact. All in all, this was actually going better than she had expected. She hadn’t thrown up yet, or passed out. And it looked like she didn’t have to worry about finding the right words to tell him anymore, which was good since none of the speeches she had considered during the drive here belonged anywhere outside of a soap opera. But it would be nice if he would say something.

Anything.

“Shannon … ” he said finally, his voice faltering and strained.

She shrugged without looking up and managed a shaky laugh even though her insides were churning. “Yeah, I know. Go figure, huh?”

“Sweetheart, you — this is a mistake. You’re just confused.”

She swallowed again and made herself look him in the eye. “I’m not confused.”

His own eyes were still wide, and much of the color had drained from his face. “Yes, you are,” he insisted, his jaw twitching. “Drew’s the one you want. He’s what you’ve wanted since high school, right? You said so yourself.”

“I was wrong.”

“No, you weren’t. Drew’s the good brother. He’s grounded, he’s dependable, he’s — ”

“He’s not the one I want,” she said softly, her heart pounding. If she thrust her hands any deeper into her pockets, she’d put holes in them.

Michael ran his hands through his hair and started pacing, difficult to do in a room this small. Her attention followed him as she tried to interpret his reaction. Well, it wasn’t pity at least. She was sure of that. Unfortunately, it didn’t look a whole lot like the rapture of a man in love, either, she thought with a sinking feeling.

“Damn it, this is all my fault,” he muttered more to himself than to her, his expression one of obvious distress.

Shannon blinked, startled. She had imagined this conversation taking many different turns, but this was not one of them. “I beg your pardon?”

“It was the kiss, wasn’t it? That night at the park. I should never have kissed you. I shouldn’t have — damn it, I got your head all mixed up, that’s all. Don’t you see that?”

“What?”

He swore under his breath. “You were doing just fine before I came along.”

“Not really, I wasn’t.”

“Well you were seeing things a lot more clearly than you are now. I just … ” Michael shook his head and stopped pacing only to slump back against the door, looking for all the world like he’d been given the worst news of life.

In the midst of all the stomach-turning emotions going on inside her, Shannon felt a flicker of irritation. What did he have to get so upset about? She was the one going out on a limb here, after all, not him. “You just what?”

“I … ” He gestured helplessly. “You don’t really want me. Trust me.”

“I don’t really want you,” she repeated slowly. Her tone got cooler, but he didn’t seem to notice.

“No, you don’t. You just
think
you do, because — ”

“Because … you dazzled me?” Her irritation grew, loosening her tongue. Did
everyone
believe she was an impressionable idiot?

“Maybe. I don’t know.” He sighed. “I mean, you were inexperienced — ”

“Inexperienced, sure. Not stupid!”

Michael looked up at her, startled, and took a hesitant step toward her as if to calm her down. “Shannon — ”

“Oh, shut up!” She yanked her hands out of her pockets and gave him a shove in the middle of his chest that sent him staggering back against the door. “You jerk! You really think you’re ‘all that,’ don’t you?”

If possible, his eyes grew even wider. “No, it’s just — ” He tried again to go to her.

She shoved him away again. “You really think I’m such a bumpkin all you had to do was smile and I’d be swept off my feet? I’m such a wallflower that’s all it would take? Are you really that full of yourself?” She glared at him as he stared at her, speechless. “Well? Say something!”

“No, I’m not full of myself. It’s just … ”

“What? It’s just what?” she demanded.

Michael cleared his throat. “It’s just that it
has
happened to me a few times before,” he said awkwardly.

Oh.

She felt a little of the wind go out of her sails as she realized it was no doubt true. Women had been throwing themselves at his feet for years because of his looks. Why wouldn’t he assume she’d do the same?

Her eyes narrowed. Because he ought to have known her better than that, that’s why. Her temper rekindled. He thought she was just like the rest of them.

She opened her mouth to reiterate what a jerk he was, but then stopped as she noticed the shadows under his eyes and the misery all over his face.

He thought she was just like the rest of them.

That would have hurt more except she had a sneaking suspicion it had less to do with his opinion of her than it did with his opinion of himself. He didn’t think he had anything to offer a woman besides sex appeal.
No one in high school knew the real me
— wasn’t that what he said before? He was a good time, and that was it.

Her anger softened somewhat, and she took a step toward him. “Michael — ”

He frowned warily. “Are you going to plant me into the wall again?”

“What? No — ” None of this was going at all the way she planned. She gave up trying to figure it all out and blurted out the first thing that came to mind. “You think I don’t really know you, don’t you?”

He stared at her, and she thought she saw some of his guardedness drop away. For a moment, at least. “You probably know me better than anyone has in a long time,” he countered quietly. “But — ”

“But not well enough to see past your face, is that it? Past your looks and charm?”

“There’s not much else to see.”

“Yes, there is. You’re loyal, and kind, and — ”

He shook his head. “You’re just seeing what you want to see, Shannon. I — ”

“Oh, for crying out loud,” she exclaimed, her frustration growing again. “You actually think I‘m too blind see who you really are? That I couldn’t possibly feel anything real for you?”

Michael’s face was unreadable, but he didn’t interrupt her this time. In fact, he almost seemed to be holding his breath as he waited for her to continue.

“Well, I’m not blind. I see your faults just fine. Want me to prove it?” She started ticking them off on her fingers as she listed them. “For starters, you’re a little vain. And you rely on your looks to get what you want way too much. And you’re too hung up on the past, too.” She paused for a minute to pull together her scattered thoughts. “You don’t think things through all that well, and you’re headstrong — and it’s not like you’re
that
good-looking, you know,” she added, sounding a little sullen even to her own ears.

Good grief. Shakespeare she was not.

She shut her mouth abruptly, thinking that if this even remotely qualified as a declaration of love, it had to be the worst one in the history of mankind.

“I see,” Michael said gravely after a minute of awkward silence. “Thank you for your honesty.”

“You’re welcome,” she said stiffly.

He ran a hand over his mouth as if he was trying not to smile, and something in his heavy manner softened. “So, you drove all this way to tell me how screwed up I am and that you don’t really find me very attractive?”

Shannon could feel her cheeks bloom with heat. “Well, that wasn’t my original plan, no.” She took a deep breath. “Look, I don’t know if you want me or not, but — ”

“Sweetheart, you have no idea.”

She let her breath out with a slight hitch and a rush of emotion. “Then why did you leave? And what was all this,” she waved her hand at the room around them, “tonight?”

“I was trying to be noble and self-sacrificing.”

“Well, knock it off!”

Michael started to laugh, and it was a sound that was full of relief. “Yes, ma’am,” he said obediently, and then in about two seconds he closed the short distance remaining between them to take Shannon’s startled face between his hands and bring his mouth to hers.

Recovering from her surprise, Shannon wrapped her arms around his neck and held on for dear life as heat rushed through her. Her fingers curled in his hair, and his hands travelled slowly down her back, making her heart pound even faster. So the night at the park had not been a fluke, she realized, feeling lightheaded. The lips this man had, and the things that he could do with them …