The way Carla demonstrated her disapproval this time wasn’t likely to be followed up with erotic kisses. She cursed him so vehemently, yet so bizarrely, that Christian was left puzzling whether her crude suggestion was even a remote human possibility.
Her musky perfume lingered after her dramatic exit. For a second, Christian regretted his impulsivity. He knew from experience the two best bets for temporary forgetfulness were alcohol and a scalding orgasm. He must be getting old. But the fresh glass of whiskey just placed in front of him on the bar looked far more tempting than Carla had.
“Enjoy it, Lasher. It’s your last one.”
Christian turned at the sound of the gravelly, familiar voice. “I’m not eighteen anymore. There are plenty other bars in Chicago, Emilio.”
“Yeah, but you showed up at my place, didn’t you, Chris? Was does that say? You must have wanted someone to keep you from doing something stupid. Just in case I wasn’t enough to do the job, I called him.”
Christian glanced over his shoulder, already knowing who was going to be standing beside Emilio Jackson. His mouth curved in disgust, but he made a subtle motion to the empty barstool next to him. Neither of them spoke as Seth ordered a drink, and Christian began to nurse his whiskey thoughtfully for the first time all night.
“Sarah’s not even working tonight,” Christian said after a minute of silence.
Seth took a meditative draw on his beer. “No. But she’s here. She came with me when Emilio called. We were out together tonight, on our first Emilio-sanctioned date.” Seth watched from the corner of his eye as Christian swayed back from the bar. He glanced behind Seth and located Sarah talking to Emilio, her anxious gaze glued to Christian. She looked beautiful in a sophisticated black dress. He gave her a quick wave, half of reassurance, half of apology.
Regret penetrated his intoxication. Christian shoved his drink away from him.
“You about ready to tell me what’s going on with you, Christian?”
“Not really.”
“Tough shit. I wasn’t ready to come and baby-sit your drunk ass when I was appreciating how Sarah looks in candlelight and anticipating our first evening alone together. Ever.”
Christian frowned. It wasn’t until that moment that he realized he hadn’t talked about what was eating away at him to anyone close to him because it hurt too much to say the words. He needed to expel the poison, though.
He’d already ruined Seth and Sarah’s special night because he couldn’t seem to get a hold of himself.
He told Seth what he’d learned about Megan from Hilary Molloy in a flat, emotionless tone.
When he was finished, the two men sat quietly for a while. Christian drank the ice water that Emilio had told the bartender to bring to him. The wave of intoxication that the whiskey had given him was fading, leaving a throbbing headache in its wake.
Seth cursed.
Christian nodded in agreement. “Yeah, it’s hard to think of anything more profound than that to say when you hear it.”
“Megan’s sister sounds pretty overprotective. How can you know if Megan would be traumatized in any way by an intimate relationship?” Seth asked.
“I don’t know. That’s the whole point, isn’t it? What would you do? If it was Sarah?” He watched as Seth instinctively turned his head and looked across the bar to where Sarah now sat in a booth chatting with another waitress.
“You’re saying the two relationships are similar?” Seth surprised him by asking when he faced the bar again.
Christian hesitated, realizing what Seth was asking. His mind replayed the way Sarah’s dark brown eyes had glowed when Seth had just made eye contact, and the way the hard lines of Seth’s face had momentarily softened. Only Sarah could soften Seth’s hard angles, just as Seth was the only who would ever make Sarah’s eyes shine like she was lit from within.
“I haven’t known her very long,” he said uncertainly.
“That’s not what I was asking you, Christian.”
Christian shrugged his shoulders.
Seth sighed before he took a gulp of beer. “You better find out for sure before you make a decision. Why don’t you just see her some more? Get to know her better, find out just how strong she is emotionally, figure out the likelihood of her possibly getting hurt.”
“What if I find out that she could?”
“That’s why you need to figure out how you really feel about her.”
“What’s that got to do with it?”
“Everything.”