“I’m not asking for your permission or even your advice. But you and Tamsen are the closest people I have to family, and I’ll never be able to repay you for what you’ve done, so out of respect I wanted to let you know.”
“I’ll be on the first flight out of LAX.”
“Grady! I don’t need you to come rescue me.”
“I’m not even ready to address you proposing to Senator Carmichael’s daughter. I’m sure no doubt without his consent, but her stepmom? Where did you ever come up with such a ridiculous accusation?”
“You told me the only information you found out about my past from so called ‘people on the street’ was that I was a junkie and screwed older women. Well Rachel Hart is older and she’s from New York—”
“Christ, Trick! That’s not a fucking connection that means anything—”
“I saw it … it was a look. The way she looked at me, she wasn’t seeing me for the first time. She was nervous with a subtle mix of pain and anger. I knew it that night, but I had to be sure so I called her.”
“You did what?”
“I had to know.”
“And did she confess some lurid affair to you?”
“Of course not, but she was on the defensive and warned me to stay away from both her and Darby. You said you suspected these ‘older women’ took advantage of me. She told me men never fuck her; she fucks them.”
“So your brilliant solution to all of this is to propose to Darby?” Grady’s voice takes on a soprano pitch.
“I love her.”
Grady laughs. “You love her. Well that’s great, Trick. Tell me, did she accept your proposal before or after your dick had this vague memory of being up her stepmom’s pussy?”
“Fuck you! I haven’t said anything to her. I don’t have any proof … yet.”
“So you’re going to start out your life with her while this epic epiphany that you fucked her stepmom weighs on your conscience?”
“Rachel’s scared that I might remember something. I can tell. She’s not going to say anything. Hell, she doesn’t want to admit it to me, why would she ever say anything to Darby?”
“Does she know you’ve proposed to the Senator’s daughter?”
“No.”
“And what are you going to do if you’re right. What if you were with her and someday she decides to tell Darby? Some people will slit their own throat in the name of revenge.”
“Darby loves me.”
Grady gives me another cynical laugh. “Well, there ya go, kid, I guess you two lovebirds have it all figured out. Good luck with that.”
I press End and swipe my arm across the counter, sending makeup flying everywhere. “Goddammit!”
Who. The. Fuck. Was. I?
Chapter Twenty-Eight
“Hey.”
Trick turns at the sound of my voice, clenched jaw, heaving chest, and a mess of makeup all over the floor.
Rubbing the back of his neck, he closes his eyes and dips his chin.
I tiptoe through the mess until I stand in front of him, looking up at the last face I ever want to see. “So my day was good. How was yours?”
He opens his eyes. “I’ve had better.”
Biting the inside of my cheek, I nod. “I can see that. Want to talk about it?”
He searches my face with pain and intensity in his eyes. “Not really.”
I step back and manage to hop up on the stool without smashing anything under my feet. “Well, if you don’t want to tell your lover…” I shy away from fiancée for now “…maybe you should tell your BFF. It usually works for me.”
Planting his hands on his hips, he glances at me, and that lip twitches. He’s mine now.
“I would tell my friend that if I hadn’t already lost my mind, I’d swear it was happening now. I would tell my friend that all I know for sure about my past is that I was seriously fucked-up. I would tell my friend that all I want to do right now is take my lover to bed and fuck her until the world makes sense again, and then I want to pack our bags and get the hell out of here … and never return.”
Uhh …
All I can do is hold my breath. Just … no words.
Trick lifts his shoulders then drops them in defeat as he bends down, tossing some things in the garbage and others back on the counter. “But I would never tell my lover that because I wouldn’t want her running for the hills. So to her I would say that I had an argument with Grady and I let him crawl under my skin. Then I would suggest to her that we grab an early dinner and hang out … maybe play Battleship or Scrabble.”
His defeated tone takes all the humor out of those last words.
I slide off the stool. “Will you be okay for a little while? I need to do something. I’ll be back later.”