BRIAN (The Callahans Book 1) (71 page)

Joey

I walked into the apartment less than an hour after I left it and immediately began dragging ingredients out of the kitchen cupboards. Baking relaxes me. It helps me think through problems. And this was definitely a problem.

How was I going to pay off my debt if I didn’t have my job at JB Graphics? How was I going to pay my rent? My tips at Nico’s were good, but this apartment was a two-bedroom townhouse. The rent was twice what I took home in tips every Friday night. I’d have to move if I couldn’t find another accounting job.

And that was before I let myself think about what this meant with Jason.

Had he put Mrs. Constantine up to firing me? Nothing happened at JB Graphics without Jason’s knowledge. At least, that’s what everyone thought. Was that not true? I mean, there was that whole theft and everything. So maybe he didn’t know everything. But surely HR had known what Mrs. Constantine was up to? Wouldn’t they have informed him?

If he was going to fire me, why didn’t he give me a heads up?

I tossed some butter into a bowl and turned on the electric mixer. The sound drowned out my thoughts for a moment, but not for long. A few eggs, some vanilla. Then some cocoa. I tossed in a little cinnamon, too, for that kick all our customers seemed to like. In minutes, I had the start of a good cupcake batter. Maybe I’d call Rahul over, let him help eat these things before they all went to my hips.

I wanted to think that Jason didn’t know. I wanted to think this was all a mistake. But was it? Really?

Was I just some sort of fling for him? Were all those posts on that stupid blog true? Was he just slumming? Would he get bored and go looking for someone else sometime down the road?

I don’t know what worried me the most, that he knew that I was going to be fired and he was afraid to tell me, or that he was just using me and really didn’t care that I needed this job desperately.

“What are you doing here?”

I looked up, surprised to find Rosie standing in the middle of the living room in a bathrobe.

“What are you doing here? Why aren’t you at Jackson’s?”

“We had a fight, so I came home a little after midnight.”

“Oh, sorry.”

“I would have let you know I was here, but when I went to your door, it sounded like you were busy.”

“Yeah, well, not anymore.”

Rosie tilted her head. “Why are you home?”

“I got fired.”

“But I thought you were sleeping with the boss.”

I turned away, shoving a couple of trays of cupcakes into the oven.

“Apparently that doesn’t give you job security.”

“I’m sorry, Joey.”

I shrugged. “I’ll find another job. But, until then, we might want to take in a few more cake orders.”

She came around the counter and wrapped her arms around my waist. “Don’t worry. We’ll be fine. I have some money in my savings account.”

“I don’t want your money, except for your half of the rent.”

“Joey, you have to let me help. I know you’re still working on those student loans—”

“I’m fine, Rosie. Don’t worry about it.”

I turned back to the mixer and started another batch. Rosie watched for a while, then she headed toward the stairs. “I better get into the shower and go to class, or I’ll stay here and help eat those cupcakes—and that won’t be good for any of us.”

I smiled, but the smile faded quickly as I turned back to the cupcakes.

There was a knock on the door a while later. I was so lost in baking that I didn’t hear it at first. But I figured it was probably Rahul—he was always stopping by to hang out with Rosie, even when they didn’t have a job—so I called for him to come in.

It was Jason.

“What are you doing here?” I asked, as I carefully scraped more batter into still more cupcake tins.

“I didn’t know,” he said simply, holding up his hands where I could see them. “I swear.”

I didn’t say anything because I wasn’t sure what to say. But then he came around the counter and ran his hand slowly down my back.

“Really, Joanne, I didn’t know.”

I pulled away. “It’s your company.”

“Yeah. So I fired that woman and everyone else in a supervisory role in your department.”

I glanced at him. “You fired Mrs. Constantine?”

“Of course. She thought she was shoe-in for the head of the department. That’s why she fired you, supposedly to prevent you from putting two and two together and stealing from the company yourself. It never occurred to her that I could have used the same excuse to fire her, if I hadn’t already been planning on doing it anyway.”

I set down the bowl and turned to him. “Okay. I believe you.”

“Do you forgive me?”

I shrugged, but when I saw the dark cloud move across his eyes, I smiled and said, “Of course.”

He tugged me against his chest and kissed me almost roughly.

I reached back, gathered some cupcake batter on my finger, and wiped it over his nose.

“Now what?”

That seemed to be a very good question.

Jason

I didn’t want to leave Joanne’s, but there was one more thing I had to deal with.

It was late. The sun had gone down hours ago. I really should have gone back to the office—and that’s what I’d told Joanne I was doing—but I found myself sitting in front of a high-end apartment building, waiting for a familiar face to come out.

“This has to stop,” I said when I finally saw him, when I walked up behind him. “You need to stop leaking information to that blogger.”

He turned, caution in his eyes—even as he barked a harsh bit of laughter.

“I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I’m talking about the smear campaign you’ve begun against me.”

“That’s not me.”

“You threatened me. And if you don’t stop this, I will call the DA and suggest they revoke your plea deal.”

“My wife left me. Did you know that, pal?” Frank Thomas asked me. “She left. Said she didn’t want to be married to a thief.”

“I always knew Rebecca was a smart girl.”

His eyes narrowed. “You have a fucking big ego if you really think I’ve had time to sit around and have long conversations with some blogger. I’ve been a little busy dealing with lawyers, both criminal and divorce. She won’t even let me see my kids.”

I crossed my arms over my chest. “You’re the only one who has a reason to hurt me. The only one who would want to hurt me.”

“Is that right?” Frank glanced back at the front of his apartment building. A woman and a couple of teenagers were coming out, laughing at something I didn’t hear. “I’m not the only one with family problems, Jason. Maybe you should take a closer look at your own family.”

I started to argue with him, but there was something in his eyes.

“You said you knew how to hurt me, and you wouldn’t hesitate to do it.”

“Yeah, well, that was just a bunch of hot air. I’m not behind this, whatever it is.”

He walked away. I could have stopped him. I could have made some threats of my own. But I didn’t.

I think that maybe I’d known all along. I knew it wasn’t Frank.

Someone else was trying to destroy my relationship and my reputation, too.

But who?

Joey

“It’s too tight,” I moaned, as I tugged at the bodice of the dress my sister was trying to zip up.

“It’s not too tight. It’s just a little snug.”

I groaned, as I stared at myself in the mirror. Jason was supposed to be here in ten minutes to pick me up for some fancy dinner party, and I couldn’t even get into my dress. I wanted to cry.

“Take a deep breath!”

I did the best I could, drawing in a heavy breath and holding it. The only problem was, my chest was like three-cup sizes bigger than Rosie’s and this was her dress. She was taller than I was, but smaller in the bust, so our clothes had never really been interchangeable. But she’d promised that this dress had never really fit her properly.

Why do I believe her when she speaks?

It had been a very long month. First, I fell asleep while waiting inside a cake to surprise some guy on his birthday only to discover that the guy whose birthday it happened to be was the CEO of the company where I worked. And then…well, maybe seducing him wasn’t the best idea. But he was so good looking and he kissed me and one thing just kind of led to another. From that moment on, my life just seemed to spiral out of control. He was caught up in some sort of theft investigation that involved my department, and I was dragged down to the police station to help sort everything out. And then I was fired. He swore he had no idea, and he’d offered to hire me back after he fired practically the entire staff and brought in new people. But that would have been worse than going back to work the weekend after we appeared in the newspaper together, hand in hand, at a fundraiser for his mother’s foundation, The Wallach Foundation. That’s why I’d spent the last three weeks looking for a new job.

To top it all off, there was a gossip blog that was insisting on publishing stories about Jason and me. Most of them were based on some sort of truth and then blown way out of proportion. The stories were pretty bad at first—accusing Jason of using his position as my boss to force me into bed, revealing the fact that we met because I jumped out of a cake for his birthday—but they seemed to run out of venom as time passed. Maybe that was because Jason sent his lawyers after the writer and whoever else might be involved in the stories. Or maybe it was because we hadn’t gone out together in public since the first set of stories came out. Not
because
of the stories, but because I lost my day job, so I had to take shifts at my second job—a honkytonk bar—whenever I could get them.

Tonight was a rare exception. I finally had a night off, and I was looking forward to spending the evening with Jason. But this dress…

“It’s not so bad,” Rosie said, tugging at the back of the dress as she finished zipping it up.

“It’s too tight. My boobs are going to fall out.”

“Not if you’re careful. Just don’t move too much.”

“We will be sitting down most of the night,” I conceded. “But—”

“You’ll be fine,” Rosie said, moving up beside me so we could both look in the mirror. “You’ll be with Jason. Isn’t that what matters most?”

Almost as though he’d heard her, the doorbell rang. I took a deep breath and felt as though the bodice of the dress was going to cut me in half.

“I’ll get it,” Rosie said, leaving the room before I could stop her.

I tugged at the dress a little, wondering if I should change into the lovely blue dress Jason had bought me for our last little outing like this. It seemed like he went to one of these parties once or twice a week. For me, it was more of a once in a lifetime thing. I was not a wealthy girl; I wasn’t raised with a million-dollar trust fund and philanthropic parents as Jason was. Maybe…maybe this…

But then he appeared at the bedroom door, dressed in a beautiful tux that fit his hard, gorgeous body just right. And the way he was looking at me made my bones melt and my head spin.

“Hey, beautiful,” he said softly.

I shook my head. “I’m not beautiful. I’m an exhausted waitress in a hand-me-down dress that doesn’t fit properly.”

“Looks perfect to me.”

He crossed the room and came to stand behind me, his hands so big as they slid around my waist. I leaned back into him and stared at us in the mirror. His hair was dark, a startling contrast to his blue eyes. His jaw was wide, his shoulders broad. And those perfectly sculpted lips that could do the most amazing things…I looked almost mousy in his arms. My hair was a nondescript brown, my eyes an even duller brown. What did such a man see in a girl like me?

“I love the way you smell,” he said, as though answering the questions in my mind. “Like a warm summer afternoon.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

He turned me and captured my lips, pulling me close as he did. I sighed against his mouth, giving in to him with no resistance as I always did. The moment he touched me, it was as if everything else just melted away. Nothing mattered but Jason and his kisses, his hands on my skin, his needs that so perfectly matched mine.

I slid my hand over his jaw, my fingertips playing with his hair where it was long enough to touch his collar. A part of me so desperately wanted to crawl into bed with him, to hide under the covers for the rest of our lives. And I knew, if I asked, he would be more than willing to do that with me. But I also knew that he had obligations to his parents and, whether either of us liked it or not, this night was one of those.

“We should go,” I said somewhat reluctantly against his lips.

He ran his thumb slowly over my bottom lip.

“If you insist.”

Like before, there was a limo waiting at the curb outside my overpriced townhouse. We climbed inside and began the slow trek across town.

“Will Justin and Sara be there?”

“They’d better be,” Jason said, taking my hand and tugging me a little closer to his side. “They missed the homeless shelter thing because Alexa was sick. But she was perfectly healthy this morning when I went by the house, so I can’t imagine that they would have an excuse not to come this time.”

Justin was Jason’s younger brother, a new father with a beautiful wife. They seemed pretty intimidating on the surface, but Sara was pretty down to earth. I was actually glad she would be there. At least I’d have something of an ally.

“I talked to Justin this morning, actually,” Jason said, looking down at me and brushing a curl out of my face.

“Yeah?”

“There’s an opening in the accounting department of Brooks Oil.”

I could feel the tension slicing through me. I sat up a little straighter, my eyes falling to the skirt of my too tight, red dress.

“I thought we agreed it would be better if I worked out my employment issues on my own.”

“It’s my fault you got fired.”

“Not your fault.”

“It shouldn’t have happened.”

“But we also agreed that it was better if I didn’t work for you, considering our relationship.”

“Yes, but you wouldn’t be working for me.”

“No, I’d be working for your brother and your father. How is that better?”

“I’m trying to help, Joanne.”

I looked up at him, feeling a little bad for being so cross. I squeezed his hand lightly.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Anything.”

“Why do you call me Joanne? Everyone else calls me Joey.”

“I know. It just…it seems to fit you better.”

I shook my head. “Not really. I don’t feel like a Joanne. A Joanne is someone who goes to these kinds of parties on a daily basis, someone who has a fancy car and a busy cellphone and a life that’s much more than mine. I’m just Joey, just a waitress in a bar.”

“You underestimate yourself, my love.”

I started to shake my head again, but he caught my jaw to stop me. “You have no idea how much potential you have.”

“Potential, maybe. But I’ll never be a Joanne.”

“Okay,” he said softly. He pressed a kiss to my temple. “Then you’re Joey.”

We arrived at the party a few minutes later. Jason stepped out of the car and reached back inside for my hand. Like the last party we attended, there were reporters trying to get pictures and ask questions. Jason ignored most of them, holding tight to my hand as we made our way inside the restaurant. I felt a little like a fish out of water as he introduced me to the dozens of people milling around the dining room, waiting for the service staff to seat everyone. There were people from all walks of life there, from a group of lawyers to a minor congressman to an actress I recognized from a movie Jason and I had watched on pay-per-view a couple of weeks ago.

Why was I here?

That question kept spinning around in my head as I smiled and tried to ignore the fact that all these supposedly sophisticated, worldly men were staring right at my breasts.

Justin and Sara walked in just moments before dinner was about to be served. Relief washed through me as Sara greeted me enthusiastically, grabbing my hands and kissing my cheeks as if we’d known each other for years instead of having just met twice, weeks ago.

“How are you?” she asked, her eyes moving slowly over me as though she really cared and she was looking to make sure there were no signs of distress.

“Good,” I said.

“You don’t have to lie to me. I know how these things can be.”

“It is a little intimidating.”

She smiled. “I remember the first few of these things Justin brought me to. I was so afraid of making a fool of myself that I could hardly breathe, let alone speak. But you get used to it after a while.”

I nodded, wondering if I really wanted to get used to it. Wondering if I would have a chance to get used to it.

And then Jason was beside me, his hand sliding over the small of my back.

“Don’t make her any more nervous than she already is,” he said to Sara. “She’s not an old pro like you.”

“No. She’s a natural,” Sara said, patting my arm lightly.

We moved over to the tables. I was a little shocked to find myself seated next to the congressman. He smiled quite brightly when I took my seat, his eyes moving quickly from my face to my chest. I wanted to tug at my bodice, trying to lift it a little. As it was, every time I drew in a breath, my breasts looked like they were going to burst through the dress like the Hulk did through his clothes when he hulked out.

Jason leaned close and kissed my temple, then turned away to engage with the woman on his right. I wanted to scream,
Don’t leave me alone!
But, of course, I didn’t. Sara and Justin were directly across from me. She smiled, lifting her chin a little to offer a little courage.

“You’re in accounting, correct?” the congressman asked.

“I am.”

“Didn’t I read somewhere that you work for Jason’s company?”

“I did. But not anymore.”

“Oh? Why’s that?”

I didn’t know how to answer that. Should I tell him that my former supervisor fired me because she thought it would impress Jason, only to discover that he’d intended to fire her all along? Or should I give him the cover story I’d been telling all my perspective new employers—that the company had chosen to let almost everyone go in favor of reorganizing the department? That was sort of the truth, too. Jason did hire all new executive-level and supervisory-level employees for not only the accounting department, but for the creative department and for human resources, too. So I could say that. But I was afraid it would just lead to more questions.

“I just thought I should go in a different direction,” I said, cringing as the words slipped from my lips.

His eyebrows rose, but he didn’t pursue the idea. Instead, he leaned close and said, “My wife worked for me once upon a time. It can be complicated.”

“Your wife?” I hadn’t realized he was married. He seemed to be here alone.

“Well, ex-wife,” he said with a flirty smile. “She was my secretary.”

And then my stomach clenched just as they set the first course in front of me: a lovely salad with big, beautiful strawberries.

“I’m sorry,” I said.

“Don’t be. She’s not sorry. She got more than half.” He laughed, and I wanted to crawl into a hole.

I hate guys who talk about their exes like that. There must have been something good about his wife once. He married her, didn’t he? He must have loved her then.

I always wondered how a relationship can go from love, from tears at an altar, to bitterness and a division of assets. Everyone says that you base your understanding of marriage on your parents’ marriage. My parents have been married for twenty-five years. Not always happily, but mostly. I can’t imagine my parents ever talking about each other the way this guy was talking about his ex-wife, but I supposed I wasn’t aware of every conversation they’d ever had. But…I couldn’t imagine ever getting married to someone I couldn’t see myself with when I’m eighty and can’t get out of the proverbial rocking chair without his help.

“You and Jason serious?”

I glanced at him. “Are you seeing anyone?”

“Rumor has it that I have a fiancée. But I like to keep my options open.” He dropped a heavy wink. “You know how it is.”