Hopeless (4 page)

She stepped out of the shower and quickly
dried off before reaching for the hair dryer affixed to the wall next to a row
of mirrors.

She had to admit, his studio was very nice,
much nicer than the one Carl just sold to the letch. It looked newly renovated,
and if his new project was half as nice, it would be a pleasure to call it her
home away from home. Assuming, of course, he still wanted her… to work for him.

The woman she’d met in the lobby earlier
stepped into the dressing room, startling Victoria. She pressed a hand to her
chest to still her pounding heart.

Karen grinned. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to
scare you.”

“I guess I’m just a bit on edge. It’s been
one of those days.”

“I know what you mean.” Karen propped her
hip against the wall and folded her arms. “So my boyfriend tells me you two
went to high school together.”

Victoria knew that tone of voice; she’d
heard it too many times when an insecure girlfriend or wife assumed she was
making a play for their man. “Yeah, he’s a great guy. You’re a lucky lady.” 

“I guess.”

“Is there something wrong?” Victoria would
rather not have a personal conversation with a virtual stranger while wearing a
towel, but she didn’t see a way to politely extricate herself from the
situation without offending Karen.

She wrinkled her nose as though she’d
whiffed a foul odor. “I guess you met Beth, huh?”

Victoria grinned. It was nice to know she
wasn’t the only one who disliked the voluptuous redhead. “I sure did. I take it
you don’t like her very much?”

“The way she flaunts her body and flirts
with…” She flushed. “Never mind, you don’t need to hear my problems.”

“Vent away. It’ll take my mind off my own
problems for a while.” Victoria wasn’t one to dwell on the negative, but in her
life, it was usually tough to ignore. If she didn’t have bad luck, she wouldn’t
have any luck at all.

“Brad said he invited you to Jimmy’s. Are
you gonna come?”

“If you wouldn’t mind?”

Karen smiled. “Not at all. In fact, I’d
love to get to know you better.”

It had been a long time since Victoria had
made a new friend, too long. “Great. Give me fifteen minutes and I’ll meet you
guys out front, okay?”

“Sounds good.”

The foursome was piling into a booth when
Karen said, “Uh-oh, here comes trouble.”

Jay glanced up just in time to see his
brother, Mike, heading toward them. If he didn’t miss his guess, Mike would be
coming on to Victoria inside a minute.

“Hey, y’all. How’s it goin’?” Mike asked.

Just as Jay suspected. Mike may have
included the group in his greeting, but he zeroed in on Victoria as though she
was the only one seated at the table.

“What do you want?” Jay asked. He winced
when Victoria looked up at him like she thought he checked his manners at the
door. “Victoria, this is my brother, Mike.” 

She smiled when Mike pressed a kiss to the
back of her hand. “Gee, I never would have guessed you two were brothers.”

Karen laughed. “They’re not identical
twins, but you’d have to be blind not to notice the resemblance, right?”

As far as Jay was concerned, the
resemblance ended with the reflection in the mirror. He loved his brother. They
were close, but in terms of their personality, they couldn’t be more different.
Jay was calm and quiet, whereas Mike could be rude and obnoxious when provoked.
Both men were workaholics, but Mike liked to relieve stress by knocking back shots
and bedding women, whereas Jay preferred to unleash his stress on one of the
heavy bags in the studio.

Mike grinned at Victoria as he inclined his
head toward his brother. “Please tell me you’re not seein’ this guy.”

“No, I just applied for a job at his
studio.” She smiled, disarming both brothers at the same time. “Turns out Brad
and I went to high school together. Small world, isn’t it?”

“Yeah. Hey, listen,” Mike said, pointing
toward the band crowding the small stage. “They’re playin’ my favorite song.
You wanna dance, darlin’?”

“Um sure, why not?”

Jay could think of a dozen reasons why
letting Victoria dance with his brother was just about the worst idea he’d ever
heard, but since no one was asking his opinion, he had no choice but to watch
her take his brother’s hand.

Karen reached across the table to smack Jay
upside the head as soon as the couple was out of earshot.

“Ow,” Jay said, rubbing the side of his
head. “What the hell was that for?”

“Just trying to knock some sense into you,
dumbass. Why the hell did you let her dance with your brother? You know him.
He’ll have her flat on her back within the hour.”

The thought of Victoria sleeping with his brother
stirred a vicious rage like he’d never felt before. He wasn’t the jealous type,
and Lord knew he had no claim on the woman in his brother’s arms, but he felt
his gut clench as he watched Mike’s hands drift to the swell of her bottom.

“You got a thing for Vicki, boss?” Brad
asked.

“No!”

“Don’t listen to him,” Karen said, rolling
her eyes. “He’s been drooling over her ever since she walked into his office.”

“Tread lightly with her, Jay. Seriously,
she spooks easily.”

Jay tore his attention away from his
brother long enough to focus on his friend. “What do you mean?”

“I don’t know a lot of the details, but I
know she had it rough growin’ up. All the guys back in high school tried and
struck out with her.”

Jay was happy to hear she wasn’t
promiscuous. It diminished his brother’s chances of leaving here with her
tonight ten-fold. “Yeah, well, high school was a long time ago. People change,
right?”

“Sure, but I just wouldn’t want you to get
your hopes up, ya know? I mean, you gotta ask yourself, how is a girl who looks
like her still single?”

His friend had a point. In Jay’s
experience, the gorgeous women were either married, engaged, or digging for
gold. “It’s a moot point. I’m not interested in a hook-up.”

Karen nudged his forearm. “Who the hell’s
talking about a hook-up? I’m talking about a real relationship. You know, a commitment
with a woman who may actually be around to help you celebrate your next
birthday.”

Before Jay could respond, the owner of
Jimmy’s bar, and his old friend, J.T. McCall, approached their table.

“Hey, man, long time no see. How’s it
goin’?” J.T. asked, offering his hand.

“Good. Hey, I saw your beautiful wife on TV
the other day. Was it just me, or did I see a baby bump?”

J.T.’s face lit up. “Yeah, can you believe
it? I’m gonna be a daddy in six short months.”

“Man, that’s great,” Jay said, shaking his
friend’s hand again.

J.T. was married to country singer Nikki
Spencer, and Jay knew her demanding career made it difficult for the couple to
plan for the family they both wanted.

“You guys must be thrilled.”

“I can’t even tell you,” J.T. said as he
tipped his cowboy hat back on his head. “I feel like I’ve been waitin’ for this
forever.”

“Nikki must be stoked too, huh?”

J.T. rolled his eyes. “This just gives her
another excuse to shop. She’s already started loadin’ up the spare bedroom with
baby clothes and we don’t even know if we’re havin’ a boy or a girl yet.”

Jay chuckled. “Lemme guess, she’s buyin’
one of each, just to be safe, right?”

J.T. pointed at him and laughed. “How’d you
know?”

“Hey, it don’t matter, man. As long as
she’s happy, right?”

J.T winked. “You know there’s nothin’ more
important to me than keepin’ my woman happy.”

Karen sighed dramatically. “A sexy,
romantic cowboy…” She propped her chin in her hand as she stared up at J.T.
“You do know you’re every woman’s fantasy, don’t you?”

 Brad scowled. “Get outta here, man. You’re
makin’ the rest of us look bad.”

J.T. laughed. “Sorry, I’ll try and rein it
in next time.” He glanced at the dance floor. “Holy hell, who’s the hottie your
brother’s dancin’ with?”

Jay growled. “Don’t ask.”

“Do I sense a little brotherly rivalry?”
J.T. smirked. “Since you’re sittin’ here and he’s out there with her, I’m gonna
put my money on him.”

“Save your money. She’s my employee, and I
don’t date my employees.”

“I guess you’re gonna let Mike have her
then, huh?” J.T. asked.

“Hell no,” Jay said, getting to his feet
and pushing J.T. aside. “I wouldn’t set him loose on my worst enemy.”

Jay tapped his brother on the back. “Step
aside, Romeo. I’m cuttin’ in.”

Mike groaned. “Do you have to?”

“Yeah, now get lost.”

Victoria smiled as she slipped into Jay’s
arms. Mike and his brother were equally good-looking, but there was something
different about Jay. She felt it in the way he held her, the way he touched
her.

“Was he givin’ you a hard time?” Jay asked
as he brushed his lips against her hair.

Victoria barely resisted the urge to purr
like a contented kitten as she settled into his powerful arms. “If you mean did
he ask me out, the answer is yes.”

Jay’s hands tightened on her hips, digging
into her flesh. “What did you say?”

“We’re going out to dinner tomorrow night.”
She tipped her head back to look at Jay. “That doesn’t bother you, does it?”

He clenched his jaw. “No, why should it
bother me if you wanna date my brother?”

She’d only agreed to the dinner to put some
much-needed distance between herself and Jay. The attraction simmering between
them was too compelling to ignore forever. Her only hope of fighting it was
putting up a big old barrier between them, and since his brother volunteered
for the job, who was she to argue? Mike told her in no uncertain terms he loved
his job as a detective sergeant and he had no interest in pursuing a serious
relationship in the foreseeable future, which suited her perfectly.

“How much notice do you need to give?”

She forced herself to focus on Jay’s
question, instead of the brush of his calloused palm sending thrill bumps up
her arm. “Um… notice?”

“You gonna just bail on the letch or you
need to give him some notice?”

“You’re offering me the job?”

“Yeah, if you’re interested.”

“Of course I’m interested.” She was
interested in more than the job, but she’d never utter those words aloud. “I
can start tomorrow.” One of her friends at the studio was looking for more
hours, so she wouldn’t be leaving the new owner in the lurch.

“Perfect. Meet me at the new studio at
9:00. You know where it is?”

She nodded. “It’s just a couple of miles
from my apartment.”

“Convenient.”

Despite the gentle brush of his hands over
her skin, she could tell he was angry. “Is everything okay?”

He glanced at their booth. Mike had moved
in to claim his seat. “Yeah, why wouldn’t it be?”

“Look, if you’re not comfortable with me
dating Mike…”

“Listen, I don’t care what you do on your
own damn time, so long as you show up to work when you’re supposed to. Just
know my brother’s an asshole.”

She threw her head back and laughed. “I
can’t believe you just said that about your own brother.”

He smirked. “Don’t sound so surprised. I’ve
said a lot worse.”

She enjoyed seeing his clear blue eyes
sparkling at his brother’s expense. “Did you guys get into it a lot when you
were kids?”

“Still do, but we’ve always got each
other’s back, no matter what.”

Victoria suspected he was telling her
they’d never let a woman come between them, not that she intended to. Mike was
just a fun diversion to distract her from her attraction to her new boss. They
both knew the score, so no one could get hurt.

“It must be nice to have siblings.”

“You’re an only child?”

She hadn’t intended to say that, it just
sort of slipped out. She didn’t engage in wishful thinking, and she never gave a
total stranger an opening to ask questions about her past. “Just lonely.” She
bit her lip to keep from saying anything more.

“I’m sorry,” he said as he tucked a strand
of hair behind her ear. He smiled. “Trust me; having siblings isn’t all it’s
cracked up to be.”

She almost asked if having parents was all
it was cracked up to be, but she stopped herself just in time. “I’m sure you’re
right. All those fights… having to share everything.” Not that she’d ever had
anything worth sharing. Her foster parents always seemed to spend every dime of
the government subsidy they received for her care on booze, cigarettes, and
lottery tickets.