House Rules (3 page)

As our pathway narrowed, he placed me behind him, using his body as a shield. Just as we reached the doors he stopped suddenly, and I almost walked straight into the back of him, only just managing to save myself the embarrassment. While I rocked back on my heels, he turned and pulled us into a small alcove off to the side, lit by a small wall lamp. In the low light I was able to see his sharp features for the first time and was struck by how classically handsome he was.

“Miller,” he said simply.

I waited for him to elaborate but he said nothing else, choosing instead to stare at me as if I were some kind of exhibit. I was suddenly overwhelmed by a feeling of self-consciousness. Closing my eyes, I felt rather than saw his eyes travel over me, my body fighting to suppress a shudder under his scrutiny. When moments of silence had passed he said, “Miller Hawes. In case you were wondering what name to call out later.”

Had he just assumed I’d be climbing in his bed tonight?

No reason to piss him off right now, Theresa. Tell him your name.

“Theresa,” I replied.

“Theresa,” he said quietly, as if to himself. Almost like he was testing the sound of my name on his lips. Another moment passed before he nodded once and then we were moving again, this time out of the door and into the cool night air.

We walked to a semi-private parking spot close to the front. There sat a sleek, black sports car, likely more expensive then everything I’d ever owned put together.

Miller let go of my arm and opened the door. “How does Italian sound?”

“I love Italian.” My voice didn’t have its normal strength but I wasn’t lying. Whether I liked it or not, I was stuck with him for the rest of the night and I needed to find a way to make the best of the situation.

The door closed behind me. Miller walked around the front of the car, his movements sleek, graceful, like that of a panther. In the wild, the smooth demeanor could make one forget the danger the panther posed. Many a prey had fallen victim to the panther’s spell, mesmerized by the hypnotic way they prowled. I’d do best to remember that tonight, in this scenario, Miller was the predator, and I was most definitely his prey.

Miller started the engine and I forced myself to keep my eyes focused on the road ahead of me. There was no doubt he was attractive, not that attractive was a good description, gorgeous fit better. But I didn’t need to give him any ideas by checking him out on the drive to the restaurant. I was in way over my head already.

“Why are you nervous?” His voice pulled me out of my thoughts. I glanced over and noticed him peeking at me out of the corner of his eye.

“I’m not.” I lifted my chin and pursed my lips. We both knew that wasn’t true, but I refused to sound weak in front of him.

“Then why is your leg bouncing up and down? Not to mention you keep fidgeting with the strap of your purse.”

I looked down and saw my hands doing exactly that. Stupid nervous energy. Dropping my purse as if it were on fire, I clasped my hands together and forced them to stay still in my lap. I noticed the corner of his mouth rise up in a smirk. Irritation bloomed as I realized he found the whole situation amusing. Of course the bastard would think this was funny. He didn’t lose anything in this arrangement. I’d found out that my boyfriend was a complete bastard, whose ass was so getting kicked out of my apartment the moment I got home. Then I had to watch them break his arm, and while I thoroughly believed he deserved the kick to the nuts, I don’t think I needed to know how violent then man beside me could be. A shiver of fear ran down my back.

I snuck a peak at him. If I’d met Miller in a club or a bar, I know I would have given him a second look—even a third—hoping to catch his eye. With his dark hair and eyes, combined with the strong jaw, Miller was unlike any man I’d ever seen. I shook my head.

I’m an idiot.

This was exactly how women in the horror movies got taken and left for dead. Instead of running the other way, the dumb girls always ran toward the danger. And my dumb ass actually climbed into the car willingly. I gave Miller another quick glance, and while everything I had seen and heard thus far this evening pointed to me being in deep trouble, something in the back of my mind told me that he wouldn’t hurt me. That I wasn’t in physical danger. I wasn’t sure why I believed that, but I did.

It helped that a room full of people had seen me leave with him. Miller didn’t seem like the type of man to leave witnesses behind if he planned on hurting someone.

I realized I was beginning to play things out in my head like some bad slasher movie/mafia plotline, but in the time since I’d left home and moved across the country, I’d made a few bad decisions, but this one took the cake. If I made it home tonight, I would thank every deity I could think of.

My eyes continued to dart back and forth between the road and Miller’s profile until we reached the restaurant. I was surprised when we pulled into the parking lot of La Tratoria. It was one of the most exclusive Italian restaurants in the city; expensive and hard to get into. A thought jumped to the front of my mind.

My head whipped around. “Did you have plans tonight?”

He watched me for a moment. “Besides playing poker for a few more hours, no. Why?”

I gestured to the building in front of us. “If you don’t have a reservation, how in the hell do you expect to get a table? This place books out months in advance.” Not that I’d ever considered going. I couldn’t afford to order a soda in a place like this.

He winked at me and stepped out of the car, quickly rounding the front to open my door. “It helps when your brother owns the place.”

I stepped out of the car and followed Miller inside.

“Mr. Hawes.” A pretty blonde stepped out from behind the podium, her face wreathed in a smile. “It’s so good to see you again.”

For a brief moment, I felt a spurt of jealousy. She was thin, with long legs and cleavage that most women would kill for. And there she was, flirting with my date. On the word
date
my brain snapped back to reality. Miller Hawes was not mine, and he was definitely not my date. He was stuck with me for the night because Ray was a dipshit.

“Kate. How are you?”

Her smile widened. It was hard to miss the way her eyes wandered down his body. “I’m good. Would you like your regular table?”

He reached back and took my hand, pulling me up to stand next to him. “Do you have anything a little more private?”

For the first time since we’d walked through the door, her gaze landed on me. Given her perusal of Miller so far I expected to see annoyance or jealousy, but neither of the two emotions were there in her eyes. Instead I saw pity.

Why would she pity me? There was no way she could know about what had happened at the bar. There had to be another reason. Curiosity won out over annoyance, but I just wasn’t rude enough to ask about it. Not that she would tell me, anyway.

“Of course. Let me see what I can find.” She glanced over her board and finally picked up two menus. “I have the perfect spot.”

She led us to a table in the corner: quiet, semi-private, and hidden by a half wall. Once we were seated, she handed us the menus and gave me one more brief glance before walking back to her post, but not before making sure to slide her hand all the way down Miller’s bicep. What the hell was wrong with some people? This woman had no idea that we weren’t dating. I was about to say something, but then I reminded myself that I wasn’t his date, either, and I had no right to confront her.

Frustrated by my idiocy and feeling stupid over almost embarrassing myself, I focused on the menu in front of me; at least, until a man stepped up to the table. He had honey blond hair, and behind his glasses were the most brilliant green eyes I’d ever seen.

“Miller, I didn’t expect to see you tonight,” the man said, smirking down at us.

“Slow night. I figured we’d get something to eat.”

The man glanced in my direction and held out his hand. “Hi, I’m Ashton. Miller’s brother. And you are?”

I smiled and took his hand. It was hard not to—the man’s personality was infectious. I did notice that Miller never mentioned why we were together. “I’m Tess.”

“Tess?” Miller asked. “I thought your name was Theresa?”

“My friends call me Tess.”

Ashton let out a small chuckle before composing himself. “It’s nice to meet you,
Tess
. I apologize for my brother. His manners aren’t always the best.”

Miller’s eyes narrowed, but they were still focused on me. “Nice, asshole.”

“It’s nice to meet you, too.”

For a moment, Ashton’s eyes focused solely on me. Then he glanced once at his brother and back at me again. It was like he was trying to figure out a puzzle of some kind. After a moment, he cleared his throat.

“Miller, could I have a word?”

Miller nodded and stood, following his brother over to the bar.

So there I was, stuck in a restaurant I could barely afford an appetizer in, much less a whole meal, by myself, with a man who’d
won
me in a poker game.

Instead of focusing on the mess I was in, I decided to watch the brothers. So different, yet so alike. Both tall with lean muscular frames, that’s where the similarities ended. Ashton was as light as Miller was dark. Even their eyes contrasted: Miller’s chocolate brown to Ashton’s green. I wondered if their personalities were just as different.

The longer I watched, the more heated the discussion became. Hands were flying, mouths turned down at the corners. Time seemed to pass rather slowly while they argued. It felt like all eyes were on me; like I didn’t belong.

And they were right. I didn’t.

None of that helped me feel any more comfortable than I had since we’d left the bar. Tearing my eyes away, I picked at the corner of the menu, my eyes not focusing on the words that swam in front of them.

Finally, Miller returned to the table, his jaw clenched. I was afraid of the answer, but I couldn’t stop myself from asking. “Is everything okay?”

“It’s fine.”

Miller leaned back in his chair, his attention on the menu—entirely too much attention for someone who had eaten here plenty of times before.

The longer I sat there, the silence engulfing us until the air became thick and difficult to draw in, the more infuriated I became at his behavior. Eventually, my temper let loose.

“Why drag me out if you’re just going to be a dick?”

His head snapped up and after only a millisecond, his eyes narrowed. “Because I won.”

I slammed my hand down on the table. Not one of my finer moments. I should have been giving Miller the impression that he had no affect on me. “You’re an asshole. Let’s eat and get the night over with.”

Miller opened his mouth, when a waiter appeared with a tray of drinks. We hadn’t even ordered anything yet.

Saved by the bell.

“Mr. Hawes, compliments of your brother. He says you might need it.”

Miller smirked and even not knowing him, I could tell he was trying to hold back a laugh. Whatever had happened between the two of them earlier had obviously blown over. “Thank you, Dustin.”

Miller raised his glass in the direction of the bar. I glanced over my shoulder to see Ashton return the gesture, before they both took a sip of their drinks. What it must be like to be in a family where people forgave stupid arguments instead of continuing to yell louder. Maybe if things ran that way in my life I wouldn’t have wound up in this mess.

Miller downed half of the amber liquid and perused the room. The silence continued as he contemplated the menu, swirling the rest of his drink around in the glass. After few moments, he set it down and looked at me.

“I don’t mean to be a dick. It’s been a long few weeks. I know you don’t want to be here, but if you can push that aside, I know we can have a fun evening together.”

? I kept my focus on him. I wanted to know if he was serious, or if his words were just a ploy to get into my pants. There was nothing in his features to indicate he was lying, but from what I’d seen of Miller Hawes so far, he knew how to bluff when needed. Every instinct I had screamed at me not to trust him. Then again, it was only dinner, right? This softer side of Miller intrigued me. I might be a lamb being led to slaughter, but I couldn’t stop myself from following his lead.

Something told me there was more to Miller. Maybe what happened with Ray was just business—not that I knew anything about that. As a poor college student, my life revolved around school work and finding a way to pay my tuition. The one thing I couldn’t get out of my head was the way he’d interacted with his brother. Those weren’t the actions of a heartless man. There was a puzzle wrapped around this man, and my desire to find out more took hold of me.

“Okay.” I lifted the glass of wine that had been set in front of me to my lips.

Miller sat back in his seat, appearing to relax for the first time all night. The sweet flavor of the wine slid across my tongue.

“This is delicious.”

Miller smirked. “My brother knows his wine.”

With my eyes on him, I took another sip, enjoying the fruity taste. Many wines were so bitter that I couldn’t drink more than a sip. This one went down so easily, I knew I’d need another glass of it before the night was over.

“Right now, he should be getting ready to make our dinner.”

“You said he was the owner. He’s the chef, too?”

“Not usually, but he owes me, and he’s the best chef here.” He winked.

If this lighthearted, playful man had been the one I’d met earlier, my reaction to going with him would have been much different. This was a man I could see myself meeting in a bar and dreaming about for nights on end. But his mercurial nature, the ease with which he switched between good-natured and intense, was enough for me to keep my guard up.

I finished my first glass of wine and almost instantly it was replaced with another. Somewhere in the back of my mind I knew I needed to stop at two. Any more and I’d end up doing something I’d regret.

“Since I know you’re not a gambler like Wasden, what is it you do with your time?”