Masquerade (13 page)

“How mad can she be? We
only dodged a couple hours, at best, of our shift,” Beth said.

If she only knew.

Beth dangled her work
costume from her finger.
She’d
tried to sew the top back
together, but it was pretty much a total loss. Tony would miss seeing her in it.
Dressed in well-fitting jeans, tank top, and flip-flops,
she’d
pulled her hair into a ponytail to beat the already growing heat of
Chicago
. With only a light
touch of makeup, she looked very much like the Beth
he’d
fallen for back in high school.

Tony stared at the door
again. He may be poised to lose everything financially, but
he’d
gained everything that meant anything or ever would. The rest, he could
rebuild.

Holding out his hand, he
took a moment to enjoy the way hers snuggled into his, then squared his
shoulders and opened the door to the club.

Sally sat at the bar
doing paperwork. She spoke without looking up. “You two are on my list.”

“Yeah.
We figured,” Tony said.

She eyed them now. “You
both cut your shift early
and
broke
one of the cardinal rules I have here at the club.
No fooling
around with the employees.
Judging by the looks on both your faces, you
did a lot more than just fool around.”

Sally skewered Tony with her
gaze and he nodded. “I’m prepared for the consequences.”

“No,” Beth said. “I don’t
care that we broke your rule. It’s a silly rule, and we’d do it again in a
heartbeat.”

Sally looked at Tony. “So,
not sorry a bit and ready to pay that price, huh?”

He nodded without
hesitation, pulling Beth’s arm into his. “Yes. I am.”

Sally shuffled through
the papers on the bar and pulled out a contract Tony knew well. “According to
this contract,” she said as she flipped pages, “if Tony screws around with
anyone here, he forfeits his construction company.”

Tony felt Beth stiffen
beside him. She turned to him. “You own a construction company?”

He nodded. “Started it a
few years ago and well, it took off. It’s thriving.”

Sally snorted. “Thriving
to the tune of a million dollars last year, I heard.”

Beth whirled on Tony. “You
should have told me,” she said. “You built that company up from the ground, I’m
guessing. It’s your whole life.”

He cupped her cheek. “That’s
not true, my love.
You’re
my life. Nothing else
matters. I’ll start over.”

“Wrong again,” Beth said,
hugging him. “We’ll start over.”

They both turned at
Sally’s chuckle. “Boy, you two sure have it bad.” She shook her head. “All
right, Mister.
I’m
going to make your day. The person
who helped you on this journey, that mysterious benefactor you both sent your
applications in to, gave me permission to do what I’m about to do as long as I
felt you were truly meant for each other.” Sally stood and ripped the contract
in two.

“You mean—”

“Yep.
You get to keep your business. The plan was never to destroy you financially.
It was to remind you two that love is what it’s all about.”

“Woohoo!”
Tony whooped as he picked Sally up and twirled her about.
“Halleluiah!”

“Put me down,” Sally
hollered with a grin.

He did and turned to
Beth. He reached for her hands and saw the gleam of love in her eyes. “What do
you think? Do you want to give
Chicago
living another try?”

“I’m ready to give
anywhere a try, as long as I’m with you.”

Sally settled back on the
barstool. “Damn. I guess that means I’m down one bartender and one waitress.”

“Soon to be two,” Holly
said, coming up behind them and giving Beth a big hug.

“Were you in on this?”
Beth asked.

“Nah.
Only knew we’d be getting a short-termer.” She rubbed her stomach. “Guess this
means we won’t be neighbors in that small town of yours.”

Beth shook her head. “Sorry,
but it looks like I’m moving to
Chicago
.
But if you end up staying here, maybe we can do baby stuff together.”

Anthony chimed in. “Who
knows. Maybe we’ll be raising families together.”

“I’d like that,” Holly
said then sauntered off to get ready for her shift.

“I’ve moved her behind
the bar for now,” Sally said. “She’ll pull Anthony’s shifts until we can hire
someone, then I’ll move her into the office if she sticks around. She’s a good
kid.”

“Yes,” Beth said with
tears in her eyes. “She is.” Then she set her uniform on the bar, fingering the
sequins.

“Ah,” Sally said. “Go
ahead and keep it. Something tells me you two will enjoy what’s left of that costume
more than my next barmaid will.”

Beth clutched the outfit
to her chest. “
Thanks,
Sally.”

“You sure you don’t want
to stay and dance, honey? You were awful good last night until this behemoth
carried you off.”

It was
Tony who
shook his head. “That kind of dancing is now officially for my
eyes only.”

Sally chuckled as they
gave her a hug and made to leave. “Oh,” she said. “Wait a minute.” She reached
behind the bar. “Here’s your purse.”

“My
purse?”
The shock in Beth’s voice was clear as she looked inside.
Everything was there.
Her identification, her money, even the
train ticket.

Sally shrugged. “We had
to make sure you’d stay long enough to give you and Anthony here a chance. We
staged that little incident at the train station. Even the cop was a friend. He
owed me a favor, so no report got turned in.” She frowned. “Sure am sorry about
your elbow, though. It wasn’t supposed to turn ugly like that.”

Beth rubbed her arm. “It’s
almost healed now. No permanent harm.” She smiled. It’s a relief to have my identity
back, though.” They hugged again and headed for the door, but Tony stopped when
Beth turned back around.

“Will we ever get to know
who arranged for Tony and me to meet up again?”

“No.”

“You seem pretty certain.”

“I am. You
see,
the same person who helped you, helped me a while back.
Got me out of a bad situation and back on track.
So I
help that person every chance I get. Even after all this time, I have no idea
who it is. I don’t even know if it’s a guy or a gal.”

“Well, if you ever get
the chance, please tell whoever it is that we will be forever grateful for the
assistance.”

“I will,” Sally said. “Now
shoo, you two. I’ve got a business to run and employees to hire.”

Beth and Tony walked out
into the sunshine. “Do you think it’s a man or a woman?” Beth asked as Tony
helped her into his truck.

“Could be either,” he
answered.

“Except this is someone
who really believes in love and is helping others find it. I think
it’s
a woman. It’s got to be.”

“Hey, I’m a guy and I
believe in love.” He reminded her with a scorching kiss,
then
started the truck up.

Beth, glad for bench
seats in the truck, snuggled next to him. “I hope that, whoever it is, they
find as much happiness as we have.”

“Definitely.
Now, how about we go find that new life.”

“I’m more than ready.”

“Great.
My place or yours?”
Tony asked as he pulled away from the
curb.

“Whichever one’s closer.”

Epilogue

Drea’s office

July

Drea Fortier drew her
hood up as Michael entered the office, then hugged her arms to her chest in an
attempt to brace herself against the onslaught of emotions she’d buried so deep
she thought they were dead to her.

She watched her assistant
walk with the swagger of someone confident in themselves and their
surroundings. The man took liberties that disturbed her tidy existence, and she
wasn’t
sure yet what she would do about that.

“Good afternoon, Drea.”
Michael ran a hand through dark hair a tad too shaggy for her tastes and then
smiled, showing perfect, white teeth and laugh lines that verified he lived in
a completely different environment than her.

Joy was no more a part of
her world than that smile of his. It
shouldn’t
please
her when his lips turned up. She stared from beneath the secrecy of the hood
that shielded her from him, knowing it was dangerous to indulge her thoughts
like this.

Drea had spent years
learning both how to manipulate people with a soft voice and how to bury her
own reactions deep about anything said or done around her, or to her. Yet here
she was allowing a simple smile to soften her.

It was a weakness, and
weakness
always
meant pain. She
pursed her lips,
knowing full well
the effect it would
have on him.

It worked. Even though
he’d
busied himself setting a fresh cup of tea on her desk,
his peripheral vision rivaled the world’s best. He grew still. In no time at
all, she could see the visible tightening in his jeans.

Men were always
predictable.

“Thank you for the tea,
Michael.”

“My
pleasure.”
He cleared his throat. “Did you see the email come through
from Sally?”

Drea’s pout turned into a
tightly bound line of satisfaction.
Beth and Tony had found
each other again and were on their way to a healthy and happy future together.
She nodded. “It seems we did well with this one.”

Michael leaned in.
Not enough to intimidate, just enough to make her nervous.
She could smell his aftershave, all musk and earth and sunshine. Not for the
first time, she wondered what he did when he left her each day.

“Not we.
You.
You have an uncanny ability to see into people’s souls
and help them break down barriers so they can live a satisfying life.”

Drea tipped her head in
acknowledgement of the compliment.

“It sure shows how much
love can heal,” he said as he reached past her, careful not to touch her.
Still, fear clawed at her like tiny needles scraping her skin. She
wouldn’t
show it. She knew never to show it. In a measured
movement, she tucked her arms into the wide sleeves of her cape and felt the
derringer that hid there.

Michael’s grin
disappeared as he picked up the dirty teacup, straightened, and spoke with a
kindness that unnerved her more than his smile. “You don’t ever need to be
afraid of me.” He paused as if there were more to say, but
he’d
thought better of it.

The man was definitely
getting too familiar.
She’d
have to find a way to nip
that in the bud. The problem lay in the fact that she had found a certain
pleasure in having him around. Kind eyes backed up his statement that he would
never hurt her. Broad shoulders and muscles that appeared honed by a strict
exercise regimen and could lift a couch to clean underneath it, yet he handled
her delicate teacups with gentle care.

She could feel herself
drawn to him, something that would not do at all. She needed to stop it.
Now.

“You cannot promise you
won’t hurt me, Michael.”

He stared at her, his
gaze intense. His voice mesmerized her, pulled her in. “Pain is a strange thing.
It can hurt, yes. But it can also heal, just like love.” He paused, holding her
captive with his gaze. “I’d like to help you heal.
When you
are ready.”

The shudder Drea
suppressed had nothing to do with cold. Fear, deep-seated and immobilizing,
made her heart race and robbed her of the ability to speak. Michael’s voice
confirmed the depth of his resolve.

Belief, like an incoming
tide, tried to creep into a microscopic crevice in her heart. Drea sealed the
hole tightly shut and straightened. “I am not your concern,” she said, then
waved ruby fingernails toward the door. “I think we’re done for today. You are
free to go home.”

He pulled back as if
slapped, his eyes narrowing. “One of these days, you’re going to have to let
someone in.”

“Never.”
She flinched at the resolve in her own voice and her heart spasmed in pain at
the finality. It would be so nice to let her guard down. To find out if it were
true.
If love really could heal hard wounds.
And
to feel solid arms around her.

To feel
safe.

Once Michael closed the
door behind him, Drea slumped back in her chair. It took an iron will to stay
on top of her game with the man. She could not let Michael in. No one
could be allowed
in. To do so meant certain death. For her
and for anyone she cared about.

Michael had come highly
recommended. When she’d run the ad in a military newspaper for someone who
could provide multiple levels of assistance, only one application of interest
had come through her email. Michael Smith, a helicopter pilot with Special
Forces, honorably discharged, and floating through the system looking for
direction. His application had intrigued her. Short questionnaire responses
gave very little away.
She’d
hacked a system or two to
fully vet him and found his minimalist style appealed to her. She needed
someone who would work hard, work long hours, and not ask questions.

Awarded the Purple Heart
for bravery in battle, his injuries had meant the demise of his military
career. Only sketchy information was available about how
he’d
earned the honor. The information, buried deeper than she could reach, was
proof enough it had been some sort of black op. Drea only knew
he’d
gotten his team, as well as some high-ranking family,
out of a dangerous situation.