Seb (16 page)

“You were amazing,” I said, scooping her up as she giggled.

“You couldn’t tell I was nervous?” She tilted her head back for a kiss when I finally set her down.

“No way, you acted like you’d been negotiating deals like this all your life,” I said, grinning at her. It may have seemed crazy, but I couldn’t have been happier that a legal contract would soon bind us together. “But you should still get a lawyer to look at the contract before you sign it.”

“You’re probably right,” she said, looking thoughtful. “My friend’s brother is a lawyer. Maybe I should call him?”

“You could,” I said, sitting back on the boardroom table. “Or I could call my lawyer. He handled my contract. From what I hear, he’s one of the best.” I smiled. “Of course, he’s the one who tells me that, so take it for what it’s worth.”

“You don’t think he’d mind having a look at it for me?” she asked. “I don’t know anything about this, and I’d hate to overlook something.”

“He won’t mind. You want to get together for dinner tonight to celebrate?”

“Don’t you think we should wait until the ink’s dry on the contracts before we start celebrating?” she asked, quirking an eyebrow.

I shrugged. “It’s just a formality.”

The network execs had made it clear they thought she would add a sexy and exciting dimension that would draw even more viewers to the show, and their enthusiasm about having Skylar on board was contagious. I’d gone from questioning whether I even wanted to continue with the show to brainstorming ways we could make it better, mainly because I knew this was a way I could help Skylar financially without making it feel like a handout.

“But we can wait ‘til the weekend to celebrate if you want,” I added.

She nodded. “That sounds like a plan. I’m not sure how long this appointment with my uncle will take. We’re seeing one of his specialists, and sometimes we’re in and out in no time, and other times it takes hours.”

I understood why it was difficult for her to hold down a traditional job with those kinds of appointments to keep. “No worries. Brody’s in town, and he asked me out for a drink. I told him I’d check with you first to see if you could join us, but since you can’t, I’ll just meet up with him.”

She smiled as she reached into her purse. “That’s so sweet. You wanted to include me?”

“Sure.” I moved in behind her and kissed her neck as she retouched her lip gloss in a small compact mirror she had stashed in her purse. “I told him about this incredible girl I’m seeing, and naturally he wanted to meet you. In fact, I was thinking we should have a barbeque at my place this weekend, maybe invite the whole fam. What do you say? You game?”

“That sounds like fun,” she said, snapping her compact closed and slipping it back in her bag before turning to face me.

I loved that Skylar was so outgoing and seemed to thrive on meeting new people. Emma had been sweet and shy, definitely an introvert, not that I wasted much time comparing the two ladies. Emma was my past. Skylar was my present and hopefully my future.

“On one condition,” she said.

I would have agreed to almost anything she asked of me, which should have scared the hell out of me. But it didn’t. “What’s that?”

“You let me help you prepare the meal.”

“You got it, babe. Now let’s get out of here.”

***

“Man, I can’t remember the last time I saw that smug smile,” Brody said, rolling his eyes.

My brother was right. I hadn’t been able to wipe the smile off my face since I sat down across from him, and there was one very good reason: Skylar. “What can I say? Things are good.”

“Because of this new chick?” he asked, sounding wary.

“Woman,” I corrected.

I didn’t blame him for being concerned. I’d had bad luck with women, and my last experience had almost taken me down for the count. But everything was different with Skylar.

“She’s a big part of it,” I admitted. “But it’s more than that. I just feel like everything in my life is finally coming together. Business is booming, I’m feeling better about the show, having Skylar’s help at the shop has alleviated a lot of the burden, and—”

“Hold up a minute,” Brody said, raising his hand. “Let me get this straight. Skylar is helping you out at work, she’s joined the cast of your show, and she’s warming your bed? Is there a part of your life this woman hasn’t homed in on?”

I resented the implication that Skylar was somehow invading my life. If anything, she’d enriched it. “Hey, I’m not complaining,” I said, reaching for my beer. “More time I get to spend with her, the better.”

“You say that now ‘cause you’re still in the honeymoon phase, but what happens when you get sick of her and can’t stand the sight of her? How’re you gonna get rid of her? Ever thought of that?”

When had my free-spirited brother become such a bitter cynic? “What makes you think I’ll want to get rid of her? Could be this girl is it for me.”

Brody rolled his eyes at me for the second time. If he kept that up, he was gonna get a slap upside the head. “You’ve known her what, a minute? How can you talk like that? Don’t be a dumbass.”

I stared at Brody long enough to make him uncomfortable. “Where the hell is all this coming from? I thought you’d be happy for me.”

Brody swore softly before downing the rest of his beer. “I am, man. I’m sorry. This shitty mood isn’t about you. It’s all me.”

“What happened?” I asked, leaning forward. “You lose a bundle or what?” Losing money wasn’t usually enough to keep Brody down for long. He understood that was the nature of the high stakes world he lived in. Win a million. Lose a million… or two.

“No, it’s not that.” He held up two fingers, letting the waitress know we were ready for another round. “In fact, I’ve been on a hell of a winning streak. This keeps up, I’ll make twice what I did last year.” He flashed a quick grin that fell short of reaching his eyes. “Which was a hell of a lot.”

“So what’s the problem?”

“Hearing you talk about how hard you’re falling for this girl you just met makes me believe it’s possible.” He sighed before raking his hands over his face. “And I can’t let myself believe that.”

He’d only had a couple of beers, so I knew that wasn’t the reason he wasn’t making any sense. “What are you talking about?”

“Riley.” He waited until the waitress had deposited our beers on the table and walked away before he added, "She’s been dating this doctor for a few months, and now she tells me it’s getting serious.” He scowled before picking up his bottle and draining half of it and slamming it back down. “She told me she can’t see me anymore. She’s been with me half of her goddamn life, and she’s ditching me for some asshole she just met! I mean, who the hell does that?”

“A woman who’s tired of wasting her time, I guess.” I loved my brother and wouldn’t have hurt him for anything, but sometimes he had his head so far up his ass he couldn’t see the light of day.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” he demanded, glaring at me. “You’re saying all the years Riley spent with me were a waste?”

“Not if they helped her figure out what she wanted.” Similarly, I realized my previous relationships had served a purpose. They’d helped me identify exactly what I wanted in a woman, and Skylar was it.

“I don’t wanna hear this shit,” he said, sounding too belligerent for the few beers he’d had. “You don’t know what the hell you’re talking about. What Riley had with me was hot. She’ll never have that with anyone else. I know that.”

“You think that’s the only thing that matters to her? Sex?” I was pushing Brody to his limit, but that was my job as his brother. If I didn’t do it, no one else would. “If you do, then you’re even dumber than I thought. I know that girl.” I rapped my knuckles on the table as I fought the urge to rap them on his hard head instead. “She wants a good life with a man she can count on. She wants a husband, a family, not some booty call at three a.m. from her drunk ex as he’s passing through town.”

“You shut the hell up,” Brody whispered fiercely, his eyes narrowing as he poked my chest. “You know that girl’s the love of my life. She’ll never be just a goddamn booty call to me.”

“Then stop treating her like that’s all she is,” I said, determined to remain calm in the face of his rage. I had no problem letting him take his anger and frustration out on me so long as he walked away clear about what he needed to do to fix things with Riley before it was too late.

His head fell forward before he covered his face with his hands. This was obviously eating him up inside, but I couldn’t back down. For his sake, he needed to hear what I’d been dying to say.

“Riley is the best thing that’s ever happened to you,” I said, gripping his shoulder. “You’ve been with dozens of women over the years, trying to forget what you had with her. But you keep coming back to her. Why?”

“You know why,” he muttered. “I love her. Always have, always will.”

“Oh yeah? You love her enough to do something radical?”

“Like?” he asked, eyeing me suspiciously.

“The way I see it, you have two choices,” I said, crossing my arms as I leaned over the table. “You can either marry her or give her your blessing to marry this other dude.”

“I will never pretend to be okay with her marrying someone else,” he said through clenched teeth. “I would rather die than see that happen.”

The vehemence of his tone combined with the potency of his words caught me off guard. Shaking my head, I said, “Don’t say shit like that, man. That’s not even funny.”

“No, it’s not,” he whispered. “You wanna know where I was before I came here tonight?”

I had a feeling I knew, but I nodded, needing to hear what the hell happened to put him in this mood.

“I went to see her.” He had a faraway look in his eye as he stared at the blank wall. “I knew it was a mistake, but I didn’t know what else to do. I had to see her. I was going out of my mind not talking to her…”

“What happened?” I asked, trying to draw him back to the present.

He closed his eyes, and for the first time since our mom died, I could tell he was fighting back tears. “No one answered the door at first. But I knew she was there ‘cause her car was parked in her spot in the parking lot. I should have just walked away, but I couldn’t. I had to see her.”

“Did you?” I had a feeling I already knew where this was going, but if he didn’t get it out, I feared he might implode.

“He answered the door.” Brody’s voice was raspy as he hung his head. “They’d been having sex.”

“Jesus,” I whispered, not knowing what else to say. “I’m sorry, man.”

As though he hadn’t heard me, he said, “He answered the door without his goddamn shirt ‘cause she was wearing it.” He stared at me, his eyes glossy and frighteningly vacant. “
My
girl was wearing his shirt.”

I wanted to remind him that while Riley may have been sleeping with him until recently, she hadn’t been
his
in years.

“Her lips were swollen, her hair was a mess, her cheeks were flushed…”

Seeing him torture himself this way was killing me, but I knew he had to bring the pain to the surface so he could deal with it. “Nex told me that he filled you in on the doctor. You’ve known about him a while, right?”
Long enough to get off your ass and do something about it before it went this far.

“Yeah, but I thought…” He leaned back in his seat, looking as miserable as I’d ever seen him. “I thought it would die out, ya know? I figured he’d be like all the rest. She’d go out with him a few times, wouldn’t sleep with him, then she’d cut him loose.”

“But it’s obviously not like that, huh? She cut you loose instead.” It was harsh, but it was time for him to face facts. He’d been playing this game of tug-of-war with Riley for years. It had to stop.

“I don’t know how to do this, Seb.”

“Do what?”

“Live without her.”

“You’ve been living without her for years,” I reminded him. “She just found the courage to finally end it for good.”

“Yeah, but I wasn’t really without her,” he said, his voice cracking. “We’d still call and text. I knew when I came back—”

“That she’d be waiting for you.” I sighed. “You really think that’s fair?”

He drained his beer before beckoning to the waitress again. I pushed my untouched bottle aside, realizing that I was destined to be the designated driver tonight.

“You think it’s fair that she expects me to choose between her and my career?” he asked.

I wasn’t sure gambling was a career so much as a hobby that had made him a wealthy man. “You really see yourself doing this forever?”

“I don’t know.” He shook his head before running a hand through his dark hair. “All I know is I’m not ready to give it up.”

“Then you give Riley up. Simple enough.” I knew there was nothing simple about it, but she’d given him that ultimatum years ago, and he’d decided he wanted to be a gambling man instead of a husband and father. Honestly, I was amazed it had taken Riley this long to find someone who could make her forget Brody.

“I can’t give her up.”

I shook my head. “I should haul your ass outside and kick the shit out of you for messing with her like this. We all love Riley. She’s family, and the fact that you’re doing this to her—”

“Don’t you think I hate myself for this?” Brody asked, closing his eyes. “I do. I can’t even stand to look in the mirror anymore.”

“Then do the right thing.” I grabbed his shoulder. “Brody, come on, man. Think about what Mom would say if she were here.”

He released a tormented sigh before he tossed some bills on the table. “I gotta get out of here.”

I watched him leave, hoping I’d gotten through to him.

Skylar

I was nervous about meeting the rest of Seb’s family, but if they were all as nice as Gabe had been when I met him at the office, I was probably worrying unnecessarily.

I slapped Seb’s hand when he dipped a finger into the bowl of icing I was using. Since Seb claimed all of the boys had loved their mom’s chocolate fudge cake, I thought I would treat them to mine and pray they liked it as much as Seb seemed to.