Sinners On Tour 04 Wicked Beat (23 page)

Eric’s chest was so tight he was going to suffocate. He punched the accelerator and drifted around a corner with skidding tires. From nowhere, a little black dog darted in front of his car. Gritting his teeth, Eric slammed on his brakes and slid to a screeching halt. Heart hammering, he peered over the hood, afraid of what he’d see. The dog trotted unharmed onto the sidewalk with its tail between its legs and ears drawn back, eyeing the car warily.

Eric released a breath of relief and eased forward at a speed more reasonable for a residential area. Why was he so pissed off? And so hurt? And why had he kicked Rebekah out of his car? Had he really broken up with her? Ten minutes ago, he’d told her mother that he wasn’t stepping aside for Isaac. Isn’t that what he’d just done? Stepped aside for Isaac?

“Fuck,” he growled. He had to go back. Eric drove around the block and headed to the house. Rebekah was still standing in front, but she wasn’t alone. Isaac was holding her securely in his arms, one hand smoothing her silky hair. Isaac caught sight of Eric and grinned. He tilted Rebekah’s head back and kissed her deeply. The middle finger Isaac extended in Eric’s direction behind Rebekah’s back was more provocation than Eric could handle.

Eric was out of the car and crossing the yard in a heartbeat. He wrenched Rebekah away from Isaac’s lips. Her tear-streaked, startled face scarcely had time to register before Eric’s fist was flying. It connected with Isaac’s nose, knocking him flat on his ass. Eric’s satisfaction was short-lived. Rebekah dropped to her knees beside Isaac, who had both hands cupped over his nose, trying to clear his vision by forcing his eyes open and closed several times.

“Oh my God,” Rebekah cried. “Are you okay, Isaac?”

“Get up, you fucking pansy,” Eric said. “I’m not done kicking your ass yet.”

Isaac didn’t get up, but Rebekah leapt to her feet and turned on Eric, spitting mad. “What in the fuck do you think you’re doing?”

“He was kissing you.”

“So that gives you a right to punch him?”

Uh, duh. “Well… yeah.”

She rolled her eyes and shook her head. “You need to leave.”

“But I came back for you.”

“Leave!”

“Call the cops,” Isaac said, climbing to his feet and brushing off the seat of his slacks. His perfect nose was still perfect, though swollen. Not even bleeding. “He’s obviously unstable.”

“I’ll fuckin’ show you unstable,” Eric said. Before he could throw another punch, Rebekah stepped between them.

She squeezed her eyes shut, as if expecting him to actually hit her.

After a tense moment, she opened her eyes and took a deep breath. “I asked you to leave, Eric. I’m not sure who you are right now, and you’re scaring me.”

Scaring her? Eric immediately relaxed his stance. “Rebekah?” He’d never hurt her. Not for anything. She had to know that.

“Good-bye, Eric. You need to cool off before you do something you regret.” She grabbed Isaac by the sleeve and pulled him into the house, leaving Eric alone on the front lawn.

Eric stood there, oscillating between anger and anguish. It took him several minutes to notice that his unattended car was rolling down the street.

***

Rebekah watched Eric chase his car down the road. He caught it, climbed inside, and sped off.

“Is he gone?” Isaac asked.

She nodded, the tears she’d been holding in check flowing freely now.

“Good riddance.”

“Why did you kiss me, Isaac?”

“I think that’s fairly obvious, angel,” he murmured. He cupped her face and brushed her tears away with his thumbs. “I love you.”

That was the last thing she wanted to hear at the moment. “Isaac.”

“Will you marry me?”

She stared at him in disbelief.
Marry
him? Was he serious?

Eric had been driving on autopilot for almost an hour. He didn’t even know where he was going until he turned into Jace’s driveway. He parked beneath the portico and sat there trying to collect his scattered thoughts.

Maybe he should just go home. The thought of being in that big fairy-tale house by himself was intolerable. He climbed out of the car and rang the doorbell. Aggie answered in full dominatrix regalia. Had he not been so distraught, he’d have probably gotten a stiffy and started panting. Thing was, he was already panting. His only other option seemed to be crying, and that wasn’t going to happen.

“Eric?” Aggie said. “I thought you were a client. I was about to hit you for not going to the back door.”

There was probably a quip he should be spouting, but nothing came to mind. “Is Jace here?”

“Yeah, come in.” Aggie ushered him inside. She appraised him in the lighted entryway. “Sweetie, you look like shit. Is something wrong?”

“Had a little fight.”

“With Reb?”

He nodded.

She patted his back. “It will all work out.”

Eric wasn’t so sure about that, but he nodded again. The doorbell rang. A chime that sounded like a doomsday theme.

“That’s for me,” Aggie said. “Jace!” Aggie called into the house. “Eric’s here!”

Jace came into the foyer carrying his black tuxedo cat, Brownie, on one shoulder. His smile of greeting faded when his gaze landed on Eric’s face. “Dude, you look like shit. Is something wrong?”

“I don’t know.”

Jace patted Aggie’s butt as she sauntered by. “Do you have your panic button, babe?”

She cupped his cheek and gifted him with a lingering kiss. “Yeah. I told you subs aren’t a threat. I don’t know why you worry about me so much.”

“Yes you do.”

She smiled and slapped Jace’s ass with a resounding crack. He tensed, his lip curling with primal desire.

“Get Eric a drink,” she said. “He looks like he can use one.”

Jace approached Eric and handed the cat to him. Eric held the creature at arm’s length and stared into her appraising amber eyes. She batted a beckoning paw at him and he drew her closer. She sank a set of claws into his shirt and pulled herself closer. For a second, Eric thought the cat was going to bite him, but she rubbed her face against his jaw and purred. “Browww wwwooownnnn,” she meowed. Eric chuckled and cuddled her against his chest like a baby. He followed Jace deeper into the house, while Brownie batted at the lock of blue hair that rested against his collarbone.

Eric expected Jace to lead him to the family room, which had a well-stocked bar, but he led him into his home gym.

“Do you have a secret stash of booze in here?” Eric asked.

“You don’t need booze.”

“I beg to differ.”

“You need to hit something.”

“Or someone.” Though he’d already hit a certain someone, and it hadn’t solved his problems, only made them worse.

“Sit,” Jace said, indicating a bench along the wall. He picked up a roll of white tape and grabbed Eric’s free hand to tape Eric’s knuckles. “Talk.”

Eric released Brownie, who went to stare at herself in a floor-to-ceiling mirror along one wall. Eric allowed Jace to tape his hands and wrists while he told him what had happened at the Blake residence.

“Do you think she still cares about him?” Jace asked when Eric reached the end of his story.

“Looked like it.”

“I’d have hit him too.”

“You would have?”

Jace nodded. “But not in front of her.”

“Too late to fix that part.”

“Yeah. So now you’ve got to play it cool. Get the aggression out of your system so you don’t do it again.” Jace walked over to a large punching bag suspended from the ceiling. “What’s his name again?”

“Isaac.”

Jace used the tape to make a letter
I
on the punching bag. “I’ll leave you two alone,” Jace said. “I’ll be in the family room. Come find me after you kick his ass.”

Eric felt a little foolish beating the shit out of a punching bag. First of all, punching bags didn’t shit. Second, they didn’t fight back. While Eric loved to engage in a good brawl, he wasn’t into doling out unchallenged beatings. Sometime during his attempts to beat that tape letter off the punching bag while imagining Isaac’s perfect face, he realized that the guy would never fight back. Hitting Isaac was like beating up the punching bag and even less satisfying.

Drenched in sweat, Eric appraised what was left of the tape. “Fuck.” He shoved the bag with both palms, sending it rocking back and forth.

Eric had learned to get what he wanted by fighting a long time ago, but he would have to change tactics in this case. Beating Isaac to pulp might be fun, but it wouldn’t bring Rebekah back, and that’s all he really wanted. He raked his fingers through his hair, trying to figure out what would win her over again. He knew jewelry wasn’t the answer. Maybe Jace had an idea.

Eric unwrapped the tape from his hands as he wandered through the house on his way to the family room. Jace nodded toward the empty recliner beside him. There was already a shot of tequila waiting for Eric on the side table. He sat on the edge of the chair and downed the shot.

“Feel better?” Jace asked.

“Not necessarily. I’ve come to the conclusion that I can’t beat the shit out of Limp Dick if I want Rebekah back.”

“So you officially broke up?”

“I don’t know. I hope not. She was so pissed.”

“Maybe you should call her. Talk to her.”

Eric pulled out his cell phone and stared at the screen saver of himself and Rebekah kissing and smiling. She had a smudge of grease on her cheek. He’d snapped that picture the day before. A memento of them getting the Corvette running perfectly. How could he have fucked things up between them so quickly?

Eric decided he had no clue what to say and was afraid they’d get into another argument if he talked to her then. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea. I’ll probably say something I’ll regret.”

“Then text her,” Jace said.

Yeah, text her. He couldn’t put his foot in his mouth in a text message.

I’m really sorry, baby. I’ll call tomorrow when I have my head on straight. Love you.
He sent the message and sank back into the recliner, holding the phone loosely. Within a minute, his phone beeped with a message.

His heart dropped when he read it.
Fuck you, asshole. I never want to see you again. Isaac asked me to marry him, and I said yes.

“What?” he sputtered. They have one fight, are out of each other’s sight for two hours, and she’s already agreed to marry Isaac? “No fucking way.”

He dialed her number. The call connected, then disconnected.

“She hung up on me,” Eric grumbled. He dialed her again.

“Hello?” a man answered her phone.

“Who is this?” Eric growled.

“This is Rebekah’s fiancé, Isaac.”

“Bullshit. Put her on the phone.”

“Look, loser,” Isaac said. “She doesn’t want to talk to you. Don’t call her again.”

“Put her on the fucking phone.”

“Take a hint. She doesn’t want to be with you.” Isaac hung up.

“Son of a bitch.”

Eric dialed her number again. This time it rang, but no one picked up.

“What’s going on?” Jace asked.

“Rebekah is marrying Isaac.”

Rebekah came out of the bathroom drying her hair with a towel. A shower had made her feel almost human again after an hour-long crying jag. She found Isaac sitting at the end of her bed fiddling with her phone.

“Did Eric call?” she asked hopefully.

Isaac shook his head. “Nope.”

Her heart sank, and the tears she’d finally managed to suppress filled her eyes again. “He must be really upset. I thought he’d be cooled down by now. I hope nothing happened to him. He drives like a maniac.”

She sat on the bed next to Isaac, and he wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulders. “I’m sure he’ll call, angel. Give him time to realize he was in the wrong.”

“Maybe I should call him.” When she reached for her phone, Isaac hid it behind his back.

“He’s the one who needs to apologize, not you.”

“We both need to apologize. Actually, you need to apologize too. Why did you kiss me like that?”

“I’m not going to apologize for kissing the woman I love.”

“But I’m in love with Eric, Isaac. Why can’t you understand that?”

Isaac brushed her hair back and tucked it behind her ear. “Look me in the eye and tell me you don’t love me.”

She looked into his gentle gray eyes, opened her mouth, but couldn’t say it. She did love Isaac, but she wasn’t attracted to him. With Eric, she had both. Her love for Eric was still growing, but her attraction was there in full bloom. Her love for Isaac was strong, but she would never be attracted. It wasn’t the kind of love you had for the man you want to spend the rest of your life with. Was it? She felt like crying again. Why did Isaac insist on confusing her?

“You know we’re good together,” he said.

“Eric and I are good together too,” she insisted. “I’ve never been happier. Every minute with him is exciting and fun.”

“But how long will that last? He’s a rock star. You’re not stupid, Rebekah. It’s only a matter of time before he falls to temptation and breaks your heart.”

“He would never break my—”

“
I
would never.”

“But you did, Isaac. I was devastated.”

His brow crinkled with confusion. “You broke up with me.”

“Because you couldn’t stand to have sex with me. I disgusted you.”

“I told you I was sorry about that.” His hand slid across her back. “Your body has had more time to heal. We can try again.”

“No, Isaac. I love Eric. Why is it so hard for you to understand that?”

“I love you too much to watch you throw your life away,” he said emphatically. “He’s not right for you, Rebekah.”

“He’s perfect for me, Isaac. You just don’t know him.”

“I don’t think I want to know him. He’s crass. Low class. Violent. I worry for your safety. He punched me without provocation.”

She shook her head at him. “Without provocation? You kissed me, Isaac. I’m his girlfriend. I don’t approve of him punching you, but I understand why he reacted that way.”

“Like a mindless thug?”

“I’m not going to sit here and listen to you insult him. I think it’s time for you to leave.”

Isaac hugged her tightly, reminding her how safe he always made her feel. “I don’t want to leave. I’ve missed you so much. Let’s talk about something else. Tell me about your new job.”

Rebekah really didn’t want to sit by herself while she waited for Eric to call. But she didn’t want to be alone with Isaac either. He was confusing her. Nothing new about that.

“Yeah, okay.” She climbed from the bed and headed toward the door. “Let’s go hang out with Dave. He could probably use the company.”