So Right With You (9 page)

“Hey, he took a swing at me.”

“Yeah, and you’re only about four inches taller than him and professionally trained.” She knew Garrett had a black belt.

“I didn’t like how he treated you.”

“I’m a big girl. I can handle my own problems.”

“I can see that now.”

“Besides, I have the feeling you did it on purpose. You knew he’d come after you. You egged him on.”

“Maybe,” he admitted. “Although I did not plan to break anything. Who knew the man was made of glass?”

“I can’t believe you did that. I knew I shouldn’t have brought you.”

“What about you, Rocky? One swing and the woman was knocked out cold.”

“It wasn’t fair. She knew you wouldn’t defend yourself. She was out to really hurt you. I couldn’t let her do that.”

“I know violence doesn’t solve anything. But admit it. It felt great,” he said.

Chloe tried not to smile. She didn’t want to encourage him. “Personally, I think you have a negative influence on me, kind of like Clyde’s for Bonnie,” Chloe answered.

“I like to remain more optimistic than that. Those two got exactly what they deserved, including each other.”

“Garrett, can you stop at the next gas station? I really have to go pee.”

“Sure thing, sweetheart.”

He pulled into the station on the next corner. He watched Chloe as she ran inside doing the pee-pee dance. She got the key and ran back outside to unlock the women’s restroom, giving him desperate looks the entire way. She was so funny. He’d enjoyed their time together. She was so easy to be with, even when she was mad at him. It was too bad he already had a date tonight and wouldn’t be able to spend more time with her.

Leaving the restroom, Chloe gave him the hand gesture for one minute and went back inside the station. A few minutes later, she waltzed out, carrying two chocolate-covered vanilla ice cream cones. Her gait was surprisingly free and relaxed. She was beautiful, and she didn’t even know it.

The ice cream from one cone started to drip onto her arm, and she raised it to lick it off. Garrett’s pants grew snug. He released a primal groan. She smiled as she reached his door, and his heart slammed into his ribs. He rolled down the window and she slipped the ice cream through, handing it to him.

“I know it’s drizzling, but I couldn’t help it. I had a craving.”

“Thanks,” He took a huge swipe at the ice cream with his tongue. “We’d better get going. The movers were going to stop for lunch. But if we don’t hit the road, we’ll miss them.”

Chloe rounded the car to get in on the passenger side. She reached for her belt. “I thought I might fix dinner tonight to make up for last night. I still owe you.”

“That would be great, except I already have other plans. I have a date with Bethany Moran.”

He took another swipe at the ice cream.

Leaning over, ready to take another swipe herself, the ice cream slipped from her hand. She barely caught it. “Oh, sure.”

“It’s something I planned before you moved in.” Garrett wanted to dispose of the ice cream. It was no longer sweet. Instead, the acidic taste of guilt gnawed at his gut. He had seen her momentary look of surprise and hurt.

“You don’t owe me an explanation. It’s nothing. We’ll do it another time.” Her posture was stiff. “Besides, we’re just roommates, remember.”

He didn’t like the sound of that. What he was remembering was the feel of her as she lay in his arms last night. He knew he had said they’d put it behind them, but could they? Even though it was selfish on his part, he wasn’t sure he wanted to. They had been sharing an easy rapport and now there was this wall between them.

“I need to discuss an upcoming charity event for the Foundation with Ms. Moran. Otherwise I’d cancel. She’s helping me plan it.” he explained. He was concerned too. She had the money, but so far she was being evasive about the particulars of the event. He had recently learned some disturbing news about Ms. Moran. He hoped his nagging suspicions were wrong.

“Like I said, Garrett. No problem.” Her voice quavered.

Right
. It was a problem. Whenever a woman said it wasn’t a problem, it was definitely a problem.

“You about done with that? I think I’m through.” She had barely eaten any of it. Neither had he. He handed her his. She climbed out of the car to dispose of both in a nearby trash receptacle. She wiped her hands one last time on a napkin and tossed it, too. She returned to the car, her shoulders slumping.

He glanced over at her. She didn’t look back. He could see her lightheartedness from earlier was gone. She was hurting. But nothing he could say would make a difference. He had tried.

He released a pent-up sigh, put the car in gear, and headed out.

*~*

With an evening alone ahead of her, Chloe decided to make it a movie night. Searching through Garrett’s collection of DVDs, she was surprised at the number of chick flicks the man possessed. She figured it was the influence of his mother and sister. As far as she knew, no other woman had ever been here. Of course, she could be wrong. A knot formed in her stomach at the thought.

Garrett was upstairs getting ready for his “date.” She knew she had acted, well, kind of bitchy. The trip home had been quiet. As soon as the movers had arrived, he’d arranged space for her furniture in another room and had left her to cope with unpacking. She didn’t blame him. She couldn’t explain it. When he’d said he had plans with Bethany Moran, she had gone into cold shock. She realized it was jealousy. She had known before that he was dating Bethany. She didn’t realize it would bother her to know they were going out.

It was stupid. After the breakup with Trevor, Garrett should haven’t been a blip on her man-radar. Her man-radar shouldn’t even have been activated yet.

Maybe Harper was right, and these feelings were part of her way of trying to get over Trevor, a sort of rebound. It didn’t matter if she couldn’t act on them. What she had with Garrett was more important. She needed to make things right. Put her professional relationship and their friendship to the forefront.

Garrett strode into the room. He looked good. He wore black tuxedo pants and a white dress shirt. His tuxedo jacket was draped over his arm. He was occupied with fastening his cuff links while talking on his cell, which was propped against his shoulder. The man was great at multitasking. He had yet to spot her.

The thought crossed her mind that he was probably talking to his date. She tried to fade into the background as she held herself perfectly still, listening.

“Okay, Bethany.”

Her stomach dropped. Yep. He was on the phone with his date.

“Sounds good.” While he talked, he finished attaching his cufflinks. “So I’ll pick you up. Five it is. That way we can get there before the cocktail hour. Okay, see you then. Bye.”

He clicked his cell off, slipped it into his pocket, and spotted her, squatting on the floor.

“Sorry.” He gave her a quizzical look. “I didn’t realize you were in here.”

She rose awkwardly to her feet. Her hands grew clammy. This was embarrassing. “Ah, I was looking for a DVD to watch.”

“Huh.” He appeared closed off.

This was not going to be easy. She worried her bottom lip. “I just want to say I’m sorry.”

He looked at her. “I’m sorry, too. I should have mentioned my plans before. It’s really nothing. I had already made arrangements with Bethany to attend this fundraiser. It’s for the Foundation. It wouldn’t be fair to cancel this close to the event. A lot of people are counting on the funds that will be raised through the private auction.”

That made her feel like a bigger jerk. This was business. “It’s okay. I’m good with this. Go. Go have fun.” She tried to paste a smile on her face.

“Okay.” He dragged out the sound of the word. He stared at her for a long moment.

“No, really.”

“Aha.” He shrugged into his jacket and headed to the front entry.

She pursued him.

When he reached the door, he turned and said, “I’m not sure what time I’ll be back.”

“Not a problem. I won’t even wait up.”

He shook his head. “Ah, hell.” He yanked her in tightly and gave her a sound, hard kiss. He released her almost as suddenly, smiling. “See ya.” Turning, he sailed through the door and was gone.

She exhaled. “Well, I’d say that went well.” Her legs felt like cooked noodles.

*~*

Chloe lay sprawled across the couch in her favorite pajamas and furry slippers, a bowl of popcorn and a huge box of tissues precariously balanced on her lap. Patches was curled up on the floor by her feet, and the cats were sleeping on two of the club chairs in the room. She was watching
Terms of Endearment
, one of her favorite movies.

The movie had reached the part where Debra Winger says good-bye to her kids. It was heart- wrenching. She sniffled and pulled another tissue from the box to swipe her eyes. It had always had that effect on her, but she still loved watching it. It seemed so real.

She figured she was safe since Garrett wouldn’t be home for a few hours. She knew from experience these events usually went until midnight, and it was only a little after nine. After he’d left, she had tried to make sense of what happened but it made no sense, so she had given up. Completely absorbed in the plot, she never heard the front door open.

*~*

Garrett usually stayed for the entire evening at one of these events. However, tonight all he could think about was Chloe. He was falling in love with her. Talk about bad timing. The realization had hit him at the gas station. But then she had thrown him for a loop with all her talk of being only roommates.

Now that dinner was over and he had made a sizable donation, he was going to leave. With these newfound feelings, he wanted to be with her, not here. First, though, he needed to confront Bethany. All evening she had been changing the subject when the issue of the Foundation party was discussed.

“Bethany, we need to talk.”

“Sure. Maybe we could go back to my place.”

“I don’t think so.”

“Okay. What is it? You look upset.”

He supposed he did. He couldn’t believe how gullible he had been. He should have had her checked out more thoroughly. But Bethany’s referral had come from someone he trusted who had used her before. Apparently, his source didn’t know everything about her. “I don’t think this is the best place for this discussion.”

“Okay.”

He thought she looked worried.

She should be
.

“There are offices upstairs. We can use one of those.”

He took her arm firmly and led her to the first one they came upon. He shut the door. He watched her for a moment. He could see the crack in her plastic veneer.

“Garrett, what is this about? You’re worrying me.”

“Have you spent all the money?”

“Ah. Yeah. I’ve been taking care of the arrangements. Like you asked.” Her eyes widened fearfully.

“That’s not what I heard. I know about your online gambling habits. They’re so bad, your father’s cut you off.” He bit down on the inside of his cheek in anger, tasting blood. He’d been a fool to trust her.

Tears sprang to her eyes too easily. “Oh, God. I’m sorry. I thought I could make it back. Get back the money I lost. No one would have to know. I almost did it. But then my luck turned. I lost it all, including the money you gave me.” Her mascara ran down her face. “I’ll make it right. I promise.”

“How do you plan to do that? More gambling? Damn it. You have a problem. You need help.” He turned. He didn’t care about the money. He could easily pay the cost. What got him was that he was going to let the people who worked so hard for the Foundation down, and worse, he’d disappoint the kids it served. With it being this close to the holidays, it was probably too late to retain another event planner and venue. He had blindly put his faith in Bethany. “You’re lucky if I don’t press charges. Get help, Bethany, or I will press charges.”

“I don’t need help. My luck just turned. I can get it back.”

“Either you get help, or I’ll make sure everybody knows what you’ve done. You’ll never work another party. Take a cab home. I’m done.” Pulling out his wallet, he set out just enough for cab fare. Any more and she would probably use it to fund her gambling addiction. The woman had a problem. Unfortunately, she was not ready to face it. He slipped his wallet back into his jacket and left.

*~*

Garrett was heavyhearted as he entered the house. Most of the house was in complete darkness, but as he headed toward the family room he could hear signs of life. He rounded the corner and located Chloe lounging on the sofa crying. His heart cracked. He never should have left her alone. He rushed over to her, the ugliness with Bethany set aside.

“Are you all right?”

She shot up to a sitting position, spilling some of the popcorn. Her cheeks flushed hot with embarrassment. “Why are you here?”

“I live here.” His brows shot up.
What the hell
?

“I know, but you’re not supposed to be here yet.” She shrugged.

This was awkward. He had rushed home to be with her, and she was looking at him like he was the last person she wanted to see.

He turned toward the television to see what was on. Now he got it. She was watching one of those movies only women would torture themselves with. His mother had left some on one of her visits.

She bent her head, trying to see around him. “Can you move? She’s about to die.”

“Jeez.” He sat on the sofa. Picking up her feet, he draped them over his legs. He took the popcorn from her and ate some. If he had to sit through this, at least he had the popcorn. When he saw Chloe start to sob, he pulled out a tissue and handed it to her. This was not what he had planned.

After a few minutes, he found himself equally attentive. He particularly liked Jack Nicholson’s character. He could relate to him.

The movie ended and he got up to turn it off.

“That wasn’t quite as painful as I thought it was going to be. Kind of depressing, though. How about I choose the next one, if you’re up to it?”

“Sure.” She shrugged her shoulders.

He inserted the next disc. The credits started and the title came up.