Captured In Ink (Art of Love Series) (29 page)

In the distance, she heard Princess Sara screaming something at the wrestling males in the living room about “not in my kingdom”. Her haughty, loud complaining was accompanied by sounds of rolling and bumping into furniture, punctuated by grunts and groans, along with an occasional masculine laugh of triumphant from Shane—or Brian. She just hoped they didn’t break anything with their man-up contest. God knew she couldn’t replace anything if they did.

Sipping, Reesa listened a little more, hearing Brian’s laughter and Shane’s muttered low cursing despite Sara’s squeals.

Chelsea was probably sitting on the back of the couch keeping clear, Reesa decided, not hearing her chiming in to the melee. Hopefully, the older girl had rescued what was left of the popcorn. There were only a couple bags left until she went shopping again.

She took two steps toward the doorway and stopped. God only knew what
Queen Melon
with her perfect face and hair, not to mention expensive perfume, thought about the ruckus her wicked son and Brian were causing. As for Reesa, well she was just the popcorn making kitchen wench.

Turning to go down the hall instead of to the living room, Reesa decided this was the perfect time for a long, very long bathroom break.

Shane wasn’t the only coward who knew how to stall.

Chapter 17

On Monday, Shane dropped by his brother’s at seven in the morning because he had barely slept the night before for obsessively remembering what it had been like to kiss Reesa Saturday evening. He’d thought about it way too much, and it was the first time since he was a teenager that Shane had been unable to sleep because of wanting a woman.

To keep what was left of his sanity, he’d finally gotten up at five, showered and shaved, but couldn’t settle his mind enough to work. At six-thirty, he had sent his brother a text to see if he was awake yet, desperately needing a distraction. Now Shane sat with his face over a freshly brewed cup of coffee at Michael’s house, inhaling its fragrance like it was a matter of life and death. It might just keep him occupied and sane until he could get his hands on the tiny woman he craved like a damned drug.

Michael slid a couple slices of whole wheat toast under his brother’s bloodshot gaze and sat a jar of apple butter in front of the plate.

“Eat. You look like you’re going to fall over,” he said, smiling at Shane’s tired face. “Didn’t you sleep at all last night?”

“No. Guess I can’t sleep without her now,” Shane said, frowning. “It’s been a week—no, almost two since I was able to spend any time with her alone. Now I know why you coerced Carrie into marriage. Anything is better than the torture of wanting her when she isn’t around. At least if I was in the same house, I could sleep with her.”

Michael laughed and walked back to the toaster, popping a couple pieces in for his wife, who would be heading down the hall any second now. He had Carrie’s shower time and dressing time down to a science because Carrie didn’t waste a moment getting ready and out the door now that she had the gallery.

The thought hadn’t even finished forming in his brain before she appeared in the kitchen doorway, looking surprised to see her brother-in-law sitting at her breakfast table. Michael smiled as his wife’s questioning gaze met his, but all he did was hold up the toast to show her it was ready.

“Good morning, stranger,” Carrie finally said, noticing Shane’s haggard face and frowning. “You don’t look so good. Been burning the midnight oil prepping for Friday?”

Shane snorted. “No. I only have to defend the last one-third of the data. I can prep on the flight there and do fine. This miserable attitude is Reesa’s fault. We’ve been too busy to see each other.”

Carrie laughed softly as she poured herself a cup of coffee and kissed her husband good morning. She carried her toast and coffee to the table to take a chair near Shane.

“Well, looking for work is always a harrowing experience, not to mention time consuming. I’m sure Reesa will slow down once she gets her job situation worked out,” Carrie said, biting into her toast.

“Are you hiring her?” Shane asked.

Carrie nodded. “Yes. I think its going to work out. Reesa certainly gave me some good advice when we talked last week. I was able to move forward and get some of the money spent even before she begins. Do you know if she took the other job?”

“Other job? What other job?” Shane asked, offended surprise making him drop his toast.

Carrie shrugged, narrowing her eyes at Shane’s glare. “Whatever job it was that she was all dolled up for the day she came to see me,” she said, not really surprised Reesa wasn’t telling Shane, if he gave her the same disgruntled response. “I think Reesa said she had an interview with the place where she used to work.”

“She can’t go back there,” Shane said firmly, dismissing it and figuring Carrie had to be wrong. “Her ex was her old boss—sort of—or at least he was one of them. Her relationship and her job there ended badly when she quit to take care of the kids.”

Carrie took a cautious sip, studying Shane’s denial over the rim of her cup. “I think she did mention that, but she also said she had to do it. Seems like Reesa needs the money pretty badly, Shane.”

Shane shook his head. “She can’t need to work that badly. I offered her fifty thousand dollars, and she wouldn’t take it.”

Carrie stopped eating to look at Michael, seeing he was just as surprised at that information as she was. For a moment, she wondered if Shane was kidding. He was fond of practical jokes, especially at his brother’s expense, which now included Carrie more often than not. Only Shane didn’t look like he was joking, she thought, looking at Shane again. Her gaze swung back to her husband, who shrugged as he refilled his coffee cup.

“You two can stop with the eyeball communication thing you’re doing,” Shane said harshly. “No—I haven’t lost my mind. It was the advance I received for my action figures deal. I don’t need it, but Reesa does. It’s at least half of what the court said she had to come up with to keep custody of all four kids.”

Michael drew a surprised breath, both at his younger brother’s earning potential and the fact that Shane was ready to hand the whole sum over to Reesa. Not that he hadn’t pretty much done a similar financial thing with mortgaging the house for Carrie to buy the gallery, but Michael had worked long enough to know that prosperity ebbed and flowed liked everything else in life did. Certainly, he knew the risks.

The gallery might fail, though he didn’t believe it would. If it did there would still be the mortgage to pay off again. Risk was his choice, and sure, he would do it again for his wife, but this was Shane. His brother was a man who drove a ten year old car and wouldn’t get a haircut or buy new jeans even though every pair he currently owned were ripped all to shreds. Shane was notoriously tight with his money.

His willingness to give what he had to Reesa went a long way to convincing Michael that his younger brother was indeed in love with the woman.

“Why won’t Reesa take your money if she needs it so bad?” Michael asked.

“I don’t really know,” Shane said flatly, glaring at Michael for saying it out loud and making it more real. He had been trying not to dwell on Reesa’s refusal of his financial help so he could focus instead on what it was going to take to get her to change her mind. Shane could feel temper heating his face as he thought about how stubborn she was being, which was why he’d been trying so hard
not
to think about it.

“If I understood Reesa’s reservations, I’d damn well be talking her into a damn different logic. Reesa can’t go back to where she used to work. That’s out of the question. Her ex would harass her every day, which would put him on my shit list. I don’t honestly think she’d date him again, but her situation would be impossible to tolerate. The man is condescending as hell.”

He stared at his coffee cup, his mouth tight and his eyes dark remembering his confrontation with Brentwood Addison.

“The kids don’t like him either. I had to run him off when I first started dating her. When I did, I told the kids then that his death could only be a last resort. That won’t take long if Reesa goes back to work for him,” Shane said tightly.

“Don’t be talking crazy,” Carrie said, looking at her brother-in-law with a mixture of irritation and pity. “You’d never kill the man any more than Reesa could take your money right now, Shane. Where’s that rational mind of yours hiding these days? You need to accept Reesa has some pretty big things in her life to work out.”

Carrie rose and carried her dishes to the sink.

“Well, I don’t understand either. Why can’t she take Shane’s money?” Michael demanded, pulling his wife’s irritated gaze to him. “Needing help and not taking it—that’s craziness. If Reesa needs the money for the kids, she can’t afford to be prideful.”

Carrie was shaking her head at her husband.

“Reesa has known Shane for all of two months at best. Just because they have sex and the kids like him doesn’t mean they’re serious enough to talk about finances yet. Look at it from her point of view. He’s a lot younger, still in college, and doesn’t have a steady job, or at least not the kind she views as steady. He lives an artist’s life. That’s not very stable for most people. She’s an accountant, remember. Her standard of a stable income is probably stricter than most people’s.”

“I received a fifty thousand advance for the action figure deal and will still get commission on future sales exceeding that amount. I also just got my largest advance ever on my current novel
and
the job at the university is a done deal. I’m not even thirty and I’m already a damn money-earning machine. How the hell much steadier do I have to be?” Shane demanded, frowning at Carrie. “And Reesa and I do have a future. Damn it, I want to marry her. I’ve told her that several times.”

Carrie walked to Shane and put a hand on his shoulder. “I realize that no matter how smart you are, when it comes to Reesa you’re just a guy like all other guys, so try to hear this over your screaming male ego. Handling the problems of your relationship is more complicated than replacing tires on your car. This isn’t just about money.”

“Are saying I’m being sexist just because I want to help her?” Shane asked sarcastically.

“No,” Carrie said, laughing at his agitation even while she pleaded with him to set down his offended pride and try to understand the woman he professed to be in love with.

“Good—because I
am not
being sexist. I just want to help,” Shane said firmly, as Carrie dropped her hand from his shoulder and walked a short distance away.

“Shane, if you want to understand her reasoning, you have to try and see this from her point of view. Reesa is a professional woman used to earning a healthy income. Her first recourse would always be to find work and earn the money she needs for herself. Taking such a large amount of cash from you, especially after knowing you for such a short period of time, would probably feel like taking it from a stranger. Frankly, if I could have talked the bank into a better rate on a loan, I would never have used the money Michael gave me, and we’ve known each other for years,” Carrie said firmly.

“
But why, Carrie
? Michael is your husband. Why wouldn’t you want him to help you?” Shane asked, swiping at his hair.

Carrie shrugged and sighed. “It’s about feeling right as much as it about taking risks. Would you take Reesa’s money if your financial positions were reversed? My guess is you’d not only say no, but hell no, as most men would. Well, independent women can have the same kind of personal pride. I can tell you I absolutely would never have taken Michael’s money if we weren’t married. I still get butterflies when I think about the fact that there’s a huge mortgage on the house now because of me and the gallery. If I fail, Michael will lose a huge investment.”

“You won’t fail. And if I hadn’t helped you, you’d be in Bowling Green living with your sisters,” Michael said tersely, frowning at Carrie’s explanation even though what she said about the risks was truth.

Carrie walked to him and put her arms around her husband, not wanting to hurt his feelings any more than necessary. Some of their wounds weren’t completely healed yet. “Yes, but I would have come back to you eventually, Michael—once I had figured things out.”

“
Eventually
would never have been good enough for me. This is why I bribed you into staying to married me,” Michael said, hugging her back. “And you having the money for the gallery gave me better odds of keeping you in Lexington which we mended things.”

“You really didn’t give me much of a choice, making such a generous gesture, which is why I stayed,” Carrie told him. “I forgive you for rushing my decision to marry you now because I’m too happy to hold your manipulation against you. That doesn’t mean the method you used was right or necessarily the best way to handle the situation. I could have gotten the money from the bank and we wouldn’t still be arguing over it.”

Michael snorted. “Maybe not, but I would do it all again in a heartbeat. Call me whatever adjective you like.”

Carrie sighed in resignation, but leaned in to her stubborn, loving, generous husband. “Which is
why
I’m not surprised you don’t get it either. Maybe only another independent woman could understand Reesa’s reluctance. However, setting her feelings aside, I personally don’t see how Reesa’s stubbornness to not take the money is any different from Shane’s stubbornness in wanting her to take it.”