Damaged Goods (18 page)

Tilting my head to the side, I bit my lip as his stubble brushed my skin. “Not

until I pick up the kids tonight.”

“Got time to go back in the bedroom for a while?”

“I have plenty of time for that.”

86

Lauren Gallagher

Chapter Twelve

Neither of us expected this relationship to be simple, and it wasn"t.

We did the best we could, though. We took lunch together whenever our

schedules allowed, especially during the weeks when the kids stayed with me. On

those nights, if Austin didn"t have to work, we always sent a text or called just to

say good night. If his job kept us apart on a given evening, and it often did, he"d

send a good-night text when he got home, but it was usually quite late, so he didn"t

call.

It became a running joke to see whose cell phone would be the next to

interrupt our time together. If it was mine, at least I could usually deal with

whatever my kids needed without having to cut the evening short to attend to them.

If it was Austin"s, it depended on which phone. His personal phone could usually be

ignored. A call on the other cell was almost inevitably followed by an apologetic

look, a kiss good night, and a promise to make it up to me the next night. A promise

he always fulfilled and then some.

The first few times he had to leave for an impromptu call from a client, it was

too weird for words. I spent the rest of the evening imagining what he was doing

and with whom, and I questioned, more than once, if I could really do this. It was

his job, though. Nothing more. I quickly learned to just not think about it when he

was working. He didn"t tell me the things that went on. I didn"t ask, and I did the

best I could to keep my imagination from running away with me.

Austin wasn"t defined by his line of work, though, and neither was our

relationship. In between all those odd moments that were unique to a situation like

ours were plenty of the normal things. Rented movies flickering unwatched on the

television screen while we paid more attention to each other on the sofa. Playing

and flirting in the kitchen when we were
supposed
to be cooking together. Clinging

to my coffee cup at work because we"d been up until three in the morning just

talking in bed.

It was a normal, everyday relationship with normal, everyday things. Like,

say, the inevitable meeting of the parents.

My folks lived several states away, but his were local. When his elder sister

was in town after Austin and I had been dating for a while, he invited me along to

dinner at their parents" house.

“I"m assuming they don"t know what you do for a living?” I asked on the way

over.

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87

He laughed. “My mother would be facedown in her soup and stone dead before

I could finish saying „I"m a whore."”

“Yeah, I suppose that would be an awkward conversation.”

“You could say that.” He sighed and shook his head as he turned off the main

road into a quaint little development. “My parents are way too conservative for that.

Honestly, my mom probably doesn"t even know what an escort is, and they"d both

have heart failure if they knew what I do.”

“So what do you tell them, then?”

“I keep it simple, keep it vague, and change the subject as often as possible.”

“Oh, come on, really?”

He laughed. “Okay, not quite.” He turned down another road, this time leading

us into a small cul de sac. “They just think my design work gets me by. At least then

I don"t feel like I"m completely lying to them. Just stretching the truth a bit.”

“Under the circumstances, I think you can be forgiven.”

He shot me a sidelong glance. “Oh, can I?”

“Yes.” I eyed him. “But just this once.”

“You"re
so
kind.”

He parked in front of an immaculately well-maintained colonial-style house.

Manicured lawn, beds full of colorful flowers, and trimmed rosebushes.

On the way up the brick walkway, Austin rested a gentle hand on the small of

my back. “Sure you"re ready for this?”

Walking up the porch steps and past the fluttering American flag, I nodded.

“Question is, are you?”

“Of course I am.” He kissed my cheek. “I know these people. You don"t know

what you"re getting yourself into.”

“I know you,” I said. “I think I"ll be fine.”

He laughed and opened the front door. “Mom? Dad?” he called down the hall.

“In here.” A woman"s voice came from elsewhere. While Austin and I took off

our shoes and coats, the source of the voice stepped around a corner.

“Hey, Mom,” Austin said.

“Come here, baby.” She put her arms out. “Give your mama a hug.”

He groaned like a petulant kid. “Do I have to?”

“Don"t make me get the frying pan.”

“Okay, okay.” He hugged his mother, then gestured at me. “Mom, this is

Jocelyn, my girlfriend.”

“Very nice to meet you,” she said. “You can call me Sharon.”

“Nice to meet you too,” I said.

“It"s been far too long since this one"s brought a girl home.” She shot her son a

disapproving look.

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Lauren Gallagher

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” He rolled his eyes, and she smacked his arm.

To me, she said, “Why don"t we go in the living room and have a seat?” She

gestured for us to follow her. Over her shoulder, she said, “Dad"s just made a run to

the store, and Shelby isn"t here just yet, but they should both be along shortly.”

In the living room, we sat on the couch, and Austin draped his arm around my

shoulders.

“So where did the two of you meet?” his mother asked, easing herself into one

of two overstuffed recliners.

“Through a friend,” Austin said without a hint of irony. “She thought we"d

have a thing or two in common, so she hooked us up.”

I smothered a laugh. “Perceptive.”

“Well, it"s about time, I say,” Sharon said. “Has he told you how long it"s been

since he"s brought a woman home to meet us?” She clicked her tongue. “Years,

honey. I was starting to wonder if he just had a boyfriend he was too embarrassed

to bring home.”

“
Mother
.”

“Oh, honestly.” She made a dismissive gesture. “Dad and I wouldn"t have cared

if you had. We just wondered why you were hiding him.”

“Besides the fact that there wasn"t a „him" to hide?” Austin rolled his eyes.

“Well, I know that
now
, but I"ve been wondering.” To me she said, “This one

was quite the ladies" man in high school. Has he told you about that?”

Austin grimaced, his cheeks glowing bright red. I patted his thigh and

laughed.

“No, I can"t say he has,” I said.

“Oh, my goodness.” Sharon clicked her tongue. “The girls stood in line to go to

prom with him.”

“
Did
they, now?” I looked at him, inclining my head. “You mean to tell me you

had girls lined up around the block?”

Austin gestured dismissively. “It wasn"t quite like that.”

“It was so,” his mother said. “Why else would you have to ask „which one?"

whenever we told you a girl had called?”

“Yeah, Austin.” I struggled to contain my laughter. “Why
would
you have to

ask that?”

He let out a huff of breath. “It
wasn’t
like that.”

Sharon started to speak, but a car outside turned all of our heads.

“That would be your sister.” Sharon got up. “You two sit tight. I"ll go let her

in.”

After she"d left the room, I looked at him. “So were you really—”

“No, I wasn"t.” Our eyes met. His cheeks darkened. “Okay, maybe a little.”

“Manwhore.”

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89

He snorted, and though we both tried to keep our composure, we couldn"t help

laughing.

“Okay, okay, what"s so funny?” said a woman who I assumed to be Austin"s

sister.

“We were just laughing at that piece of shit you call a car,” Austin said,

nodding toward the driveway.

“What?” She smirked. “This from the boy who"s still driving a car from the

twentieth century?”

“Whatever.” Austin got up and stepped around the coffee table to embrace his

sister.

“God, I"ve missed you,” she said. “It"s good to see you.”

“You too.” He released her and nodded toward me. “This is Jocelyn, my

girlfriend. Jocelyn, this is my sister, Shelby.”

“Nice to meet you.” I stood to shake her hand over the coffee table.

“Likewise,” Shelby said. We all took our seats, Shelby occupying the other

recliner.

“You didn"t bring the kids this time?” Austin said.

She shook her head. “Just here on business, and I didn"t want to take them out

of school for a week.”

“Aw, come on,” he said. “You didn"t bring them the last three times either.”

“Please, Mom"s already given me hell for not bringing them.” Shelby eyed her

mother.

Sharon shrugged. “Well, you"re the one who didn"t bring my grandchildren

with you again, so you know you"re going to hear about it.”

“Fine, next time I come out, I"ll bring them with me.” Shelby looked at Austin.

“And you and Mom can sort out who"s babysitting while I"m doing work-related

crap, even if
you
never actually end up babysitting them.”

“Austin can come see them all he wants,” Sharon said. “But they"re staying

with me. Grandmother"s privilege.”

“Yeah, you
would
hog them,” Austin muttered. We exchanged glances. It

struck me as sad that even though his mother and sister knew he adored those kids,

the reason he"d never actually babysit them was because that would mean being

alone with them.

“So, Jocelyn,” Shelby said. “What do you do?”

“I work in advertising,” I said. “Nothing all that exciting. Client account

management, that kind of thing.”

“Hey, it pays the bills, right?” Shelby smiled.

“That"s the important part,” I said. “And it"s really not a bad job. I like what I

do. It"s just not terribly interesting to anyone outside of advertising.”

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Lauren Gallagher

“I can relate to that,” Shelby said. “I could probably bore you into a coma with

some of the things I deal with on a daily basis. And speaking of boring as hell, what

are you doing for work these days, Austin?”

Without missing a beat, he said, “Selling my body to desperate women.”

“Wow,” Shelby deadpanned. “If they"re buying, they
must
be desperate.” She

looked at me. “No offense.”

I snorted with laughter. Austin and I exchanged knowing looks. If she only

knew.

“You two,” their mother said, rolling her eyes. She pushed herself out of her

recliner. “I"m going to go check on dinner. Can I trust you all to stay out of trouble?”

“Yes, Mom,” both siblings said.

“So, where"s Zach tonight?” Shelby asked after Sharon had gone.

“Zach"s our younger brother,” Austin said to me. To his sister, he said, “When I

talked to him earlier in the week, he said he had plans with Hannah all weekend.”

“Oh,
there’s
a shock,” Shelby said with enough venom to announce she wasn"t

fond of the woman in question.

Austin stiffened. “Uh, they are dating, you know. That sometimes entails

spending time together, even when one"s sister does come to town on a moment"s

notice.”

“Yeah, but that woman"s just using him.” Shelby"s lips contorted with disgust.

“Drives me crazy.”

“Hannah?” Austin cocked his head. “She seems like a nice girl to me.”

“Yeah, we"ll see how long that lasts once she gets what she wants from him,”

Shelby said.

Austin raised an eyebrow. “And that is?”

Shelby sneered. “A ring and someone to provide for her kids.”

“What?” Austin snorted. “Come on, she"s not like that.”

“Austin, Zach is loaded,” Shelby said. “He"s got a good job in a rock-solid

industry, and she"s waiting tables. Don"t tell me she"s looking at him with anything

other than diamonds and dollar signs in her eyes.”

I gritted my teeth.

“So, what? Since she"s a single mother, she"s a damned gold digger?” Austin

said.

Shelby shrugged. “Look, pardon me if I question her motives. She needs a dad

for her kids, so—”

“Is their father out of the picture?” I asked.

Shelby furrowed her brow, then shrugged again. “I don"t know if he is or not,

but—”

“Well, if he"s still in the picture, is she really looking to replace him?” I said.

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91

Austin put his hand on my knee. It wasn"t a warning squeeze to tell me to back

off, just a gentle touch.

“Why else would she be looking for a husband?” Shelby said.

I forced back the anger that rose in my throat. “There are other reasons for a

single mother to date and remarry, you know. Like the same reasons
other
single

women date and marry.”

Shelby"s eyebrows jumped. “Okay, I suppose there"s that. But any man she

marries is going to be an instant dad, and I don"t like seeing my brother being