Fool for Love (Believe #2) (30 page)

Such a waste.

“Well, I’m fine,” I try to reassure him as I take a step back, wanting to be subtle about getting free of his grasp. But my attempt is thwarted when he only takes a step closer to me. The calculating gleam in his eyes and the way he looks down to my breasts makes me slightly uneasy.

“It’s easy to see why Garrett can’t resist you. Are you sure he isn’t too old for you?”

I wrench my arm free.

“That’s none of your business, Rowan.”

He laughs once and smirks at me.

“I bet I could show you a good time. Why don’t you stay for a bit after your shift and we can have a private party in my office?”

What the what?

I clear my throat and cross my arms.

“I hardly think that would be appropriate, given the fact that you’re my boss.”

He leans down to peer into my eyes, the arrogant smile on his face annoying the crap out of me.

“In case you haven’t noticed, cupcake, this place is all about inappropriate behaviour; you should try me some time. I might surprise you.”

“
‘Cupcake’?!
I’m
not
interested, alright? If you don’t back away from me right now, I’m leaving, and I won’t come back. And we both know that I’m too good at my job – you can’t afford to lose me.”

He frowns at me, keeping his gaze locked with mine. I won’t show him that he scares me, so I keep my ground.

Finally, he steps away from me.

“Easy there, tiger.” The playful smile doesn’t fool me. He’s pissed off, and it sends a sliver of unease down my spine. “I didn’t mean to bring out your claws. But…” He gives my chin a tap with his finger, and I have to work hard on not sneering at him.

“Let me know if you ever change your mind.”

Keeping silent, I watch as he walks away from me. Breathing hard, I toss the cloth in the trash can behind the bar and scan the clients around me. No one seems to care about the going-ons behind the bar, and I breathe a small sigh of relief.

“Are you okay?” Valerie, my buddy for the night, asks me.

I smile faintly at her.

“Yeah, I’m good.”

She gives me a long look, and I kind of get lost in her beauty again; her mocha skin is flawless, she’s rather tall and curvy, and her brown eyes are compassionate. She’s completely devoted to her boyfriend, who doesn’t mind her job too much. The reason she works at
The Vault
is because they want to emigrate to Australia and they need all the money they can get so their new life down under won’t be filled with worries.

She leans in to whisper in my ear.

“Don’t let Rowan intimidate you, alright? He’s all bark, but there’s no real bite to him.”

I rest my arm on the bar to our right while I contemplate her words.

“What do you mean?” I whisper, our backs to the patrons.

“Just take my word for it. There’s a lot more than meets the eye with that one.”

She gives me a knowing look and then leaves me when a client at her station further away from me catches her attention. I don’t have time to think about her cryptic remark about Rowan, and I turn back to my patrons.

As I go about my business, serving the clients and their willing partners, thoughts about Garrett return to me, as usual.

Why did I have to fall for such a complicated man? This was
so
not part of the plan when I came to NYC.

But: does
‘complicated’
have to mean
‘wrong’
? Maybe it’s just an excuse people use when a relationship becomes too hard…when they don’t want to make a real effort. When things become too difficult to handle, and instead of fighting for each other, they let go when they, in fact, shouldn’t be so unwilling to compromise.

But that’s not how I was brought up, and it’s not what my books have taught me, either.

In romance novels, this is how it goes:

Girl meets boy.

Girl and boy fall in love.

Girl and boy must overcome many obstacles before they are rewarded their happy-ever-after.

They fight for their love and stop at nothing to protect it.

It’s time I do the same.

It’s time I fight for my love.

For Garrett.

Resolved to talk things through with him – to get the truth out of him once and for all – when I get home later, I’m finally able to concentrate on my job. I still ask my designated bouncer, Mike, for the time too often, causing him to roll his eyes at me, but I can’t be bothered with that.

I can’t wait to get home.

When I arrive at the apartment, the optimism has waned somewhat, but not my determination. I frown as I hear a loud bass sound and laughter reverberating from the door when I insert the key in the lock. The minute I open the door, the sounds of laughter and talking assault my senses.

It seems that Garrett is having a party tonight.

Groaning, I walk inside and quickly become lost in the throes of people filling my home.

Craning my neck, I try to look over the shoulder of a tall man blocking my view. When that doesn’t exactly help, I tap his shoulder.

He turns around, laughing, and leans down.

“Who are you?” he asks me. I smile at him as I reach out my hand for him to shake. There’s something about him that seems familiar, but I can’t quite place him.

“Suzy Christensen. I live here.”

He does a double take as we shake hands.

“You what?”

I shrug. “I live here. I guess Garrett didn’t tell you that he has a roommate of sorts these days?”

“No, he didn’t. My name’s Isaac Thompson, Garrett’s brother. It’s nice to meet you.”

My eyes widen in surprise.

“You’re Garrett’s
brother
?”

He smiles, and immediately, I see the resemblance between them: same hawk like nose, eye colour, strong cheekbones. Well, Isaac’s face isn’t covered by a beard like Garrett’s, so maybe it’s not so surprising that I didn’t make the connection at first.

“It’s nice to meet you, too,” I answer, trying to smile genuinely at him.

Awkward.

I tug my hand free of his and take another look around me. The light is dimmed, people are everywhere, but the person I long to see isn’t anywhere in sight.

“Do you know where Garrett is?” I ask Isaac after we’ve been standing there awkwardly for a full ten seconds.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I kind of got lost in your eyes there for a minute.”

I try to mask my laugh at his cheesy line with my hand, but I don’t think I’m that successful.

He grimaces and fiddles with his tie. “Too much?”

I pinch my thumb and index finger together and hold them up for him to see.

“Just a bit.”

He sighs, or at least that’s what it looks like when his chest rises and falls slowly. I can’t really tell from the sound of the stereo system blasting some inane Justin Timberlake song.

He takes another drink from his glass and then points slightly at the opposite end of the apartment.

“Last I saw, he was headed for the bathroom with Donna.”

I frown at the unfamiliar name.

“Donna?”

“Yeah, Donna Winthorpe.” He grits his teeth. “Real piece of work, that one. Don’t know why Garrett doesn’t just cut her out of his life.” He shrugs and takes another drink.

Weird.

I smile politely at Isaac
and am about to take off my coat when I remember what I’m wearing. Instead, I clutch the material closer.

“Well, it was nice to meet you,” I say and then leave him quickly.

My way to the walk-in-closet is slow, as I have to ask every man and woman standing in my way to move; but other than being scrutinised quizzically from time to time, no one stops me, and I’m glad of that.

Finally, I manage to get to the wardrobe, and I shut the door and lock it, breathing a sigh of relief.

I need to find a new outfit.

After that, I’m going to find Garrett.

I
DON’T KNOW HOW
Donna found out about my spur-of-the-moment party, but I’m going to punch whoever told her.

“For the millionth time, Donna, stay the fuck out of my life!” I shout at her, keeping my distance, but she only smirks at me.

“Not gonna happen, sweetheart. You owe me.”

Pinching the bridge of my nose, I sigh and grit my teeth.

“Asking me for money to pay your filthy habit so you can forget your heartache won’t bring Vincent back.”

I try to reason with her, but bringing up my brother’s name is the wrong move.

She stalks towards me from the other end of the bathroom and points at me.

“Don’t you dare speak his name!” she hisses at me.

I take a step back from her poison and sigh.

“I know you’re still hurting deeply, and not a day goes by when I wish I could set the clock back, but it’s been fifteen years now, Donna. It’s time you let him go.”

“NO! You have no right to tell me what to do, Garrett! It wasn’t that long ago you were where I am now.” Her whole body is vibrating, and she scratches her arms. The sight of her succumbing more and more to her addiction is repulsive, but I try to ignore the state of her.

“Exactly. But I got out of it, and so will you, if you really want to. You need to get into rehab again, Donna. You’ll end up killing yourself if you keep this up.”