If I Loved You (Harper Falls Book 1) (14 page)

They were sitting near one of the pool
tables, and a couple of the guys were just finishing up a game.

“Want to play next?” Rose asked Jack.

“Just don’t make a bet with her, she’s a
shark.” Dani grinned.

Jack choked on his sip of beer.
Bet.
The word caught him off
guard.

“Are you alright?” Rose patted him on the
back. She exchanged puzzled looks with Tyler and Dani. What had
they said?

“He’s fine.” Drew had just returned with the
drinks which included another round of beers for the guys. He sat
down the full tray and then gave Jack a hard slap on the back. Jack
lurched forward, catching himself with his free hand.

“Thanks,” he muttered to Drew. If looks
could kill—.

“Anytime, buddy. Now, did I hear someone
mention a game of pool?”

Jack handed Rose a stick and then racked up
the balls.

“Rose,” Dani called to her. “Tyler and I are
going to the bathroom. By the looks of the line, you should be up a
couple games by the time we get back. Do us proud.”

“Ladies first.” Jack gestured towards the
table.

“Are you sure?” Rose chalked her cue. She
looked back at him before making first shot. “Dani wasn’t kidding
about me being good. Her family had a table in their basement. Her
dad taught me how to play, but it wasn't long before I could beat
him most of the time.”

“I think my ego will survive if you win.”
Jack wasn’t worried. He knew once he got a turn he’d clear the
table. Rose didn't give him a chance. Ball after ball fell into the
pockets and all he could do was stand back and watch. Not that it
was a hardship. Her hip action when she was setting up for a shot
was mesmerizing. Her tight jeans hugged her like a second skin
highlighting a truly fine ass. And by the looks on his friend's
faces he wasn’t the only one who'd noticed.

“Hey, keep your eyes to yourselves,” he
grumbled.

“You can’t blame them for looking,” Drew
pointed out. “And now that they’ve seen her they’re all wondering
how you’ve maintained your virtue for the last two weeks.”

“Do they doubt my word?” Jack demanded.

“Hell, no.” Drew laughed. “They know you too
well for that. But you’re starting to achieve legendary status in
the control department. It’s a good thing the terms of the bet lets
you take care of your own business or you’d be going out of your
mind.” He gave Rose’s swaying hips another look. “By the way, how’s
that going for you?”

“I never thought I’d say this, but if it was
capable my dick would yawn every time it saw my hand coming.”

“Or every time it comes in your hand.”

“Lately you have been a real laugh riot, my
friend.” Jack watched as Rose sank the last ball. “One more week,”
he groaned. God, she was even sexier getting balls out of pockets
than she had been putting them in. He almost lost it when she
racked them up for another game and crooked her finger inviting him
to join her.

Drew shook his head in amusement at how
quickly Jack jumped when she called. His friend was a goner, no
doubt about it. Was it love? That was for Jack to say. Either way
Drew couldn’t have been happier for him. It wasn’t easy finding a
woman you could love. Sometimes it was even harder holding on to
her.

He’d been keeping one eye on the ladies room
door just to make sure Tyler and Dani made it back to the table
without being bothered. They’d been gone for some time and he was
just about to go looking for them when Dani returned alone.

“Where’s Tyler?” he demanded.

Dani gave him a look that was one step up
from how she’d look at something stuck to her bottom of her shoe.
Okay, he got it. He wasn’t her favorite person. He tried again,
hoping he sounded a little less gruff.

“It’s a rough crowd tonight, Dani. She
shouldn’t be wandering around alone.”

Dani stared at him a moment before deciding
he had a point. “She saw an old friend at the bar and stopped to
say hello. See, there she is near the end.”

Drew relaxed a bit when he saw Tyler was
indeed at the far end of the long, mahogany bar. But he tensed up
again. She wedged tightly between two men, one of whom seemed more
interested in getting
her
attention
than the bartenders.

Drew knew that Tyler wouldn’t appreciate his
intervention, so he stayed where he was, but kept watching her just
in case. Drew frowned. The guy that was hitting on Tyler looked
awfully familiar. Was that Craig Lowe? It couldn’t be. Craig was in
rehab and wasn’t scheduled to get out for several more weeks. Drew
shifted his angle to get a better look at the man’s face. Shit, it
was Craig, and it looked like he was drinking. Drew sat his beer
down with enough force to get the attention of a couple of the
crew. He waved off their questions and headed across the room.
Tyler might not want his help, but she was about to get it.

Tyler had lied to Dani. She hadn’t seen an
old friend. It was just an excuse so she wouldn't have to go back
to the table, an excuse Tyler knew Dani had seen through but
thankfully hadn't called her on. They both knew that the real
reason she wanted to be on her own was Drew, no explanation needed.
She hated that he could still make her feel anything. Anger, hurt,
need, even longing. Ten years should have been enough time to purge
her of those feelings. She wanted apathy. She wanted to be able to
see him walking down the street and have no reaction beyond mild
appreciation for an attractive man. Try as she might, she wasn’t
there yet.

She managed to find an empty spot at the bar
and ordered a whiskey and soda. She didn’t plan to drink it, but it
didn’t seem right to take up prime real estate and not spend some
money. Just ten minutes, she promised herself. Then she’d go back
and join her friends.

“Hey, baby.” The man’s breath had arrived
before he did, sour with booze and garlic. Tyler groaned, so much
for alone time. There always had to be one deluded drunk in the
crowd and tonight she seemed to be the unlucky woman to draw his
attention. At the best of times her patience was thin, tonight it
was like tissue paper.

“Not interested.” Her words were sharp and
to the point.

“Are you screwing Jack?” the man slurred.
His eyes were swollen and extremely bloodshot. He kept squinting at
her as if he couldn’t quite make out her image. “Jack break the
bet? Saint Jack sticks me in rehab and forgets all about me.” He
tipped her way, grabbing her arm to keep from falling. “Bets he can
keep his dick in his pants and then screws you. Lies about it.”

The guy was rambling, but Tyler got the gist
of what he was saying. There was some stupid bet involving Jack.
Damn it, was he playing games with Rose? If he hurt her Tyler would
make sure
he
hurt a lot worse and
for a lot longer.

“Wait,” the drunk grabbed at her again to
stop her from leaving. “Forget what I said. Jack’s my friend.” He
was almost in tears. “Shouldn’t tell secrets. Bros before Hos,” he
cried out, lunging for Tyler’s breasts. Disgusted, she neatly
avoided grasp, not even glancing back when she heard the distinct
thud of his body crashing to the floor.

“Are you alright?” Drew pushed past a
particularly large man dressed entirely in leather just in time to
see Craig hit the floor.

“I believe you have some trash that needs
taking out.”

Drew sighed as he watched Tyler wind through
the crowd. What the hell had Craig said? Drew caught Terry’s eye
and motioned him over.

“Can you get Craig back to his place?” Drew
remembered that Terry and Craig used to hang together so he hoped
Terry wouldn’t mind being singled out to take care the guy.

“No problem, Drew. I visited him last week
and he seemed to be doing good.” Drew helped him get Craig to his
feet. “I wonder what set him off.”

Drew made sure Craig was buckled into
Terry’s car before he reentered the bar. He hated to think what
kind of crap the idiot had been spewing at Tyler. Technically he
wasn't responsible for Craig's actions but that didn't stop him
from feeling a twinge of guilt. Even though he doubted she would
accept, he wanted to apologize to Tyler. But by the time he got
back to the table none of the women were anywhere in sight.

“What happened over there?” Jack asked with
a frown. “Tyler practically dragged Rose and Dani back to the
bathroom. Though she looked more like she wanted to punch someone
than pee.”

“Craig Lowe showed up and by the looks of
him he’d started his drinking long before he got here.”

“Did he hurt Tyler?” Jack asked with
concern.

“No, Tyler took care of Craig without any
help.” Drew smiled thinking about it. “I got Terry to take him
home. But Craig said something to Tyler that set her off. If it's
possible, the look she gave me was even nastier than usual.”

“I’m sorry Drew.” Jack felt for his friend.
“But what could be so bad that she couldn’t wait to tell them?”

“I don’t know but I think we’re about to
find out.”

Dani and Tyler returned, but Rose wasn't
with them. Dani was looking worried; Tyler pissed. Jack just wanted
to know where Rose was.

“Rose wanted to get some fresh air,” Dani
told him before he could ask. She stopped him when he would have
gone after Rose. “Give her a few minutes, Jack.”

“A few minutes to do what? What is going on,
Dani?” When she didn’t answer Jack gave up and headed for the door.
Whatever the problem it wasn’t safe for Rose to be outside alone.
If she didn’t want to tell him what was wrong, he could live with
that for now. But he wasn’t going to stay inside and worry about
her safety.

Drew watched with concern as Jack pushed his
way through the crowd. He couldn’t imagine what had happened and
hoped Jack would be able to straighten everything out. As he raised
his beer to his lips, he suddenly became aware of Tyler. Truth be
told, he was always aware of Tyler, but at the moment she was right
next to him, her eyes fixed on the door that Jack had just left
through. Drew shifted, for some reason feeling slightly
uncomfortable. Tyler always avoided him like the plague so why was
she suddenly standing a mere inches away?

“Listen,” she said, her voice flat and
unemotional. “In all the years we've been friends I’ve only seen
Rose cry twice. Once, just after we’d met, when a stray cat she had
adopted was run over by a car. The other time was when, after
months of chemo and radiation and prayers, we found out Dani’s mom
was cancer free.”

Drew started to speak, but Tyler cut him
off.

“This is not a conversation; this is
you
listening to
me
.” Seeing that he understood she continued. "Rose
has had plenty of other reasons to cry, reasons that are her own
private business, but believe me there were times that if anyone
deserved a good sob it was her. But she never did. She keeps it
together as well as anyone I’ve ever known. I’m telling you this
because tonight she came as close to tears as I've seen her in a
long time. She was starting to trust Jack, not an easy thing for
her. Your drunk friend let out enough details for me to figure out
that you and your juvenile buddies made a bet and without telling
her Jack has pulled Rose right into the middle of it.” Tyler paused
to gauge Drew’s reaction. His grimace and whispered
shit
told her she was right on target. It sounded
just like something the Drew she used to know would have thought
up. And it seemed, at least in that regard, he hadn't changed.

“So I’m going to stand here,” she said
matter-of-factly "And I'm going to wait for Rose to come back. If I
see she's been crying, hell, even if she looks overly upset? I’m
going to rip off your balls, put them under the heel of my boot,
and grind them into dust.”

Several of the crew who had been listening
shifted uncomfortably in their seats. You could almost hear their
silent groans. Talk about the ultimate ball buster. Tyler, whom
they had all been secretly lusting after had suddenly gone from
sexy to crazy ass scary in thirty seconds flat. They waited
expectantly for Drew’s response. There was no way he was going to
take that from anyone, not even someone as gorgeous as Tyler.

But Drew just nodded slowly and said, “Fair
enough.”

He saw the guys exchange astonished looks.
He understood their reaction. But he had his reasons for not having
a harsher reaction and for him it was a damn good one. What the
crew didn't know was that for the first time in almost ten years
that Tyler had said more than five words consecutively to him. And
on top of that it was also the first time since he was eighteen
that he’d been this close to her for any length of time. It might
have been all kinds of twisted, but he couldn’t have cared less
what she was saying as long as he could listen to the sound of her
voice. And if she went for his balls? Well, he was almost positive
he could stop her. But, he thought as he noted her well-toned arms,
she would undoubtedly do some damage first.

Jack shoved his way through the door, his
eyes searching for Rose. Luckily she hadn’t gone far. She was
standing a few feet away with her arms wrapped around her body; her
head tipped back as she breathed deeply in and out. Jack took a
step towards her then stopped. His first instinct was to pull her
into his arms, to find out what was wrong and how he could fix it.
But he held himself back. Something had upset her and he didn’t
want to do anything to make it worse.

“Rose, sweetheart, what’s wrong?”

She turned slowly and looked him straight in
the eye. Her voice was flat and emotionless. “Tell me about the
bet.”

Well, shit, he hadn’t been expecting that.
Jack’s brain did a swift assessment of the situation, analyzing how
best to come at the problem. But in the end he did the only thing
he could do, he told her the truth, every bit of it, from the very
beginning. It only took a few minutes and during that time Rose's
expression remained blank. Jack had no idea what she was
thinking.