Marco (The Men of Indecent Exposure #1) (37 page)

“It’s fine,” he cut in. “Kids will be kids.”

Mona brushed Cedric’s collar. “Yes, they will. It’s a good thing pink is your color, though, babe.”

He shot her a playful look. “You’re gonna get in on this, too?” he asked.

Mona shrugged with a laugh and moved over to stand beside Brynn.

Rosie’s footsteps thundered down the stairs and she rushed back into the kitchen with a black t-shirt in hand. She handed it over to Cedric and he thanked her before heading off to the bathroom to change.

Marcela tossed her cloths into the laundry room and then stood by Mona and Brynn. “I’m so embarrassed. I hope he’s not mad,” she said, prompting them both to wave her off.

“Girl, he’s fine. Nothing a little bleach won’t fix,” Mona reasoned.

“Don’t even worry about it,” Brynn added, confirming what Mona said.

Marcela still looked like she felt bad, though. “Well, if you all will excuse me, I’m gonna take my little wrecking ball home,” she said as she walked off, hugging our mother goodbye as she passed by.

“Well, wait for us. We’re taking off, too,” Lucia announced, motioning for Rosalina to grab her shoes from by the door.

“And I’d love to stay and chat, but I’ve got to get home to look after your grandmother,” Ma said next, which meant Lorna would be going, too, seeing as how she was my mother’s ride.

Brynn stood as the crew readied themselves to go. “Mrs. Rios,
all
you ladies… I appreciate you all so much,” she gushed, hugging each one.

“Sweetheart, you’re more than welcome,” Ma replied.

“Call us if you need anything
,”
Lucia insisted. “And I mean
anything.”

Brynn nodded and I could see the genuine appreciation in her expression. I moved to embrace them all next. They’d come through in an even bigger way than what I expected. For that, I’d forever be in their debt.

“Love you all and be safe getting home,” I said in parting, closing the door behind them.

Brynn had already made it back to her seat at the counter beside Mona when I returned, pitching the towels left behind from the punch ordeal before going back to straightening the last few things left to be done in the kitchen. It was only the four of us left now—Brynn and I, Cedric and Mona.

The ladies were chatting about Brynn’s new job and I loved that she seemed genuinely excited about it. She’d be filling the spot of a second-grade teacher who would be moving to Florida where her husband’s job recently transferred him. Turner kept his word. Apparently, the man isn’t fond of negative press involving his school, so he took heed when I warned him about bringing my lawyer into it. He explained Brynn’s condition and recent instructions from her doctor to avoid stress and was able to arrange an interview via video chat. She’d done that just last week and it went so well she ended the session pretty positive she’d gotten the job. Then, two days later, we received confirmation. Everything was falling in line. For her. For me.

For us.

The door to the half-bath opened, getting my attention as Cedric walked out. He held his white shirt wadded in his hands and I pointed him toward the bag my mother had set out for him to put it in. Something was off about his expression, though.

He had a good laugh about the incident, so I knew he wasn’t upset about that, but he seemed kind of distracted all of a sudden.

“All dry?” Mona asked, teasing.

Cedric nodded, passing her a dim smile, but then it faded just a little too quickly.

“What’s the matter?” Brynn asked, the quiet laugh she let slip quieting as she picked up on something being off as well.

Her brother leaned against the archway that led into the kitchen and asked a question: “Indecent Exposure… you know someone from there?”

The question was directed toward me, so I turned to respond. However, it was Brynn who spoke, causing her brother and I both to turn toward her.

She looked like a dear caught in headlights—eyes wide, her complexion flushed—as she spoke. “W-what made you ask that?” was all she said, but her body language said even more. She’d stiffened and commenced some serious lip gnawing while she awaited her brother’s answer.

Cedric seemed confused by her responding to his question when she hadn’t been the one he asked. He answered her anyway.

“Uh… the shirt,” he said, turning his back to all of us, revealing a huge, white logo on the back, one that boasted the name of my club in bold letters. Rosalina must not have been paying attention when she went up to grab him something to change into. By accident, she’d taken one of the shirts Ivy purchased for the guys and I to wear when we went out canvasing for new customer.

This was bad; the look on Brynn’s face was a dead giveaway. She looked like the world just come crashing down around her.

I don’t know… maybe it just had.

We didn’t talk about my job often. Actually, we hadn’t talked about it since that first time I explained everything to her, so her
real
feelings were kind of a mystery to me. I could speculate all day about what she was thinking and feeling, but Brynn herself had never shared. That wasn’t normal, a fact I was well aware of.

In every other setting, she always asked how my day had been—when I came home from the shop, when I’d finish doing repairs or collecting money from one of my rentals—she’d always ask how it went, but never about the club.
Ever
. It was as if she’d block me out Thursday through Saturday, like she went out of her way to forget that part of my life existed. So, if I had to guess, she was mortified that her brother had just asked that question.

…So, now
I
was kind of mortified he’d just asked it, too.

“I just recognized the name of the place,” Cedric elaborated when Brynn didn’t speak again. “One of my colleagues from the old firm represented the guy who owned the place.”

He was speaking of Ivy’s father, LeRoy, who ran the club before she took over. And I also recalled the lawsuit he was speaking of; one involving a former dancer who tried to sue for damages after he was attacked outside the club one night.

Cedric smiled at Brynn, apparently trying to get her to lighten up, but she stared expressionless. When she still didn’t speak, he turned back to me.

“But yeah… I just thought I’d ask if you knew someone from down there,” he repeated.

A chill rushed down my back. I didn’t know what to say. Normally, I’d have no problem just telling the truth, but… the look in Brynn’s eyes told me she didn’t want that. The look in her eyes made me think she was ashamed of it, ashamed of
me.

Realizing that was exactly the case, hurt like hell.

“I uh…” was as far as I got before my words were cut off.

“He’s a
bouncer
there,” Brynn interjected, breathing heavily as the lie left her mouth. “That’s why he uh… that’s why he has the shirt.” After she spoke, her eyes filled with remorse when they slid over to me. Through that look, I could practically hear her thinking the words
‘I’m sorry’.

Mona darted her gaze in Brynn’s direction and my heart shuddered inside my chest. Cedric was the only one in the room who didn’t have a clue what just happened.

“Oh! Cool,” he chimed in. “A good friend of mine does that as a side gig for a karaoke joint in the area. I’m sure working where
you
are is quite a bit more eventful, though. Those women probably get crazy,” he added with a lighthearted laugh.

All I could do was nod, forcing a weak smile as so many thoughts passed through my mind. The one that stood out the most being:
She doesn’t think I’m good enough.

I’m not sure what my expression was, but it must’ve been pretty obvious I was hurt because the next moment, Mona spoke, rushing her and Cedric’s exit along.

“Well, we’re gonna head back to the hotel. Early day tomorrow,” she added, using that as the excuse for being so abrupt.

Brynn stared at me, but said nothing.

“Yeah, well, it was nice meeting you, man,” Cedric said as he moved toward me, shaking my hand.

I would’ve given a friendlier goodbye, but I couldn’t find it within me. Instead, “You, too. Have a safe flight home in the morning,” was the best I could offer.

He didn’t know me well enough to notice I wasn’t myself, so that was the end of it. He and Mona hugged Brynn one last time and then she escorted them to the front door. I stayed behind in the kitchen, still in shock by how she handled that.

I mean… She didn’t think that, as a grown man, I could’ve answered for myself? After I explained how I got started, after I explained the reasons why I stayed, after all of that, she didn’t think her lying right in front of me would feel like a slap in the face?

The sound of her slow steps alerted me she was on her way back to the kitchen to join me in the terribly uncomfortable silence. Her posture marked her shame—head low, eyes everywhere but on me. Eventually, she took her seat again and I just stood there.

For weeks now, I’d been wondering how she really felt about my job. She hadn’t said anything despite my asking her to keep it real with me from jump. Deep down I think I knew this day was coming, though; knew the day would come when her true feelings would be brought to the light. I suppose that one statement, that
lie
, had answered all of my questions.

“Marco, I… I think we need to talk,” she started. From the corner of my eye, I caught her wringing her hands some.

I scoffed, but didn’t say a word as I stared at the countertop instead of her. “Sounds to me like we should’ve done that a long time ago.”

She didn’t say anything right away, so I spoke again.

“Answer something for me: am I hard to talk to?” I asked.

My eyes lifted to hers and it looked like the question confused her, but she answered anyway.

“No.”

I nodded, figuring that was what she’d say because I’d never given her any reason to think she couldn’t come to me about anything.

“And I tried to ask how you felt about my job from day one, didn’t I? Let you know I was open to discussing anything you wanted?”

Brynn let out an exasperated breath, but didn’t answer my questions. I think she knew what I was getting at anyway. She had ample time to tell me she had an issue with me dancing, but instead, waited until today to make it an issue.

“It’s just that…” Her words cut off there and it looked like she wouldn’t continue, but that wasn’t going to work. Not talking, not communicating, was what got us here in the first place.

“Tell me what you’re thinking. Whatever it is… just say it,” I pushed, bracing myself for her answer.

Her eyes reddened and she shook her head a few times, leading me to believe she didn’t want to do this, but eventually, her eyes lifted to mine. While I
thought
she’d just tell me she hated what I do, or even that she would prefer it if people she’s connected to don’t find out, but… what she said was much worse than that.

“I’m not sure I’m cut out for this,” she confessed, rendering me speechless. That statement hit me square in the chest.

Damn… she didn’t even wanna talk about it before reaching that conclusion?

“And you thought today, the baby shower, was a good time to share that with me.”

She took a deep breath. “I’ve tried, Marco. I’ve tried to get past it, but it’s not that easy.”

“…I don’t …Where is all this coming from? I thought we—” The words just wouldn’t come out right, but it didn’t matter anyway because she ignored the statement altogether and just continued to express herself. I got the feeling she’d been holding this in for a while.

If only she’d told me before now… maybe I could’ve done something about it.

“I thought I could compartmentalize everything. I thought there was the Marco
I
get and then the Marco everyone
else
gets, but… there’s only one you,” she breathed. I couldn’t even look at her when she went on. “No matter how I try to convince myself otherwise, there’s only one you,” she repeated. “The portion of you I get is nothing but part of the whole and I can’t… I…” She stopped there and I looked up as glistening beads appeared in the corners of her eyes, seconds later racing down smooth, brown cheeks.

“And I heard what your friend said,” she added, confirming what I suspected. At this point, that kind of seemed like a moot point.

I lowered my head as the full picture came into view. This long overdue conversation coming to a head today was a culmination of things, not just her brother’s inquiry. With what Carlos said, it became clear that Brynn was most likely already on edge, then the question from Cedric brought everything crashing down.

“Carlos is always talking out the side of his neck,” I shot back, feeling frustrated beyond words, so I’m sure my tone was hard.

She lifted her eyes to me again, but instead of the sweet gentleness I usually found there, they stabbed me with a look, one that cut deep. “So you’re saying it wasn’t true? You’re telling me you’ve never done those things he said? The women?” she asked, frustration heavy in her tone, too.