Too Hot to Handle (24 page)

“Shane?”

“Yeah?”

“I have to go to a party tomorrow. My cousin’s in town and I couldn’t say no, but I’m supposed to bring a guest…”

His eyebrow rose.

“Would you go with me? I understand if you don’t want to. We’re just friends, so…”

“I’d say we’re a little more than friends.”

“Yes, but we’re not…you know.”

He nodded, and she realized she’d been half hoping he might correct that. Stupid.

“A party sounds fine,” he said. “What time?”

Merry let out a quiet sigh of relief. “Nine.”

“Great. I’ll knock on your door around eight-thirty.”

“That sounds perfect. And look super handsome, okay? Just like this.” She waved a hand down his body.

He shook his head. “You want to show me off to your cousin? I’m honored.”

“I do. But more than that, I want to rub her snotty little face in you. Not literally. Just in the figurative sense that I want her to know we’re…um…I’m sorry.”

“No, I’ve never been arm candy before. This’ll be interesting. Am I allowed to talk, or should I only speak if spoken to?”

“Just look pretty.”

“Got it.”

Merry was laughing so hard by the time Shane parked the truck, she nearly fell when she stepped out. She’d closed her door before she noticed Cole standing at the top of the steps. “Hi, Cole,” she called. She’d been planning on going straight to Shane’s apartment, but this made things a little awkward. Cole was clearly waiting for his friend.

She walked past and tried to look casual. She didn’t register how tense Cole was until he spoke to Shane. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”

Merry had the door half open, and as she turned to get another look at Cole, she realized Grace was standing in the doorway of their apartment.

“Hey, Grace. How was your day? Mine was damn awesome, I have to admit. In fact, it was kind of spectacular.”

Grace didn’t answer her smile. Merry stopped just inside as the door to the Stud Farm closed behind her.

“What’s wrong?”

“Come inside the apartment. We need to talk about something.”

Merry paused, her happiness draining down a slow, cold vortex. “Grace, what’s wrong? I’m serious. Tell me.”

“Come inside,” Grace repeated, but Merry heard shouting from outside and turned back to the front door.

“What’s going on?” she whispered as Shane’s voice vibrated through the door. She reached out to turn the knob.

“Merry, don’t!” She heard Grace’s boots rush across the wood, but the door was already open. And Shane and Cole were squared off at the bottom of the steps.

“How the fuck could you do that?” Cole yelled. “That’s despicable.”

“It isn’t what you think,” Shane started.

Cole pushed him. “Are you kidding me? You were fucking using her!”

“I wasn’t.”

“Don’t be such a coward. Admit it!”

Cole pushed again, and Shane threw his arms off with a violent toss of his hands. “Fine! I was using her, but it isn’t how it looks. I—”

“It isn’t how it looks?” Cole growled. “Funny, because it looks like you’re screwing her over and screwing her at the same time.” He shoved one more time, and this time Shane tripped over the edge of the lawn and went down as Cole yelled, “What kind of man are you?”

Shane surged up as if he meant to throw a punch at Cole, but his wild gaze caught on Merry and he froze. His eyes widened as his fists slowly lowered. “Merry,” he rasped.

Cole spun to look at her. “Ah, shit. Grace, you were supposed to keep her inside.”

“What’s going on?” Merry whispered. A murmur drew her spinning attention toward the saloon, and she saw a few people on the porch watching. Listening. “What is this?” she asked.

Shane started toward her, but Cole grabbed his shirt and yanked him back.

Grace’s hands closed over Merry’s shoulders from behind. “Come inside.
Please
.”

“I’m sorry, Merry,” Shane said, holding her gaze with his dark, desperate eyes. He yanked free of Cole’s grip and started up the steps. Merry backed away until they were all crowded into the front hall of the building. The door shut, cutting them off from the curious audience. Funny, this space had always seemed large before, rising two stories up to the ceiling. Now it felt so small she felt panicky.

“I’m sorry,” Shane repeated, looking so hopeless that Merry’s stomach turned to stone.

“What did you do?”

“Merry,” Grace whispered. “Cole heard you say something about the lawsuit against Providence.”

“Yes.”

“Cole didn’t know. He had no idea.”

Merry looked from Shane’s wild eyes to Cole’s solemn ones. “Didn’t know what?”

Cole grimaced and shook his head. “I didn’t know there was a lawsuit. He only said there were probate issues.”

“Who? I have no idea what you’re talking about. Just tell me. Please!”

Shane’s head dropped. He’d lost his hat sometime during the fight, and he looked vulnerable now, his short hair messy, as if they’d just gotten out of bed. But that was no comparison to the vulnerable pain in his eyes when he looked up. “It’s me, Merry.”

“
What’s
you?”

“I’m the one suing Providence.”

“What?” Merry pulled her chin in. Then she laughed. “No, you’re not. The man who’s suing is Gideon Bishop’s grandson.”

“That’s me. I’m his grandson.”

“No.” She shook her head, almost relieved now. “It’s not you. Look.” She spun out of Grace’s hold and walked into their apartment to grab a folder. “See?” She pulled the bio of Gideon Bishop free and let the folder fall to the floor. She held up the paper. “He was survived by his grandsons, Alex and Shane—” her voice broke over that syllable “—Bishop.”

“Bishop is my father’s name. I took my mother’s name when I was nineteen. Because of my dad and…” His voice trailed off. Merry just stared at him.

“No,” she said again, a little louder this time.

“I’m so sorry. At first, I admit, I helped out at Providence for the wrong reasons, but then, I swear to you—”

“You,” she croaked. Her throat seemed to be closing as the truth sunk in. “You were spying on the town? That’s why you made friends with me?”

“No, that’s why I took the job. Not—”

“Oh, God. That’s why you were so nice. That’s why you… That’s why you flirted with me, and…” She trailed off in shock.

“No,” he ground out. “No, that’s not true, Merry. Don’t think that.”

He moved toward her. Cole tried to grab him but wasn’t quick enough to stop him. But Grace was.

She jumped forward, and the slap rang through the space, bouncing off the walls to echo up to the second floor. “Don’t you fucking touch her,” Grace snarled as a red handprint flamed to life on Shane’s cheek. “I will kill you, do you hear me? I’ll kill you if you touch her again, you sick asshole! I’ll tear your eyes out and shove them up your—”

“Grace!” Merry screamed. “Stop. Just stop! I can’t do this!” She rushed into the apartment, slamming the door behind her. But that didn’t stop the wild orchestra of raised voices that seemed to shake the room around her.

Oh, God, this was… She couldn’t think about it. She couldn’t, because there were so many things. Dozens of things. All cutting into her from the inside out. All of them sharp and jagged and so completely
wrong
.

She’d hired the man who was suing the trust. She’d lied about it and covered it up. She’d told him things about board discussions. And, she’d told him what she’d
done
. The mailbox and the sign and all the lying.

Merry’s legs slowly gave up their control and she sank to the floor. There was more than that, of course. There was so much more, but she couldn’t think about the other things. No. She was going to be fired. She’d lose her job. She’d be disgraced and she’d never get another museum job again. And that might not be the worst of it. What if she was charged with…something? What if she’d done something illegal?

She buried her face in her hands and refused to think of the rest. Just this was bad enough. Just this was too much to bear.

Oh, God. How could it be
him?

The door opened, but there weren’t any more voices. There was no more shouting. She heard it shut.

“Merry,” Grace whispered. “Are you okay?”

Merry shook her head.

“I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry, sweetie.”

This time she nodded.

“Come on. Sit on the couch.”

She obeyed, forcing her body to move to the couch and pulling herself into it. “I need a drink,” she whispered, thinking she meant water, but when Grace handed her a shot of tequila a minute later, Merry realized that was exactly what she’d wanted. She tossed it back and didn’t even shudder. She wanted even the memory of the taste of him gone from her mouth.

Grace took the shot glass and produced the bottle to pour another. “Listen. That asshole…he doesn’t matter. You hear me? It was just sex.”

Merry shook her head. She wasn’t thinking about that now. Or ever. She tossed back the second shot. “When the board finds out I hired him, it’ll be over.”

“But you didn’t know it was him! He lied to you! They can’t blame you for that.”

“Yes, they can. Because I wasn’t supposed to hire anybody. They wouldn’t approve anything, not even the smallest expense, so I went behind their backs, and I hired him. I was going to have to pay him out of my own pocket until I could get the board to cover it. Now… Oh, God, Grace. They’ll fire me as soon as they find out. What am I going to do?”

“Maybe they won’t find out.”

“He’ll tell them! That was the whole point of helping me. He wasn’t doing it because he liked me. He even volunteered his work for free. He said he wanted to do his part, give back to the community, but what he wanted to do was ruin everything. Grace…
What am I going to do?
”

“Nothing! He won’t say anything. Cole won’t let him.
I
won’t let him.”

“Oh, Grace.” The tequila was sinking in now, permeating her blood, working into her cells. Merry leaned into the couch and let her head fall back as numbness washed slowly through her. “It’s two million dollars. He’s not going to back down, not even for Cole. Shane can buy new friends with that kind of money.”

“No, we can… We can…”

Merry was sure she’d never heard Grace so distraught. She reached out and this time, Grace wouldn’t dare stiffen up or ignore the hug. This time she had to wrap her arms around Merry and squeeze tight.

Merry drew a deep breath. And then another. She’d been a fool. She’d been worse than a fool. She should’ve known the moment he’d come on to her that something was off. She wasn’t that kind of girl. The only reason someone would want her that way was—

She gasped and shoved the thought away. She couldn’t face it now. She couldn’t. But thank God for tequila. The room was already spinning. This hurt, but it wouldn’t hurt for very long tonight. She’d be totally numb soon. “Oh, God, Grace.”

“Don’t cry,” Grace whispered. “Please don’t cry.”

But Merry wasn’t crying. She couldn’t summon that kind of energy. Right now, the numbness was sinking in, and she was watching the pain approach from a long way off. The tequila sank deeper, pulling her mind in. “It’s okay,” she told her friend. “Just get me one more shot.”

Grace pulled away and had another shot in Merry’s hand within three seconds. “Drink,” she ordered. Merry did. “You can stay here as long as you want. Don’t worry about the damned job, all right? You don’t need to pay rent. You know that.”

Merry thought about their nearest neighbor and laughed. “I’m not sure this is the right building for me.”

“Oh, fuck him,” Grace growled. “I’ll terrorize him. Hell, I’ll have Rayleen terrorize him. That would put the fear of God in any man. He’ll move out or I’ll make him wish he was dead.”

Merry smiled, her head lolling against the back of the couch. Yep, she was drunk, no question about it. And that last shot hadn’t even hit her yet. “Good,” she murmured. She grabbed the bottle from Grace’s hand and took a swig before Grace snatched it back and set it out of reach. “Is it dark yet? I want to go to bed.”

“It doesn’t matter if it’s dark. You can have my bed tonight, hon. I’ll stay on the couch. You sleep as long as you want.”

“Okay. Thank you. I just want to go to sleep. That’s all.”

She felt funny leaning on tiny Grace as they moved toward the bedroom, but she knew it wasn’t appropriate to laugh. That would worry Grace, and she didn’t want to do that.

The room swam around her as she sat on the bed and let Grace take off her shoes. “This is good,” she said.

Grace shot her a worried look.

“The tequila,” she clarified. “Great stuff. Really smooth. Or strong. Strong. That’s what I meant. I couldn’t care less about smooth.”

“I know.”

“Get me one more shot.”

“No. You’ll throw up in my bed.” Grace yanked Merry’s jeans down and then rolled her over onto her side before she pulled up the blankets. At least she hadn’t had sex with Shane today. At least she didn’t need to wash him off her skin.

“Go to sleep,” Grace ordered, trying to sound stern and cool and only sounding worried.

“Okay, but I’m going to wake up in a complete panic at 4:00 a.m., you know.”

“No, you won’t.”

“I will. This is really, really bad.” She squeezed her eyes shut. “And you were right about him. He was using me. He didn’t really want me. You knew he had an ulterior motive and I should’ve listened to you.”

“Hush. I didn’t suspect anything like this.”

“No, but you knew it wasn’t real. I wanted so much for it to be real that I couldn’t see the truth.”

“Oh, Merry.” Grace sighed, her hand stroking over Merry’s hair. “I wish I could kill him for you.”

Merry smiled. “Well, you slapped him. Jeez, did you really do that? You’re so damn awesome, Grace.”

“No, I’m just violent and terrible.”

“Good. I couldn’t have done that. Then again, I’m drunk now. I’ve got liquid courage. Or liquid belligerence. Maybe I should go kick him in the balls.”

“At this point, you’d probably miss and just tilt over.”

“I guess.” She sighed and settled into the pillow, totally content and thankful for her current state. It was beautiful. And quiet. So much better than what she was going to feel tomorrow. “Thanks for the tequila, Grace. I love you.”