Breaking His Rules Page 9

“You name it, buddy.” Again with the earnest face.

  I contemplated for another minute. “Not that cheap stuff. Real food with liquor. No gin bottles with dust on them?”

  “No, man. On my honor.”

  “Your honor is questionable at best, Gary. Fine. Fuck it. Your funeral, mate.” I should have said no. The shit going on in my head wasn’t going to make for a grand evening, and even if it was a grand evening, I was too messed up in the head to truly enjoy it. Fucked is what I was, even as I warned Gary off of it.

  “Woooo!” he exclaimed. He leapt on me, hugging me and rocking me back into the chair. “But listen,” he said as he released me from the most uncomfortable embrace in the history of mankind. “None of that pretty-boy shit. And come in an U-ride. I don’t need her thinking you’ve got more money than me. You’ve already got all your hair and four inches on me. In fact, I didn’t want to invite you at all. Too much of that natural good looks shit. Who needs it? But thanks a lot.”

  “You’re welcome, I think. Such a flatterer, you are.”

  “See you tomorrow. I’ll text the details.”

  “Yeah, yeah. Why don’t you try getting some work done instead of hurling insults after asking for a favor?”

  “Fuck you very much, Ashton,” he tossed over his shoulder from too far away for a work environment.

  I turned in my chair and started entering my numbers again. Five good minutes passed before a thought of Terra’s soft thighs brushing against my face ran through my mind. That had to be a record for the whole day. Five whole cocksucking minutes. I had a bad Terra hangover, completely knackered. Maybe going out with Gary and his set of wonder twins would do the trick. I needed a distraction for the middle of the week that would hopefully hold me over until my next weekend filled with brunch-time trolling. I certainly wasn’t in the mood for anything like that this week. Maybe by next week, I’d be down for it.

  Thank bloody fuck I was too tired to care, since I perhaps had no more semen left after my marathon sex sessions with her. She-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named.

  Yeah, I’d go home and sleep the crazy thoughts away. Always did the trick to get a girl out of your head. Most likely, there was some insane reason for my preoccupation with her. If I had a therapist, he or she would probably tell me I was experiencing some type of reaction to a woman cooking for me and somewhat making me look at my choices…like a mother. Unresolved maternal issues. I’d had two psychology classes in college, so no way that wasn’t the diagnosis. Probably hit the nail right on the head.

  Get her out of my system and that would be the end of it. There was no way I still needed to think of her. Or anything related to her. It was fun while it lasted, and that was that. Nothing more to it than an evening of fun.

  I hoped anyway.

  Chapter 8

  Terra

  Maybe I was sick? Yeah, that’s what it was. I dragged ass out of bed at my usual 6 A.M., then climbed right back into it. Thankfully, I’d scheduled myself off tonight so I wasn’t on a timetable. All I needed to do was go drop the bank receipts and handle the liquor delivery. I could always see if Brice could come in early and skip that as well. Yeah, well, maybe not. He needed to pick up his daughter from school at three before coming in to work on weekdays and I always tried to be respectful of that. Besides, getting out of the house would most likely help me out of the hole I’d dug and leapt into.

  When I got up around eleven, I felt no better. The bright sun was shining outside, but my mood wasn’t lifted from the rays. Instead, my mind was occupied with thoughts of silky blond hair, heated kisses, and slick talking. Ashton. He’d called and I’d simply let it go to voicemail. There was too much need bubbling up inside me when I kissed him. I felt too much. I needed to separate what was going on between my legs from my common sense.

  My phone rang before I could give him any more thought. It was Gloria. I picked it up on the second ring, guilt-riddled, since I hadn’t told her anything about what I’d been up to with Ashton. “Hey, lady. How are you, sweetie?”

  “I’m good, honey. How was work? Not nearly as fun as hanging out with me, right?”

  I sighed. I wasn’t about to lie to her. She was my friend. But I didn’t have to mention everything. “Yeah, well…I didn’t actually go to work last night. I went out with Brit Boy.”

  A whistle sounded into the phone. “Well now…Did he live up to the hype?”

  “Let’s just say I doubt there’ll be a second date.”

  Silence for a moment. I knew her well enough to know she was pondering whether to press. “Well, I wish that weren’t the case. You seemed to, I don’t know, light up when you spoke about him,” she said. I knew that tone, too. It was hopeful.

  “Yeah, me, too, girl. But you know what they say…”

  “Hot guys are a good distraction?” She laughed.

  I let the cynical chuckle out and sucked in air. “No. The one about the devil you know being better than the one you don’t.”

  “I’m sorry, doll.”

  “Don’t be. I’m okay.”

  “All right, if you say so. But I have something that may cheer you up. You know that dude Gary has been after me. Well, since I have trust issues, I need you to run interference with his friend tomorrow night. He’s charming and I’m not sure if I’m ready to take it to the next level just yet. Whatdoyasay?” She always ran her words together when she wanted me to jump out of a window with her. “Hello?” she said after I’d been silent for perhaps too long.

  I searched my mind for the excuses, even though creating one for my best friend was my least favorite thing. “Yeah…listen, Gloria, I have a lot going on while I’m at work. Tuesday nights are always a mixed bag. I never know what’s going to happen, so not being there isn’t an option. So I have to—”

  “No, no, no, girl. I think ahead. I’m going to bring him to the club. So you’ve got an excuse to bail if you hate him. But who knows, you may like the guy. How long has it been for you? An eternity since you’ve been with anyone…”

  A heated blush burned across my skin, leaving a trail of warmth from my chest to my face. Maybe one day I’d tell her I’d been a tramp for some young guy, but not today. She was far too classy and sensible for those types of antics. I wasn’t ready for the judging. Not that she would ever judge me aloud. But I didn’t want to deal with what I thought I saw in her eyes each time I went down some terrible path. Nope, not today, saints. “Yeah, well…I guess. But I promise you, if he’s some troll, I’m outta there.”

  “Hey, you got it. I won’t ask you to do it again, and I’m sure his friend won’t mind if you don’t like each other. There’s always plenty of girls there, right?”

  “Yeah. Right,” I said. I surveyed my face in the bathroom mirror, wondering if I looked any different since I’d turned forty-one. I’d gone from a youngish woman to forty-something. Of course, all the twenty-somethings would provide a good cover. Whenever a man didn’t like you, his eyes told the story. I’d seen it before, when my ex-husband lost interest. I’d known all along, but the embarrassment of it had been too much. Then I’d had to pay him in installments for his interest in the club after the divorce, even though he didn’t have any interest in the club. Except when he showed up at the bank to embezzle money. I had been more hurt than I thought I could stand. Enough of a reason to swear off men for good. With intermission for a night of fun or two with a handsome guy.

  “It’ll be fun,” I heard, even though I’d forgotten for a moment I was on the phone.

  “I guess, girl. But you owe me a drink. None of that cheap stuff, either.”

  “I know, I know. Top shelf Long Island Iced Tea. I owe you two, one for the favor and one for the birthday. I also have a pretty sweet gift for my bestie. Just you wait.”

  “Is it Game of Thrones inspired?” I asked, suddenly enthusiastic. I did love gifts after all.

&n
bsp; “Not telling.”

  “Annoying bitch, you are.”

  “You love it.”

  “Whatever. See you tomorrow night,” I said before hitting the end button.

  Maybe another dude was what I needed.

  Yeah, like a hole in the head. There were times when knowing what you’re good at helped. I wasn’t good at the whole relationship thing. My first date on Sunday had been disastrous, followed by a one-night stand with an infant on Thursday, and now I was faced with yet another one tomorrow.

  “Blah,” I said as I left the bathroom and headed to my closet. It was already past eleven. The liquor truck would be there by one. Get dressed, head to the bank, and then to work. That was more than enough to fill my days. Work, sleep, bullshit in the middle.

  But maybe I’d wear my new black dress with the silver buckles and sky-high slit. Because just maybe, the third time really was a charm.

  I guessed we’d find out soon enough.

  * * *

  —

  “The Hennessy and Cîroc were light today, Dom,” I called out to the delivery driver. He was a giant teddy bear of a man. Like family to me, since I’d owned clubs for going on ten years.

  “I know,” he replied. “Last month, you said sales were down, so I compensated for this same time period. You trend low this time of the month. It’ll save you money in the long run.”

  I looked at him, his salt-and-pepper beard growing more salt than pepper. His eyes had a few more laugh lines around his pudgy face, and his belly was protruding a touch further these days. Bless his heart. “How’s Marjorie?”

  “Oh, she’s good. Been cooking too much again,” he said, patting his belly heartily.

  “Well, tell her not to stop. Who else looks like a real, live Santa?” I laughed.

  “Can’t nobody take my job, baby girl.”

  Dom was six feet tall, the color of coffee with no cream and filled out all of his coveralls. Zilwaukee Distributors was damned lucky to have him for the last thirty years. “You make sure they don’t.”

  “I like what you did to the club. Those dark glass windows in the front are a nice touch. Real nice.”

  “Thanks, Dom. They’re reinstalling the bar to look more like Gloria’s. Should finish it off nicely.”

  “Well, it’s a damned sight better than that last club you had. That place was too slick.”

  “Yeah, and didn’t make a penny.”

  “Too futuristic. Stick to the old school. This warehouse look is what brings them in. It feels safe.”

  “And just when, Dom, was the last time you were out clubbing?”

  “I think I took my wife to see Gerald Levert over at The Filmore. May the good lord rest his soul.”

  “You know that was a long time ago, right?”

  “About twenty years. And Marjorie was walking around looking like a brand-new hundred-dollar bill.” We laughed hysterically, even if the joke wasn’t that funny. I walked around the bar and headed toward him to give him a hug hello, our standard greeting. He was more than my liquor delivery man. More like my Friday afternoon father. “How was your birthday?” Dom pulled away and gave me the sincerest look he had, I was sure.

  I flushed at the thought. More images of Ashton mucking up my reactions. “It was great,” I said, not actually lying, but for sure leaving out the details of what made it so damned good.

  “That’s good, Terra. I’m glad you had some fun. Well, I’ll get back to it. Can’t be late. When you’re early, it’s that much easier. You have a good week.” He gave me his patented smile. The one that let me know there were still good people in the world. “Oh, before I forget. I got you a few extra bottles of Rémy VSOP. Those fancy-pants guys and the jitterbugs love it,” he said, laughing. “And the girls like when they buy it for ’em. Don’t you fall victim to one of ’em. Hear me?”

  I laughed again before leaning in for another hug. “I won’t. They’ve got to be faster than that to catch me.”

  He patted my hand. Older men seemed to think it necessary to reward good-girl behavior. I didn’t have the heart to break it to him that those roles were long gone. If I were to mention that women defined themselves with or without a man in their lives, he would have fainted. “You make sure they don’t. But try not to give the good ones too hard of a time. There are some out there, you know. I was a complete fool before Marjorie got me on the right track. The right woman can make a man straighten up,” he said, his glance a little too knowing. As if to let me off the hook, he looked away, took his hat off, and scratched his head. “I’m going to grab your Rémy case out of the truck.”

  “Okay. I’m running upstairs. Give a yell if you need me and I’ll come back down.”

  “No problem. I’ll put the rest of the cases out back, too. I don’t see that shiftless bar manager of yours around.”

  “Brice is due in around four.”

  “Um-hmm. A good manager would meet the truck here.”

  “Okay, Dom. He’s got a little girl he picks up from preschool at twelve o’clock every day. They have lunch together and then he drops her off to her mother’s before coming in to work. I think that’s pretty solid of him, since he isn’t with the mother. Cut him some slack.”

  “Fine,” he said, replacing his hat and wheeling his handcart back to the front door.

  I was still laughing at his overprotectiveness when I hit the metal staircase on the back wall up to my office, Dom’s words banging around in my head. Maybe it was true for guys in his era, but not these days with swipe-right-to-hookup apps and dating sites filled with trolls. The office was locked, of course, and I had to dig my keys out of my jeans to open it up. My office was high above the dance floor so I could keep an eye on things. The visual of the active crowd picked up where the walls full of monitors left off, allowing me to see every square inch of the club, inside and out. Besides, you couldn’t get a sense of the vibe from technology.

  I loved it. From nearly losing everything I’d worked for to a shiftless man to now, having built it back up from ground zero, I was truly proud of it.

  For some reason, the man-child crossed my mind. Ashton.

  It had been so easy to dismiss him, but for some reason, he kept popping in on my thoughts. With a sigh, I pushed it all back into the recesses. Who was I kidding? It hadn’t been easy at all. Good sex should not have had that effect on me.

  Maybe it wasn’t just the sex?

  “Goddammit,” I whispered for fear Dom would hear me talking to myself.

  A knock on the door pulled me from my thoughts. “Yes,” I called out.

  “Housekeeping,” the sticky-sweet voice came back.

  “Come in, girl,” I said, calling Gloria in. She was such an incredible friend and jokester—with the same old jokes every time.

  Opening the door, she stepped in wearing a killer emerald green-dress and thigh-high green suede boots topped off with a brown coat that made me want to go shopping immediately. “Hey,” she practically yelled.

  “Hey. I didn’t know you were coming by today.” I smiled, rising to meet her.

  Sauntering over, she flicked her poker-straight hair over her shoulder. She was extremely fair, her black hair making her missing summer tan even more noticeable. But she was simply beautiful, so elegant. A classic beauty. She leaned in to hug me and I met her the rest of the way. “Yeah, well I don’t need an excuse to see you now do I? But, oh my god, you look great. It’s like you’re glowing. Been to the spa?” she said.

  “No…just a good workout.”

  “Well, hell. I need to do whatever you’re doing. And you still look thirty.”

  “Too kind. Sit, take a load off,” I said, motioning to the chair on the other side of my desk.

  “Ah, but no, I’ve got your present.” She pulled a bag from behind her back and I caught one of my favorite logos
.

  “Oh my god. You shouldn’t have. Okay, yes, you should’ve. Gimme.” Taking the Alex and Ani bag from her, I held it close to my chest and swayed from side to side. While most gifts made me happy, I loved jewelry. For so many years, I never received gifts. It was such a treat now that I had people around me who cared. Like Gloria and Dom. They always made sure to take care of me.

  “Don’t make love to it. Open the damn thing.” She laughed. Her green eyes danced with her light.

  “Okay, okay,” I said, taking my seat. The black bag had a small black box inside the bright red tissue paper. I pulled it out and laid it flat on the desk. The box was tied with a silky black bow, a tight knot that didn’t want to give immediately. Naturally, I yanked the thing off, rattling the contents.

  “Ata girl.”

  “I don’t even think gift wrap should be a thing. I want what’s inside, although I appreciate the effort,” I said, shooting a smile in her direction.

  Finally, my fingers got the slick ribbon to cooperate. I opened it and found a brilliant, sparkling stone on a long chain. Behind it was a card with bold gold letters. The header said Believe. I moved down to the tiny raised letters, which read “The ability to believe in your worth, in joy, and in love is the imperative. For all else is secondary.”

  I looked up at her, tears in my eyes, and mouthed a silent thank-you. Being honest, I wasn’t sure exactly what moved me so much. Perhaps it was my inability to believe the words written before me. It was perhaps the thing I needed most. Permission to believe. When she nodded, I returned my attention to the box and its contents. I pulled out the long silver chain that held the crystal and placed it over my head. It fell to the middle of my chest, the brilliant gemstone catching all the light in the dim room, the facets casting rainbows on my black sweater. “It’s amazing. Thank you so very much,” I said, standing to walk around the desk and hug her with all my might. I may have been a crybaby, but it was so nice to feel free enough to let my guard down. No one wanted to be strong all the time. It was good to be vulnerable every now and again, I supposed.