Calling the Shots

by Christine d'Abo

  “Would you have signed the papers if she hadn’t showed up? If I wasn’t here?”

  Oliver opened his mouth to snap off an answer, but stopped. Would he? Or would he have dragged it out as long as possible, making Mallory suffer for the pain she’d caused him?

  He was selfish enough to have played that game.

  Josh growled as he spun around and marched up the stairs. “You fucked around on your wife when you had no intention of divorcing her. How the hell do you expect me to trust you now?”

  As quickly as his anger and fear had emerged, with one simple statement it was gone.

  Everything was gone.

  Oliver grabbed his jacket and left.

  * * *

  Josh sat behind his desk and stared out into nothing. He didn’t need the clock to know he’d been here for far too long, wallowing. His mind continued to spin over the events of the past few hours. The mess still to be cleaned up from the attack, Oliver’s revelation, the sting of Beth’s words all doing little to help ease the unease that had come to take over his life.

  He was alone. The club was quiet, though it lacked the strange comfort it normally held in times like these. The ventilation system kicked in, and the soft hum of recirculated air buzzed around him. How great and magnificent things were. He’d become everything he’d set out to be—a successful and well-respected business owner, a good boss and a better friend.

  And absolutely alone.

  His phone beeped, indicating yet another text message from his dad. Josh glanced at the display but couldn’t be bothered to see what the old man wanted. It was undoubtedly words meant to inspire or kick him in the ass, neither of which he was interested in at the moment.

  Beth and Oliver were gone. Maybe not for good, neither had quit or said they didn’t want to see him again, but they were gone. He’d seen it a dozen times before. A fissure in a relationship that slowly spread over time until the gap was too insurmountable to cross. He’d accomplished part of what he’d set out to do, keeping himself at a distance from them, not getting too heavily involved. It wasn’t hard to imagine the two of them having a good bitch session about him, crying and laughing about how much of an idiot Josh was, and what the hell had they seen in him anyway? They’d kiss, maybe even make love on Beth’s couch until they fell asleep in each other’s arms.

  They’d bond over their broken hearts and end up together.

  Perfect.

  Josh tucked his hair behind his ear. Its length had been irritating him more and more, tickling his jaw and making his skin crawl. He should shave it off, or at least trim it down to a more respectable length. God, his dad would probably have a heart attack if he saw him like that, almost like a grown-up.

  The office line rang, the harsh tone making him jump. He didn’t recognize the number from the caller ID but snatched up the receiver anyway. God help them if it was a telemarketer.

  “Yes?”

  “Mr. Scott? This is Robert Kingston.”

  Josh closed his eyes. “Yes, Mr. Kingston. What can I do for you?”

  “I wanted to reach out to you about Allison.”

  No, he most definitely wasn’t in the mood for this bullshit.

  “Mr. Kingston, I thought we’d discussed this when you’d stopped by. I have no plans to press charges against her. Her membership will remain revoked and no, I won’t change my mind.”

  “I understand that, and I am grateful you have no intention of pursuing this matter. I wanted to discuss with you the other matter I brought up.”

  Josh should have said something to Beth when Kingston had approached him before. But he had a hard time believing the man was actually serious. A swirl of cool air rolled over him, making goose bumps rise beneath his shirt.

  “While I appreciate your concern for your client, I don’t think it’s necessary or important for you to come in and inspect the club. You’re not a member or even in the lifestyle. I doubt you would appreciate why my members would want to engage in certain activities. And quite frankly, some of your comments the last time you were here bordered on the offensive.”

  There was a pause as Kingston cleared his throat. “I’m sorry about my behavior.”

  The length of the silence on the other end almost had Josh convinced Kingston would drop the matter. He didn’t want an outsider in his club, even if it meant this business with Allison would go away faster than normal. This was his private domain.

  “Believe it or not, this doesn’t have anything to do with my client.”

  Shit. Josh opened his eyes as a feeling of wary anticipation bled through him.

  There was some hesitation in Kingston’s voice, a note of cautious curiosity Josh recognized from other calls. Kingston wanted to know more about the club, the lifestyle, but hadn’t a clue how to go about asking. Normally Josh would love talking to a potential member, try to work out what their interests were. But something about Kingston had rubbed him wrong from the onset, and Josh tried to listen to his inner voice whenever possible.

  “If meeting at your club isn’t possible, is there somewhere else we could talk? Restaurant or a coffee shop? I’d be willing to come to you.”

  Josh closed his eyes and fought off a sigh. Repairing the club after the vandalism was an added, unplanned expense, and he didn’t think he could afford to alienate a potential member right now. “Do you know where Pulled Long is?”

  “It’s down the street from your club, yes?”

  “I have a few hours available.” Oliver gone. Beth gone. “I would be more than happy to meet with you to answer your questions.”

  “Thank you. I’ll be there in twenty.”

  Josh didn’t immediately hang up the phone, letting the soft buzz of the disconnected line settle over his brain. He should be excited, or at least pleased, that Kingston’s request had nothing to do with Allison. It could mean a new member for the club, widening the circle of people willing to come to Mavericks, and Josh knew he should be focused on that. Instead, he couldn’t stop his mind from cycling around to images of Beth the first day she’d come to the club in search of a job, her eyes widening from the whirlwind of activity all around her on the main floor. Or Oliver, and how Josh had been fascinated with the flex of muscles of his forearms the first time he worked behind the bar.

  No, enough of that. Pushing himself to his feet with a jerk and leaving his cell phone on his desk, Josh grabbed his coat. It didn’t have to be a long meeting, but he’d give Kingston a few minutes. He’d play the part of eager entrepreneur and host, ignoring the way his heart ached for something he wasn’t destined to have.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Beth wasn’t surprised when her doorbell rang, even though she wasn’t ready for the visit. The moment she’d gotten home she’d stripped and jumped into the shower. The need to get clean, to blast away her frustrations and anger under the scalding spray, had been overpowering. Slipping into her worn T-shirt and shorts and grabbing some wine was all she could manage after she’d emerged. God, how could she have let two men get under her skin? She’d never managed to have a successful relationship with one guy, let alone handle two.

  She’d talked to her sister, which had helped calm her down. Nothing like having a chat about stupid men with Kim to make her feel better. If anyone could appreciate a screwed-up relationship, it was her. Beth had gone from anger down to mild annoyance as Kim told her the best way to inflict nonvisible damage to the male body.

  Wonder what she’ll think of me getting it on with two guys at once? Knowing Kim, she’d want to know where she’d be able to pick up two of her own.

  Pausing her movie, some low-budget horror flick found in the bowels of her Netflix queue, Beth tucked her hair behind her ear and let out a soft huff. She’d expected Josh to show up and apologize sooner than this, but at least he’d come. Waiting for the b
ell to ring a second time, she moved as quietly as she could, hoping to catch a glimpse of Josh through the peephole before he could slip into his carefully crafted mask.

  Wait, that wasn’t—

  The door opened with its usual dull creak, but Oliver didn’t even twitch. His gaze was fixed on the floor, and his hands were shoved deep in his jeans pockets. To Beth he looked as though he’d lost his best friend. Given her last conversation with Josh, she prayed that wasn’t the case. And that whatever was wrong, she wasn’t responsible.

  “You better come in then.” Stepping aside, she waited until Oliver found the energy to push away from the door and trudged into her living room.

  She’d been drinking a rather bad bottle of red wine. Normally it was the sort of thing she kept for when she’d already had too much to drink. Finishing wine, her father had always called it. She didn’t bother to ask if Oliver wanted any, filling a second glass without a word.

  He took the glass, staring at it for only a moment before swallowing down half the contents. Beth couldn’t stop her laugher as he gagged his way through the remainder.

  “God, that’s shit.” He took another big gulp.

  “Sorry. Didn’t think you’d down the whole thing.”

  “Yeah, it’s been a crap day.”

  In that instant she knew something big had happened after she’d left. It had only been a few hours, so only God and Oliver knew what that was.

  Nodding toward the couch, Beth took up her position on the end, tucking her feet under her ass. Oliver fell onto the cushions beside her, his wine sloshing dangerously close to the lip of the glass. The horrified, openmouthed scream of the killer’s next victim, a rather unfortunate facial expression, was frozen on the screen. Oliver snorted when he noticed it, but his smile quickly fell away. It was hard to fight against the impulse to pull him into a hug, to chase away his little-boy-lost expression. If she did that, she’d never hear the full story from him. But when he finally spoke, the words weren’t at all what she was expecting.

  “I’m married.”

  Instantly, she wanted to be sick. “What?”

  “Was married. Just signed the divorce papers today. I’ve been putting it off for months now.” Oliver turned the glass in his hands. “Mallory left me after cheating on me with some dick she met while we were on vacation. He moved here from Australia, and apparently they want to get married.”

  Still reeling from the information, she didn’t have a clue how to respond. Instead of groping for the right words, she shifted closer to him and slid her hand along his denim-clad thigh. What the hell could she say?

  Oliver sucked in a breath and chuckled weakly. “We’d planned the trip for a month. She’d always wanted to go to Thailand, somewhere exotic. I was never into that shit so we settled on Australia. Idiot that I was. I booked a ten-day vacation for two and off we went.”

  Beth didn’t have a clue who this Mallory chick thought she was, but God help her if they ever crossed paths. The bitch was going to get a smack that would knock her into next year.

  “What happened?” She gave his leg a squeeze.

  “I did the stupidest thing a man can do. I left.” Oliver swallowed down the rest of his wine and slid the empty glass across the coffee table. “She wanted to stay another week, even though she knew I didn’t have the vacation time. I was a full-time massage therapist then and had client appointments. She knew I didn’t cancel those lightly. Insisted that I go home while she took some time to do things I wouldn’t enjoy anyway. She’d met her new boyfriend on a tour we took before I left. I found out later he has more money than brains and was more than happy to show Mallory a better time than I could.”

  “Bitch.”

  “Oh, it’s better than that.” The warmth normally present in Oliver’s eyes was gone, replaced with a cold light that sent a chill through her. “She cleaned out my bank account before she told me we were through. Every. Single. Penny.”

  “But…” Beth shook her head. “How the hell could she do something like that?”

  “Married, remember? We had a shared bank account. Maybe I could have done something about it, but at the time I was still reeling from her leaving me.”

  “Christ, Oliver.” She put her glass on the table and draped her body over his. “I’m so sorry, hon.”

  He wrapped an arm around her and gave a halfhearted squeeze. “Not signing the divorce papers was the only way I had to stick it to her. The longer I held off, the longer it would be before she could marry the next idiot. I didn’t figure it would also make it harder on me to end things. I can’t put it off anymore, though.”

  “What the hell happened? Why are you telling me this now?”

  Oliver tried to pull away then, but Beth held tight. Fuck that. She was tired of letting the men in her life dictate her actions, no matter how subtle the direction. At least outside the bedroom. When it was clear he wasn’t going to escape her grasp, Oliver finally met her gaze, no longer trying to conceal the tears he’d been fighting.

  “Mallory showed up at the club with the papers shortly after you left. Demanded that I sign them there and then. Of course, Josh was there to witness the whole thing. Right before he walked away from me, calling me out for being a cheat.”

  Beth’s mouth fell open but the words refused to come.

  Oliver caressed her cheek with the back of his hand. “It’s okay. I’m not sure what I expected to happen when you both found out. He was right when he said I kept this from you. But it was my mess and I needed to work things out.”

  “She cheated on you, broke your heart and robbed you blind. You’re not living with her and have no intention of going back. Why the hell would Josh have a problem with that?”

  “He said he couldn’t trust me anymore. That I’d lied. He walked away from me and I know there’s nothing I can do to make things better.”

  She growled and got to her feet. “I’m going to punch him.”

  “Beth.”

  “I’m going to practice my roundhouse kick to the side of his head repeatedly until he smartens the hell up.”

  “Beth—”

  “No, he’s got no right.” It only took a minute to find her phone and hit the speed dial. But before Josh picked up, Oliver was there disconnecting the call. She tried to jerk her hand from his grasp, but Oliver held firm. “What the hell, Oliver?”

  “Don’t. Please. I signed the papers. Mallory is gone for good now. I think Josh was shocked, that’s all.”

  Their gazes locked, and she didn’t know if the desperation in his eyes had to do with needing distance from Josh’s idiocy, or if he really believed Josh was right. Either way, it was wrong. Moving slow enough that there was no mistaking her intent, Beth rose up on her tiptoes and pressed her lips to his.

  It wasn’t a kiss. The gentle rub of skin on skin barely lasted a heartbeat before he pulled back. But it was enough to tell him what her words wouldn’t. She didn’t care what he’d done, or who his ex was to him. Oliver was a good man, one she didn’t want to be without.

  “Thank you for telling me,” she whispered. “You shouldn’t be alone in this.”

  “But—”

  “Oliver, shut up.”

  This time Beth didn’t hold back. Driving her fingers into his hair, she pulled him down and sucked hard on his lips. She didn’t relent until Oliver groaned, opening up to her. Tongues clashed as fingers dug into cloth-covered skin, pulling their bodies together. All the hurt from Josh’s words was shoved aside as Beth focused on the broken man in her arms.

  Oliver wrapped his arms around her, lifting her up by the ass and forcing her to wrap her legs around his waist. Her full breasts pressed to his chest, her nipples sensitive as they rubbed against her shirt. Gasping, she let her head fall back, giving Oliver access to her neck.

  Oliver’s moans and
soft grunts as he carried her to the counter and set her on top were too quiet, too reserved for the passion she knew lurked inside him. Her own voice was lost, the words refusing to come even as she frantically pulled his shirt off, exposing his chest.

  Josh should be here. Beth could hear his voice in her head, directing her actions. Tweak his nipples. Slap his ass—he likes that. But Josh wasn’t. He’d continued to push them away, isolating himself when she damn well knew he wanted to be with them. Stupid, stubborn—

  Beth moaned as Oliver sucked her now-exposed nipple into his mouth, tormenting the peak with his tongue and teeth. Leaning over him, she raked her nails down his sides, thrilling in the feeling of his erect cock pressing against her pussy and the way his jeans were rough against the soft skin of her thighs. It only took a gentle tug at his waistband to encourage Oliver to yank the button fly open and shove the denim down his legs.

  The outline of his shaft through his boxer-briefs was a hard line pointing toward his stomach. Beth pressed her hands on either side, making the flush of his skin appear darker through the white cotton. Oliver sucked in a breath and stilled.

  She didn’t say anything as she slowly inched her fingers up and hooked them around the elastic band. Giving one teasing tug, she smirked at the groan that escaped him. Another tug, this time giving her room to roll the fabric down to bunch in her hands.

  Pale flesh was exposed bit by bit to her sight. Oliver’s body shook, though whether from restraint or excitement, Beth wasn’t sure. When his cock popped out, bobbing between them, she waited no time at all to wrap her hand around its girth.

  “We don’t need him,” she whispered, giving him a squeeze, “to tell us that this thing between us is good. He never completely gave himself to either of us.”

  Swallowing hard, Oliver bucked his hips forward, forcing his cock into her grip. “He wanted to.”

  “Not so sure. He seemed scared.” Beth sucked in a breath as he slid his hand up along the inside of her thigh until his fingertips brushed her bare pussy. “Very un-Josh-like.”