by K. M. Scott
If only I had just told her the truth.
As that little nugget of reality settles into my brain, I shake my head. It wouldn’t have mattered if she knew what I really do for a living or not. Seeing me standing up on top of a bar while Kylie dropped to her knees and played around with my pants would have hurt her no matter what amount of truth she had from me.
“I’ll try the restaurant then. And if she won’t talk to me, I’ll just have to set up camp near her car until she comes out and has to see me.”
Alex chuckles at my newfound attitude. “Nice. Stalker 101. I’m a little surprised you’re like this with her, though, Cade. I thought you were more about playing than anything else when it comes to women.”
I finish washing a glass and set it onto the mat below the bar. He’s not wrong. I’ve always been more about playing at relationships than actually being in them. Everything needed to stay fun and light. As long as that happened, I loved being with someone.
And when it turned into something else and I had to be honest about things, that’s when everything fell apart. Every time. Without fail. I’m nothing if not reliable in my failures.
“Hailey’s different. Some people you don’t play around with. Some people deserve more than that.”
A slow smile lights up his face, and he shakes his head. “I can’t believe you finally found someone who you can say that about. Wait till Liam hears he won the bet. I’m never going to live this down considering I’m your best friend.”
I stop and study his expression, trying to understand what he’s talking about. “You guys bet on my love life?”
“You know Cash. He’d bet on virtually anything, if given the chance. The four of us made a bet when you’d finally find someone who would force you to change your bullshit. I lost by about three years. Cash had you at twenty-five, I think. Liam said twenty-three, and Wilder said never. But you know how he is.”
“When did this happen? Where was I when you were taking bets on my future happiness?” I ask, stunned but not really surprised since Cash will bet on anything and get everyone to join in.
“Fourth of July picnic out at Grandma’s house. Remember Cash got a little buzzed and when we were talking about that girl he just broke up with, he got pretty defensive saying none of us were doing any better?”
“Dude, I’d remember us all betting on when I’d finally meet someone I cared for. I was drinking that night, but I wasn’t as fucked up as you guys.”
Alex shrugs, like all of this is so common in his life that he can’t remember the details. “You left early after you and some girl had an argument on the phone. I think she was pissed you didn’t bring her to the party. As if you ever do that.”
I think back to that Fourth of July party out at the house and remember that fight. I can’t even think of her name right now, but she was sure I was up to no good and didn’t believe I was actually at my grandmother’s house for a family get-together. I ended up leaving early, disgusted and not interested in celebrating anything after a half hour of trying to convince someone I didn’t even love that I wasn’t cheating on her or doing anything other than hanging out with my cousins.
“Nice. I can’t trust any of you people, can I? What was the bet for?”
“Hundred bucks. No one was really willing to pony up much since I wasn’t too confident it would ever happen but then went with twenty-six,” Alex says with a smile.
“Well, I guess Liam gets three hundred now, assuming Hailey will ever speak to me again. Or is the whole bet just based on me caring for someone and not if she cares about me in return?”
Waving away my scolding, Alex grimaces at my potential misery. “Don’t think like that. She’s going to hear you out. She likes you. Trust me.”
“Trust you? You got me into this mess,” I say, shoving my hand against his shoulder.
“First, no I didn’t. If you didn’t lie to begin with, this wouldn’t have been a problem.”
I stop him before he can get to whatever he thinks is the second point he should make. “You can’t imagine seeing one of the twins acting like she’s about to go down on me would be okay with Hailey.”
He thinks for a moment and nods. “Okay, granted that would have gone over badly. But it doesn’t matter because she likes you. She has from the first day we all met. Just tell her the truth and don’t fuck it up so she can give you another chance. And then don’t fuck that up.”
“You act like I intentionally sabotage things for myself,” I say with a chuckle.
Alex doesn’t bother to answer, instead just leveling his judgmental gaze on me. Fuck him. That’s crazy. What kind of madman would deliberately ruin a good thing that makes him happy?
My stomach twists into a tight knot of anxiety as I pull into the parking lot at Comfort Food. Hailey’s car is parked on the side, like usual, so she’s here. Now I just have to get her to listen to me so she can know the truth.
I take a look in the rearview mirror and silently give myself the pep talk I’ve recited since I opened my eyes this morning. “She just needs to hear the truth. That’s all. Tell her the truth and it’ll be fine.”
None of that has truly sunk in as real yet, but I can hope.
Walking toward the front door, I’m not sure my legs are going to hold me up and my palms feel like someone’s dipped them in warm water. I take a deep breath and push the door open to walk in, only to see her father glaring at me from behind the counter.
“You need to turn around and go back where you came from, son,” he says in an ominously threatening tone.
Things are not starting out well.
“Is Hailey here? I was hoping to talk to her.”
My voice sounds suspiciously like that time I brought my prom date home at four in the morning and lied to her parents that the car broke down. They didn’t buy it then, and Hailey’s father isn’t taking too kindly to me right now, if his angry frown and eyebrows drawn in expression is any indication.
“Did you hear what I said? You need to go. Now.”
I’m not getting anywhere with him, so I crane my neck to look back toward the kitchen. If I can see her back there, I’ll try to get her attention and bypass this whole angry dad thing in front of me.
He’s not having any of that, though, and comes around the counter looking like a bull charging the red blanket in front of him. And I’m the damn blanket!
“Why are you still standing here when I told you to leave?” he barks in my face.
Well, I guess I don’t have to wonder if he knows what happened. I doubt anything I can say is going to make him happy right now, but I figure it won’t hurt to try.
“I just want to talk to Hailey and explain everything. It was all a misunderstanding. I swear. If I can just talk to her, she’ll see that too and everything will be okay.”
Anger flashes in his faded blue eyes, and for a moment, I’m not sure he’s not planning to physically throw me out of his restaurant. I get ready for him to grab me by the collar, but then Hailey walks out of the kitchen and touches her father’s arm to get his attention.
“Daddy, let me talk to Cade for a minute, okay?”
Her father doesn’t budge for so long that I wonder if he intends on standing between us during our conversation. Finally, after what seems like forever having those blue eyes staring at me in utter disapproval, he steps aside.
“You just let me know if you need me, Hailey. I’ll be right over here,” he grumbles before walking back behind the counter.
My first real chance to see Hailey makes my chest ache just like it did last night when I thought about her being hurt by what she saw. Her beautiful blue eyes don’t look at me with that glare of hatred like her father’s have in them, though.
It’s worse than that. In hers, I see nothing but sadness.
“What do you want, Cade? I have to get back to my work,” she says in a flat voice devoid of emotion.
“I just wanted to explain about last night,” I say quietly as I realiz
e some of the restaurant’s customers are listening to us talk.
Before she can say anything, like go away or I never want to see you again, I touch her arm and motion toward the door. “Can we talk outside?”
Pulling away from me, she shakes her head. “I don’t think so.”
“Please? I just want to tell you some things.”
I see by the hurt in her eyes that she wants to say no, but she’s kind and good, so she nods and gives me a chance. Now I just have to make sure I don’t blow it.
We walk out the door and go around to the side of the building before we stop. She won’t look at me now but instead stares down at the ground.
“I know what you saw last night upset you, and I don’t blame you, Hailey. I swear I had no part in that. The other bartender just started doing things, and before I knew it, she was kneeling in front of me. I never wanted that.”
Still refusing to look at me, she shakes her head and continues to stare at that damn grease spot on the concrete near her feet. “It doesn’t matter. Last night just proved what I thought all along. You and I aren’t right for each other.”
Fuck, I can feel her already walking away from me before she takes a single step. It’s like she’s closed herself off and won’t let me in anymore.
I touch her arm and try again to make her understand what happened on top of that bar was nothing she should care about. “I swear, Hailey. I don’t know why she did that, but I didn’t want her to. Honestly.”
Finally, she looks up at me, and in an instant, I see so much pain in her eyes that I wish she hadn’t lifted her head. “You lied to me, Cade. That’s the problem. Not that girl doing that to you up on that bar.”
Her words stun me. Kylie’s fake porn act isn’t why she’s upset with me?
“You mean about working at Club X? I’m sorry about that too.”
“I have to go now.”
My hand tightens around her wrist in a desperate attempt to keep her there with me for even a few seconds more. “No, don’t go yet. Please let me explain. I can explain everything. I swear.”
Those beautiful blue eyes of hers fill with tears. “I don’t need you to explain, Cade. As I said, I figured it out a long time ago. We don’t belong together. I’m not a red Jag kind of girl. I’m not an infamous Cade March kind of girl. Now just go and leave me alone, okay?”
My heart sinks at every word that comes out of her mouth, and when she pulls her arm from my hold, I stand there watching her walk away like I’ve lost everything I care about in the world. I don’t know what to do.
I’ve never been at this point with a woman. Usually by now, I’ve checked out of the relationship and it’s just a matter of time before whoever she is breaks up with me. It’s a relief and I move on, like always.
Only this time I can’t. I can’t move on because I care about this woman.
So what am I supposed to do now?
Chapter Three
Hailey
My father stops in front of my workspace and lets out one of those sighs of his that says he has something on his mind. I know what he wants to talk about. Cade. It’s just that I don’t want to talk about him or anything about the last couple weeks I spent with him.
It hurts too much.
“So you know, he’s sat out in my parking lot all day in that car of his. He hasn’t left once, not even to go to the bathroom. He must have some soda bottle in there with him.”
I look up and frown at the thought of that. “Nice, Dad. Don’t worry about him. He’ll go away when I leave in a couple minutes.”
“You know, I did my best angry dad act when he came in. He didn’t give up, though. That usually scares people off. At least it scared your sisters’ boyfriends when I did it with them. Do you think I’m losing my touch?” my father asks, his sly smile giving away what he really thinks.
But I don’t want to play this game with him right now.
“I don’t think you’re losing it, Dad. You still look like a terrifying guy when you do your angry dad shtick,” I say as I clean up my area to leave.
“Nobody said anything about losing it. That makes me sound like I’m going crazy. I was merely wondering if I had gotten soft in my old age. That’s it.”
“I have to go, Dad. I’ll see you later. I think I’m going to go for a drive.”
When I turn to leave, he stops me and kisses me on the cheek. “Okay, honey. Whatever makes you happy.”
I force a smile and walk to the back door in the semi-conscious state I’ve been in all day. I think Hector says something as I pass him, but I’m not sure. I’m a million miles away.
Actually, I don’t know where I am exactly. Or how I feel. Or what I’m doing. All I know is I hate feeling this way.
Again.
Stepping out into the late afternoon sun, I shield my eyes from the brightness after being in the kitchen for so long, but I trip over a can the cooks use for their cigarettes and go tumbling toward the pavement. Right before I hit, I feel hands on me, and then a moment later, I’m standing face-to-face with Cade.
“Glad I was here to catch you. That could have been a nasty fall.”
Instinctively, I pull away from him, hating that’s what I feel about him now. “Thanks.”
We stand there for a moment in horrible silence. Well, it’s horrible to me because I don’t want to go but I don’t know what to say to him.
“Hailey, please talk to me. Or if you won’t talk to me, say you’ll listen to what I have to say. I waited all day for you to come out in the hope that you’ll hear what I have to tell you.”
I look into his dark eyes and see him pleading with them too. I swore not twenty-four hours ago to never let myself be lured in by those eyes and that body, yet here I am doing just that.
“What could you possibly have to say that would be okay now, Cade? You lied to me. You told me you ran a club, but I saw that’s not true. Why didn’t you tell me it’s your father’s club and you bartend?”
“Because I don’t. Not until recently, that is. Well, that’s not exactly true either.”
I put my hand up to stop him before he goes any further. “You seem to have trouble with the truth. That’s reason enough for me to say you should stop now. I need to go.”
“That’s not what I meant. I bartended at Club X last summer. I hated it. I don’t know if I hated it because I had to work for my father or because I just don’t like bartending, even if I seem to be good at it.”
I can’t stop myself from saying, “Well, from what I saw last night, you put on quite a show. You’re a natural as far as I can tell.”
A look of hurt settles into his face. “That’s not what I usually do when I bartend. All I usually do is pour drinks for people and smile, even though behind the bar is the last place I want to be. I stopped working at Club X after the summer, but now I don’t really have a choice so I went back last week.”
As much as I don’t want to be curious, I ask, “Why don’t you have a choice? Does your father really need help because someone quit on him and he doesn’t have a replacement?”
Cade shakes his head, that silent answer the only one I get for nearly a minute. When he finally begins speaking again, he sounds so different from every other time I’ve heard him talk—like he’s defeated about something—that I can’t help but feel bad for him.
“I don’t have a job. I never have. I graduated from college over a year ago and haven’t done anything since. That’s the absolute and ugly truth, as much as I wanted to hide that from you.”
In my mind, visions of his car, his condo, his jet skis flash like facts to once again dispute his version of the truth. “Then how do you have all the stuff you own? People who don’t have jobs don’t drive the kind of car you do, Cade. I thought you were going to tell me the truth. To be honest, this seems like a strange thing to lie about.”
“I wish it was a lie. I don’t have a job. I have a trust fund that gives me more money than I need. That’s how I can afford the car
and the condo and everything else.”
None of this makes any sense, even though he looks sincere as he explains all of it. “People don’t lie about being wealthy, Cade. Or is it that you knew I wasn’t wealthy so you decided to hide it from me? Was that it?”
A tiny smile brightens his gloomy face. “You sound like Alex. He always asks me why I lie about not having a job. I don’t know why I lie. The messed up part of all of it is I could manage Club X. Nothing would make my father happier. I think he could die the happiest man in the world tomorrow if I told him today that I’d take over the club. He literally wants nothing else from me.”
I narrow my eyes in confusion, unsure why anyone would act the way this man does. “So you lie about something you could be doing but don’t instead of actually telling the truth that you’re wealthy and don’t have to do that thing you don’t want to do? Am I getting this straight?”
“Not exactly. As of last week, I have to do something or I’m cut off from my trust fund. The almighty Stefan March lowered the boom on me, I suspect to get me to come back to work at the club, so now I have to get a paying job or work for him. I chose to work for him, and that’s what I was doing there last night.”
For a few seconds, I don’t know what to say. This all sounds ridiculous. Wealthy people don’t lie about where they get their money, and trust fund guys certainly don’t. Not that I know many of them. Or any, other than the one standing in front of me at the moment.
But it doesn’t make any sense.
“Why should I believe you?” I ask, unable to be anything but that blunt right now.
Cade frowns and then lets out a heavy sigh. “Because all of it is the truth. We can drive over to the club right now and my father can vouch for every word I told you. Of course, that would mean my entire family would find out about us and I’m not sure you’re up for that.”
“Why? Are you ashamed of me because I don’t have a trust fund like all of you?” I ask with as much defensiveness as I possess inside me.
