Gabe laughed. “I’ll be right here my beautiful Brandy. I love this truck but I think I will love you more. Besides, I happen to have great insurance.” He leaned over and kissed her. “Let’s go back to the front seat. I need to go inside and speak with Todd for a moment.”
“Okay.”
He took her hand and she followed him out of the backseat. They climbed over to the middle seat, but they used the door this time to get to the front. Brandy felt more than a little uncomfortable coming out of the backseat with him. She knew that the people coming out of the bar were staring at her, that they knew exactly why she had come out of Gabe’s backseat with him. It made her feel dirty all over again.
She lit a cigarette as soon as Gabe had left pondering for a moment whether she should leave now. He’d left his wallet sitting out in plain sight on the console. She was sure that there was plenty of money in there. She was also pretty sure that he had left it there on purpose.
Feeling only a small stab of guilt, she checked to make sure that Gabe wasn’t coming out of the bar and reached for his wallet. It was very thick. When she opened it and started to leaf through the bills, she saw that they were mostly hundreds. Yeah, she thought, she could definitely get high for a while with the money in that wallet.
With a sigh, she started to put the wallet back. Then she saw a foil square tucked behind the bills and almost changed her mind about taking his money. Gabe had a condom in his wallet. I am such a fucking idiot Brandy thought.
She wanted to confront him. She wanted to shove the condom in his face and tell him to fuck off. A part of her still wanted to take his money and be the hell out of there by the time he got back. Instead, she decided to keep her mouth shut. She put his wallet back in the console and lit another cigarette, wondering what was taking him so long.
Finally Gabe came out of the bar. He smiled at her as he opened the door of the truck. “You’re in the wrong seat love. Move over.”
He handed her the keys. Brandy hid another sigh. “I don’t want to drive Gabe.”
“Come on sweetheart, you’ve got to start some time. Who would have thought you’d be driving an $80,000 truck instead of your boyfriend’s crappy Honda, huh?”
With his keys still in her hand, she paused. Chad did drive a Honda. But how did Gabe know that Brandy wondered? She looked at him, searching his eyes. He didn’t look away from her. Finally she decided she couldn’t take it anymore. She slid over into the driver’s seat and put the keys in the ignition, but didn’t start the truck.
“Gabe. How did you know that my boyfriend drives a Honda? And,” she added, taking a deep breath and then letting it out “Why did you lie to me about not having a condom?”
Gabe smiled. “What were you doing in my wallet? Never mind. I know what you were doing in there. I left it there to test you. And you passed Brandy, because you’re still here. I’m willing to bet that every dollar is still in my wallet. You know that I can give you whatever you need. You only need to ask.”
“You didn’t answer my question Gabe. How do you know what kind of car my ex drives?”
Gabe wouldn’t look at her anymore. She took the keys out of the ignition, and tried to hand them back to him. Brandy had decided that she was leaving, for real this time. She wasn’t going to take this shit.
Gabe pressed the keys back into her hand. “Do you want complete honesty?”
She snorted. “Yes, or I wouldn’t have asked you.”
“I’ve been watching you for a while now.”
“What the hell are you talking about Gabe?”
“Give me one of those cigarettes will you?” She handed him a cigarette and he continued “I saw you when you came into town with your boyfriend. I could tell by looking at him that he’d eventually leave you. I paid Trina a thousand dollars to tell you that she’d worked here, to tell you about me. I also have an arrangement with some of the restaurants and stores around here, some of the apartment complexes. I give them cash and they send beautiful women my way.”
Brandy wanted to spit in his face. “You are fucking crazy Gabe. I’m getting the hell out of here.”
He reached out and put a hand on her arm. She pulled back from him, backing away until she was pressed against the driver’s side door of the car. “Don’t touch me. You’ll never touch me again. First you lie to me about having a condom. Then you tell me that not only have you been stalking me, but you pay other disgusting fucks like yourself to send girls your way? You disgust me. If I end up pregnant with your child, I’ll give myself an abortion and hopefully kill myself in the process. I’d rather die than carry your child.”
“Brandy, please stop. Please listen to me. It isn’t what it sounds like. I want to help women like you. I have a weakness for vulnerable women. I need to feel that someone needs me. My wife stopped making me feel that way a long time ago. Hell, Leslie has never really needed me. She just wanted someone who would look good on her arm that would stick around and put up with her bullshit. She knows how much I wanted children. She used it against me. My son’s not mine. She was pregnant when I met her. I doubt that the child she’s carrying now is mine either. But I’ve wanted a child for as long as I can remember. And my son loves me. He needs me. I can’t leave him alone with his mother.”
Brandy lit another cigarette. “Do you expect me to feel sorry for you? If your wife is such a bitch, why don’t you divorce her? And there you go again Gabe, talking about girls like me. First you called me a slut. Then you practically called me a pathetic loser. I don’t have to take this from you. I won’t take this from you.”
“I’m sorry. Sometimes when I’m excited, I say things without thinking. I want to help you. I’ll give you the world if you’ll let me. I’ll do anything for you.”
“Yeah, right. You’ll give me anything I want if I give you anything you want. Like screwing you in broad daylight in the parking lot at your bar, without a condom even though you have one in your wallet.”
“That condom has been around since I was a freshman in high school. I only keep it for sentimental reasons. It’s long since expired. I’ve wanted you so badly since the moment I saw you. I think I could love you Brandy.”
“I’m not buying your bullshit Gabe. Let me see the condom.”
He handed her his wallet. She opened it and pulled the condom out. She looked at the date. It had indeed expired years before. Resisting a sudden urge to bite her lip until it bled, she handed the wallet back to him.
“See? Will you please trust me Brandy? I would never hurt you.”
Brandy was torn. There was a part of her that said that Gabe was still certifiable with the things he had told her. Another part of wanted to be taken care of for a while. She’d thought that Chad would take care of her. That’s why she had left her hometown with him and come to this little shithole town. But again she wondered if it would be worth it to let Gabe take care of her. Or would it come at a higher price than she was willing to pay?
What the hell she thought, she might as well use Gabe to get clean at least. It was Chad that had gotten her hooked on coke in the first place. Maybe at least if she was clean her parents would stop pretending she wasn’t their daughter.
“Okay,” she said.
Gabe smiled. There was something in his smile that she didn’t like, but she tried to put it off. “Start the car beautiful. Turn right out of the lot. Then go up two blocks to the cell phone store on the corner.”
“Okay.”
She was still nervous about driving his truck, especially since he’d told her how much it was worth, but she pulled carefully out of the lot and didn’t have any problems. At the cell phone store, Gabe told her to pick out any phone she wanted. She took her time, marveling over the changes that had taken place in technology since her parents had trusted her enough to have a cell.
Finally, she found the perfect phone and showed it to Gabe. She thought that he was going to have a fit over the price since it was without a contract, but he got the attention of the salesman whom
Brandy noticed was checking out her cleavage, and handed the guy his credit card.
When they were back in the car, Gabe said “Where would you like to eat?”
“Are you sure that you want to be seen with me in public? Won’t your wife be pissed?”
Gabe laughed. “Leslie and I have an arrangement. It benefits both of us. Besides, people in this town will talk no matter what I do. Let them talk. They’re just jealous anyway. Screw them all.”
Brandy smiled. She’d felt the same way since she and Chad had pulled into town. There were always rumors going around at the apartment building. She had grown up in the city and wasn’t used to everyone talking about everyone else’s business. She felt like she was back in high school sometimes.
“I like Chinese if that’s okay with you.”
“Of course. My son loves the Chinese buffet on Third Street.”
It was strange to hear him talk about his kid Brandy thought. It made her uncomfortable, and not only because she had a son. It made her start to feel guilty again about sleeping with him. Why was he here with her instead of at home with his son?
“Are you sure you want to go there if you take your kid there? And shouldn’t you be home with him instead of here with me?”
Gabe sighed. “My wife has taken him to visit her parents again. Naturally, since her parents despise me, I wasn’t invited.”
“Oh. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. I don’t like them very much either. Go to the buffet. And don’t worry about your driving. You’re doing very well.”
“Thank you.”
When she pulled into the parking lot of the buffet, Brandy almost pulled right back out. Chad’s car was sitting in the parking lot. She pulled a cigarette out of the pack and lit it to steady her nerves.
“Is something wrong Brandy?”
“Not exactly.”
Gabe looked outside then. “Oh. I see your ex is here.”
“Yeah. Do you think we could go somewhere else? Better yet, let’s go to the motel and order a pizza or something.”
“I thought you wanted Chinese.”
“Not so much anymore. I don’t want to go in there when he’s in there. I didn’t know that he was still in town. He’s been gone for three days.”
“Are you embarrassed to be seen with me?”
“No. Of course not Gabe.”
If only he wasn’t married she thought she’d be bragging to the whole world about being with him. As it was, she didn’t think she could stand to go inside the restaurant when Chad was in there. She knew that he was there with another girl. Probably that bitch he was always giving free lines to she thought.
“Let’s go. You’ll have to face him sometime. You might as well get it over with.”
“Gabe please, can we get out of here? I’m not hungry anymore.”
Gabe frowned. “Brandy. How are you going to make your life better if you can’t put your past behind you? Chad is in your past. Facing him will make you want to make sure that he stays there.”
He leaned over and kissed her. The kiss was so powerful that it made her dizzy. Gabe reached out and squeezed her hand. “We’re going inside. It will be okay. I won’t let anything hurt you anymore darling.”
His face looked calm, but she could tell that there was an undercurrent of anger underneath. She didn’t think that it would be a good idea to piss Gabe off. She took the truck keys out of the ignition and followed him out of the car, pausing to lock the doors.
While they waited to be seated she glanced around the restaurant, looking for Chad. Sure enough, he was in a back booth with the bimbo that she’d been sure he was there with.
Gabe put his hand on her arm as they followed the waitress back to the booth. It was across the aisle from where Chad was sitting. Brandy almost felt a sense of satisfaction when she saw the look on his face when he noticed her.
The waitress took their drink orders and Gabe got up, reaching out for her hand. “Let’s eat.”
“Is it okay if I sit here for a minute Gabe?”
He glanced at Chad and then back at her. “I suppose. Be strong if he comes over here. Don’t let him worm his way back into your heart. He’s not worth it. You’re worth much more than he can ever give you.”
As Gabe walked away she wondered why he’d called her a slut, and screwed her in the back of his truck if he thought she was worth so much more, but she put it out of her head as Chad approached her.
He sat down across from her, pushing the soda that the waitress had brought for Gabe to the side. “What the hell are you doing with that guy Brandy?”
“What the hell are you doing with her Chad? You have no right to question what I’m doing when you haven’t bothered to come home in three days.”
“Maybe you’re right. But the last thing you need to do is get mixed up with that Atkins guy. You know he’s married, right? Are you working for him now? Gonna sleep with him like all the other sluts that have worked at that place?”
“Yes, I know he’s married. Yes, I will be working for him. And yes, I already slept with him.”
“Oh Brandy. I always thought you were a smart girl. That’s why I brought you with me. I thought we could get a real nice business going together.”
Brandy laughed. “Like you’re going to have with Stasia over there? If she gives your regular customers enough blow jobs they’ll be sure to buy from you and not someone else, right Chad?”
“That was one time Brandy. I felt really bad about asking you to do it. Stasia’s going to handle my money for me.”
“Handle it right out of your pocket. Who’s the stupid one now Chad?”
“She’s not like that. She’s got a kid. She lives with her dad and his new wife. I’m trying to help her get her daughter back.”
“Oh, my heart bleeds for you Chad. My drug dealing ex-boyfriend is now a knight in shining armor for his new girlfriend the bimbo. You were letting her blow you for those hits you gave her all the time weren’t you? I’m an idiot to have come here with you.”
“I loved you Brandy. I thought we’d get married someday. But I met Stasia and now I know she’s the one for me. It happens sometimes. It’s just life.”
“Right. Just life. Well fuck you and your life Chad. Get out of my face. Take your new girlfriend and get the hell out of here.”
“Why? So you can parade yourself around town with a married man who has been with more women than you can count? That guy’s going to give you some kind of nasty STD. Or you’ll end up knocked up with his kid and he won’t let you have it. He’ll make you have an abortion like your parents did. I don’t think you can take having another abortion Brandy. You need to get the hell away from that guy. Like now.”
“He’s getting me into rehab. He’s going to teach me to drive, and help my get my license. Buy me a car. He already bought me a phone. You wouldn’t let me use yours, always made me use that stupid payphone. He’s helping me get a nicer place. All of that is way more than you ever did for me, and I just met him.”
“And all it took was a little roll in the hay right? He was in your pants two seconds after he looked at you because he promised you the moon and stars and your stupid ass bought it. Did you bone him in his office? Or did he make you do it in the bathroom? I heard he likes to make girls do it with him in the bathroom.”
“We did it in his truck.”
Chad snickered. “It was you he boned just now in the parking lot huh? Some guy came in here a few minutes ago bragging that he had pictures of some hot chick’s ass and tits because he happened to see Gabe going at it with her when he walked out of the bar. I would never have thought it was you, though. I thought you were smarter than that. I guess I was wrong.”
“Fuck you. I am smart. Smarter than you anyway. You couldn’t pass the GED test for the third time in a row.”
“Thanks for reminding me. Look Brandy, I do care about you. I don’t want to see you getting mixed up with this guy. He doesn’t like to let go of girls once he�
��s got a hold of them. I’d like to think that we can be friends.”
“It’s not like you didn’t talk your way into my pants about two seconds after I met you. I don’t want to be your friend Chad. Go back to your new girlfriend. I think she’s getting impatient.”
“I planned on giving you the moon and stars. That’s the only reason that I screwed you the day we met. I’m sorry that things went down the way they did. I’d like to see you move on, be happy. Just not with that guy. He’s more trouble than any pretty thing he can give you is worth.”
“You don’t have to worry about me anymore Chad. You’ve moved on. The proof of it is sitting over there in that booth right now, glaring at me. I’m a big girl. I can take care of myself.”
“Sometimes I wonder about that Brandy. I think you want someone to take care of you because your parents didn’t do a very good job of it.”
“Go away Chad. Leave me alone. I don’t want to look at you anymore.”
“Goodbye Brandy. I really am sorry. Take care of yourself. Please think about what I said.”
“Goodbye Chad and good riddance.”
She watched him walk away and go back to Stasia. Stasia got up. They walked out of the restaurant together, after stopping briefly at the register to pay the check, holding hands.
Brandy was even more pissed by the time Gabe got back, because she was a little afraid that Chad was right. Maybe she did want someone to take care of her a little too much she thought.
“So,” Gabe said as he sat down across from her. “How did your parting words with your ex go?”
“Just great Gabe. I’m gonna get something to eat.”
She really wasn’t hungry anymore, especially after her conversation with Chad, but she had a feeling that Gabe wasn’t going to let her walk out of the restaurant without eating something. She filled a plate with noodles and plain rice and a few pieces of orange chicken, taking it back to their table.
She sat looking at her food for a few minutes.
“Eat darling. Don’t let your pathetic ex get to you. I’ll give you anything you need from now on, anything you want. Just sit back and let me take care of you Brandy. I can take care of you like no other man ever can or ever will.”
Misty Reigenborn Romance Boxed Set Page 41
