She's All In: Club 3, Book 1

by Cathryn Cade

  “You are just like your father,” his mother exclaimed.

  “Hey,” he bit out, glaring at her. If she was going to start in on his old man, he was out of here. She might have Frank now, but his dad was still his hero.

  “And in so many ways,” she went on, rolling right over him, “that is a fine thing. I am so proud of you, how hard you work and all that you’ve accomplished. But you are like him in some not so great ways as well.”

  Dack’s mouth fell open in shock as Beverly Humboldt paced a few steps and then turned back to him.

  “Do you have any idea,” she asked, hands on her hips, “how hard it is to live with a man who will not talk? Who works long hours and then, to relax, goes to the bar with his buddies and talks to them? And doesn’t come home until he’s ready to go to bed?”

  She made a gesture of frustration, throwing her hands in the air. “Dack, I loved your father, but a lot of the time, I was…lonely. Your dad doted on you and spent time with you, but he really did not have much interest in my life, my thoughts, my feelings.”

  “He loved you,” Dack said, defending the man who’d raised him.

  His mother nodded. “I think in his way he did. But I never felt that we…connected. And I know that a little less drama would have been healthier for you, but it’s only been in the last several years, with all the self-help and counseling books and articles and TV shows, that I’ve realized that when I ‘threw a hissy fit’, as you so poetically put it, I was just trying to get your dad to see me, to hear me.”

  “Whoa. You’ve been doing a lot of thinking, huh, Mom?” Dack grinned at her, and she smiled back as he knew she would.

  She sank back into her chair. “Yes, sonny, I have. And I know Frank can never replace your dad, but…” She gave Dack a look full of vulnerability. “He talks to me. And he listens.”

  Dack laid his hand over his mother’s smaller one on the arm of her chair. “Mom, that’s great. You deserve a guy that listens.”

  She pressed her other hand over his. “And I’m listening now. So tell me why you look like someone ran over your dog and scratched your new truck?”

  He snorted with laughter. “Geez. It’s not that bad.” Then he sighed, giving it up. “It’s worse.”

  He told her about Daisy—a highly edited version, because his mom sure as hell did not know he was part owner in Club 3—and how they’d dated, and then Daisy had found him holding her friend after a date tried to hurt her, and assumed he was cheating on her.

  “Good for you,” his mother said fiercely. “I hope you broke his nose.”

  He shrugged. “I messed it up a little for him.”

  “And you really like this Daisy?”

  He nodded. “I think it’s…more than that. But, now, I don’t know. If she doesn’t trust me…”

  His mother patted his hand. “She does sound rather immature. I mean, after you explained what happened, and she still…?” She paused delicately.

  Dack thought about that. “Well…I guess I didn’t, not really. I was pretty mad.”

  “Oh.” His mother nodded. “Nevertheless, she should know you’d never cheat, after all the time you’ve known each other, and the hours and hours you must have spent talking.”

  Dack rolled his shoulders uncomfortably. “Uh, we haven’t really known each other that long.”

  “Hmm.”

  Dack looked over to find his mother regarding him with a look of such innocent inquiry that he knew he’d been had.

  “Ah, Mom,” he groaned.

  “What?” she asked in mock indignation.

  “I see what you’re up to,” he answered, giving her the same look. “I know when I’ve been mothered.” She’d outmaneuvered him, and she looked smug as hell about it too. But his heart was lighter than it had been since Saturday evening. Because maybe she was right; he just needed to explain himself to Daisy.

  He leaned over and planted a kiss on his mother’s cheek and grinned sheepishly at her. “Thanks for listening.”

  She smiled mistily at him. “Well, I figured since I have never even heard her name before, you can’t have been dating all that long. So a little more communication might be in order. Now, when do I get to meet her?”

  He lost all will to smile. “I don’t know. We’ll see if I can fix this first. Then I’ll let you know.”

  His mother gave him a fierce hug and assured him that any woman worthy of him would listen to everything he had to say, so she’d wait for his call.

  He left with a package of lemon cookies and renewed hope. Because while he knew damn well mothers were prejudiced as hell in their sons’ favor, his could be right once in a while, couldn’t she?

  Chapter Fourteen

  Daisy called in sick on Monday. She spent the day curled up on her sofa, crying and flipping channels on her TV and sleeping.

  Her parents were out of town with friends, Dana had a big court case going on, and Deb…would demand every single gory detail of what had happened, “he said, she said” style. Daisy couldn’t deal with that, so she didn’t call either of them.

  She finally showered and dragged herself to her class that evening. She copied Dack’s trick of wearing a pair of brown-lensed sunglasses, and skulked in the back of the room, pretending she had a cold. Even the gregarious bunch of would-be Realtors left her alone with her tissues.

  When she got home, it was nearly dark but still warm. The sky in the west glowed with amber light shading into midnight blue overhead. Daisy stuck her shades back on, in case she met any of her neighbors on the walk.

  The walk and stairs were thankfully empty. She traipsed up to her apartment and dropped her papers on the table. She needed a glass of wine.

  Her doorbell rang while she was pouring. She jerked, and the chardonnay splashed over her counter. Daisy barely noticed. Her heart pounding with sudden hope, she scurried around the kitchen island and peered out at her step.

  Her heart sank. It was only Carlie. She waved cheerily at Daisy and lifted a bottle of something.

  Daisy opened the door and was enveloped in a warm, perfumed hug. She hugged Carlie back, a wave of gratitude swamping her. Of course she was glad to see her friend.

  “I’m so glad you’re finally home,” Carlie said. “We—I’ve been waiting in the parking lot. So much to tell you. And I brought wine.”

  “Thanks.” Daisy sniffled. “I just spilled most of mine.”

  Carlie handed Daisy the cold bottle and lifted one hand, beckoning over her shoulder.

  “Who else is here?” Daisy asked, mystified.

  “Um—someone you need to listen to.” Carlie stepped aside, and Daisy’s eyes widened. A sign was mounting her steps, with a pair of familiar feminine legs and sandaled feet under it.

  The huge poster board stopped on the top step, and Carlie gestured gracefully at it, like a game show hostess indicating a choice of answers.

  “I love U and I would not cheat with your man,” Daisy read aloud. She set both her hands on her hips and rolled her eyes, torn between the urge to growl or snicker. Sounded like the chorus of a bad country song. “You can come out now, Sara.”

  The sign slowly lowered, and Daisy’s frown turned to a gasp. Sara had a black eye that extended down into a mottled bruise on her cheekbone.

  “Holy crap. Who did that to you?”

  “A creep at the club,” Sara said quietly. “Dack and Trace rescued me.”

  “Can we come in?” Carlie asked. She took the sign from Sara and leaned it against the railing facing the wall, shooing them with her hands. “Nosy neighbors are watching.”

  “Oh, sure.” Daisy stepped back inside, and her friends followed her. She waved at the college girl next door, who was peering out the window by her own door. The girl waved back. Crap, she was more entertainment for the neighbors than a reality show on TV.

  Sara stood awkwardly in the middle of the living room, looking ashamed. That was bad. Daisy’s stomach knotted. “Did someone…?”

  Sara shook
her head. “No. Almost.”

  “Who was it?” Oh God, she hoped it wasn’t one of the guys she’d met.

  “His name is Kevin.”

  “Holy crap,” Daisy exploded. “That asshole. I hope they kicked his teeth in and broke both of his arms.”

  “They sort of tried,” Sara admitted. “Dack threw him out into the parking lot and let Trace have him. I think the cops had to take him to the hospital.”

  “So Dack was…?”

  “He was holding me, comforting me,” Sara said. “That’s all, Daise. I swear.”

  Daisy walked over and wrapped her arms around her slender friend. Sara was trembling. “Oh God, I’m so sorry,” Daisy whispered. “I’m sorry I doubted you.”

  “That’s okay,” Sara said, her voice trembling. “I know how it must have looked. I probably would have thought the same thing.”

  “Crap, crap, crap,” Daisy muttered, furious with herself. “I should have been there for you, instead of running away.”

  “Okay, wine all around,” Carlie said behind them. “This calls for a little grape therapy.”

  Daisy accepted the glass Carlie handed her. The three of them sat down. Daisy raised her glass, smiling through her tears.

  “Here’s to girlfriends,” she said. “And I’ll try to be a better one in the future.”

  Sara raised her glass as well. “You’re just fine the way you are. Dr. Carlie here pointed out that you didn’t doubt me as much as yourself.”

  Carlie shrugged delicately. “It’s true, Daise. You know you’ve been a basket case worrying about whether you’re still the complete feminine package. That’s how you ended up at the club in the first place.”

  Daisy sipped her wine. “You’re right,” she admitted. “I was just waiting for Dack to reject me, even after…” She took another fast drink, her face hot.

  “Yes, you’ll have to tell us about lingerie night,” Carlie said meaningfully.

  “Sometime,” Daisy said. Sometime far in the future. “But that is why I went to the club.”

  “And how I got there too,” Sara said softly. “Although I’m not sure I’ll go back.”

  “What happened?” Daisy asked. “I mean, I met Kevin, so I know he’s an asshole, but how did you and he end up together?”

  Sara drained her glass and held it out to Carlie, who took it and went into the kitchenette.

  “Well, he just seemed like a handsome, fun guy,” Sara said. “At first. He came over as soon as I walked in and introduced himself. We danced and had a drink, and then he excused himself to use the restroom. When he came back, he was kind of flushed, but I didn’t think much of it. It was hot in there, you know? So he kissed me and then invited me to come into one of the back rooms with him, and I…I went. I thought, what the heck, this is what I’m here for, isn’t it?”

  She took her refilled glass back from Carlie and took a long drink, then set the glass down abruptly, lacing her hands together in her lap.

  “Trace was glaring at me, and he and Kevin exchanged words, but again, I missed all the signs. Anyway, as soon as we got in the bedroom, I realized I didn’t want to be there. I tried to leave, and he…he grabbed me and threw me on the bed, told me I wanted it and I was going to get it. I tried to get away, and he punched me in the face, and then r-ripped my dress off. I screamed, and the next thing I knew, Trace was hauling him off of me, and Dack was there, and…” She shrugged, and Daisy scooted over to give her another hug. Sara was trembling like a nervous puppy.

  “So while dear Kevin was in the bathroom, he did a line of coke,” Carlie put in. “That’s why he was acting so crazy.”

  “That, and he’s a psycho bastard who likes hurting women,” Daisy said. Or maybe he’d been snorting coke the night she met him too.

  Carlie nodded. “Trace took care of him. He knows some fighting moves. And,” she added with a significant look at Sara, “he was a little crazy mad himself. I talked to him earlier.”

  So Trace was protective of Sara. Hmm, that was interesting. Daisy rubbed her friend’s back, wishing he’d been the one to comfort her instead of Dack. Then she wouldn’t have tripped on her own tongue, leaping to conclusions.

  Then she remembered Dack’s pickup in front of Sara’s apartment. “Um, so Dack was at your place later because…?”

  “I thought I saw Kevin outside,” Sara said miserably. “There was a car driving by really slow. The driver had blond hair, and I-I freaked. I called Dack, and he and Trace came over. It turned out Kevin was in jail, where he was supposed to be, so it was all for nothing.”

  “So Dack and Trace were heroes,” Daisy said. “And I’m so, so screwed.”

  She pressed her hand to her mouth, with a quiet moan of sheer misery. She’d screamed at Dack, accused him of awful things and refused to even listen to him. He must be so angry with her he’d probably never speak to her again.

  She imagined walking into the gym or the club and having him turn away from her. Imagined never being held in his strong arms again. Never hearing that low, wicked chuckle while he teased her.

  “I have to get him to listen,” she said. “I have to tell him that I’m sorry.”

  Sara and Carlie exchanged a look. Carlie reached into her bag and pulled out a small shopping bag, which she handed to Sara.

  Sara handed it to Daisy. “We have a plan for that,” she said.

  Daisy looked at the metallic red lips on the side of the small bag. Wide-eyed, she pulled out a tiny scrap of black lace. “A thong? You shopped for me at Kiss Me, Kink Me?”

  Her friends nodded, identical little smiles on their faces. “He’ll forgive you en-nee-thang, if you show up in that,” Carlie promised.

  “Oh my God.” She couldn’t breathe. “You think I should…?”

  “Well, you can wear a raincoat or something over it,” Sara said impatiently. “But you are putting that on, and you are going over to his place, Daisy Charles. Tonight.”

  “Or else we will know the reason why,” Carlie added emphatically, her eyes dancing.

  Daisy flew to her feet. “Oh my God. I have to shower. I have to fix my makeup. Oh God, my eyes look like crap after crying for two days.”

  Her friends broke into laughter. “He’s not gonna be looking at your face, you idiot,” Carlie hooted.

  Sara gave her a push toward her room. “Go on. We’ll let ourselves out. And you can call us tomorrow.”

  “Thank you.” Daisy gave her a fierce hug, gave another to Carlie, and then flew into her room, ripping off her shorts and top as she went. “Love you guys. See you later.”

  Daisy showered in record time, finger combed her hair, but then took twice as long as usual to fix her eye makeup. Shadow in the crease, mascara, and some concealer underneath.

  She peered doubtfully at her reflection in the mirror. She hoped her friends were right and Dack wouldn’t care what her face looked like. She was flushed with excitement, her eyes sparkling with hope, but they were also still puffy from her crying jag.

  Well, if he turned her away, she was going to cry for a lot longer.

  She pulled the black thong on and then posed in front of her long mirror. Good thing she’d shaved her legs Saturday—she’d probably have cut an artery if she’d had to do it tonight. Good grief, she looked like a total tart, with nothing but the black strings slanting up over her hips, the small triangle covering her pubic hair.

  She turned anxiously, her eyes widening at the way the thong disappeared between her ass cheeks. Did her butt look big? No, she’d hardly eaten anything today, or the day before, come to think of it.

  Her breasts… Daisy took a deep breath and stared at her bare breasts. She lifted a hand to touch one full, white curve, wishing desperately she had long hair like Sara or Carlie. They could at least shake their hair forward and hide behind it a little.

  But she couldn’t. She looked herself in the eye. Was she going to do this or not? Yes, she was. She was in love with him, and if she didn’t go to him now, she’d have to su
ffer for days, perhaps weeks while the two of them jockeyed around and finally had a conversation. And by that time, he might even be with another woman. He did own a sex club, after all.

  The thought galvanized her. She turned away from the mirror. Now what the hell was she going to wear over it? She dithered over the kimono, a long black sweater, but finally did as Sara had suggested and put on her black spring duster with the tie belt. She thrust her feet into her black sandals, grabbed her purse and headed for the door.

  Oh, please, God, let him be home.

  She punched the address of his condo into the Nissan’s onboard GPS and followed the cheerful instructions through the winding, nighttime landscape of Beaverton.

  Dack’s condo was on the ground floor of a landscaped complex. His truck was nowhere to be seen, but he had an attached garage, so he probably parked inside. She would if her apartment came with a garage.

  Stepping up onto his front step, she could see lamplight glowing through the slats of the blinds on his front window, and the flicker of movement—a TV screen.

  Daisy took a deep, shaky breath, blew it out and then pressed his doorbell before she could lose her courage.

  Inside, footsteps thudded softly, and then the door opened. Dack stood inside, looking down at her. He wore a dark T-shirt, jeans and a cool look on his hard face, as if she were a stranger appearing at his door. Daisy bit her lip and swallowed. Oh God, he wasn’t going to make this easy.

  “Hi, Dack,” she managed. “Can I—can I come in?”

  His face inscrutable, he looked her over and then shrugged. “Sure, come on in.”

  Daisy walked past him into his condo. She found herself on a tile area, with a spacious living room to the right done in beige and blue, and a hallway and kitchen back to the left. She stopped on the edge of the tiled floor, fingering the tie of her coat.

  Dack sauntered past her and sank into the big, leather recliner. He picked up a remote, flicked the silent TV off and looked at her. “What can I do for you, Daisy?”