Hardware

by Sara Brookes

  He'd kept mum about the new relationship with everyone. The only people that would have been able to see something was out of ordinary were the three people he shared Sanctuary with. He'd been more of an active participant on the schedule. In fact, he'd snapped up every free day available since he and Allison had dinner at The Copper Nickel.

  Maybe it was time to come clean. If he didn't, Nick would continue to hound him repeatedly and to be honest, there was only so much of that he could take from his brother. “Remember the IT Company I hired to come upgrade the computer system here?”

  “Sure. They did a fabulous job.” Nick tapped the top of the screen next to him.

  Patrick chuckled as he nodded in agreement. “She really did, didn't she?”

  Nick turned to his older brother and slapped his hand down on the counter in celebration. “So that's it.”

  “What?”

  His brother pointed a finger in accusation at him. “Her. You said ‘she’ instead of ‘them'. You're seeing her, aren't you? Allison, isn't it?”

  He'd already committed to tell Nick about Allison and decided to forgo the incessant teasing Nick would surely make him endure once he found out. At least this way, he could mitigate the joking.

  “Have been since the last day she came here to finish the install. Thought I'd messed things up the first time we went out, but that was easily remedied. But, this is more than just seeing—Nick, she does something to me. It's like I have to have her. Like I can't exist without her.”

  Nick studied his face as he listened to him go on and on about. He felt a little self-conscious about it and stopped mid-sentence before his rambles turned into incoherent babbles. Seemed as if she was rubbing off of him already.

  Nick clapped his brother on his back and gave a hearty laugh that bounced off the walls of the empty coffeehouse. “Love is like that.”

  Patrick stopped and eyed Nick. Was that what this was—love? The attraction was certainly there, that was indisputable. However, it was rare for love to be in the equation for him. He was usually very careful and believed he had even become a master at keeping a separation between sex and love. When he did allow himself to feel something more than just the heat of sexual want for a woman? It was a step he never took blindly. He also never took the step without knowing full well how the woman felt about him in return. Without a doubt, Allison found as much pleasure as he did when they were together. But anything more was something he questioned.

  For now, he was content with the arrangement they'd fallen into.

  “Why didn't you say anything sooner?” Nick asked, the question snapped Patrick from his thoughts.

  The mood between the two of them instantly changed. Patrick knew exactly why he hadn't said anything and it wasn't entirely due to the fact he didn't want to be ribbed by his brother. They were close, it was only natural to rib one another. Nick's life was in turmoil right now. The last thing he wanted to do was make it more difficult for Nick to deal with the fact Vivian had left him.

  “I know you're going through a lot with Vivian right now. I didn't want to seem like I was parading a new relationship around in front of you.”

  “It's something you rightly deserve to do after all the years I hounded you about being single while I was married.”

  A few lines formed on Nick's forehead and Patrick wondered if he made the right decision despite the congratulations. It didn't seem like a good idea to talk about his love life while Nick's life fell apart. Smart, Conners. Real smart. “How are things by the way? I've been wrapped up in things with Allison and haven't thought to ask you how you're doing.”

  “As well as can be expected.”

  Nick's shoulder lifted in a stiff shrug, but Patrick knew better. His brother had fallen for Vivian in high school. He'd watched them go to dances, graduate together and even attend the same college so they could be near one another. If there were ever two people more in love with each other, it had been his brother and sister-in-law. Nick was heartbroken since the separation, but was too proud to admit it to anyone. Even himself. “I know better, Nick. Just say ‘ridiculously shitty'.”

  Patrick watched Nick worked though a wide range of emotions. Just as he was about to scold his brother for feeling sorry for himself, Nick sighed heavily and threw down the cleaning towel. Evidently, the morning preparations could wait.

  Patrick turned away from the sink, gave Nick his full attention and noticed his brother looked every bit of his thirty-seven years. It pained his heart to see him in this much pain and wished there was something he could do in order to make this all go away.

  “It's difficult—at best. Some days are better than others. If I'd have seen it coming, it probably would have been easier to swallow.”

  “There's no way to see something like this coming,” he replied even though Nick would immediately dispute it. Sometimes, his brother was just as stubborn as he was.

  As expected, Nick shook his head in disagreement. “If I had been paying attention—then yes, I would have seen it. I was too wrapped up in getting this business off the ground to pull my head out of my ass and realize I was losing my wife. She was everything to me, Patrick. What the fuck am I going to do without her?”

  Guilt settled in his gut with a heavy weight. In some way, he felt responsible. If he hadn't kept Nick so busy, he would have seen those signs. It hadn't helped that he hadn't been around as much as he liked because of Allison.

  Right then and there, he vowed to take on more responsibility around the shop in order for his brother to get a handle on his life again. If no one was there to share it, then what was the point? He understood that better now than any time before in his life. Allison had opened that door for him and he didn't want it to shut anytime soon.

  He'd just gone through the motions before she'd showed up so unexpectedly in his life.

  Nick found that once and deserved to have it again. “Have you thought about trying to get her back? I can handle the rest of the stuff with the store and if I need help with something, I can find someone else to do it. She's your world, Nick. You can't have all of this without her and we both know that.”

  Apparently, Nick didn't agree. “It's too late for us now, Patrick. I appreciate the offer but it's just not meant to be.” He pushed away from the counter and disappeared into the storeroom without another word.

  The store opened on time and the rest of the day passed in a blur, mostly because his focus remained on Nick and his estranged wife. Nick's mood darkened further throughout the course of the day and Patrick had agreed to close up the shop to give his brother a break.

  Night had fallen by the time the store finally closed. He debated about calling Allison to grab a late dinner as he walked along the sidewalk on his way home. They hadn't seen much of each other for a few days because she'd been working late hours as well. He missed her and the feel of her wrapped around him.

  He dismissed the idea almost immediately. He'd fallen fast and hard, the distance would do them both some good.

  A quiet cough caught his attention and looked up in surprise to find Ryan and Donovan near the entrance door to the warehouse. “Hey, guys. Sorry, I didn't see you standing there.”

  Donovan held up a hand to stop him. “We saw you caught up in your own little world. Wasn't sure if we should disturb whatever fantasy you were living inside your own head.”

  Patrick tossed the keys in his hand a few times. “Just thinking about a few things.”

  “Is one of them the reason you've been hogging the warehouse lately?” There was a glint in Ryan's eye and Patrick felt a deep sense of guilt about how he'd spent his time lately. Not that he regretted his actions in any way. It was only because he'd kept the others from their own usage of the building. “Yeah, I've been hogging it a bit, haven't I? Sorry about that.”

  “No, you're not,” they both replied in unison.

  The three men laughed and Ryan leaned against the building as he shoved his hands into the pockets of his trousers. “A
nd before you try to say anything otherwise, I think I speak unanimously when I say it's about damn time.”

  Patrick dipped his head to hide a smile and actually shuffled his feet a little. It had been a while since he'd thrown his name back on the schedule the four of them kept and knew full well he wouldn't apologize for it either. Though, it wasn't as if Ryan, Donovan or Elena expected him to.

  He'd glanced at the calendar earlier and knew no one had the warehouse tonight, which was probably why Ryan and Donovan currently stood before him. “You two up to anything tonight?”

  Donovan pulled the key out of the lock on the door to Sanctuary and stuffed the ring into his jacket. “We were just heading to dinner over at Rippers. You up for it?”

  Once Donovan asked, Patrick decided to alter his plans for the night. It had been a while since he'd hung out with his friends and one more night away from Allison wouldn't kill him. Besides, the quiet rumble of his stomach was a reminder that he'd skipped lunch today since Mitchie had called in sick.

  “Actually, that sounds like a great idea. I was just about to figure out what to do about dinner anyway.”

  [Back to Table of Contents]

  * * *

  Chapter Ten

  Within forty minutes, the three men walked through the doors of Bodice Rippers, the sports bar and grill they'd spent plenty of time in during their late twenties. The atmosphere hadn't changed much over the years and within the first few minutes of his arrival, Patrick felt as if he'd never left.

  Usually a popular hangout for the tourists, the locals took it back during the one off-season Gatlin Falls had. A season that just about over.

  Rippers, as it was fondly known by those regulars, was owned by Ryan's brother, Sam—though everyone called him Beckett because of his fondness as a teenager to the show Quantum Leap. He stood behind the bar and waited to load up a waitress's tray with a few pitchers of beer.

  There was always a game on at some location in the world and Rippers would show it on one of the many oversized televisions that line the walls. Right now, there was a group huddled around one of the sets. They gave a loud shout as the team they rooted for scored. Patrick shook his head as he turned back to the bar. “Place never changes.”

  There was comfort in the knowledge that no matter how long you stayed away from something, whenever you came back, it was exactly as you remembered it. He'd spent a lot of time here after he'd moved into the warehouse years ago. Had picked up a lot of women—mainly tourists who looked for that no-strings-attached summer fling—right at this very bar when he got bored. On the other hand, his group of friends definitely had some memorable times here when he hadn't been in the mood for sex. Most of those incidents he'd never want repeated out loud now, but that was rather the point of youth, wasn't it?

  Patrick made a mental note to bring Allison here when he had a chance. She'd be amused by the ambiance. It seemed like a place that would be right up her alley. Loud, raucous and just plain fun.

  The three men settled on high bar stools and waited for Beckett to finish up. When he was done, three mugs of freshly poured draft beers were set before each of them before they could even give their orders.

  “Donovan. Patrick. Haven't seen the two of you in a long time. Out causing trouble tonight?”

  “You wouldn't know what trouble was if it knocked you over the head,” Ryan fired back as he took a sip of his beer.

  “Unlike you, dear brother, who goes out of his way to find a problem. You're like the AAA of trouble.”

  Donovan snorted into his beer.

  Yeah, sometimes it's damn good to come home.

  “Beckett, missed seeing you lately. Business seems to be doing well.”

  Beckett scratched at the three days worth of growth on his jaw and skimmed a hand through his cropped hair. “Fine. Not booming, but never is this time of year. The regulars keep me busy and I do enough to get by until the tourists hit in a few weeks. What about you? Heard you and Nick opened a place over on Main. A coffeehouse or some other such bullshit.”

  It wasn't the first time Patrick had received such a reaction when people learned he was a partner in Perfect Shot. “We did indeed. Opened about a month ago. Don't knock it. Just like beer and sports, people need caffeine. They line up for it in fact, sometimes eight or nine people deep at any given moment. And that's just the regulars. We're hoping with a little hard work once the tourists start coming, it'll just be good business then.”

  “Damn, I went into the wrong business.” Beckett shook his head and gave a short chuckle as he leaned against the bar.

  Patrick couldn't imagine Beckett pulling shots of espresso or how a demitasse cup would look between his large hands. No, Beckett was right where he belonged. “How's Tessa?” he asked, then immediately wondered if he should have when Beckett frowned.

  Beckett and Ryan's niece used to hang out at the bar after school to do her homework. That was when she wasn't off on tour with Ryan. Patrick relaxed a little when Beckett gave a wide grin, just like a proud papa.

  “Doing great. Aced her finals.”

  “Is she going anywhere special for the summer?”

  Beckett's smile faltered a little and he recovered quickly, but not before Patrick took notice. “Denver. To see her father.”

  Donovan stepped in and changed the topic of conversation. Patrick wasn't sure if it was an improvement because the direction was south. “So, Patrick, what hot number have you been spending your nights with?”

  For some reason, he found it easier to talk about his current lover with his friends. Maybe that was because they weren't family and wouldn't judge him for his choice. With family, it was different because he didn't want to disappoint someone he'd known all his life.

  “Her name is Allison Stuart. Works for Bullseye Technologies.” A small thrill zinged through him at the mere sound of her name on his lips.

  Ryan seemed a bit surprised. “Really? You don't usually go for the secretary type, but I guess there's a first time for everything.”

  The assumption annoyed Patrick far more than he would have thought. Especially since he'd just assumed no one would make any sort of judgment about him or his decision. “She's one of the IT specialists there.” The statement came out a bit sharper than intended. There was nothing wrong with secretarial work, but it bothered him that Ryan would make an incorrect assumption about a woman just because she worked for a technology company.

  He'd always thought women were more than capable of handling themselves in such a profession and for some reason, he felt as if he needed to defend her. “She installed the new setup at the shop for us. Damn smart. Sexy as hell, too.”

  “You're dating a geek? Talk about really not in your spectrum.”

  “Not that it matters, Donovan, but sometimes it's not all about looks. Not everyone is as superficial as you are.” From Donovan's pained expression, Patrick hit him where it hurt the most.

  Donovan's tumultuous love life was no secret because he complained about it on frequent occasions. He often went after the wrong type of lover simply because of the way their hair was styled that day or how well toned they kept their body. To say that Donovan had never been lucky in love was an understatement. Patrick felt it unfair of him to judge Allison before he'd even met her.

  Yes, Allison was physically attractive, but he would still be happy with her if there was no sexual aspect to their relationship. It certainly enhanced things, but he loved that he could have an intelligent conversation with her about just about anything. Books, movies, even coffee. She seemed to know a little bit about everything and it made her one hell of an interesting person to know.

  Just as Donovan opened his mouth to reply with what Patrick suspected was a snide comment, the cell phone in his pocket rang. A quick glimpse at the screen showed it was Allison. “Hang on, I have to get this.” Without another word, he exited the bar and pulled up the collar of his coat and stepped out in to soft rain that fell from the night sky. “Hey, I was just think
ing about you.”

  “Well then I'm flattered. Unfortunately, I can't return the favor as I've been too damn busy to think about anything else but work.”

  Frustration was ripe in her voice and he wished there was something he could do to ease it. He could probably duck out on Ryan and Donovan, but he'd already committed to them for the next few hours. Besides, she'd be fast asleep even if he were to show up in her apartment. While the prospect held promise because he'd already thought of several different creative ways to wake her, he didn't want deny her the rest it sounded like she needed.

  But he could make her rest a little more pleasant. It was time he pushed on her comfort zone again. “Where are you?”

  “Home, thankfully. I'm about to collapse into bed and forget today happened.”

  “Good.”

  “I'm glad my exhaustion pleases you,” she responded wryly.

  He nearly chuckled, but bit his lip to contain the noise. “Do you have a pair of shorts you can wear to bed, preferably ones that are made of denim and the fabric is a bit sturdier?”

  “Uh, sure,” she stated, confused by his question.

  “Get them, but don't put them on.” Fabric shifted, a drawer closed and then he heard her mattress give as she sat down. He waited a few beats. “I suspect, like most women, you keep your toys in your bedside nightstand.”

  “Damn, I hate being predictable.”

  Patrick smiled at a couple who walked past and waited while they disappeared inside Rippers. It wasn't because he was shy, it was simply because he only meant for Allison to hear him. “I also suspect you have a variety of toys.”

  Her soft chuckle filtered over the line. “You know, I changed my mind. I do like you knowing me so well.”

  Familiarity did have its rewards. “Remember the harness I had made? The piece that sat inside—do you have anything like that?”

  “I do. It's just a dildo though, it doesn't do anything.”