by Staci Hart
And to think, I’d almost kissed her.
Georgie would have loved the breach of the rules, leverage with which she would campaign to see that Bennet boy. She’d been dancing with him since we walked in, the two of them staring at each other, all moony-eyed. But rules were rules, and even to consider breaking that particular rule only spoke to the depths that Laney Bennet had burrowed into my brain.
And as if that wasn’t enough, she was supposed to be on a date with him.
Once my best friend. Now my sworn enemy.
I wondered if he knew Georgie and I were here. Maybe he’d show up to taunt me and torture Georgie. Knowing him, he’d set the whole thing up to make fools of all of us.
I caught sight of Cam and beelined for her with a dozen questions on my tongue. When she saw me approach, she stiffened into business mode.
“Liam,” she said in greeting. “Look at you. Having a good time?”
“Might I speak with you?” The words were dark, tight.
Her brows drew together. “Of course.” She took my arm and led me away. “What’s the matter?”
“I’d like to ask a question I have no right to, so please don’t answer if I’m crossing some line.”
Her frown deepened. “Okay.”
I drew a breath so hot and controlled, my ribs shuddered. “Wyatt Wickham. Is he writing a story about Wasted Words?”
“Yes,” she answered, confused. “Why?”
“It’s not relevant to our business relationship. Did Cooper call him in?”
“He did. Liam, what’s this about?”
Goddammit, Coop. “Is he supposed to come tonight?”
“Well, he was, but he texted to say he was indisposed.”
Relief washed over me like rain. The band around my ribs came unbound. “Good. That’s good.”
“Is there something I should know about him?”
“No. He’s a great journalist, and the piece will be valuable press.” Don’t let him near Laney, I wanted to beg. But it wasn’t my place. Laney wouldn’t believe me if I told her the truth about him anyway.
“Are you sure?” Her face quirked.
“Absolutely sure. Thank you, Cam. I’m sorry to interrupt your night.”
“It’s no trouble. Anything you need, all right?”
I nodded and sent her back to her people before drifting into the shadows to observe. To think.
Two people in this world sparked fierce and untethered reactions from me. One stood on the edge of the crowd, talking to Cam, her face falling when she no doubt learned that coward wouldn’t be coming. The other was the coward himself. The swindling opportunist who cared for nothing but himself and what served him. If he was going to be around here, would he cross paths with Georgie? Did he want to? I didn’t know what game he was playing, but one existed. He’d told Laney he’d be here tonight, immediately breaking the first of many unfulfilled promises.
And then there was the matter of what to do with Georgie. Did I tell her that the man who had nearly broken her was working with Wasted Words? That there was a chance she would not only see him, but see him with Laney? Or did I keep it to myself? Let her live in that blissful state of ignorance or tell her with the certainty that every time she stepped foot in this place, she’d worry he would be here too?
I couldn’t tell her, I realized. She’d be mad as all hell if she found out I knew and didn’t warn her, but I could endure that if it saved her from the sleepless nights his potential presence would trigger. And though I told myself it was to spare her feelings, I wondered if it was to spare mine too.
I watched Georgie dance with Jett, suddenly aware that he could be so much worse. I didn’t trust him, but if he was anything like his sister, he was as opaque as cellophane. Georgie couldn’t see him anyway, so the truth was that all of this was harmless. Just as harmless as whatever had just happened between me and Laney.
She was the embodiment of whiplash with all the predictability of a tornado. Her volatile nature made her impossible, impertinent, and for some incomprehensible reason, I felt the compulsion to storm over to where she stood, whip her around to face me, and force her to see reason by way of my lips, words or no words.
It would take the arrogance of a king to believe I could ever tame that particular tempest.
And contrary to her opinion, I’d never be so bold.
9
Hero Deficit
LANEY
Men are jerks.
I blew across the surface of my coffee, annoyed that it was still too hot to drink.
With a clink and a sigh, I set it back on its saucer. Wasted Words was bustling with people that morning, but like my overly hot coffee, the crowd annoyed me. The noise annoyed me. The stupid sunshine and the dumb, happy faces annoyed me.
But mostly, men annoyed me.
Darcy and his arrogant, judgmental face. Wyatt and his lying smile. Jett was okay, I supposed, though my other brothers made it their personal mission to badger me and thus could be included by default. Even Greg had gotten the hairy eyeball from me for making my coffee too hot.
Stupid jerks.
I opened my laptop, looking for a distraction, too irritated to even read my book, which irritated me more. But in my inbox was an email from Liam “The Dick” Darcy with a last-minute meeting. Tomorrow. And I had to be there.
With a huff, I slammed my computer shut.
For a brief, blissful moment, I imagined what it would be like to walk away from the project. I daydreamed of a life without Darcy and his know-it-all attitude, his general lack of empathy. His certainty that he was the only person in the entire world with a good idea and the hearing defect he had when it came to listening. What a wonderful world it would be if I could walk away from him forever, forget he ever existed. But then there would be no one to speak for Wasted Words in their meetings, and someone very clearly needed to be there to intervene, lest Darcy make any more moves in the wrong direction.
Typical alpha-jerk stuff. I felt sorry for any girl who would end up with a man unable to do something so simple as to listen and compromise.
There had to be some redeeming quality about him. Georgie was so absolutely lovely that were he truly horrible, she’d never put up with him. I had to admit that for a moment when we were dancing, I’d understood. Beneath that hard, cold shell was a charming and clever man. A man who’d made me laugh, who held me in his arms and spun me around the dance floor with the confident stride of an expert. I could still feel the heat of his body, the strength of his arms, the rumbling of his voice in his chest. I could still imagine the whisper of his elusive smile, one I had only seen in full bloom when he was with his sister.
But that man was a stranger to me, if he was real at all. Maybe I’d only imagined him, fabricated the moment out of denial that anyone could be so merciless as Liam Darcy.
“Bad day?” came a voice from my elbow, a voice that inspired such a deep urge to cringe, I barely caught it in time.
“Hi, Collin.” I tried not to sound bored. I really did.
Not that he noticed. Or had any personal boundaries, nor did he possess the ability to see when someone wanted to be left alone. He hopped up on the stool next to me—actually hopped—flagging Greg for a coffee.
“What are you working on?” He reached in front of me to try to open my laptop, and I intercepted, closing it with force.
“Oh, you know, this and that.” I slid it off the bar and into my bag. “Aren’t you working?” I asked in the hopes he’d leave.
“On my break. I thought I’d come sit next to you.” His brows waggled in a way that I’d think was funny, except that he was serious.
Collin was one of the comic department managers, and from the second he’d started a few months ago, he’d been a constant, harmless buzzing, following me around like a fly that couldn’t stop kamikaze-bombing you in the face or getting itself stuck in your hair.
Harmless. But annoying nonetheless.
The quintessential comic geek,
Collin was about my height, weighed less than me, and hadn’t had his hair cut in probably six months.
And here I thought I’d paid my karmic dues on men by enduring my brothers.
When it rains, it pours, I guess.
“I looked for you at the party last night—I wanted to dance, especially with you in that dress.” He whistled. “But every time I saw you, you were with that guy. The angry one. I wanted to save you from him, but”—he shrugged—“I’m a lover, not a fighter.”
I had on the most fake smile in history, but I was just too irritated to even attempt to adjust it. “Oh, I don’t need saving, especially when it comes to him. But thanks.”
“Oh, come on, Laney—it’s okay to need somebody to swoop in and whisk you away.”
“That’s sweet, but I bet there’s a girl out there who would love to be swooped and whisked by you.”
He wore a knowing expression. “You don’t always have to keep your guard up, you know.”
I took a sip of my coffee so I wouldn’t respond, but I burned my lip, swearing under my breath. “Jesus, Greg—where did you get the water for this latte, hell?”
He rolled one shoulder like a dumb, stupid man-jerk.
“I have tickets to a panel tomorrow night with some of the best Marvel comics to ever walk the earth. One for you, one for me. I figured we can go get ramen first.”
My eyes narrowed in confusion. “That’s sweet, Collin, but—”
“It really is sweet. Thoughtful too. I mean, who doesn’t love Marvel? Everyone loves Marvel—everyone. And if they don’t, they’re wrong. Especially those DC hosers. Don’t even get me started, or I’ll keep you here all day.” He smirked in my direction. “Then again, maybe I should.”
Fuck it. I grabbed my coffee, braced myself, and slammed it. In a searing shred of body tissue, it screamed its way down my esophagus. I coughed, lips together, into the back of my hand, my mouth a wasteland. I wouldn’t be able to taste anything for a week.
I glanced at smirking, clueless Collin. Worth it.
“That’s really too nice of you. But I have plans tomorrow night,” I said with a husky voice as I slid off the stool and snagged my bag. “You should ask Ruby! Gotta run. See you later.”
He smiled in a way that told me he had no idea that I’d blown him off, raising his hand to wave, but before he completed the motion, I hightailed it for the offices.
When I made it safely into the back of the bookstore, Cam looked up from her desk. When she caught sight of me, her face fell.
“What happened to you?”
I dumped my things in the love seat. “Men. Men happened to me.”
She leaned back in her chair, putting her Converse up on the desk. “Is this about Darcy?”
“No. I mean, yes, but no. He’s unbearable and drives me crazy, but he’s just one of the many. Like Wyatt standing me up last night. Or Collin, who will not take a hint.”
“Ugh, not again. You know Ruby’s got a thing for him, right?”
The red-headed cashier popped into my head, but when I tried to fit her with Collin, I couldn’t. “She is so out of his league.”
“The heart wants what the heart wants. He’s just too hung up on you to notice her.”
“I ignore him whenever possible.”
“He probably thinks you’re playing hard to get. Don’t worry about Collin. I’ll fix him up.” She rubbed her hands together with a devilish look on her face.
With a huff, I flopped down on the couch. “Are there any good men left?” She opened her mouth to speak, but I cut her off. “Married guys don’t count.”
“There are good guys left. Like your brother.”
“Yeah, well, I can’t exactly date him, can I?”
She gave me a look.
I pouted, staring at the leg of her desk. “For a minute, I thought Darcy and I were actually going to be able to get along. And then he had to go off and be a dick again.”
“It’s his default. But he means well, and he’s the best at what he does.”
“Oh, he’s all but told me himself. I’m pretty sure he repeats his merits to himself on a loop.” A pause. “I don’t know that he respects me as a colleague at all. What am I supposed to do, sit there like a good girl with my hands in my lap, nodding at every idea he has?”
“Could you do that without spontaneously combusting?”
“No. I mean, I haven’t worked on a team in a couple of years, but I’ve never worked on a team like this before. It’s so … stiff.”
“Well, think about it. You’re new to them. They have their own dynamic established. A new person always changes that. And Darcy doesn’t strike me as the type to embrace change.”
“No, he doesn’t.”
“I guess it’s probably too much to ask you to go with the flow?”
“It’d be easier if he didn’t berate me every time I opened my mouth. Oh, and get this—he called a meeting for tomorrow. Like I’m just at his beck and call. Like I don’t have anything else to do.”
“Do you?”
“Not the point, Cam.”
She laughed.
“I’m not even sure what I’m supposed to do there, and he certainly hasn’t told me.”
“Maybe it’s just a matter of coming at him from a different angle.”
I perked up. “You know, that’s not a bad idea. Maybe if I have something to present to him, he’ll listen.”
“Maybe. You’re a genius, so I’m inclined to say that if he doesn’t listen to you, he’s not as smart as everyone gives him credit for. Although, oh my God—he looks damn good in period clothing. That cravat, though!”
“Don’t remind me. And …” I stopped, shaking my head. “Never mind.”
“Come on. This is a safe space, Laney. And if there’s some tea about Darcy, spill it.”
Inside my rib cage, a mysterious ache blossomed. “I don’t know. When we were dancing, he was … different.”
“Different how?”
“I don’t know. I mean, he was clever and witty, and he even smiled. But it wasn’t just that. Maybe he’s just too intense to get that close to. I felt like he was going to absorb me or something.” I shook my head. “It sounds so stupid. But he’s the human equivalent of a black hole. If he had kissed me, I would have let him.”
The look on Cam’s face was still and dubious. “Ew.”
I chuffed a laugh. “Trust me, up close, with his eyes on you like that? There was nothing ew about it. It’s not fair that he should be that gorgeous. It makes it so much worse when he’s an asshole. I bet he was just messing with me. It feels like he’s always messing with me.”
“Well, you know what they say. God doesn’t give with both hands.”
I chuckled. “Speaking of guys who get too much credit, what the hell happened to Wyatt? I can’t believe I was dumb enough to think I’d found a nice guy.”
Cam’s brows quirked. “You know, Wyatt texted me to let me know he wasn’t coming, which was weird enough. But then Darcy blew over like a thunderstorm and asked about him. He wouldn’t tell me why.”
“Wyatt didn’t say what happened with him and Darcy, only that he wasn’t a fan—an admirable trait. Darcy didn’t tell me either, but that’s no surprise. Honestly, part of me wishes Wyatt had shown up just so I could have seen the look on Darcy’s face.”
“You’re assuming he has more than one expression in his repository.”
That earned her full-blown laughter, but it faded into commiseration.
“I’m sorry about Wyatt. I bet he had a good reason for not showing, Laney.”
I sighed, still—and probably forever, since I was being dramatic—annoyed. “Who even cares? I shouldn’t even be surprised about anything but being dumb enough to get my hopes up. What’s one more thrown onto the pile of worthless men who’ve crossed my path? Maybe we can have a bonfire. Or have a Viking funeral for my love life. Push it out into the ocean and shoot flaming arrows into it until it catches fire.”
“
Sounds brutal,” came a male voice from the doorway.
In a flash of motion, Cam’s feet were on the floor, and I popped off the love seat like it was made of lava. Because in the threshold of the office was Wyatt himself, somehow managing to look sheepish with a smirk on his face.
My cheeks flamed, rising with a nervous smile.
“Sorry to interrupt,” he started, scratching at the back of his neck. “Greg told me to just come back.”
“It’s all right,” Cam assured him.
“I’m sorry I didn’t show last night, Laney. Let me make it up to you. Or at least explain. Can I buy you a cup of coffee?”
“I just had one, and I’ve got the third-degree burns to prove it. But I’ll sit with you while you have one, if you want.”
“I’d like that very much.”
I nodded, glancing at Cam. “Be right back.”
But she was already back in her chair, feet on the desktop and smile on her face. “Take your time.”
Wyatt smiled that sad, apologetic sort of smile, his hands in his pockets. When I approached, he turned to meet my stride.
“I really am sorry,” he started, his eyes on the floor ahead of us. “I was all dressed up and ready to go, but then a buddy of mine texted a picture Georgie posted on social, and I … I couldn’t see her. Especially not with Liam here.”
I frowned. “What happened with you two?”
“He didn’t tell you?”
“Since when does Liam tell anyone anything?”
He chuckled, gesturing to a booth. “Fair point.”
We sat across from each other, and I waited for him to settle in and just tell me, for goodness’ sake.
He drew a heavy breath. “Georgie and I were engaged.”
A tingle of shock slithered down my spine.
Once he knew I’d registered the statement, he continued. “We’d been together for a year, never had any problems. You have to understand—Liam was my best friend. We met at Columbia, and even though I came from nothing and earned my degree on a scholarship, he brought me into the group without thinking twice. I loved Georgie what felt like forever, from the first time I ever saw her. But I couldn’t act on it, not without his blessing. And he gave it to me, even though he took it back in the end. Truth is, I don’t think anyone will ever be good enough for Georgie, not in his eyes.” He shook off the thought. “A couple of weeks before the wedding, he made sure she knew exactly what he thought about me—I wasn’t good enough, and I never would be—and bolstered his campaign with three things: the lies he told to turn her against me, the threat that he’d cut her off if she stayed with me, and the lie that he’d paid me off and I’d accepted.”
