Belle and Valentine (4 page)

“Don’t scare me like that, Sam!”

He said nothing, and embarrassment crept over her.

“We just talked a lot.”

“Fane’s not known for his conversation.”

“I’m a big girl.”

He made a small noise, and she sighed and hurried toward her room. She slammed the door before he could say anything else and fell onto her bed. A shower would have to wait until morning.

Chapter Three

Zuria drew in a deep breath and blew it out before stepping into her brother’s office. Behind her, customers chatted together while they drank and ate. Others bent over laptops, and Dixie Ann flirted with a couple of tourists passing through on their way to somewhere more exciting. Since the afternoon’s busier period had died down, Zuria saw this time as perfect for a chat with her brother, especially since Fane had left to make a delivery to a business around the corner. Sam had started that particular practice recently, he’d told her, to pick up more business.

Her brother was on the phone when she entered his office, so she shut the door quietly and waited. The usual calm in his tone was absent, making her forget her own issues.

“I need more time to gather the down payment,” he said. “Would you consider fifteen instead of twenty?”

Zuria gaped. What could he need a down payment for? Was he buying more property, and did he mean twenty thousand? If her brother needed money, he would not be able to lend her some. She turned to leave, but Sam hung up the phone.

“Zuria?”

She swung to face him. “Uh, it was nothing important.” She hesitated and studied his face. Sam never worried her about anything. He kept problems to himself, or if he did need to share, he told Fane. To know he couldn’t depend on her hurt, but it was her own fault. Maybe he held it against her for leaving. “Sam, do you need money?”

He raised an eyebrow.

She spread her hands. “Sorry, I’m not offering. You know I’m broke, but…are you in trouble?”

He seemed to hesitate.

“We’re family, Sam. You can talk to me. You always go to Fane.”

He strode around the desk and came to her to lay hands on her shoulders. “Don’t worry.”

“I
am
worried. I can handle it. Just tell me.”

“The owner of this building wants to sell it. The person who wants it has other plans.”

She gaped. “Meaning he doesn’t want to house the coffee shop here?”

He nodded.

“Did you talk to Fane? Maybe he has some extra money. I know he’s half-assed about all this, but I think he cares about the shop.”

Sam’s mouth twitched. Her compliment for his friend amused him. “Half of the fifteen I have is his.”

She chewed her thumbnail. “That damn Richard didn’t have much in life insurance. It paid off some debts and covered burying him.”

“Don’t worry.”

She started to tell him again she
was
worried and telling her not to wouldn’t help. The office door opened, and Fane appeared. Her stomach churned with a longing to fling herself into his arms. She averted her gaze instead, mumbled an excuse for leaving, and fled the office. For the last few days she had avoided Fane even though they worked in the shop together. He looked like it didn’t faze him a bit, especially when he flirted with everything in a skirt. To be fair, the morning after they had sex, Fane approached her, but she had blown him off, and he hadn’t said much after. Still, he didn’t appear broken up over her attitude. She had decided to borrow from Sam and get moving. Now that plan was closed to her. She needed to figure out how to help her brother save his business.

They could use the money they had to move to a new location, but space big enough in a prime location was hard to come by. Not to mention the headache of readying the new place, inspection, moving, and everything else involved.

Zuria made it to the front walk before Fane caught up with her and grabbed her arm. He spun her to face him, his brows knit low over his eyes. “How long are you going to run like a child, Zuria?”

She bristled. “Excuse me?”

“You heard me.” He stepped closer, and she fumbled over the curb. His hold tightened, but she hadn’t completely lost her footing, just her dignity, especially since now he towered even higher above her. Fane refused to be distracted. “We enjoyed ourselves the other night. I was thinking we could do it again.”

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I’m not interested.”

Disbelief stood plain in his expression. She looked away.

“I’m not saying I didn’t enjoy it. I did, but I have more important things going on in my life than to satisfy you in bed.”

He laughed low enough that it was more a rumble, and it sent tingles over her skin. “So,
you
were satisfying
me
, huh?”

She hopped up on the curb and stood at her full five foot eight inches. “You’re saying I didn’t?”

“You did please me, little rabbit.”

She burned at his continual use of that damn term, and he knew it. Fane touched fingertips to her jaw and skimmed it while staring down at her mouth. The man didn’t care who saw him and registered his interest. Then again, he never did. Everyone knew Fane didn’t distinguish. One woman was as good as another, and a black woman was not a big deal.

“If you didn’t,” he went on, “I wouldn’t want it again.”

“I feel so fortunate.” She tilted her head away from his touch and started toward the shop. He stopped her once again and drew her backward against his chest. To her horror, she felt his hard cock, and an overwhelming desire to drag him into the coffee shop’s kitchen to jump him came over her.

“Well?” he said in her ear.

“I…I…” Her resolve wobbled.

“Fane, there you are,” Dixie squealed. Fane glanced up, irritation in his gaze for a second before he masked it. Zuria blinked at him. Had she really seen what she thought she had, Fane annoyed with a woman who obviously wanted him? From all she had ever seen in the man, women hanging on him, complimenting him, throwing themselves at his head, gave him life.

“Hey, Dixie Ann,” he said in his smooth tone.

Zuria took the chance to slip out of his hold and headed toward the shop. Dixie bounced past her, tossing an annoyed look her way. “I heard about your little problem, Fane, and I’m ready to offer my help.”

Zuria snorted and darted into the coffee shop. That airhead couldn’t know what she implied, but Zuria imagined Fane’s embarrassment and decided it was just what he deserved. She didn’t like being grateful to Dixie for the interruption, but the skank had intruded just in time.

For the rest of the day, Zuria made sure to stay extra busy. She ran errands for her brother, made a few deliveries, and handled the cash register. By the time five rolled around, her feet ached, and she was beyond exhausted, but she had managed to avoid being alone with Fane. Of course, he had thrown her a few smiles and raised eyebrows in suggestion, but he hadn’t tried to drag her in the back or cop a feel. For some reason, she felt kind of let down, but dismissed such ridiculousness. She should be happy he seemed to have given up on her.

Dixie, who had taken off early that afternoon way more bubbly than usual, bounced into the shop at six. Zuria was busy placing chairs upside down on the table in preparation for scrubbing the floor. “What are you doing back here, Dixie?”

“Dixie Ann,” the woman said automatically. “I’m here for Fane.
We
have a date.”

Zuria’s stomach churned. “Excuse me?”

Wide eyes, heavily made up with blue eye shadow and thick, black liner, blinked at her. “A. Date,” she enunciated, and then she wrinkled her cute nose. “Wait, you two didn’t… I mean that would be gross if he had sex with a…”

Zuria put her hand on her hip. “With a what? By all means, please, finish that thought.”

Dixie hesitated. Zuria almost saw the wheels turning, Dixie debating whether to admit what she thought. Zuria was tempted to confirm her worries that yes, she and Fane had had sex again and again, and she’d sullied his perfection with her body. What pissed her off most was while she and her parents were among an extreme minority in Aves, they had never really dealt much with prejudice other than a few comments here and there. Most in their town either felt everyone was equal, or they kept their ignorant feelings to themselves. Not Dixie, though.

“I don’t have anything to say,” Dixie said and raised her nose in the air. Zuria took in the miniskirt and the long, bare legs with high-heel sandals. Dixie’s blouse was cut so low, Zuria expected to see areola any second now, and her hair had been teased a good foot off her head, probably coated in an entire can of hairspray to keep it in place.

Zuria thought Dixie was playing her usual game to get at Fane, until he came in from the storeroom, shirt sleeves rolled up and hair damp at the temples as if he’d been slugging around boxes, which he probably had been. His eyebrows rose at seeing Dixie.

“I said I would pick you up,” he told her, and the gasp escaped Zuria before she could catch it. She ground her teeth together and faced the table where she worked, hoping neither of them noticed, but she had seen the flash of triumph Dixie threw her way before she turned her head.

Clenching her hands into fists, Zuria spun back toward Fane and stomped over to him. She stabbed a finger in his chest and glared up at him. “You lousy, son of a bitch! You know Sam is dating her. How could you do this to your best friend? I’m sure there are one or two women in the state that you haven’t slept with. Hell, there are a few cougars who’d consider you fresh meat over in Charlotte!”

“Zuria, who do you think you are?” Dixie demanded. “Fane can see whoever he wants.”

“Are you finished?” Fane asked, his expression grim as he looked down at her.

“No,” she spat. “There are a few other things I can add.”

Sam strode in from the kitchen, wiping his hands on a dishtowel. “What’s the shouting about?”

Fane spoke before she could. “Zuria seems to think I’m betraying our friendship by going to dinner with Dixie Ann.”

Sam shrugged.

“Don’t just stand there and take it, Sam,” she shouted at him. “If you won’t stand up for yourself, I will. I’m not going to let anyone treat my little brother like this, and she was never worth your time anyway.”

Dixie shrieked and charged over to Zuria as if she were about to attack. Zuria narrowed her eyes at the woman, daring her to make a move, but when Dixie raised her hand, manicured nails curved like a cat’s, Fane snatched Zuria out of the way and thrust her behind his back. He heaved a sigh, released Zuria, and then dragged the hissing blonde out the door. Zuria just stood there, not believing what just happened. Outside, Fane’s motorcycle roared to life and soon faded into the distance. Zuria guessed since Dixie had shown up early for their date, she hoped Fane would skip dinner and take her to his house. After all, he would have needed to go home first to shower. The conniving wench brought bile to Zuria’s throat, and she shut her eyes, trying to drive the two of them from her head. The problem was, she kept recalling how Fane had protected her, followed by visions of Fane touching Dixie the way he had touched Zuria. She hated them both.

Sam strode up behind her, and she rounded on him, but the strength to lecture him faded. He touched her cheek, invoking a whole other type of feeling than the one she’d experienced when Fane did the same. “Her grandmother owns property,” he said.

“So?”

“The deal was, he take her to dinner, and she’d orchestrate a meeting.”

Zuria frowned. “That’s no guarantee, and where is this property?”

“What Dixie Ann wants, her grandmother gives her. The old bookstore.”

“Wait, that place has three floors! It would be like expanding, and it’s only a few doors down from here.”

“Exactly.” Sam moved to the register and punched a few buttons. He reviewed receipts, but Zuria followed him and laid her hand over one of his.

“Sam, you know Dixie’s going to want more than dinner from Fane, right? She’s been after him for a while. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“Don’t worry, Zuria.”

“Don’t tell me that!”

“I don’t love her, and we were on a kind of break.”

She sighed. “So if Fane sells his body for a new building, you’re not bothered by it?”

His clear eyes met hers calmly. “Who will be hurt, Zuria?”

She felt like he could see inside her soul, and she spun away. “Whatever. You’re grown, and so is Fane. It’s not like it’s a step down for him. I don’t care.”

She went through the motions of cleaning up, angry, hurt, confused, ignoring the emotions swirling about her head. When Sam sent her away because she had resorted to finding nonexistent work, she left the shop, wanting to be alone. She strode down the street toward Main. As usual, most of the shops had closed down, and only a few tourists explored the streets at that time. If she recalled correctly, Jamboree on the Green would begin in a couple weeks, where each Saturday during the summer, the town held a celebration of music and food in the park. Tourists usually came from all over to enjoy the event, and Sam and Fane’s shop was one of the sponsors. During that time, the town would come to life and stay open late to accommodate the visitors. Everyone loved summer because it meant increased revenue.

Zuria walked several blocks, not paying attention to where she walked. When she came to the only real restaurant in town, she stopped cold, chiding herself. Surely, she hadn’t been thinking of checking on Fane to see if he’d taken Dixie to dinner rather than his bed. How lame was she, and what did it matter? She had said to herself their one night was just that—once. Fane showed his true colors too many times before, and the fact that he was willing to give himself like a damn prostitute to Dixie proved it again. Dixie might have been disgusted she had slept with Fane, but he wasn’t good enough to sleep with Zuria.

Performing an about-face, Zuria marched away from the restaurant before she had a chance to look through the large picturesque window and headed in the opposite direction. She chose not to return to the apartment over the shop and continued walking. When a light rain started, quickly drenching her blouse, she cursed her bad luck. She shoved at the mop of hair hanging in her face. The rain turned into a torrent, and she groaned in frustration then darted beneath a nearby awning. Time passed, but what difference did it make with nowhere to go and no one to see?