Beneath These Lies (19 page)

“That’s too bad. How about tomorrow?”

Tomorrow. Tomorrow. I bit my lip, trying to remember what was going on tomorrow.
The opening
.

“Work,” I said. “I have a work thing. Maybe another time?”

“Thursday night.”

Thursday. Crap. What was Thursday? I was beginning to think my brain was fried from man-overload.

“Um,” I mumbled. “I don’t think I have anything going on.” As soon as the words were out, I kicked myself. I wasn’t supposed to be seeing him again.

“Then Thursday it is. Enjoy your Sunday.” He leaned in and stole another kiss. “This is a good look on you.”

I smiled and shakily closed the door and locked it. I jumped when I felt the heat of a body behind me. A really big, really hot body.

“You let him touch you,” Rix growled in my ear.

“I didn’t ask him to.”

“Don’t care. No one touches what’s mine.”

I spun to face him. “You just told me that you couldn’t really have someone because it was too dangerous. So explain to me how that makes me yours?”

Rix’s growl deepened. “Don’t throw that back at me. So long as no one knows about us, you’re safe.”

“I don’t even know what that means.”

“Guess I’ll have to show you.” Rix cupped my jaw and lowered his mouth to mine. “No lips but mine kiss you. I don’t fucking care whether you like it or not. Mine.” His other hand smoothed the hair out of my face. “No hands but mine touch you.”

“So you want me to tell him no?”

His grip on my face tightened slightly. “You’re gonna tell him no. Whatever he thinks you’re doing on Thursday night, you’re not. You’re gonna be with me. I’ll have your girl back, and we’ll figure out how this is gonna move forward. You got that?”

Finally. God, the relief of having a defined date was palpable. That was the best news I’d heard all day, and in exchange for that, I’d agree to just about anything, including canceling a date with Rhett.

After that kiss, I knew I didn’t want him the way I wanted Rix. Rhett was an honest, good guy, and I couldn’t keep jerking him around. This
juggling two men
business was exhausting, and I was ready to be done.

But even having made that decision, I knew that I wouldn’t necessarily get to keep Rix when this was all over. He’d made that clear. His life didn’t allow for attachments, and I needed to find a way to unattach myself before I was in too deep and set myself up for a fall.

Who would have ever thought I’d be worried about falling for him?

“You get me, duchess? That’s how it’s goin’ down.”

I slid my hand around the back of his head and raised up on my toes to press a kiss to his lips. “I think I get you.”

B
ECAUSE
I
WAS STILL A
novice when it came to girl posses, I didn’t realize having one meant that they’d show up uninvited at your exclusive gallery openings. But halfway into the evening, Yve, Elle, and Vanessa came through the door of Noble Art.

“I need something for the lake house,” Vanessa said. “And I saw the flyer for Burton Ridgeway’s work, and I fell in love.”

“That’s only because you didn’t see the painting I snagged by Valentina’s anonymous artist friend,” Yve countered. She turned to look at me. “Did you get more yet?”

I shook my head. “No, sorry.”

“Let me know. I called dibs.”

“I’m here for the champagne,” Elle added. She shrugged. “I mean, let’s be honest. Someone’s going to pawn some of this stuff eventually, and I’ll get it for a song.”

Elle was a nut. But she was probably right. People pawned all sorts of things at Chains, where she worked with her boyfriend, Lord.

“Well, thank you so much for coming. Feel free to look around. Champagne is on the table in the corner.”

“Good looking out, girl.” Elle looped her arm through Vanessa’s and took off in the direction of the champagne.

I was turning back to Yve when I caught sight of a man across the street in a black T-shirt with a build like Rix’s. Was he watching me tonight?

“You aren’t listening to a word I’ve said, are you?” Yve drawled.

I jerked around to face her as she studied me. “Sorry. I thought I saw someone out there.”

“Is there something going on with you? You’ve been acting different lately.”

I wondered if she was referring to me actually going out and having fun, but I couldn’t be sure. “Things have been a little hectic lately. I’m . . . distracted.”

Elle and Vanessa came back with champagne and caught the last bit of my explanation.

“Distracted? I’m calling bullshit. You look like you’ve got man problems.”

Oh shit.
I didn’t want to discuss this. Not right now. I scanned the rest of the gallery, looking for a customer who needed assistance, but Burton was speaking with one small group and Remy was chatting with another couple.

When I didn’t immediately answer Elle, she kept going. “Mm-hmm. Man problems, for sure. You find yourself an alpha to keep you busy at night?”

I thought of the man I’d woken up next to yesterday morning—who’d stroked himself while I painted. My cheeks flushed with color every time I thought of it. And then the one who was insisting on taking me to dinner on Thursday. What a mess.

“I’ll take that as a yes.” Elle laughed. “Tell us about him.”

“Which one?” I said, not thinking before I spoke.

“Whoa, girl. You got two on the hook? You work fast.” Yve sounded incredulous.

“It’s a mess. I . . . I don’t know what to do. I’m trying to figure out how to let one of them down easy, but he just won’t take the hint. He knows there’s someone else, and I think he gets off on the competition.”

“They all do,” Vanessa said. “It’s an alpha thing.”

“Who are they?” Elle asked.

I froze because I couldn’t tell them about Rix, which told me once again that I was insane for even thinking that we could possibly have something. And did I really want to tell them about Rhett?

“I’d rather not say just yet.”

“Cagey. I like it.” Elle raised her glass to me and sipped.

“How do I get the one to stand down?”

“Hmm . . .” Yve tapped the side of her glass. “You could tell him you require a better-equipped man. Generally, insults about dick size work really well.”

“Oh no, don’t do that. You’ll damage the poor guy for life,” Vanessa said. “Just tell him you don’t feel the same way about him, and that if the other guy ever screws up, you’ll keep him in mind. Lets him down easy without breaking his heart completely.”

That could actually work. “I’ll give it a try and see what happens.”

In the back of my mind, I couldn’t stop myself from thinking,
Maybe when this thing with Rix blows up in my face . . .

I would let him down easy, and this would be over.

I
WAS NOT ON A
date. I swore I wasn’t. And yet, here I was sitting across the table again from Rhett Hennessy. Table ambush. Let’s call it that. Much like the first night we had dinner together, this one wasn’t intentional, and I hadn’t been able to come up with a polite excuse as to why he couldn’t join me.

To celebrate the success of our Monday-night opening and all the hard work Remy had been putting in without Trinity there to help, I’d taken him out to dinner after we closed the gallery. Burton Ridgeway had sold well over half of the pieces we’d been showing.

But Remy’s roommate had texted a few minutes after we’d been seated and she’d lost her key. Being the nice guy that he was, Remy ditched a free dinner to help a friend.

Which left me sitting at an empty table in the window when Rhett Hennessy had been walking by. Sometimes, New Orleans really was the smallest town on the planet.

“I could’ve sworn you’d said you were busy tonight,” Rhett had commented as soon as he helped himself to the seat across from me without asking for an invitation.

“The opening was a success, and I came to celebrate with one of my employees. But he had something come up unexpectedly.”

“Then I guess it’s my lucky night.”

Rhett was persistent; I could give him that. And he was a nice guy. But all I could think about while I was sitting there was the promise I’d made to Rix, and the plan to let him down easily the girl posse had helped me concoct. The words formed on my tongue dozens of times, but I hadn’t been able to find the right moment to get them out.

My conversational skills were decidedly subpar as the server brought food, which also coincided with Rhett’s phone receiving a barrage of text messages.

Pulling it from his pocket, he frowned.

“Something wrong?” I asked.

He didn’t reply until after he tapped out a response. “A neighbor of mine called in a prowler around my house. Local units are headed that way.”

A prowler? That sounded bad. “Shouldn’t you go and check it out?”

“You trying to get rid of me? You pick the other guy?”

His direct questions threw me off, and I choked on the sip of water I was currently taking. “Excuse me?”

“You said you were dating someone else. I want to know if I’m fighting a losing battle.”

This was my opening. “Well—”

His phone went off with another text. “Fuck.” His tone was low and disbelieving. When he looked up, his expression was hard. “I gotta go.” He rose, pulled his wallet out, and tossed some bills on the table before he cupped my chin.

I met his piercing green eyes.

“Losing battle or not, you’re worth the fight. I’m not giving up.” He leaned down and pressed a hard kiss to my lips.

The intensity flowing from Rhett was impossible to ignore. He released his hold on my chin and I opened my mouth to respond, but he was already heading for the door.

Are you serious right now? How can I not break up with this guy that I’m not even trying to date?
This was becoming ridiculous.

I finished my dinner alone, wishing the man I was trying to choose was able to sit across from me. But that wasn’t going to happen. The impossibility of the situation killed my appetite for dessert.

“Y
OU GOT BALLS THE SIZE
of fucking boulders to break into my house,” the cop yelled as he slammed the door and walked into his living room.

“Worried someone’s going to think you’re a dirty cop like your brother was accused of being?” I asked.

“Fuck you, Rix.”

“That ain’t why I’m here. I’m here to deliver a message, one I thought might get lost in translation.” I shoved up out of Hennessy’s recliner and stalked toward him. “Valentina Noble is off-limits.”

Hennessy’s expression twisted with shock. “Are you fucking kidding me? You’re staking a claim on her? She’s so far out of your league, you must be trippin’ on whatever shit’s runnin’ the streets lately.”

I stopped a foot from him, and even though we were evenly matched in size and weight, I could take him. I had rage on my side. And a little duchess who had questions to answer.

“She’s off the menu. Find someone else.”

Hennessy shook his head. “No. Fucking. Way. I’m not bowing out of this when we both know you can’t have her.”

His vehemence pissed me right the fuck off. She was already mine.

“You still want help proving your brother wasn’t dirty, or not?”