Cheaters Anonymous (14 page)

It had been a long twenty-four hours since the meeting, and I hadn’t replied to any of Scar’s texts. I needed time to think. I’d told Chris about Trish and my assumptions. She punched me in my arm and told me to smarten up – they were only assumptions. Yet I let my mind wander off into possible break up before we even started dating. The mature thing to do was to take her advice and be honest with him. Yup, she was asking me to perform a miracle. Unfortunately, when men were concerned, maturity and a sound mind weren’t my strongest qualities.

Before I left home, I stashed Scar’s gift in my panties. Yes, I was a hypocrite. But I’d kept it out of my reach for a full day and a full night, and tonight, I just wanted to relax. If he decided to turn on the little device, I’d let him buzz the anger out of me.

Pulling on my hand, my sister led me to the bar, toward a man with an extremely gorgeous physique. His back was facing us, but even assessing him from behind I could tell he was an easy catch. Was Zoey making a move when she was dating someone?

As if reading my mind, she said, “So, the guy I’m dating. I asked him to meet us here.”

I pulled on her hand, stopping her and losing my balance in the process. “You said it was going to be just the two of us tonight.”

“I know, but I thought if you met him, you’d understand why I’ve been keeping him a secret.”

While I’d been badgering her to tell me more about her current boyfriend, she’d kept her lips sealed like a fricking mime.

“Zoey, that makes me only more suspicious. Is he some kind of a criminal?”

She paused for a longer moment, skyrocketing my skepticism to new heights.

“Zoey, who are you seeing?” Images of Al Capone and Charles Manson flashed through my mind. “And why exactly do you keep referring to him as
the guy
? What’s his name?”

“By the way, I asked him to bring a friend for you,” she said, completely ignoring my question.

“You did what?” I halted her again as she started squeezing in between the crowd. “Zoey, you shouldn’t have. I’m seeing someone.”

At least I thought I was. I really wasn’t in the mood for a fix up.

“What? Since when? You don’t date.” She waved her hand like it wasn’t a big deal.

Not yet. Maybe I won’t even get a chance to start.

“I didn’t want you to feel like a third wheel and I thought you’d love it if we set you up. Especially with this guy.”

She had a very mysterious look on her face that I didn’t like at all. What if it was someone from my past I’d had a one-night stand with? Seeing anyone I used just to ride the high of a climax gave me the chills. My sister should have known better than to set me up without telling me. Despite her own job issues, she’d been my rock, and she also knew that relapses happened way too often.

And now that I was contemplating dating Scar, I was desperate to keep my record as clean as possible. In fact, if I had him in my life, I felt convinced I would never look at another man, or need another man.

What if Trish was like his last meal?
I shook the thought away. Chris was right – if I let my imagination loose, it would only get worse.

Get the facts!
I remembered her saying. And I promised myself I would… as soon as I saw him on Monday.

What would he do if he saw me out with another guy tonight? I had a feeling this evening would end in disaster. I so needed a drink.

“Zoey, I don’t think this is a good idea.” I stopped her for the third time.

“Ouch! You’re gonna rip my fingers off. You have to trust me for once, Jules.” Her smile was kind and I knew that she meant well, but I couldn’t help the fear that something would go wrong. With Zoey set on going through with her plans, my chances of getting her to change her mind were slim. Maybe after she introduced us, I could make a dash for the door and message her that I wasn’t feeling well.

“There he is.” She pointed to the bar where a man in a tight, long-sleeve shirt was standing with his back toward us. It was the same guy who had stood out among others as soon as we walked in. His shoulders stretched wider than most men’s. And he was tall. Dark hair, well maintained. I had to say that my sister might have chosen right for once. The narrow waist and well defined buttocks snuggling underneath his jeans were definitely a bonus.

“He’s alone.” I breathed out in relief. Maybe my date had freaked out the same way I had, and never showed up?

Please let that be true.

“No, I’m sure your date is here somewhere.”

“Please don’t call it that. I swear I’m gonna try to get out of this faster than you can blink.”

“I can guarantee you won’t leave once you see him.”

The mystery behind her eyes and secrecy of this guy did have me intrigued; and maybe a week or two ago I would have at least considered meeting him. Heck, not long ago I would have definitely stayed just so I could screw him at the end of the night.

“You’re scheming,” I accused.

“I am.”

“And you know I can get back at you.”

“I know, but you won’t.”

“All right,” I took a deep breath in. “Let’s get this over with.”

The sooner I see him, the quicker I can tell him that I’m not interested, and we can continue on with our night, separately.

As we stepped closer to where Zoey’s date was chatting with the barman, I couldn’t help but feel like I knew this guy. There was something familiar about his stance and the way he leaned against the counter. And when he turned around, I wasn’t sure whether to punch him or  claw his eyes out.

“Hi, Ace.” Zoey stepped up on her toes and gave him a kiss, one I knew they were both holding back on.

I just couldn’t stop staring. This was Scar’s older brother – the guy who’d kissed our mom (actually I was pretty sure they’d exchanged bubble gum) and nearly got her and Sid, mom’s then-boyfriend, broken up. He’d done it at Scar’s instruction, because he’d promised to do me a favor and to split them apart. At the time, I hadn’t been fond of Sid – actually I wasn’t fond of any of Mom’s boyfriends – and was determined for them to separate. Still, this was way too gross to think about. My sister was with a man who had kissed our mother.

Eeww! This is the secret she’s been hiding from me?

“Jules, calm down. I know what you’re thinking,” Zoey said.

“I’m thinking you better have a good explanation for this. You’re dating the guy who kissed Mom? Gross!”

“If you think I’m a bad kisser, pucker up, Jules and I’ll prove you wrong.” Ace took a step toward me. The amount of power in his gaze overwhelmed me. I bet he had the ability to control a room full of people with his eyes. They reminded me so much of Scar’s, and I wished he was here to take me far away from this fiasco.

Oh, this wasn’t good. If Scar’s brother was here, and my sister had fixed me up with some dweeb, the word would definitely get to Scar, and I’d ruin everything between us before it even started.

And while for a split second the prospect of being kissed by both Wagner brothers sent lustful thoughts to my mind – ones I brushed away immediately – I had to find the strength to not strangle my sister. Or her arrogant date.

“I’d rather kiss a toad,” I said. “Actually, make that a million toads.”

“Yes, but none of them would turn into Prince Charming, Jules. There’s only so much room in this world for real men.”

Apparently being cocky ran in the Wagner family.

“Look, why don’t we let bygones be bygones and enjoy the evening?” Zoey said, but of course Ace wasn’t done teasing.

“How’s your Mom?” he asked, with a smug look on his face.

Zoey punched him in the arm, and I hoped it hurt. I was so not surprised that she’d kept this relationship a secret. How long had she been seeing him?

“She’s fine. And she’s with Sid,” I answered, feeling my nose stick up higher in the air. Somehow we had ended up standing in front of each other, face to face. Actually, it was more like my face to his chest and his face to my head. Geez, Ace was just as tall as Scar.

“She was with Sid when she kissed me,” he bragged.

My sister’s eyes flew open, and I felt the rage boil over. I didn’t care if I looked like a beet.

“I swear, if you ever...”

“Okay, you two. That’s enough.” Zoey stepped in between us just as I felt a familiar arm wrap around my waist from behind.

“Hi, Jules,” Scar said from behind, kissing the top of my head.

What?
My eyes bulged and my entire body stiffened. I wanted to lean into him, except that I kept picturing Trish’s legs around his hips.

Don’t be stupid!Don’t overreact, get the facts,
I repeated.

“Hi,” I said as he draped his arm over my shoulder and brought me to his body. This felt way too good and too comfortable. But remembering Trish’s story, I stiffened and removed Scar’s arm from my shoulder, pretending to be fixing my corset top.

Zoey pointed with her finger from me to Scar, her brows scrunching as if she were piecing together a puzzle. “Wait… you two already reconnected?”

“Yes, we saw each other two weeks ago, and things sort of fell into place.”

Has it already been that long?

Zoey frowned, and I knew that she was thinking I was a total hypocrite. Here I was giving her grief about dating the guy who had kissed Mom when I was seeing his brother who had asked Ace to do so. And from the look in her eyes, I’d definitely hear about it. Hopefully she’d decide to badger me later.

“Why don’t we all have a drink?” Ace turned to the bartender without waiting for a reply and placed his order.

“Zoey, I’m sorry, but we better leave. Now you know why I can’t be seeing anyone else right now. You’re going to have to find the guy a different date.”

“I’m the guy,” I heard from beside me.

“What?”

“I’m the guy she fixed you up with.”

“You fixed me up with Scar?” I asked my sister.

“I thought you two used to be like best friends or something. And when Ace said his brother still had a thing for you, I thought it was perfect. And I didn’t want to tell you earlier because you have some stupid ancient rule about not dating. Seriously, Jules. It’s getting old.”

He had a thing for me?

And everything Trish has told me vanished from my mind – almost. Scar’s arm found its way back to my shoulder. I wasn’t sure whether it was the familiarity of his friendly hold or because I had someone who would protect me that made me feel at ease, but I knew that I wanted to stay folded against his body forever. In his arms, all my doubts disappeared. He held power over me no other man had ever had. And if he broke my trust and my heart in the future, I’d have to deal with that then – but only when I’d heard all the information from the source.

“Thank you.” I came in and hugged my sister. “I can’t believe you did this for me.”

“If I had known it would mean so much, I would have done it weeks ago,” she whispered.

By this time our drinks were ready at the bar, and I was surprised to see that Ace had ordered one of my favorites: rum and coke. How did he know?

Zoey must have caught my questioning look as she asked, “He’s good, isn’t he?”

Aren’t they all?
My sister appeared extremely smitten with Ace, and for his sake, I hoped that he would treat her right or he’d have to deal with one pissed off sibling. Probably two, if Scar backed me up.

I came up to Ace again and stuck my finger into his chest as if it were a gun.

“If you break her heart or hurt her in any way, just remember that I am a doctor, and I not only know how to use a scalpel but I also have easy access to arsenic.”

“That’s the sweetest threat I ever heard,” he replied.

Oh, Ace was so frustrating! But then again so was Scar. The brothers had a way of antagonizing others and I doubted they were even aware of the talent.

“There is that feisty girl I love,” I heard Scar say.

Wait, what?

But before I got a chance to open my mouth, we were heading for a booth. Or should I say, they were walking and I was wobbling on my stilt-like heels.

“For what it’s worth, I didn’t know I was being set up,” I whispered to Scar.

“I know. And for what it’s worth, I did know; and I love seeing you vulnerable and off guard.”

“Why?”

“Because you always appear to put up a wall when you talk to me. I thought that this way, at least you wouldn’t have enough time to stack bricks before our date.”

Our date? Oh, my God, we were actually out on a date!

“I thought it would be better to be with someone that’s close to us both to ease into this dating thing.”

I smiled. Yes, having Zoey here with me definitely took the edge off the nerves. As we headed toward the booth, Scar stopped me and turned me around to face him. I almost fell into him as my heel slipped underneath me.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Nothing.”

“You haven’t replied to my texts, and all your muscles tense when I hold you.”

“I’m wearing heels. No shit, my muscles tense up,” I barked.

“Jules, I’m about to flip you over my shoulder and carry you out of here. So unless you want your beautiful ass on display, you’d better tell me what’s going on in that head of yours.”

“I don’t think this is a good time to...”

“No, Jules. If we’re going to do this, I need to know what’s bothering you, because when I kiss you and touch you, there’s nothing else I want you to think or worry about. I don’t want you to have any doubts.”

I let out a long breath and lowered my gaze. He lifted my chin with his thumb, forcing me to look at his gorgeous face. This was it. This was the point when I’d hear the truth about the man I was desperate to hold onto. But if he told me he’d had a fling with Trish, I wasn’t sure whether my pride would let me forgive him. That was when I realized that Scar had my heart before I even saw him at the club. He always had. Was I being stupid? Probably. We weren’t even officially together, and I was already trying to fix problems that might not have even been there. Chris was right. It was better to be honest than to let your mind roam.