Negligee Behavior (14 page)

“I’d hardly expected you to know the date.” She looked down at the tray in his hands and grinned. “What is all this?”

He shrugged. “Some of the foods that I know you like. Now back in bed, princess. That’s part of the deal.”

Brandy giggled and hurried back to bed, sitting up against the headboard and putting a pillow on her lap.

Marco set the tray on her lap and her breath hitched as she noted the single rose on the tray, and the card beneath it.

She hadn’t heard him leave, but Marco had to have left the house to get this. She found herself momentarily choking up at the gesture. The simplicity in it. She picked up the rose and breathed in the sweet scent, closing her eyes.

“I know the food is a little random…”

Food? She hadn’t noticed the food with the rose and card. She opened her eyes again and took note of what was on her plate.

“Bratwurst and a waffle. Yummy. You’ve been busy.” She laughed and reached for the card, pulling it from the envelope.

She scanned it and then giggled, glancing up at him again. “Happy Birthday, Mom?”

He gave a guilty grin and pointed to the card. “No, you see what I did there? I crossed out the mom part and put your name.” He gave a chagrined laugh. “Sorry, it was the only birthday card they had left at the mini-mart.”

But still, he’d bought it for her and had made her breakfast. Over the years she’d been given just about any gift possible for her birthday. There was nothing she hadn’t been offered, nothing she couldn’t have had.

And yet this…this beat it all. Tears pricked behind her eyes. She blinked rapidly and drew in an unsteady breath.

“Don’t you dare apologize. I’m so…touched. Thank you, Marco.”

“I know it’s not much—”

“Stop it.” She lifted her head and met his hesitant gaze. “It’s perfect.”

Pleasure and relief flickered across his face and then he leaned down to cup her cheek.

“Happy Birthday, Brandy.”

“I’ve been eating all day.” Brandy pushed aside her half-eaten slice of cheesecake and groaned. “You guys have been spoiling me.”

Marco pushed a drink across the bar toward a customer. They hadn’t done a hell of a lot for her, and yet she still seemed pleased. More than pleased. She was on cloud nine. Her smile hadn’t dimmed all morning, her eyes as bright and eager as if it were Christmas.

“You love it. Admit it.” Val scooped another bite of cheesecake into her mouth and grinned.

“You’re right. I do. Though I should probably invest in some treadmill time or something after this.”

“Exercise is overrated.” Marco walked back over to her, smiling slightly. “Especially on your birthday.”

“Hey, I like the way you think.”

He touched her shoulder. “You about ready to clock off?”

“Clock off?” Her tongue darted out to catch a crumb from the corner of her mouth. “Didn’t I just get here?”

“You’ve been working all morning, princess. We’ve just had a slow day.”

She looked up at the clock above the bar and she gave a surprised laugh. “Wow, you’re right. My entire shift has passed.” She slid off the bar stool and placed her hands on her hips. “Are you staying late?”

“A little bit. I promised Val I’d stay later so she could take you out.”

“You’re taking me out?” she turned back to Val had just finished off her cheesecake. “Where?”

“Another little educational day.” Val waggled her eyebrows. “It’s called Waxing 101.”

“Waxing?” Brandy repeated a bit uneasily. “Like ripping out the hair on my body waxing?”

“One and the same.”

“Oh. Well then.”

“I had nothing to do with this and if you want to say no, I’ll totally back you.” Marco’s grin widened. Though he wasn’t about to confess the erotic images running through his head about just what she might be getting waxed.

She tilted her chin and made a face. “If I could handle a tattoo yesterday, I can certainly handle a little eyebrow waxing.”

“That’s right.” Val hurried over. “I totally need to see your tattoo.”

Brandy spun around and tugged her shirt down in the back, showing Val.

“Sweet. It looks good.” She cast Marco a grin. “And she didn’t faint?”

“No, she did great.” Marco laughed and shook his head.

His gaze connected with Brandy’s and she gave him a soft, intimate smile.

“Real great,” he repeated gruffly.

“Good.” Val looked from one to the other. “Well, she’ll do just fine then.”

Marco cleared his throat and turned back to the bar. “Sebastian and I can hold down the fort. Go get your wax on, ladies.”

“I’ll be out in the car,” Val said, and hopped off the bar stool, striding out the door.

Brandy hesitated and then approached him on the other side of the bar. “Thank you, Marco.”

“No problem. Just come back when you’re done and we can head out.” He set down the bar towel. “Maybe go out for a nice birthday dinner if you want.”

She hesitated and then shook her head. “You know what?”

“Hmm.”

“Just ordering a pizza would be perfect. I could use some downtime.”

She didn’t want some fancy dinner? To be wined and dined on her birthday? He gave a brief nod. “Pizza it is. See you soon, princess.”

“See you soon.”

“Hang on.” He came around the bar to her. “You forgot something.”

“I did?”

“Yeah.” He cupped the nape of her neck and lowered his mouth to hers. Stealing a quick, but all too thorough kiss.

He lifted his head, the blood in his veins pounding twice as hard.

“There, now you’re set.”

“I want your help with something,” Brandy murmured to Val who sat in the corner chair of the waxing room while the aesthetician continued to spread warm wax over Brandy’s eyebrows.

“Oh yeah? With what?” Val asked, turning the page to a magazine.

“I want to do a striptease for Marco.”

Val shut the magazine in a rustle of pages. “No kidding?”

“No kidding.”

“My name is Aleksandreyeva. You will close eyes now,” commanded the woman who was about to rip out her eyebrows.

Brandy shut her eyes and thought about stripping again. “I thought it would be a fun way to be…umm…well, thank him so to speak.”

“That’s one helluva thank you.”

“Isn’t it though?” Brandy’s lips twitched. Stripping. Jeez, this was like the epitome of bold for her.

The aesthetician pressed some kind of paper over the wax and patted it down.

The striptease idea had hit her as they’d driven past some of the casinos and she’d stared at the billboards of sexy showgirls.

“So is it something you can help with? Or should I go rent a video?”

“Good lord, don’t rent a video,” Val pleaded. “I can help. I used to strip a few years ago.”

“Now,” the lady interrupted. “It hurt since your first time waxing.”

Brandy drew a deep breath in. Nothing could hurt as much as the—
holy hell
! She jerked against the reclined chair, half convinced the woman was ripping her face off.

“There. Not so bad?” The woman frowned. “Oh wait, there is blood. One moment.”

Val stood up and walked over, looking down at her. “Oh yeah, there is. But damn, check out that arch. It looks great. Your eyes just pop now.”

“You used to be a stripper?” Brandy gripped the edge of the chair and forced herself to take deep breaths in.

“Yeah. The money was fantastic,” Val said wistfully.

“So is that it? Are we done with that side?” Brandy asked hopefully.

“Usually they get the tweezers out and pluck. Now that’s the part that hurts a little,” she warned. “But you’ll do great.”

That’s
the part that hurt—the tweezing? So what the heck was that she felt with the waxing? A tickle? Brandy closed her eyes and sighed.

“So when did you want to do this striptease?” Val asked.

“You have much eyebrow. Like cousin Mildred.” The muscles in Brandy’s body went rigid as the aesthetician descended upon her with the tweezers.

“Tonight.” She grunted as the first hair was jerked from her eyebrows. “Is that even—ouch—possible?”

“We can do it. Suck it up, Brandy. If you got a tattoo, you can do this,” Val said with little sympathy. “Besides it only gets worse from here.”

“What gets worse? The waxing?”

“Yeah. If you really want to do this striptease thing then I have one word for you, kid.”

Brandy opened her eyes and swallowed hard. She wasn’t too thrilled by the wicked gleam in Val’s eyes.

“And what would that word be.”

Val tossed her hair back and grinned. “Brazilian.”

Marco pushed through the door to the front of the bar and looked around.

“The girls back yet?” he asked, though not seeing them in the bar was a clear indication they weren’t.

The place was still dead. They hadn’t had a customer in almost two hours.

“Nope.” Sebastian looked up from the flat screen where the weather forecast flashed across. “Hey did you ever find out who Brandy was? You know, after that little comment Val made yesterday?”

Marco blinked and shook his head. How the hell could he have forgotten about all that? Oh yeah. He’d been too busy getting a hard-on over Brandy’s new look, and then screwing her silly.

“Hmm. There’s got to be a way to find out. If it’s really that obvious.”

“True.” The back of his neck tingled with premonition, as if he were better off not looking it up.

Sebastian slapped his hand on the counter. “Did you check the Web?

“Run an Internet search on her. Why the hell didn’t I think of that earlier?” He shook his head. “Just type in her name? You think?”

“Of course.” Sebastian gave him an incredulous look. “Have you no brains in you at all? You have all her paperwork, including social security number, in the office. You could have done a background check on her by now.”

Well, hell. Maybe he didn’t have any brains. Sebastian was right. He could’ve put an end to this mystery the first day. He’d just been thinking with the wrong head.

“You, my friend, are a genius.” Jerking away from the counter, he dumped the rest of his water in one of the sinks.

“Yes, I quite think so myself.”

“I’ll go grab the paperwork and hop online to see what I can find.”

“Hold on a minute.”

“What?” Marco stopped, halfway to the door to the back and turned around. Sebastian was staring up at the TV again.

“I don’t think that’ll be necessary.”

Sebastian’s tone lifted the hairs on the back of Marco’s neck. Turning around, Marco walked past the counter and into the bar where Sebastian still sat on a stool.

What was on that TV? Almost afraid of what he would see, Marco lifted his head and stared into the screen.

Brandy was leaning against Gordon. His arm was draped possessively around her. God! She was wearing that same damn cat shirt! No, wait, it was different. This one also had a piano on it. The cat was playing the piano.

“She went back to him.” The words fell from numb lips, and he gripped the bar so hard he lost feeling in his fingers.

“Is that the fiancé?” Sebastian gave him a quick look. “She couldn’t have gone back to him. She’s been with you the whole time. Besides, as of yesterday she looks nothing like that woman on TV.”

Marco stared at the screen, watched Gordon lean down to kiss her and his blood pressure shot through the roof.

“Let me just check something…” Sebastian walked around the bar and reached for the remote to adjust the volume. “There, now you can hear. No, she didn’t go back to him. This is old footage.”

Old footage.
Marco sat down on the stool and continued to stare at the screen, listening to the reporter.

“Brandy Summers disappeared Friday in the late afternoon from this restaurant,” the reporter stated and gestured to the restaurant behind her. “Reports of her being abducted by a man on a motorcycle are unconfirmed at this time.”

“Abduct—” Marco broke off, his voice shaking. “Abducted? What the hell? They think
I
abducted
her!
And it wasn’t from a restaurant, she came running out of that shithole chapel!”

“Shh!” Sebastian waved his hand, his attention glued with obvious anticipation to the television. “I’m trying to hear this.”

Gordon snatched the microphone from the reporter and the cameraman zoomed in on him.

“I’m making a plea for anyone who may have seen or heard from Brandy. She is a sweet woman, but she’s a bit unstable.”

“Ah, shite,” Sebastian said, amused. “I didn’t get the impression she was unstable, mate. Did you?”

“She’s not unstable!” Marco snapped and shoved a hand through his hair. Christ, what a mess.

He should have insisted that Brandy call Gordon to tell him not to worry. That she’d needed time. Instead he was harboring her like a goddamn fugitive.

The news switched to a different image. A good-looking couple, probably in their late fifties, clutched each other’s hands as they sat on a white leather couch.

“Brandy,” the woman spoke to the camera. “Your dad and I are terribly worried about you.”

“Do they look familiar to you?” Sebastian asked.

“No.” Marco hesitated. Hmm. Now that Sebastian had mentioned it…“Wait. Maybe they do. I can’t tell.”

Well, it was obvious where Brandy got her legs from. He watched as Brandy’s mom crossed her legs in the surprisingly short skirt she was wearing.

“Brandy is extremely dependable. She’s never done anything spontaneous in her life. And that’s why we’re so worried,” the dad told the reporter. “This isn’t like her at all. Today’s her birthday, and for her not to call or come over…”

“If you could just at least call us and let us know you’re okay.” The woman took a shaky breath, and pressed her hand to her chest. A sparkle of diamonds caught the light and reflected into the camera.

“Holy hell.” Sebastian gave a long whistle. “Will you look at the size of that rock on her finger?”

“I see it.” Her parents obviously were the ones with the cash. This must be the money she’d been referring to when she’d jumped his bike on Friday.

The cameraman focused again on the reporter. “As you can see, this is a trying time for both Gordon Perry and the Summers family. If anyone has any information on Brandy’s whereabouts, please contact…”

“So what, her parents are utterly rich?” Sebastian asked as the announcer went on to give the details.

“I knew she must have some money, but this… damn.” Marco shook his head. He could understand her getting cold feet and needing time to herself. But why hadn’t she bothered to call her parents? They were obviously stressed out over her disappearance.

“Well. First off we’ll insist the lass call her parents when she gets back.” Sebastian started back around the bar and reached for the remote control again.

“
Wait
.” The screen changed and up came a snapshot of Brandy, with a nice little caption under it. Marco blinked, his pulse slowing and then speeding up again.

“I don’t believe it. There’s just no way in hell…”

“What? What am I missing?” Sebastian ran back around the counter where the screen was more visible. “Shite! How did we miss that?”

It had to be a mistake. There was just no way—

“Brandy’s the Lingerie Heiress?”

Marco shot his friend a sharp look. Sebastian’s eyes were wide with excitement, a huge smile spread across his face.

“Have you even heard of the Lingerie Heiress, Sebastian?”

“No, mate, I haven’t. But it sure sounds impressive.”

The tabloid name seemed vaguely familiar to Marco. He’d heard it in passing, but never bothered to pay much attention. Why the hell would he?
The Lingerie Heiress.

They listened to the rest of the report on who she was and where the title Lingerie Heiress originated. Apparently her parents owned Sugar and Spice, the massive lingerie chain.

After the report was over, Sebastian changed the station to a sports channel and set down the remote.

Marco shook his head, his mouth still half-open. How was it even possible that someone like Brandy would be heir to a lingerie company? But more so, why hadn’t she told him? Didn’t she trust him?

Obviously not.

A sense of dread formed a heavy knot in his stomach. After everything that had happened between them in the past four days, and she’d never once even hinted at who she was.

“Well,” Sebastian murmured and then gave a short cough. “This certainly puts a spin on things.”

He couldn’t even respond, just gave a grunt of acknowledgment.

There had always been clues. He’d just been too caught up to pay attention. From the first day he’d met her to the first night when they’d ended up in bed together.

The sexy as hell garter belt he’d seen when she’d pulled out the key to the hotel. And then the parade of sinfully hot bra and panty sets—and those breasts in them.

Don’t even go there right now.

He squeezed his eyes shut, taking a deep breath.

Why wouldn’t this compute? That Brandy equaled Lingerie Heiress. Why hadn’t she told him? The hurt and unease built in his gut.

“Are you upset?” Sebastian’s quiet question cut through his turbulent thoughts.

“Wouldn’t you be?” He got up and paced behind the bar. “I mean she’s been living in my house since Friday, and I had no idea who the hell she really was.” His lips twisted. “And for some reason she didn’t think it important to tell me. Not only that, the goddamn media thinks I abducted her.”

“That can be straightened out,” Sebastian said with a wave of his hand. “And as to the rest, well, maybe she had her reasons.”

“It’d have to be a pretty good reason,” he muttered, not completely convinced.

“Well, you have to admit,” Sebastian said quietly. “That you haven’t been completely honest with Brandy about who you are either, Marco.”

Marco’s head jerked up. “Because who I
was
is in the past. It’s completely irrelevant and has nothing to do with who I am now.”

“I’m not so sure about that.” Sebastian sighed and looked away.

“
Drop it.
”

“It’s dropped.” Sebastian cleared his throat. “It is a little hard to believe, though. That she’s…who she is.”

Marco grunted again and then shook his head. “I knew she was rich. She never hid that. But to find out she comes from a famous family, and is actually called the Lingerie Heiress—shit, Sebastian, that’s just a little harder to swallow.”

“It is,” his friend agreed. “I’m just surprised nobody else figured it out. If they had, we’d have those bloody paparazzi all over the place.”

“Val figured it out from the get-go. But apparently she was just interested in tormenting us, not outing Brandy. She should have told us.”

“Yes, but it’s Val. She lives to torment us.” Sebastian sighed. “You okay there, mate? You still look a bit shook-up. Would you like a shot of whiskey?”

“No, I don’t want any whiskey. I want…” Brandy. With her clothes off so he could see that damn lingerie again. See the heiress in her element, kiss every inch of her body while demanding why the hell she hadn’t confided in him.

Sebastian gave him a considering look. “You look a bit stressed. What’s going on, mate?”

Marco massaged the back of his neck and scowled. “We slept together.”

“I figured as much. Last night?”

“Sunday night and at least twice a day since.”

“Ah. Well then.” Sebastian went silent for a moment. “That certainly puts a new light on things. You like the lass. Quite a bit it would seem.”

“We’re having sex. It hardly equates to a serious relationship.” His response was unconvincing even to his own ears.

“Why not? It certainly could if you’d let it.”

Irritation pricked deeper and Marco shoved away from the bar. “I don’t want to have this conversation. I just want to know why the hell she lied.”

He headed towards the bathroom, seeing a few customers walk in, but knowing Sebastian could handle it.

He splashed water on his face and looked into the mirror. What was he going to say when he saw her? How would he react?

Okay, so she got cold feet on her wedding day. So why was she here? Why didn’t she just run home to mommy and daddy? To her expensive, posh life instead of just slumming with the boys who ran a bar.

The air locked in his chest as realization hit him. Because maybe that’s exactly what she wanted. A break. To slum with the bad boys who run a bar.

The irritation slipped past that fine line and turned to anger. Was that truly her motive? God, talk about a serious mind fuck.

He slapped his hand against the mirror and swallowed the sharp bite of hurt.

You’re an idiot, Marco. To ever think there was more there.
She doesn’t give a rat’s ass about who you are. You’re just a glimpse of what it’s like to be wild. You’re her ticket to have a little fun.

And he’d better get that through his head, because Brandy would be back any minute.

It still stung. Even a half hour after getting her eyebrows waxed and plucked into society’s idea of perfection.

Brandy walked into the bar, actually slightly waddled due to the dull ache of her now freakishly bare genital area. It had taken a good twenty minutes to talk her into getting the Brazilian wax.

She regretted ever confiding her botched hair removal attempt to Val, because the woman had wielded it over her head as the main reason to get her southern region waxed.

She kept a hand covering her forehead as she headed straight toward the bathroom. She wanted to check to see if the redness had diminished at all.

“Brandy,” Sebastian called out before she could reach the bathroom.

She winced and slowed to a stop, not removing her hand from her forehead as he hurried over to her.

“What’s up?” she asked.

He blinked and shook his head. “Do you have a headache?”

“No.” She didn’t remove her hand. “So what’s going on?”

He hesitated and stared at her.

“Why are you looking at me like that, Sebastian?”

His face filled with color. “Like what? I promise I’m not imagining you naked.”

“
What
?”

He cleared his throat, his face going redder. “You should go speak to Marco.”

Her mind reeling with confusion, it took a second before she could answer. “I need to speak with Marco?”

“Yeah.” He shoved his hands into his jean pockets and sighed. “You do, luv.”

What was going on? She gave a slow nod. “All right.”

She stepped past him, her heart thudding a bit faster. Something had happened. Something had changed. But what?

Her mind raced through the possibilities and then landed on one. One that made her stomach about to drop to her feet.
Crap,
please don’t let that be it.

She headed towards the back and then pushed into Marco’s office.

He glanced up the moment she appeared in the doorway. As usual just the sight of him was enough to send her pulse into overdrive and awaken all her female parts.

“Hi,” she said, hating the hesitation in her voice.

He didn’t smile, and there was little warmth in the look he gave her. Uh oh.

“What’s wrong with your forehead?”

Her forehead?
Oh
. She jerked her hand away from her eyebrows.

“Good God. What did they do to you?”

“Oh jeez. Is it that bad?” She hurried over to the mirror above the filing cabinet and groaned.

The perimeter of her eyebrows was still as red as it had been when she’d left the beauty shop.

“I had my brows waxed,” she muttered.

“And do they normally look like that afterwards?”

“I don’t know, Marco. I’ve never had them done before today.” She sighed and folded her arms across her chest. “Sebastian told me I should come talk to you.”

Marco’s eyes once more became hooded. “Did he now?”

“Yes.” She held her breath, hoping he wouldn’t say what she thought he was going to say.

“Why didn’t you tell me who you were?”

And there. He said it. Her heart skipped a beat.

The accusation in his eyes didn’t surprise her, but the hurt in his voice did.

“I tried to,” she said lamely.

“When? When did you try and tell me, Brandy?”

She sighed and looked away. “The other night.”

“You did?”

“We were just starting to…you know…go at it on your desk.”

He was silent for a moment, and then gave a short laugh. “You tried to tell me who you were when we were about to have sex?”

“Yes.”

“
Not
the best time to have a chat. I’m pretty sure my mind was on one track at that point.”

“Okay, I’m sorry. It wasn’t the best time to try and bring it up,” she agreed and turned to look back at him. “How did you find out?”

“Your parents and Gordon held a news conference on TV.”