The Running Series Complete Collection: 3-Book Set plus Bonus Novella (91 page)

Marcus comes striding through the door next and walks right over to greet me.  “Morning, Jette.  How’s it going?  Anything new?”  He takes a seat next to me and pops a wedge of pineapple in his mouth.

“Yeah, Evan’s here today.  He’s in my office.  Do you think this would be a good time to talk to him about Ryker?  I thought you might go in and talk to him now before we get too busy.”

Marcus nods in agreement, “You’re probably right.  Is he in there now?”

“He is.  What are you going to tell him?” I ask.  I’m still worried about Evan’s reaction.  I don’t want to jeopardize the progress we’ve made in such a small amount of time.

“All of it, Jette.  Like I said the other day, he has a right to know.  He loves you and he wants to protect you.  That’s all any man wants, really.  Trust me.”

Marcus is right.  As much as I would like to avoid any unpleasant confrontations, it’s best not to start keeping secrets from each other.  Marcus excuses himself and goes off to find Evan.  I, on the other hand, hide in the kitchen and start prepping for the day, keeping my distance from both Evan and Derek.

Within minutes of opening the doors, orders start coming in and I get my wish for distraction.  Reese won’t be here until dinner, so I make myself useful expediting orders for her lunch crew.  Emmy comes into the kitchen to find me, “Jette, hurry.  Adam’s on the phone and he wants to talk to you.”  She whisks me away to a quiet corner of the restaurant and hands me her phone. 

“Hi, Adam.  Emmy said you wanted to talk to me.  Is everything okay?”  I’m curious about what might make Adam call me through Emmy.  Why didn’t he just call my phone or the restaurant?

“Everything’s great.  I hope you don’t mind me calling you this way, but I didn’t want to take a chance that Evan might answer.”

“Um, no problem.  Why are we being so stealthy, Adam?  What’s going on?”  I don’t like keeping secrets from Evan, so this better be a good one.

“Some of the guys want to come with their wives and girlfriends to surprise Evan.  I thought we could reserve a few tables at Rush.  Maybe you can put some tables together for a small private party.  What do you think?”

“Gee, I don’t know, Adam.  I don’t think it’s a good idea to close the restaurant on a Friday night so soon after we’ve just opened.”

“I agree.  You don’t have to close for us.  Leave the bar open, the booths, and a few tables. Come on, Jette.  The guys are pumped.  They want to come down to congratulate Mac.  I think it would be good for him and good for the business, too.  I’ll leak it to a few outlets and see who shows up.  What do you say?”

“Okay, but only on one condition.”

“Name it.”

“You have to let me include some of our friends,” I tell him.  “Maybe even his sister and brother-in-law.  Then we can make it a real party.”

“Deal.”

Adam and I spend a few minutes making the plans, setting the times, and arranging for the distraction.  Adam agrees to call Callie and I agree to send Evan out on an errand when Adam texts me.  Evan is really going to be surprised.

No sooner do I hang up the phone than Evan sneaks up behind me and pinches me on the ass.  I nearly jump out of my own skin.  “You jerk!” I chastise him.  “You scared the shit out of me.”  I smack him as hard as I can on his arm, but he just laughs at me.

“Is that all you’ve got, Running Girl?”  He takes my face in his hands and leans in for a sweet kiss.  “Let’s go in your office to talk.  I think I owe you another apology.”  He slips my hand in his, weaves our fingers together, and leads me through the restaurant and into my office.  This time, he closes the door and locks it so we are not disturbed.

“So, tell me more about this apology,” I demand as I take a seat on the couch.

“I have a lot to apologize for, but not until you admit I was right about Ryker,” he retorts as he joins me on the couch.

“Slow down, there chief.  You accused me of sleeping with him.  Please tell me we’re not going down that road again.”

“No, of course not.  But, if given enough time and under the right circumstances, I have no doubt that he would have made his moves on you.  Ryker Donovan portrayed himself as a man of high morals.  He used his service in the military to gain your trust and admiration.  He saw that I had a temper and he used that fact to frighten you and convince you that I was dangerous.”

“But Evan, you would have never, ever hurt me.  I know that.”

“Unfortunately, we both know that’s not correct.  I did hurt you.  Repeatedly.  And in front of an audience.”  I nod my head in agreement.  Although I wish it weren’t true, I have to admit that he’s right.  If he didn’t have a break from camp, there is a very good chance that he would still be under the influence and at the mercy of high levels of testosterone.  Who knows how far his anger and paranoia would have driven him.

“I’m sorry it happened.  I’m sorry you needed someone like Ryker.  And I’m sorry you were afraid to tell me.  But you can’t be afraid to talk to me, Juliette.  I heard Marcus’ side of the story.  Now tell me yours.”  He leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees, ready to listen.  For the first time since this all started, I think he might actually hear me.

“I guess it all started that day you blew up at Derek.  He saw the way you grabbed me.  Everyone was telling me to pretend it didn’t happen – you know, forgive and forget.  They were worried about you and your state of mind.  He noticed that no one was worried about me.  He was the only one.  The only one, Evan.”

“He wanted you to feel isolated and alone.  He wanted you to think of him as you’re only option.  I have the feeling it was starting to work, too.  He’s very clever, Juliette.  I hope you see that now.”  Evan has a look on his face like he just tasted something bitter.

“How can you be so sure?  Maybe he’s just a nice guy who thought he was doing the right thing.”

“Hmm, let’s see.  The way I heard it, he was poisoning your mind against me every chance he got.” 

“You gave him a lot of ammunition to use against you,” I remind him.

“I know.  But please try to see things through my lens.  He’s a predator.  He saw an attractive, vulnerable woman and he pounced.  He tried to use isolation, manipulation, and exploitation to gain your trust.  He was grooming you.” 

“Oh, Evan.  Seriously? This is beginning to sound like conspiracy theory paranoia. Do you really believe all that?” 

“I do.  And it’s not just me; Marcus doesn’t trust him, either.  The final straw was when he followed you to the bar that night.”

“Okay, I see your point.  But Marcus fired him before anything happened.  So can we just put this all behind us now and move on?”

“Yes we can.” 

“Evan, I have to warn you, he may not be gone from our lives completely.  Emmy and Reese still talk to him, and I think Natalie does, too.”

“I don’t care about them, I care about you, Juliette.”  Evan stands up and pulls me with him, and wraps his arms around me.  “Are we on the same page now, sweetheart?”

“Yes, we are.  Now, if you don’t mind, I have to get back to work.  I have desserts to make and a business to run.  You’re distracting me, bossy man.”  After a quick kiss and a hug, Evan lets me get back to work.  He plants himself at the bar with Derek and Emmy, reading the paper and working on the crossword.  I return to the kitchen and begin taking care of our customers.

Eventually, at around three o’clock, things slow down quite a bit and I ask Marcus to make a run to the restaurant supply store for more mini ramekins and bar glasses.  He takes Evan with him for the ride and it gives me a chance to warn the staff about tonight’s surprise party.

As I finish my impromptu staff meeting, a beautiful woman with rich caramel skin and sleek black hair walks in, dressed for business.  She’s the type of woman that demands attention just by entering a room.  She takes a seat alone at the bar and seems to be eyeing me suspiciously.  She crosses her long tanned legs dramatically and every male eye in the place is riveted.  I walk with the hostess to her station to check on tonight’s reservations, but I keep a watchful eye on this woman.  There’s something about her that just doesn’t sit right with me.

Sure enough, a few minutes later, Derek comes over to speak to me.  “Jette, the lady at the bar would like to talk to you.  She asked to speak with the owner.”

“Do you have any idea what she wants?” I ask Derek.

“Nope.  Not a clue.  She ordered a diet coke with a wedge of lime.  No food.  No alcohol.  She’s definitely not a critic.  Want me to get rid of her?  I could offer to escort her anywhere she needs to go, but only if it would help, of course.” he offers.

“Funny.  Let’s go see what she wants.”  I walk over to her and introduce myself.

“Ms. Fletcher, I’m Laci Keilani from the Celebrity News Network.  I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions?  It won’t take long.”  She fishes around in her briefcase and flashes a small recorder that she places on the bar between us.

“No, I’m sorry you went to all this trouble, but I have absolutely nothing to say to the press.”  I try to be as polite, yet firm, as I can.  I don’t want to give her any ammunition to use against us.

“I understand, sweetie.  I promise not to take up too much of your time.  How about just one question, and then I’ll be on my way.” 

She just called me sweetie.  Unbelievable.  “I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to ask you to leave.  I can’t think of anything I would want to speak to a reporter about.”

“That’s quite alright.  I expected as much.”  She smiles at me an empty toothy grin that confirms her true nature.  “He really has you under his spell, doesn’t he?”

“I have no idea what you mean by that.”  I shoot a look at Derek, hoping he’ll sense my discomfort and intervene.  I’m getting nowhere with this serpent.

“Now, I’ll admit, you’ve gotten him to settle down, but it won’t last.  You must know that.  Once a player, always a player.” 

“You have no idea what you’re talking about.  Don’t believe everything you read in the press, Miss Keilani.  I have neither the time nor the inclination to even begin to attempt to set you straight.  We’re done here.”

She reaches into her bag, puts away the recorder and hands me a business card.  “Please call me if you change your mind.”  She finishes her soda and slithers away.  I toss her card to the side and return to the business of running a restaurant.

Once she’s out the door, Derek finally comes over to check on me.  “What was that all about?  You looked like you were going to rip her throat out.”

“She was a reporter.  She actually thought I would talk to her about Evan and she believed I would let her ask me personal questions about my boyfriend.  Who does that?”

“I thought she looked familiar.  She’s on TV, isn’t she?”  I nod and hand Derek her card.  “Oh, yeah.  Reese likes to watch that channel.  She doesn’t want you to know, but she likes to follow celebrity gossip.”

“Have you ever seen her covering stories about Evan?”

“Yeah, now that you mention it.  Remember that night at Wilkinson’s when you watched the breaking news about Evan visiting Averee in her Manhattan loft?  They reported that he reconciled with her.  I think that was Laci Keilani.  Wow.  Small world, huh?”  Derek thinks it’s just a coincidence.  I’m not so sure.

Before long, Marcus and Evan return with my ramekins.  Marcus goes right to the office to fill out an expense report and Evan returns to the bar and his nearly completed crossword puzzle.  Just as I’m about to start chopping some walnuts, Evan comes bursting into the kitchen.  “Juliette, can I please talk to you privately?”  He turns and walks away, heading in the direction of my office.  I follow him, unsure what to expect.

I step into my office and he closes the door behind me.  I take a seat on the couch, but Evan remains standing.  He seems upset about something.  “Evan, is everything alright?  What’s going on?”

“Where did this come from?” he asks, passing me Laci’s business card.

“Oh, she came in when you and Marcus ran to the store.  She wanted to ask me a few questions, but I wouldn’t talk to her.  I asked her to leave.”  His eyes grow wide with concern.  He grabs the card back from me, examining it closely.  “She was here?  What did she want?  Tell me exactly what she said.”

“Evan, why are you so upset?  She didn’t say anything.  I never gave her the chance.  And I certainly didn’t give her any information whatsoever.  Talk to me.  Who is this woman?”  I reach up and grab Evan by the hand and pull him down to sit on the couch with me.

“No one.  Just stay away from her.  She’s a reporter.”

“I know that.  She told me who she was.  Do you know her?”  I’m starting to wonder if she’s someone from Evan’s past that has a grudge against him.  It wouldn’t surprise me.  She was breathtakingly beautiful, which is the exact type of woman Evan is known to have dated.

“She’s no one.  Just drop it.”  He leans back on the couch and runs his hands through his hair.

“You fucked her,” I say out loud.  It’s all becoming clear.  She’s an ex-lover with an axe to grind.

“Juliette, please just let it go.  Don’t talk to her.  Don’t listen to her.  Don’t let her back into this restaurant.  Got it?”

His body language and dismissiveness is really beginning to irk me.  He crosses his arms and openly scowls at me.  “Am I right, Evan?  I have a right to know.”

He nods his head.  “Laci was a reporter for Sports Focus and she interviewed me after the Texans lost the playoffs two years ago.  It was just that one time.”

“Wow.  It must have been spectacular, because it seems she still hasn’t gotten over it.” 

“No idea,” he mutters under his breath.  “I barely remember.”

“Were you drunk?”

“Are you sure you want to hear this, Juliette?  Don’t ask questions you don’t want to hear the answers to.”  His warning concerns me.  What could he possibly reveal about an encounter that happened years before we even met?  “I’ll tell you what you want to know, but I really wish you wouldn’t ask.”

“I have a feeling she may come back and I want to be prepared, that’s all.  I want to know what I’m dealing with.  Isn’t that what you said about Ryker?”  He drops his head and his shoulders sag.