The Trouble With Scarecrows (The Trouble With Men Book 2) (5 page)

Chapter 8

“Cheeseburger, no onions, extra mayo,” Neal said, setting the food on the counter. He didn’t mind his job. He got to cook. Nevertheless, he knew if he worked here and didn’t know he’d be going to culinary school soon, it would be unbearable. Brenda had almost made that happen this morning. He owed his soul to that woman. He wished he could have said, “Screw you,” but instead it was, “I’m screwed.” At least his future was still intact.

A second later, Elizabeth, the waitress, picked up the food but lingered at the counter. “How you doing, Neal?”

“Good,” he lied.

“What are you doing later?”

Neal had wondered how long it would take her to come around. He could’ve asked her out, but that would’ve been too easy. They’d been eyeing and smiling at each other since he’d started working there. She was young, a little rough around the edges, just his type. The type who wouldn’t expect forever. Only for the night.

“Nothing,” he said. “Nothing at all . . . unless something comes up.”

They stared at each other for a second, Elizabeth biting the opposite side of her pierced lip.

She gave a shy shrug and said, “Would you like to come back to my house for a drink after work?”

“Yeah, I would.”

They smiled at one another, and he watched her walk away with the plate of food. A night of sex. This was just what he needed after the day he’d had. He placed the next order, chicken tenders, into the fryer basket and then dipped them into the hot oil.

Neal’s phone beeped. He wiped his hands on his apron and pulled it out of his back pocket. The text from his cousin, Rocky, read, ‘Sorry, man, something’s come up. Can’t be the chick’s scarecrow.’

Neal looked at the time. “Shit.” Rocky was supposed to meet Brenda in half an hour. If he didn’t show, Brenda might call the whole thing off.

“Hey,” he said to the head cook, Billy. “I’ve got an emergency. I gotta go.”

Billy frowned. “This is rush hour; you can’t go.”

Neal took off his apron, hating that he had to make this choice. “One time. I promise. Tomorrow I’ll work a double. I’ll take the midnight shift.” He didn’t set the apron down until Billy shook his head in defeat and exhaled.

“You’re putting us in a bind. It’s Saturday night, asshole! There are plenty of people lined up for this job, you know.”

“Yeah, I know. You’re the man.” Neal took off toward the door but remembered Elizabeth. “Shit.” This sucked. He found her and explained that a family emergency had come up. Just as he’d expected, she gave a nonchalant, “Okay,” and went back to work, which made him feel even worse. And just like that, thanks to Brenda, his no-strings-attached night disappeared.

Neal Parker had never been a scarecrow before. He’d heard all about it from Rocky. It was actually a ploy to bed women who refused him because of his reputation. So he guessed asking him to be a scarecrow for a girl, sight unseen, was a lot to ask of his cousin. Especially since he’d used the password “cuz-code” when he’d talk to him. He hadn’t said those words in over ten years. It meant hands-off. He’d told himself that the reason he’d said it was because he didn’t want anything screwing up the agreement. Of course Rocky had had a lot of questions and comments: “Cuz-code? Why do you want me to go out with a girl to find a dude if you like her? If you like her, why not be the scarecrow yourself? It’s never failed me. You know this isn’t a real thing, right? There is no way I’d ever let a doll leave with another dude.”

“It could work for real,” Neal said to himself as he pulled into the parking lot of Nora’s Wine Bar. He wiped his hands on his shirt and stepped out of his truck.

Neal spotted Brenda at the bar. He tried to ignore the way his heart immediately sped up. Brenda sat on a tall stool with her back to the bar, her legs shapely under her knee-high skirt that was slit high up the side. At first glance, her dress seemed conservative, but it was unbuttoned down to the middle of her chest. She knew how to dress, hinting at just enough to make a man want to see more. If Neal hadn’t already known her, he would’ve been immediately drawn to her. Whether he would have introduced himself or not was another question. He might have thought her out of his league, in the money division.

She laughed at what one of the two men, who stood on either side of her, said. The one on her right took the opportunity to eye the slight bounce of her breasts, which sent a surprising surge of heat to Neal’s face.

“Brenda,” he said as he approached. “Sorry I’m late.”

Brenda looked at him, confusion in her eyes and then relief. “Will you excuse me, please?” she said to the men. She stood up, the men helping her like she was a dancer. They stayed, sipping their drinks, watching her turn to Neal. But then Neal moved his head slightly to the right, eyeing them, letting them know their gawks were no longer allowed. They mumbled something to each other and then left.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Brenda asked.

“Rocky couldn’t make it.”

“Well, I’m not paying you.”

Ungrateful . . . “The hell you’re not! I had to leave work right in the middle of my shift. Look, I didn’t—”

“Fine.” She huffed and then rolled her eyes at him in disgust. “Well, that explains why you’re wearing what you’re wearing. You’d better not screw this up.”

Neal shrugged. “Whatever.” He turned to the bartender. “The lady will have another of whatever she’s drinking, and I’ll take an IPA.”

When the bartender set the drinks in front of them he said, “Fourteen dollars.”

Neal told Brenda. “Pay the man.”

A look of pure hatred crossed her face as she reached into her little purse and pulled out a twenty. Neal had to turn his head so she wouldn’t see his smile. He doubted she’d ever paid for a drink in her life. When he’d composed himself, he leaned back with his elbows on the bar and stared out into the crowd. Not his type of place, but he liked the atmosphere. It was kind of rustic and manly with brown leather chairs and square bare tables.

“So how’s it going?” he asked after a moment.

“Are you supposed to be talking to me?”

He wasn’t sure. He wondered what he’d do if he approached a woman in a bar who he had thought was alone, then out popped a guy from nowhere claiming to be her date. He supposed he would apologize and walk away. If a woman was clearly on a date, he wouldn’t approach her at all. But if she really got him going, he might attempt eye contact from afar, and this often gained a discreet number when the girl went to the ladies’ room.

He turned and faced the mirror behind the bar and drank his beer down. He signaled to the bartender for another one. “Start a tab, would ya?”

After he’d taken a couple of drinks of his beer, he watched through the mirror as a guy approached the bar, heading straight to Brenda. He appeared to be the sort of guy she’d probably go for. He was tall, good-looking, broad shoulders, and no beer gut. Neal didn’t turn around, but he sure wanted to.

“Can I buy you a drink?” the guy asked.

“I have one,” she said.

“I couldn’t help but notice you from across the room.”

“It’s not a very big place,” she replied.

“Okay,” he said. “My name is George.”

“That’s nice.”

After a few minutes of silence the guy asked, “Can I sit down?”

“It’s a free country.”

“So what do you do?”

“I’m an attorney.”

“That’s cool,” George said. “Do you work around here?”

“Ouch!” Neal said as Brenda elbowed him in the side. “What?” And then he whispered, “Scarecrow?”

“Yes,” Brenda said, a hint of desperation in her voice.

“Excuse me?” George said.

Neal stood up, not understanding why. He thought the fellow was doing all right. Even staying in there when Brenda played hard to get. “Move it on along,” Neal said.

George looked at Neal and then at Brenda, apparently waiting for her to protest Neal’s demand.

“She’s with me,” Neal added after the guy didn’t budge.

“Sorry, man, I didn’t see you.”

“No problem.”

George nodded at Brenda and then went back to wherever he’d strolled over from.

“What took you so long?” Brenda asked, swiveling around on the barstool to face him.

“He seemed cool to me.”

“Really? Neither one of y’all can take a hint.”

“Those were hints? I thought it had just been ages since you’d talked to a man. And what the hell was the matter with him? He’s a decent looking guy.”

“You like him so much, you go buy him a drink.”

“Funny.”

“I’m paying you to be a scarecrow, not a matchmaker. Stick to your job.”

“Well, maybe we should come up with a signal or something.”

“That’s . . . actually a good idea. Okay fine. I’ll say ‘red flag.’”

Neal thought it was stupid. “Okay.” He turned back around, facing the mirror again. After a few minutes, the bar began to thin out and he glanced at his phone for the time: ten-thirty. “Do you come here often?”

She slowly turned her chair to face the mirror too. “Are you trying to pick me up?”

“I just mean, this place is a bit of a snooze-ville. Don’t you think?”

“I suppose. This is my first time here.”

“Huh. If you’re wanting to meet men, you should go where they are.”

“I can imagine where you’d go to pick up women. Some smoky strip club, no doubt.”

“There’s a lot of men there.”

“Maybe this was a bad idea.”

“What do you mean? I thought I did a good job a while ago.”

“You did. Maybe it’s too soon. You know.”

Neal turned his head toward her. “Nonsense. The best way to get over someone is to get someone new.”

She narrowed her eyes. “You sound like you’ve had experience.”

“This isn’t about me.”

“You know, maybe it should be. You seem to know everything about me. I don’t know anything about you. Do you have a girlfriend?”

“No.”

“Have you ever been married?”

“No.”

“Engaged?’

“No.”

“Are you gay?”

“No!”

Brenda turned her chair so she faced him. Her thighs brushed his for a second as she crossed her legs slowly, elegantly. “So what’s your story?”

“I thought we weren’t supposed to be talking?”

“Technically, we live under the same roof, and I don’t really know you. How do I know that you’re not some sort of pervert? You’re decent looking and can cook but you’re not married and you don’t have girlfriend. So tell me, what’s wrong with you?”

She wanted to know his story. Fine! He sat up straight and turned his chair to face hers and maneuvered until her legs were in between his, as close as he could get without touching her. He leaned in closer, as close as he dared, just close enough for a nervous reaction. And he got one: she swallowed, and he felt the exhalation of the breath that he had apparently taken away.

But she didn’t turn away or even blink when he caught her stare.

“I was in love with my best friend’s wife.”

Chapter 9

Brenda hated the tingles that were induced by Neal’s sudden stare-down and confession. This was a dangerous game she played, getting to know Neal. Sure, his piercing blue eyes and his in-your-face masculinity turned her on. But she could control her sexual side.

But this conversation had taken a turn toward the serious, and she had started it. She had a choice now: turn around and say something snarky like: ‘I’m not surprised, now shut the hell up and be my scarecrow,’ or she could let her curiosity get the best of her. “What happened?”

“I wanted Alexandria the moment Jay married her. Which sounds awful, I know. At first I wrote it off as wanting the unobtainable. For months we shared glances, and I would imagine her showing up at my doorstep, saying she couldn’t get me out of her mind, and imagining how it would be to kiss her. I was miserable. Jay had been my friend since grade school.

“One moment, I would be like,
this is stupid. Alexandria loves Jay. They belong together
. I knew it would destroy their marriage and our friendship. But the pull toward her was unbearable. She haunted my dreams. I couldn’t stop thinking about her. And one night we found ourselves alone.” He seemed far away now, and his voice had become whisper.

Brenda leaned in, trying to block out the other noises in the bar.

“She said she had to leave,” Neal said, suddenly losing eye contact with Brenda. “In the next second, my life changed forever. I stopped her from leaving by touching her arm. We stood there for a second like that until our eyes met, and I could see her thinking as her chest heaved in and out. I knew right then that she wanted me as much as I wanted her. That was all I needed.

“I don’t remember what I thought at that moment, certainly nothing about Jay. I kissed her, and so help me, she kissed me back. When I pulled away, I was half expecting her to slap me and that would have been the end of that. But she didn’t . . .” Neal shook his head and finally looked at Brenda and shrugged.

“Y’all slept together.” Brenda picked up her wine and took a sip without taking her eyes off of Neal.

He blinked a couple of times, as if coming out of a trance and then met Brenda’s waiting stare. “Yep. And I was so stupid that I thought that once we got it out of our systems, we could all go back to being friends.”

“I’m guessing that’s not what happened.”

Neal shook his head. “Turns out, I was in love with her, sick in love, and she said loved me too. I would’ve done anything for her.” Neal shook his head. “When we talked in secret, I told her that we needed to tell Jay. That we needed to come clean so that we could be together. That was all I could think about, being with her again. I was willing to stab my buddy in the back for her.” He sighed. “Well, after weeks of torment, I couldn’t wait any longer. I told her I was going to tell him. That’s when she told me the truth. She said she did love me, but she loved Jay more. She chose him.”

“Ouch. Did he ever find out?”

“Nope. She begged me not to say anything and brought me back to reality, telling me how it would hurt Jay. I felt guilty after I sobered up a bit, and I couldn’t stand to be around her and not have her. So I pretended to get pissed at Jay for something he did and told him I didn’t want to be friends anymore. He tried. Man, he begged me to forgive him. That was rough, him begging me. But in the long run, it was for the best.”

“Wow, I don’t know what to say. How awful for you . . . and of you.”

“Right. So does that answer your question?”

Brenda drank the rest of her wine, which had become a little warm. “We’re a pair of chumps, aren’t we? In love with people we can’t have.”

“The difference is, I’m over Alexandria.”

“Is that so? If she walked in right now and said Jay had left her for another woman and she wanted you, you would tell her to get lost?”

“I’ll be right back,” he said with a straight face.

“I thought so,” Brenda said as Neal stood up. As he walked toward the men’s room, she noticed all the women stealing a peek, whether they were with someone or not. He was certainly nice to look at. A weaker woman might even say ‘hot.’

She felt a bit lightheaded and blamed the wine, but knew the prior conversation intrigued her. She hadn’t expected Neal to open up to her, especially since she hadn’t been exactly friendly. He seemed so scarred. Poor Neal. She had the sudden urge to comfort him. What? What the hell was that? “No, no, no!”

She turned to the bartender and pointed to her glass. As she sat there, trying to get these vile thoughts out of her head, she felt a tap on her shoulder.