Compulsion: Magnetic Desires (8 page)

May 2010

"Hey, little one." I tugged her ponytail as I entered the kitchen. "What did you do today?"

"I got a job," she said, "working at KT&K events."

"The event-planning gig?"

"Yes." She turned and waved the spatula at me. "I’m only an assistant."

"You’ll do great." I stole a piece of beef from the pan and grinned with my mouth full. "You should have told me. I would have taken you out to dinner to celebrate."

Scrunching up her nose, she smacked me with the spatula. "You know I don’t go out."

"Why is that?" I couldn’t remember the last time she’d left the house after dark.

"I just don’t." She focused on stirring the sizzling contents of the pan.

There was always more going on with Birdie than she let on. Ever since she’d been a teenager, hell since dad died, she’d been like that. I’d tried to get answers out of her back then, but she’d clammed up tight and that hadn’t changed. At some point, I’d let it go. There’d been too much going on for me to worry too much about female hormones. Just the thought of girly issues made me cringe back then. Now, I wondered if I should be trying to get to the bottom of whatever secrets she held on to so tight.

"What about you?" she asked. "It’s Friday night. Are you heading out?"

The crew would be going down to O’Malley’s for a few beers later, but I hadn’t made a decision either way. "I don’t know, maybe."

"You should. You won’t get me out of your house till you find a girl who can cook as well as I can."

My mind drifted to Clo, and I wondered how her catering business was going. I still thought about her almost every day, but the feelings weren’t as strong.

"You could live with me forever," I teased her. "You and me, stuck under the same roof for the rest of our lives."

She shrieked. "No way. I’m going to find you the perfect girl if it’s the last thing I do."

"What about you?" I countered. "I don’t see you running around with any boys. What’s the story there?"

Her silence twisted at my gut. "Birdie?"

She put the spatula down. "If they're all like you, I don’t want anything to do with them." She sniggered as she stared at the pan, but it wasn’t her usual effervescent giggle.

"Can you keep an eye on dinner for a minute?"

I nodded, and she left the room. Trying to get her to open up was going to take a lot more finesse than I was presently able to muster.

When she came back with a grin on her face I knew I was in trouble. "You’ve got a dinner date. You better get ready."

"What are you talking about?" I drew my eyebrows together, knowing whatever she had planned I wasn’t going to like.

"My friend Bella agreed to go on a date with you."

"Christ, Birdie, and you thought you’d spring this on me? Not ask my opinion?" This wasn’t how I wanted to spend my Friday night. I crossed my arms over my chest and scowled. "I’m not going."

"You are." She stared me down. "You’re not going to disappoint her. I’ve already booked you a reservation at Lawson’s. Hurry up and get ready."

"It’s not going to happen, Birdie. Call her and tell her it’s not happening." I wasn’t changing my mind, despite her looking at me down the length of her nose.

"I figured you’d say that," she said, "which is why I called for backup."

Mellie entered the kitchen, having let herself in.

"How can you talk that fast?" I asked, wondering what mad skills she had to pull off this crazy feat in the ten minutes she’d left me in the kitchen.

"It’s called texting, Orion." She stuck out her tongue, causing Mellie to giggle.

"It won’t be that bad." Mellie backed my sister up. "You never know. Bella might be great."

"Who are you, and what have you done with my friend?" I couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that Mellie agreed with Birdie.

"Go and get ready," both girls said in unison, grins on their faces.

"Fine," I huffed, "but when I get home, you and I are going to have a talk about boundaries, Birdie."

Stalking out of the kitchen, I headed for the shower. Lawson’s was an upper class type of place. I’d have to wear a bloody suit. I could still hear the girls cackling in the kitchen when I closed the bathroom door. It didn’t take long to get ready and I went to wait for my mystery date, leaving the two girls to watch chick flicks.

***

H
ow the hell had I let Birdie talk me into this? I was twenty-three years old for fuck’s sake. Old enough to pick my own dates, and definitely old enough that my little sister shouldn’t have had any say in who I dated.

My hands shoved in my pockets, I scanned both ends of the street. What did this mysterious Bella look like, and would we be able to get along for the evening? I shoved my hand through my hair. Birdie hadn’t given me any details, and I couldn’t rely on Mellie to rescue me if things weren’t going well. At least Mike would have my back, wouldn’t he? Tugging at my tie with a finger, I tried to pull deep breaths through the constriction in my throat.

A tall brunette made her way toward me, and I stepped forward, taking note of her effortless beauty and doe eyes. She stopped in front of me clutching at a small black bag. "Excuse me, but are you Orion?"

"You must be Bella." Extending my hand, I ran my gaze over her.

As far as blind dates went I'd hit the jackpot. She looked amazing sheathed in a silver, strapless dress that flared at her waist and didn't make it to her knees. Black skyscraper heels made her tanned legs go on forever.

Her hand in mine we walked into the restaurant and approached the maître d’s station. "I have a reservation."

"Yes sir, name please."

"Lance."

The maître d’ scanned his list. "There you are, sir. Right this way."

Why on earth had Birdie picked this restaurant? The issue wasn’t whether I could afford it. Going into business with Mike had definitely given me a financial edge I hadn’t dreamed of as a teenager, but I preferred to stay away from pretentious places like this when given the choice. If Birdie had chosen it because Bella was the kind of girl who expected to be wined and dined in style, she’d be disappointed in me.

The waiter showed us to a table, and I held the seat out for Bella before seating myself and perusing the menu, or rather, studying her over the top of it.

"Would you like to order drinks, sir?" the waiter asked.

From behind her menu she giggled, and I wondered what had amused her.

"Can we have a moment?" I glanced up at him, and he nodded stiffly and moved on.

"I'm sorry, but the snobby accent was too hilarious." Her eyes danced as I held her gaze.

"It is a little stuffy in here." I grinned. "Do you want to get out of here?"

"Oh, could we?" The smile she answered with was a dazzling display of straight, white teeth that would make Tinsel Town nervous.

"Let’s go." Clasping her hand, I led her out of the restaurant.

"Where should we go now?"

"There's a waffle house around the corner." She pointed behind her.

Every word from this girl’s mouth made me like her more. Maybe Birdie had been right to trap me into this date. "Breakfast for dinner? Let's go."

The night was turning out better than I’d expected. I'd have to remember to thank Birdie, instead of kicking her out of my house.

Still holding Bella’s hand, we strolled toward our new destination. "So, tell me about yourself."

"I
’d been dating Bella for six months, and I’d managed to avoid Clo most of that time. She would call or text me, or I’d run into her in the street, and I’d realize how much I missed her, but I knew there was no point holding on to her. I’d moved on. I’d already had the key cut. I was going to ask Bella to move in with me over dinner that night."

October 2010

I waved to the last of the crew as the sun drifted toward the horizon and the overcast sky threatened rain. I’d meant to be home early to get ready to meet Bella, but hadn’t been able to get away. Squatting on the cold concrete slab, I packed up my toolbox, unable to keep the grin off my face. Bella would say yes when I asked her to move in with me tonight. She’d been hinting at it for a while now. Toolbox in hand, I strode through the front of the framed out house, its bare bones reaching into the sky. It was time to take the next step.

Clo’s car sped up the road toward me. The hum of the motor as she accelerated gave her away. Frozen in place, I watched as her car came to an abrupt halt behind my truck. The thud of the door slamming shut echoed in the quietness, and she barreled toward me. A deep scowl marked her face; her eyes were red and swollen. Pressing my lips together, I studied the tightness in her posture, becoming more evident the closer she got. I hadn’t seen her in, how long? Not long enough, since the answer was instantaneous down to the day and the hour. Exhausted, I leaned against the frame. "What are you doing here?"

"Fucking bastard." She spat on the dirt at her feet.

"What?" She had no reason to be calling me a bastard. What the hell was going on?

"Not you." She stepped onto the slab between the framing of the kitchen. "Him. Zack."

"Oh." I raised an eyebrow and dropped my toolbox, crossing my arms as she took up pacing. She was shaking, not trembling from the cold, but violently shaking. I’d never seen this side of her. Not once had I ever seen her mad like this. It was almost humorous that this slip of a woman could hold that much anger. "What happened?"

Turning to me, she rubbed at her arm, her eyes etched with pain. "He cheated on me."

"Oh." She gazed at me, waiting for me to say something else. To tell her anything that would take the edge off.

"I found him. I found him and some blonde thing in my bed. How could he?" She burst into tears and turned to stare out at the mountain of dirt in the backyard. "How could he do this to me?"

Traversing the short distance between us, I pulled her against my chest. I’d known all along, or at least I’d been suspicious, and been able to add up the clues. Her anger fed mine. This was exactly what I’d been avoiding all these years. I would kill the bastard for hurting her. "Do you want me to run him over with my truck?"

Quiet hiccups accompanied her muffled sobs. "No. I don’t want you in jail because he doesn’t love me anymore. This isn’t your problem. It’s mine. I don’t know why I came here."

Her anger dispersed, leaving the vulnerable girl I needed to protect. I hadn’t done a good job of it so far, or not enough, if Zack had still been fucking around on her. Guilt nibbled at me as relief she was no longer with the bastard flooded through me. "I’m glad you did," I murmured against her ear, "you know I’m always here for you."

"But you shouldn’t be." When she sagged into me, I stopped fighting the urge to hold her. She sounded tired, as if, when the anger left, the fight in her had gone too. "You have your own life."

I did, or, I was meant to. I’d been moving forward as everyone wanted me to, but holding her close, I knew my reality. "It’s not much of a life without you."

"You have your girlfriend, and your business. I’m"— she took a deep breath— "a problem that makes your life difficult."

My arms wrapped around her. I wanted to tell her the truth. That she would never be a problem, that without her my life wasn’t worth living. But it wasn’t the time, not today. "You’re my best friend; always have been. We might not have hung out much recently, but that will never change."

"I don’t know what I’m going to do. I don’t know how I am going to get past this."

An echo of her normal self, broken by what he’d done to her, she needed my strength, and I didn’t hesitate to give it to her.

"I’m going to help you." I picked up my toolbox. "Let me finish up here. I’ll get some tequila on the way to your place, and we’ll start getting rid of his stuff."

I watched her shuffle to her car and pulled my phone from my pocket to call Bella. She picked up almost immediately, as if she’d been waiting for my call. "Listen, Bella, I’m not going to make it tonight."

I listened to her ask why. It was a good question. Was I going to end it with Bella because Clo needed me? "Something’s come up."

She sounded disappointed.

Shoving my hand through my hair, I swallowed. Bella loved me and it should have been enough, but it wasn’t. Which was why I wasn’t done hurting her. "Honestly? I don’t think this thing between us is going to work out."

Bella sobbed on the other end of the line.

You’re a fucking class one asshole, Orion.
"I’m sorry. I am, but it’s for the best." At least that was the truth. I couldn’t be the guy she deserved, no matter how much I wanted to be. "You’ll find someone great, Bella, but I’m not that guy."

Ending the call, I shoved my phone in my pocket. I may have ended the closest thing I’d had to a real relationship, but the truth was, no one would fill Clo’s spot in my heart, and Bella, although she was hurting, would be better off without me.

Clo followed me in her car, and we made our way to the nearest liquor store where I bought tequila and a six-pack of beer. By the end of the night, she would forget the pain of his betrayal, at least for a while. I took the brown-bagged bottle and the six-pack to the car, and drove across town to her house. It would be hard for her to go into her own home and see the remnants of Zack’s indiscretion, the crumpled sheets that she had slept on the night before. His clothes would be a reminder that he had shed them to have sex with someone who wasn’t her.

Man, if I could get my hands on him... Fists clenched around the steering wheel, I considered hunting him down and making him hurt. But he wasn’t my problem. Clo was.

I pulled into her driveway and called Birdie while I parked the truck. "Zack cheated on Clo."

"Where are you?"

"I’m with Clo. She needs me."

"What about Bella?" Birdie had jumped up and down squealing when I told her that I was going to ask Bella to move it with me. She’d moved out because of it.

"I broke up with her."

I cringed, expecting a loud barrage of cuss words from my sister, but all she did was let out a frustrated sigh. "Orion, why can’t you stop doing this to yourself?"