Compulsive (Liar #1) (10 page)

“I don’t think,” I said, cutting him off. “I know.”
Damn
it, did I know
. Those eyes hadn’t lied.

I noted the wheels spinning as I held my unrelenting
glare on him. His hands went to his hips, and his head fell and shook. When his
gaze returned to me, I found regret, pity. I recognized what would come next. “What
you don’t understand is beyond it being wrong from a professional standpoint,
it’s wrong for me personally…as a man. I shouldn’t have taken advantage of you.
Or that situation.”

The blood in my veins heated. This was not about
chivalry. “There’s two of us here in the room, Daniel.”

“I know. But what you don’t understand is that you
might be having some…feelings that you don’t—”

“For fuck’s sake, Daniel! You’re not going to pull
that psycho-babble crap on me now, are you?”

His brows peaked as he was taken aback by my response.
His mouth pulled open, but I continued before he had a chance.

“This isn’t some kind of transference. Yeah, I know
how to use the Internet.” I raised my arm as I spoke; the dress slipped an inch
or two down.

“Good, then you know this sort of thing happens.” He
looked away. “Can you please put some clothes on?”

I shoved the door closed and yelled from the inside.
“Worried about your reputation? Well, don’t. I won’t sue.” The gown fell to the
floor. I hurriedly dressed for no reason other than I planned to yell at him
face-to-face.

“No, that’s not it at all. Well, yes, this would be
detrimental to my profession…” I opened the door, peeking from behind with only
my shirt on and scowled at him with narrowed eyes, then slammed it shut again.
“But, that’s not why I stopped,” he continued.

“Great, well, I’m sorry to be such a basket case for
you to have to deal with. I guess I thought maybe…just maybe you might…” I opened
the door, fully clothed with the dress draped over my arm. The stairs rumbled
with footsteps. Both Daniel and I turned. “Nathan.”

--------------------------

Dressed in his head chef’s attire, Nathan descended the stairs looking
every bit as awkward as he was pissed. He’d obviously heard enough. He
surpassed Daniel as if he were one of the sewing mannequins and arrived at my
side. A deliberate peck landed on my cheek. “Are you all right?”

I nodded an overabundant amount of times trying to get
my bearings. Jealousy and rudeness were out of character for Nathan, so I
assumed he’d eventually get himself under control. “This is Daniel
Harrison…excuse me, Dr. Harrison.” I gestured to Daniel, spiking exaggerated
brows while narrowing my eyes. Nathan considered him briefly. “And this is my
friend, Nathan.” I stared at the floor, waiting for someone to release us from
this disaster.

“Hey, man…uh, Dr. Harrison.”

I turned to find a smile upon Nathan’s face and a hand
outreached in Daniel’s direction. I sighed relief and appreciation for always
being able to count on him.

“Nathan.” Daniel accepted the gesture, and though his
demeanor turned professional, he added, “Please, call me Daniel.”

“What are you doing here?” I asked, hoping to turn the
focus in a less awkward direction.

“Some old lady told me you were down here.”

“No, I mean, why are you here…at the sale?”

“The lovely Alyssa invited me.”

“Oh,” I said, hoping the guilt didn’t show on my face.

“At least someone still wants my presence.”

My expert bullshit meter just hit uranium. I tilted my
head and gave him my wide eyes.

His smile broke. “Okay, she also talked me into
bringing two dozen pastries.”

“Ahh, there it is. I knew she was after something.”

We chuckled. I leaned into him instinctively, catching
the scent of chocolate and cheese. When my gaze drifted to Daniel, I caught
something in his expression that caused me to stiffen and pull away from Nathan.
It disappeared too quickly for me to make any sense of it, and then he said,
“Look, why don’t you two go back up, and I’ll take care of things down here.”

“Oh, no…I couldn’t let you do that. You go. Maybe
Jessie will be up soon. I’ll take care of this.”

“I can stay and help for a while,” Nathan said.

Daniel scanned the room, looking slightly disappointed.
“If you’re sure.”

“Yeah, we got this,” Nathan said.

“Thank you.” He plodded to the stairs, and when I
glanced at him, he turned and gave me a tight smile before leaving.

I ignored the slight tug in my heart and the hollow
feeling in my chest. I hung the dress on the outside edge of the rack, so I
could decide later if I’d take it. Then I went to the stack of boxes Daniel had
started. Nathan’s gaze followed me as he stood in place. There was no avoiding
the discussion. I sat and began folding more boxes into shape, but stopped when
he still hadn’t moved or spoke. “What?”

“So, that’s him, huh?”

“You just met him, didn’t you?” I kept my sights on
the boxes since I’d let the sarcasm escape.

He came up behind me and bent over, the scent of baked
goods coming off his clothes hitting me before he spoke. “Are you two…?”

“Of course. You just missed it, too. A shame, you
could have joined us.”

“Please…stop.” A hand landed gently on my shoulder.
“You know I’m only worried about you.”

“I’m fine.” I lifted a complete box to the table and
loaded in random items.

“Yeah, you seem awesome. Good talk, Gray.” He folded a
box for himself and placed it onto the table next to mine.

Side by side we worked in silence, packing items and
setting the boxes near the stairs. Guilt seeped in when I paused to watch
Nathan, realizing how lucky I was to have him. How he always stuck by me no
matter how ungrateful I acted. I slipped my hand through his arm, stopping his work,
and resting my head on his shoulder. “Thank you for coming.”

“I did it for the kid.”

I turned up a pouty face and waited until he met my
gaze. A wink and a smile were mine right before he kissed the tip of my nose. “Now
that you’re sucking up to me, I need to say something.”

“Hey, don’t kid yourself.” I elbowed him and went back
to work. “I am not sucking up.”

“Whatever. Look, I don’t know anything about this guy.
But, he’s a guy, and you’re sexy and sweet and vulnerable…”

I turned and slapped a hand to my hip. “Uh…have you
met me?”

He let out a breathy laugh. “You know what I mean.”

“It doesn’t matter anyway… he’s a
professional
.”
I turned back to my work. “I’m about halfway through this fiasco, and once I’m
done, I’m sure I’ll never see him again.” I wanted to convince myself as much
as Nathan.

“Is this guy even helping you? This situation is
starting to piss me off.”

I shrugged to avoid getting into it and fueling the
controlling side of Nathan. “Let’s talk about you. How’s the restaurant?”

“Okay, you win…for now. But, I’m not letting this go.
We
will
talk later. When you’re not reeling from being around Dr. Feel
Good.”

Nathan filled me in on the latest new dishes he’d
created and how the owner told him business had done nothing but grow in the
past eighteen months since he became head chef. A sense of pride filled me at
hearing the happiness in his voice, the excitement for things to come, and
knowing I’d seen him through some of his worst times before he landed this job.
When his smile faded and he grew quiet, I knew he had more to tell me.

“What is it?”

He hesitated a beat before turning to me with a solemn
expression I was too familiar with. “Kevin’s back.”

“Shit, why?”

“I don’t know yet. He came into the restaurant looking
for me. Janet told me yesterday when I got in.”

“And he hasn’t called you?” Nathan’s foster brother was
the main reason Nathan’s life took a bad turn down loser highway. And since Kevin
had been gone for the past two years, Nathan had kept his life together…for the
most part, anyway.

“No.” He rubbed his chin and eyed me with concern.
“Did you hear from him?”

“What?” I guess I shouldn’t have been shocked at the
question. My heart did double time, and I hadn’t even done anything wrong. “No,
I would have told you.” His thoughtful expression shot me into defensive mode
before he could respond. “Nathan, I swear to you I haven’t heard from him since
he left. I know he’s bad news for both of us.”

A labored breath expelled from his lungs. “I’m sorry.
Come here.” He pulled me to his chest, softened his hand over the back of my
head, down my hair. “I just got nervous. I believe you.” Two strong hands took
hold of my arms and pushed me back so we were face-to-face. “You know that,
right? I trust you.”

“I know.” I nodded without taking my eyes off him,
thankful my past didn’t sway Nathan’s faith in me. For one brief moment, I let
Kevin suck me into his world as he dragged Nathan and me to the bottom with
him. He was charming and confident, but also manipulative and a disease. We
were both better without him in our lives.

“Good. You have to stay strong when it comes to him.”

“Um…same goes for you, you know.” I was as worried
about Nathan as he was about me.

“Don’t worry. Brother or not, I won’t let him come
between us again.”

It was so like Nathan to take the blame, to take the
responsibility when I had a hand in that disaster as well. He got a raw deal
ending up in that family, and it’s nothing short of a miracle that he turned
out as amazing as he did.

A second later, we dropped the subject like it hadn’t
even existed. Once we finished packing everything Alice had pointed out, we
each carried a box up to the sale. Daniel followed Nathan back down for the
rest. I cringed at the thought of those two alone even for a few minutes. I’d
decided to keep the dress, and after showing Alyssa, I walked it over to the
car.

Finally, we were all settled at the top of the
driveway, sitting in beach chairs, eating apple cinnamon muffins that Nathan
baked, and drinking coffee. We took turns helping customers with Rita jumping
up most of the time. Each time I stole a glance in Daniel’s direction, he
seemed to be looking my way, too. Sometimes he’d dart his eyes away, and other
times we stared at each other like we were doing the tango in our minds. When
Nathan had to leave for work, I stood to hug him, going overboard with the
soldier’s wife goodbye. He whispered into my ear, “Mission Accomplished. Dr.
Feel Good is staring at your ass.”

I laughed and released him, catching Daniel watching
us. He looked at his phone and then over at Rita. “I should probably get going
soon as well.”

“Oh my God!” Alyssa bounced up from her chair facing
the front door.

“Baby, no,” Rita said, heading over to Jessie who
appeared like a ghost in the doorway. A pink camo bandana wrapped around her
head, and an oxygen mask covered her face. It sounded like she said, “I wanted
to see, Mommy.”

My heart broke seeing her so thin and frail, speaking the
words of a child, yet living through a tragic illness.

“What should I do?” Alyssa asked me, like I had any
idea.

“Hang tight a minute, babe.”

Daniel scooted to the end of his seat, looking torn.

“Poor girl,” I said to no one. “She just wants to be a
part of this.”

“It’s not good for her to be out here.” Daniel’s voice
carried a stern, disapproving tone.

“Sometimes people want things even if they’re not good
for them.” I raised my eyebrows at him and sat back in my chair, crossing my
legs.

He stood and took one step in my direction, then faced
toward Rita and Jessie who were still talking in intense hushed tones.
“Sometimes people aren’t capable of making those decisions themselves.”

I bit my tongue and pursed my lips to avoid lashing
out at him. But, I wouldn’t forget his insinuation.

Daniel glanced back, noting my expression and silence.
“She’s immature and not thinking clearly.”

His clarification didn’t change what had already been
obvious to me. My head heated with anger at letting him see I’d been bothered
by it. More than that, an aching disappointment threatened in my chest at how
Daniel saw, and might always, see me. I took a cleansing breath, pushing it
from my mind, focusing on the girls. “She’s young, but she’s also hurting and
not in the right frame of mind.” I turned my attention to an anxious Alyssa.
“Why don’t you stand at the end of the porch there and talk to her.” She
regarded me with hesitation, so I smiled and then nodded, encouraging her
along. “Tell her she’s not missing anything here. It’s a succession of boring grown-ups
perusing a crapload of crap.”

“Freakin’ right.” Alyssa yanked up her skinny jeans
and shuffled closer to the door where the two had stopped talking and looked
her way.

“And once she’s better, I’ll take you two shopping or
something,” I whispered behind her back.

“You skinny twit!” Alyssa threw exaggerated hands on
her narrow hips.

“Alyssa!” Jessie waved from behind the screen door,
unfazed by Alyssa’s tone. Her mother moved wearily to the side.

“Did you get my text?”

“Yeah, but I wanted to come say hi and help. Besides, I
feel great.”

Rita folded her arms and walked over to Daniel who
hadn’t moved. She sent an order over her shoulder as she approached. “I’d
better not hear that door open, young lady.”

Jessie’s mask covered it, but the wobble of her head hinted
she was making a face behind her mother’s back. Alyssa giggled like a slumber
party attendee then quickly snapped back to her role. “Look, chick. I haven’t
done shit fun since you went in the hospital, so you better take care of
yourself.” Alyssa’s head snapped to Rita’s disapproving sigh for the language
slip. “Sorry.” Alyssa shrugged and continued. “You need to get some rest,
because Gray’s going to take us to the mall to get some hot clothes soon.”

“I’m sick of resting.”

Alyssa turned to the adults for more encouragement and
then focused back on Jessie. “You know, you’re pretty much my only friend…and
if you don’t want me to end up as one of those eternal cat ladies, you’ll get
your skinny little a…I mean, butt back to bed.”

Jessie raised her hands, bringing them together
against her chest to form the shape of a heart. “All right, you nagging shrew. Jeez,
you’re as bad as my mother. I’m going to text you from my room. Peace out,
everyone.” Her form faded back from the doorway, then instantly reappeared.
“Hey, everyone, out there!” Her voice shrieked through the screen. “Thanks for
buying this crap to save sick bitches like me!” A giggling teen mess ran from
the door like the picture of health. Alyssa and I cringed and avoided Rita’s
glare, knowing she’d blame us for influencing the spunky new behavior of her
daughter. I happened to believe that life or death situations could bring out
the daring in anyone. My spirit leapt for the connection those two girls
discovered and the inspiration that kept Jessie fighting. As a wide bright
smile spread across my face, I glanced to Daniel who watched me, mirroring the
same to me.