Designing Woman (The Sloan Brothers Book 2) (14 page)

“My staff and clientele love them.  I love them.  We’re serving twice as fast and they keep the beer the perfect temp.  It’s way too much Mel’.  You didn’t have to do anything this extravagant.  You didn’t have to do anything at all.”

“Yeah Austin, I did.  You’ve been good to me.  More than that, you’ve been patient.  I’m thinking after the holidays are over, we should talk if you’re still interested.”

“So I take it you’re done beating that dead horse?”

I knew what he meant and although I didn’t totally agree with his assessment of the situation, he was on the outside looking in and I wasn’t.  He could easily be seeing something that I was blind to.

“Let’s say I’m ready to explore my options.  There are only so many lottery tickets I’ll buy before I realize that the odds aren’t in my favor.  Know what I mean?”

“I do indeed, only I’d have put it a little differently.”

“How would you have put it?”

“I think I would have said that there’s only so many times you can give the same man the benefit of the doubt before you realize there should be no doubt to begin with.”

“Wow.  That’s deep Austin.  You should have that put on beer mats.”

“Are you making fun of me Mel’?”

“Maybe a little.  If I fall asleep on the sofa, turn the TV off when you get home.  Okay?”

“Will do babe.  I’ll be late, so I’ll try to be quiet.”

“Appreciate it Austin.  Have fun and give my sister a hug for me.”

“Hey Mel’?  I wish you were here.  It’s not the same without you.”

I felt my eyes start to water because it was New Year’s Eve and no one else had ever said that to me before.  No one.  Ever.

“Thanks Austin.  You’re the best.  Have fun and don’t worry about me, I’m good.  Careful coming home.”

“Will do babe.  See you later.”

We hung up and I muted Bieber on the tube while I took a bite of my sandwich and thought about the Austin situation.  I had to be careful.  He was my best friend’s brother and nothing kills a friendship faster than playing siblings.  If this didn’t go well, one of two things would happen.  She’d hate me for hurting her brother, or she’d hate her brother for hurting me.  Both scenarios were unacceptable.  There could be no hate in this equation.

Then I wondered if I was even attracted to him enough to be considering the “What If” equation.  Were we close because we were currently living together?  Would we be attracted to one another if we weren’t embroiled in the same drama?  I’d known Ayla a little while now and I’d never met her brother until recently.  If I’d had the same amount of time with him as I’d had with Anton, would the situation be entirely different now?  Maybe.  Then again, maybe not.

Anton and I fell together because we were basically two heads on the same beast.  Neither one of us was ready for a long-term, full-time kind of thing.  Our situation was perfect for both of us.  We both liked to fight, had short fuses and used sarcasm as a form of communication.  There was nothing we couldn’t say to one another and we didn’t hold grudges.  At the time, it seemed ideal.

Now, several months later, I was evolving.  I’ll admit that watching my sister fall head over heels for the perfect guy, marrying and getting ready to start a family, was probably part of it.  She was so calm and happy now.  I was happy for her and I wanted that for myself.  Don’t get me wrong.  I wasn’t quite ready to pop out Anton Jr., but I WAS ready to settle down with one guy and put an end to the dating scene drama.  My living situation with Austin planted that seed in my head and it had taken root.

We lived easily together and it was nice having someone here with me.  Someone to talk to and laugh with.  My cooking was improving as well.  We shared the chore and we’d ordered some cookbooks online to try different things.  It was fun.  I cleaned the bathrooms and he did the laundry.  We helped each other change the linens.  We never argued or nagged one another.  All in all, he’d slowly changed my mind about settling down.

Taking all of that into consideration, here was the question: Who did I want to settle down with?  The boil on the butt of patient women everywhere?  Or the auburn-haired, blue-eyed charmer that waited just as patiently for me.  Was I ultimately the boil on his butt for the same reason?  I might never know, but for some reason, he seemed to like me.  Right now, he seemed to like me a hell of a lot more than Anton, and HE professed to love me.

Do you see why I’m often mistaken for crazy?  I know you’re getting my version of these events, but I’m doing my best to tell it like it is.  If you were me, what would you do?  Exactly.  You don’t know either, so let’s continue.

I’d consumed a sandwich, a bowl of chips, a scoop of Rocky Road ice cream, two colas and had just opened a bottle of wine, when something familiar came up on the TV screen.  You know how you see something on the local news and the location looks familiar, but then again, not quite?  It could be that the location is obviously smaller on TV, I don’t know.  The thing is, I knew what I was seeing a location I’d been to.

The local talking head was standing across the street from the place that sat on a corner.  They’d interrupted my “Rockin’ New Years Eve” programming for this breaking story.

Everyone that had been inside was now standing on the sidewalk.  They were being asked to “back-up please”, to give the officers and firefighters room to work.  Huh.  A fire.  Not unusual in a city this size, but I was still working on trying to figure out why the damned place looked so familiar.  Then I saw it and went numb.

The camera zoomed in and tried to focus on the door of the place, where black smoke was drifting out.  They’d started shooting on the side window first, but half of it was missing.  The half of it that remained turned my blood to ice.  The picture of the cute monkey and the letters “Chee and Monk” were intact.  The rest of the letters forming the bar’s name were gone along with the other half of the window.  Something had either been thrown out or in, through that window.

I turned up the sound.  Siren’s could be heard as well as terrified voices mixed with those in authority.  Whatever had happened, hadn’t happened too long ago.  I listened as the woman with the microphone explained the situation.

“...the party appeared to be in full swing and everyone was having a good time.  There were no fights reported and no problems in the kitchen.  One eye witness, reports that there was a large crash as something flew through the window from outside.  The object, which could have been a lit bottle containing gasoline, or a bomb of some kind, exploded on impact, sending multiple party-goers to the hospital and injuring several others.  The bar, known as, The Cheeky Monkey, was cleared quickly and firefighters were called as well as the police.  At this point, the damage appears to be contained and is minimal considering what could have happened.  We’ll report back as the situation warrants....”

The scene went back to the studio which wrapped up the report and went back to rockin’ my New Years, but I’d lost interest.  I couldn’t pace or I would have been on my feet.  Crutches severely cramp your style when you’re a pacer.  I picked up my cell phone and started to dial, but I didn’t want to distract anyone from doing what needed to be done.  Besides, as noisy as it had been behind the news crew, I knew it wouldn’t be any better for my friends and family that were actually there.  Someone would call me.  They all knew I was home watching TV, and they knew I’d worry.

A little over an hour later, I was laying on the sofa, my eyes glued to the television.  I was waiting for another update of some kind; anything that might tell me that my family and friends were safe.

The main living area in my condo is huge.  The front door opens into a very small foyer with a view of the space, including the back of the sofa and the TV hanging on the opposite wall.  If you make a left, you hit the kitchen and the dining area.  If you go right, there’s the hallway leading to our offices and workspace.  Ten feet or so to the right of the TV, are the stairs leading to the second floor.  Floor to ceiling windows are on that entire wall on both floors.  The natural light is phenomenal, the backdrop is breathtaking.  Along that wall on the second floor is the door to the atrium and rooftop garden.  The walkway goes to the left, and the bedrooms are above the workspace and offices on the first floor.

I want you to have the layout in your mind for this next part.  Because I was lying on the sofa, I was invisible to anyone coming in the front door.  The only clue you might have that someone was present, would be the television bringing life to the room.  The lighting was dim (I didn’t need much light to watch TV), and the snow falling in the background was easier to watch when the lights weren’t bright and glaring.

The door flew open and multiple voices, all of which I recognized, flowed into the room.  Of course the loudest one, led the pack.

“...I still don’t know why the fuck we had to come here.  Why does SHE have to be included in everything we do and every discussion we have?  And why did I have to ditch my date for this?”

The voice of reason, my brother-in-law, snapped an answer that was loyal and fierce.

“Because the bitch you were with was getting on everyone’s nerves and after the night we had, she had to go for her own safety.  If you keep it up, you can go too.  Melody is a part of this whether you like it or not.  In case you’ve forgotten, she’s the only one that’s actually laid eyes on the guy so far.  Ayla and Austin haven’t seen him in years.  He came to Mel’s house you asshole.  She’s most definitely a part of this.  I only hope she’s still awake.”

They were practically on me now and no one had bothered to look on the sofa.  Mr. Smart-ass continued, but someone else had a dog in this race.

“Want me to go up get her?  I know where she sleeps.”

Why did he have to say that?  Why did he have to say it like it was a dirty joke or a lascivious secret?

“You’re not going near her room.  If anyone’s going up to get her, it’ll be me.  I sleep right next door to her.  If she has to wake up, she should wake up to a friendly face.”

Go Austin!

“Both of you shut-up.  I’m on my last good nerve here.  If someone has to go up, it’ll be Ayla or myself.  Pierce, go make coffee please and why is the TV on?”

Leave it to my sister (thank god they were all safe) to have a death grip on the obvious.

I sat up, surprising them all.  Anton turned beet red and knew I’d heard every word.  I carefully maneuvered my leg and Ayla saw what my goal was. She rushed over to help clear the coffee table while Austin placed my pillow and helped me prop my casted foot up.  Once I was situated, I winced in pain and blew out a breath.

“The TV’s on because I was waiting for some news of how your exciting night was going.  None of you were calling and I wondered if they would do a follow-up.”

Austin sat down next to me and put his arm around me.  I settled my head on his shoulder and he squeezed my shoulder in response.

“We didn’t call because the plan was to come here and have a group meeting.  We had to wait until the bar was secure and the police were done asking questions.  I hope you don’t mind, I gave them this address in case they had more questions.”

“Of course I don’t mind.  This is your home.  So we know for sure it was Tony?”

Austin began stroking my hair and kissing my forehead.  Partly to soothe me, and I think it was partly to soothe himself.  Austin was naturally affectionate and our earlier conversation must have triggered something that let him know that I might be receptive to that affection.

“We don’t know anything yet, but who else could it be?  We think he was letting us know that he was tired of waiting and he was stepping up his game.  The bar was packed Mel’.  When that window caved in, glass flew everywhere.  We got everyone out pretty quickly.  The people that got sent to the hospital went with cuts from the flying glass.  Luckily I’m heavily insured, but you know there’ll be lawsuits over this...”

I kissed his cheek and he looked at me.

“We’ve got this babe.  No worries, okay?  You’re all safe and we’ll deal with the rest as it comes.”

Pierce set a tray down on the coffee table and started to pour coffee from a carafe.  Everyone else filtered into the room and took a cup, then a seat.  Pierce remained standing.

Anton was glowering at Austin and I, making his unhappiness known.  I decided to poke the bear with a stick.

“So...”, I started, then took a sip of coffee before looking up at Anton.

“Another date without sealing the deal.  Tsk, tsk, tsk.  You’ll get a rep as a non-closer if you keep this up Anton.  You should go and find her.  I know how much you hate to be here.”

His words from earlier were coming back to haunt him and I felt Austin’s silent laughter rumble through his chest.  He kissed my forehead again, but I could feel his eyes were on Anton.

“Plenty more where she came from Mel’.  Don’t worry about my sex life, I’ve never gone without for very long.”

The dig was sharp and well aimed and I guess you could say I had it coming.  Austin said it better though.

“You keep looking for the ‘keeper’ Anton.  Maybe one of these days you’ll find the perfect girl for you and you won’t have to keep lining them up.  Some of us can vouch for monogamy.  I happen to think it’s the way to go.”