Face Value (10 page)

The waitress
appeared to take their order, and they spent a few minutes pouring
over the menu.

“We asked you
guys to come out with us tonight because we want to ask you both
something.” Anna reached for Lauren’s hand. “You know I love you
like a sister. It would mean the world to me if you’d agree to be
my maid of honor.”

Lauren
squealed, and Mitch covered his ear with the palm of his hand.
“Easy, girl.”

“Are you
kidding?” Lauren squeezed Anna’s hand. “I’d love to be your maid of
honor.”

Justin grinned
at Mitch. “Gee, this is awkward. Now I feel obligated to ask you to
be my best man.”

Mitch chuckled.
The two men had been best friends for years. No one doubted who
Justin would want standing beside him when he married the love of
his life. “I think I might be busy that day.”

“Smart ass.”
Justin grinned. “Seriously, man, it would mean a lot to me.”

“You don’t even
have to ask.” Mitch extended his hand to Justin. “It would be an
honor to be your best man.” The two men shook hands and shared a
smile.

Lauren squealed
as she put her arm around Mitch. “Isn’t this exciting?”

Mitch laughed
at her enthusiasm. “Take it easy, girl. You’re not the one getting
married.”

Lauren didn’t
care that it wasn’t her big day. She was just happy her cousin had
found the happiness she deserved with the man of her dreams. “Oh,
have you thought about the dresses?”

“Here’s what I
was thinking.” Anna scrolled through images on her phone until she
found the one she was looking for.

“I love it!”
The indigo floor-length gown with hand-sewn embellishments was
stunning. “Who else will be in the bridal party?”

Anna slipped
her phone back in her purse before she said, “Alisa, Sela, Brianna,
Erika, you, Megan, Lena, Melanie, and Ava.”

“Who’s
Melanie?” Mitch asked before popping a pretzel stick in his
mouth.

“My sister,”
Anna said.

“How come I
didn’t know you had a sister?” Mitch asked. “Is she hot?”

Anna laughed
and slapped his hand. “Behave yourself. She’s married.”

“Ah, but for
how much longer?” Lauren asked, raising an eyebrow. They all knew
Melanie was having marital problems, and they wanted to do whatever
they could to help her through it.

“That’s the
question.” Anna smiled at the waitress returning with their drinks.
“You know Mel. She’s strong and determined. She doesn’t want to
give up on her marriage.”

“What do your
parents think of her husband?” Mitch asked.

Anna wrinkled
her nose. “Daddy hates him. Melanie’s his adopted daughter from his
first marriage. She grew up with her grandparents, but my dad was a
big part of her life since her mom was never really in the
picture.”

Mitch nodded.
“Where does Melanie live?”

“In Fort
Worth,” Anna said. “She moved there because her husband got a job
offer, but it has never really felt like home. It may sound
selfish, but I wish she’d just leave that loser and come home
already. We all miss her.”

Justin put her
arm around Anna, brushing a kiss against her temple. “She promised
she’d be here for the wedding. Who knows, maybe she’ll decide to
stay.”

“I hope so.
Anyways, what’s new with you?” she asked Lauren and reached for her
glass of wine. “Justin said you found a new contractor.”

“Yeah, his
name’s Tucker Brooks.”

Anna nodded. “I
think I’ve heard of his company. It’s Brooks Construction,
right?”

“That’s right.”
Lauren wondered if her cousin could give her any insight into the
man who’d monopolized her thoughts. “You know him?”

“No, but one of
the teachers at work used his company when they renovated their
house. She said they were great. They came in on time and on
budget, and we all know that’s not the norm in construction,
right?”

That was an
understatement. If Lauren had learned one thing since she started
her business, it was to hope for the best but expect the worst.
“That’s for sure. He seems great. He’s really gone out of his way
to help me out.”

“I wonder why?”
Justin grinned at Mitch, who nudged Lauren in the ribs.

“What am I
missing?” Anna asked, looking around the table.

“Nothing!”
Lauren said quickly. She glared at Justin.

“I think Tucker
Brooks has a thing for your cousin,” Mitch said, reaching for his
beer.

“Shut up, he
does not!” Lauren’s mind flashed back to their X-rated kiss and
hoped the guilt wasn’t written all over her face. “We have a
working relationship, nothing more.”

“Uh huh.” Anna
narrowed her eyes. “Why don’t I believe that?”

Anna knew her
better than anyone. Lauren could never fool her. “I don’t know. Can
we please talk about something else?”

“No way.” Mitch
laughed. “I love seeing you all riled up. You’re usually so calm
and collected.”

“I am not riled
up!” She reached for her wine, hoping the evasion tactic would
work.

“Is he hot?”
Anna whispered, loud enough for the boys to hear.

“No,” Lauren
said quickly. Okay, that was a lie of epic proportions. She was
going straight to hell for that one.

Mitch rolled
his eyes. “I’m a guy, and even I know that dude was hot.”

Justin laughed
as he reached for his beer. “I hate to admit it, but you’re
right.”

“Really?” Anna
looked at the two men for confirmation. “He’s that
good-looking?”

“In that rough
around the edges kind of way,” Mitch said, reaching for another
pretzel stick.

Anna looked
surprised. “That’s not the type you usually go for.”

There was
nothing
normal
about the way Tucker made her feel. “I know,
which should tell you something. He’s not my type.”

Justin laughed
as he stretched his arm across the booth behind Anna. “I wasn’t
your cousin’s type either and look how that turned out.”

“He has a
point,” Anna said, turning to kiss his cheek.

“I can’t listen
to any more of this.” Lauren pointed toward the dance floor before
edging Mitch out of the booth with her shoulder.

“I guess that
means she wants to dance.” Mitch grinned at Anna and Justin. “If
you’ll excuse us.”

“Have fun,”
Justin said.

Lauren was
still seething when Mitch pulled her into arms. “I can’t believe
you let Anna believe there’s something between me and Tucker.”

“Isn’t
there?’

Yes.
“No.”

“You sure about
that?” he asked, looking down at her. “Come on, you know you can
tell me.”

Lauren hadn’t
known Mitch long, but she knew she could trust him. He was one of
the good guys. “It’s complicated.” She sighed when she realized
Mitch was waiting for her to continue. “He’s been in jail.” She
looked around to make sure no one was listening.

Mitch chuckled.
“No kidding? He definitely doesn’t seem like your type, but how do
you explain the chemistry between y’all last night?”

“What
chemistry?” As if she didn’t know. She couldn’t get within a foot
of that man without feeling as though she would spontaneously
combust.

“Please. Just
the way he looked at you, I could tell he was a hell of a lot more
than your contractor.”

If it was that
obvious to Mitch, it was no wonder her father had warned her
off.

“And he was
shooting daggers at me when we were dancing.”

“He was here
with another girl.” Lauren had been secretly thrilled when Tucker
confided he was no longer seeing Tonya. That little twit wouldn’t
know what to do with a man like Tucker.
Jealous much?

“Yeah, but I
got the feeling if he had a choice, he would have been here with
you.”

And Lauren
would have chosen to spend the evening with him too.
God, what a
mess!
“Didn’t you hear what I said? The man’s been in jail.”
She hoped if she kept reminding herself, it would eventually sink
in that he was not the man for her.

“I heard you.
So, what happened? How’d he land in jail?”

“Assault. He
beat the hell out of his ex-wife’s new boyfriend.”

Tucker
obviously had a jealous streak, but thinking of him being crazy
possessive of a woman who had already given up on their marriage
left a sour taste in Lauren’s mouth. Of course, there were children
involved. Maybe he wasn’t ready to give up on his family.
Stop
giving him the benefit of the doubt!
He’d almost killed a man
with his bare hands, and he’d looked mad enough to do the same with
Rob. No question about it, he was a ticking time bomb, and she
didn’t want to be anywhere near him when he eventually
exploded.

Lauren was
biting her lip, trying to make sense of her errant thoughts, when
she realized Mitch was studying her. “What?”

“You really
like this guy, don’t you?”

“What? No!”

“Yes, you do.
But you don’t want to. You’re trying to convince yourself to stay
the hell away from him, but you can’t seem to do that.”

How did he
know? “You don’t know what you’re talking about.” Her face was
already heating up. She wasn’t convincing him. How could she when
she didn’t even believe her own pathetic excuses?

“Why don’t you
just give the guy a chance if you’re that into him?”

“Did I say I
was into him?”

“You didn’t
have to.” He smiled. “I’ve known you a while now, and I’ve never
seen you this messed up over a guy.”

“I’m not messed
up!” She was so messed up.

“What’s the
worst thing that could happen?”

“He could snap
and kill me in my sleep.”

Mitch threw his
head back and laughed. “You’re such a drama queen.”

“This isn’t
funny,” she said, pinching the back of his arm. “He’s
dangerous.”

“How do you
know that?”

Duh, he’s
been in jail.
“His ex-wife and my father told me so.”

“What does J.T.
have to do with this?”

Everything, if
he found out his little girl was losing sleep over an ex-con in
spite of his warnings. “Tucker has been coming in here and causing
trouble for years. My dad said he’s flown into a rage and busted
the place up more than once.”

“Huh.”

“What does that
mean?”

“Maybe you
should steer clear of him. He sounds a little unstable.”

“That’s what
I’ve been trying to tell you.” Now if only she could convince her
brain to obey her own commands.

“You just need
to get out more. Find a man who’ll take your mind off Tucker.”

She wasn’t sure
such a man existed. “I’m not exactly a recluse, you know. I go out
all the time.”

“Yeah, with the
girls. Justin said you haven’t made time for a relationship in a
long time.”

“Justin doesn’t
know everything,” she muttered. But in this case, he was right.

“Whatever you
say, sunshine.”

***

“You are not
going to call him.” Lauren knew Tucker was driving her crazy; she
was talking to herself. Checking the time on her dashboard, she
said, “It’s too late anyways. He has his kids this weekend. They’re
probably all in bed.”

Oh for the
love of God. Just call him already!
Annoyed at letting her
inner rebel win, she punched the number with more force than
necessary. Hey, how had he earned the top spot in her
directory?

“Lauren?”

“Um hi, Tucker?
Were you sleeping?” His deep, raspy voice had her curling her toes
inside her boots. Why did he have to be so damn sexy? It just
wasn’t fair.

“No, the kids
went to bed a while ago. I was just getting some work done.”

Lauren felt
guilty he had to bring work home because her project took so much
of his time. “I just wanted to apologize for what happened today. I
didn’t mean to pry.” She’d thought about his reaction all day and
realized he’d been justified. She wouldn’t want someone questioning
her about events in her past she would rather forget.

“I’m the one
who should be apologizing, baby. I was way outta line.”

Baby?
She couldn’t contain the slow smile spreading across her face. “I
shouldn’t have asked you about-”

“Lauren, I
shouldn’t have lost my temper. With you or with Rob.” He sighed.
“Girl, you’ve got me so messed up.”

At least she
wasn’t the only one. She knew that phone call wasn’t the time to
talk about it though. They both needed time to process their
feelings and figure out how to deal with them. “What are you doing
with your kids tomorrow?”

He chuckled.
“My daughter’s birthday is coming up. She’s dragging me to the mall
to show me what she wants. Apparently, she doesn’t trust me to pick
out a gift on my own. Not that I blame her. She’s at that age.”

Lauren smiled
when she thought of a precocious ten-year-old dragging Tucker
through all the girlie stores in the mall. “That sounds like
fun.”

“For you,
maybe. It’ll be torture for me.” After a long pause, he asked, “You
wanna come?”

Was he
seriously asking her to meet his kids? “Um, I don’t know if that’s
a good idea.”

“It’s not. It’s
a bad idea.” He groaned. “Probably the worst idea I’ve ever had,
but having you there is the only thing that might make it
bearable.”

How could she
say no? “How will you introduce me to your kids?” She couldn’t help
but wonder whether he’d ever introduced Tonya to his children.

“I don’t know,
as my client, my friend. I’ll figure it out. Just say you’ll
come.”

“Okay, I’d love
to.” She was nervous about meeting his kids, but she couldn’t deny
she was looking forward to seeing him.

“Cool. Hey, I
have some hockey tickets for tomorrow night. My buddy Will was
gonna come, but he can’t make it. Do you like hockey?”

“I do. As a
matter of fact, one of my closest friends is Aiden Cooper.”