New Beginnings (30 page)

“She’s something else, isn’t she?” Phil asked, propping his chin in his hand as he gazed at the stage and the gorgeous woman singing a heart-wrenching ballad Drake had never heard before. “I never get tired of listening to her. I remember the first time I heard her sing—”

Drake held his hand up. “If you don’t mind, I just wanna watch the show.” The last thing he wanted was to hear about how the man at his side had developed a bond with the woman who used to share his bed.

“Sure,” Phil said, shrugging. He looked at Drake intensely, as though he was trying to read his expression before he turned his attention back to the stage.

In spite of his attempts to block it out, her song got under Drake’s skin. He closed his eyes and listened to the incredible tone of her voice. If anything, she’d gotten even better over the past year. He couldn’t help but wonder what she’d traded for those vocal lessons.

“You still have feelings for her.”

Drake was shocked speechless by Phil’s assessment. By the time he finally recovered his voice, Cassidy and her band were gearing up for an up-tempo song. “No, you’ve got nothing to worry about, man. I’m done with her.”

“You sure about that?” Phil asked, smiling.

“Yeah, I’m sure.” He expected the man to be jealous, over protective the way he had once been when Cassidy had been
his
woman. A lot of good it had done him. Even with his ring on her finger, she still betrayed him and with his identical twin brother, no less. That still stung more than anything else. What could Lee have possibly given her that he couldn’t have?

“You’re wondering why she chose him over you, aren’t you, Drake?”

He turned to face the man, praying he couldn’t read his thoughts.
What kind of game is this guy playing?
Determined to find out, he said, “I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.”

Phil smiled as he reached in to the bowl of pretzels. “Sure, you do. I can’t even imagine how you must have felt, walking in on them together.”

Knowing that she trusted this guy enough to share that with him cut Drake to the core. Was she in love with him? Planning a future with him? He looked at her, trying to establish whether she was wearing an engagement ring or, worse, a wedding band, but he was too far away to tell. Besides, wouldn’t Phil have introduced herself as her fiancé or husband? He said he was her friend. Not that Drake believed that for a second, especially if they were close enough that she would share the intimate details of her life with him.

“Are you surprised she told me?”

What was it about this guy? How could he read him as easily as an open book? “I don’t care what she told you—”

“Yes, you do.” He chuckled. “I’m a psychologist, in case you were wondering.”

“A psychologist?” He wasn’t naïve enough to believe Cassidy had been seeing him professionally. There was no question in Drake’s mind their relationship was of a personal nature. The way Phil watched her move across the stage with such respect and admiration in his eyes told Drake all he needed to know. “Then you should be smart enough to know that a girl like her is never gonna change.”

“On the contrary, my friend. She’s already changed. She’s not the same woman you proposed to.”

“Really? How the hell would you know that?”

“She was a shell of a girl when she came to me. Broken, confused, alone, feeling… worthless. I’ve helped her find her inner strength, something you didn’t have the tools to do.” He held his hands up, obviously feeling threatened by Drake’s body language. “No offense. It’s just that you would’ve had to be where we’ve been to understand how hard it is to make it to the other side.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“I’m a recovering addict as well.”

Drake stared at the straight-laced man beside him, shocked that he shared Cassidy’s affliction. “You can’t be serious.”

His kind green eyes shone with amusement. “I can assure you I’m not joking.”

Drake looked up at the stage and started to see signs that maybe this man was right, perhaps Cassidy had changed over the past year. She’d certainly stood up to him earlier, instead of cowering in fear and shame the way he’d expected her to. She also seemed to have an inner confidence she’d never possessed before.

“What’s your story?” Suddenly, he found himself interested in learning how this man had turned his life around.

“I got hooked during college. I managed to hide it from my wife—”

“Hold on,” Drake said, looking at his left hand, hoping to find evidence of his marital status. “You’re married?”

Phil smiled. “For fifteen years. Believe it or not, my wife stood by me, even when she should have kicked me out on my ass.”

Drake felt a twinge of guilt. He had no doubt that barb was directed at his treatment of Cassidy. Sure, he’d thrown her out when she needed him most, but she’d slept with his
brother.
That’s not the kind of indiscretion a man can forgive or forget
. Ever
. “I’m willing to bet you didn’t sleep with your wife’s sister.”

“No, but I did a lot of things some may consider unforgiveable. Spent our grocery money on drugs, pawned her wedding ring…” He sighed. “The list goes on, I’m afraid.”

“Okay, you did some lousy things, I’ll give you that.” Drake found himself smiling at the man when he realized he was no longer a threat. “So, how’d you get clean? What was the turning point for you?”

“I found out my wife was pregnant with our son. I didn’t want to be a father my son would be ashamed of. My father was a good man. He died too young, but I was so proud of him. I wanted my son to feel that way about me. So…” He took a deep breath. “I went through an intensive in-patient treatment program and it changed my life.”

“I’m glad it all worked out for you,” Drake said, wishing Cassidy had the same success with the treatment program he’d paid for.

“I went back to school and finished my degree.” He took a sip of his drink before adding, “Fortunately, my beautiful wife understood when I told her I wanted to open a non-profit center to help people overcome drug addiction. It doesn’t pay much, but I love what I do.”

Drake let his words sink in before he asked, “Is that how you met Cassidy?”

Phil slid off his stool. “I think I’ll let her tell you that story, if she’s so inclined.” He reached in to his pocket and threw a bill down on the bar.

Reaching for his arm, Drake asked, “Why did you come here tonight?”

“I thought Cassidy needed me.” He looked up at the stage. “But I can see she doesn’t. She’s going to be just fine.”

“She called you?”

“Yes,” he said, sliding his hands into the pockets of his bomber jacket. “Seeing you again left her feeling a little shaky.”

Given the way Drake had attacked her, he could understand why. “Tell me something. Is she clean now?”

Phil pointed to the woman commanding center stage. “You tell me.” He looked at Drake a long time as though he was considering how much he should divulge. “Keep in mind things aren’t always as they seem, Drake. Sometimes you just need to dig a little deeper to get to the truth.”

“What’re you talkin’ about?”

“Figuring that out is going to be your journey, my friend.” Phil smiled. “Godspeed.”

Getting through that set, knowing Drake was sitting there, watching her, waiting for her to mess up so he could ridicule her, was one of the hardest things Cassidy had ever done. But knowing it was her only opportunity to prove to him that he hadn’t won, she poured everything she had in to every song she sang.

She smiled at the cowboys trying to get her attention as though she was having the time of her life. She’d almost managed to keep the smile firmly fixed in place until one of those cowboys blocked her path to the dressing room.

“Why don’t you take a whirl ’round the dance floor with me, ya sexy little thang?”

He wasn’t asking; he was telling, and his firm grip on her wrist told her that he didn’t intend to take no for an answer. Not wanting to start trouble and lose the only decent gig she had left, she smiled politely and tried to shake him off. “Maybe some other time.”

“Now sounds like a good time to me,” he said, hauling her toward the dance floor.

She tried digging her heels in, but it was no use. At barely five feet tall and one hundred and five pounds on a good day, this average-sized man was the one calling the shots in a physical battle. “I said I don’t want—” She ran straight into his back when he stopped suddenly, taking a step back. As soon as she peered over his shoulder, she could see why he was backing down.

Any man in his right mind would run when his rival was six feet three inches, two-hundred-and-forty pounds of rippling muscle that seemed poised to strike.

The last time she’d seen Drake this angry had been the night he had kicked her out of his penthouse. She knew he’d never take his aggression out on her, but any man who got in his way had always been fair game.

Concerned about the fall-out if she was the cause of a brawl in J.T.’s bar, she stepped between the two men, pressing her palms in to Drake’s stomach in an attempt to force him to take a step back. Lord have mercy, the man still had a six-pack that most Calvin Klein models would envy.

“It’s okay, hon,” she said, trying to give the man the impression they were a couple. “He didn’t mean any harm.”

Drake didn’t even spare her a glance as he glared over the top of her head. “That’s not the way it looked from where I was sitting.” He took a step forward, effectively sandwiching Cassidy between his unyielding chest and the paunch of the man at her back.

“Please,” she whispered, looking up into his dark, determined eyes.

Obviously, he sympathized with her position because he grabbed her waist and pulled her tight against his chest.

Shocked by his state of arousal, she looked up into his eyes, but he was giving nothing away. “Drake, I…”

“Look,” the other man said, raising his hands. “I don’t want any trouble. I didn’t notice the ring…” he stammered. “I’m sorry… I…”

Drake’s eyes fell to her hand on his chest. That’s when he saw it. His engagement ring still on her finger.

Cassidy felt the heat rising to her hairline as her eyes fell to the center of his chest. She heard the man behind her scramble away, but he was suddenly the least of her worries. She thought of taking the ring off, but without a safe place to keep it, that didn’t seem like an option. Her room at the shelter was often occupied by other residents and her car wasn’t an option any more than selling it was. If she’d pawned it, the ring would have paid for a cheap, one-bedroom apartment for more than a year, but every time she tried, she backed out at the last minute, telling the annoyed pawn shop owner she wasn’t ready to sell it.

“What the hell?” he asked, his hands still firmly around her waist.

People around them were starting to dance to Kenny Chesney’s “Come Over,” and Cassidy looked around, wishing she could escape into the crowd. “We can’t just stand here,” she whispered.

Instead of leading her off the dance floor or walking away, he surprised her by falling in to step with the music, forcing her to do the same. “The last thing I expected was for you to still be wearing that ring,” he said quietly.

She couldn’t bear the humiliation of telling him it was the most beautiful gift anyone had every given her, though she was certain he already knew that. Before Drake, her life had been a parade of losers intent on using her for drugs, money, and sex. He was the first man who’d ever cared enough to try and help her wrestle her demons.

Cassidy was terrified of his answer, but she had to ask. “If you want it back—”

“I don’t,” he said, shaking his head. “I just thought—”

“That I would’ve sold it for drug money.” She couldn’t blame him for feeling that way, given her state the night he found her in bed with his brother.

“Did you ever consider it?”

“Selling it?” She stole a glance at him and the look in his eyes told her if she was smart she wouldn’t even consider lying to him. “Sure.”

“Why didn’t you?”

“I don’t know. It didn’t seem right.”

He smirked. “But wearing it does?”

“I loved you,” she whispered, looking up at him. She could tell her soft admission caught him off guard when he sucked in a breath. “I know you don’t believe that, but it’s true.”

He looked at her a long time before he said, “You sure as hell had a funny way of showing it.”

It wouldn’t matter now, too much time had passed and his anger was still palpable, but she still felt compelled to say the words he hadn’t wanted to hear that night. “I’m sorry about what happened, Drake.” She couldn’t look him in the eye again in case the tears gathering in her eyes spilled down her cheeks. “You were so good to me and I—”

“What’s your deal?” he asked, his voice suddenly harsh as she felt his muscles tense. “You want me to pave the way to that record deal you want so bad?”

She stepped back, shocked by the sudden vehemence she heard in his voice. “No, this has nothing to do with that. I just wanted you to know—”

“Bullshit,” he said, setting her at arm’s length. “If you think I’m that same sucker who’ll fall in to bed with you just ’cause you turn those big brown eyes on me, you’re crazy. You forget, I know who you are under all this pretty packaging.”

She felt the weight of his words bringing her down, but she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of knowing he still had the power to hurt her. “If that’s the way you feel, why’d you come to my rescue with that guy tonight?”

“I don’t like to see another man puttin’ his hands on you.” His eyes raked over her body, making her sensitive in places she had no business responding in light of the situation. “Which proves I should just stay the hell away from you.”

He turned to leave, but she couldn’t let him go. Reaching out, she grabbed his hand. “Thanks for caring enough to come to my rescue.”

“This was the last damn time, I can promise you that.”

***

Cassidy was cleaning the center the morning after her surprise meeting with Drake when Phil called her into his office.