Still Into You (9 page)

He leaned forward with a conspiratorial whisper. “You bet. And I’m not that young.”

Despite herself, she smiled. Kade was probably only two or three years younger than she was, but it felt like a decade. They were at such different points in their lives.

He laid an open palm on the table and met her eyes. “I’ll share some with you if you promise not to tell on me.”

She stared at his hand, her heart beating a tattoo against her ribs. “It’s supposedly dangerous to drink here.”

“Only if you plan on playing with someone.” His words were low, intimate in the loud, crowded room. “Do you plan on playing tonight, Leila?”

She shook her head, the idea sending a nervous jitter through her. “No. But what about you? I’m sure you didn’t come here tonight to get drunk with your interior designer.”

He wiggled his fingers. “Come on. I’m here for a few days. I don’t need to play tonight.”

She stared at his open palm, his long tapered fingers beckoning her with what she knew was a bad idea. But she didn’t want to spend the rest of the night alone. Kade was easy to talk to, and for some reason, she trusted him not to cross any lines.

The only question was, did she trust herself?

After a long moment, she laid her hand in his. Her husband had walked out on her. What else did she have to lose?

Kade smiled and lifted her hand to lay a quick kiss on top of it. “Come on, gorgeous. Let’s go get comfortably numb.”

Chapter Ten

Seth finished verifying the night’s cash count and slammed the safe shut with a loud thud, cursing when the impact knocked a nearby picture off the wall of the office. With a sigh, he bent over to grab the frame and set it back to rights.

The shift had been ridiculously busy, and he hadn’t been able to concentrate on anything but the fact that Leila was still at The Ranch. She’d been so unreasonable about the whole thing. How could she not understand that this promotion could mean the difference between them getting the house of her dreams and not? Could be the game changer in her father finally taking him seriously as a businessman? Seth could finally prove to every naysayer in his life that he could become more than what he’d come from. Not a gardener or a construction worker but a real deal executive.

He shook his head, the weight of all that had happened in the last few hours pressing down on him. The betrayal in Leila’s eyes had been akin to a scorned lover—like he was leaving her to go to his mistress or something.

He sat on the edge of his desk, his shoulders sagging. Maybe that’s what it felt like to her. Maybe work was his mistress. How many times had he had to rush off to the restaurant when Leila or the kids needed him for something? He grabbed the brochure on the corner of his desk and stared at it. The real estate agent had given it to him when he’d gone out a few weeks back to look at properties outside the city. He’d found a rambling farmhouse Leila would’ve loved to get her hands on. And it’d been just out of his price range. If he got the promotion, he could put a down payment on the damn thing today. Give Leila what she always wanted. A place to remodel. A big, sprawling yard for the kids to run around in. A home and husband she could be proud of.

A knock on the office door startled him out of his ruminations. He’d shut down the place for the night, so only he and the bartender were left in the building. “Come in.”

John stuck his head in the door. “Hey, boss. You’ve got some company.”

Seth’s heart did a little leap. Had Leila come back? Maybe she’d realized—like he had—how stupid it had been to fight. Things had been going so well today. He pushed himself off the desk and hurried out of his office. But he halted in his tracks when he saw his visitor was definitely not his wife.

Rory, his district manager, and Gregory Lawson, the vice president of the company, were standing in the empty restaurant. Rory smiled when he saw Seth step out from the back office. “There you are, Carlo. Just the man we were looking for. We were hoping to catch you before you headed out.”

Seth glanced at the clock over the bar. Almost two in the morning. And Rory was calling him by his surname. This was either going to be really bad or really good. “Hey, Rory, Mr. Lawson. What can I help you with?”

Rory came around and clapped Seth on the shoulder, which was a bit of a feat since Seth had almost six inches of height on him. “Well, son, I’ve been telling Mr. Lawson here what a bang-up job you’ve been doing for us over the past few years. He’s seen your numbers climbing despite this damned recession and wanted to talk to you about some things. You have a few minutes?”

Seth looked from Rory to Mr. Lawson in surprise. “Sure. Absolutely.”

The older man smiled. “Sorry to be stopping in so late. But I fly out first thing in the morning, and I don’t plan to be out this way again for another few months.”

“Not a problem,” Seth assured, his heartbeat picking up speed. This was it. His promotion. He could feel it. And this could fix everything. He could go back to Leila with an apology and good news for their future. No more late nights closing the restaurant. No more small house in the suburbs. He could be the man she deserved to have.

They all grabbed a spot at one of the tables in the main part of the restaurant, and Seth’s two bosses began to talk. Praise was heaped on him. His great numbers, his solid staff, his reliability and leadership skills. Seth couldn’t keep the grin off his face.

As the conversation went on, Seth found himself scooting further to the edge of his seat, waiting for the offer, for the thing he had worked toward for so long.

“And you’ve been a great team player for us,” Rory said. “I know I can always count on you in a pinch. When I need you here, you’re here, no matter what. You have your priorities in order.”

Seth winced inwardly at that. Priorities.

“So that’s why,” Mr. Lawson said, “we think you’d be perfect to be in charge of new openings for the region.”

New openings? Seth sat back in his chair. He’d been told he was working toward a corporate office position or maybe a district manager role. “New openings?”

Mr. Lawson nodded. “Yes. Getting one of our locations off the ground is a monumental task. So you’d be the man to go in as the initial general manager and do all the hiring and training. Build relationships with the community. Get things running smoothly those first six months out the gate. Then you could transition to the permanent general manger and move on to the next opening.”

Seth’s fingers dug into his thighs.

“We’d cover all your travel expenses, of course, and put you up in corporate housing wherever the new location is. You can fly home every two weeks for a four-day break. We’d give you a company car. And your salary will be double what you’re making now.”

The words started to jumble in Seth’s head as he sat there, the reality of the offer knocking the wind from him. With that much money he could buy Leila that farmhouse and have money left over. He could put the kids in private school. His family could have everything he wanted to give them.

But he would never see them . . .

Living in a different city every six months, leaving Leila and the kids behind, having everything he thought he wanted but nothing at all.

He leaned back in his chair, heartbreak sweeping over him. “Wow, that’s . . . not what I expected.”

Mr. Lawson smiled, oblivious to Seth’s disappointment. “I know it’s a lot to think about, and I don’t need your decision tonight. But I wanted to make the offer in person. Give my assistant a call on Monday, and we’ll set up a time to talk out the details. You can give me your answer then.”

Seth nodded numbly and said a few words that apparently were the right ones because the men rose and shook his hand. Good-byes were exchanged and Seth walked them out. But all of it was moving too slow for Seth. Suddenly being here in the restaurant felt like being locked in a padded room.

He should’ve never run out on Leila tonight. This job had become a vampire in his life—sucking out every ounce of free time and energy and focus he was capable of. And he’d let it. The minute his boss needed him, Seth had been at his beck and call like an eager puppy time and again. Always hoping the company would see his potential, would give him that corporate position. But instead all he’d proven to them was that he was a man willing to sacrifice everything for the sake of the business. A man whose priorities were so reversed that he would be willing to take a position that would isolate him from his family for months at a time to get a nice paycheck.

Seth’s stomach twisted into a wretched knot. By trying to become the man he thought Leila wanted, he’d become a shell of one.

He’d sacrificed everything important to him. And after walking out on Leila tonight, he wasn’t sure he could get it back.

But that wasn’t going to stop him from trying. He grabbed his keys and shouted at John to lock up.

It was an hour’s drive to The Ranch.

It was going to be the longest hour of his life.

Chapter Eleven

“Okay, okay.” Leila waved a hand in front of her, her drink sloshing a bit in her other hand. “I’ve got one. Favorite John Hughes movie?”

Kade arched an eyebrow at her. “You realize you’re setting yourself up to take another shot? All girls have the same one.”

Leila smiled, her brain fuzzy from Kade’s contraband tequila. “I only have to drink if I can’t guess yours. And all
boys
have the same one, so I’m golden.”

He shifted on the couch to face her. “Okay, yours is
Sixteen Candles
because you chicks can’t resist that guy with the hot car and no personality.”

“It wasn’t his hot car we were into,” she said, grinning. “But I’m insulted to think I’m so predictable.”

“Guess you better get mine right or you’re going to be sucking a lime again,” he teased.

Leila eyed him. “
Weird Science
because no boy can resist the idea of having a woman like Kelly LeBrock in your shower.”

“Ha!” He set his shot glass on the coffee table. “Take a drink, gorgeous. I like
Pretty in Pink
the best.”

She scoffed. “You do not. No guy would pick
Pretty in Pink
over
Weird Science
.”

“Wrong. I identified with Duckie, and I’ve always had a thing for Molly Ringwald.”

She narrowed her eyes. “You are such a liar. Duckie? You are so an Andrew McCarthy and not a Jon Cryer.”

“Oh, really? And why is that?”

“You’re rich and have good hair,” she accused.

He tilted back and laughed. She grinned and took her losing shot. The warmth of the alcohol burned a bit less than it had the first three times, and her jagged emotions seemed to blur and soften around the edges after an hour with Kade.

Thoughts of Seth tried to push into her consciousness and tighten her chest, but she tamped them down. He’d left. He’d made her place in his life crystal clear. She didn’t have the strength to face that grief tonight. Tonight she just wanted to be mindless and numb. To forget her heartbreak for a while.

She sank back against the arm of the couch, watching Kade watch her.

He gave her an easy smile. “What are you thinking about over there?”

She set her empty glass on the side table behind her, the buzz of the alcohol fueling a bolder question than she’d normally ask. “I was wondering what you come here for. What’s your thing?”

The humorous gleam in his eyes darkened a bit. “I’m a dominant and a sexual sadist.”

She tilted her head. “Really? I can see the dominant thing, but you seem too nice to want to hurt anyone.”

He smirked. “Well,
hurt
is a relative term when the person receiving the pain gets off on it. And I’m not that nice of a guy, Leila.”

She rolled her eyes and got up so she could get some water from the kitchen. “Right. Because taking the sad, lonely girl whose husband bailed on her to your room for drinks and eighties trivia is a real asshole thing to do.”

He grabbed her wrist as she walked by him, halting her. She looked down at him in surprise.

“Don’t paint me to be that chivalrous. I’ve spent the last forty-five minutes trying to talk myself out of making a move on you.”

She sucked in a breath, and after a long, stretched pause with no protest from her, he pulled her down onto his lap.

“I would love nothing more than to untie this corset of yours with my goddamned teeth and taste my way over every inch of you.” He gazed at her with hungry eyes. “Since the night you left my house, I’ve been cursing the lucky bastard that is your husband. But now knowing that he’s willing to walk away from you makes me feel less sorry for coming on to you that night and for having you here now. You deserve someone who knows how good he has it.”

She blinked at him, her heart hammering and her mind whirling. She wanted to defend Seth and tell Kade that her husband was a good man, that he did love and appreciate her. But how could she be so sure of that anymore? How could she reconcile the Seth she saw last night and today with the one who’d been a near stranger to her this last year?

Kade pushed a lock of hair off her forehead and brushed his thumb over her cheekbone. And before her slow-on-the-uptake tequila brain could process what that look he was giving her meant, he cupped his hand around the back of her neck and pulled her down for a kiss.

Warm lips moved over hers, gentle but coaxing, opening her to him. His tongue stroked over hers and his grip tightened against her neck. Her body responded to his obvious skill, but her mind seemed to snap back in place like a tape measure. She was kissing another man. Not Seth.

A beautiful, unfairly sexy man. But
not
Seth.

Seth, her gorgeous, dark-haired husband. The boy who used to make her mix tapes and surprise her with new paint supplies in college. The man who wept the first time he held their daughter. The guy who made love to her underneath a tree by the lake this afternoon with the passion of a man in love.

Leila stiffened. Suddenly Kade’s hand against her waist felt all wrong and the hardening erection beneath her bottom put her in a near panic. She didn’t want this. She didn’t want Kade. Or any other man for that matter.

Illicit fantasies were exciting to conjure, but now that she had one in the making, she realized that fantasy had nothing on the sparks that zipped between her and the man she loved when they were focused on each other. She put her palms against Kade’s chest and gently pushed away from the kiss. “I can’t.”

He looked up at her and sagged against the couch, his mouth hitching up at the corner. “Shit, I
am
an asshole. We’re drinking. I should’ve never done that.”

She climbed off his lap and straightened her skirt. “It’s okay. I didn’t exactly fight you. I’m just kind of a mess right now.”

He ran a hand through his hair. “Look, I’m really sorry. This isn’t my style.”

“Thanks for keeping me company tonight, but I think I need to head back to my room.” She reached down to grab one of the shoes she had kicked off earlier and swayed a bit when the room spun around her. She put her hand on the coffee table. “Whoa.”

“Hey.” He put his hand under her elbow, steadying her. “You don’t need to walk all the way to the other side of the property and wallow in the cabin you shared with your husband. You can stay here.”

She shook her head. “You don’t understand.”

“No, I do,” he said, standing up, keeping ahold of her elbow. “It’s almost morning anyway. I promise I’ll keep my distance. You can sleep it off in my room, and I’ll take the couch.”

She began to protest again, but her unsteady feet and heavy eyelids didn’t offer much support to her argument. And the thought of returning to the bed she and Seth had made love in last night made her heart twist in her chest. She nodded and let Kade lead her to the back of the cabin. He helped her to sit on the bed, then dug through one of the drawers. He tossed her a soft black T-shirt. “That’ll be more comfortable to sleep in than your outfit.”

She held the ball of fabric in her hands. “Thanks.”

He walked back to her and leaned over her. With one quick flick of the wrist, she felt the laces on her corset give. Her hands instantly went to the bodice, holding it tight against her.

He stepped back and gave her a wistful smile. “That should be enough to get you started so that you can get that thing off by yourself.”

“Oh,” she said, a bit sheepishly. “Right. Thanks.”

He bent and kissed her on the crown of her head. “Good night, Leila.”

“Good night.”

He headed toward the bedroom door.

“And you’re not an asshole,” she added. “You’re a great guy.”

He laughed and turned around, sticking an imaginary knife into his chest. “Ouch. That’s like telling a woman she has a good personality.”

“I’m serious,” she said, smiling despite herself. “Any girl would kill to be with someone like you.”

“Any girl, just not this girl,” he said, pointing at her.

“No, not this girl.” She rubbed the place where her wedding band should be. “This girl already belongs to someone else.”