She looked at him hard before nodding slowly. “Interesting.”
Was it? “Not really. I think you got the wrong idea about me.”
She laughed then. Hard enough to make him frown. “Oh, come on, Trick. When I first moved in, I thought you were running some sort of clinic over there or were an artist who painted nudes or something. There was a different woman pulling out of your driveway at least twice a week.”
He tried to stay cool but found himself getting defensive. “Not always a different woman. Sometimes it was the same woman twice.” Her derisive snort made him realize how lame that sounded. “Okay, so I had company sometimes. No one serious, and like I said, it’s been a while. I’m starting to see the merits of a real relationship now.” This time he held her gaze, refusing to look away.
She shifted and gripped her bottle tighter, her knuckles going white. “I’m glad to hear it.” Her voice was soft, and a little husky. Her eyes full of confusion. Not unlike the night they’d been in the sauna at the costume party. Considering that night had ended up with him inside her, albeit dressed as a panther, he was going to take it as a step in the right direction.
“But I’m not holding my breath for you on the whole relationship front,” she said with a brittle laugh. “I’m not sure you have it in you to wake up with the same woman more than a few nights in a row.”
Okay, a small step then. She’d spackled that wall the second he’d cracked it. He didn’t let the disappointment show, though, and pushed away from the counter.
“I’ve got to get off my feet for a few,” she said, leading them into the living room. She kicked off her heels while chatting about the latest additions to the Love Will Find a Way roster, and he listened with one ear while he drank his beer. He was glad the business was doing so well, but at the same time, he wanted to hear more about her thoughts on Catman. Without cutting her off and trying for some awkward segue, there was no way to get back on topic, so he let it slide. Maybe once they went out tonight, after a few drinks, she’d loosen up enough to tell him some details about how he made her feel. If it was anything close to how she made him feel? He stood a pretty good chance of getting her to understand what he’d done and why he’d done it.
He hoped.
“I’m going to take a quick shower and then get ready to go. Serena is going to meet us there around seven. If you want to leave Skeeter here tonight to play with Gandalf, that’d be good too.”
He would do that. Then, it would give him a chance to come in after they got home. And maybe, if he played his cards right, she would wind up in his arms again. Gracie and Trick.
For real this time.
Chapter Nine
When they walked into the Brewhouse, the place was packed. Their favorite server, a pretty redhead named Anya, waved from behind the bar and motioned to the last empty table in the corner.
Trick led the way, and Grace trailed behind him. It wasn’t on purpose so she could look at his ass. That was more a side benefit. Odd how, the more time she spent with Catman, the harder it was being around Trick. Granted, she’d always thought he was hot. She’d have to have cataracts not to see that. But that had always been tempered by the fact that she knew they’d make a terrible couple. She’d friend-zoned him for a reason, and it wasn’t because she wasn’t attracted to him. It was because he was attracted to her…and everyone else. She had kept that fact in the forefront of her mind with the stern reminder of how disastrous things could turn. She needed to hold on to that last tattered bit of heart she had left. Or so she’d thought.
But now she wasn’t so sure. Especially after Trick’s seemingly sincere admission about wanting a serious relationship. She tried again to recall the last time she’d seen a woman walk-of-shaming it out of his house and came up empty. How had she missed that until now? Easy. She’d stopped looking. Because even early on, every time she saw a new girl leaving his house, it left a tiny nick in her heart. Better not to focus on his love life and focus on her clients’ instead. Taking the business from up-and-coming to a flat out success had taken up most of her mental real estate for months now. Maybe Trick really had turned in his player card when she wasn’t looking and had started thinking about settling down. And if that was the case…her stomach fluttered restlessly.
“You okay?”
She looked up and realized Trick was standing in front of their table, staring at her with a bemused smile, waiting for her to sit.
She nodded, her cheeks going hot. “Yeah, just thinking about what to get.”
They sat down on the art deco chairs that belied the homey feel of the place and each snagged a menu from the center of the table.
“We had a call at noon, so I skipped lunch. I haven’t eaten since ten,” Trick said, scanning the list of dishes.
She wanted to pluck the menu from his hand and toss it to the side. He was going to get the same thing he always got.
“I think I’ll get a buffalo chicken sandwich, extra blue cheese,”
Hold the tomato, she recited silently.
“But no tomato.”
She smiled to herself and ordered hot wings. What she and Trick had was the best. They knew each other as well as any couple and had a blast when they were together, but there was none of the other relationship negatives to go along with it. She didn’t have to wonder what—or who—he was doing. If they took it to the next level, all that would change.
But you’d be able to touch him. And kiss him. And more.
Tradeoffs that, she realized more and more, she was willing to make.
Anya came over and set a glass of wine at her elbow and a beer in front of Trick. “Is her Highness coming, or just the two of you?” she asked with a grin.
“Serena is supposed to be here already, but hold off on hers because we all know she’s running late.”
They put in their orders and settled in with their drinks. “So have you heard from Chaz since the party?”
She nodded enthusiastically. “Serena really worked it, there. We got half a dozen new women signed up and three new guys. I haven’t heard from Chaz personally yet, but supposedly he called Serena and is coming in next week to meet with me.”
Trick took a swig from his glass and leaned in. “I’m proud of you guys. I wouldn’t have thought that this was a viable industry in Salem, but you’re killing it.”
She smiled, and her chest went tight at his words. It had been a long time since someone had been proud of her, and she had to admit, she liked the feeling. Losing her parents so young, she’d only had her grandmother, and once she’d passed, there was no one else to make proud except herself. The validation that someone noticed how hard she was working and, even better, didn’t belittle what she was doing, made her feel all warm on the inside. She took a sip of her wine to whet her suddenly dry whistle.
“Thanks, I appreciate that. Now you. How’s things at the station?”
On top of Trick’s job on SWAT, he also worked as a detective. The specialized crew was only called out for high risk situations and during down time, which was most of the week. The SWAT guys worked regular police jobs as well. While it made her nervous when he told her the SWAT stories, she did like hearing him talk about the day-to-day stuff down at the station. The locker room was filled with pranksters, and every week he had a funny story to share.
“Oh, I forgot to tell you a good one. So Kameroski came in the other day with a new haircut,” he began, but before he could get too far into his tale, Serena rolled up on them, breathless.
“Hey.” She slid out of her jacket and tossed it on the empty chair next to Trick before sitting down next to Grace. “Sorry I’m late. I can make an excuse if it makes you guys feel better?”
Trick shook his head and chuckled. “Don’t waste a good excuse on my account.”
Grace nodded in agreement. “Yeah, even I stopped believing those like a year ago. You should go up to the bar and tell Anya what you want to eat. We already ordered.”
She went to rise, but didn’t have to, when the bartender called over to her. “The usual?”
Serena gave her the thumbs up and settled back in with a sigh. “Okay, so what were we talking about? Please tell me it was about Grace’s movie date last night with Catman and not some boring story about someone putting shaving cream in Kajewski’s gloves.”
“It’s Kameroski, and no,” Grace fought back the blush she could feel creeping up her neck. “We were definitely not talking about my date.”
Trick’s gaze locked with hers. “We weren’t, but we could, if you feel the need to share.”
She definitely didn’t, but he seemed very interested, which was odd. In fact, now that she thought about it, everything had been a little off with him the last couple days. One minute, she thought he seemed interested in her as more than just a friend, and then next he seemed more interested in hearing about her new…situation with the Halloween party guy. She couldn’t get a bead on him, and it was frustrating as hell. Especially when she was struggling with her own conflicting feelings. She wasn’t about to spill the beans about Catman in either case, though. Something felt wrong about sharing what had happened with Trick.
“Nope. I’m feeling the need for another glass of wine, though.” She waved to Anya again.
Neither Trick nor Serena seemed bothered by her lack of response and started talking about the party. They were in a heated debate over whether or not Chaz’s hair was a toupee when their food arrived.
Over dinner, things were smooth until Trick held out his sandwich a few inches from her lips.
“Want a bite?”
She did. And in truth, she always did, so saying no would be weird. But now even this routine, mundane act felt heavy, and she pursed her lips before leaning in and closing her mouth over the proffered corner. She tore a chunk off with her teeth and chewed, but didn’t taste a thing. Serena’s stare drilled into her, and she was working so hard to keep these new feelings off her face, it was almost impossible to focus on anything else.
“Good tonight, huh? I think they used a new kind of cheese.” The words were casual, but Trick’s voice was huskier than usual, and the room seemed remarkably warmer. An octave lower and a little more scratch and he’d sound a little like C—
“Oh,” Serena said, her chipper tone breaking the tension, “I just got a text from Derek, ‘and he wants to meet up.” She held up her phone, but not close enough for Grace to see the text. “We’re going to rent a movie and then play naughty school girl and buttoned-up professor.”
Grace rolled her eyes and laughed. “TMI, girl.”
“Nah. Not even close,” she said with a grin, “If you had any clue exactly how much ‘I’ I was keeping from you, you’d be pretty shocked. We’ve all got to have our secrets, right guys?”
Grace didn’t even want to think about the things Serena didn’t share, but scenes from Caligula ran through her mind, and she was glad she wouldn’t be a fly on that wall later tonight. She was still laughing at her friend’s outrageousness when she realized Trick had gotten oddly quiet, and Serena’s gaze was locked on him. Again, the sense that something strange was brewing between them hit her, and she didn’t like it one bit. Maybe he was just embarrassed by her friend’s frank talk? Or was it more than that? She shoved back the bite of jealousy and tried to cut the tension.
“What movie you guys going to get?”
“Probably Dark Night Rises. Have you seen it, Trick?” She still hadn’t taken her eyes off him.
Really super weird.
“I have,” he said slowly, setting down the sandwich and wiping his hands on a napkin. “It’s my favorite one of the series, actually, because of Bruce’s metamorphosis. He finally starts to really grow as a person, you know? Plus, I’m a sucker for a happy ending.”