CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
“ So John’s agreed. He’s arriving next week, Thursday, and bringing a few of his people to help.”
Hope was having a soda after her shift at the Howler. Annabelle and Ethan were having dinner, and had called her over.
“Are you actually serious?”
He looked offended.
“Do you think I’d mess with you about something like this?”
Shame washed over Hope.
“No, and thanks. I-I just don’t know what to say. How is this even possible?”
“You’re good at what you do, everyone’s told us that,” Annabelle said. “And John knew who you were when Ethan told him your name. He’s keen to come and work with you.”
“Really?” Hope couldn’t get her head around it.
“Really.”
“You people are too nice,” she felt duty bound to say. “I don’t get it. I mean, I’m nothing to you. How come you’re helping me? This is not supplying two tickets to a movie, this is way more.”
“Sure, I get that. But the thing is, John’s a cool guy. Of course he’s Texan, and related, so that’s a given.”
“Can I ask you one other favor, Ethan?”
“Shoot.”
“Don’t tell him about my dismissal or what happened with Jay at Wildlife. Please,” she added, as she saw he looked doubtful. “I don’t want him to have any preconceived ideas about me, or that I could be trouble.”
“He won’t, because I’ve told him about you, and that you’re nice.”
“I don’t want his pity. Sure, you got him here, but I want him to want to work with me.”
“Honey, you don’t know much about Texans, do you?”
She shook her head.
“Lion’s my cousin. If I say someone’s a nice person he’d know it for the truth.”
“Lion?”
“He used to get about in his lion hat as a child. It just kind of stuck with family.”
She couldn’t believe they were discussing the John Finch. She’d obsessed over his work for years.
“Is he pulling out the Texan card again?”
She tried not to stiffen, but it happened anyway as Newman arrived.
“What are you doing here?” Annabelle said.
“Picking up takeout, as I couldn’t be bothered cooking. Saw your car, thought I’d have a beer.”
It all sounded simple, and likely was; the problem was, Hope felt suddenly tense because they hadn’t spoken, not seriously, since they’d slept together.
“Just letting her know that John agreed to come to Howling.”
“Nice work.”
The Texan nodded, then got to his feet and held out a hand to Annabelle.
“Sorry, bud, the wife’s tired, so we’re heading home. Hope will keep you company.”
She couldn’t ask them to stay, nor could she leave without it looking obvious, which it was. So instead, she sipped her soda and watched the beautiful Geldermans leave.
“Hey.”
She turned to look at Newman. “Hey.”
“How are you, Hope?” He leaned toward her, big hands braced on his thighs.
“Good, but I have to go now. I need to help my mother with some stuff.”
“Hope, we need to talk.”
“No,” she shook her head, “we don’t. It was a moment of madness, now we can forget it.”
“Hell of a moment, it has to be said.”
Hope swallowed her smile.
Newman pushed back the sleeves of his long-sleeved T-shirt, and she saw the gold watch.
“That really would feed a starving village in Africa.”
“Possibly, but as I got this on sale too, I’m sure it would only be half a village. Now these sneakers,” he pointed to his feet, where he wore black leather with white stripes. “They’d change the global deficit.”
“You have no shame,” Hope snapped.
“None. You eating those?” He pointed to the fries she’d been nibbling, but not enjoying. She’d lost her appetite lately.
He hummed a small tune as he ate.
“Why do you do that?”
“What?”
“Hum while you eat. I mean, it’s embarrassing, surely?”
He hummed a few more bars.
“You have the cheek to talk to me about embarrassing myself, when you get about dressed in my mother’s old gardening clothes?”
“I happen to think vanity is a sin.”
“Obviously,” he drawled, making Hope’s temper spike.
“You,” she jabbed a finger at his chest. “Are far too arrogant, opinionated, and… and—”
“Handsome?”
“Asshole,” she muttered, getting to her feet and storming by him, out the door and into the cool night air.
She walked several paces down the street from the Howler and inhaled through her nose. Annoying bastard. The problem, of course, was that she was so attracted to him, every time they spoke she overreacted.
“Hope?”
No, no, no!
She turned, and there stood Jay Herald. Wind ruffled his hair, and his clothes were casual, but she knew there was nothing casual about him. Everything he did was for effect.
“Excuse me, I have no wish to speak to you.”
His fingers wrapped around her wrist as she walked by him.
“Let me go, Jay, or I’ll ugly you up, and we both know how much your appearance means to you, don’t we.”
“I just want to talk to you, Hope.”
“What could you possibly have to say to me?”
He dropped his eyes, but Hope wasn’t buying that act. This man was cold and calculating. What he’d done to her had been planned meticulously for months. It had been a ruthless destruction of her life. That wasn’t a spur of the moment thing she could forgive.
“I heard about your next project.”
“So?”
“Are you really going to work with John Finch?”
“I can’t possibly imagine what the hell that has to do with you.”
“I just want to make amends, maybe help you a little. You know how I’ve always wanted to work with him. It’s been a dream of mine for years.”
He touched her then, cupping the side of her face and looking deep into her eyes. Once, she’d loved it when he did that. Now it made her skin crawl.
“You don’t seriously think I would consider doing anything with you again, do you? Now move your hand before you lose a finger!”
“Come on, Hope. We had a good thing. Maybe I went a bit too far, but we could still make it work.” He pushed her hair behind her ear.
“A bit far.” She shook her head. “I lost my job, you stole my photos and my money, and my reputation was ruined, because you set me up to look like I was using, Jay. I can never forgive you for that. The only right thing for you to do would be to come clean.” Surprisingly, Hope had calmed down. She no longer wanted to shriek or yell; inside, she felt controlled.
“I can’t do that, babe, but I could probably put in a good word, and you could come back.” He leaned in, and she shuddered at the thought of him kissing her.
Did he really believe she was foolish enough to fall for this again?
“Then you leave me no choice but legal action,” Hope said, surprising herself.
Before her eyes, his face changed, twisting into a snarl. “Surely you don’t want that video out there for everyone to see. You drunk and off your face.”
“I wasn’t. You drugged me, which if proven, along with everything else you did, would put you in a whole heap of trouble.”
He stepped closer. “Who would believe you? Everyone likes me and thinks you’re some social misfit with no friends.”
Hope itched to slap that sneer from his lips; instead, she inhaled.
“People respect me, and my work, and those photos were mine. Add to that, some of the Wildlife people saw me taking them, and a few are willing to testify about that, then I think it’s you who should be scared, Jay, not me.”
He grabbed her hand, but she shook free.
“Don’t come up against me, Hope, you won’t win. I’ll make sure of it.”
Sheer willpower kept her eyes fixed on his, when inside she was shocked, and yes, a little scared at the rage twisting his face.
“John Finch is coming here to work with me because he likes what I do. Not you. And I would see you in hell before I ever considered working with a scum-sucking limp dick like you again.”
The surprise on Jay’s face turned to shock as she raised her knee straight into his groin, hard. He staggered backward then fell to his knees. She then stepped closer and slapped his face hard.
The clapping made her look up, and she saw Newman a few feet behind them. She hadn’t known he was there. Something made her dip into a curtsy.