Chapter Eleven
Steele
I watched Claire drive off and fought the urge to follow her. Then I stood on the front porch of the roadhouse and watched the dust from her car fade. It felt like I was in shock, my limbs too content to move now that the adrenaline was wearing off.
"Impressive woman." Hen startled me by bumping open the screen door. "I could have watched at least another hour of those negotiations."
"Yeah, but she didn't come out on top," I said.
Hen jerked his head toward the bathroom. "Not yet. Hack's too busy planning what to do if she forfeits. Hasn't come up with a coherent idea yet."
I scowled down at Claire's tire tracks. "Why is she covering the losses of a loser like Reese?"
"Who knows. If I had to guess I'd say they were old neighbors or college buddies or something," Hen said.
"Not a couple?" I asked.
The corner of the bartender's mouth quirked up. "Wondering if she's single? I suppose now's a good time to swoop in and be the hero. You got that kind of money?"
I kicked some dirt and then headed for the door. Hen was a sharply observant man and over the years he had made enough quiet comments about money to let me know what he suspected. He was a good guy, though, and never one to pry the truth loose.
"The big question is does she?" I slipped past Hen and back into the bar. "Hack's in the bathroom, you said?"
"Probably needed a pick me up after all that." Hen followed me inside and went back to wiping bar glasses.
I veered off and took the last stool at the bar near the bathroom. If Hack was using drugs, then the last thing I wanted was to be trapped in a small space with him. He came stumbling out a few minutes later and I was the first thing his blurry eyes saw.
"Steele. You'll back me up, man, won't you?" Hack dragged himself onto the bar stool next to me. "When someone owes you money they pay up or else. That's all there is to it."
"There's mercy," I said.
Hack's laugh was a dry cackle. "Mercy? Forgiveness? You think I've seen a lot of those things? Sorry, man, I don't think they exist." He glared at Hen who moved away down the bar.
"Hen's making you move on for your own good. You gotta get yourself cleaned up," I said.
Hack slapped at my arm. "And I will. Just as soon as I get my money off that frigid bitch."
I clenched my fingers into a fist. "What are you going to do until her time's up?"
"Haunt her." Hack licked his lips. "I'm gonna make sure she sees me every day, just so she can't forget."
I grabbed a fistful of Hack's shirt and hauled him off his bar stool. "How about you back off. Both her and the guy."
"Or what?" Hack asked in a strained voice.
"Or I'll have to beat you back into being a decent person."
I dropped him and Hack missed his bar stool and hit the floor. He jumped up with a hiss but I was already at the roadhouse door.
* * * * *
I waited to call Claire. It was easy to stay busy with the amount of work I had let slide. Pretending I didn't know what had happened was the hard part. I hoped as soon as she picked up the phone, she'd confess the whole story to me, but Claire was stronger than that.
"Hi, Steele. I'm sorry but I only have a few minutes to talk." I'd reached Claire through her phone service and she was obviously in the middle of work.
"I just wanted to call and make sure everything is okay. You left in a pretty big hurry the other night," I said.
She didn't take the opening and instead of a weepy, stressed sigh, Claire laughed. "Okay is not the word I would use. More like 'folly' or 'disaster.'"
I interrupted her. "Is there anything I can do to help?"
"What? No." Claire was aghast.
She had to know I had money. Claire recognized my name from one of the many donor walls it graced. Plus, she had seen me at the gala and had been there when my outrageous bid on the silent auction had won. Still, it was the last thought in her head.
I had never been more frustrated. At least fifteen times a day people begged me for money. And Claire was finally someone I truly wanted to help, but she wouldn't even think of asking.
"You could at least tell me what's wrong. I mean, if it would help," I said. It was all I could do not to confess that I'd seen the whole thing.
Claire paused then said, "That's nice of you, thanks, but it'd be like explaining a foreign country to you."
"I'm well-traveled," I said.
"Sorry, Steele, but I really have to get back to work," Claire said.
"Then just tell me when you're going to take me out again and I'll hang up," I said.
"Oh, so I'm taking you out this time?"
"Yes," I said. "I mean, you were the one that ditched me so now you owe me a date. And I'm not a cheap date."
I had hoped the threat of an expensive night out would prompt Claire to hint at her current money troubles, but she was too good at keeping things private.
"Then I better let you pick the restaurant because the best food I've had today was toast," Claire said.
"How about the Rainer Rooftop?" I asked.
"Wow," Claire said. "I've actually heard of that one and there's no way I can get us a reservation. Unless you don't want to see me for another three months."
I laughed. "I can barely go another three hours much less months. Luckily I helped the owner secure the lease there so I have a table whenever I want."
"Not very good at letting a girl take you out, are you?" Claire teased me.
"I guess not. So how about I pick you up at your place?"
She hesitated but finally agreed and I didn't realize I was going overboard until I stepped out of the town car at her curb. Claire lived in a nice but inexpensive condominium complex geared toward young professionals. It was not the kind of neighborhood that regularly saw town cars and I saw half a dozen curious faces poking out of curtains.
I gave her an apologetic look as soon as she came out. "I came straight from work. Parking's hell downtown so the whole driver thing really does make sense."
Claire laughed. "Want to take my little car? You did say I was supposed to be taking you out."
She wasn't embarrassed or impressed, and the sparkle in her eye was more teasing than speculative. I couldn't count how many dates I'd gone on that spent at least the first fifteen minutes gushing about my regular idea and how much money I must have.
"Just think of it as a long cab," I said.
Claire laughed and held out her hand to my driver. Max shook her hand and then helped her inside the town car. He gave me an approving wink before shutting the door.
I slid into the seat next to her and tried to keep my eyes off her bare knee. Claire was wearing a beautiful vintage black dress that just added to her timeless and unaffected elegance. The hem had hitched up as she took her seat and a half inch of black lace slip was showing. I wished we were in her little car without my driver's watchful glances.
I didn't want to share her at the restaurant either. We attracted a lot of attention as the maitre d' swept us past the crowd in the lobby and straight to a skyline view table. The head waiter and sommelier met us at the table and fawned over Claire. I felt like swatting away every curious set of eyes. Claire was beautiful and deserved every second glance, but I didn't want her to feel stressed at all the speculation.
Then I looked at her. Claire had graciously nodded at the head waiter and sommelier and then turned her attention to the skyline. The buzz of gossip behind her didn't even register.
"I'm glad I could treat you to such a nice night out," Claire teased.
I waited for her to notice the outrageous prices on the menu, for her eyes to widen with worry, but she ignored the menus and turned her attention on me. My plan for provoking and then solving her money problems wasn’t going to work.
Every other plan I had went off the edge of the rooftop too. Claire surprised me at every turn. She wasn't distracted by all the glitter and glamour around us, she focused on me and I found myself telling her ridiculous stories from my childhood. Turns out it doesn't matter how much your school tuition costs, kids get in all the same kind of scrapes.
"I don't think I've ever told anyone about how I broke my elbow during a food fight," I said.
Claire smiled. "Well, broccoli can be surprisingly slippery. I once knew a busboy that had a similar accident. Had to have pins put in his arm."
I sat back in my chair and smiled at her in awe. "How do you do it?"
"What?" Claire asked. "Insert pins in a broken bone?"
"No. How do you make me feel so normal?" I asked.
Claire sighed with a rueful smile. "Normal wasn't what I was going for."
Her fingers brushed mine across the table and lit a sizzling fuse inside me. "Want to get out of here?" I asked. "Want to go to my place?"
Claire nodded and I seized her hand, pulling her up from the table. The head waiter waved from across the packed restaurant; no need for us to wait for the bill, it was on my tab.
I was so distracted by Claire's body inching closer and closer to mine inside the town car that I didn't notice my own garage doors opening. Max whisked open the door and Claire blinked in the bright light.
"Those are all yours?" she asked.
Claire got out to stare at the row of sports and luxury cars in my garage. I glared at Max. "The front doors more appropriate for guests, don't you think?" I asked him.
"I'd pick seeing a Ferrari Spider over a mansion's intimidating facade any day," Claire said. "You have very expensive taste."
I steered her away from the Maserati and the motorcycles stashed behind it. "Does it bother you?" I asked.
Claire shook her head but by the time we'd wound through the mansion's first floor to my smaller study, her eyes were wide. "Have I embarrassed myself?" Claire asked.
"What? How?"
She bit her lip. "I've been told I'm not very observant outside work and missing the whole fact that you are a billionaire means I probably said some stupid things."
I shook my head and pulled her close. "Remember how I told you at the restaurant that you make me feel normal? I wasn't lying, Claire, and it's an amazing feeling."
She let go of biting her lip and licked them instead. Then she very slowly tilted up on her tip toes and gave me a soft kiss on the mouth.
"And how does that feel?" she asked.
I fumbled with the control panel that flickered off the lights and turned on the fireplace. "Does that answer your question?"
Claire smiled and laid a hand on my chest. "Do I make you nervous too? That's a lot more fun than normal."
I lowered my lips to her smile and explored until it faded under her pleased little gasps. She didn't resist when I tugged her toward the Italian leather sofa in front of the fireplace.
Then her phone buzzed. "Sorry," she breathed against my lips. "I have to get that."
"Is it that Reese guy?" I couldn't help the annoyance in my voice.
Claire nodded. "Yes. I'm sorry. He's my brother and he doesn't have anyone else he can call."
Brother? A rush of relief dropped me down onto the sofa as Claire answered her phone. She told Reese she couldn't talk and that she'd call him later, then she hung up and tossed the phone onto an antique chair across the room.
As soon as her hands were free I caught them and tugged her down into my lap. The fuse inside me was burning so hot I could feel pulses of heat everywhere our bodies touched. Claire must have felt it too because she worked the buttons loose on my shirt. I shrugged out of it while tasting her sweet lips and then she helped dragged my undershirt up and over my head.
Claire's breath stopped on a surprised, "Oh."
My tattoos. I had forgotten about them. "Surprise?" I said.
Claire ran a hand across the tattoo on my chest but instead of wondering at its meaning she got distracted. Her fingers tested the taut strength of my pectorals and then moved up to grip my shoulders. When she straddled my lap and sank closer into my embrace, the tattoos were completely forgotten.