CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
had taken me all afternoon to balance the various sets of books, and in doing so, I calmed down and thought about Beck and the situation he'd put us in. I knew he didn't know what he was doing. It was the junk talking. I also understood Riza's concern and anger. There was a lot riding on what Beck would or wouldn't say and on how seriously the police would take him. We knew he was a messed up junkie, but they didn't understand the extent to which his manufactured stories were illusions of his drug-addled brain, or at least that's what we wanted them to believe.
When I looked up at the clock again, I realized I had exactly fifteen minutes before I was scheduled to meet Brooke. There was no time to run home and change, so I took a quick shower in the bathroom I'd built off of my office when I'd renovated the club. At the time, it had been a huge luxury to design and build this room. I'd decided that it would most likely be invaluable in the future, so I'd listened to my gut and gone ahead with the construction, despite the fact that everyone had told me it was insane to pay for a flame-proof, bullet-proof, impenetrable bathroom when I barely had the money to buy the liquor needed to stock the bar.
I looked at myself in the mirror as I toweled my hair and decided that shaving was a luxury of time that I couldn't afford. She'd have to like me with my five o'clock shadow. I pulled on a clean set of clothes, a black t-shirt and jeans, and ran a hand through my still damp hair. Not great, but at least I was clean.
I hopped in the car with five minutes to spare and quickly navigated the streets between the club and Dooley's. I parked around back and walked through the door at precisely six o'clock.
"Hey, Dax!" Billy called. "Good to see you, man!"
"Billy, good to see you," I smiled as I walked toward the bar.
"She's in back," he said nodding toward the private room Dooley's kept available for business deals and clandestine meetings. "You want a drink?"
"Yeah, give me a bourbon, neat," I said.
"I'll bring it back in a minute," he called as I walked through the doorway into the poolroom and crossed over to the door that led to the private meeting space. I pulled it open and smiled as I walked in and saw Brooke sitting at a table in the back corner.
"Mr. Malone," she smiled. "Good of you to join me."
"Ms. Raines," I grinned. "So kind of you to invite me."
"It's the least I could do," she said as she gestured to the chairs around the table. "Would you care to have a seat?"
"Don't mind if I do," I said as I picked the chair closest to her and sat down. Sitting next to Brooke was an instant aphrodisiac, and I could feel myself getting hard as I looked into her blue eyes. Never before had a woman had such a powerful effect on me. Part of me wanted to get up and walk away knowing that if this went much further I'd be in over my head. But my gut told me to stay, and I always listened to my gut.
"Well, shall we get down to business?" she asked.
"Business?" I echoed. "I thought I was here to listen to your explanation as to why you ditched me at Beso after a perfectly nice dinner last night."
"Well...I...I...oh hell," she said as she blushed crimson and looked down at her hands in her lap. "I can't really explain what happened other than to admit that I got scared."
"Scared? Of what?" I asked genuinely confused. "Did I do something that scared you? Because in all honesty I thought I was the perfect gentleman last night."
"Oh, you were," she nodded. "It had nothing to do with anything you did..."
"Then was it something I said?" I prompted. "Because, again, I thought I was a pretty good conversationalist. I kept up with your intellectual sparring and was as open and honest as one can be on a first date."
"You were...great," she said as she swallowed hard and looked away.
"I've got your drinks here, folks!" Billy called as he pushed the door open with his foot and walked across the room. "You want any food?"
I looked at Brooke who shook her head, and then said, "Nah, man, we're good, but thanks."
"No problem, just holler if you need anything else," he said then looked at me and added, "I'm gonna lock this door behind me so that you're not disturbed while you're doing business."
"Appreciate that, man," I said in the most professional manner possible. I knew what he was thinking and, even if it was true, I didn't want Brooke to feel uncomfortable.
Once he was gone, I turned back to Brooke and said with a playful grin, "Before we were interrupted, you were saying how great I was."
"This is true," she laughed as she sipped her drink. "You were great last night. It’s just that it was all so...so..."
"So what?"
"So, overwhelming, I guess," she reluctantly admitted. "All of this seems too good to be true, and there are a host of mitigating factors at work here."
"What are you talking about?" I asked. I could tell she was holding something back, but I had no idea what the hell it was. "Let go of the legalese and put it in plain language, please."
Brooke opened her mouth to say something just as my phone started ringing in my pocket.
"Shit, sorry," I said as I pulled it out, looked at the screen, saw that it was Kesha again, and tapped dismiss. "Please, go on."
"Dax, I like you," Brooke said as she carefully weighed her words. Then, looking straight into my eyes she said quietly, "I don't think I've ever been more attracted to a man than I am to you. And last night, that scared me."
"What's to be scared of?" I asked as I tried to maintain an air of absolute coolness. "You like me, I like you, we like each other. Big deal."
"You don't know me, yet," she said shaking her head. "And I'm not sure I know you well enough to take a chance like that with someone I don't know very well. Even if I am wildly attracted to him."
My phone vibrated in my pocket again and when I pulled it out and saw that it was another message from Kesha, I swore under my breath. "Sorry, that won't happen again," I said as I shut the phone off. "Please continue."
Brooke looked at me for a long time, then reached out and put her hand over mine and said, "If we're going to actually get to know each other, then we're going to have to commit to being honest. Are you up for it?"
My heart sank as I realized what she was asking.