Burn Out (27 page)

She exchanged hugs
with Luc, Marisa, Ryan, Brianna, Trey, Sierra, Liam, and Alisa before claiming
their seats at the same table.

“I can’t tell you
how happy I am for both of my sons,” Marisa said, smiling at Brianna and Erika.
“After so many years of playing the field, I was beginning to wonder if they
were ever gonna settle down.”

Evan set his
napkin in his lap before gesturing toward his brother. “This one may have been
out playin’ the field. I was-”

“Busy working, we
know,” Marisa said, winking at Erika. “I’m just glad you finally realized
there’s more to life than work.”

“Amen to that,”
Liam said, putting his arm around his wife.

“Easy to say when
you’re a billionaire,” Evan muttered.

“I heard that,”
Liam said, laughing. “Trust me, buddy, all the money in the world isn’t gonna
help fill that void.” He looked from Evan to his fiancé. “But I don’t have to
tell you that, do I?”

“No, I figured
that out the hard way,” Evan said, setting his hand on Erika’s thigh. Raising
his right hand, he said, “With y’all as my witnesses, I swear to never make
that mistake again.”

“You won’t be able
to,” Ryan said, laughing. “I gave the security guards strict instructions to
kick you out of the building, using bodily force, if you’re still sittin’
behind your desk come seven o’clock. And you’re not allowed to set foot inside
that buildin’ on a weekend. No matter what.”

Since Ryan was
seated beside her, Erika could reach over and kiss his cheek. “I just knew you
were gonna be the best brother-in-law ever.”

Before Ryan could
respond, the party planner Evan had hired approached their table.

Courtney looked at
the group and smiled. “Does Titan Records know how to throw a party or what?”

Luc smiled. “You
say that like this is somethin’ new. Our parties have always been legendary,
sugar.”

“Can’t argue with
that,” Courtney said, winking at him. Her smile slipped when her eyes landed on
Erika’s left hand. “Well, am I to assume congratulations are in order?”

“Yeah,” Evan said,
looking uneasy. “I was gonna tell you yesterday, but things got a little hectic
at the office.”

Ryan and Brianna
exchanged a look Erika couldn’t decipher, making her feel uncomfortable. Did
they know something she didn’t? If so, why were they keeping her in the dark?

“Congratulations,”
Courtney said. Her smile was a little too bright, and when she glanced at Evan,
a flicker of sadness made her displeasure obvious. “Excuse me, I need to have a
word with Ty about the line-up for tonight.”

She rushed off and
Evan watched her clear the front doors before he said, “Excuse me, I’ll be
right back.”

***

Evan found
Courtney standing outside, shivering. “Hey, what’re you doin’ out here?” he
asked, slipping his jacket off and setting it around her shoulders.

“I just needed a
minute,” she said. “Your news kind of caught me off guard.”

“I’m sorry,” he
said, putting his arm around her. He pulled her into the shadows and away from
the front door as the smokers in the group were coming and going, giving them
limited privacy. “I know I should have told you, but it all happened kind of
fast. I mean, I wasn’t plannin’ on proposin’. It just kind of happened.”

“It just kind of
happened?”

She angled her
head back to look him in the eye, and he saw the tears, making him feel like a
parasite for not making time to tell her about his plans to marry Erika. They
had never been exclusive and he had never promised her anything more than a
good time, but they were sleeping together up until a month ago. He owed it to
her to tell her the truth in private, instead of asking her to hide her
reaction in front of his fiancé and family.

“Kind of like
sleepin’ with me just happened?”

The door was
opening and closing repeatedly, and even though they stood behind a trellis of
ivy, he knew passersby would be able to hear their exchange. “Keep your voice
down,” he said through gritted teeth, positioning his body so she was further
away from the door. “I don’t need the whole world to know our business.”

“So you didn’t
tell her you’ve been sleeping with me for the past year?” she asked, pulling
his jacket tighter when a shudder moved through her.

“It hasn’t been a
year.”

“Damn near,” she
said, glaring at him. “Y’all hadn’t been apart a month when you ended up back
at my place after Titan’s holiday party.”

“Things just…” He
wanted to tell her he’d still been reeling from the break-up and he was lonely,
which was why he hadn’t shut her down when she propositioned him, but he knew
that would be like rubbing salt in the wound, so he bit his tongue. “Got out of
hand. We’d both been drinkin’…”

“That doesn’t
explain why you’ve slept with me dozens of times since then, does it?” she
asked, raising her voice.

When he realized
asking her for discretion was pointless, he grabbed her arm and led her further
away from the door. “Look, I told you I wasn’t interested in a relationship,
Courtney. You were seein’ other guys. It’s not like we were exclusive.”

“I may have been
seeing other men, but you were the only one I was sleeping with.” She brushed
away the tear rolling down her cheek. “I thought when you finally got over
her…” She said, inclining her head toward the building, “That you’d come to
your senses and realize you and I could be really great together.” She took a
step forward, framing his face with her hands. “I get you in a way she never
will, Evan. I know how important your business is to you, and I love and
respect you for that. I would never ask you to become someone you’re not just
to make me happy. Can’t you see how selfish she is? She wants it all… on her
terms. What has she had to give up? Nothing. You’re the one who’s made all the
sacrifices and she’s-”

“Stop,” he said,
pressing his fingertip against her lips. “I don’t want to do this. I think
you’re a great girl, Court. We had a lot of fun together and I don’t regret a
minute we spent together, but I’m gonna marry Erika.”

“Why?” she asked,
looking up at him. “Just tell me why.”

“I love her.”

“I don’t believe
you. You told me yourself not too long ago that you didn’t know what the hell
happened to the girl you fell in love with. You said yourself she wasn’t that
woman when y’all broke up.”

He had said that
in a moment of anger and frustration. The last months of their relationship had
been plagued with anger and bitterness to the point where he almost didn’t
recognize Erika anymore. But he knew he was to blame for that, not her.

“Look, I don’t
want to talk about this anymore.” He placed his hands over hers, gently
removing her hands from his face. “You know where I stand, what my plans are.
I’m sorry if it took you by surprise and I know I should have told you so you
didn’t have to find out that way, but…”

“Is this the part
where you ask me to be happy for you?” she asked, crossing her arms. “Am I
supposed to be the supportive friend now and pretend the last year never
happened? You want me to tell you I’m fine with it, that I don’t care what you
do? Well I’m sorry, I can’t do that.” She started crying in earnest. “I was
falling in love with you and I know you felt something too. I could feel it
when you made love to me. It wasn’t just sex. I know it wasn’t.”

Evan pulled her
into his arms and let her cry on his shoulder. He hated hurting people and his
long-term relationship with Erika meant he hadn’t broken very many hearts in
recent years, but there was no question Courtney’s feelings for him ran deeper
than he realized.

“I’m sorry,” he
said, stroking her hair. “I should never have let things go this far.” In
hindsight, he should never have slept with her at all, but she was an
attractive woman and he was tired of falling asleep alone, dreaming about
Erika.

“No regrets,” she
said, sniffling as she pulled away from him. “Remember what you said, no
regrets.” She passed his jacket back to him and he watched her walk inside, her
head held high.

“Damn it,” he
muttered, wishing he could turn back time. Given the chance to do it all over
again, he never would have slept with her. The last thing he wanted was to hurt
someone else the way he’d been hurting without Erika this past year.

He scanned the
ballroom looking for Courtney, but deduced she must have slipped in to the
restroom to repair her make-up before facing their guests. Heading toward their
table, he noticed Erika’s chair was empty. The last thing he needed was for the
two ladies to cross paths in the restroom. In Courtney’s state, he had no idea
what she might say.

“Hey, where’s
Erika?” he asked, standing behind her vacant chair.

“Didn’t you see
her?” Trey asked. “She went lookin’ for you about ten minutes ago.”

“What do you mean?
Where’d she go?”

“I don’t know,”
Trey said. “You looked kind of upset when you left the table and she wanted to
make sure you were all right.”

Evan got a sinking
feeling in his stomach. “She went lookin’ for me right after I left the table?”

“Uh, listen, man,”
Ryan said, getting up. “I need to have a word with you in private.”

“Not now,” Evan
said, walking away from the table. He needed to find Erika.

“Damn it, would
you hold up a minute?” Ryan asked, jogging to catch up to him. “Erika wasn’t
the only one lookin’ for you. Avery was too. We’ve got problems. Big problems.”

“Too bad,” Evan
said, holding his hand up to silence his brother. “I’ve got to deal with my own
problems.” He didn’t realize how big those problems were until he caught sight
of Erika’s tear-streaked face. “Shit,” he whispered, walking toward her.

Like a scared deer
trapped in the headlights of an oncoming car, she looked ready to bolt.

“Baby,” he said,
approaching her slowly. “Are you okay?”

“What do you
think?” she asked, looking up at him.

Her tears hit him
like a punch in the stomach. “What the hell happened to upset you?”

“I heard
everything, Evan,” she said quietly. “I know you lied to me.”

“What’re you
talkin’ about? What did I lie to you about?” She remained silent, staring at
him until understanding eventually dawned.
Oh, God
,
no
. She’d
overheard him talking to Courtney.

“I’ll uh… give you
two some time,” Ryan muttered, making himself scarce.

Evan had forgotten
his brother was there. The only thing he could see, the only thing that
mattered, was the hurt and disappointment in his fiancé’s eyes. He’d seen that
look once before: the night she moved out.

“Sweetheart,
listen to me,” he said, gripping her arms. He was desperate to make her
understand, but he didn’t know where to start. “I know it looks bad, but I-”

“It’s not that you
slept with her,” she said quietly. “You were single at the time, free to do
what you wanted. It’s the fact that you lied to me. And that wasn’t the only
lie, was it, Evan?”

Obviously she and
Courtney had crossed paths in the ladies room. He’d never taken Courtney for a
vindictive woman, but jealousy had obviously prompted her decision to sell him
out. “What’re you talkin’ about?”

“This benefit. You
used it to get close to me again. You said the director was embezzling and you
wouldn’t trust him with your money. All lies.”

He hung his head,
unable to deny her claim.

“Evan,” Avery said,
running up to them. “Thank God I found you.”

“Not now,” Evan
barked, trying to warn her off before she got too close.

“This is
important. We have to leave now.”

“I’m not goin’
anywhere,” he growled, glaring at his publicist.

“Clint Davis has
just been thrown in jail in St. Louis. We have to fly out now.”

Tearing his eyes
away from Erika, he asked, “What the hell did he do?”

“Some woman is
crying rape,” Avery whispered. “Obviously, it’s not true. We all know what kind
of man he is, but we need to do major damage control before this brings him and
the whole damn label down.”

Evan’s mind raced.
He couldn’t leave with his relationship with Erika hanging in the balance, but
he couldn’t leave his artist to fend for himself either. “Can’t Ryan go in my
place?”

“Evan,” Avery
said, placing a hand on his arm, “you’re the President of Titan Records. When
we release a statement to the press in St. Louis, they’re going to want to know
whether his label is standing behind him. That statement has to come from you.
Not only that, Clint needs your support now. He needs to know that you guys
aren’t going to abandon him.”

“Go,” Erika said,
looking him in the eye. Her eyes were shining with unshed tears, but she was
obviously trying to hold it together. “Your company needs you.”

He raked his hand
through his hair, wishing he had another option. “We’ll talk about this as soon
as I get back. I promise.”