Hidden Depths (28 page)

"Josh, come on man. Not only have you been meaner than
a rattlesnake, but you have hardly even been out of this damn basement. You
haven't been to the club, you haven't been to The Tavern. Hell, I'm not certain
you've been anywhere besides work."

"Is there a point to this little rampage you're
on?"

"Yeah, there is... go see Gia."

"No."

"No? Just no?"

"Yep... just no."

Josh turned on his heel and started toward the stairs
expecting that Blake would follow, but not really caring whether he did or not.

"Don't worry, Blake. I'm getting out of the house
tonight. I even have a date."

"You have a date?"

"Yep. With Melinda. Remember, you and Kelly thought it
would be a good idea."

"I thought Kelly said her name was Melissa?"

Fuck. "Yeah. Melissa. That's right."

"Yeah... a date. With a woman whose name you can't seem
to remember. That ought to work out well."

Grimacing a little at the truth in those words, Josh just
shrugged as casually as he could. "Well, at least it's a start."

As Josh headed down the hallway, toward his bedroom and a
shower, he heard Blake yell out behind him, "Well, when your date crashes
and burns, come by The Tavern. We'll all be there. Don't worry about me, I'll
just see myself out."

He knew Blake was only trying to help. He was worried about
him. Everyone was. Hell, they probably had reason to be. But he was doing the
best that he could. He went to work, he spoke to people, he even managed not to
scream at people too often. He knew that a lot of the restaurant employees were
a little afraid of him right now, but so far he had managed not to fire anyone.

Josh leaned forward sticking his face under the stream of
hot water. He really was trying. He was just so damn angry. All the time. He
managed to keep his temper at work, mostly. By the time he got done for the
day, he was at the end of his rope. So, rather than inflict his nasty attitude
on friends or family, he came home and took it out on his body. He ran, lifted
weights, punched the heavy bag until every muscle in his body ached.

After doing this every day for weeks, Josh was still angry.
He was in the best shape of his life, but it had done nothing to dull the pain
of losing Gia.

Losing... ha! That would imply that at some point he'd
actually had her. Which was simply not the case. She had merely been on loan.
Satisfying some curiosity of her own.

Still, as much as he'd like to, he couldn't bring himself to
regret their relationship. If that's even the right term for it.

Josh had discovered some things about himself. Namely, he
would never be happy with the type of woman his parents expected him to marry.
The type of woman he had always dated. The type like Deb, and even Kelly. The type
of woman he was taking to dinner tonight.          

Kelly had talked him into taking her friend Melinda... no,
Melissa, out to dinner. It was Kelly's way of helping him, encouraging him to
move on.

They were supposed to have gone out last night, but Josh had
been stuck at work later than he'd expected, so they had rescheduled for
tonight.            

He had been trying to be polite, but the truth was he
already knew this wasn't going to work. Even if Melissa turned out to be
amazing, he wasn't in any place to contemplate a relationship with anyone. Not
until he was over Gia.

Somehow, he didn't expect that to happen any time soon.

Chapter 39

As Gia stood outside the entrance to The Tavern, she felt
that tightness across her chest again. It was as if the muscles around her
lungs were trying to squeeze the air out of her. It wasn't painful really, just
a lot of pressure. She rubbed her hand across her sternum, while taking a few
slow breaths.        

As soon as she regained her composure, she opened the door
and rushed inside before she could change her mind. It was still a little
before ten, so Kelly wouldn't send out the cavalry just yet, but she knew it
wouldn't be too much longer. She was quite serious this morning when she'd
threaten to drag Gia down here.

Kelly was very patient, kind hearted and sweet, but she had
an iron will when she wanted to. So, Gia was at the bar.

A quick glance told Gia that the group was over in the far
corner, further back than they usually were. She wound her way through the crowd,
taking this opportunity to see who exactly was here.

Her head count revealed they were one short. Josh was
missing.

A sigh rushed out, whether it was relief or disappointment
even she couldn't tell.

She pasted on a smile, determined to convince everyone that
she was happy as a lark... or at least as happy as she usually was.

Gia was surprised by the warmth of her greeting. Everyone
got up to give her a hug; Deb, Shannon, even Dev.

"Oh, Gia. I'm so glad you made it. We haven't seen you
since... Oh, umm, well..." Shannon stumbled, trying to backtrack.

"What she means is that we've missed having you
around," Deb said, smoothly filling in where Shannon left off.

Gia smiled, "Thanks, guys. I've missed you too. It's
just been so busy lately."

"The shop is doing well then?" Deb asked.

"Yeah, it's doing really well. Aaron is full time now,
and Billy is still part time. Jasmine is there covering the desk a few days a
week, and we honestly have enough business for everyone. I could probably even
use another part timer to fill the other half of Billy's schedule."

"Good. I always knew that if word got out about how
good you were, your shop would take off. I mean, I know I freaked about Josh's
tattoo, but it is really quite beautiful, it was just so out of character
for..." her words trailed off, the sentence just kind of hanging there in
the abyss.

"Him. Yes, it was very much out of character for Josh.
And thank you for the compliment."

Turning to face the rest of the table, she raised her voice
a little making sure to get everyone's attention.

"Listen up, I only want to say this once. You guys do
not need to tiptoe around me, to avoid saying things that you think might make
me uncomfortable. You also don't need to avoid saying Josh's name. It was a
fling. It lasted a few weeks and now it's over. I'm fine. Really."

"Good to know," Josh said, standing right behind
her.

Damn it to hell! She should have sat on the other side of
the table so she could see the fucking door. Oh, double damn... her chest had
that stupid tight feeling again.

No one had mentioned that Gia would be here. He probably
should have known, but Blake had told him she hadn't been seeing anyone lately.
Only Kelly, and only when Kelly went to her house.

No, he was here, with a date on his arm. A date that was
already less than pleased with him. To say it was not going well would be an
understatement of epic proportion.

Fuck! Taking a deep breath to bury the anger, or at least to
cover it with the shiny veneer he used for business... and bad dates, he pasted
on a smile and tried a quick round of introductions.

"Guys, this is Melind... I mean, Melissa. She's a good
friend of Kelly's and my date for the evening. Melissa, this is Dev, Shannon,
Scott, Blake, Deb, you of course know Kelly, and Georgia."

He was pleased he'd managed to get the last name out without
even clenching his teeth. Right up until Gia turned to face them with her hazel
eyes shooting fire.

"Please, call me Gia. Is it Melinda, or Melissa? Sorry,
I couldn't quite hear Joshua's introduction."

Okay, he'd deserved that.

Josh grabbed a couple of chairs, debating exactly where to
put them, when Melissa grabbed one and sat it next to Kelly. If he sat there,
he would be way too close to Gia. Rationalizing that there wasn't really enough
room for another chair there anyway, he pulled his around and sat by Blake.

Blake, who was clearly struggling not to laugh. "So,
Joshua, how's the date going? It looks like you're just having a great
time."

"Fuck you, Blake."

This set not only Blake, but Dev and Scott off into fits of
laughter.

"Okay, correction. Fuck you all."

"Dude, you still screwed up her name. Maybe we should
have Georgia tattoo it across her boobs."

"Haha... Clever. I get it. I'm having an issue with names
tonight. Can we move on please?"

Josh was getting pissed. He knew his friends were only
teasing him, and he wasn't really angry at them. He was just pissed. Seeing Gia
only made matters worse. Listening to her assure everyone that she was totally
fine had been almost more than he could take.

"I need a drink."

Josh shoved his chair back, moving as quickly as possible to
the bar. He ordered scotch on the rocks, forgoing a beer for something a little
stronger.

Kelly walked up beside him, saying "Melissa likes white
wine, and I would love another martini."

"Ah, hell. Look Kells, I know she's having a shitty
time, I know I'm a terrible date, and when she calls you tomorrow to tell you
just how badly I suck, please let her know I'm sorry. I can't do this. I
shouldn't have ever agreed to it. I am still head over heels in love with Gia,
I can't date anyone else."

"Well it's about damn time one of you admits it."

"What?"

"Relax, Josh. Melissa knew this wasn't a real date. I
was hoping that spending an evening with someone else would knock some sense
into that damn fool head of yours. If I was wrong, and you didn't still have
feelings for Gia, well it would tell me that, too."

"So, you set me up?"

She nodded, sending him a soft smile of apology.

"Well, it worked, so I can't really fault you for it.
Well played, Kelly. That being said, I can assume you'll take Melinda
home."

"Melissa... yes, I'll take her home."

"Fuck all. I'm really sorry about that."

Kelly laughed. "It's fine. Just fix things with Gia,
please? You guys are both miserable."

"Not both of us. Apparently she is just fine and dandy.
I heard it myself." Even he could hear the snide tone of his voice.

"Yeah, well... try really looking at her instead of
listening to what she says. Her actions, body language... they all tell a
different story."

She grabbed her drink and Melissa's before turning to head
back to the table, tossing over her shoulder, "The advice isn't free. You
get the tab."

He laughed and paid the bartender, sipped his drink for a
little liquid courage and headed back to the table. Was Kelly right? Was Gia
just as miserable without him as he was without her?

Chapter 40

God she looked good. Knowing that his 'date' was nothing
more than a manipulation, Josh was finally free to relax a little bit. He was
here with his friends, at the bar he loved, and he was seeing Gia for the first
time in over a month.

She looked really good. She was dressed in jeans, old and
faded, the kind that looked butter soft and formed to every curve of her body.
Her T-shirt, red with some sort of black pattern on it was faded as well, and
snug enough that he knew her bra was some kind of lace. It probably meant he
was staring a bit too hard, but he could also tell that the nipple rings she
wore tonight were the larger pair.

He couldn't take his eyes off of her.

She, on the other hand, couldn't be bothered to even glance
in his direction.

She laughed at something Deb said, throwing her head back,
the rich sound making his blood run hot. Knowing he couldn't have her made that
heat search for another outlet. Desire changed to anger in the blink of an eye.

He clenched his teeth, grinding them together in a bid to
control his temper.

"You planning a repeat of Halloween? If you'd like, I
can run interference and clear a path from here to the door for you."

"What?" Josh barked at Blake.

"Well, you have that same look you did that night. The
one you got right before you tossed her over your shoulder. It could work, if
you want to try it again. It is a bit more crowded in here, but I don't think
the people here would be quite as surprised, so they'd probably move out of the
way instead of gaping after you."

"You're just a laugh riot tonight, aren't you?"

"Just tonight? I like to think I'm always a riot."

A little chuckle escaped Josh's chest. He knew Blake was
trying to get him to relax, and luckily it was working. He was still angry, but
that was nothing new. He was a little further from the edge than he had been
moments ago.

"I think I'm good, buddy. But if I decide I need you to
block for me I'll let you know."

Gia was laughing, chatting, and basically having a good
time. Unfortunately, her subconscious mind was completely focused on Josh,
sitting across the table from her, staring at her.

Despite her laughter, her chest was still tight. She had no
idea what it was, but she knew it was his fault.

When he started chuckling at something Blake had said, the
tightness got worse. All of a sudden, she needed some air. Now.

She grabbed her purse and jacket, smiling and making some
stupid excuse to Deb. She glanced at Kelly, trying to convey her need to flee.
A quick nod told her she was off the hook.

She somehow managed to walk normally, rather than run, from
the table and out into the cold night air.

She bent forward from the waist, squatting down trying to
get her head between her knees as she fell backward against the wall of the
bar. She took a few deep breaths, hoping that she could relieve her chest.

After a few moments, her breathing felt a little more
normal, although her chest was still tight. She thought about going back
inside, but even the thought was enough to squeeze at her lungs again. She was
done.

Pulling her keys from her purse, she headed to her jeep.