One True Thing (15 page)

up on someone already. It wouldn’t be fair to you.”

“Can we be friends?” he asked.

“Yeah. I think we can do that.” He smiled

again, less on the sad side and more calculating.

“Friends who
don’t
have sex,” I corrected.

He chuckled and leaned back on his seat.

“Can’t blame a guy for trying.”

I dropped him off at the shoot and gave him

my number if he ever wanted to hang out.

Platonically
, I emphasized, and Josh rolled his

eyes. I really liked him. I actually hoped he would

call. It was starting to get dark by the time I hit the

road. Even though the scenery was covered by the

night, I decided to take the scenic route home. If all

I had to greet me when I got there was the

possibility of getting to watch my brother get it on

with the guy that I wanted for myself?

No thanks.

Chapter Seven

Dusty

THE whir of the blenders from inside Sunset

Smoothies was the only noise for a few seconds

after I finished catching Michelle up on everything

that had happened since our last conversation. We

were sitting at one of the handful of small metal

tables that made up their tiny outdoor seating area,

taking a much-needed smoothie break after a

morning of working out at Cobra Fitness. Sure, I

was probably negating a good portion of the

calories I’d managed to burn off earlier, but, man, I

needed it.

I had aches on top of my aches. The fact that

me and exercise were more like casual

acquaintances than good friends had a lot to do

with it. Of course, Michelle’s brutal, take-no-

prisoners attitude toward personal training

probably accounted for even more of the blame.

She’d talked me into using my one-day guest pass

after a few persistent text messages, and I’d agreed

mostly to make her happy. Sore as I was, though, I

supposed there were worse ways to spend a

morning. Maybe I could even make it a habit.

Someday.

Michelle set her smoothie down on the table

and shook her head. “I can’t believe you’ve only

been in town for a couple of months and you’ve

managed to get yourself into this kind of a mess.

Even
I’ve
never gotten mixed up with twins, and

that’s saying a lot.”

“You’re telling me,” I muttered, taking a sip

of my smoothie. It was orange-pineapple this time

instead of my usual peach-basil. I’d walked into

Sunset craving something different.

Michelle leaned back in her chair and

crossed her legs at the ankles. “Well, I agree with

your friend Rue. If Asher’s the one you want, go

for it.”

“But you don’t think it’s… tacky to just

switch from one brother to the other?”

Michelle made a sound that was somewhere

between a snort and a laugh.

“Besides,” I said before she could expound

on that oh-so-eloquent noise. “I have no idea if

Asher has any interest in me. I don’t even know if

he’s gay.”

“Well, didn’t that guy Lane say he’s seen him,

or at least heard about him, with men too?”

“Yeah….”

“There you have it then.”

I rolled my eyes. “Okay, but even assuming

he’s bi—and that’s all it is at this point: an

assumption—it still doesn’t seem like he’s

interested in me. I mean, beyond warning me about

his brother, which I thought was a
little

hypocritical considering his rep, he didn’t give any

kind of indication that he might want me for

himself.”

“No?” Michelle arched a brow, clearly

amused. “He just gave you his card and told you to

call him if you ever needed anything because he

wanted to warn you off, huh? Yeah. That makes

sense.”

I couldn’t hold back my sigh. “I swear you

and Rue must’ve taken sarcasm lessons together.”

Michelle chuckled and shook her head; then

her dark eyes met mine, amusement gone. “Okay,”

she said. “This is me in serious, sarcasm-free

mode, and here’s my question: are you sure you

aren’t just making excuses? Trying to find a reason

not to approach him? Because the way I see it,

there is
zero
risk involved. You don’t have him

now. Therefore, you have only the potential for

gain.”

I considered her words for a moment. “I

guess that’s one way to look at it.”

She gave a slight shrug. “That’s the only way

to look at it. Otherwise you’ll drive yourself crazy.

And as for his supposed ‘reputation’, have you

considered the possibility that people might have

been getting him and his brother mixed up this

whole time, just like you did?”

I blinked slowly. That was one thing I hadn’t

considered. It was certainly possible, I supposed,

though there wasn’t any way I could know for sure.

“Well, even if that
is
the case, I saw him there

myself with different women. He could be

straight.”

Michelle shrugged again. “Only one way to

answer that question. Call him.”

I hesitated. She was right. I knew it. But there

was still the matter of Archer to worry about. “I

don’t know.”

There went that snort-laugh again. “Let me

know when you figure it out.”

I HADN’T reached any conclusions about Archer

when he called me a couple days later.

“So that was weird last week,” he said after

we’d exchanged hellos. “I don’t know what’s up

with my brother. But anyway, I want to take you

out tonight.”

I chewed my lower lip for a second. Despite

the fact that he seemed to be in a much bigger rush

to get to the sex than I was, we’d had fun both

times we’d gone out together. The guy could move

on the dance floor, and he’d kept me smiling and

laughing. Where would the harm be in going out

with him, enjoying myself for a bit, and then

calling it an early night and coming home? If I

watched my drinking, there wouldn’t be any real

chance of anything happening between us before I

was ready. I’d been dumb the last time, caught up

in the music and lights, the hot press of bodies

around me, and the idea that Archer was the guy

who’d been giving me that feeling of rightness on

and off. That wouldn’t happen again.

“Dusty?”

I jerked a little, startled out of my thoughts.

“Sure. Where do you want to go?”

“Manacle. It’s in LA. What’s your address?

I’ll pick you up at nine.”

I blinked in surprise, but rattled off my street

address for him. Archer hadn’t offered to pick me

up before. I’d assumed he didn’t have a car, and

I’d been fine with taking cabs since I didn’t much

like driving my big, rusty boat of a car around if I

didn’t have to.

“All right,” he said. “See you then. If you

have any leather, wear it.”

He hung up before I could reply.

THAT night I walked out to Archer’s car, a modest

red Corolla that looked to be a few years old, sans

leather and grateful he’d shown up at all, since he

was over twenty minutes late.

I noticed the curtains twitching as I slid into

the passenger seat. Probably Rue spying, since

Erik had been locked away in their bedroom

writing. I shook my head, but I was smiling as I

buckled my seatbelt.

It made sense Rue would be a little nosy. We

were still acclimating ourselves to the area and the

people. He loved his job at Roberto Colucci,

though, and he at least had a friend there in Chad,

the guy who’d helped him get a chair in the

exclusive Beverly Hills salon in the first place.

And then he had Erik, of course. Erik hadn’t gotten

brave enough to venture out of the house much, but

he greeted Rue with kisses and a big, goofy smile

whenever Rue got home.

They were good together, settled and happy,

and so obviously in love it made my heart squeeze

to watch them sometimes. I’d have that too.

Someday. Even if it wasn’t with the man in the car

with me… or his brother. I had to keep that hope

alive.

“You look good,” Archer said as he pulled

away from the curb. “No leather?”

I laughed quietly. “No. Well, not unless you

count my handbags, but somehow I didn’t think

carting along my Coach was what you had in

mind.”

Archer flashed a grin at me. “Yeah, not so

much.”

“Are your pants leather?” I asked. I thought

they might be, but it was hard to tell in the dimness

of the car.

“Feel for yourself.”

I reached out and touched his thigh, running

my hand over the smooth material, which was

warm from his body heat. Felt a lot like leather.

Smelled like it too. “No matching vest?” I teased.

Archer laughed. “I left it at home. If you’re

good, maybe I’ll wear it for you later.”

I joined him in laughing, and if mine was a

little awkward, he didn’t seem to notice. “I didn’t

know you had a car,” I said after a moment,

changing the subject. “Do you normally just take

cabs when you go out?”

“It isn’t mine. One of my friends let me

borrow it. We could catch a cab to Manacle, but

it’s kind of a haul. I prefer to drive when I go.”

“Where is this place exactly? I hadn’t heard

of it before.”

“You’ll see.” I could hear the smirk in

Archer’s tone. “It’s not exactly a high-traffic area.”

Twenty minutes later, I saw what he meant.

The club, if it could be called that, was on the

outskirts of what appeared to be a large industrial

area. We’d parked in a dubious-looking lot

surrounded by a chain-link fence and walked the

rest of the way. I had to admit, even with Archer

holding my hand, it was kind of scary. And if I got

a little jumpy whenever we moved through the

unlit stretches between streetlights, I didn’t think

anyone could blame me. The very last thing I

wanted was to be mugged or bashed or worse, but

I comforted myself with the thought that Archer

wouldn’t have brought me if it wasn’t safe. At

least I hoped not.

The sight of the building that housed Manacle

and its pair of beefy doormen was a relief. We

approached and presented our IDs and were

waved inside. I thought one of the bouncers was

eyeing me in amusement, but I couldn’t be sure.

For some inexplicable reason, he was wearing a

pair of dark sunglasses even though it was going

on ten. It was the hint of a sneer on his mouth that

made me feel like I was being laughed at.

I ignored him and clung to Archer’s arm a bit.

The music got louder and louder as we moved

down the dimly lit hallway. We passed a guy who

was apparently guarding a door that led God knew

where. He nodded at Archer and smiled. Archer

grinned back, and when we were a few feet away,

he leaned down to speak in my ear. “That leads to

the lower level. There’s all kinds of fun stuff down

there, but no drinking allowed. We’ll save that for

another night.”

I forced a stiff smile to my lips. I could only

imagine what type of “fun stuff” he was referring

to. I already knew I didn’t really want to find out.

There probably wouldn’t be a second visit to

Manacle for me, but it wasn’t exactly the best time

for that discussion.

We made our way into the main area, and if I