Tell Me You Want Me (19 page)

"Jaaaane," Austin groaned.

"—isn't right for you. You're going to get bored with her."

"It hasn't happened yet."

"It will. You're just like me. You'll never be happy with just one woman. I know this girl, cute as a button...."

Austin waved his empty beer glass at the sympathetic waitress, bracing himself as his father rambled on about the right woman for him.

***

Jane wanted to spend the evening with Austin, but there was no way in hell she would spend it with his father, so instead, she breezed through her homework, straightened up the apartment, and was still left with a ton of time and energy.

What to do with the rest of her night? Bake something.

She flipped through the recipe file in her head as she looked through the pantry. Chocolate cake, caramel, Sara's toffee bar stash—Jane would replace those.
Almonds... almonds... please let there be almonds. Yes! Perfect.

"Wow, something smells good." Sara sniffed the air as she came in the front door.

"That's the toasted almonds." Jane checked the oven timer and started crushing toffee bars.

"I love it when you bake." Sara put her books away and hurried back to the kitchen. "Special occasion?"

"No, I'm just bored." She gave Sara a few almonds, relieved to see her in a good mood.

Her roommate eyed the mountain of chocolate and caramel on the countertop. "Did something bad happen?"

"No. Why?"

"That's a therapeutic amount of chocolate."

"You can never have too much chocolate." Jane laughed, toffee flying across the countertop as she snapped a bar in half. "I'll get you some more when I go grocery shopping."

"I forgot I had these." Sara picked up a toffee bar. "When I saw all this chocolate lying around, I thought Austin had found someone else."

Okay, that shouldn't bother me.
Jane might think the same thing if the situation were reversed. She stirred the caramel sauce.

But it did bother her. Why couldn't Sara—or anyone else, for that matter—give Austin the benefit of the doubt? "Why would you think that?"

Sara's lips formed a hard line. "Because that's what he does."

"No. Austin doesn't cheat."

The toffee bar in Sara's hand snapped in half. "Is that what he told you? Where is he tonight? Why are you home alone raiding my chocolate stash—"

"I'll get you more tomorrow."

"—when he's out doing God knows what—"

"He's having dinner with his father, so I—"

"—to God knows who—"

"Sara, calm down."

"—while you're waiting to see if he'll come back to you?"

"Sara, I—"

Jane forgot her argument when she saw her best friend's red face, and the throbbing vein in her temple. The toffee bar lay crumbled in tiny pieces at Sara's feet. This went way beyond not liking Austin's reputation.

Realization dawned on her. "What did he do to you?"

"He... hurt... me," Sara ground out between clenched teeth. She snatched her keys off the coffee table and ran out the door, slamming it so hard a picture fell off the wall.

The oven timer beeped, but Jane didn't hear it. Too many questions pulled her focus. How had Austin hurt Sara? Did he really not remember her? Was he lying about not cheating? Was he lying about everything?

***

After escaping the torturous dinner with his father, Austin flagged a cab home. Halfway there, he changed his mind and told the driver to take him to McGinley's. He needed to unwind before he could go to sleep. A good beer should've helped, but it sat on the bar in front of him, untouched.

"Would you like some company?" A sexy brunette sat down next to him, flipping her long hair over her shoulders as she coyly looked him over.

"Sure." It couldn't hurt to let her sit by him, could it?

She ordered two new beers.

Austin thanked her and took a drink.
Much better.
Maybe he did need some company. He relaxed a bit. "I'm Austin Sinclair."

"I know."

"And you are?"

"Available."

He forced a smile. Normally a come-on like that would make him hard as a rock, but tonight he was uncomfortable for a different reason. More beer.

Her gaze roamed his body. "My name is Ava."

"Pleasure to meet you, Ava."

"What are you doing here all alone, Austin?"

"I needed a drink." Whenever he went to a bar alone, he never went home alone—but again, tonight was different. "I had a rough night."

"Already?"

"Yeah." He chuckled. "You don't want to know."

"Hmm... I think I can fix that."

A sexy woman like her could quickly make a man forget all his troubles, probably forget his own name too. Ava's hand stroked his arm and he pictured those long fingers wrapped around his cock. That made him hard.

She leaned closer, giving him a tempting look down her blouse. Gorgeous breasts, long legs, luscious lips—everything he looked for in a woman—his for the taking. So why didn't he just take it?

"I should get going." He tried to stand up, but she grabbed his arm and pulled him close.

"So soon? I was hoping to spend some more time with you, Austin."

Oh, what the hell.
He couldn't let a good beer go to waste.

She moved closer to him when he sat back down, resting a hand on his thigh. He should have moved away from her, but he didn't. Her heat hit him, and she smelled so good, like a hot soapy shower after sex.

"So tell me...." Ava's hand moved up his thigh. "How would you like to spend the rest of your night?"

With Janie.
That thought flashed into his mind before anything else could, leaving him unable to speak. "Um...."

Her knees parted, sending her skirt scooting up her bare thighs. Austin looked down and watched his own hand touch her skin, and just like that, he forgot all about Janie.

"I'd like to spend the night with you," she purred.

"That's what I figured."

"Interested?"

"Hell yes."
Shit!
Did he say that out loud? "I mean...." Yes, he was interested. Any sane man would be. Ava tempted him, no doubt about that, but his Janie....
Am I insane?

She waited, but not for long. "Come back to my place." She leaned into his body and kissed him hard. Her tongue slid against his lips and parted them.

Before Austin could reply, he pushed her away. "I can't."

"Why not?"

He wouldn't cheat on Janie. Another reason pestered him—lots of other reasons. "I gotta take care of something first."

"All right." She programmed her name and phone number into his cell phone. "Call me when you want me." She blew him a kiss and left.

Oh, he wanted her. For a second, he entertained the temptation to take her to the nearest dark corner and show her exactly how much he wanted her, but when he closed his eyes, it was Janie's face he saw, Janie's body he touched.

Austin stuck his phone in his pocket and walked out of the bar.
Damn it. What is wrong with me?

Janie was the most fascinating girl he'd ever met. He couldn't stop thinking about her, couldn't stop wanting her, but as soon as a beautiful stranger in a bar kissed him, he nearly threw away everything he had with Janie for a night of meaningless sex. Maybe his father was right. Maybe Austin would never be happy with just one woman. He would get bored eventually—he always did.

He would end up hurting Janie. What had happened in the bar tonight proved it. He cared about Janie—he really did—but he cared about her too much to see her get hurt.

Don't hurt a woman you love....
The words his mother had said to him, on that terrible night when his father left, echoed in his head. Only ten years old, and he'd decided that he'd never fall in love. The one time he had, he'd barely survived. Love caused too much pain.

He stood at the street corner and waited for the light to change, knowing Janie's apartment building stood three blocks away. He took a determined right turn.

Only one thing I can do.
It was going to kill him, but he had to do it.

He knocked on the door, hoping to God Sara wasn't home. When Janie opened the door and yawned, he realized he'd woken her up. "Sorry. I didn't know how late it was."

"Austin." Jane blinked and rubbed her eyes. "Come in."

He stepped inside but didn't sit down. He wouldn't be staying long.

"How was dinner?"

"Fine." He didn't want to re-live that. "Janie, I—"

She wore a long baggy t-shirt and nothing else, but damn if she didn't look like sex on legs. Her nipples perked up under the thin cloth, and when she sat down, she crossed her legs, leaving very little to the imagination. Did she have any idea what she was doing to him?
What is it again? Oh. Yeah.

"Janie, I came over to tell you...." How could he do this?
Just get it over with, Austin.
"I can't see you anymore."

"What?" She stared at him with wide eyes, fully awake now. "Why?"

"I'm not—"

Her pretty face crumpled. Her eyes sparkled with unshed tears and her smile disappeared.

God, how can I do this to her?
He had to. He would hurt her even more if he didn't. "I'm not good enough for you, Janie."

"Don't say that."

"After dinner I went to McGinley's and I met a girl there."

Jane sucked in a sharp breath.

"Nothing happened... not much happened. She invited me to her place and when I said no, she gave me her phone number."

"You said no?"

He heard a note of hope in her voice, and it was gonna kill him to dash it, but he had to. "I don't cheat, Janie. I always break up with a girl before I go out with someone else." The hope faded from her eyes, and he forced himself to continue. "I'm just gonna end up breaking your heart. It's better to end it now before you get too attached."

Her eyes narrowed. "Is that what you think?"

"Yeah."

"You think you can just cut me loose and go on your merry way." She stood up and crossed her arms over her chest.

Damn, she covered up those pretty nipples.
"It's not like that, I—"

"So what is it like?"

Oh shit, I've pissed her off good.
"Will you let me finish?" Why was she mad at him? "I care about you too much to hurt you."

"Ha! You have a funny way of showing it."

What the hell?
"I'm trying to do the right thing—"

"No you're not. You're trying to do the easy thing."

"Easy? You think this is
easy
?"

"Oh, yeah. A new pretty face comes along and you manage to say no, but instead of trying to make it work with me—the one you 'care so much' about—you run away."

"I cannot commit to one girl. I told you that. I'm just like my father."

"That's just an excuse."

"That's a fact."

"Bullshit!"

Austin took a step back and stared at her. He'd expected to deal with tears and pleading, but this? "I touched another woman tonight. I kissed her. Doesn't that prove that I'm a heartbreaker?"

Jane clenched her teeth so hard Austin thought her jaw would break. "Yeah, you're the heartbreaker, but I'll be damned if I'll let you add me to your list of conquests."

"I would never—"

"Get out!" She stalked across the room, driving him toward the door.

Austin backed up so fast he nearly tripped over his own feet. "Janie, wait—"

"Get out!" She pushed him out the door and slammed it shut.

That had not gone as planned. Austin shuffled out to the street and hailed a cab. He'd faced angry women before, but damn. His hands shook. Why was Janie so angry? He should never have told her he'd kissed Ava.
That's my mistake
. He sighed and fell back against the seat. He didn't want Janie to be angry with him, but he couldn't do anything about it now. It was over.

The cab turned down his street and he stepped out. When he reached into his pocket for some money, he found his cell phone. He looked up Ava's phone number and felt nothing, not even a remote interest in her. He deleted it, knowing immediately that he'd done something right that night.

Another name and number popped up: Brenda. He deleted that one too. Carrie—deleted. Gina—deleted. Hayley—deleted. He could have so many women. Why did he only want the one he couldn't have? Janie.... He saved her number. Jenna—deleted.

He crawled into bed alone that night. Was his father right? Would he ever be happy? Or was Janie right? Was that just an excuse?

He still didn't have any answers when his alarm went off in the morning.

After she finished cursing Austin and throwing things at the front door, Jane went back to bed.
Why am I so angry?
He'd flirted with another woman, kissed her, put his hands on her body. That hurt, but when he just walked in and announced it was over,
that
was when she'd got pissed.

He hadn't even tried to work things out with her. He'd just expected her to let him go.

She couldn't let it end like this. She needed some control if she wanted to maintain her dignity.

An hour later, she heard the front door open and shut. For a moment she held her breath, her foolish heart hoping Austin had come back, but when she heard keys land on the coffee table, she knew it was Sara. Jane thought about getting up and talking to her—she missed that—but she didn't want Sara to know what Austin had done to her. Not yet.

She couldn't think of anyone else she could talk to, no one else she could trust. All alone in the dark, she curled up into a ball and pulled the blankets up to her chin, suddenly missing her dad. She didn't move, staring at the clock as the hours ticked by one minute at a time.

Without even thinking, she picked up her cell phone and dialed. "Hi, Mom."

"Jane? What time is it? Are you all right?"

She tried to answer but could only sob.

"What's wrong, Honey?"

She took a deep breath, then another, struggling to find the words. "Austin broke up with me." Saying it felt like a knife through her heart, sharp and stabbing.

"I'm so sorry. Why did he do it?"

"He said he didn't want to hurt me." The knife twisted deeper.