The Unblocked Collection (49 page)

“Just fine?” She plopped her elbows onto the table and pushed herself forward, her chest leaning into the edge. With her dress so low cut, her breasts were practically spilling out. They were much larger than mine, but Derek wasn’t looking at them…he was barely looking at her at all. “Your mom said Hayden was doing fantastic. She’s a partner at her firm. Single, but having lots of fun. It looks like your mom is doing great, too. She said that you and Hayden won’t allow her to get a job, so she’s been volunteering. She also told me about Timber Towers.”

His hand was now on my thigh, his fingers brushing back and forth to my knee. “Like I said, they’re all doing fine.” There was just as much tension in his voice as in his touch.

Taylor knew about Derek’s mom and sister. Until this weekend, he hadn’t even spoken to me about his family. Even after opening up to me yesterday, I still knew nothing about his living relatives.

“How are things with your uncle?” she asked.

Another person he hadn’t mentioned. By the look on his face, he wished Taylor hadn’t mentioned him either.

“There’s nothing to say about him,” he said.

“Why?” she asked. “It’s not like I don’t already know about your past. There’s no reason to hide anything from—”

“I’m not talking about this.” His tone was sharp and adamant.

If she knew him as well as I thought she did, she’d know he was done with the topic and she wouldn’t be getting anything else out of him. Derek surely didn’t need to be saved, but the conversation needed to shift, and it looked like I was the only person willing to do that.

“Why don’t you tell me a little about yourself, Taylor? Derek knows what you do and where you’re moving from, but I don’t.”

“Phoenix.” She looked behind us. When she caught the waiter’s attention, she pointed at her glass. “When I left Portsmouth, I moved to Florida. Then I was in Denver for a little while.”

“Okay, your time is—”

I interrupted Derek and said, “So your company is transferring you to Boston?” Before he kicked her out, I wanted to know a little more.

She drained all but a sip of her beer. “Yes.”

“And what is it that you do?”

“Marketing—stuff like that.”

“Ah, excellent, a career I know much about.” I crossed my legs to get more comfortable. “Do you work in digital? Print? Consumer? Business to business? Or are you—”

“I do a little of everything.”

“I see. So are you in sales, account management, or design?”

“I bounce around a lot, you know? Wherever I’m needed most.”

No, I didn’t know. And I still didn’t feel like I knew anything about her. There were multiple agencies in the city that specialized in full marketing services. I’d worked with most of them over the years in some capacity. What I’d never heard of was an employee who worked in all fields. Designers didn’t sell; account managers didn’t design.

“Which agency is it?” I asked.

She ran her fingers over the rim of her mug. “It’s new to the area,” she said. “It started in Phoenix, and we’re trying to open in Boston.” She still hadn’t answered my question. “Once we’re up and running, maybe I could show you some of our services? I’m sure I could get you guys a great deal on some T-shirts or some fun pens.”

“That would be great,” I said. “We’re always looking for…T-shirts.”

If she worked in promotional marketing, I wasn’t sure why she hadn’t just said that from the beginning. Something felt off about her answers…and her. I just couldn’t place what it was yet.

She smiled, licking the final bit of gloss off her lips. “So Derek, after your mom told me about Timber Towers, I got a chance to drive by last night. What a property. So many floors and units. You’re really showing your uncle what you can do, aren’t you?”

“Many,
many
units,” he said, the annoyance obvious in his tone.

“I assume you’re in charge of selling them?” she asked me. She crossed her hands on the table in front of her, showing off bare wrists, and a silver ring on her index finger. For someone who had such a large rental budget, it surprised me that she wasn’t wearing any expensive jewelry. The strap of her purse was cracked and wasn’t real leather, her maxi dress was too big for her body and wasn’t designer.

Five thousand a month in rent…that didn’t sound right.

“I am,” I said.

“All that commission, it would be crazy to give it to someone besides your girlfriend, right?”

She wasn’t showy, and it was quite possible that she spent her money on other things besides fashion and accessories. But why have such a large housing budget when three thousand would have gotten her a decent place in Boston? She wanted the extras and those came with a price. Personally, I would have rather spent that money on myself and not on a high-rise.

I needed to know more.

“Are you moving here with your boyfriend? Husband?”

She shook her head as the waiter returned with her second beer. “Neither. I’ll start dating again once I get settled, assuming you can find me what I’m looking for.”

“She will,” Derek said.

“I will,” I confirmed.

She smiled and sat up straight, finally closing the view of her breasts. “Of course you will.”

I didn’t get the sense she was challenging me. She’d heard of me, which meant she knew what I was capable of. There was something about her that just wasn’t adding up. Or maybe I was just questioning everything about her because she was the only woman Derek had ever loved.

She took her phone out of her purse and stared at the screen. “I have to take this call. Excuse me a minute.” She pushed her chair back and headed toward the lobby.

“I want her out of here the second she gets back,” Derek said. The waiter placed our two appetizers in the middle of our table. “Can you put her beer in a to-go cup?”

“No problem,” the waiter said, lifting it off the table. “Should I still give her the check?”

“Give it to me once we’ve finished eating.” He didn’t speak until the waiter left. “You’re handling this better than I would.”

Taylor had been cordial since the moment we’d met. I couldn’t say the same for Reed, which was why Derek had handled their encounters much differently. If her politeness was only an act, it would come out the second we were alone.

I stood, stopping at his chair to give him a kiss. “It’s a business deal, Derek, and I treat all my clients the same…even your ex-girlfriend.”

He laughed and tightened his fingers around mine. “Then no cat fights in the bathroom. Got it?”

“I wouldn’t stoop that low.”

“No, but she would.” I pulled my fingers away to take a step. “For the record, I think you’d win.”

I smiled at him and walked through the restaurant, toward the lobby where the bathroom was located. As I reached the door, I heard her speaking to someone inside, using a much different tone than she had at the table. It was weak, even a little whiny. I gripped the handle and pressed my ear against the frosted glass.

“He didn’t say.” She paused. She was still on the phone. “He wouldn’t talk about it.”

Was Derek the
he
she was referring to? And what wouldn’t he talk about?

“I’ll stay on him,” she continued. I could hear her pacing across the tiled floor. “Don’t worry, I’ll get everything you need, but you’ve got to give me a few more days.”

A few more days…for what?

When she paused again, I pulled out my phone. There was a missed call from Reed on the screen, and a text message that asked me to call him. I ignored both, found Brea’s name and started to type:

Frankie
: I need you to quickly find out everything you can on Derek’s ex. She just moved here from Phoenix. She works in marketing. Her name is Taylor Hall. I’ll fill you in later.

“Yes, you’ve made yourself extremely clear,” Taylor said.

Brea’s reply came almost instantly.

Brea
: I’m all over it.

“Okay…okay,” Taylor said. “I’ll call you in the morning.”

Walking into the bathroom now would make my timing look a little suspicious, so I released the door handle and hurried back to the table.

“Everything all right?” he asked.

“Fine.”

“Do I need to send someone in there to get Taylor?” He was smiling, but I could tell it was an honest question.

“I’m sure she’ll be coming right along.” I returned the smile, part of me wishing I hadn’t heard her conversation, and another part knowing that with Brea’s help I would get to the bottom of it. I wasn’t a spy, and I certainly wasn’t an investigator, but I wouldn’t let her hurt Derek, if that was her intention. “Here she is…”

She looked flustered when she reached the table, her false confidence stripped. “Sorry about that.”

“Sorry about wha—”

“The appetizers are delicious,” I said, interrupting Derek before he could finish his question. I stuck my fork into a piece of calamari, realizing I hadn’t even tried it. “Thanks for suggesting we order some.”

She reached inside her purse, filling her hands with several bills and dropped them onto the table. “Thanks for letting me crash your party, but I’ve really got to go.”

Derek picked up the money and handed it to her. “I’m not taking this, Taylor.”

“Please. It’s the least I can do.”

As he tried putting it in her hand, she backed away. “Frankie, I’ll wait for your call.”

“Wait, Taylor,” I told her. “I don’t have your number.”

“Oh. Right.”

I found one of my business cards inside my purse and gave it to her. “How about you call me tomorrow afternoon,” I said. “Or shoot me an email. Both are on there.”

She slipped the card into her pocket without looking at it. “I’ll do that. Thanks.” She quickly glanced at Derek. “Thank you both.” And then she was gone.

Derek’s hand was on my leg; his eyes were devouring mine. I had his full attention, and I should have been relieved that we were free from his ex. But I wasn’t. I was filled with questions, some of which I was nervous about finding the answers to.

“I know you’re business-minded,” he said. “I wouldn’t change that about you and I wouldn’t try to take it away from you, but don’t ever allow my ex to come to dinner again.”

Until I found something substantial—if there was even something to find—I wasn’t going to mention her phone call to him. Telling him I had spied on his ex would only make me sound jealous, and probably a little nuts. And I honestly wasn’t jealous—not of her, at least, though maybe a bit of her knowledge of him.

“I won’t,” I said. “I promise.”

“Tonight is about us, no one else, and that’s the way I want it to stay. No more interruptions.”

I took a deep breath and reached for my wine. I wasn’t going to let my brain jump to conclusions. This weekend was about us. Not Taylor. Not Reed. “I agree.”

He leaned into the table, his hand moving higher up my leg. “Kiss me.”

We weren’t in a back booth, and this restaurant wasn’t nearly as private as The Hole. There were more servers, a more open floor plan, many other tables close by. What he was asking for was much more than the peck I had given him before I’d gone to the bathroom. “Those fingers,” I said, placing my hand on top of them, “aren’t planning on going any higher, are they?”

He licked his bottom lip, teasing me with just the swipe of his tongue and the whiskers that surrounded it. “They weren’t, no. But now that I know it’s on your mind, I’m not sure I’ll be able to stop them.”

DEREK

FRANKIE SAT
next to me on the couch, her hands in her lap, her legs tucked underneath her. Her head was on my chest, and I felt every slow breath. She was relaxed, tired. We’d eaten a big meal at Blu, shared some wine, and I’d poured us another glass when we’d arrived back to the house. Taylor had gotten under my fucking skin and Frankie hadn’t let me touch her at the restaurant. Tonight hadn’t gone anything like I had planned. But it wasn’t over yet, and the second I grazed her skin, I knew her nipples would harden and her fingers would start clawing, begging me to caress her. I understood why she didn’t want it back at the restaurant, but I knew she’d want it here.

Before I could sweep my fingers over her, my phone vibrated from my back pocket. I reached for it, the screen showing a text from my sister:

Hayden:
Took a little longer than I expected. He signed.

I stopped reading to look at the time. It was just after ten on a Saturday night. She’d told me in her last text she was meeting him this morning. As soon as I dropped Frankie off tomorrow, I had to call my sister and make sure she wasn’t visiting these guys alone and that she was keeping herself safe.

Hayden:
He gave me names of two of his friends. Both injured on the job. It’s getting deeper.

“Is everything okay?” Frankie asked, lifting her head to look at me.

This shit wasn’t okay. Hayden was starting to worry me—I didn’t like the amount of time she was spending with these guys and how involved she was. And this was becoming much deeper than we both thought.