Careless (19 page)

Tori tipped her head back to look at him.
His eyes were shielded by the brim of his black cowboy hat, but she could still
see the sincerity on his face. He was someone who cared about her, and she knew
he only wanted what was best for her. “What do you think you saw, cowboy?”

“You’re in love with them.”

His simple statement sent her reeling.
She’d just acknowledged it to herself; she didn’t expect it to be so obvious to
the casual observer. “How did you know?”

“You looked at him the same way I look at
Sierra when she’s not lookin’. My world begins and ends with that little lady,
Tori. Without her and our daughter, my life ain’t worth a damn. Take the money,
take the fame, hell, take my voice, and I’d be okay, but take them, and it’d be
all over for me.”

Tori swiped at the tear she didn’t realize
was sliding down her cheek until it landed on her leg. “I want someone to feel
the same way about me.” She sniffled. “I didn’t realize how much I wanted it
until I heard you say that.”

“You already have it, honey. Trust me,
Mike’s feelin’ it too, you just have to be willin’ to let him in.”

“How can you be so sure he feels the same
way?”

Trey chuckled. “I’ve known him since he was
a kid. He was a little hell-raiser, a lot like me when I was growin’ up. That’s
why I liked him so much. Over the years, I’ve watched him rein it in some, and
when he found his passion, he focused all of his energy on bein’ the best at
what he does, and he is. We’re all proud of him.”

Tori smiled. Mike was the kind of man who
wasn’t afraid to stare down danger to protect a stranger. He’d lay down his own
life for someone he loved, and he wouldn’t rest until he made sure victims got
the justice they deserved. She was proud of the man he was, the husband and
father she knew he would one day be.

“I knew it would be the same for him once
he found the right woman.”

“What do you mean?”

“Mike’s a lot like me, an all-or-nothin’
kind of guy. There’s no gray area for him. Either he’s all in or he’s out. Trust
me when I tell you with you, he’s all in. I see it in the way he looks at you,
the way he’s always looked at you.”

Tori wanted to believe it was true, but
they had their chance two years ago and he sent her packing before his sheets
were even cold. “If that’s true, why do you think he’s waited so long to make
his move?”

Trey shifted his cowboy hat back on his
head so he could look her directly in the eye. “You think it’s easy to love
people like us?”

Tori smiled. “You? No. Me? Yes.”

Trey rolled his eyes as he tried to hide
his smile. “I’m serious. Half the world wants a piece of us, not because we’re
good people, but because we’re rich and famous. I can’t imagine how difficult
it would be to love a woman like you, Tori. No matter how secure Mike is in who
he is, there’s always gonna be this little voice in the back of his head
tellin’ him you could have any man you wanted, so why should you be happy with
a regular guy like him?”

“You know that I’ve dated lots of guys who
are rich and famous, Trey. None of them have ever made me feel the way he
does.”

“I know, honey, but does he?”

“I hope so.”

“That’s somethin’ you don’t wanna leave to
chance, sweetheart. You just need to bite the bullet and tell him how you
feel.”

She reached up to brush a kiss across his
cheek. “I will tonight. Thanks for helpin’ me figure things out.”

He kissed her hand. “Hey, what’re friends
for?” 

For the first time in a long time, Mike was
nervous as he pulled into Luc’s driveway. He’d been to plenty of his fancy
launch parties over the years, but he’d never had a woman like Tori on his arm
before. They all knew and loved her already, but when their family and friends
saw them together, as a couple, there were bound to be questions. He had no
idea how she intended to handle it. Would she tell them they were just having
fun, that it was nothing, or would she tell them she hoped it was the start of
something special? He tipped his head back and said a silent prayer for the
latter.

The valet took the keys to Mike’s truck as
he nodded and slipped him a bill. He took the stairs two at a time, anxious to
see the woman who had been drifting in and out of his mind all day. He’d
interviewed her other two lovers earlier, and it damn near killed him, having
to sit there and listen to another man tell him how special Tori was.

He rang the doorbell and waited for one of
the uniformed wait staff to check his name on the guest list before ushering
him inside. It didn’t take long for the sound of her husky laughter to permeate
the white noise, drawing his attention. 

Tori was wearing a black, strapless
cocktail dress and high spiked heels. Her long blond hair was twisted into a
fancy top knot. She looked radiant as she sipped from a champagne flute.  More
than anything, he wanted to believe he had something to do with the spark of
happiness he saw in her beautiful eyes. How had he been able to fool himself
into believing she meant nothing to him for so long, when it was so obvious she
could easily be his everything?

Jay and his wife, Victoria, came up behind
him and Jay passed him a cold bottle of beer. “I knew you wouldn’t want none of
the champagne they’re passin’ around.”

Mike had never felt more like celebrating
as his eyes locked with Tori’s and she raised her glass to him, a smile on her
glossy lips.

“Wow,” Victoria said, fanning herself. “Is
it getting hot in here, or is it just me?”

“Sorry, hon,” Mike said, tearing his eyes
away from Tori long enough to focus on his sister-in-law. He leaned in to kiss
her cheek. “You look gorgeous, as always.”

Victoria snorted as she rolled her eyes at
him. “I could be prancin’ around here half-naked and you wouldn’t even notice.”

Her husband raised his eyebrows. “Now that
I’d liked to see.”

She slapped his chest. “Behave yourself.”

Mike’s heart clenched when he watched his
brother pull his wife close and whisper something in her ear. For the first
time, he envied what Jay had. The beautiful woman to come home to, the baby
girl who thought the world began and ended with her daddy. He wanted that… with
Tori.

“Excuse me, guys. I need a minute with Tori
before the party gets under way.”

She was talking to a group of men he didn’t
recognize, but he couldn’t wait another second to get her alone. He’d been
holding his tongue, afraid to put himself out there in case he got hurt again,
but it didn’t matter anymore. The only thing on his mind was telling her how he
felt, now, before it was too late.

“Sweetheart,” he said, coming up behind
her, slipping an arm around her waist, in case any of the guys in her tight
circle had any ideas about making a move. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but I was
hopin’ to steal you away for a minute.”

“Um…” She looked up at him and smiled. “Let
me introduce you to some of my crew.” She gestured to a balding man with
glasses. “This is Danny, one of the lighting guys.”

Mike dutifully shook the man’s hand. “Mike
Cooper, nice to meet you.”

“Hey, you related to Josh?” the man asked,
bringing a glass of beer to his lips.

“Yeah, he’s my father.”

“Me and Josh go way back. Ever since I
started workin’ for Trey back in the day. Man, I could tell you some stories
about the trouble me and your old man got into at Jimmy’s—”

“I’m sorry,” Mike said, holding his hand
up. “I’d love to hear about that. Later, maybe?”

Danny shrugged. “Sure, no problem.”

“Excuse us, guys,” Mike said to the rest of
the group as he took Tori’s hand and led her outside. There were several groups
gathered and all of them turned their attention to Tori as though they felt her
presence.

She smiled as she raised her hand in
greeting. “Hey, y’all.”

The last thing Mike wanted was to share her
with her adoring public tonight. “Let’s head back to the pool house.”

“What? Why?” she whispered, smiling
politely at the people she knew as they tried to engage her in conversation.

“Mike, I’m here to mingle. How the hell am
I supposed to do that if I’m locked away in Luc’s pool house with you?”

“Please, just give me a minute.” His heart
was pounding harder than it did when he went full-out on the treadmill at the
gym. Thankfully, the door was unlocked and they were able to slip inside
unnoticed.

“This is crazy,” she said, laughing as she
watched him turn the lock. “What’re you doin’?”

“I can’t stop thinkin’ about you, Tori.” He
crossed the tile floor as he ran his hands through his hair. He didn’t trust
himself to get close to her until he’d said everything he needed to say. “I
don’t wanna stop thinkin’ about you.”

She sat on the arm of the upholstered
loveseat and waited for him to continue.

“I wanna be with you, all the time. I need
to be able to call you in the middle of the day… just to tell you I love you. I
don’t want to come home to an empty apartment anymore. I want to come home to
you.”

“Mike, I…”

“Please, just let me finish.” Even if she
shot him down again, at least he’d know he hadn’t held back. “I interviewed
those other two guys today, the names you gave me, and they talked to me about
how much they’d loved you.” Just saying the words aloud twisted his gut. “They
said they wanted more, but you couldn’t give it to them.

“I need to know, is that the way it’s gonna
be with us, too?” He walked over to her and dropped to one knee in front of
her. “They said they fell in love with you, but you could never say it back. It
reminded me of the other night, and I realized… maybe I’m just kiddin’ myself
here.”

She shook her head, trying to deny his
claim, but he was too far gone to try to read her signals. “I don’t wanna end
up like them, just another guy whose heart you broke ’cause you didn’t have the
courage to tell him the truth.”

Her eyes darkened and he knew he’d hit a
nerve when she shifted back and glared at him. “You wanna know why I never let
myself fall in love with any of those guys?”

He gripped the sofa on either side of her,
hoping she wasn’t intent on telling him something he wasn’t ready to hear. “No,
why?”

“When I was havin’ sex with them, I was
pretendin’ it was you.”

He dropped his head as the visual tore
through his mind. Tori finding pleasure in another man’s arms… “I can’t listen
to this,” he said, getting up.

She fisted his jacket in her hand. “Oh,
you’re damn well gonna listen. You think you get to call me out, and I’m
supposed to just sit here and take it? Like hell. You were the one who brought
up those other guys, and now you’re gonna hear about it whether you like it or
not.”

Once again, his big mouth bought him more
trouble than he could handle. He knew her words had the power to leave him
battered and bloody by the time she was finished with him. “Are you tryin’ to
punish me? You wanna pay me back for kickin’ you out that night? Believe me,
I’ve been payin’ for it every night for two long years. Every time I saw you at
one of those parties… I’d have to watch you kiss him… touch him… let him touch
you…” He clenched his fists. “I’d go home alone, and lie awake wonderin’ if he
was makin’ love to you. If he was makin’ you feel the way I did.” He lowered
his head.

“No one has ever made me feel the way you
did,” she whispered fiercely. “And that’s why I couldn’t even stand to look at
you. It just brought it all back, the way your hands felt on my skin, the way
it felt when you thrust inside me the first time…” She pushed his jacket off his
shoulders. “Remind me what it feels like now.”

There was so much he still needed to say,
but he needed her more. “This isn’t over.” He took his jacket off and laid it
over a chair.

“No,” she said, watching him intently.
“This is just the beginning.”

“Don’t say that unless you mean it.” His
hands flew over the buttons running the length of his shirt as he watched her kick
her heels off.

“I do mean—”

“Tori, you in there?”

The pounding on the door rattled the
windows as Mike muttered a curse. “Him again?”

“Be nice,” Tori whispered. “He’s just doin’
his job.”

Mike crossed the room and threw the door
open. “What the hell do you want?”

Joe’s eyes drifted to Mike’s open shirt and
he looked over his shoulder until he found what he was looking for: Tori. “Are
you okay, honey?”

Mike clenched his fist on the doorknob when
he heard the casual endearment slip past his lips. How many other guys were
just waiting in the wings for their chance with her? “She’s fine, now get
lost.”

Tori came up behind Mike and pressed her
palm to his back. She smiled at Joe and Mike watched the guy’s whole demeanor
change.

“I’m fine. You go on back to the party and
have a good time. We’ll be up in a bit.”