“It’s not what it looks like.”
“Oh really now. So Phoebe and Charisma didn’t battle it out in your bar yesterday?”
“Well, yeah they did. Phoebe was in the middle of a tantrum when Charisma dropped by to discuss the renovations.
But Charisma’s totally innocent. We never really met until yesterday. Besides, Phoebe attacked her.”
Seth laughed. “I do not miss the days when my love life was scrutinized every second. Family life saved me from all that.”
“Really? You’re going to give me the settling-down speech while I’m amid my latest scandal?”
“There’s never a good time for tough love.”
“I can’t believe
this.” Derek ran his hand over his face.
“At least Morgan will be relieved that her cousin Charisma isn’t up to her old tricks. Sounds like this time she was just caught in the crossfire.”
Derek smiled. Since he had his friend on the phone, why not get some background information on her? “So what’s the deal with Charisma?”
“She’s Morgan and Jared’s cousin.”
“I know that,
Mr. Linebacker-Bait. I was hoping for something more detailed.”
“Once upon a time she was calculating and ambitious but realized that wasn’t working for her. She says she’s trying to change. Morgan believes her.”
“And we fast forward to my bar being repaired.”
“The offer to pay for the repairs is still on the table,” Seth said.
“And I told you, your money’s no good here.
But that does make us even for that sports car of yours I crashed.”
“I’d forgotten about that.” Seth laughed.
“I hated Brayer’s guts anyway.”
“That’s the other thing. Some genius decided to get a sound bite of Lamont’s opinion about you and Charisma being the hot new item.”
“What did he say?” Derek nearly snarled.
“You’re not going to like it.”
Derek searched
Lamont’s name. The article popped up immediately. It was a video file, so he pressed the giant arrow for play. He gripped his phone as he watched Lamont telling the cameras: “That’s one headache I got rid of a while ago. Popovich is an idiot for getting involved with that crazy, money-grubbing bitch.”
He was going to kill the bastard. “He has no right to talk about her like that.”
“I agree. I’d like another crack at him too. He’s either trying to bait you or get back at her for dumping him. I’d get ready for the storm. I give it by mid-morning before one of Morgan’s cousins goes after him on social media. The Reeds don’t mind a good fight, and they hate his guts.”
“She doesn’t deserve this and especially not from that asshole. He’s dead meat,” Derek barked.
“Sounds like you care about her.”
“What? No. It’s nothing like that. After Phoebe’s meltdown, we had lunch. She’s…” Derek cleared his throat. “I haven’t had that much fun with a woman in a long time.”
Seth hesitated for a long moment. When he spoke again, his words had the sound of a man being careful with what he said. “The Reed women are enchanting. Word of advice. If you’re thinking
about getting involved with her, tread lightly. Despite her previous antics, she’s more fragile than she looks.” He hesitated again. “In fact, I know you too well. Maybe it’s not a good idea.”
“Don’t worry, Blake. I need a break from women after this Phoebe fiasco.”
“If you say so. I have to go. I’m taking the kids over to J.J.’s house for a swim. Mackenzie, say bye-bye to Uncle Derek,”
Seth said.
“Unc Der!”
“Bye-bye, Kenzie.” Derek laughed. “Hey, Seth, give Morgan my love. And I’ll see you in a couple months.”
“We look forward to having you.”
Derek hung up the phone and read the entire article from start to finish. It was a scathing indictment of Charisma’s past. She had quite the reputation for dating athletes and had even been courted for a reality
show. This person he was reading about clearly craved attention and fame. But the woman he’d met yesterday was none of those things. As a matter of fact, she was adamant about not getting that expensive purse replaced. Seth said she was turning over a new leaf. He wondered if it were true.
* * *
Charisma went to work the next day with her head held high, thanks to her
chat with Grandma Reed. It meant the world to her that her grandmother believed in her. She’d read the gossip article after dinner. Not only had the picture made them look like two feral animals fighting over a piece of meat, her past was rehashed for all the world to see.
She refused to let even Lamont’s backstabbing get her down. Later on in the evening she’d gotten a call from her cousin
Dana saying a gossip show had caught up with Lamont outside a nightclub and asked him to weigh-in on the situation. She’d told herself she couldn’t care less what that egotistic meathead had to say, but she’d found herself climbing out of bed anyway, turning on her laptop, and queuing up the video clip. Lamont didn’t hesitate to slam her, but she knew that smoldering, maniacal look in his eyes.
He was plenty angry, even if he didn’t let the reporters know it. She got more calls and text messages from family members, including her mom, but she didn’t respond to them. It would have been simpler to hold a press conference on her grandmother’s front porch.
Her phone was pinging from the time she turned it on the next morning, but she didn’t check the messages. When she arrived at work,
she was greeted at the door by Jared, who was waiting for her with her mocha latte.
“Good morning.” He flashed a bright smile and handed her the cup. “This is for you.”
“Thanks, Jared.” She gave him a quizzical look. “You’re here early.”
“Autumn had an early flight. I figured I’d come on in to the office and get ready for my conference call with J.J.”
“Oh. Well I hope she
had a good time. As I suspected, Grandma loved her.”
He smirked. “Grandma told her that we shouldn’t waste any time making babies.”
“I can see you two giving Bingo a playmate in the near future.” She laughed.
“We’ll see. So how was the meeting with Derek?”
She took a deep breath. “First of all, I didn’t want to call you because I knew it was your last night with Autumn
before she returned to Texas.”
“You made the front page.” Jared held up a newspaper.
Her eyes widened. “It must be a really slow news week.”
Jared began reading. “Actress Phoebe Palentz pays surprise visit to boyfriend, notorious bad boy Derek Popovich, at his swanky eatery, the Slap Shot bar, to find him cheating with another woman. A catfight ensued, and the hockey player had
to separate them. The other woman, Charisma Reed, who’s no stranger to scandal, is the ex-girlfriend of Lamont Brayer, wide receiver for the Philadelphia Titans. She and Brayer had a tumultuous breakup several months ago, but it appears Ms. Reed has moved on from the NFL to the NHL.”
“I can’t believe this. I was at the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“That’s not the worst part. Apparently
Lamont wasn’t content with that TV sound bite ripping on you. He went on social media and decided to take a jab at you and Derek. Morgan sent me a text. The Reed family grapevine is ready to pounce.”
She gulped. “What did he say?”
Jared opened the app on his phone and showed her the post.
Popovich, you can have my leftovers.
“What!” Charisma grabbed his phone. That wasn’t
the end of it. Lamont had posted more ramblings after that. Some of them were aimed at her.
Jared gently retrieved his phone. There was nothing gentle about his expression though. “I’m going to kill that jerk for you.”
“Jared, we’ve been down this road. Lamont is acting out like a whiny baby because he wants attention.”
Charisma took out her smartphone, opened the social media
site, and started typing away.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m going to respond to this idiot.”
“So
you
can reply, but I can’t give him a beat down?”
“Yes. Let’s keep it at a war-of-words level for now.”
She knew that stooping to Lamont’s level wasn’t a good indication of her personal growth, but damn it, she was tired of his crap. It wasn’t enough he’d verbally abused
her then ramped it up to physically grabbing and pulling her, but she refused to be his virtual victim as well. She posted a reply.
Lamont, do you still wear a bustier under your uniform on game day? #gamedayritual
Jared howled with laughter, then became serious again. “As your older and presumably wiser cousin, I want to go on the family record for saying that was unbecoming and you
should not have stooped to his level.”
“Says the man who just threatened to kill the idiot.” She raspberried him.
“I don’t think this is the birthday present Derek was expecting.”
“Today’s his birthday?” She cringed.
Lamont must have been online and waiting for her to respond because a minute after her reply posted he came back with another nasty retort. The back and forth
was getting attention too, even though Derek had yet to respond to Lamont’s barbs. Titans players, Pirates players, her family, and a multitude of other random folks joined in on the calamity. Not to mention fans of Phoebe who thought Charisma was the catalyst for their breakup. She was angry that she’d fallen into that place of pettiness again. Could she have ignored his slight? Yes, but he’d
basically said she was being passed around. It was hurtful, and she just couldn’t let it slide.
An hour quickly passed in the online battle, and Charisma, Jared, and the rest of the staff were so engrossed in the digital fight, no work was getting done.
It had gotten so bad that even Morgan had gotten into the fray.
So glad my cousin is safe and happy now. Making better choices. #ReedGirlsRock
.
Charisma’s cell phone was pinging like crazy, but she didn’t want to answer it. Especially the calls from her mother. Instead she responded to Lamont’s latest jab.
Sounds like someone still has sour grapes. #ImOverYou.
Suddenly a comment from none other than Derek popped into the timeline, sent to Lamont.
Apparently no one ever taught you how to treat a lady. No wonder
she left you. If you want to go a few rounds, give me a call. I’ll meet you at the Titans stadium. #RealMenDontHitWomen
Derek rarely commented on social media, so that sent everyone into a tizzy. He definitely didn’t live his life online and it was kind of refreshing to see. The hashtag #PiratesVSTitans began to trend, with people posting comments about who would win in the fight, Derek
or Lamont. Players from both teams offered to show up at the fight and turn it into an all-out brawl. Someone asked if Seth were coming out of retirement to join in the fun. It was getting out of hand. All she’d wanted to do was to defend herself from Lamont’s heinous words, not start a war. Now she was in the middle of it all, looking like the instigator.
The office collectively held its
breath waiting for Lamont to make the next move. But instead of continuing the jabs, his posts began disappearing. They let out a collective sigh of relief and finally went back to work. Jared was still fuming, but she convinced him to funnel that energy into designing something great. Charisma was just about to close the site when she got a notification that she had a new follower. It was Derek.
She smiled and returned to work.
The rest of the afternoon went by in a whirl. She was so immersed in perusing a Web site for new stemware for the Slap Shot that she didn’t notice Jared was standing at her desk until he cleared his throat and made her jump. She looked up to see that he was holding gift-wrapped boxes and bags.
“Hey, Jared. You startled me. What’s that?”
“I was
walking past the reception area when these arrived.”
“Ooh.” She looked at the packages wrapped with big red bows. “What did you get Autumn? I’m sure she’s going to love whatever it is.”
“These are for you.” Jared grinned.
She furrowed her eyebrows. “For me? Are you sure?”
“I don’t like to flaunt my public school education, but I know how to read, and the card says ‘To Charisma.’”
She reluctantly rounded the desk and retrieved the card. Who could have sent her gifts? Lamont was out of the question. It could have been an attempt from her mother to get Charisma to talk to her. She opened the card to find a note from Derek.
Sorry about the purse. I hope this makes up for it.
Derek
Charisma smiled. It was a nice gesture, considering the
day she’d had. Too bad the man didn’t listen.
“They’re from Derek.” She sighed. “I told him not to buy me a new handbag, and he did it anyway.”
“Technically, he didn’t buy a purse. It looks like he bought an arsenal of accessories.” Jared continued to juggle the packages in his arm.
“Can you set them down on the chair?” Her jaw ticked. “I’ll drop them off at the Slap Shot on
my way home.”
“He’s not there. I got a text from him saying he was going out of town and would be back in a few days. He said he’d be able to meet with you at the Slap Shot on Tuesday.”
How convenient. The nerve of him leaving town and robbing her of her self-righteous march to his bar to return the gifts. Maybe he was chasing after Phoebe to apologize and figured he’d smooth things
over with her too.
“He’s not getting away with this,” she fumed.
Jared shook his head. “What a jerk for trying to replace something that got ruined. I remember you tried to choke Trina at Thanksgiving for stepping on your fancy, high-heeled shoe.”
“They were Louboutin’s. She’s lucky I didn’t cut her with the carving knife. You need to brush up on women’s fashion. Besides, Autumn
looks pretty sharp all the time.”
“Or is this about something else?”
“There’s nothing else. I’ve been involved in two fights since meeting him. I just want to design his bar and be done with him.”
“So you
do
have designs on him.”
“Ha ha.”
“I’m just saying.” Jared started walking away. “As you just stated, you’ve been involved in two fights since you met the man. You
two keep getting drawn together.”
CHAPTER THREE
Derek stood on the deck next to the grill and watched his older brother Alex bounce on the trampoline with his niece Chloe and nephew Noah. The clear, blue skies and peaceful surroundings were just what he needed after the week he’d had. He liked visiting Portland. It had a rare combination of progressive big city with a small-town
feel. Alex fell in love with the city and his late wife Rachel when he’d attended college there and decided to remain there when he’d completed his medical residency.
It was a lovely spring day, and he was happy that Alex was agreeable to grilling. It had been almost six months since he’d seen them, but it felt like years. His niece and nephew had grown so much since the last time he’d visited,
and a few other things had changed. The energy in the house was lighter as they continued to grieve the loss of Rachel, but time played a healing role. These days Alex devoted all his efforts to his patients and children.
“Uncle Derek! Come join us!” Chloe yelled as she tried to do a flip.
“I have to watch the grill,” he shouted back. It was his brilliant idea to get the trampoline
when Chloe said she was interested in gymnastics. He thought it would be great practice, but he didn’t want to puke his guts out jumping around on that thing.
“Don’t tell me the big, bad hockey player is scared of a little trampoline.” Alex hopped off and bounded up the deck steps.
“I’m feeling a little run-down after my plane ride. Maybe later.”
“You give them these toys just
to torment me, don’t you? Someday I hope you are cursed with eleven kids who never want to sleep.”
“Ouch. You say the most awful things to me. You didn’t tell me I couldn’t buy them a toy when I took them shopping.” Derek sipped his beer with one hand and flipped a burger with the spatula in the other. “And you’re only three years older than me. Hardly old man territory.”
“I didn’t
think I had to tell you that a trampoline was out of the question.” He snatched the spatula out of Derek’s hand and began flipping the burgers.
“You know I’m a sucker for the kids. Just be grateful you didn’t come home to a lama in your backyard.” Derek took a seat at the table. “And did you just steal the spatula from a chef?”
“Playing around in your bar kitchen doesn’t make you a
chef. But here, make yourself useful.” Alex handed him a jar of pickles to open. “So what’s going on with you? The nurses in my practice were going bonkers over your break up with that actress. Then you get into something on social media with some wide receiver. The nurses thought, and I quote, ‘You had an awesome clap back’ to whatever he said to you. What the hell is a clap back?”
Derek
laughed. “It’s a new term for biting retort.”
He hadn’t intended to get involved in Lamont’s rant, but those remarks about Charisma were totally out of line. He couldn’t just sit by and let that loudmouth clown think he could berate her on a very public platform and not be held accountable for it. It was plain mean-spirited and cowardly. On a good note, it took the spotlight off his breakup
with Phoebe for a moment. Teammates came out of the woodwork weighing in on his assumed new relationship and told him to run for the hills. They thought Charisma was a gold-digging, trouble-making fame hound. Even his publicist Daniel mentioned something about treading lightly. All of these rampant opinions only made him more curious about why she was receiving a bad rap.
He was no angel
either. But clearly everyone thought he was Little Red Riding Hood and she was the Big Bad Wolf in the scenario and oddly, that made him want to protect her even more. She’d turned down his offer to replace her purse, but that didn’t stop him from going shopping the next day to look for a replacement bag and a few other accessories the saleswoman said every businesswoman on the go needed in her wardrobe.
He had to at least try to make it up to her.
“Man, I am old.” Alex put the buns on the grill to toast. “I try to keep up with trendy words and such to stay aware of what the kids are talking about, but I swear they speak another language. It’s all—”
“
Tarabarshchina vam
?” Derek grinned.
“
Da
.” Alex laughed in response. “Gibberish and abbreviations. I think people use about ten
letters of the alphabet these days. Everything is emoji’s and hashtags. Pretty soon we’ll be reverting back to cave drawings.”
“Dad always said the human race was bound to take a big step backward before it could leap forward.”
“I miss arguing with dad at the dinner table.”
“Me too.”
Their father was a brilliant scientist who encouraged his children to expand their minds
and observe the world around them. Many a day a passionate debate would erupt over the varying philosophical standpoints in the family.
Alex grinned. “Now back to your messy love life.”
“The breakup with the actress was real. The allegations that I cheated on her with the woman in the photo are false. The argument with Lamont Brayer, the woman’s ex-boyfriend, was real.”
“The
life you lead.” Alex shook his head. “Well, this scandal is better than the articles about your alleged legendary schlong. That was a proud moment for the Popovich family. Men who are settled down don’t have these kinds of problems.”
“No, they don’t. They only have to keep one woman happy. Whereas I do my best to please many. How about you?” Derek glanced at the wedding ring on his brother’s
finger. “Have you made any new friends?”
He knew he was in fragile territory. Rachel had been gone a year, but he worried about his brother cutting himself off from the world.
“No. I don’t have time for that, with the kids and the practice and everything. But there are a few of Rachel’s friends that are still dropping by with casseroles, pretending to check on me and the kids.”
“That’s no surprise. You’re almost as handsome as me.”
“You’re delusional little brother. I’m clearly better-looking.” Alex scratched at his five o’clock shadow. “Anyway, I got fed up with the ploys and told her friend Marta how Rachel swore that if something ever happened to her, she’d haunt any of her friends who tried to date me for all eternity.”
“You didn’t.” Derek chuckled.
“I did, and it worked like a charm.” Alex laced his fingers behind his head and smiled. “I’ve been casserole-free for a month now.”
Since his brother was in a joking mood, now seemed like a great time for his speech. “I don’t think Rachel would want you to be alone forever. I’m not saying any time soon or that you should entertain one of the casserole queens. I know you’re still healing.
When the day does arrive that you want companionship, try not to feel guilty about it.”
Derek clammed up when the kids stampeded up the deck stairs. Chloe jumped in his arms and gave him a hug. “Are we still going to the zoo tomorrow?”
“Yes, my little
babochka
. And I thought we’d take in a movie.” He tapped her on her freckled nose.
“Do you think we could go to the rink tomorrow
too?” Noah smiled, showing off a missing tooth as he took a seat at the table.
“Of course. You have a hockey-player smile already.”
“How come you don’t have any false teeth?” Noah inquired.
“Luck.” He laughed and rubbed his nephew’s head. “I can’t wait to see your new moves. You improve every time I visit.”
“Can we go shopping?” Chloe asked. “I need a new pink sweater.”
“We can do that. Sounds like we’re making a day of it. Why don’t we stop by your dad’s office and get him for dinner?”
Alex nodded. “I’ll make a reservation.”
Later that evening Derek wandered around the spacious house while Alex put the kiddies to bed. Their wedding photos were still displayed on top of the piano. Alex had known true love and had lost it. Derek would give anything
to make his big brother’s pain go away. After witnessing his brother’s heartbreak, he had serious reservations about falling in love.
He tried calling Theo, but was disconnected three times in a row before he could get through to his little brother. After a two-minute static-riddled call, he surmised that Theo was OK and would call back when he reached a location where his phone could get
better reception. It was hard to keep track of his adventurous little brother’s whereabouts. He checked his messages after the calls. There was a voicemail from Luke’s secretary confirming his attendance at his agent’s annual party. A teammate had called to see if he wanted to go to Maui with a group of friends for a few weeks. Another call was from Ian, the project manager. After threatening to
fire everyone on the construction team, Ian had found the culprit who had snapped the photo. The guy sold it to that Web site for a pretty penny, so Ian had fired him and assured Derek that it wouldn’t happen again. No message from Charisma though. He was disappointed.
Alex was coming down the stairs just as Derek was disconnecting from voicemail. “Sorry about the wait. It’s always hard
getting those two to bed when you’re here.”
He chuckled. “It’s too much fun keeping them awake. That’s why I stayed downstairs.”
“Did you get ahold of Theo?”
“Bad connection. I did manage to get a ‘Hey bro, all is well.’ I guess that’s enough to put Mom and Dad at ease.”
“Probably not. They still demand that Sienna calls them daily.” Alex went over to the liquor cabinet
and poured them both a drink. “So what else is going on in the world of my little brother?”
“I’m having some work done on the bar. My decorator is the one in the photo that was fighting with Phoebe.” Derek went on his phone’s browser and pulled up the picture.
Alex whistled. “She’s very pretty. Poor woman got caught in one of your lover’s quarrels.”
“She’s no stranger to controversy.
She used to date Brayer. She has a thing for football players.”
“But not hockey?”
“It never came up.”
“But you want to know if you can make her a hockey fan?” Alex grinned.
“No! By all accounts I should be running as fast as I can from this woman. Trouble follows her. We’ve known each other for a week, and my whole world has been turned upside down.”
“Maybe, but I
know that look. The last time you had it, the Pirates won the Stanley Cup.”
“There’s something about her…” Sure, he was definitely attracted to her beauty. Any red-blooded man would have been, but that was only part of it. The energy between them had been palpable. He could feel it when they’d been sitting together in the kitchen.
“And you’d like to put your finger on it?”
“She’s
apparently immune. I did some shameless flirting right after I put Phoebe in a cab. Not my best moment, but I couldn’t help myself.”
“You couldn’t?” Alex laughed. “You’re getting worse as you get older. You need to settle down quick.”
“Well, we don’t all get to meet the love of our lives in college and have a wonderful life and beautiful children. That’s a rarity.”
“I did have
it all for a minute.” Alex sighed.
Derek rubbed the back of his neck. “What I said before. I don’t want you to think I’m trying to get you to forget about Rachel, because I know it’s not possible. She was a great woman. I loved her too. She was beautiful, intelligent, and a hell of a mother.”
“I know what you meant.”
He nodded. “Good.”
“I was thinking of taking the kids
to see Mom and Dad. It’s been a while. So I thought it would be nice if we make a family reunion out of it. Sienna said she can clear her schedule, and I think Theo will try to make it if he’s not doing something that’s liable to get him killed. We could do it before the season starts.”
“Sounds like a great idea,” Derek said.
“What are you going to do about your interior designer dilemma?”
Derek took a big gulp of his scotch. “Well, since I’ve been told by every person I know, including my publicist, that I shouldn’t go anywhere near her…”
Alex stared at the ice swirling around in his glass for a moment. “So when are you going to ask her out?”
“As soon as I get back to Philadelphia.”
“That’s my boy.”
They clinked glasses.
* * *
Charisma entered Reed Bradley Books armed with a comprehensive list of all the books on design, architecture, and business ethics Jared felt would be helpful in her training. She hadn’t been to the bookstore since Morgan moved to Texas, but as soon she opened the door, she could feel her cousin’s essence in the place. It was bustling with customers, the café was packed with people reading
while sipping on their beverages, and there was some kind of workshop going on in the lecture room. She moved between the aisles, looking for Michelle. She was certain she could find the books on her own, but Jared claimed Michelle was some sort of bloodhound with books.
She hoped Jared was right about Michelle being willing to help her. Charisma was on the road to repairing her relationship
with her cousin, but she wasn’t so sure Morgan’s best friend was ready to forgive so easily. The last time they’d seen each other was at a party at her grandmother’s house. Michelle was cordial, but Charisma could tell she still had reservations.
As she neared the backroom, the schedule of upcoming lectures on the chalkboard caught her eye.
History of the Alamo lectured by Derek Popovich.
Derek? That had to be a misprint. The hunky hockey player was also an amateur historian? She kept staring in disbelief until Michelle came up behind her and startled her.
“Michelle.” She put her hand to her throat.
“Charisma.” Michelle’s eyes widened. “If you’re coming to get a copy that newspaper that had your
Fight Club
pic in it, I’m afraid Morgan and I banned those from the store
a long time ago.”
Charisma handed her the list. “No, I’m not here for that. Jared recommended some books he thought I’d find useful. He’s grooming me for interior design.”
“Oh. Sure.” Michelle scanned the piece of paper. “I think Jared owns every book we’ve ever sold on architecture and design. There’s a new one that just came in I thought he might like. You should probably get that
one too.”