Even though the sigh was silent, Caleb knew his friend heaved one. Patience with avoidance had never been the guy’s strong suit.
“Fine. Check on a Pandora Easton. I’ll email you the deets of her record.”
Sucker punched, stars swirled in front of his eyes as he tried to catch his breath. Caleb had been in bed with a pole dancer once, both of them buck naked and sweaty, when she’d pulled a gun on him. To this day, he had no idea where it’d come from.
That’s about how he felt at this moment.
“Pandora…”
“Easton,” Hunter confirmed. “Twenty-seven, resident of Black Oak and employed at a store there. Her mother, Cassiopeia Easton, has a file. I’ll send that, too.”
A part of Caleb’s brain heard and filed away the details of Hunter’s words. The rest of it was in shock.
Pandora? The sweetest woman he’d ever met? The one who’d shown him heaven by the lights of her Christmas tree, blown his control all to hell while giving him the best orgasm of his life? With his damn boots on?
Suddenly, busting his father for running a drug ring held a sort of appeal.
He’d spent hours in that store. Days watching it. He hadn’t suspected her for one second. Now this? Unless he’d seriously lost his edge, this was all bullshit. Or was it?
“I’ve gotta go,” he said, cutting off whatever Hunter was saying. He flicked the cell phone closed, shoved it in his pocket and grabbed his jacket. It wasn’t until he had the door to his hotel room open he remembered that he didn’t have any damn boots on.
There was irony in there somewhere.
Five minutes later, he was on his way. To do what, he wasn’t sure. Something with Pandora. He wasn’t sure if that something was along the lines of the naked, intense pleasure that he’d been contemplating an hour ago, or if it was because he didn’t like being lied to. Zipping his jacket, the leather minimal defense against the cold, Caleb stepped out of the hotel lobby and onto the wide porch steps and almost ran into the body coming up the stairs.
“Excuse me,” he muttered, sidestepping and patting his pockets for his bike keys.
“I was coming in to look for you.”
Could this damn day get any worse?
Caleb glanced at the keys in his hand, briefly wishing they were his gun. He shoved the keys back in his pocket, eyeing the railing and the drop. Whether it was to jump or to toss someone over, he wasn’t sure.
“Dad,” he returned, his tone resigned. He kept one eye on the railing, though. Just in case.
He’d been unprepared that first day when he’d seen his father. Since then, he’d spent every minute prepared for this second encounter. Now, he could study the old man with objective eyes. Or at least without the resentment and irritation he’d been sporting.
Tobias Black stood straight and tall, like his sons. His black hair was showing a little gray in the sideburns, but was still as thick and unruly as ever. As a kid, Caleb had seen his father in everything from a three-piece suit with an ascot, to a repairman’s coveralls, to surgical scrubs. A chameleon, Tobias had obviously taken to this new role as custom-bike shop owner like a fish to water. Biker boots, similar to Caleb’s own, jeans and a leather jacket made up his work uniform.
“I’ve been waiting for you to come by the house. Or the shop. Either one,” Tobias said, shifting to the left and blocking the stairs leading to escape. Caleb smirked, knowing he could take the railing at any time he wanted.
“I’ve been busy.”
“Doing?”
Leaning against one of the porch columns, his arms crossed over his chest, Caleb’s smirk widened.
“Tell me, son, why’d you come home? Clearly not to see family, so what’s up?”
“I stopped by to see Aunt Cynthia yesterday.”
“How is that old bat?”
“She had a lot of great things to say about you.”
Tobias’s smirk was an exact replica of his son’s.
“I’ll just bet she did. The woman is still trying to run me out of town. You’d think she’d give up after all this time, but no. That’s why she ran for mayor, you know. To make my life hell.”
If anyone else had said that, Caleb would have rolled his eyes and called them on their whiny persecution complex. But in this case, he knew Tobias was right. Cynthia Parker had made it her mission to make her late sister’s husband’s life hell whenever possible. His kids, she tolerated. But Tobias? Not even a little bit.
“I gotta say, even for a harpy, I had higher expectations of her, though,” Tobias continued. “She’s too busy glad-handing rich donors and getting her picture taken to take care of business, I guess.”
Caleb knew the game. If he asked what business, he’d be agreeing to play. Con 101, get the mark to agree. To anything, even if it was only to agree to talk about the weather. And for a master like Tobias, all he needed was that agreement, and he’d win. Always.
So Caleb waited.
Tobias clearly knew what his oldest son was doing.
“I don’t suppose you’re interested in coming by the bike shop this evening? Big holiday bash, all the vendors, customers, hell, even a few strangers. Probably a few of your old school pals. Good times, food provided by that little sweetheart at Moonspun, booze from Mick’s bar.”
Caleb saw the trap. Hell, it had a big neon sign flashing a warning at him. But he couldn’t stop himself.
“You’re tight with Pandora, are you?” he asked.
“Tight? What’re you implying? The girl’s young enough to be my daughter.”
“So’s Lilah Gomez.”
Tobias’s grin widened. Nope, this was his game and he was setting the traps, not stepping in them.
“Girl’s gonna be at the party,” he said.
“Lilah?” Caleb returned, even though he knew who his father meant.
“Pandora. I heard you had dinner with her the other night. Hope you’re not taking on more than you can handle there.”
Caleb’s stare was bland. He hadn’t discussed his sex life with his father since he was twelve and the old man had shown him the hall closet where the supply of condoms was kept. He was hardly going to start now.
“There’s a lot of interesting…stuff coming out of that store,” Tobias continued. His blue eyes were intense, the same look Caleb often saw when he looked in the mirror. “Define
“Come by tonight,” Tobias invited with a nod. Apparently Caleb had done something right-who the hell knew what-in the old man’s eyes. “You might learn a few things.”
With that and a jaunty salute, Tobias turned on his heel and sauntered down the stairs.
9
BY SEVEN-THIRTY IN THE evening, Pandora was closing up the store and about ready to scream.
She’d thought she was having a little fun with the most incredible sex of her life. But according to popular thought in the store today, she was actually making a social statement that was quite possibly going to cast her as a pariah in town and ruin her reputation. Having played that role recently, she knew she pretty much hated it.
And, apparently the cherry on top of public opinion was that by choosing Caleb over Sheriff Hottie, she was rejecting all that was good and right in the world for the lure of the bad.
It was enough to make a girl’s head explode right off her shoulders. But she knew from experience that obsessing didn’t help, so she forced herself to start her closing routine.
It was just as well that Caleb hadn’t come by. Or called. Or expressed any interest in a repeat performance. If one night together had the potential to ruin everything she’d built here, what would two nights do? Ruin it twice as much?
And how pathetic was she to stop and consider whether twice as ruined wasn’t worth it. Because, dammit, the
