The Secret Life of Bryan Read online

  The words rushed out, a little too urgent, a lot too desperate. “Because if I told you the truth, you’d hate me. And you were being so nice to me, I didn’t want you to send me away. I wanted to get to know you better and—”

  He took one hard stride toward her, effectively cutting off her rambling explanation. His expression was forbidding, his eyes almost black. Shay started to back up, but it just wasn’t in her nature to retreat. So she braced her legs apart and waited.

  Though they were of a similar height, he was all solid muscle, wide shoulders and throbbing power. Their gazes were nearly level, yet he seemed to tower over her. “You actually believe I would have sent you away?”

  Shay blinked in surprise. He hadn’t lambasted her for lying. He hadn’t lost his temper. He was just…insulted by her lack of faith in his scruples?

  “Answer me, Shay.”

  She jumped at the lash of his demand. “Yes.” His tone would have angered her—no one talked to her like that—but with him so close, it was damn difficult not to touch him again. There was no room in her thoughts for anything else. “You would have sent me packing, but I don’t want to go.”

  “And I guess that means you won’t tell me why you were really at that bar, dressed the way you were, hanging around outside in a storm?”

  “My business is my own,” she said, and before he could start growling about that, she explained. “Until my dress got soaked, it was in the best of taste. It’s just that the rain made it transparent. Otherwise, it would have been fine.”

  She thought that might sidetrack him a little, but he wasn’t moved one bit. If anything, his jaw hardened in that now familiar manner of annoyance.

  “Shay?”

  He managed to say her name without his lips moving. Probably a bad sign. “I can’t tell you.” And then, going on the defensive, she added, “Why does it matter so much? I’d like to stay. Here, at the safe house.” She bit her bottom lip, then really pushed. “And if you wouldn’t mind too much, I’d prefer the other women believe I’m a hooker.”

  With droll sarcasm, he said, “You’re not a hooker, but you want everyone to think you are?”

  That did sound idiotic, but so what? “Yes. They wouldn’t like the truth any more than you would.” It looked like his eyes might cross. “I’m only telling you this much so you won’t think you’re taking advantage of me.”

  He stared at her so long and hard, Shay felt rattled.

  “Could I stay? Please?”

  It seemed to take him forever to come to a decision. “Shit.” His frown seared her. “Yeah, of course you can stay.” She had just started to relax when his jaw jutted forward. “But your reasons for being here won’t change anything. While you’re here, you’re off limits. So you can just keep your hands to yourself.”

  “Oh, but—”

  “Just don’t cause any trouble.” Struck by his own words, his back straightened. “Speaking of trouble—you’re not a reporter or something, are you?”

  Taken aback, and highly insulted, Shay gasped, “No.”

  He leaned closer, his gaze flinty and his manner challenging. “If I find out otherwise…”

  The threat went unsaid, but she knew he’d think of something dire. Shay shoved him back a step, out of her personal space. “I’m not, so quit trying to bully me.”

  He grunted. “As if anyone could.” He said it more to himself than her, then turned back to the table. “Whatever problems you have, they won’t matter, not to me and not to anyone else in this house. What you tell the other women is up to you. But I mean it—no trouble.”

  Shay crossed her heart. “Scout’s honor.” She felt a little ashamed of herself for taking advantage of him. But not enough that she’d relent. She still wanted him. And once he got over his noble streak, he’d admit he wanted her, too. “Thanks.” And for good measure, she added, “I’m sorry for misleading you earlier.”

  He dropped into his chair without replying, probably because he still didn’t believe her. After a long stare, he said, “As long as we’re apologizing…I’m sorry for what happened. It won’t happen again.”

  “The kiss?”

  His brows lowered. “You took me by surprise with the tears.”

  Shay actually felt herself flushing. “I’m doubly sorry for that. I’m not a person who ever cries much. But sometimes I just get so frustrated…”

  One eyebrow arched up.

  “I don’t mean sexually! Well, that, too.”

  He snarled in exasperation.

  “But I meant when I try to do things and they don’t work out the way I want them to.”

  “That’s what happened tonight?” He tapped the pen against the table. “Things didn’t work out, your friend got hurt, and you ended up stranded in a rainstorm during a blackout?”

  Shay could just imagine all the ridiculous conclusions he drew. She shrugged, wondering how much she should tell him about Leigh. She’d tried to help the girl but it wasn’t until after Leigh had gotten hurt that she’d finally accepted Shay’s offer.

  “Do you mind if we eat while we talk?” She picked up both plates and joined him at the table. “I’m starving.”

  The sharp look he sent her way made her roll her eyes. “It’s an expression, Bryan. I’m not literally starving. It’s just that I didn’t have much breakfast, and then lunch was ruined by a crisis, so—”

  “Your friend?”

  Well, now she definitely had to tell him. She only hoped he’d at least know something about Leigh’s background, something Shay could use to help the girl.

  She took a bite of her potato salad, giving him leave to start on his own meal while she contemplated how much to share.

  “She’s been having some problems with…a guy.” Though Leigh had called him her boyfriend, Shay couldn’t say the same. The man was a conscienceless animal who’d used Leigh as a sexual bartering tool, and he deserved to be locked away. “He’d threatened her a few times, shoved her around, bullied her. But it got worse suddenly.”

  “I get the picture. He was pissed about something and taking it out on her?”

  “He said she hadn’t brought in enough money lately, money he needed to support them both. He accused her of not doing her share. Today, he threw her out—but not before…” The words stuck in her throat, and she shook her head twice before managing to say, “Not before beating her up.”

  His eyes flinty, Bryan asked, “Who is she?”

  Very softly, Shay said, “Her name is Leigh.”

  Rising from his seat, he leaned forward, his palms flat on the table. “Where is she?”

  Stunned by the menace he exuded, and by the fact that he obviously knew Leigh, Shay rushed to reassure him. “She’s safe, and she’ll be okay.”

  “That’s not what I asked.”

  No doubt he was used to commanding fast answers. Too bad she couldn’t accommodate him. Shay asked, “You know her?”

  “Yeah. And I told her this would happen.” He sounded furious with himself. “I tried to get her to stay here, but she wouldn’t.” He loomed over Shay. “So where is she?”

  With a shrug of apology, Shay said, “I can’t tell you.” Before he could insist further, she explained, “She’s afraid, Bryan. That’s why she wouldn’t go to the police. I had to promise not to tell anyone. Maybe she didn’t mean you. But maybe she did. All I can tell you is that she is okay now. You have my word.”

  Bryan’s stare held her a moment more, then he sank back into his seat. “If she’s really away from him, that’s a start.”

  “A very good start,” Shay agreed, and with a sigh: “But it’s been an upsetting day. Seeing someone hurt like that makes me feel so damned helpless, as if there’s no escaping the bad stuff.”

  Bryan leaned forward again. “I don’t know what’s going on with you, Shay, how you’re tied in with Leigh or why you were hanging around the bar. But if you stay here, I won’t let anyone hurt you.”

  She’d only meant she felt helpless in her i
nability to help the others, but he’d taken it as personal fear. And now, with him offering his protection, she saw no way to correct the misconception. “Thank you. That’s very…” What could she say? Gallant? Heroic? She shook her head. “Thank you.”

  He picked up his pad of paper, all business again. “Tell me about yourself.”

  For such a big, hard, macho guy, he was damned endearing in his attempts to help. She peeked at the paper he held, saw it had pretyped questions on it, and shrugged. “Sure. What do you want to know?”

  “Start with family.”

  “Okay.” Shay continued to eat, waiting for him to begin, but he hesitated. “What is it?”

  Rubbing the back of his neck, appearing uncomfortable with his task, he said, “If I hit on a sore spot, just tell me, okay?”

  “I’m not shy.”

  “I noticed.” Their gazes met and held, until he looked back at the paper. “What about your father?”

  “My birth father or my adoptive father?”

  “You have both?”

  “Unfortunately.”

  She had no idea what he was thinking, but it didn’t look good. “Start with your father. Do you think he’s interested in where you are?”

  The rude sound she made was answer enough. Her father was slime. But her adoptive father, if he had any idea what she’d gotten herself into, would probably give her enough lectures to last a lifetime. Not that it would do him any good. He knew she couldn’t be stopped once she’d set her mind on a course. So he usually just ended up offering his full support.

  “Shay?”

  She gave Bryan a smile of reassurance. Her father, and his lack of interest, had no impact on her life. “He’s a world-class pig. I haven’t seen him since I was five, and that was when he left me at the bus station.”

  His expression hardened. “What do you mean, he left you?”

  “He said he was going to buy us something to drink, but he never came back. I sat there almost the whole day waiting, until I had to go to the bathroom. Then I didn’t know what to do. When I started to cry, a woman offered her help, and the next thing I knew, I had everyone’s attention.”

  She hadn’t meant to say quite that much. She hadn’t talked about those long-ago days since she was a child. But with Bryan’s undivided attention, the words just seemed to come out. “The police figured my father had abandoned me, and after a few months, they finally located him three states away, living with a woman and her sister.” Her smile went crooked. “He denied being my father.”

  Bryan’s expression didn’t change, but there was now an alertness in his dark brown eyes that hadn’t been there earlier.

  “What about your mother?”

  She shrugged. “The reason my father had me with him in the first place was that my mother refused to keep me any longer. She was what the authorities termed ‘emotionally abusive.’ That was after they found me in the bus station and did a thorough checkup into my past.”

  Bryan had the paper and pen out in front of him, but he hadn’t written a word. His jaw looked like granite again. “And after they did the checkup?”

  She tried to skim over details while still giving him a truth or two about her past, enough that she wouldn’t get tripped up in it later. But she didn’t want to hurt him with her truths, not when they no longer hurt her.

  “I spent some time passing around foster homes and was in an orphanage for a bit.” She left out the people who pretended to care but didn’t. She left out a chunk of little girl hurt and fear and desperation.

  “Jesus.”

  He looked so outraged on her behalf, she jumped straight into the happier parts. “When I was almost seven, I got lucky. I got adopted.” Just thinking of her first few weeks with her new parents had her smiling again. “Mom and Dad are incredible. They didn’t think they could have kids, so they took me into their home and treated me like I was their own. Later, they did have a baby. So I also have a little sister.”

  He finally made a few notes, his gaze repeatedly coming back to her face as if he couldn’t stop looking at her. “Won’t these people worry?”

  “They know I can take care of myself. I’ve been doing it for a long time.”

  “Do they know how you take care of yourself?”

  She wouldn’t outright lie, and if he chose to make more assumptions, it was no more than he deserved.

  “They know.” Thinking of all the times her parents had lamented her stubbornness, she grinned. “They gave up on telling me what to do when I was about fifteen.”

  His brows snapped down. “You’ve been on your own since then?”

  “No. I didn’t move out until I was seventeen. But I’ve been fairly self-sufficient since before I was in high school.” Mostly because she’d always needed a challenge, because she’d been innovative in making her own money through one scheme or another, because she’d gone on to college only months after turning seventeen with a full academic scholarship. Even as a young child she’d been driven by demons to do, to make a difference, to fulfill promises to herself that no one knew about and no one would understand.

  Her parents would have gladly given her the moon if it were possible, but they knew she wouldn’t accept it, not if there was a single chance she’d be able to get it on her own.

  After a few tense, silent moments, Bryan asked, “What about your sister?”

  “Her name’s Brandi.”

  “You two close?”

  “We are.” But then, thinking of the last vacation Shay had forced on her sister, and the results, she winced. “At least, when I don’t interfere too much in her life.”

  “What the hell does that mean?”

  He sounded offended on her behalf. It felt odd because usually she was the one trying to take care of everyone, whether they wanted her to or not. Normally she rebelled against anyone worrying for her, but she liked Bryan’s concern.

  “It means I can be a real pain in the patoot. Brandi isn’t like me. She’s sweet and shy and quiet.”

  “And you’re not?”

  That made her laugh. “What do you think?”

  “I think sweet and shy has its place, but on you it’d be ridiculous.”

  “Gee, thanks.” She couldn’t help but chuckle over that backhanded compliment. “Brandi takes after our parents, who are small with dark hair and eyes. She’s pretty. Not a big gangly girl like myself.”

  “Gangly?” His mouth curled in wry amusement. “Fishing for a compliment?”

  Shay grinned. “Would you give me one?”

  “No. You’re cocky enough as it is.” He tapped his pen with growing impatience. “So the two of you are different and that causes problems?”

  “Sometimes. Where I’m too outspoken and brazen for my own good, Brandi is always circumspect and proper. At times, I try to force her to be more outgoing. We’re opposites, but she’s my sister and I love her.”

  “Your stepsister.”

  “If you want to get technical. But I don’t think of her that way.”

  The devotion and love of her family had never been in doubt. She was considered their firstborn, and Brandi was her little sister, in every way that mattered to the heart.

  “My life isn’t an unhappy one, Bryan. And the truth is, I’m much luckier than most people could ever hope to be.”

  He disregarded her reassurance with a shake of his head. “Is there anyone who might be interested in helping you?”

  Stubborn man. “I don’t need any help.”

  “No?” His gaze challenged her. “Then why are you here?”

  Oops. Caught in a web of her own making.

  She couldn’t tell him that no one in the media trusted Shay Sommers right now. If she got involved as herself, the press would be everywhere, and they’d make mincemeat out of Bryan’s efforts.

  But in the name of fair play, she had to let him know what he was getting into. She owed him that much. She got to her feet, circling the table so she stood right beside him. He, too, sto
od up, as if having her over him made him uneasy.

  Wise, as well as stubborn.

  “All I can tell you is that I have my reasons for wanting to stay here, for needing to stay here, but they have nothing to do with why I want you.”

  He gave her a sharp look of censure. “You’re a regular broken record, aren’t you?”

  “I’m thirty years old. I can’t claim to be innocent or pure. Far from it. I’m ambitious and determined to have my own way. Once I set my mind to do something, no one can stop me. But I’m not a hooker.”

  “Whatever you are, you’re too damn pushy.”

  Bold she’d always be, and she believed in going after what she wanted. She wanted Bryan. “I know.”

  She put her hands on his chest, felt his strong heartbeat, the clench of muscles. He gripped her wrists, holding her still, ready to put her away from him.

  And a woman burst into the room.

  Huge green eyes took in the kitchen scene in a flash as she skidded to a halt. With an expression of delight, she leered at the preacher. “Hey, sweetcheeks. You weren’t about to do something naughty, now were you?”

  Shay stared. The woman looked to be in her mid-twenties, had dark red hair sprayed and gelled and teased to stand out like a wavy halo around her oval face. Her lips, painted crimson and with enough shine to blind passersby, were open in a wide smile. She wore a white tank top with no bra, and her stretch shorts were much too short, proving she didn’t wear underpants. Paired up with chunky wedge sandals, it was quite an eye-catching outfit.

  Aggrieved, Bryan said, “Morganna,” by way of greeting. “I was about to call you down to ask if you’d show Shay a room to use. She’s moving in.”

  Cocking out one well-rounded hip, Morganna teased, “Yeah, sure, dollface. That’s what it looked like you were gonna do.”

  Bryan winked at her, which seemed to startle the woman, then he disengaged Shay’s hands. “I’m heading out. Morganna, help Shay get settled in, okay?”

  “You betcha.”

  Shay almost panicked. “But where are you going?”

  Morganna snorted. “He’s afraid of gettin’ raped if he hangs out with us at night. Not that I blame him.” She gave Bryan a lingering once-over, then blew him a kiss. “It’s a waste, not to be using that prime bod.”