That Thing You Do (A Crystal Lake Novel Book 2) Read online

  He was nearly to the bar when a hand snaked out and grabbed his arm. He knew it was a woman on account of the fact her nails nearly broke skin. Chess Somers. She looked like she was dressed not just to kill, but to annihilate any male that had the misfortune of crossing her path. The little black top she wore barely covered her tits, leaving most of her abs and bellybutton exposed. Her jeans fit like a glove, and yeah, the woman had curves, dangerous curves, the kind of curves that used to turn Nate’s head and spark up his libido like a firecracker. But as he stared down into her eyes, he felt nothing.

  Instead, he noted other things, like overly plump lips, probably from filler, expertly made-up eyes complete with lashes so thick, they had to be fake, and teeth so damn white, it hurt to look at them. She was pretty much every man’s fantasy, but a fantasy wasn’t real. A fantasy had no substance.

  He’d known Chess for years, and the thing was, this mask she showed the world wasn’t her. Or, at least, it was an exaggerated version that paled in comparison to the Chess he knew knocked around inside her. Why she chose to hide it was anybody’s guess. Now, the woman could be nasty, no doubt about it, and she didn’t have many women friends that Nate knew. But underneath all that stuff she slathered on her face to cover up what stared back at her in the mirror was a woman who was smart, had a great sense of humor—the kind that bites, but Nate found it amusing—and she wasn’t so damn predatory.

  Nate figured there were a ton of reasons why Chess was the way she was, but he wasn’t interested in finding out what they were. It didn’t mean he didn’t care about her on some level, but she wasn’t his problem, and she sure as hell wasn’t the woman who was on his mind twenty-four seven.

  “There you are,” she said, a slow smile curving her generous mouth. “Where are you off to in such a hurry?”

  He nodded toward the door. “Fresh air.”

  She pouted and batted those fake lashes like a champion. “I think you should buy me a drink instead.”

  Now, another time and place and Nate would have been more than happy to oblige. Hell, he’d have bought her a couple of drinks, and before a third could have been ordered, he would have taken her back to her place and they would have gotten busy doing the things that adults do who meet in bars.

  But he had no interest in any of that whatsoever. Not with Chess anyway.

  In fact, he was annoyed that she’d plunked her butt in front of him and effectively cut off his escape. He could be dick and tell her to beat it, but Nathan wasn’t that guy. If he was that kind of son of a bitch, he’d take her up on the offer that shone from her eyes and wet lips, give her what she wanted, and then hop into Molly’s bed no with no regrets.

  Maybe he’d been that guy years ago. The kind who only cared about scoring some tail and nothing more. The kind who thought “relationship” was another word for “pussy whipped.” At least he was always honest. He’d always been upfront with the women he dated so they knew the score. Knew that he wasn’t the man who’d be asking for his own sock drawer. It was the mindset of the young, and as he stared down at Chess, he realized he wasn’t remotely connected to the guy he’d been.

  He didn’t bother to think about the reason for it, because if he had, he might have realized he was in trouble. As it was, his only thought was to get away from Chess, call Molly, and finish off this evening with the only woman who had his interest.

  “I’m good,” he replied, trying to soften the blow because, just for one second, he saw hurt flash in her eyes. “It’s guy’s night, Chess. Zach’s last throw down before he gets married on Saturday.”

  She licked her lips and moved closer. “But it’s not exclusively guy’s night, now is it?”

  He nodded, relieved he had an excuse that worked. “It is, sorry.”

  “Then why is Stu’s wife all over him like a wet shirt?”

  What?

  Nate yanked his head around, and sure enough, Stu’s wife was pressed against her husband as if they were the only two people in the entire bar. She had her arms wrapped around his considerable chest and was whispering and giggling into his ear—dirty thoughts, judging by the look on Stu’s face.

  Then he spied Jessica sitting on Zach’s lap, the two of them canoodling like a couple of teenagers. And there was Mike’s girlfriend leaning into him as if she was afraid to fall, which, coming off a wine tour seemed highly likely. The woman was a buck ten soaking wet.

  When the hell had the girls arrived? And where was…

  Molly stood just behind her brother, her eyes on Nate. He smiled, because, well, seeing her made him damn happy, but she didn’t bite. Didn’t return the smile. In fact, she gave him a look that could freeze the balls off Santa and turned around, disappearing into the crowd.

  What the hell?

  “How about that drink?” Chess all but purred as her hand closed over his forearm. “Your table seems kind of full now anyway.”

  He looked down at Chess and shook his head. “I gotta go.”

  Her face hardened, and she awkwardly let him go. “I don’t understand. Two weeks ago, you were all hot and heavy, and now you act like I don’t exist.” She was hurt, and while it made Nathan feel like shit, he’d been nothing but honest with her. “What does Molly Malone have that I don’t? Because it sure as hell isn’t this.” She ran her hands down her body and glared at him.

  “Look, Chess, you knew the score from the beginning. We were never more than a casual thing. I’m sure there are a lot of men here who’d be more than happy to buy you drinks all night long. I’m not one of them.”

  “She’ll never satisfy you,” Chess said, her features contorted into something ugly. “She’s too…”

  “Real?” Nate snapped. He’d had enough. “You should pay attention, Chess. She could teach you a lesson or two, and maybe then you’d have a chance at finding some kind of happiness.”

  He turned on his heel and headed back the way he’d come. By the time he reached the table, Molly was nowhere to be seen. He was just about to search for her when Jess jumped in front of him, a whole lot happy and more than a little tipsy.

  “There you are,” she said. “I’ve been looking for you.”

  “Do you know where Molly went to?”

  Jessica rolled onto her heels and then pitched forward. Nate grabbed her by the shoulders to break her fall, and she giggled against his chest. “She’s somewhere.” The giggling stopped, and Jess looked up at him, real serious all of a sudden.

  “She has feelings for you. Strong feelings. You know that, right?”

  Nate said nothing as he very carefully let Jessica go. Gone was the giggling, tipsy woman. Instead, Jess looked stone-cold sober. “Be careful there, Nate.”

  “Jess. Hey. You’ve got things wrong. I…she’s…”

  He couldn’t vocalize what was inside him. How did you put into words what he felt for Molly? She was more than just a woman he was sleeping with. She was his best friend. Always had been. She knew things about him no one else did, things he’d never shared with anyone. Like when his hockey career imploded and he lost everything he’d worked for, she’d been there for him. She’d known he was depressed and had insisted on counseling. Then she’d come with him to all his appointments until he got his head on straight.

  None of the guys had known. Only her.

  “She’s one hell of a woman,” he said slowly.

  “Good that you realize that.” Jess punched him in the shoulder. “You’d be a fool to let her go.”

  “I’ve got to…” He pointed to the crowd behind him.

  “Yeah,” Jess said with a soft smile. “You should go find her.” She nodded behind them to the table filled with their friends. “I’ll come up with an excuse that none of them will believe, but I’m pretty sure they won’t ask questions.” She pushed him. “Go.”

  He turned and pushed his way through the crowd as the band kicked in, disappearing altogether to the sounds of an old Johnny Cash song.

  Nathan Jacobs wasn’t just walking the l
ine. He was about to jump way the hell over it.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Molly barged through the kitchen, said a quick hello to the surprised staff, and didn’t stop until she was out the back door and into the fresh evening air. She dragged great big gulps of it deep into her lungs and leaned against the side of the building.

  Unbelievable.

  To walk into the Coach House and see Chess all over Nate was like a kick in the ass. A punch to the gut. A knife in the damn heart. One look at Chess and Molly knew what the woman was all about. She wanted to take Nate home, and she wanted to screw him until the cows came home. And he… She bit her lip to stop from screaming. He was all up in her business like he was going to take her up on what she was offering.

  Molly was so pissed, she shook. And humiliated. And fucking hurt.

  “Damn him,” she said into the dark, so angry, she wanted to punch something.

  “Molly, what the hell?’

  As by magic, Nate stood in front of her, and she knew she’d either punch him or fall apart, and since neither scenario appealed to her, she turned away.

  “Just give me a minute,” she ground out.

  “Why are you upset with me?”

  “I’m not…” But she was, wasn’t she? Since when did she play games like this? “Give me five, Nate,” she repeated.

  “Molly, what the hell’s going on?”

  “If you have to ask, you’re an idiot.”

  “I guess I’m an idiot, then, because I have no idea why you’re having a meltdown behind the Coach House.”

  “I’m not having a meltdown.”

  “You’re not?”

  “No,” she ground out. “I’m having a damn moment, so let me have it.”

  He swore a blue streak—said things that would set a nun’s panties on fire—but he backed away until the shadows fell over him and Molly was able to breathe. She closed her eyes and tried to find the calm she knew was somewhere inside her—it took more than a couple of minutes to do so. When she did, she exhaled, straightened her body as if she was going to war, and faced the man who was slowly driving her crazy.

  He stepped into the muted light that fell from the open kitchen door, and her heart turned over. She realized then how much trouble she was in.

  “Any woman but her, Nate.”

  “I don’t…” The fact that he looked confused irritated the hell out of her.

  “Jesus, Nate. Chess Somers. She was practically screwing you in the bar. Everyone knows it. We all saw it.”

  “Chess and I…” Nate looked away and took a few seconds before he swung his gaze back. “Moll, I was on my way outside to call you because I was tired of checking my phone every two minutes, and I hadn’t heard from you all day, and she got in the way.”

  “I know what she’s like, Nathan. You forget that.”

  “I don’t think you do, but it doesn’t matter, because you’ve got it all wrong.”

  “She gets in the way, you push back.” Even Molly knew she sounded like a lunatic, but she couldn’t seem to help herself.

  “You would want me to push Chess?”

  “Yes,” she replied harshly. “As hard as you can.”

  “You really don’t like her.”

  “No. I don’t.”

  Nathan rubbed the back of his neck while studying her a little too intensely. He was amused. Laughing at her. Dear God in heaven, she wanted to smash her fist into his perfect nose. Which, by the way, had been broken at least twice, so it had no business looking so damn good.

  “Moll,” he said softly, cajolingly. She could tell he was trying not to smile, and that infuriated her.

  “Don’t ‘Moll’ me. You have…” She had to take a moment and get some more of that air into her lungs, because she could barely speak. “You have no idea what I…” She swore and looked away.

  “Then tell me.”

  She whipped her head back around, and along with the stars that blinked in front of her face, she saw black. Not a pretty night sky kind of black either. This was black tinged with red, because, man, was she angry.

  “I went to Estelle’s today, Nate. Estelle’s.”

  The two-syllable word stretched out to at least four, and, coupled with the fact that her voice had risen two octaves, she sounded crazier by the minute. She didn’t give a rat’s ass. It felt good to let loose. To let the old Molly out to play. The one who was unapologetic and said exactly what was on her mind.

  He looked confused and took a step forward, but she held up her hand, which stopped him in his tracks.

  “I don’t know what that is,” he said, watching her carefully.

  The anger in her shimmered and expanded. It sank into every cell of her body. It was the kind of anger that took hold and wouldn’t let go. The kind you had to act on or it would fester. It was the kind that fueled rampages and…and crimes of passion and road rage. And just now, it fed the rage that had simmered all damn day.

  “I’m not surprised you don’t know what Estelle’s is because a man would never put himself through the things that go on behind the doors of that place. It might look calm and serene on the outside, but let me tell you, that’s a big fat lie.” She moved forward and thumped him on the chest. “It’s the kind of place I thought I’d never visit. The kind of place women go to have eyebrow hair yanked out and then they have it tattooed back on. Tattooed eyebrows are a thing. Did you know that?”

  He said nothing, so she thumped him again.

  “It’s the kind of place that has walls in these beautiful shades of blue and cream and yellow. You know, colors that are supposed to make you calm and relaxed and serene. The kind that make you think of gardens and puppies and rainbows. It’s creepy. Honestly, they should have bowls of Prozac at reception, because I think every single woman who goes to Estelle’s on a regular basis needs some of that stuff.”

  She shook her head. “I went there because of you.”

  “I didn’t tell you to go to Estelle’s.”

  She ignored him. In fact, the sound of his voice made her angrier. “The woman at the reception desk is a client of mine. Yeah. Just last week, I cleared the anal glands on her Pomeranian. Because that’s what I do. I’m a veterinarian, not the kind of woman who goes to Estelle’s. I let them take me to this little room in the back, and then they made me take my clothes off, Nate.” Her eyes widened and flashed. “All of my clothes. And then I lay down on this table, and this sweet little lady with soft brown hair and big blue eyes walked in, and I thought, this isn’t going to be so bad. What can she do to me?”

  Breath ragged, she fisted her hands in indignation.

  “I’m gonna guess it was very bad.”

  “Am I still talking? Pretty sure I’m still talking.”

  “Carry on.”

  “I asked for a little bit of waxing because the shaving thing was becoming a royal pain in the ass. And that’s your fault, by the way. It’s a lot of work sleeping with someone again, and I’m too busy for the details. I don’t have time for those kinds of things. Not when I’m bottle-feeding puppies and dealing with Fred Nagel’s dog every other day.”

  “He eat another carpet?”

  “No, he ate a tablecloth that Fred’s great-grandmother crocheted, and it was almost one hundred years old.”

  “That’s a shame, but I’m having a hard time drawing a straight line from Fred Nagel’s dog eating a tablecloth to some cute little lady at Estelle’s.” He was lucky he tucked that smile away, because Molly was this close to following through with a nasty right hook.

  “That cute little lady waxed my armpits.” At the look of horror on his face, she nodded. “Right? Have you ever had your armpits waxed?”

  “Can’t say that I have.”

  “Then she did my legs, which I didn’t want her to do. I mean, I’d just shaved them the night before because you were coming over, but she promised me I’d love it. I swear that old lady is the devil.”

  Even Molly knew she was riding too close to the edge,
but she couldn’t seem to stop herself. “And then she waxed me down there.”

  “Down…” His eyes dropped below her waist, and this time, the smile hung around.

  Molly stepped forward and thumped his shoulder once more. “Oh, it gets better. At this point, I wanted to throat punch her, and if she didn’t go to church with my mother, I just might have. Instead, in this little voice that’s all soft and Southern, which is bull because everyone knows she’s born and raised in Crystal Lake, she tells me to get on all fours. and then she…” Molly’s eyes nearly fell out of her head. “Let’s just say I have zero hair anywhere in this vicinity.” She made a circular motion below the belt and narrowed her eyes. “Front or back.”

  Nate had the good grace to look a little concerned.

  “She should have warned you.”

  “Damn right she should have warned me. It’s like assault or something. I mean, honestly, I’ve never in my life done anything like it.”

  “Did it hurt?”

  “No,” she replied, “not really. It’s the idea of it, Nate. The idea that I would do it. It’s like a porn-star thing, and I…” She looked up at him. “I did it for you. I jumped way the hell out of my comfort zone for you. And how am I repaid? I walk into the Coach House and see you and Chess Somers getting cozy by the bar. Do you know how that made me feel?”

  “Hold on,” he said roughly. “Give me a second.”

  She watched Nate, chest heaving and afraid she was going to go and do something really stupid, like start crying or something. Geez, she thought, get your shit together.

  He scooped his phone out of the pocket of his jeans and scrolled through the screen. The light lit up his face, and she realized how badly she was done for. Just looking at the man made her insides quake. What the hell had she gotten herself into?

  “Here we go,” he said quietly, moving toward her. His face was now in shadow, and when his arms slid around her, Molly’s first instinct was to pull away. Weren’t they in the middle of a fight?