By My Side, page 5
Trey felt someone tugging him and glanced down. He still held her hand. He knew he should let go, but for a moment he didn’t want to. “You have nice hands.”
“Liar.”
He looked at her surprised. “What?”
“They’re short and stubby.”
“Maybe.” He released her hand. “But I like them.”
“Then you’re really strange,” she said in a teasing voice before she turned and walked away.
She was right. He was strange. Most people didn’t understand him and he made a cursory effort to understand them. With effort he could be charming or glib, but most times he left that to Jacob. Those traits came easily to him.
What Trey prided himself on was being loyal. Dependable. A true friend no matter what.
And he’d lost the only friend he’d ever had. But it had been worth it to save him even if that meant he was alone.
“Where should we go?” Alicia asked him as they rode down the elevator.
He jiggled his keys in his pocket. “Depends on how long you want to wait.”
“Not too long.”
“You like Italian?”
“I like most food.”
Trey glanced at her and saw that she was smiling. He wondered how she could smile so easily in a way that seemed genuine. Why her smile warmed his heart. Why he wanted to make her smile more.
“I’m glad to hear that because I know of a place that Ja…I know a place you’ll like.”
“Sounds good.”
He wished he could offer her more than dinner to make up for ruining her career. But he’d stopped wishing for things a long time ago.
Chapter Ten
Between the Cesar salad and the fettuccini Alfredo, Alicia realized something wasn’t right about him. There were few patrons in the restaurant, but the waiters bustled back and forth with courteous smiles and quickly cleared tables of plates whenever anyone left as if preparing for a sudden onslaught of hungry people.
Trey remained a mystery. What man would hurt his best friend—publicly—and then worry about a stranger?
The best man at the wedding had been callous and cold, but he hadn’t been that way when she’d first met him.
Who was he really? He’d said he’d been with the bride the night before the wedding.
The bride didn’t deny it.
Why hadn’t Beth denied it? Wouldn’t someone’s first instinct be to deny such a charge? To say it wasn’t true? Wasn’t that a basic survival instinct? But she’d just crumbled to her knees in defeat.
Alicia took another bite of her fettuccini and studied the man sitting across from her. It was easy to do since he wasn’t much of a talker and his gaze remained focused on his plate as if he thought the neat chunks he’d cut his grilled chicken into would run away. She’d learned that professionally, he consulted on geological issues. He was quiet and reserved. She had a hard time imagining him seducing the bride.
But Beth hadn’t denied they’d been together.
Alicia still couldn’t figure out how.
Alicia clearly remembered when she’d first met Trey at Jacob’s apartment. She’d spent nearly an hour assuring Beth that it was okay that Jacob had forgotten their meeting as the other woman frantically tried to reach him by phone. More than Beth’s irritation, Alicia remembered thinking how much she liked Jacob’s apartment. It was as welcoming as the man himself. She could fall asleep on his comfortable grey couch and the blue area rug felt lush under her stocking feet. Hardcover books lay scattered on his coffee table among disorderly papers, yellow and green highlighters and pens. Beth apologized for the mess.
“No, it’s fine,” Alicia tried to reassure her as she thought of the true mess she’d left her apartment in that morning. She’d come home to breakfast dishes in the sink, three boxes from Amazon she had yet to recycle still on her couch and empty bags of plantain chips and dried mango slices on the ground. Compared to her, Jacob was a neat freak.
Alicia lifted one of the books to see the cover: Running a Bed and Breakfast. “They look interesting.”
Beth made a face as she closed up the books, without bookmarking them so Jacob could find his place again, and stacked them. “They’re just a silly dream of his for when he retires. He talks about it all the time.”
“Opening his own bed and breakfast?”
“Yes,” Beth said, brushing her dark hair back from her shoulders, she’d still been a brunette then, “I don’t know why it interests him. He’s secured an excellent position as assistant manager at Haven Hotel. The pay is great and one day he will be a manager. Everybody thinks so.”
“Does he want to be?”
Beth looked at her confused. “Why wouldn’t he want to be?”
Alicia shifted in her seat, realizing she’d said the wrong thing. But after catching a glimpse of the notes and highlighted passages in one of the books, Alicia sensed that to Jacob the B&B industry seemed to be more than a passing fancy. However, their personal life and future was none of her business and not for the first time did Alicia wonder how such a laid back guy would manage with such an ambitious wife. Dressed in her designer blouse and stretched jeans, Beth seemed out of place in Jacob’s apartment. Like a Tiffany bracelet being kept in a Reebok shoe.
But she’d only just met them. She didn’t know everything. Perhaps Jacob really was thinking forty years into the future. “No reason.” Alicia looked away from the books and glanced at a photo on the bookshelf. She saw a framed photo of Jacob smiling at the camera, dressed in a yellow T-shirt with palm trees in the background and a black guy standing next to him with his head turned looking at something out of view.
It seemed like a strange picture to keep. Alicia wondered where the photo had been taken and what the picture meant to him.
“Oh, that’s Jacob and Trey,” Beth said following Alicia’s gaze.
She’d heard enough about Trey to know that he was Jacob’s best friend and that the two men were almost inseparable but it still didn’t explain the picture to her. One would have thought they’d have taken a second one with both men looking at the camera.
Jacob looked so happy…
“It’s probably his fault.”
Alicia looked at Beth who paced as she tried to reach Jacob again on the phone. “Fault?”
“Yes, Trey. Jacob would probably be here if it wasn’t for him.”
“Have you tried contacting him?”
“What do you think I’m doing right now?”
“Not Jacob,” Alicia said in a patient voice. “Trey.”
“I have,” Beth said in a quiet voice. “He won’t pick up either.”
Alicia glanced at her watch. It was all pretense since she didn’t have anything else scheduled for the day, but she didn’t think anyone needed to know that. “Well, I can wait a little longer so it’s okay. Why don’t we get started?”
Fortunately, before Beth had a complete meltdown, they heard male laughter outside the front door. The door swung open and Beth rushed over to the two men with the ferocity of a guard dog. Alicia had a good viewpoint from her position on the couch and saw Jacob’s face fall before he cast an apologetic look her way. Alicia smiled at him eager to let him know it was okay, but was sure he didn’t notice. Few people did. She was just the wedding planner after all.
She pulled out her cell phone and glanced at the notes she’d highlighted to discuss. She scrolled through then stopped when she felt the weight of a large hand on her shoulder. Her eyes flew up and met Jacob’s soft gaze. “Won’t be a sec,” he said, giving her shoulder a gentle squeeze, before he disappeared into his bedroom.
Alicia blinked. Surprised he’d managed to make her feel so good in an instant. She could understand Beth’s certainty that Jacob would be a hotel manager one day, Alicia could imagine him owning a string of hotels if he wanted to. She put her phone away, suddenly feeling confident. She had nothing to worry about.
Alicia looked at the two people still in the doorway.
Beth and Trey DeVille in the flesh. Somehow she’d expected him to be smaller. From all she’d heard about him, he seemed to stand in Jacob’s shadow. But in person she could see that he didn’t stand in anyone’s shadow. He was his own man.
Unlike Jacob there was no hint of apology in Trey’s expression. And was it her imagination or was Beth standing closer to Trey than necessary? She didn’t think too much about it when she was suddenly enveloped in the fresh scent of eucalyptus. “I’m sorry to ask you this, but I need a favor.”
Alicia turned and saw Jacob, partially wet, a towel wrapped around his waist. She knows she stared, she might have drooled, but she couldn’t be sure. All she knew was that with his soft voice and beautiful brown eyes he could have asked her to shave her head and she probably would have complied. “A favor?” she said determined to keep her eyes on his face.
He nodded then sent a glance towards the front door. “Could you save Trey for me? I know Beth’s probably giving him hell right now and it’s not his fault. Any time I get in trouble she blames him. He’s an easy scapegoat. I’ll make it up to you. If you could just—”
Alicia leapt to her feet ready to jump into action. Not only would she help Jacob, she could get a chance to meet Trey and possibly get him to put in a good word for her with his friends. “Leave it to me.”
Jacob smiled and Alicia melted a little before she turned and went on her mission. Coming up with a lie that Jacob wanted to speak to Beth was easy, meeting Trey, on the other hand, had been more trying.
He didn’t return her smile. He briefly stared at her as if she were an alien life form, held onto her hand as if he’d forgotten it was there and then made fun of it. He was awkward and strange. She couldn’t imagine what Jacob saw in him. But as odd and distant as he seemed she never got the sense that he was cold and calculating.
She still remembered the touch of his hand, his grip was solid but warm. And the longer he held her hand she felt her palm grow hot, not because of fear, but awareness. Trey had his own magnetism. His own beauty that took time to see and it was at that moment she understood why Jacob cared about him. There was a sincere kindness in his manner that drew her to him and also frightened her a little because it was a rare trait in adults. Adults had hidden agendas and artifice. This man seemed to possess none of that, but he wasn’t simple, he was just different.
Jacob, Beth and Trey.
Something didn’t fit…
Alicia set her fork down and took a sip of her grape juice.
“Why did you sleep with her?”
His eyes flew up to hers and she nearly gasped at the surprise and vulnerability she saw in his gaze before he lowered it again. She felt her heart beating fast, her tongue suddenly dry. He was hiding something.
But it wasn’t just that. The look in his eyes shook something deep within her. A sense of certainty settled within her. She knew that he hadn’t slept with Beth. Anyone who believed that he had didn’t know him. That’s what he was banking on, the fact that people didn’t know him, that people were quick to make judgments about him, that people liked to blame him. She remembered Jacob’s words: He’s an easy scapegoat.
Alicia leaned forward and whispered, “You lied.”
Trey shook his head. “I didn’t lie and I don’t—”
“You didn’t sleep with her. You’re not the kind of man who would do that.”
A quick, secretive grin touched the corner of his mouth. “You don’t know anything about me.”
The grin intrigued her. It was similar to the grin that had quickly come and gone after Jacob had punched him. He was a man with no regrets and a man who wouldn’t let her get close to a truth he didn’t want revealed. But she was determined. “I know enough. I know that…” Alicia’s words drifted away when she realized Trey was no longer listening to her. Something behind her had caught his attention.
She turned and saw Jacob.
Chapter Eleven
Now this was awkward.
Jacob had just been seated at a table only four tables away and stared right at them. How had she and Trey ended up at the same restaurant as his former best friend? And what did it say about her that she was with him? She’d been Jacob’s wedding planner after all. She should be loyal to him. What would he think of her? She didn’t know what to do. Did she acknowledge with a nod? Pretend she didn’t see him? Or…
Trey made the decision for her. He calmly switched their plates then stood, lifted her arm and gently led her to his seat then took hers. Before she could ask him what he was doing he said, “Do you want to order dessert?”
Alicia stared at him stunned. Dessert? He could eat dessert? She could hardly breathe. Sure, he now had his back facing Jacob but wasn’t he disturbed even a little bit? Trey didn’t appear shaken. Not as much as Jacob, who hadn’t moved. Alicia quickly glanced at Jacob again and caught a look on his face: A look not of anger, but anguish.
At first she thought it was the anguish of betrayal, but there seemed to be something else in his stiff presence that shone in his eyes. The look of loss.
She turned back to Trey. He seemed a little too focused on the food, but then again he’d kept his gaze down even before Jacob had arrived. While he didn’t appear as shaken as his former friend, she saw his jaw tighten then relax. Something had bothered him. Something else was going on.
“Did he know?”
Trey took a sip of his soda then put the glass down. “Did who know what?”
“Did Jacob know you were going to pull that stunt on his wedding day?”
Trey shook his head. “If he knew he would have stopped me.” He frowned at her. “That’s a very odd question.”
True. But the look between the men seemed odd to her. Trey had said he’d saved Jacob. From what exactly?
Trey speared one of this chicken cubes. “Why do you keep staring at me?”
“I’m trying to figure you out.”
“Don’t try. I can hardly figure myself out.”
“I just can’t believe you did what you did.”
His jaw twitched. “What’s done, is done. I’d rather not talk about it.”
“I just get this sense that you’re hiding something.”
He lifted his gaze, his dark eyes impaled her. He looked at her for a long moment. “So what?”
He was right. It was none of her business. So what if he was hiding something? So what if her curiosity was dying to know what it was. She was only here to have dinner with him. Let him feel less guilty about harming her business and then they’d go their separate ways. They’d remain strangers.
She cleared her throat ashamed she’d crossed the line. She didn’t want him angry at her. “I’m sorry.”
“No need to apologize. Do you want dessert?”
She shook her head, gripping her hand in her lap. What she wanted right now was for the dinner to end but Trey was taking a long time finishing his meal. She didn’t know a man could eat so slowly. Maybe she could feign an emergency.
“Do you have any particular plans?” he asked.
“Plans?”
“Yes.”
“Plans for what?”
“Your next project.”
“No.”
“Want one?”
“I’m sorry?”
“I’m good at planning things. Just give me a general idea of something you want and I can plan it out for you.”
“No need. I plan on going on the path I should have stayed on since the beginning.”
“What is that?”
“Working at my family’s company.”
“And you want to do that?”
“No,” Alicia said with a defeated sigh. “But there’s no other choice.”
“That’s not true. There are plenty of other choices. I can list them for you if you like.”
“Are you making fun of me?”
Trey looked up at her surprised before he lowered his gaze again. “No, why would I do that?”
“It’s just you sound so superior and condescending as if I’m too stupid to know what options are out there.”
He shifted in his chair and rubbed his forehead. He set his fork down, picked it up, set it down, picked it up again. “I’m sorry. No, I…I want to help.”
His voice sounded so cold and yet sincere. And yet he could hardly look at her.
She sighed. He looked tortured. “You’ve done enough. I’ve already told you that you don’t need to feel guilty. The mess my life is, started way before you did your display at the wedding. You don’t have to suffer through this dinner with me any longer.”
His brows furrowed. “Suffer? You think I’m suffering?”
“Yes. I am.”
An expression—startled, hurt—crossed his face. He twirled his fork. “Oh…okay. I’m sorry. I’m having a great time, but—”
“A great time?” She sniffed. “Your sense of humor is strange.”
“I wasn’t trying to be funny.”
She sat back. “You’re serious?”
He nodded.
“You’ve enjoyed this entire meal so far?”
He nodded then paused. “Not everything, of course. Seeing Jacob again was difficult but the rest has been nice. Especially you.”
“Me?”
He nodded. “I really like your wig.”
Her body turned cold. Wig? She was wearing a wig? She was still wearing the pink and silver wig? She reached to take it off then stopped. Her hair probably looked a fright underneath.
She groaned. That was probably what Fabian was talking about. “This day just keeps getting worse. Why didn’t you say anything?”
“I did. I said you looked amazing.”
“Like a space alien.”
“Invite me to your planet anytime.” The corner of his mouth kicked up. “That was a joke.”
“You have a strange sense of humor.”
“You’ve already said that. Why are you wearing it anyway?”
“Sometimes I take a break and…” She covered her face. “I’m going to sound weird.”
