Helene flopped into the chair behind her desk and patted an area where she wanted Tina to place the pile of folders. “Only someone who’d completely lost their mind.” Or someone who just realizes there actually is something worse than getting sex advice from one’s parents: getting it from Mr. Muscles. Not only is it embarrassing, but there is that added dash of frustrated disappointment.
I’m glad he didn’t ask me out because it saves me the trouble of having to turn him down.
She covered her face with her hands. And if I don’t want people to have an opinion about my sex life, I should probably stop talking about it where they can hear.
She looked up and noticed Tina was still watching her, no longer looking as if she believed her story.
Freakishly old virgin or clinic whore.
Which reputation would be worse?
She straightened her shoulders and asked Tina to go retrieve more files from the nursing station. Of course, there’s always a chance Tina won’t say anything to anyone.
Chapter Three
Andrew thanked his waitress for delivering a second glass of water before he’d even asked for a refill. The small, dockside seafood restaurant was a welcome reprieve from the tourist-filled hotel where he was staying. It was a local place, nothing fancy and off the beaten path enough to not be a hit with the young partiers or the blissful honeymooners. He’d eaten there the past three evenings.
Some of the waitstaff had begun hovering and talking to him about everything and nothing. They either liked the way he looked, the size of the tips he left them, or everyone on the island was just that naturally friendly. When Andrew had arrived that evening, the restaurant’s owner had come out to talk to him. He’d proudly described how boats pulled up to their dock each day and sold their catch straight to the restaurant. He’d said in his soul he was a sailor, but he’d fallen in love with a woman who preferred land. The restaurant was his compromise. Andrew could see that. The balcony extended out over the water like a dare to the ocean waves. They’d talked about business and boats for a while before the man had gone back into the kitchen, but their conversation had left Andrew relaxed and in no rush to leave.
He wasn’t looking forward to the next day. He’d scheduled a meeting with the private investigator his brother had hired but had nothing to tell him. If his instincts were right, that would be a theme for both of them. The death of Kenzi’s twin, Kent, had nearly destroyed his family, but that didn’t make it anyone’s fault. His mother had traveled during the last trimester of her pregnancy with twins on assurances from her obstetrician that it was safe. She’d gone into labor, had the twins prematurely, and one hadn’t survived. Tragic. Awful.
Just like life in general, it doesn’t make sense at all. If life were fair I would have been the one who died.
I should have been.
No wife. No kids. Family I avoid whenever possible. I have nothing to come home to.
The pretty young hostess came to stand beside his table and balanced a menu on her hip. “You can tell me it’s none of my business, but I’m so curious. Are you on vacation?”
“Not exactly.”
She gave him a sweet, but suggestive, smile. “A man of few words. I like that. Are you married?”
He looked her over once. “How old are you?”
“Twenty-one.”
“I’m a good ten years older than you.”
“Age is just a number,” she said with overblown confidence and arched her back to accentuate her large chest. The wink she shot him said she wasn’t as innocent as his little brunette, but she was still too young.
He crooked a finger so she would bend closer. As she did, the front of her shirt gaped open, allowing him the intimate show that had been his goal. “You like me?”
“Yes,” she said softly.
“Want to meet me after your shift?”
Her eyes widened, and her cheeks flushed. “Yes.”
“Don’t,” he growled. “You don’t know me. You don’t know where I came from or what I might have done. You think I won’t hurt you? Why? Because you like my face? You’re too young to realize this, so let me tell you how dangerous people can be. Some hurt people for the thrill of it. You leave here with the wrong person, maybe you’re dead—maybe you wish you were. Either way, in the end, it’ll be on you because it was your fucking lack of good judgment that brought it on.”
She recoiled and disappeared into the back of the restaurant. She must have said something to the waitstaff because they were all watching him with a combination of fear and disgust. He went back to eating, unbothered by their response.
A familiar laugh raised his attention from his plate. His hand clenched on his fork when he realized the date he’d been trying to keep out of his head all evening was about to happen a few tables away from him.
Helene Franklin and her stork of a date didn’t notice him when they first took their seats. She was conservative perfection in her casual shirt and cotton slacks. The doctor was sickeningly slick in his expensive suit that was as pretentious as his oiled-back hair. There were people who had money and people who wanted everyone to think they had it. Her doctor was definitely the latter.
Andrew raised a hand to call his waitress and wasn’t surprised when she made a face at him rather than come to his table. The action did, however, catch Helene’s attention. Her adorable mouth dropped open when she saw him.
The doctor turned to see who she was looking at and frowned when Andrew waved. Turning back to Helene, the doctor asked who he was. She glared at Andrew briefly then dismissed him with a wave of her hand.
His view of them was temporarily blocked by the arrival of his waitress. “I wouldn’t come back here if I were you. You’re lucky we didn’t call the police.”
He met the woman’s eyes as he took out his wallet. She was in her thirties or forties and appeared a lot less impressed with him than the hostess had been. “Because I was honest with her?”
“No, because you either think it’s funny to scare young women or that rape is the victim’s fault. Either way, you’re a sick bastard.”
You’re right about the last part, but that’s it. “My sister went with a stranger, and it didn’t work out well for her. I can’t stomach the idea of that young woman thinking she can trust any single man who comes in here. One day it won’t go well for her, either. If scaring her into being a little more careful is wrong—then fuck being politically correct.”
The expression on the older woman’s face softened. “I’m sorry to hear about your sister.”
“Shit happens. I just hate to see it happen needlessly. Someone had to tell that little girl that life is brutal and fucking unforgiving. All it takes is one mistake to make you wonder if it’s worth being here at all.”
The sympathy in the woman’s eyes made Andrew regret having said anything to her. He didn’t want her pity. He didn’t want anything from her or anyone else. He slapped his credit card down on the bill and looked across at Helene resentfully.
If she wants to give herself to that douche, that’s her choice.
I don’t care.
The waitress picked up the bill without taking the card. “My husband and I own this restaurant, and the little girl you scared tonight is my niece. She’s given her mother plenty of grief lately. I don’t like what you said to her, but I understand why you said it. Your meal is on us tonight and tomorrow night if you decide to come back. I don’t know what you’ve been through, but being here is always worth it.” She wrote a number down on his napkin. “That’s my husband’s number. If you need to talk to someone, he’s a good listener.”
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“I didn’t mean to sound like—”
She touched his arm gently and held out the napkin to him. “My mama always said that the world is full of some people so good they’ll make you want to pray and some so bad they’ll make you question if there’s anyone to pray to. The trick is to fill your life with so many of the good ones that you can survive as many bastards as life sends your way.”
Andrew nodded with a slight smile of appreciation. “Your mama sounds like a wise woman.”
“She was. She would have paddled both of us for swearing, but then she would have hugged us and told us everything was going to be all right. It will be all right. Whatever happened to you, you’ll get through it.”
He pocketed the paper napkin. “That’s what I hear.”
She touched his arm again. “Come back tomorrow night and we’ll make you my mama’s favorite satay.”
He nodded, but he couldn’t imagine enjoying the restaurant again. As he stood, his gaze returned to Helene. The smile was gone from her face. Her date had moved his chair closer to hers, and while Andrew watched, she pushed the man’s hand off her twice.
She was smiling nervously and shaking her head.
Andrew groaned.
He walked up to their table and bent to speak softly in the doctor’s ear. “Get the hell out of here.”
“I will do no such thing. Who do you think you are?” the doctor asked indignantly as he rose from his chair.
Andrew gripped the man’s shoulder and shoved him back into his seat. “I’m giving you a chance to leave with your face still intact.”
“I’m not going anywhere.” The man looked around in desperation.
This is going to take a more personal approach. “You’re on a date with my girlfriend. She likes to make me jealous. It turns her on, so I let her do it, but I don’t like the way you were touching her. You should leave now before I beat the shit out of you in front of all these people.”
The doctor revealed his cowardice when he turned his anger toward Helene. “You didn’t tell me you had a boyfriend.”
