Lucky Break (10 page)

Chapter Six

They finished around four o’clock the next day. Sidney stood with Kade, Rowan, and—since it was Saturday—Betsy and Jace. The five of them stared in awe around Lucky’s. The lanes were shiny and buffed. A new, circular counter sat in the middle of the room.

Off to the left was the bar: lots of dark wood and browns. Leather-covered bar stools sat around tall tables that were weathered enough to fit the atmosphere, but looked new as well.

It was fantastic. She couldn’t believe how much better it looked than when they first started. Amazing what you could do in a short amount of time. What Kade could do. He’d orchestrated the whole thing, much like he often did. He’d always been good at taking control.

“Not too bad, buddy!” Jace slapped him on the back.

“What do you mean, not too bad? It’s incredible!” Everyone looked at Sidney when she spoke and she felt a little foolish for her excitement, but it was true. Then Kade winked at her and it made her feel better.

When she’d woken in the middle of the night, in bed and with Kade’s messily scrawled note, she’d felt a multitude of different emotions: happiness, thankfulness, and yes, fear. A quick letter telling her he hoped she slept well and that he left her food in the fridge definitely shouldn’t have made her feel that much.

It scared her that Kade moved so quickly into her protector mode again. And that she let him.

She didn’t need or want Kade, or anyone else, to take care of her. Especially when she was determined to make it on her own when she left Shamrock Falls again. Kade represented this place, and she knew she needed to leave it.

As she’d gotten dressed that morning, she’d reminded herself it was the exact reason she shouldn’t let herself get too close to Kade again. They couldn’t get too tangled in each other.

And when she’d gone outside to see him waiting to give her a ride again, she’d known she should say no.

She never was good at listening to her own warnings.

“We should celebrate!” Rowan said, breaking her out of her reverie.

“Oh my God! Yes!” That sounded like the perfect idea. They hadn’t gone out to do anything fun since she’d been back. “Oh, I made the perfect skirt for you to wear, Freckles.”

“You’re sewing? That’s fantastic. You know I’ll wear anything you make. I still have the purse you gave me in high school.”

The thought warmed Sidney’s heart. She knew the bag couldn’t have been that good, but Rowan had kept it because of her.

Sidney gave her a smile and Rowan reached out and squeezed her hand.

“I might have something for you too, Betsy.” She eyed the other woman, who had gone slightly pale.

“I don’t know… I should probably—”

“You’re going.” Sidney grabbed Betsy’s hand. “Let’s have some fun! We deserve it. And Kade owes us!” She looked over at him and he just shrugged his shoulders as if to say whatever she wanted.

“You guys can go without me. I don’t want to intrude,” Betsy replied. They definitely needed to do something to get Betsy out of her shell. A few times when they were alone she’d seemed more comfortable, made a few sarcastic remarks, but didn’t seem to do well around men.

Sidney opened her mouth to say she wouldn’t take no for an answer, but Jace beat her to it.

“Live a little, Betsy. Go out with the ladies.”

Betsy’s face turned about as bright as Rowan’s hair, but she nodded. “Okay. I guess I can come.”

“Yay!” Rowan pulled Betsy into a hug. “This is going to be so much fun!”

Sidney wasn’t listening to them any longer, though. She focused her attention on Kade and Jace. “I don’t know what you mean ‘go out with the ladies.’ We’re
all
going out tonight, even if I have to drag you.”

Jace didn’t look convinced. She was sure he had some lawyer buddy or one of his harem to go out with, but tonight, Sidney wanted to have fun. She wanted them
all
to have fun. “What time should we meet?” she asked the guys. “Us girls are going to need some time to get ready.”

Jace looked at Kade like he expected him to bail them out. Instead Kade crossed his arms, half of his mouth kicked up in a smile. “When she gets like this, it’s easier to just go along with what she wants, man. I can guarantee she’ll have her way.”

Kade’s words sent a flood of warmth through her.

Jace just shook his head and shrugged. “I guess we’re all going out.” And then to Kade he added, “I think we need to grab a beer while we wait.”

…

“Okay…what’s going on with you and Kade?” Rowan asked as she fell onto Sidney’s mattress. Sidney couldn’t get over the familiarity of one of her oldest friends sitting on the bed in her old room, discussing boys. Talk about a high school flashback.

“Something’s going on between you two?” Betsy asked from Sidney’s desk chair. It amazed her how different Betsy acted when there were no guys around. She was still a little more quiet and reserved than either she or Rowan, but she wasn’t blushing and stumbling over her words, either.

In an attempt to distract them, Sidney headed toward her closet. She hadn’t brought a lot of clothes with her, but she did bring a few cute things to go out in. Plus, she had the new clothes she’d made the other night, which was what she would probably wear anyway. “So. What’s this place like? How casual or dressy should we get?” She buried her face in the closet and hoped her plan would work.

“That so isn’t happening—I know all your tricks. You can’t avoid Kade questions.”

Sidney sighed and pulled herself out of the closet. “Nothing is going on with Kade and me…we’re friends.” But that wasn’t completely true, of course. Some of the thoughts flooding her head had left friend territory in the dust long ago. And that kiss in the backyard…

“You guys have history?” Betsy asked.

You could call it that
. No way could she go into a lot of detail. It wasn’t as if she didn’t trust or like Betsy, it just felt weird talking about herself and Kade to someone else. As though she would be breaking some kind of trust between them. “Yeah, we were best friends growing up. We had a bit of a falling out five years ago. This is the first time I’ve seen him since.”

They’d never really had a falling out, though. They’d been fine—better than fine. They had been something completely new when she’d walked away. “It was my fault, really…my issues.” Even though what she’d done had been
for
Kade, she knew she could have gone about it in a different way. She wished she had.

“I left without saying good-bye,” she added, not quite sure why she did. Her screw up really shouldn’t be a secret.

When Rowan caught her eye, the look of sadness there reminded her Kade hadn’t been the only one she’d walked away from.

“Anyway, we’re trying to be friends again. That’s all.”

“You guys have never been only friends,” said Rowan, glancing between the other two women. “Neither of you might have known it or admitted it, but there’s always been more.”

Sidney sighed, holding a fire-engine-red dress up to her body. At Rowan’s tell-tale scrunched nose, she put it back in the closet. The dress just screamed,
I’m trying too hard.

“Kade has a big heart. Not to mention a hero complex, and he thinks he needs to take care of everyone who means something to him. He’s always wanted to protect me the same way he did his mom, you, or anyone else. That’s all there is to it.”

Rowan sat up. “All there is to it, my ass.”

“I’m leaving soon,” Sidney reminded her, annoyed that she felt like she was grasping at straws.

“All the more reason to make the best of the time you have…and you never know what will happen, what can change.”

“I agree,” Betsy piped up, surprising her. “You guys don’t know how lucky you are… I never had that…the friendships.”

Both Sidney and Rowan looked at Betsy. She opened her mouth as if to say more, but closed it again and shook her head slightly. Sidney was about to ask what she had meant by that, but, Betsy put up an uncharacteristically assertive hand and said, “Don’t ask. Not yet.”

They were quiet for a minute before Rowan stood up and clapped her hands. “Okay, girls! That’s enough of that. It’s time to get ready.” She turned and looked at Betsy. “And we’re gonna dress you.”

Betsy’s eyes widened to the size of a fifty-cent piece. “What? I can’t…no… I’d be too embarrassed… I couldn’t go out…” The woman struggled to even finish her sentence.

“Oh, please!” Sidney added. “It’ll be so much fun!”

“No… I’d feel ridiculous. It’s not really my style.” Her eyes darted down and Sidney immediately felt bad. She couldn’t imagine never having had girlfriends to get ready with. That was a part of growing up.

“You’re so pretty. It’ll be fun. What if we just do a partial? Like just clothes or hair and make-up. You can choose.”

Betsy sat there for a moment as if deep in thought, letting her hair fall in front of her face like it always did. She was a conflict of emotions: flushed cheeks and wide eyes, but a small smile that hinted at her excitement.

“Please!” Rowan added.

Today she was wearing a T-shirt and baggy pants. Sidney knew she must dress differently when she worked with Jace, but she had a feeling the woman chose clothes that were just as unflattering and hid just as much.

Finally Betsy looked up at them. “I guess you can pick my clothes.” Sidney could have sworn she saw Betsy just cover a full-fledged smile.

…

Kade sat at a table in the dark bar, sipping a beer with Jace. The women were running late, which didn’t surprise him.

“So…is it good to be back?” he asked Jace, who looked slightly nervous for some reason. It was pretty obvious he didn’t like the idea of them all going out tonight, though Kade wasn’t sure why.

“In some ways, yeah.” Jace took a drink before setting his bottle down. Kade could definitely see where the other guy was coming from. Part of him loved being back, but he had to admit, sometimes it felt a little strange.

“What’s the deal with Betsy?” he found himself asking. Her story interested him. She was obviously uncomfortable most of the time, but she’d jumped at the chance to come, once Jace asked her. Plus, she didn’t really seem like the type of woman Jace would have working for him.

“Why?” Jace took another drink, but wouldn’t look him in the eyes.

“Ah hell, Jace. Don’t tell me you’re playing games with that woman. She’s not the type you—”

“I’m not doing anything!” Finally he turned to look at Kade, his eyes hard. “I’m not sleeping with her. She just works for me, but…” He looked like he weighed his words before replying. “You can’t tell me you don’t see the way she looks at me. She’s a damn good legal assistant. Really knows what she’s doing and works hard, but it’s awkward. Anytime we have to work together, she’s burying her face in her hair or mumbling.”

Kade nodded.

“I don’t want to lose her, I can tell you that. When she relaxes around me, we work well together and like I said, I know a little about her history and I think she’s been through a lot, but it’s strange as hell… I mean, I went out with this beautiful woman last week. Gorgeous. She stopped by the office and I felt uncomfortable. Like I was doing something wrong because Betsy’s obviously got it for me. I don’t do guilt, Kade.”

Jace looked flustered for the first time since he’d known him. Even when they were kids he always had this cool, calm air about him.

“I don’t know if I can deal with it much longer, to be honest. I definitely don’t think we should both be here tonight.”

Kade couldn’t help but wonder if there was more to the story. He didn’t know a great deal about Jace, but things weren’t completely adding up. “As long as you two stay professional, I don’t see why you can’t work together. And tonight it’s a group of friends, nothing more. No harm in that.”

Jace’s look told him he didn’t agree with that assessment for a second. “Just friends, huh? Tell me you don’t want Sidney and I’ll buy everyone’s drinks for the whole night.”

Luckily Kade was saved from answering that question when he glanced up to see Sidney, Rowan, and Betsy walk in the door. “Shit,” he groaned out. That one word was probably enough to answer Jace’s previous question.

Sidney had on a pale peach dress. It looked almost just like her skin and such a contrast to her dark hair. It was short, not leaving much to the imagination. She had on a black belt, with something on the buckle that matched the material of her dress. It had some kind of swoopy neck thing that dipped low and straps that didn’t go up over her neck, but low on her shoulders.

She was incredible.

He didn’t notice either of the other women. Couldn’t. Not with Sidney standing beside them. All he saw was her.

“What the hell is Betsy wearing?” he heard Jace ask, but he couldn’t take his eyes off Sidney to see.

“Damn it.” She had on boots. How did he not immediately notice the boots?

The ladies walked up to the table. “Fancy seeing
you
here.” Sidney smiled down at him.

Kade cleared his throat and tried to smile back at her. He felt like a horny, sixteen-year-old virgin. “Hey.”

As the three women sat in the chairs across from them, he finally managed to pull his eyes from Sidney. Both Betsy and Rowan were in dresses, too, and it was obvious Betsy’s clothes belonged to either Rowan or Sidney. He’d never seen the woman show so much skin, but she still kept her hair hanging down and straight. It hid her face when she leaned forward.

“Can I get you guys anything to drink?” A waitress stepped up to their table.