had to get his mind off that. “I noticed you didn’t drink at all tonight. Did you quit or something?”
“I never drink when I work.”
“It was your brother’s birthday party.”
She shrugged. “I don’t drink much anymore.”
That was new. She hadn’t drunk much the night before, so she must be telling the truth.
“What made you come to the party?” she asked.
He’d rather not tell her he came to protect her from Jillian. Even when she was in grade school he’d had the instinct to do that. Apparently that had never gone away. He was glad she was staying at his ranch so that he could keep an eye on her.
“Curiosity.” What he’d intended to be a lie turned out to be partly true. That was the other reason he’d come here tonight. To see if she’d changed at all. She had, and he worried he liked it too much.
She smiled. “Did you think I’d still be dancing on bar tops?”
He chuckled, that old attraction coming back. Only now it was a lot stronger. He fought the building desire that threatened to set aside reason. Eliza may have grown up, but she was still a party girl.
Parking in front of the brick-and-white-trimmed bar, Brandon saw his work truck the same time Eliza did.
All her animation fled. “There’s your truck.”
She both looked and sounded so deflated, and it seemed as though more than catching David drinking had triggered it. Why was she upset? Because their moment of reuniting would come to an end? Or did finding David here instead of with her hurt her that much?
Why? She didn’t actually love him, did she?
“Why did you marry him?” he asked out of annoyance.
After shooting a look at him, she didn’t respond. She didn’t have to. They both knew she’d married him to spite Brandon. Now David was out of control and she and Brandon were fighting this damn attraction that he had thought they were both over. Why couldn’t she have married someone else? Someone who wasn’t from Vengeance. An actor or something. Then she’d have her limelight that she craved so much and she wouldn’t have to come for family visits.
He stepped out of the truck. When she didn’t do the same, he came around to her side and opened the door. She kept staring at the front entrance to the Cork, as though dreading what she’d find inside.
He couldn’t resist her. “Don’t worry, I’ll be with you. We’ll get him and bring him home.”
“It isn’t that.” She lowered her head and then lifted it to meet his gaze, her eyes full of sorrow.
“What’s wrong, Eliza?” he asked softly.
After a brief hesitation, she began, “He’s been acting strange lately.”
“Drinking too much?”
Again she hesitated. Whatever troubled her, she didn’t want to say. She was humiliated and would rather not go into the bar. Did she know about David’s gambling problem? It didn’t seem so. And there was no gambling at the Cork.
“He’s probably with another woman,” she said at last.
David? He’d never known his brother to be unfaithful to any woman. Was it only her insecurity, or had he really gone off the deep end?
Cheat on Eliza? She was stunning and beautiful. Who could David prefer over her?
“David wouldn’t cheat on you,” he said.
Her eyes disagreed with him and made his brow crease in question.
“It’s not just that,” she said self-consciously, not wanting to talk about it. “H-he…keeps looking over his shoulder…taking his cell phone outside to talk. Like he’s afraid of something.”
While that wasn’t the real reason she’d rather not go into the bar, it was another thing that troubled her about David. Alarm somersaulted through Brandon. David’s gambling debts had mushroomed in the past few months, ever since he had married Eliza. Except she didn’t seem to know about that.
“What’s he afraid of?”
“He won’t talk to me about it. I try, but…”
He was too busy screwing other women. He could swear that’s what she was thinking. It was so unlike his brother, the Casanova who lured women by charming them into believing he was a gentleman. Was it all a facade? He was a little conceited….
“Do you want to wait out here?” It might be better for her.
“No. I have to face this.”
When she started to step out of the truck, he helped her with his hands on her hips and she put hers on his shoulders. He lowered her, and she stood right there for a second too long. A second was all it took to feel enough of her to want more. He moved back, and Eliza marched to the entrance.
She opened the door before he could do it for her. And then she stopped short when she saw David sitting at a booth—right beside Jillian.
Brandon did the same. This he hadn’t anticipated. Catching him with a woman was one thing, but Jillian…
What was she doing here with his brother? She wouldn’t try to sleep with David, would she? Would David sleep with her?
There were a few other patrons in the bar. An old man who paid his tab to the bartender, talking to the young man as if he was a regular. A handful of tables were occupied. Laughter and an Elton John song playing from the jukebox filled the air. Willa Merris and another gradeschool teacher sat at the booth beside David and Jillian, deep into some discussion. Willa’s long strawberry-blond hair gleamed under the dim bar lights. Her father kept her in upper-class social circles and it was odd seeing her here. At this low-end bar.
Not as odd as finding his brother with Jillian. Had she deliberately arranged this? Why?
Jillian lifted her dark drink and sipped. As she lowered her glass, she caught sight of Brandon and her eyes popped open wide.
He stopped with Eliza at the booth.
“Well, look who’s here,” David slurred.
Eliza folded her arms indignantly, but the sexy cock of her hips in that slinky dress diffused her seriousness. “Is this why you didn’t show up at my brother’s party?”
“I thought you’d prefer it that way.” Scorn dripped off him like the alcohol swimming in his blood. “Did you two have a good time?”
What did he mean by that? “Why haven’t you been back at the ranch?” Brandon asked.
“Three’s a crowd, brother.”
As in him, Eliza and David? Did he actually believe…?
“I don’t know what’s gotten into you, but there is nothing going on between me and Eliza.” He had to know Brandon had no intention of pursuing her. He couldn’t call her wild anymore, but she still craved the spotlight. His mind hadn’t changed about her.
“I saw the way you looked at her last night.” He drained his drink.
Seeing Eliza had taken him aback. He’d forgotten just how striking her beauty was. He’d rather not think about kissing her. Not knowing how to respond, he decided it was better not to.
Instead, he met Jillian’s discontented eyes and wondered how long it would be before the she-snake in her struck.
“What are you doing here?” he asked her.
She passed David an uncertain glance. “I ran into him when I left the party. David was just arriving.”
“She told me you were there.” David’s drunken reproach landed on Brandon.
“He