Just because she wished him well didn’t mean that she couldn’t be jealous—just a little, she thought—of the fact that he had someone, probably many someones, who loved him. She had an ancient cat and her slightly nutty stepsister.
“Better than nothing,” she muttered before she was bumped into. “Ouch!”
The man who’d run into her steadied them both by placing a hand on her arm before he looked up at her. “I’m so sorry. I…Laurel?”
“Jason,” she whispered. He was here. She could hardly believe it, but her arms were around him instantly. “Jason!”
He hugged her close and could hardly believe it. Of all the places in all the world, he’d found her here. Though he’d been estranged from his mother for the past several years, he’d made efforts to find Laurel. No one, not even Bryna, had been able to inform him of her whereabouts. And, now, here she was. His little stepsister. Though she wasn’t quite so little anymore.
“Let me look at you.” He stepped back, holding her at arm’s length. “You’re all grown up, Laurie. I can’t believe I found you. I’ve looked all over for you!”
She smiled and hugged him again. “It’s good to see you again, too! After you left, I thought I’d lost you forever.”
“I went back to the estate to see you and Bryna, but Mother told me you’d gone. She couldn’t say where or when, though. I was so worried about you.” Jason patted her cheek. “Obviously, I didn’t need to. What have you been up to?”
“A little of this, a little of that. It’s nice to hear that someone worried about me,” she told him. He’d always been the best brother she could’ve ever asked for.
He looped an arm around her shoulders. “There are a lot of people who worried about you. Do you remember, before you left Cliffton, we were friends with Kevin Richardson?” At her nod, he went on. “Kevin married Kristin. They’re both here tonight, along with Howie Dorough and a bunch of others. I’m sure they’ll be ecstatic to see you again.” He led her towards the staircase to the VIP section, but she stopped him.
“No, please. Jason, I can’t. I can’t see them again.”
“What? Why?”
Laurel sighed a little. “It’s just…it’s been so long. And I’m not the same anymore. Neither are they. There’s a reason I’ve always asked Bryna to keep quiet about where I was.”
“Bryna? Bryna knew where you were and didn’t tell me?” He was surprised and hurt. “Why would you do that, Laurel?”
“I need to keep a low profile because, even if I’m away from your mother, she’s still keeping an eye on me. If I’d gone back to the old gang, she would’ve made my life a living hell. At this point in my life, I don’t need that.” She looked away from the hurt shading his eyes to stare at the hordes of moving bodies. “You haven’t seen Bryna tonight, have you?”
“Bryna’s here? Right now?”
“Yes.”
His laugh surprised her. “What’s so funny?”
“Nick Carter. She must have told you about him, right?” Laurel nodded. “Anyway, Nick’s here tonight and in a horrible mood because of her. I wonder if they’ve found each other.”
When his arm rested around her shoulders again, she leaned against him as they watched the clubgoers companionably. “I’d pay money to see what would happen if they did.”
“Of all the…” Bryna muttered furiously under her breath and tried to ignore him. But, of course, she couldn’t. He hulked around like he owned the place. No, like he owned her.
Nick pulled up a stool to the bar where she sat and glared daggers at her. “So that’s how you work, huh, Bryna? You’re too sick or busy or what the fuck ever else to come in to work. But you’re perfectly fine enough to party. With a work ethic like that, you’ll never make your mark bigger in music. Such a hypocrite,” he muttered and ordered a drink. He needed one. Badly.
“You ass!” she nearly hissed it. “You’re the one that hired me and didn’t bother to pay attention to the way my music sounds. I don’t need you, Nick, and I certainly don’t need Apollo to help me make my mark in the industry. I was fine without your help, and I’ll keep being fine.” She shoved away from the bar and started back towards the dance floor. When his hand caught hers in a strong grip, she stared coolly from his eyes to his hand. “Get your hand off me, Nick. You don’t want to mess with me now.” Not after she’d spent a week building steam and anger over him and his bullheadedness. Why she was in love with the pathetic ingrate, she still didn’t know, but she was. Even if he currently had her arm in a stranglehold.
He pulled her back to him and met her stare with a sneer. “What are you going to do, Bryna? Beat me up if I don’t let go? I’m bigger than you.”
“Learn to pick on someone your own size then.” Another man stepped between them and pulled Bryna out of Nick’s hold. He was nearly Nick’s height with dark blonde hair and, currently, irritated brown eyes. “And don’t mess with a woman that way,” he added, turning from Bryna to glare at Nick. His face went from irritated to shocked instantly. “Carter? Nick Carter?”
Nick sighed and wondered if things could get more complicated. “Matthew Davis, right? It’s a small, small world.”
“And a pretty fucked up one if my boss is going around manhandling his co-worker,” the other man countered. “If I’d known Apollo had such bastards on their team, I would’ve never come to you to be signed.”
“Look-” Nick began, feeling just a little sick as his eyes fell on the way the singer had his arm around Bryna’s waist and the way she seemed to lean against him.
“No, you look.” Matt cut him off. “I don’t want to get into an argument with you. Not when I’m going to be working with you for the next foreseeable future. So let’s get something straight. I may technically be your employee, but I’ll kick your ass if you touch Bryna again.”
He resisted the urge to throw his hands up in frustration. “Great. Sure. Fine.” Nick’s eyes met Bryna’s, and he wondered how she could make his feelings run the gamut from annoyed to elated to miserable and everything in between. “You’ll be working with Bryna anyway. She knows your music style better than any of the other Apollo producers or myself. She’s damn good at her job, so you won’t see me around. That saves you an ass-kicking, doesn’t it?” He sighed and, grabbing his drink, left them behind.
“You okay?” Matt turned to Bryna, who was watching Nick’s retreating figure.
She blinked. “Huh? Oh, yeah.” She patted his arm. “You’re a great guy, Matthew.”
“I am, aren’t I?” He grinned. “So, wanna dance some more?”
Bryna sighed a little. She wasn’t sure what she wanted to do. She’d come to this club to party and try to let go of the bruised feelings she’d been nursing all week. Considering they were the product of twenty years of bruised feelings, she’d been walking around with a huge weight on her chest. So, she’d come to have fun and dragged Laurel with her, only to run into the man who’d bruised her feelings and her heart. And she’d watched him walk away with the same frustration, confusion, and pain that dwelled in her, too.
She glanced back at the clubgoers that now filled the space Nick had disappeared through and sighed. Running into Matt had been pure coincidence, and, considering she’d liked him from the start of their professional relationship, she’d settled into harmless flirtation. Harmless, but she didn’t want Matt to want more. Not when she couldn’t give more.
“I don’t know, Matt.” She bit her lip and hoped that Nick wouldn’t be too much angrier with her on Monday. True, she knew how to handle him, but that didn’t mean she wanted to spend forever fighting him. “I’m kind of tired. I’m just going to chill here for a bit. You go and have fun. I’ll catch up with you later.”
Understanding, he nodded. “If Carter comes back, I really will kick his ass, though.”
“Matt, it’s…complicated. He wouldn’t have hurt me. Not the way you think,” she added. “We’ve got a crazy history, but it’s sweet of you to want to help me out. I’ll remember that.”
“Okay. If you end up leaving before I see you again, have a good night. I’ll see you on Monday.” He leaned over and kissed her cheek. “By the way, you’ve got great moves. Boss.”
Why, she wondered, pressing a hand to her heart, why couldn’t she just feel that flutter of butterflies when another man touched her? Why was it that only being near Nick did that to her? It would have been so lovely if she could’ve responded to that brush of Matt’s lips on her cheek. But she couldn’t.
Only Nick. Only Nick could do that to her. Just as only Nick could make her feel this miserable.
Laurel stepped back from the railing and grinned at Jason. “They’re so cute.”
“And miserable, too.” He shook his head. “Seriously, as much as I wanted to march down there and punch him for touching her like that, I want her happy.”
“I know. She won’t be happy until she’s with Nick, though.” Laurel twirled a lock of her hair idly. “I think Nick’s the same way from seeing them around each other.”
Jason nodded. “Oh, yeah. He hasn’t realized it yet, but he’s sunk in her. He just has to figure it out.”
“He looked upset when he walked out,” she commented. “Maybe someone should talk to him.”
“Yeah.” And he saw her look. “Wait. Me? You want me to go talk to the guy who’s making my little sister miserable? Laurel, I don’t think that’s such a good idea.”
She put her arm around his shoulders and pointed to where Bryna sat, still staring in the direction Nick had stalked off. “That’s your sister, and she’s unhappy. It’s up to you to do something to fix that. Talking to Nick is a good place to start. So do it.”
“When did you become so bossy?”
“When I realized that nothing happens unless you work for it.” Laurel patted his cheek. “Help Bryna, Jason. Do it for me, the sister you haven’t seen in years.”
He scowled. “Great card to pull.”
“Did it work?”
“Yeah.” Jason started off in the direction Nick had gone. Then, he stopped and caught her up in a hug. “Don’t disappear again.”
“I won’t.” She blinked back tears and squeezed him back. “Bryna knows how to find me.”
He nodded and stepped back. “I’m going to go save the day, I guess. Bryna is so going to owe me, though.”
Jason found Nick sitting in a corner booth with a bottle of beer dangling from his fingers as he scowled at the people dancing. He was alone and, apparently, brooding with it.
“Mind if I join you?”
Nick didn’t spare his friend a glance, just lifted a shoulder. “It’s a free country.”
“It is, isn’t it?” Jason settled in. “And being a free country, you won’t mind me exercising my freedom of speech, right?”
“What do you want, Jason?”
Well, let’s not beat around the fucking bush, shall we? “I saw your argument with Bryna.” The one sentence was enough to have Nick’s head whipping around to glare at him. “I didn’t come here to argue, though.”
“Then what?” He was pissed at the world, Nick decided. Taking it out on the brother of the one person causing him a great deal of annoyance, had to be more satisfying than pounding a fist on the table.
Jason gave him a sympathetic look. “I know you’re tired and confused with all the crazy signals she’s been sending off, Nick.”
“They’re not crazy. They’re deranged. Your sister’s a fricking lunatic.”
“Don’t I know it.” Jason grinned at the withering look Nick shot him. “Hey, I know what she’s like. I grew up with her. Just be happy you’re not dealing with Theresa. She’d freeze you and hack you to pieces. She’s my sister, too, but she’s a nasty piece of work. Bryna’s not.”
Nick frowned. “I wouldn’t bank on it if I were you.”
“I’ll take my chances.” Jason patted Nick’s shoulder. “Having grown up with Bryna, I have a piece of advice for you, young grasshopper.”
Nick snorted. “Grasshopper?”
“Shut up. It’s a term that refers to a novice. You still don’t know how to deal with Bryna, so you’re still a grasshopper. Anyway.” He paused to collect his thoughts. “Bryna. She’s hard as hell to figure out when she’s upset, but she’s as pure as they come, Nick. If she’s making you mad and frustrated, she’s probably just as mad and upset. She doesn’t do things to spite others on purpose. Whatever’s wrong between the two of you, you need to talk with her about it. Don’t shove each other around because that closes her down. She’ll never fix things with you if you do that. Just be very calm, mature, and willing to listen. Bryna will come around.”
Nick was quiet for a few moments. “She never used to be this complicated before,” he said finally.
“Yeah, well, you’ve always been sort of dense when it comes to reading her.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Jason chuckled at the insulted tone. “She’s always been Bryna, Nick. You’re just starting to notice her, now. When you’ve figured out why that is, you’ll know what to do.” He rose and patted Nick’s shoulder again. “Until then, learn from wise words, grasshopper.”
“Yeah, well, at least a grasshopper can make music,” Nick muttered as Jason strode off. Then again, so could Bryna, and he had a sneaking suspicion she was better at it than him, too.
“I think I’m in shock.”
Kevin chuckled and Kristin shushed him. “You’re not in shock, and this shouldn’t be such a surprise,” she told James. “After all, what smart, beautiful woman wouldn’t say yes to you?”
“Kris.”
“Well, if I was younger and not married to you, Kevin, I would, too,” she replied and grinned at James’ horrified look. “Kevin’s not going to bust you over that statement, either. Relax.”
But James continued to stare at the name and number of the woman he’d spent fifteen minutes talking to at the bar. He’d been there, she’d been there, and they’d struck up a conversation. She’d been intelligent, witty, and gorgeous. Even now, as he sat in Kevin’s car on their way home, he couldn’t get the image of her out of his mind. He hoped he wasn’t making a mistake, he thought, half-listening as Kevin poked at his wife and riled her up. He had her number and her name. A pretty name to go with a magnificent face and personality. He couldn’t help but say her name to himself.
Laurel.
