Nick handed the drink to the woman, who batted those fake eyelashes at him repeatedly before sipping the concoction and letting loose a sensual hum of appreciation. A lot of the women who came here tended to do that after trying a drink—purring like kittens, moaning like they were having an orgasm, or groaning like they were on a porn set, all for nothing.
“You know your efforts are wasted on that one, right?” I hooked a thumb toward Nick and gave her a quick grin.
“Can’t hurt to try,” she said with a coy smile, and it took everything in me to tell her that yes, it could hurt her to try. Because Nick saw no one other than Jess.
Moving to the corner where Ryan stood, I reached over his shoulder and grabbed a bottle of whiskey. Nick followed me like my shadow.
“Just give us the rundown,” Ryan said.
I thought back to arriving home that night and being surprised to find Shelby still awake and in the kitchen. Even thought it was an ungodly hour, I’d taken it as a sign and had started the conversation by asking her if she was happy. She tried to insist she was, but I knew she was lying, both to me and to herself.
Keeping my voice low, I said, “She was pissed. She said pretty much everything I thought she would. How I’d wasted her life and led her on. I was an asshole who wouldn’t know a good thing if it hit me in the face. Then she threw her coffee mug at me.”
“What? No way.” Nick laughed. “I can’t imagine Shelby doing that.”
“She was mad. And she was hurt. Don’t worry, I ducked.” I mimicked the movement, and both my brothers laughed.
“Did you tell her about Claudia,” Ryan asked.
“Why the hell would I do that?”
“Figured she’d ask if there was someone else. Girls always ask if there’s someone else,” he said with conviction.
I nodded. “She did ask me that, and she asked me why now. She wanted to know if there was someone else, and if there wasn’t, what exactly had changed between us.”
“What did you tell her?” Nick leaned in closer as he waited for my answer.
“I told her nothing had changed, but I just couldn’t keep doing this anymore. That we were both settling, and I wasn’t the right guy for her.”
“Jesus. That was harsh.” Ryan blew out a breath.
Blinking hard, I said, “Then I told her about the promise I made to her dad.”
“Shit! Was she shocked?” Nick said at the same moment Ryan blurted, “What’d she say?”
So I told them exactly what had gone down . . .
• • •
“Did you know I made a promise to your dad right before he died?” I’d said, wanting Shelby to know what I’d done, what I’d promised to do.
“My dad? What kind of promise?”
“He made me promise to always take care of you. He said that you were mine now and he couldn’t imagine a better guy with his daughter.” My voice broke as I relayed the information to her for the first time.
“He did that to me too.”
Shocked, I blurted, “He did?”
Shelby nodded. “He said he couldn’t imagine me with anyone else. Told me how lucky we were to have found each other, and that we should always remember that. Relationships were about compromise and love wasn’t easy, he said, but when it got hard, you stuck it out and didn’t give up. He told me not to give up on you, even when you were hard to love. Dad promised me that you would get hard to love; he said that’s what men did.”
She gave me a sad smile. “He also said that what we had was worth fighting for, and that true love stood the test of time. He hoped we’d get married one day, and said he’d be watching over us when we did.”
• • •
Ryan gave me a sad look when he heard that part. “Wow, her dad really did a number on both of you.”
I agreed. Shelby’s dad had obviously meant well, but he’d put more pressure on us than we could handle.