Reilly's Wildcard (Blackwater)

And just like that, the happy bubble burst. “Think what you want,” she muttered, a lump forming in her throat. She tried not to let his distrust tear her up. After all, she’d come home with him knowing full well there weren’t any strings, no guarantees. She had no illusions when it came to men. Not anymore. It was a one-night stand. What had she expected?

Reilly reached for her, but Lucy quickly sidestepped him. He sighed heavily and pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. “Talk to me, sweetheart.”

Lucy struggled with her emotions, unwilling to cry in front of him. She didn’t want to talk, and she sure didn’t want the apology she witnessed in his gaze now. What they had shared was more passion than she’d ever had with David their entire marriage. She wouldn’t regret a second of it.

She finished dressing and turned toward him. “Forget what I said about the audition. It doesn’t matter. Not really.”

His gaze softened a fraction, and he started toward her again, this time not stopping when she moved away from him. Lucy held up a hand to hold him at bay. “Take me home. Please, Reilly.” Her voice broke, but there was no help for it.

A muscle in his jaw jumped, but he stopped pursuing her and nodded briskly. Lucy should have been relieved, but she couldn’t feel anything past the thick cloud of misery threatening to engulf her.

“Bathroom?” she asked, needing to escape, if only for a few minutes.

Silently, Reilly gestured toward the hallway. She left him to finish getting dressed. Lucy all but ran out of the room. When she located the bathroom, she flipped on the light and stared at her reflection in the mirror above the sink. Her dress was all twisted and wrinkled. Her hair was a tangled wreck and her makeup was horribly smeared. “Lovely,” she muttered. It took Lucy several minutes to go from looking nearly sexed to death to cool and composed. She left the bathroom and found her purse by the front door where she’d left it earlier.

Reilly waited with his keys fisted in one hand, apparently ready to take her home. “I don’t want to leave it like this,” he said when he spotted her. “I’d like to see you again.”

“I think it’s best if we don’t.” She couldn’t get past the idea that he could think she’d be the type of person to sleep with a man merely to secure a job. That his mind had gone there, even for a second, rankled. She started to tell him she could call a cab, but they were interrupted by the doorbell. “Who’s at your house this late at night?”

He shook his head, apparently as surprised as she was. When Reilly pulled the door wide, there was a tall, dark-haired woman there. She looked up and saw Reilly, then promptly flung herself into his arms.

Lucy stiffened. A girlfriend? He’d said he wasn’t dating anyone. As if reading her thoughts, Reilly merely shook his head and enfolded the other woman in a tight embrace.

There was something in the way he held her. Not like a girlfriend, but more like a…sister. Lucy knew Reilly didn’t have a sister, though. Whoever the woman was, she was clearly distraught over something. Reilly made hushing sounds as he took her into the kitchen. Lucy hung back. Now was the time to make herself scarce, she realized. With his attention on the hysterical brunette, Lucy slipped out the front door. She fished her cell phone out of her purse and called a cab. She was just getting into the back of it when Reilly sprinted toward her. He stopped on the sidewalk, his hands fisted at his sides and a frown marring his brows as the car pulled away from the curb.

Lucy held the tears back for about half a mile; then she opened the floodgates. Damn it, why didn’t she ever learn? Men were trouble. Always had been, always would be. Stupid to think Reilly might be different. But the tenderness and sensitivity Reilly had expressed when she’d talked about her dad sprang to her mind, and her heart squeezed tight.

“I’m an idiot,” she chastised herself, knowing now she’d read more into the whole night than what was really there. Wishful thinking. Someday she’d learn. Someday.

Reilly watched until Lucy was out of sight before he headed back into the house. He slammed the door shut and mentally called himself ten kinds of fool. Damn it, he’d fucked that up but good. She’d been a breath away from agreeing to the entire weekend too. Right up until he’d opened his big mouth. He hadn’t known Lucy long, but he didn’t think she’d be the sort of woman to use her body to get what she wanted. Deep down he’d known that, so why the hell had his head gone there when she’d mentioned the singing position at the Blackwater?

He was too goddamn suspicious, that was why. River was always telling him that. Too untrusting with women. It was at least half the reason he’d never had a serious relationship. The idea that he might never see Lucy again was unacceptable, though. One way or another, he’d track her down and force her to listen to him. He’d do whatever it took to make her forgive him, because he wasn’t about to let her go. Not now that he’d held her in his arms.

Reilly had gotten to know Lucy a little tonight. She’d opened up to him about her childhood. He admired her for her strength, because he, better than anyone, knew how difficult it was to overcome a dysfunctional past. Not to mention the fact that she’d sure as hell had put him in his place. The stubborn imp.

“I’m so sorry, Reilly. Did I just screw that up for you?”

The soft, feminine voice tore him out of his depressing thoughts, and he turned to find Jeanette Munroe, his brother River’s closest friend in the world, standing in the doorway to the kitchen. Tears had caused her mascara to smear, and her face was entirely too pale for his peace of mind. Damn, River had done a real number on her this time. He needed his ass kicked, and Reilly was just the man to do it. Jeanette had the bad judgment to fall in love with River shortly after they’d met in high school. She was sweet, a little tomboyish and a few years younger. She was also a hell of a lot more innocent than River.

Unfortunately, River was totally oblivious to Jeanette’s feelings. To him they were best buds and always would be. He’d always sworn that nothing else would ever happen between them. Jeanette deserved better, River had once told him. It was bullshit, and everybody but River knew it. Jeanette was good for him. She made him smile when no one else could. Damn if River would get that through his thick skull, though.

Reilly strode across the room and took her in his arms. “Of course not. My big mouth is to blame here, but what else is new?”

She patted him on the back. “You Jennings men do have a knack for saying all the wrong things.”

He pulled back and took her hand, then led her into the kitchen. “Have a seat,” he offered as he pulled out a chair for her. “I’ll get us a couple of beers, and you can tell me all about my idiot twin.”

After Jeanette sat, Reilly went to the refrigerator and took out a couple of light beers. He grabbed the bottle opener from the counter and popped the tops, then handed her one. He leaned against the counter and took a swig. God, he needed that. When he looked at Jeanette, Lucy’s half-empty mug of coffee caught his eye, and his gut clenched. Like a video playing in his mind, Reilly remembered the way Lucy had come undone for him. She’d been magnificent, every inch of her. He had to figure out a way to get her to talk to him, because he wasn’t through with her, not by a long shot.

He shook his head and took another drink, then turned his concentration to Jeanette. “So, tell me what River’s done this time.”

“I walked in on him with another woman.” She squeezed her eyes tight and muttered, “A redhead with huge boobs. Of course, he always likes his women stacked.” She looked down at her own chest and frowned. “Maybe I should get a boob job. Maybe then he’d notice me.”

Reilly tsked. “No, sweetie, your looks aren’t the problem here. You’re gorgeous just the way you are.”

She threw her hands in the air. “Then what is it? I’m about ready to throw in the towel. I’ve kept the torch burning for too long as it is. I’m not getting any younger here!”

“You know as well as I do that River’s past is the culprit. He’s messed up from everything he went through when he was in foster care. The abuse. Hell, he hasn’t even told me all of it.” Reilly sighed as pain for his twin lanced through him. “If I could go back and change it, I would in a heartbeat. I’d keep River from ever meeting that abusive piece of shit, Larry Briggs.” He moved across the room and sat in the chair nearest Jeanette. “But I can’t. And until River deals with it, he’ll never be able to move on.”