Brown-Eyed Girl (Travis Family #4)(30)

“She needs the help more,” Joe said, perfectly deadpan. “Have you been to one of Ella’s parties?”

Ella gave him a warning glance, although her eyes sparkled with laughter. “Careful, you.”

Joe grinned at her before turning his attention to Ryan. “Let’s catch a game on Sunday,” he said.

“Sounds good.” Ryan paused before asking with a subtle smile, “Does Jack have to come along this time?”

“You’d better hope I do,” Jack said. “I’m the only one who ever pays for the damn beer.”

Joe took my elbow. “We’ll see y’all in a bit,” he said easily. “I want Avery’s opinion on some paintings I might bid on.”

Ella winked at me as Joe drew me away.

“Do you think your cousin is really going to go through with it?” I asked Joe in a low tone. “If he takes some time to think it through —”

“Rye won’t change his mind,” Joe said. “His dad died when he was ten. Trust me, he’d never let a kid of his grow up fatherless.”

We stepped into the elevator. “But it doesn’t sound as if he’s considered all his options.”

“There are no options. If I were in his place, I’d do the same thing.”

“You’d propose to a woman you’d accidentally gotten pregnant, even if you didn’t love her?”

“Of course I would. Why do you look surprised?”

“It’s just… an old-fashioned notion, that’s all.”

“It’s the right thing to do.”

“I don’t necessarily agree. The chances of divorce are very high when a marriage starts out that way.”

“In my family, if you get a woman pregnant, you take responsibility.”

“What about what Bethany wants?”

“She wants to marry a man with money. And she’s not too particular about who it is, as long as he can afford her.”

“You have no way of knowing that.”

“Honey, everybody knows it.” Joe cast a grim glance at the scenery on the other side of the elevator glass. “Ryan’s spent most of his life with his nose to the grindstone, and then when he finally decides to take a break and have some fun, he hooks up with Bethany Warner. A party girl. A professional socialite. You don’t get caught by a girl like that. I don’t know what the hell he was thinking.”

The doors opened, and we were on the main floor again. Joe took my free hand and began to tow me through the crowd.

“What are we doing?” I asked.

“I’m finding us a place to talk.”

I blanched, knowing exactly what he wanted to discuss. “Here? Now? There’s no privacy.”

Joe sounded sardonic. “We could have had plenty of privacy, if you’d picked up your phone when I called.”

We proceeded through one packed room after another, pausing occasionally for brief conversations. Even in this exalted gathering of insiders, it was clear that he was something special. The combination of his name, money, and looks was all a man needed to unlock the world. But he adroitly deflected people’s eager interest, turning it around to focus on them as if they were infinitely more worthy of attention.

Eventually, we entered a room lined with dark paneled wood and bookshelves, the ceiling low and coffered, the floor covered with a thick Persian rug. Joe closed the door, muffling the sounds of conversation, laughter, and music. His polite social mask disappeared as he turned to face me. In the silence, my heartbeat gathered momentum, rolling into a hard repeated wallop.

“Why did you say there was no chance of this going anywhere?” he asked.

“Isn’t it obvious?”

Joe gave me a caustic glance. “I’m a guy, Avery. Nothing about relationships is obvious to me.”

No matter how I tried to explain, I knew I would end up sounding self-pitying or pathetic. I don’t want to end up being hurt the way you’re going to hurt me. I know how these things work. You want sex and fun, and when it’s over you’ll move on, but I won’t be able to, because you’ll have broken what’s left of my heart.

“Joe… one night with you was all I expected, and it was wonderful. But I… I need something different.” I paused, trying to think of how to explain.

His eyes widened, and he said my name on a quiet breath. Confused by the change in his demeanor, I backed up reflexively as he came to me. One of his arms slid around me, while his free hand lifted to cradle the side of my face. “Avery, sweetheart…” There was a slight rasp in his voice, something concerned… raw… sexual. “If I didn’t give you what you needed… if I didn’t satisfy you… all you had to do was tell me.”

Nine

Realizing that Joe had misunderstood, I stammered, “No, that – that’s not – I didn’t mean —”

“I’ll make it up to you.” He caressed my cheek with his thumb, and his mouth grazed mine with an erotic gentleness that left me gasping. “Let me have another night with you. You can ask me for anything. Anything. I’ll make it so good for you, honey… there are so many ways… All you have to do is come to bed with me, and I’ll take care of you.”

Dazed, I tried to explain that he’d gotten it all wrong, but as I opened my mouth, Joe kissed me again and again, murmuring promises about the pleasure he would give me, the things he would do for me. He was so remorseful, so determined… and to my shame, I found it sexy as hell to be caught in the grasp of a big, aroused male who wouldn’t stop apologizing and kissing me. Gradually, it seemed less important to break free. His mouth ravished mine, all silk and hunger, draining me of strength. The insane chemistry between us didn’t just feel good, it felt necessary, as if I needed him to breathe, as though my body would stop functioning if I couldn’t keep touching him.