Beneath These Lies (Beneath, #5)(44)

Elle was a nut. But she was probably right. People pawned all sorts of things at Chains, where she worked with her boyfriend, Lord.

“Well, thank you so much for coming. Feel free to look around. Champagne is on the table in the corner.”

“Good looking out, girl.” Elle looped her arm through Vanessa’s and took off in the direction of the champagne.

I was turning back to Yve when I caught sight of a man across the street in a black T-shirt with a build like Rix’s. Was he watching me tonight?

“You aren’t listening to a word I’ve said, are you?” Yve drawled.

I jerked around to face her as she studied me. “Sorry. I thought I saw someone out there.”

“Is there something going on with you? You’ve been acting different lately.”

I wondered if she was referring to me actually going out and having fun, but I couldn’t be sure. “Things have been a little hectic lately. I’m . . . distracted.”

Elle and Vanessa came back with champagne and caught the last bit of my explanation.

“Distracted? I’m calling bullshit. You look like you’ve got man problems.”

Oh shit. I didn’t want to discuss this. Not right now. I scanned the rest of the gallery, looking for a customer who needed assistance, but Burton was speaking with one small group and Remy was chatting with another couple.

When I didn’t immediately answer Elle, she kept going. “Mm-hmm. Man problems, for sure. You find yourself an alpha to keep you busy at night?”

I thought of the man I’d woken up next to yesterday morning—who’d stroked himself while I painted. My cheeks flushed with color every time I thought of it. And then the one who was insisting on taking me to dinner on Thursday. What a mess.

“I’ll take that as a yes.” Elle laughed. “Tell us about him.”

“Which one?” I said, not thinking before I spoke.

“Whoa, girl. You got two on the hook? You work fast.” Yve sounded incredulous.

“It’s a mess. I . . . I don’t know what to do. I’m trying to figure out how to let one of them down easy, but he just won’t take the hint. He knows there’s someone else, and I think he gets off on the competition.”

“They all do,” Vanessa said. “It’s an alpha thing.”

“Who are they?” Elle asked.

I froze because I couldn’t tell them about Rix, which told me once again that I was insane for even thinking that we could possibly have something. And did I really want to tell them about Rhett?

“I’d rather not say just yet.”

“Cagey. I like it.” Elle raised her glass to me and sipped.

“How do I get the one to stand down?”

“Hmm . . .” Yve tapped the side of her glass. “You could tell him you require a better-equipped man. Generally, insults about dick size work really well.”

“Oh no, don’t do that. You’ll damage the poor guy for life,” Vanessa said. “Just tell him you don’t feel the same way about him, and that if the other guy ever screws up, you’ll keep him in mind. Lets him down easy without breaking his heart completely.”

That could actually work. “I’ll give it a try and see what happens.”

In the back of my mind, I couldn’t stop myself from thinking, Maybe when this thing with Rix blows up in my face . . .

I would let him down easy, and this would be over.





I WAS NOT ON A date. I swore I wasn’t. And yet, here I was sitting across the table again from Rhett Hennessy. Table ambush. Let’s call it that. Much like the first night we had dinner together, this one wasn’t intentional, and I hadn’t been able to come up with a polite excuse as to why he couldn’t join me.

To celebrate the success of our Monday-night opening and all the hard work Remy had been putting in without Trinity there to help, I’d taken him out to dinner after we closed the gallery. Burton Ridgeway had sold well over half of the pieces we’d been showing.

But Remy’s roommate had texted a few minutes after we’d been seated and she’d lost her key. Being the nice guy that he was, Remy ditched a free dinner to help a friend.

Which left me sitting at an empty table in the window when Rhett Hennessy had been walking by. Sometimes, New Orleans really was the smallest town on the planet.

“I could’ve sworn you’d said you were busy tonight,” Rhett had commented as soon as he helped himself to the seat across from me without asking for an invitation.

“The opening was a success, and I came to celebrate with one of my employees. But he had something come up unexpectedly.”

“Then I guess it’s my lucky night.”

Rhett was persistent; I could give him that. And he was a nice guy. But all I could think about while I was sitting there was the promise I’d made to Rix, and the plan to let him down easily the girl posse had helped me concoct. The words formed on my tongue dozens of times, but I hadn’t been able to find the right moment to get them out.

My conversational skills were decidedly subpar as the server brought food, which also coincided with Rhett’s phone receiving a barrage of text messages.

Pulling it from his pocket, he frowned.

“Something wrong?” I asked.

He didn’t reply until after he tapped out a response. “A neighbor of mine called in a prowler around my house. Local units are headed that way.”