Big Easy Temptation (The Perfect Gentlemen #3)(62)

He wasn’t fucking all right. He would never be all right again.

As he’d been sitting here he’d had to ask himself the question he’d been avoiding for a long time. He’d been so sure that he could find justice for his dad. At first he’d intended to clear his father’s name. Now, according to Roman—and his own mother—his father really had been involved with other women. There were pictures of him hurting a girl. And because he’d gone to Holland, they’d almost gotten out and ruined Gus’s career and his mother’s life all over again.

Had he known his father at all? He sure as hell hadn’t known Holland.

What would his father want? If he’d been half a man he would want his family safe. He would want them to heal and go on living, even if it meant he never got justice.

Maybe it was time for Dax to start thinking about moving on, too. He would cancel his appointments at the prison. He would walk away and maybe this wouldn’t touch his family again. Maybe.

He glanced down at his watch. Mad’s plane was picking him up in an hour. Not that he had any reason to go to Vegas now.

Or should he? Maybe he should head to Vegas and fuck as many pretty girls as he could handle before he reported back to base and his ship.

He would be out to sea for six months. It might be enough time to forget how she smelled, how her arms had felt around him.

“Hey, you.” A feminine voice pulled him from his reverie. Courtney. She was wearing a short skirt and a too-tight blouse, her raven hair flowing around her shoulders. She was about as far from Holland Kirk as a woman could get in every way. Courtney didn’t give a real shit about her career. It was a way station between college and getting married. She certainly wasn’t calculating enough to set him up for a payday.

Courtney liked him. She’d made no qualms about it. The moment he’d met her he’d known he could have her if he wanted. She was sweet and had always looked at him like he was ten feet tall. And she was Holland’s best friend.

He looked over at her as she eased onto the barstool next to him. Yeah, maybe she was exactly what he needed.

“Hi.” He poured the rest of the whiskey down his throat. Nothing mattered now, and a really bad idea took root in his brain. Well, his dick really. “Hey, how do you feel about Vegas, baby?”

When her eyes went wide, he knew he had her.





PART TWO


    NOW





TEN




Holland watched the video in utter dismay. How could one computer bring such terrible memories? It unfolded a bit like a horror movie. It started out with a lovely day and ended in someone’s heart getting ripped out of his body.

In the footage, the sun was shining on the Quarter. The camera was perfectly placed to capture every single moment. Then the flash mob took shape and started dancing as one. A man on a mission emerged at the front. He was a stunningly gorgeous male, could have made a fortune with those piercing blue eyes and sharp cheekbones.

All of his friends—and they were numerous—danced along to a song about love and commitment and he strode up with a black velvet box in his hand. He wore a tux and was so beautiful it hurt to look at him. Then he dropped to one knee.

It was every woman’s dream proposal, but the woman in the video stepped back and shook her head, the denial on her face making it clear that she wanted to be doing anything but listening to him ask for her hand in marriage.

Unfortunately, that woman was Holland Kirk and the title of the viral video was “Nasty Woman Turns Down Amazing Man.” And it had traveled the globe in less than two weeks.

Yep. She was the nasty woman and she’d turned down the most amazing man because he hadn’t been Dax Spencer. Captain Awesome.

She hit the pause button on the video and cursed under her breath. More like Captain Asshole.

How long had it taken him to get over her? Maybe fifteen minutes. It couldn’t have been much more since he’d been married to her so-called best friend the day after he’d walked away from her.

Holland took a deep breath and tried to relax the fists she’d clenched at her sides. She had to forget Dax Spencer. He didn’t mean anything to her anymore. Since she’d severed their relationship, he’d moved up in rank again and gotten a bigger boat with more staff and responsibility. At least he was alive and she’d made that happen. Not that he’d thank her.

Asshole. Apparently, his “love” had meant next to nothing. She’d sacrificed her future and her heart for him, and he’d married her best friend at the time not twenty-fours later just to stab her in the back.

Three years later, her thoughts still circled right back to Dax. She should be focused on what the hell to do about this video and the man whose feelings she’d hurt. But no.

It had taken Holland a good year, but she’d finally started dating again. When Detective Chad Michaels had asked her out at her uncle’s yearly crawfish boil, she’d agreed since she’d had nothing better to do. She’d kind of fallen into the relationship because it had been easy. They’d been friends, and he was nice. Then one night she’d been so desperate to wipe Dax from her mind that she’d found herself in bed with Chad. She’d cried afterward but marched forward because she needed to move on. Fourteen months later, she’d had to deal with the consequences.