Playing It Safe(78)

After circling all of Coconut Grove twice while cursing up a storm in my car, I finally find a parking spot close enough to the bar where I’m meeting Darren for drinks. As soon as I walk in, I spot him. It’s not hard since he’s flanked by two busty brunettes who are both vying for his attention like he’s some prize cattle or something.

Seriously, ladies. Ugh. I can’t even.

He sees me heading toward him as he tips his beer bottle to his mouth and takes a swig. He puts the bottle back down on the bar and grins like a kid who was caught with his hand in a cookie jar. When I finally reach him, he picks me up in his usual bear hug while I hear one of the girls he was talking to say to the other one, “Who is that?”

“I don’t know,” the other brunette answers.

Darren puts me back down and then turns around to grab his beer off the bar. “Ladies, it’s been a pleasure.”

He leads me to the far side of the bar while mumbling under his breath, “Thank God you showed up when you did. I couldn’t take another minute with those two.”

“Sure looked like you were enjoying yourself, Maverick.”

“Please, give me some credit. I do have some standards.”

“And what would those be?” I ask him with a laugh. “A pulse?”

The bartender comes over at that point, and Darren asks for two more beers. “God, you’re hysterical, and by the way, what the f*ck happened to your face?” he asks.

“I got hit by a ball.”

“That’s what she said,” he adds quickly.

I put my hand on my hip and give him the evil eye. “Shut it. I really did get hit in the face by a ball, and believe it or not, this looks a hundred times better than it did a few days ago.”

The bartender puts our beers in front of us, and Darren shells out the money to pay for them while I promise to pick up the next round. At that moment, a bevy of women comes strolling in the door. There’s about five or six of them, all young and each more gorgeous than the next. Darren of course is mesmerized. What else is new?

The last girl, a leggy blonde, has her head buried in her purse but pops her head up at the last second, and wouldn’t you know it? It’s Sarah.

“Julia!” she yells like she hasn’t seen me in years.

“Sarah!” I mimic.


She comes over to us and waves her friends away, letting them know she’ll catch up to them. “Oh my gosh, what the hell happened to your face?”

Darren almost chokes on his beer.

“Long story,” I deadpan.

“Isn’t it always?”

Whatever the hell that’s supposed to mean … your guess is as good as mine.

Sarah looks over and notices Darren for the first time. Her eyes scan him from head to toe, openly and without any shame. “Julia, aren’t you going to introduce us?”

“Sarah, this is my brother Darren. Darren, this is Sarah, a friend of mine who works for Alex at the gallery.”

My little brother, the player that he is—insert eye roll—takes the hand that Sarah extends for him to shake and turns its palm facedown so he can kiss the back of it. “A pleasure to meet you, Sarah.”

“Oh my,” she says, and starts to fan herself with her free hand.

Darren, of course, loves the effect he has on Sarah and moves in closer.

“Okay, you two,” I announce and push Darren back a step. “Break it up.”

He puts on his best innocent face while grinning at me. “What did I do?”

“Whatever, just put it back in your pants, for chrissakes.” I look over at Sarah, who’s still practically drooling over him, and sigh out loud. “Sarah, you can put it back in your pants now too.”

She giggles and flips her hair off her shoulder, giving it one last shot before turning her attention back to me. “So what are you doing here anyway?”

“What does it look like I’m doing? I’m having a couple of drinks with my brother and then going home.”

“Well, aren’t you late for dinner with Alex at Lu Lu’s?”

“Um, no.”

“Oh,” she simply says.

“Oh, what?”

“I’m just confused is all.” She pulls her phone out of her purse, and after a few quick swipes, looks back up at me with a weird face. “He asked me to make a reservation for two for dinner at Lu Lu’s kind of last-minute today. I figured it was for the both of you, but I guess not.”

“No, I guess not.” My spidey senses kick into high gear.

“Anyway, I have to catch up to my girlfriends. I’ll call you next week so we can get together.” She extends her hand out to my brother again. “Darren, it was soooo nice to meet you.”

His voice lowers to a ridiculous level as he takes her hand in his and says, “The pleasure was all mine, Sarah.”

She bounces away giggling while I’m trying to figure out why Alex would tell me he was going to meet an artist at a studio when he’s half a block away having dinner with someone who isn’t me.

Darren notices me getting agitated and asks, “Julia, are you okay?”

“Nope. Let’s go.”

I chug back the rest of my beer and slam the bottle down on the bar. I’m already walking toward the door when Darren yanks my arm to stop me. “Hey, what are you doing?”