Somebody: A Country Romance Page 4

  Elliot stood up and joined her. The look on her face was one of worry. “What brought her to your attention? Why your sudden interest?”

  “It isn’t sudden.”

  The response was out before he could censor it. Knowing he had no choice, he related what had happened over the weekend in the woods. He felt an uncharacteristic blush when faced with his mother’s withering glare.

  When he finished speaking, she put her fingers against her temples. Gathering her things, she walked to the door.

  Hand on the knob, her voice was barely audible. “I’ve watched her from afar all her life. I owe her mother a great debt which I conveniently forgot over the years.”

  Turning to face him, he could see the power she held over the men in her family. It was something she rarely used.

  “Elliot, how are you the only person blind to the fact that Aubrey has been in love with you since she was a girl? That love kept her here when she could have gone anywhere, done anything. If you hurt her, if you treat her as you’ve treated so many, our relationship will never recover.”

  Then she was gone.

  In shock, Elliot stared at the door for a long time, processing the conversation, and struggling to understand something that went against everything he’d believed for more than a decade.

  Aubrey loved him?

  The very idea was hard to grasp. There’s no way he could have missed something so huge. No way a woman like her had made her choices out of love for a man like him.

  Thinking back on his life and choices, he knew he was undeserving of her love. Despite his secret infatuation, he’d lived wildly and publicly.

  If what his mother said was true, how often he must have hurt her over the years.

  Staring out the window again, he wondered if he could change enough to make himself deserving. If he could get to a place where he felt right about pursuing a woman like Aubrey. She was so different from every female he’d dated in his life.

  One thing was certain…he wanted to find out.

  Chapter Six

  In the late afternoon, Elliot received a call from Aubrey as she was leaving the hospital. “Elliot, I apologize, the meeting ran late. I’m fine if you want to cancel.”

  He didn’t let it bother him that she sounded hopeful.

  Smiling to himself as he pulled into a parking space downtown, he said cheerfully, “No, Aubrey, its fine. Meet me at Bellini’s.”

  Begrudgingly, she agreed and he waited in the shade of the awning for her.

  When she pulled up to the bistro ten minutes later, she was on her cell phone and obviously angry.

  She hopped down from the truck and opened her laptop on the seat, typing furiously with her phone held between her cheek and her shoulder.

  Elliot knew she hadn’t noticed his presence.

  In a sharp voice he’d never heard from her, she hissed, “Bob, I will not accept that answer. You print that article and I will pull legal from every other project and sic them all on you like pit bulls. I’m drafting an email to them as we speak. They will chew on what is left of your ass for years, Bob. Yes, what’s left after I get through with you. If this were even remotely newsworthy, I’d say let’s discuss it like adults, but you’ve been a newsman for too long and you know damn well this isn’t news that should even be considered in this town. It is beneath you, it is beneath the reputation you’ve built as a journalist. Print one word and I swear to you, I will rain hell down on your head. Her name is Tiffany, Tiffany McAllister. Refer to her in any other way again and I’m coming down there.”

  She shook her head as she listened and suddenly cut him off with a bark of laughter. “Victoria is your source? Would you like a list of who that hateful cow is fucking while wearing her awful hubby’s ten karat diamond on her hand?” There was a long pause.

  “I don’t care who he is, you want to start printing gossip, Bob, and I’ll supply some whoppers. I’ll start my own newspaper to bury you and your friends. Your good ol’ boys club should fear me, Bob. I’ll crucify you.”

  Finished typing, she spoke low with deadly intent. “Say one thing, Bob, the only thing I want to hear right now or I send this email. I won’t run it. That’s it. Say it.” After a long moment, she nodded curtly. “Thank you.”

  As if a switch had been flipped, she said calmly, “You can fill the space with an advertisement on behalf of the three new businesses that opened this month. Give them a call and tell them McAllister’s encourages small business development. Offer our congratulations. Send the invoice to my office. Bob, it’s always such a pleasure.”

  Elliot watched as she smiled. “No, I still love you. I’d better get a heads’ up from you next time, are we clear on that? Uh huh. You’ll be at the auction? Good, I love seeing you and Mary. No, no hard feelings. Talk soon.”

  She closed the phone and tossed it and the laptop in her bag before turning and issuing another small scream.

  “Holy crap, Elliot.” With a nervous laugh, she said, “I’m unusually starving today.” He was certain his face communicated his shocked disbelief. “What?”

  “Was that Robert Newgate?”

  She gave a small incline of her head and he shook his own to clear it. He’d known Bob since he was a boy and the man had a reputation for a vile temper when provoked. Hearing Aubrey manhandle him in such a way when she looked as threatening as a baby deer, caused a fog in his mind of sexual need.

  “You just verbally beat the fuck out of one of the most powerful men in three counties.”

  Aubrey shrugged. “Sometimes you have to be mean to get through to someone. I’m mean to him quite often. Victoria is unbelievably focused on your family. She sends photos, articles, and editorials to him all the time.”

  Rolling her eyes, she added, “Then she gets her nasty husband to threaten him. Usually, Bob tells me personally. Today, Toby called me from the print room when I was on my way here. She’s pissed that the stripper dares to volunteer with children’s charities through McAllister’s and feels she’s a bad influence on Boxton youth.”

  She practically ground her teeth. “One day soon, I’ll figure out issue. Then she and I will have a nice chat, come to an understanding.”

  He escorted her to the entrance, held the door, and watched her. The moment the hostess approached, he sensed her nervousness. As if she’d forgotten whom she was having lunch with while she handled a problem.

  Problem solved, her shaken confidence returned.

  They sat and ordered drinks. Elliot leaned closer and crossed his arms on the table. She went absolutely still.

  “Do you run interference for us often?”

  Her small smile was filled with kindness. “It depends. Some weeks are crazier than others but occasionally, you three manage to all stay out of the spotlight long enough for me to get some other work done.”

  Tilting his head, he waited for her to continue.

  “Before Gage married, I had my hands full. In the span of one weekend, he was pulled over driving with a naked woman in his lap, you were busted by country club security cameras skinny-dipping with the club president’s daughter, and Noah was caught up on the water tower with the twins. I went into the office that Sunday so I could conference all the parties in and lay down the law.”

  She put her napkin in her lap and thanked the server for her iced tea.

  He couldn’t hide his mortification. “I didn’t realize we kept you so busy with our bullshit.”

  “Young men get into trouble and some of your antics are highly entertaining. Such as the time Gage poured hot pink paint in the crop duster to stop the use of toxic insecticides. When you surprised that little girl who won the state beauty contest with a hot air balloon ride that set down in her front yard, the press was awesome. Oh! I loved when Noah skateboarded everywhere for two weeks to let the city commissioners know kids on skateboards weren’t in league with the devil.”

  She ordered a salad and asked for bread. When the server brought it, she broke off and nibbled
small pieces. Her hands shook.

  “You okay? You look a little pale.”

  After several sips of tea and a few bites of bread, she seemed better. “I forget to eat and my sugar bottoms out. I’m fine. I’ll just nibble on this.” She gave him a bright smile and asked with interest, “Have you had a good day?”

  The question was so domestic that it made his heart warm.

  “I had a visit from my mother.” Elliot watched Aubrey’s face light up. “She speaks very highly of you, as though you’re close. Do you spend much time together?”

  Aubrey shook her head. “Oh no, she’s so busy. I see her at functions, of course. I say hello but I’d never bother her. I admire her as a role model.”

  Straightening her napkin, she added shyly, “She sent a personal letter of recommendation to the college I wanted to attend. I never would have asked her to do that. I don’t know how she even knew.”

  “I don’t understand. Why wouldn’t you have asked her to write you a recommendation?”

  She looked perplexed. “I’m just me.” She smiled at the waitress. “My transcripts were good but I wanted to go to Oklahoma University. It had to be OU and her letter likely made it happen for me. Excuse me a moment.”

  Elliot didn’t say anything, just watched her walk through the restaurant to the ladies room in silence.

  After the conversation with his mother, he knew more about Aubrey in one afternoon than in the twelve years he’d been professionally acquainted with her.

  He realized that she was far more brilliant than he ever knew and that she didn’t understand that she was different from most people.

  The woman was an original in so many tempting ways.

  A few moments later, she returned and their food arrived. He found himself surprised at how much he wanted to know her, to understand her.

  He also recognized that he didn’t usually give a single damn about most women to whom he was physically attracted. In many ways, the realization told him more clearly than anything else did that he’d been a misogynist ass.

  The truth was that he’d known Aubrey her entire life. She’d always mattered in a way other women simply didn’t. What she thought about him had always been important to him as a person. Now her thoughts on him as a man were even more crucial.

  Asking why seemed futile.

  When she fully relaxed with her food, he returned to the topic of her education. “I’m curious. Did other colleges try to recruit you, Aubrey?”

  She nodded but didn’t look at him. “Yes. I’m a Sooner girl though and I truly wanted to go there.”

  Casually he wondered aloud, “What schools?” She didn’t answer and he got the impression she was avoiding the subject. She actually seemed embarrassed. “I’d like to know.” She cleared her throat delicately and he pressed. “You should be proud, give it up.”

  “Princeton, Stanford, UCLA, and a few others.”

  Elliot sat back in his seat and gave a low whistle. None of the McAllister boys would have caught the unsolicited attention of Ivy League schools. They’d been decent but distracted students, nothing near Aubrey’s level.

  Pink tinted her cheekbones. “It isn’t a big deal. I wanted to be close to my dad and w-where I’d grown up.”

  She attempted to turn the conversation to work but he wasn’t interested in talking about anything but her. He pressed for details with a smile.

  It was clear Aubrey didn’t enjoy talking about herself.

  “There isn’t much to tell. You’ve known me all my life, Elliot. I doubt there’s anything you don’t already know. I’m an only child, I never met my mom, I’m smart, and I’m a hard worker. That’s it, in a nut shell.”

  “That sounds like a very lonely life, Aubrey.” He placed his elbow on the edge of the table and leaned toward her.

  “Not really. Solitary, I suppose.”

  “Tell me other things about yourself. I’m feeling nosy.”

  “I have no idea why.” He didn’t answer and she cleared her throat nervously. “I read a lot, I craft sometimes, and I love movies. They taught me how to be a girl.”

  “What do you mean?”

  She shrugged. “I didn’t have my mom. There were no women around so I learned manners, walking, posture, and all the other girl things from old movies.”

  “You were clearly an excellent student. What else?”

  A blush crept over her face. “I-I ride Trix. She’s been my best friend since I was a teenager. I take good care of her.”

  His heart thumped loudly and he kept his expression blank.

  “I have a weakness for strawberry ice cream and make it fresh. My favorite color is green. My favorite food is Mexican. I genuinely like people.” Reaching out, she lifted her tea and took a drink. “My father used to sing Brown Eyed Girl to me sometimes. He rarely hugged me, but he was a great dad.”

  The subject wasn’t an easy one for her and she inhaled deeply. “I can change my vehicle’s battery, oil, tires, filters, and spark plugs thanks to him.” She smiled. “That’s pretty much everything about me.”

  She nibbled on what was left of her salad and tried not to fidget. He watched closely. She finally set down her silverware and folded her hands in her lap.

  “I have no secrets.” She smiled. “I’ve lived here since birth and never went anywhere but college. I’ve never been arrested. I’ve never even been drunk.”

  Elliot tilted his head. He imagined his expression communicated a mixture of disbelief and mock horror. “You’ve never been drunk? How are you twenty-eight and haven’t experienced prayers to the porcelain god?”

  “You’ve made it sound so appealing now.” They laughed together for a moment. “I don’t know. I didn’t do the typical teen or college stuff. I’m a woman and kind of short so I always figured alcohol would make me vulnerable.”

  It was an aspect of intoxication that never would have entered his thoughts as a male over six-feet tall. It made him frustrated to know she had to think about such things.

  “You missed out on being silly, Aubrey.”

  “I guess. I wasn’t around other people my age growing up. I’ve dated a few men and I get along with women but I always feel just outside normal. Just…outside, period.”

  He struggled to hide the pain he felt hearing such a statement when she rushed on to fill the silence.

  “Is there a new project you need me to work on?”

  “Why would you think that?”

  “You seem pensive. I’m happy to assist with whatever you need, Elliot. You can fill me in and I’ll take notes.”

  She reached for the notebook in her purse and he laid his hand on her forearm. She froze and glanced up.

  If he thought his looks affected her, his touch was far more powerful. Her lips parted on a gasp and she trembled lightly under his fingers.

  Keeping his voice low and reassuring, he asked, “Why do you think I have a project for you?”

  “I don’t…we never talk. We don’t go to lunch.”

  “I find you interesting. Lunch with you is something I should have done years ago. You’ve grown into a lovely woman, Aubrey. You’re talented in many things.”

  It was clear on her face that she had no idea how to respond to that. Breathing deeply, she murmured, “Thank you. Projects are my strength.”

  Stroking his fingertip over her skin, he watched her lashes flutter. He wanted her more than ever before.

  “You’ve been in every major department in the company. You’ve done well in all of them. Some had the potential for more money, professional exposure, advancement, and recognition. Why community liaison? Why this position? It seems like a lot of aggravation for very little return.”

  “I enjoy my job. I’m a safe of information fitted with an unbreakable lock. I don’t trust anyone else to protect you…your family’s company.”

  He caught the slip but didn’t mention it.

  “McAllister’s is an amazing organization. We make good products and employ good peop
le. Not everything is about money or pats on the back. My position is the reward.”

  She glanced at her slim gold watch. If he remembered correctly, it was a graduation gift from his parents.

  “I have to get back, Elliot.” There was a small pause. “Thank you for lunch.” She smiled and he stood when she did. “When you’re ready to go over whatever it is you need, let me know. I’m happy to take care of it.”

  He found himself unable to think clearly as many inappropriate scenarios filed through his brain. He managed to say, “Thank you for joining me, Aubrey. I’ll see you back at the office.”

  Inclining her head, she gathered her things and walked through the restaurant to the exit. Watching her climb up into her father’s truck made him smile.

  For a long time, he sat thinking, recalling their conversation and analyzing what she said as well as what she didn’t say.

  He called his brother and filled him in on the story Aubrey caught before it went to print. Muttering some very colorful language and soothing the rapid-fire questions from his wife standing nearby, Gage hung up.

  Elliot paid the check and returned to work. Hard. Again.

  Chapter Seven

  Elliot sat in his darkened office after the entire staff had left for the day. Everyone but Aubrey. He watched her from his chair through the door, across the large open area, into the glass window of her personal space.

  Five hours after leaving the restaurant, she was still going strong. She never slowed down taking phone calls, responding to emails, and dealing with endless visitors throughout the afternoon and early evening.

  That she remained smiling through every interruption surprised him. He would have become frustrated and snappish very quickly.

  Around eight o’clock, she massaged her fingers into the muscles of her neck. Then she started shutting down her office. When her laptop was stored away in her bag, she stood at the window, looking out at the twinkling lights of their modest downtown.

  Rubbing her temples firmly, she started unpinning her hair.