As soon as he pulls away from the curb and into traffic, I turn to Drew.
“What the hell are you talking about? Tanya has no claim on me.”
Drew stares at me, her lower lip dropped like she’s truly shocked. Her collarbones flare red and color creeps up her neck.
“But ... but I thought you had a thing, and she wasn’t over it ... and that’s why she’s given me so much grief from day one. I thought that’s why ...” She trails off but her dark gaze is fixed on mine, confusion rife.
“Because you’re taking her sister’s job,” I tell Drew, and she blinks rapidly. Once again, I catch the flicker of a lighter color in her eyes, and I open my mouth to ask her if she’s wearing colored contacts, but Drew gapes at me in shock.
“This is about thejob? And hersister?” With an expression that could easily be featured in an exhibit calledMind Blown, Drew glances from side to side, like she’s piecing together everything Tanya told her from the first moment they met.
For the life of me, I can’t imagine how she came to the conclusion that Tanya and I had or were having an affair. It had to be someone giving her information on me before or after she came to interview for the job, because there’s no way in hell any of my staff would give her that impression.
“Yes,” I reply carefully, watching her expression as I explain. “Teal is two years younger than Tanya, whose name, by the way, was Tangerine due to her hippie mother, and Tanya changed it when she was eighteen. Don’t tell her I told you that.” I’m not sure why I’m giving Drew this extra information, but her shock makes me want to reassure her.
Drew’s eyes widen further. “Tangerine? Oh my God. You’re joking.”
“No, but as you might imagine, she’ll probably kill us both if she knew I told you that. Tanya and Teal didn’t have the easiest life, but Teal got mixed up with the wrong people. She’s more reckless, despite Tanya being wildly overprotective, because she basically raised her sister. Tanya managed to get Teal out of some trouble through sheer force of will, and when she hired on at the club, it was on the condition that Teal also be given a job.”
“But if Teal wasn’t a good employee ...”
With a shrug, I give her a little more backstory as Warren changes lanes and the Bentley’s thick glass mutes the horns of the cabbies just beyond the car. “I wasn’t the manager of the club when they hired on. I used to ... I had another job for a long time.”
Something that looks like knowledge flickers in Drew’s eyes. Wondering how much she knows about me, I test the waters.
“But you knew that, didn’t you?”
It’s really quite impressive to see her features turn instantly placid—like she’s smoothing on a mask of indifference instead of being questioned about how much digging she did before she took her job at the Upper Ten.
“I’m not sure what you mean by that.” Drew answers obliquely, her hands curling in her lap as she gives me a polite smile.
“You wouldn’t have thought Tanya and I were together—or had been—if someone hadn’t given you dirt on me. You might as well tell me the rest of it, so we can find out how accurate your source was. I have a feeling you were fed a line of bullshit.”
22
Drew
Oh shit. Oh hell. This isn’t good.
I don’t know how Cannon has such an uncanny knack for ferreting out the truth, but his astute questions are forcing me to use my bestI have no idea what you’re talking aboutguise. Except, there’s one big problem. Those hazel eyes of his see right through it.
I have two choices. Continue to play dumb, a technique that has worked wonders in the past. Or give him enough of the truth that he doesn’t dig any further.
All it takes is one look at his face to know option two is the only real choice.
“A friend of mine. She told me everything she knew about you after I told her where I got a job. Or at least,” I flick a glance at him from beneath my lashes, “everything shethoughtshe knew.”
Cannon leans back against the plush camel-colored leather of the luxury car and one dark eyebrow goes up. “You might as well enlighten me so I can tell you how wrong she was.”
It’s an invite to get more information from him, but ... is it a trap?
I hesitate, but only for a second. If I really only knew what Randi had told me, I’d be eager to find out if it were true, so that’s the role I’m going to play.
I glance down at my lap like I’m embarrassed to be having this conversation, which doesn’t take any acting,because I am.
“She told me that you sleep with every woman who works at the club. But only one night. Only one night withanyone, related to the club or not.” I lift my gaze to his face, and the expectant look is still there, so I continue. “She also said they all want more, but you have a strict rule and won’t touch them again.”
As I get the last word out, the entire cabin of the car fills with laughter, and once again, it’s that full-bodied, uncaring laughter just like my father’s. Cannon practically doubles over in his seat as he laughs, and from the front, Warren chimes in.