13. Worthy Foe

13

WORTHY FOE

“ W hy do I feel as if your last few words were forced?” Zander asked when they were in his SUV and on their way.

“What?” Regan asked, turning her head to look at him. “Why do you say that?”

“Just your tone again. It got a little higher pitched.”

She sighed. “Like the comment about my chat with my father got a little drier?”

“Yes,” he said.

“I’m going to have to remember that you pick up on those things.”

He grinned. “I think we all have our strengths and weaknesses. I do pick up on a lot of small details. It annoys some.”

“Meaning it annoyed other women?”

He wouldn’t take offense to that question or even where the conversation might go.

In his mind it was best they got a lot of this out in the beginning and had a better understanding of each other.

He had to play it out in his mind at some point how to let her know about the Fierces and any scheme that might be planned out.

“It did,” he said. “About as much as other men might have thought your dates were sessions too.”

“Yep,” she said. “You’re a worthy foe and now I can understand what it’s like on the other side.”

He laughed at her. “The same.”

“Maybe it’s good for us both to be knocked down a few pegs.”

“Speak for yourself,” he said in mock horror. “I happen to like where I’m standing.”

She squinted one eye at him. “It is a nice place, isn’t it?”

“I have to say I’m pleasantly surprised and pleased when we spend time together.”

“Because I’m not stuffy?” she asked.

“That is a big part of it,” he admitted. “The other is that it’s not just a physical attraction. There is nothing worse than having that and finding out there is no substance beyond it.”

Which was a problem in his past.

He’d go for the hot chick that was low on brains.

Or those were the ones coming on to him and offering up some fun and he’d do it to decompress but not much more.

“I haven’t had that problem,” she said. “I might have been just the opposite.”

“Oh,” he said. “You went for the intellectual suit-and-tie type and then found out they were a complete dud in a lot of categories?”

She sighed. “You are good.”

“I’ve been told that a few times too.”

“I’ll add cocky to the list,” she said.

“Which you like or you wouldn’t have come to me for that second date last night.”

“Guilty,” she said. “Just like this little game in our wardrobe we’ve got going on.”

“What game is that?” he asked. He wanted her to admit she was trying to light him on fire so that he didn’t feel like he was a teen secretly fantasizing about a bunch of cheerleaders having a pillow fight in their tiny shorts and tanks.

He didn’t think he was that horny that a fitted shirt tucked into loose-fitted jeans would turn him on so much but guess he was weaker than he thought when it came to her.

“That you wore that shirt hoping that I’d want a better glance at it. At least I didn’t cover up.”

“You are honest.”

“Did you expect any differently?” she asked, tilting her head.

“No,” he said. “And I wouldn’t want you to be any other way.”

“Good,” she said. “We can’t change who we are at the core of things.”

“No,” he said. “And since you are honest, I’ll ask why you seemed a little out of sorts with your father’s call. And if you don’t care to share, then you can tell me to mind my own business and I’ll do that and not be offended. I just got the vibe you might want to chat.”

She pursed her lips a few times and she said, “My parents appear emotionless to me. They’ve been this way my whole life. My brother, Kellen, had a hard time as a teen when they divorced. Me, I did too, but tried to hold it in.”

“For him or because you wanted to be like them and not show how you were really feeling?”

“More for him,” she said. “Some of it was I was used to doing those things. I’ve always been one that watched and listened before I spoke. I don’t do it as much with you and am not sure of the reason or meaning behind it and have decided I’m not going to search for it either.”

“How come?” he asked. “Why not search for it with me when you have with others?”

He wasn’t sure he liked that.

“Because I’ve decided to let things happen organically. I’m not going to read into things or try to find answers that might not exist. Sometimes life just happens and we have to decide to go with it or against it. This is a time I’m going with it. In a good way.”

Which made him feel one hundred percent better since he was doing the same without realizing it.

“Did you go with it or against it when your parents divorced?”

“With it and Kellen went against it. Sort of. I guess I have to say first that the divorce took us by surprise. Everyone was shocked. Not just us. My parents never fought. I mean never raised their voices at each other, let alone us. They weren’t snarky or sarcastic or short like people can be when they are frustrated. I’ve often used the words pleasant robots when describing them.”

“Sounds boring and fake to me.”

Nothing like his parents who could have heated debates at the dinner table with him and Marley jumping in and picking sides. It could be anything from sports, to politics, or a TV show they were watching.

One thing his parents did was teach them to speak their minds and voice their opinions but be respectful of others.

When dinner was over, the raised voices and fierceness behind their convictions were over too.

No one held a grudge.

Yep, his parents fought and disagreed about a lot of things in their marriage. From work issues to family rules, but they always worked it out and moved on.

“It was that. Kellen, he was a good kid. Just a little more hyper than they were used to. I think he felt he had to rein it in at times.”

“Which is hard for a kid that might have the energy to do or say what they want.”

“That’s right. The night my parents said they were getting divorced, my mother called us down to the living room before dinner. Kellen thought we might be getting a vacation announcement. Neither of us thought they’d just calmly tell us they were divorcing as if my father was saying that he was going to buy a new car and be gone that night.”

“He left that night?” he asked.

“No. They told us they were divorcing. Gave no reasons as to why, then got up and we had our family dinner with my father saying that my mother made his favorite and he was excited about it. We talked about school that day like normal. Well, not really, because Kellen had run to his room crying and I went after him, but then I came down to eat and see if they would talk about what was happening.”

“Did they?” he asked.

“No. I gave up and ate a bit, asked to be excused, and they cleaned up together like they did every night. I heard them even laughing at one point and then my father went to the den to watch TV and probably stayed there that night. No clue. There was no sign of it. He had an apartment a mile away. He even told us that, but he didn’t move out fully until that weekend.”

“I’m not sure how I’d feel if my parents just dropped news like that on us.”

“I still shake my head over it. Anyway, I went on with life as best I could.”

“Trying to find answers you weren’t getting?” he asked. Some of this made sense now.

“Yes. And before you get all analytical on me, I will admit I went into my field of study in part for that reason. Not that I wanted answers for what my parents did because there are no answers. Or none they will ever say. They both remarried people exactly like each other. Kyle is almost a clone of my father and Lori is a clone of my mother. It’s freaky on top of it.”

“Jesus,” he said. “In looks and personality?”

“Yes,” she said. “Not like twins, but the same hair color and eyes. Close to height and build. Kyle doesn’t have kids, Lori had two daughters from a previous marriage and they are married little Stepford wives.”

She burst out laughing when she said that.

“A joke or not?”

“A joke,” she said. “I barely have any communication with my stepsisters and their families and don’t even consider them such. But they seem nice enough. Both married and have good stable jobs and two kids apiece.”

“The American dream,” he said.

“There you go. Moving on. I have to say I’m shocked I’m saying as much as I am, but again, just going with it. I went into this field of study to help others. Believing that you don’t just give up and not try, you search and see if you can help yourself. Some people need guidance to do that.”

So her parents didn’t try to fix what their problem was. Or wasn’t. He had no idea because it seemed neither did Regan.

“Makes sense. I’m assuming you talked to your parents about their divorce after you were done with your education?”

“No,” she said. “No reason to. I’d done it enough for years prior and all it did was frustrate me. But I was there for Kellen. He got into some trouble as a teen. Hung out with kids who didn’t put school first. He got caught drinking a handful of times. Did pot a bit and got caught too. My parents caught him, not the school. It wasn’t like he was suspended or expelled.”

“But they wouldn’t have appreciated that?” he asked.

“No. He got his shit together. At least I felt he did. He went off to college and made a whole new group of friends. He did well and graduated on time, which is saying a lot for most college kids. He drank and tried the occasional drug like a lot of young adults do.”

“Did you?” he asked.

She laughed. “I shocked my father when I told him I drank before I was twenty-one. You’d think he was just convinced that the world was flat rather than round.”

“He honestly didn’t think you drank before twenty-one? Were you that good of a girl?”

“No,” she said. “I wasn’t that good of a girl. Please don’t make me out to be as dull as them. But I didn’t like to get in trouble and did follow the rules most times. I wasn’t like Kellen who rebelled, but I tried to experience life too. Not as much as I should have and I do regret that.”

“Am I an experience for you?” he asked.

She smiled and wiggled her eyebrows when he looked over at her. “I’d like you to be but not in the way you’re thinking.”

Yeah, all the blood rushed to his cock.

No way she was this perfect little good girl and he was damn glad of it. Or more so that he got to witness it.

“So we’ve established why you went into your career path and a little about your parents. Something had to have occurred with this call.”

“Kellen got a new job and is moving soon out of the area. I’m happy for him. He’s a Business Analyst. Which is funny and my parents don’t see that.”

“That’s a pretty serious job. One where you have to pay attention to details and focus.”

“Exactly,” she said. “He’s grown up and is independent. He’s thirty and lives on his own with a great job. This is the same position but a new company making a lot more with a ton of room for growth. He’s looking at his future. My father is worried he might lapse again.”

“Lapse?”

“There is nothing to lapse. Because he smoked some pot in high school and college and maybe popped a pill a time or two of something to try, they feel like he’s some drug addict. I believe him when he says he hasn’t touched any of it other than alcohol since he graduated. Even then, I don’t know the last time he made a comment about being drunk and rarely having more than one or two beers when I’m with him. If he was going to get drunk, he’d do it at family dinners to just get through. Sometimes I drink more wine than him with beer.”

“It all sounds kind of silly if you ask me.”

“Which it is and that is why I was frustrated. I told all of this to my mother and then my father called saying the same exact thing. I asked if he wanted my professional opinion and I gave it to him. He said he believed me, but hoped I wasn’t wrong.”

“Ouch,” he said.

“And there you go. Now, can we talk about lions and tigers and hot PIs...oh my?”

He just about choked on her joke. “Damn. You are going to be a handful.”

“Are you up for it?”

“I believe I am.”