Page 2 of And Then There Was Us
ALL HUGH BRADEN wanted to do was disappear in the fog of a few drinks, then go back to his house and chill. Instead he was stuck waiting for a blind date, and with a race around the corner, there’d be no drinking for him. A beautiful woman with the most contemplative eyes and the sweetest face he’d ever seen had taken his drink order. He had planned on ordering seltzer water, but one look at her and he was unable to remember what he wanted.Sidecarcame off his lips like he ordered it all the time, and he’d had a sidecar only once—and that was several years ago. Now he’d have to stare at the stupid drink all night.
It had been a grueling day. Hugh didn’t know why he’d let his agent talk him into the stupid photo shoot, and just as he’d anticipated, it had been a painful few hours. They’d taken the photos at the track and had scheduled another shoot for Saturday morning. The photographer was cool enough, but fake smiling and posing in positions he’d never stand or sit in made his already sore body ache. Ever since he won the last three Capital Series Grand Prix races, he’d been hounded by the media.Damn sponsor obligations.As much as he was thankful for the sponsors, he rued the attention, and he needed another racing magazine cover like he needed another expensive car or another house.
A blond waitress set his drink on the table. “Hi. I’m Kat. Enjoy your sidecar.”
Really? This is definitely not my night.“Thank you.” He peered around Kat, looking for the dark-haired beauty who had taken his order.Bree.He spotted her taking a drink order from a stocky blond man in a flannel shirt. The first thing Hugh had noticed when she’d taken his order was that she looked as if she was thinking about a hundred things and taking his order was white noise to her internal thoughts. In the space of a breath, she’d struck him as interesting, beautiful, and intense in a way that had nothing to do with sexuality—which in and of itself struck him as strange that he’d notice something like that. But he had. And now he was unable to look away as she moved from one customer to the next, focused and efficient and completely oblivious to him.
Hugh had picked the Old Town Tavern to meet the blind date because it was out of the way. A little bar with a smaller restaurant. The last thing he wanted to deal with was another group of sex-craved or money-hungry women eyeing him like they hadn’t eaten in a month and he was a big juicy steak. He’d hoped he could go unnoticed. When Brianna had finally lifted her eyes to his and her jaw dropped open, he’d worried that she’d recognized him. But she’d ditched him and sent Kat as a replacement. She hadn’t even taken a second look. He might not want to be recognized for who he was, but being noticed as a man rather than a race car driver and then rejected by Brianna was a whole different story. This was definitely not his night.
He’d accepted the blind date only because his buddy and crew chief, Art Cullen, had claimed he had the perfect woman for him—smart and beautiful, and best of all, she had no clue who he was. Now, as an overdeveloped redhead slid into the booth across from him, he questioned that decision.
“Hey, sugar. Are you Art’s friend?” The redhead put her glass on the table between them and ran her red fingernail around the rim of the glass. “I’m Tracie. That’s with anIE, not aY.”
I’m going to kill Art. Tracie looked like a dime-store hooker with overprocessed hair and a tight red dress that was three sizes too small across her rounded hips and breasts. Hugh pressed his lips together and forced himself to lift his cheeks into a smile. “Hugh. Nice to meet you.”
“Art said you were handsome, but I never expected you to look like that guy on television. McDreamy? McSteamy?”
She laughed, and Hugh sighed. At least Art had promised not to tell her what he did for a living.No more fan girls.Based on the other patrons’ eyes locked on the pre-playoff show on the large-screen televisions, and the lack of attention from any of the guys in the now-packed bar, Hugh assumed he was safe from being identified.Might as well make the best of it.
“Yeah, I’ve heard that. Patrick Dempsey,” he answered. He was already bored. He glanced at the group of guys coming into the bar, each one louder than the next as they approached the bar. The blond waitress, Kat, picked up a tip from a table, then headed back in his direction, seating two more people on her way across the floor.
Kat appeared by his side and scowled at Tracie, then flashed a smile at Hugh. “What can I get you, darlin’? Another sidecar?”
If looks could kill. One more drink. Then I’m out of here.
“Get us both another one. On me,” Tracie said, fluttering her false eyelashes.
On you? Right.Women like Tracie were made of hollow offers and a boatload of needs. Not that Hugh needed anyone to buy his drinks. He eyed his untouched beverage.Not very observant, are you?“No. I’m good.” He nodded at his full drink, wishing he could escape the booth and sit by himself—or maybe at a table where the cute brunette would take another order he wouldn’t drink.
“My pleasure,” Tracie said.
There’s that sex-hungry stare again.No way. Not going to happen.
“Thank you,” Hugh said, showing the manners his father, Hal Braden, an affluent thoroughbred horse breeder from Weston, Colorado, had instilled in him. With a bigger trust fund than he could ever spend, Hugh didn’t need women buying him drinks, but dealing with the wrath of a woman who felt put off would be worse. He could spare another half hour, have a drink, then politely excuse himself.
He watched Kat return to the bar and whisper to Bree. Even her name was appealing. She wiped the counter with a serious look in her eyes, served up drink after drink, and dodged a guy putting his hand on hers—“Behave, Chip,” she said with a shake of her head—all in a matter of seconds. She didn’t look at any of the men at the bar. In fact, she seemed to be purposely shifting her eyes to the counter every time a guy spoke to her. She was the only person in the bar not smiling—besides him—and Hugh wondered why.
He turned his attention back to Tracie, who was rattling on aboutGrey’s Anatomy. Hugh didn’t watch television, and after Tracie finished her next drink, he looked at his watch with a loud and purposeful groan.
“Well, Tracie, this has been nice, but I’m afraid I have to run. I’ve got an early meeting tomorrow.” He stood and extended his hand. “Thanks for coming out to meet me. I appreciate it.”
She climbed from the booth. “I don’t have my car here. A friend dropped me off. Can you drive me home?”
Are you freaking kidding me?
Kat appeared by his side again. “Leaving already?” She glanced at the fifty-dollar bill he’d left on the table.
“I’m afraid so. It’s getting late,” he said. “Thanks for everything.”
Red wrapped her arm around his, and Hugh noticed Kat’s eyes narrow.
“Right,” Kat said. She snagged the money from the table and stalked back to the bar.
As Hugh pushed the door open for Tracie to pass through, he noticed Kat and Bree watching them leave. He smiled—and this time it wasn’t forced. Kat waved. Bree turned away.
Chapter Two
“THERE IS NO way that beautiful man just left with that whore,” Kat snapped. “I swear, there is something cosmically wrong with this world when that happens.”
