AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Wait a minute,” Tessa gasped, and Eric could hear the pieces clicking into place as if there were a microphone inside her brain.
Oh, no.
“Ohmigod!” She covered her mouth, muffling the next words. “Oh, my God. She’s the one!”
Luke raised an annoyingly delighted eyebrow. “The one, what?”
“No,” Eric said as sternly as he could, but Tessa dropped her hand from her mouth and pointed it at him.
“You said that woman saw the nameplate at the expo and thought you were Jamie. Holy shit, Eric. You slept with Beth Cantrell!”
Eric shook his head, but he could feel his face showing every inch of the truth.
“Wow,” Luke said. “She, ah…she’s really the owner of that sex shop?”
“Manager,” he murmured past numb lips.
“Wow,” Luke repeated. He crossed his arms and looked Eric up and down as if he were reassessing him. “So.”
Eric swallowed hard and tried to think of something—anything—to say.
Tessa laughed, a sound of thrilled amusement. “I can’t… My mind is boggled. I’m utterly, completely boggled right now. Apparently I wasn’t the only one hiding my dating life in this family. You’re like… That’s just… That’s legendary.”
This was why no one was supposed to know. The scandalized delight on both their faces was all fun and games now, but soon enough they’d be whispering about it. Wondering. And they’d never, ever look at Eric the same way.
“It was just one date. We had a glass of wine.” And I got her off right there at the table. He shook his head. “That’s all.”
“You big fat liar!” Tessa crowed. “You said you slept with her!” She covered her eyes, laughing. “Oh, God, you’re my brother. I didn’t want to know this. She must be… Wow.”
“This is not an appropriate conversation—”
“Eric! Are you… You’re not one of the men she’s written about in her column, are you?”
“Column?” he asked dumbly, momentarily forgetting his intention to spin around and stalk out. “What column?”
“The one she writes for The Rail. No. Don’t answer. I don’t want to know which one you are. You’re not pierced anywhere, are you? Never mind! Don’t answer that, either.” Tessa waved her hands as she shook her head. “No.”
“Pierced?” he muttered, his mind veering between horror and awful curiosity. She wrote about sex for a paper? Had she written about him?
“Is she—?”
Eric cut his hand through the air to stop his sister’s questions. “I’m not going to stand here and discuss her as if she were a news story. Luke, I gave you her number if you need to call. That’s the end of it.”
“Oh, I think I might have to make a personal visit,” Luke drawled.
Tessa elbowed him before nearly collapsing in laughter.
Eric was either going to leave or start shouting, so he chose to leave. He hit the doors too hard and they bounced off the walls with a satisfying crash. For a moment, he considered walking right on through the back room to the door in the far wall. But that would only make the talk worse. The talk. Now he’d betrayed Beth again. She’d forgiven him for the lie, but only after making sure he hadn’t told anyone. It wasn’t totally his fault, though. She was the one who’d come to the brewery. Granted, she’d rightfully been upset at the time, but clearly she wanted to keep this just as quiet as he did. If people found out, Eric might never get one of those late-night calls again.
“Shit.”
Before he even reached his office, he turned and headed back to the front room. “Hey.”
Luke’s and Tessa’s heads popped up.
“Please don’t say anything to anyone about this.” He looked at Luke. “Not even her. She’s a very private person. Uh, despite what you may have read.”
Luke nodded. “I won’t.”
