Read Online Tempting Faith (Indigo Love Spectrum) by Crystal Hubbard - Free Book Online
Authors: Crystal Hubbard
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failing to translate Brent’s expression.
“Or use your considerable appeal to win her silence,” Brent answered. “It’s not like you’ve had any trouble seducing any woman you’ve set your sights on. I’ve seen some of the coldest broads in Hollywood turn to putty once you smile their way.”
“Faith was never like that. It’ll take more than my rebuilt face and dubious charm to turn her to putty. As for friendship, I don’t think her memories of it will be that good.”
“What did you do to her?”
“Nothing,” Zander said defensively. “What the hell kind of question is that? Why are you automatically assuming that I did something to her?”
“Calm down, Zander,” Brent said. “It was an innocent question. Or so I thought until your reaction just now.”
“I—” His words snagged in his throat. He couldn’t look at Brent as he admitted, “I hurt her.”
Brent sat up, his concern evident in the serious set of his features. “What happened?”
Dropping heavily onto the sofa, Zander rubbed his palms over the stubble covering his cheeks. “I left her alone in Dorothy.”
Brent relaxed, sitting back and sighing with relief. “Don’t scare me like that, Alex. I thought you were gonna tell me that you killed somebody.”
“I did, in a way,” he said. “You don’t know what it was like for me and Faith back there. We were freaks.”
“I don’t doubt your memory of your childhood, bro, but I have to tell you that Faith Wheeler isn’t anything close to what I’d call a freak. That woman is beautiful, and she’s obviously smart. If Mom wasn’t so frustrated with her right now, she probably would have tried to get me to sign her as a client.”
“Freak isn’t the right word,” Zander said. “We were outcasts. We couldn’t have been more opposite, but we were still in the same boat. She was black and rich, I was poor white trash. Her dad owned the biggest coal mining company in southwestern West Virginia. My dad was the town drunk. She was an honor student and a cheerleader—”
“You’re right,” Brent chuckled. “She was a freak.”
Zander ignored him. “I was the local waste of space working two minimum wage jobs to keep the trailer over our heads and my mother’s antidepressant prescriptions filled.”
“And you two were friends?”
“I can’t tell you exactly what we were because I don’t know. But it was more than friends. It was better than friends. The only time I was ever happy in Dorothy was when I was with her. She treated me like…like…like I mattered.”
“I don’t get it,” Brent said, wrinkling his brow. “Why did you leave?”
“I had to.” Zander stood, his quick and decisive motion making it clear that he wanted to change the subject. “So when and where am I supposed to meet Faith?”
Brent gave him a tiny smile. “Ten tomorrow morning at Krasco’s Deli.”
“Krasco’s Deli. Are you kidding?”
“Would I kid about a thing like that?”
“If your mom is trying to tell me something, I wish she’d just come out and say it and not play games with me.”
“You know Olivia,” Brent sighed. “She only plays games she knows she can win. Sending you to Krasco’s might just be her way of trying to teach you a lesson.”
“What kind of lesson?”
“Hell if I know,” Brent chuckled. “I gave up questioning Olivia’s methods years ago when she got me out of summer school by flipping my trigonometry teacher a walk-on in Ally McBeal .”
* * *
Zander sat in a booth in the back of Krasco’s. Five years ago, he’d come to the same deli—the same booth, in fact—for a meeting with Olivia Baxter. That meeting had changed his life, and now he was back full circle to meet another woman who had the power to change his life again. For better or worse.
Nursing a cup of Krasco’s signature black coffee, Zander picked at a crack in the blue vinyl seat. Krasco’s was the real deal, a genuine 1950s-era diner that had been run by the
“Or use your considerable appeal to win her silence,” Brent answered. “It’s not like you’ve had any trouble seducing any woman you’ve set your sights on. I’ve seen some of the coldest broads in Hollywood turn to putty once you smile their way.”
“Faith was never like that. It’ll take more than my rebuilt face and dubious charm to turn her to putty. As for friendship, I don’t think her memories of it will be that good.”
“What did you do to her?”
“Nothing,” Zander said defensively. “What the hell kind of question is that? Why are you automatically assuming that I did something to her?”
“Calm down, Zander,” Brent said. “It was an innocent question. Or so I thought until your reaction just now.”
“I—” His words snagged in his throat. He couldn’t look at Brent as he admitted, “I hurt her.”
Brent sat up, his concern evident in the serious set of his features. “What happened?”
Dropping heavily onto the sofa, Zander rubbed his palms over the stubble covering his cheeks. “I left her alone in Dorothy.”
Brent relaxed, sitting back and sighing with relief. “Don’t scare me like that, Alex. I thought you were gonna tell me that you killed somebody.”
“I did, in a way,” he said. “You don’t know what it was like for me and Faith back there. We were freaks.”
“I don’t doubt your memory of your childhood, bro, but I have to tell you that Faith Wheeler isn’t anything close to what I’d call a freak. That woman is beautiful, and she’s obviously smart. If Mom wasn’t so frustrated with her right now, she probably would have tried to get me to sign her as a client.”
“Freak isn’t the right word,” Zander said. “We were outcasts. We couldn’t have been more opposite, but we were still in the same boat. She was black and rich, I was poor white trash. Her dad owned the biggest coal mining company in southwestern West Virginia. My dad was the town drunk. She was an honor student and a cheerleader—”
“You’re right,” Brent chuckled. “She was a freak.”
Zander ignored him. “I was the local waste of space working two minimum wage jobs to keep the trailer over our heads and my mother’s antidepressant prescriptions filled.”
“And you two were friends?”
“I can’t tell you exactly what we were because I don’t know. But it was more than friends. It was better than friends. The only time I was ever happy in Dorothy was when I was with her. She treated me like…like…like I mattered.”
“I don’t get it,” Brent said, wrinkling his brow. “Why did you leave?”
“I had to.” Zander stood, his quick and decisive motion making it clear that he wanted to change the subject. “So when and where am I supposed to meet Faith?”
Brent gave him a tiny smile. “Ten tomorrow morning at Krasco’s Deli.”
“Krasco’s Deli. Are you kidding?”
“Would I kid about a thing like that?”
“If your mom is trying to tell me something, I wish she’d just come out and say it and not play games with me.”
“You know Olivia,” Brent sighed. “She only plays games she knows she can win. Sending you to Krasco’s might just be her way of trying to teach you a lesson.”
“What kind of lesson?”
“Hell if I know,” Brent chuckled. “I gave up questioning Olivia’s methods years ago when she got me out of summer school by flipping my trigonometry teacher a walk-on in Ally McBeal .”
* * *
Zander sat in a booth in the back of Krasco’s. Five years ago, he’d come to the same deli—the same booth, in fact—for a meeting with Olivia Baxter. That meeting had changed his life, and now he was back full circle to meet another woman who had the power to change his life again. For better or worse.
Nursing a cup of Krasco’s signature black coffee, Zander picked at a crack in the blue vinyl seat. Krasco’s was the real deal, a genuine 1950s-era diner that had been run by the
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