Chapter Twenty-Three

Alexa strode into Escapade East.

In a few hours, patrons would show up to celebrate the end of the workday. A bar-back set up glasses and checked the ice bins behind the counter, preparing for the rush.

She’d knocked at Rafe’s studio, but he hadn’t answered. She’d tried calling, too, but he wouldn’t pick up.

Shannon hurried in from the back hallway. She spotted Alexa and faltered. Her pace sped back up as she approached her. Flowing wide-legged slacks fluttered around her legs. “Rafe isn’t here. No, I don’t know where he is. I’m busy. You need to leave.”

Alexa’s irritation piqued. She’d cut Shannon slack in the past because she was Rafe’s friend and partner, but this time, her rudeness went too far. “I didn’t ask you where he was. Do you mind telling me exactly what you have against me, or are you acting this way because you want Rafe for yourself?”

Shannon released a sardonic chuckle. As she straightened chairs around a table, her ponytail swung against the back of her bronze polo. “Rafe and I are strictly partners and friends. I just don’t like women like you.”

“Excuse me? Women like me?”

Shannon crossed her arms over her chest. “Some women are smart enough to realize Rafe’s performances onstage are a fantasy. Others, like you, are compelled to get closer. Not because they actually see or care about him as a person, but because they’re caught between their jacked-up moral compass that judges him for having taken off his clothes for a living, and the thrill they feel for being viewed as the bad girl who scored a chance to be with him.” She dismissively flicked her hand. “I’m sure your time with Rafe was intriguing, but you need to move on and get a life.”

“The only one judging people wrongly is you. I care about Rafe.”

“Sure, you do.” Shannon shoved a chair under the table. “That’s what Eden claimed, too, before she ripped out his heart.”

The bar-back stared at them from behind the counter.

Shannon gave the young guy a saccharine sweet smile. “Jacob. Shouldn’t you be doing something else instead of ear-hustling this conversation?”

“Uh…yeah.” He hurriedly grabbed a box and left.

Shannon looked back to Alexa. “Leave Rafe alone. He’s gone through enough. He doesn’t need another bad ending.”

The day they’d brainstormed ideas for Escapade West, he’d mentioned an ex, but he hadn’t told her what the woman had done.

Alexa dropped her purse on the table and sat down. “What happened with him and his ex?”

“It’s not my story to tell.”

“You brought it up. If you’re going to lump me in with a woman who appears to be a hateful bitch, you should at least have the guts to tell me why.”

Shannon gripped the back of the chair. Her expression shifted between irritated and pensive as if she mulled over a decision. She marched behind the bar, snagged two bottles from a refrigerator, and popped them open on the edge of the counter. Her heels clicked briskly on the floor on the way back. She plunked the premium beers on the table, then dropped into a chair.

Alexa picked up the frosty green bottle. On the rare occasions Rafe did drink, this brand of beer was his choice.

Shannon drank from her bottle. “Beer not your thing?”

“It’s fine.” Alexa took a sip. The flavors of citrus and hops flowed over her tongue. Beer wasn’t her favorite drink, but when it had been flavored with Rafe’s kisses, it had tasted wonderful.

“So.” Shannon set down her bottle. “How much did he tell you about Eden?”

“He just mentioned that it hadn’t worked out.”

“That’s an understatement.” Shannon’s brow crinkled with a frown as she seemed to stare through the table right into the past. “Six years ago, Eden and I lived in Miami. A wannabe fashion designer from Italy claimed she and I were his muses. For over a year, a bunch of us laid around his mansion, waiting for him to come back from Rome and actually sketch something.”

“It must have been an interesting situation.”

“It had its advantages. We didn’t have to pay to live there or worry about expenses. Most of us were models. We took the occasional job to stay relevant and add a cushion to our bank accounts.” She traced through condensation on the bottle. “Eden came from money, so she didn’t have to work. Her parents took care of her, even though they weren’t thrilled when she left New York to live a life they deemed frivolous. Every so often, their bank deposits would dry up, and she’d go home. A couple of days later, she’d come back flush with cash and loaded down with new stuff her parents had bought her.”

Alexa hated Eden already. She sounded shallow. Alexa sipped beer and tried not to be judgmental. She knew how things could be twisted. “How did she meet Rafe?”

A rueful smile tipped up Shannon’s mouth. “I introduced them. Rafe and the rest of the Hunks were escorts at a local fashion show that I was in. He invited me to see the group perform over the weekend. I took Eden. She wanted him, and that was that.”

Had Eden stolen Rafe from Shannon back then, and now she was in denial about wanting him? Was that why she was so protective of him?

Shannon met her gaze. “In case you’re wondering, the only thing I’ve ever wanted from Rafe is his friendship. I was fine with him and Eden being together. They seemed happy, and I was thrilled for them both.”

“But something was wrong.”

“Yeah, Rafe cared for Eden more than she did him.” Shannon’s dispassionate expression hinted to how the story would end. Tragically. “He’d planned to propose at the house during a dinner party that I was hosting in honor of Eden’s birthday. It was supposed to be just an intimate gathering with a few of her friends, but when it got out that we were celebrating, it turned into a full-on party. Eden drank too much damn champagne. It was a disaster in the making.”

Shannon took a long sip of beer. Seconds passed. Whatever thoughts and visions came up caused Shannon to fidget and wince. She blew out a long breath. “Eden announced that she was marrying her ex-boyfriend in New York and invited us all to the wedding. Rafe confronted her about it outside. I followed them. He thought she was getting married because her family was forcing her. Rafe showed her the engagement ring he’d bought for her, and she laughed at him.”

“What type of woman does that?”

“The selfish kind who doesn’t give a shit about anyone else. Rafe is strong. He got through it. But the last thing he needs is you taking him through some version of that hell again. I won’t allow it.”

“I’d never hurt him.”

Shannon released a derisive chuckle. “It’s too late for that. He told me the two of you weren’t together anymore. The look on his face when he said it told me everything I needed to know. What happened? Did someone in your elite circle discover you were sleeping with a stripper and give you grief about it?”

“That’s insane.”

“Wait, let me guess. Did women at your company giggle behind your back as they reminisced about watching him dance half naked on stage?”

“No one did that, and if they had, I wouldn’t care.”

“Come on. You can tell me the truth.” Shannon leaned in. “What embarrassing moment made you skip away? Or is it what Eden told Rafe? That he’s good for play and not for show.”

Shock and revulsion almost brought the beer Alexa had drunk back up. “She actually told him that?” The unbelievable line played through her mind, making Alexa angry for him and even more furious that Shannon would place her and Eden in the same category…or even on the same planet.

That day when Rafe had taught her how to hit the punching bag, he’d told her to not be weak. He’d reminded her to stand up for herself. That advice applied now, too. Her character was being unfairly weighed and measured, based on Eden’s crimes.

Alexa leaned in and looked Shannon in the eye. “Don’t you dare compare me to Eden. And for the record, I wasn’t the one who ended it. Rafe left me.”

Shannon’s mouth hung agape. “From the way he’s been acting, I thought y—”

“You don’t have to repeat what you thought. I get it. I also get that he’s your friend and that his bitch of an ex broke his heart, but that doesn’t give you or him the right to insult me or judge my motives for being with him because of where I come from.”

Shannon flopped back in the chair. “I don’t understand. Why did he break up with you?”

Sadness constricted in Alexa’s throat. “My ex came to my house uninvited while I was out and Rafe was there. I don’t know exactly what Brad said to him, but it was a lie. Unfortunately, Rafe also found my engagement ring. He assumed the worst and didn’t give me a chance to explain. I’m not going back to my ex. What I had with Rafe these past weeks meant something to me, and I thought it meant something to him, too.”

Shannon remained speechless.

Alexa grabbed her clutch. She dug out the invite for the gala she’d brought for him. There was only one way to find out how Rafe felt about her. She had to take a risk and lay it all on the line. She tossed the white envelope on the table and stood. “I’m also not moving to Seattle because I want to be here. And for the record, I don’t give a damn what anyone else thinks about me being with Rafe. I love him, and I want him, just the way he is.”