“No, thanks. Racing this weekend.” He held up his glass of water.
“You know, you set the bar really high for normal guys like me.”
“Do I?” Hugh looked at Mack and saw the tease in his eye, but Mack was right, and that realization brought him back to Brianna’s earlier comment about spoiling Layla. He made a mental note to watch the lavishness of his gifts. Brianna had worked hard to provide for her daughter, and Hugh didn’t want to create an alternative lifestyle for her. They’d have to find a middle ground. As he watched Brianna touch her locket and then glance at him and smile, he knew that together they could do anything.
“Hell, it’s okay.” Mack glanced at Brianna. “I’ve never seen her so happy. She’s a good egg, Hugh. She works hard, she’s a wonderful mother, and she really cares about people.”
“I feel like there’s a threat coming, Mack.”
“No threat.” Mack pulled his shoulders back. “Just a word of advice.”
Hugh raised his eyebrows.
“She doesn’t love easily. I’ve watched guys try to catch her eye, ask her out. Hell, one guy even brought her flowers every day for a week. And still she held back. She let all those walls down for you, and I would hate to see her name in a rag magazine with the byline Jilted Spouse.”
Hugh’s chest tightened. He narrowed his eyes and met Mack’s gaze. “I’m not that guy, Mack.”
“Yeah. You don’t seem like it, but tabloid tales don’t exactly show a monogamous lifestyle.”
Tabloids. Fucking tabloids. “How many women did you date before marrying Tami?”
Mack let out a quiet laugh. “Shit. I don’t know. Twenty? Thirty?”
Which Hugh translated as ten or fifteen. “Did you love any of them?”
“Hell no. I don’t think I knew what love was until I met Tami.”
“Yeah, the right woman pulls it out of you. There’s no doubt. Now, let’s say a photographer followed you around and your picture ended up in the paper with each of those women before you met Tami. How would she have reacted?”
Mack shifted his gaze to Tami. “She wouldn’t have given me the time of day. Tami’s not one for competition.”
“Fair enough. But should the rest of the world judge who you are based on those pictures?”
A deep V formed between Mack’s eyebrows. “What are you getting at?”
“That reality isn’t necessarily depicted in rag magazines, Mack. My dating years were captured on film. Yours weren’t.” Hugh shrugged and took a drink of water. He took a step away and Mack grabbed his arm. He stared at Mack’s hand until Mack released him.
“I just don’t want her to end up hurt.”
Hugh patted him on the back. “I love her, Mack. The last thing I want to do is hurt her. Or Layla.” He noticed Brianna crossing the floor toward them. “We’re on the same team, Mack, and if she ends up a jilted spouse, then you can come kick my ass.” Hugh asked quietly, “What makes you think I’m gonna propose?”
Mack’s cheeks lifted to a smile that immediately reached his eyes. “Guys get a look before they lock down their woman. I’m sure they had it all the way back in the caveman days before they dragged their women off to their cave. You’ve got that look, Hugh.”
Brianna’s hand on his shoulder softened all of the hard edges that remained from the threat that wasn’t a threat. He knew from the wave of pleasure that passed through his body from the simple brush of her hand against his cheek as Brianna came around to his side that Mack was right.
“So, Mr. Secret Keeper. You enlisted all of my friends for this without me even knowing? How did you do it?”
“I’ll leave you two alone,” Mack said before leaving to join Tami and Karen.
“A gentleman never tells his secrets.” Hugh pulled her close and pressed his hips to hers. “Do you think Layla enjoyed her surprise?”
Brianna looked down and her cheeks flushed. “Yes, but I’m ready for mine now.” She rocked her hips against him.
He groaned. “That’s unfair. We won’t be alone tonight.”
She blinked her lashes seductively.
“Excuse me, lovebirds.” Brianna’s mother, Jean, joined them.
Brianna took a step back. Her cheeks flushed red.
“Jean, thank you so much for playing along.”
“Are you kidding me? This is about the most romantic thing I’ve ever heard of. Well, the carousel was pretty romantic, too, but look at Layla.” She nodded toward the girls. “She’ll never forget this night.”
“That was the plan,” Hugh said. He reached for Brianna’s hand. “But I’ll make sure I don’t do too much spoiling. I know it’s important to keep her well grounded.”
“Oh, phooey,” Jean said, waving her hand. “A little spoiling is a good thing.”
“He doesn’t know what the word little means, Mom.”
Her comment conjured all sorts of dirty thoughts involving big things. Jesus, it was like she’d flipped a horny switch in him tonight. What the hell was going on?
He gulped down the rest of his water. “I do know what it means, and I am going to work on it. I didn’t give her the tiara I had backstage.”
Brianna blinked several times. “You bought her a tiara?”
“I say give it to her. What can it hurt?” Jean shrugged. “She’s had a big night. What’s a little more?”
Brianna crossed her arms and cast a harsh glare at her mother. “I have no idea who you are anymore.”
“Bree, I did my best with you with what I had. Layla has a chance to enjoy some of the things I couldn’t have dreamed of giving you. Why not allow her those pleasures?” Jean winked at Hugh.
Brianna rolled her eyes. “Great. The two of you ganging up on me. Just great.”
Hugh reached for her hand. “No one’s ganging up on you. Besides, I’m not giving it to her. She’s had enough.”
Brianna narrowed her eyes. “Really?”
“Yeah. You were right. I do need to be careful. And Jean’s right, too. Layla should be able to enjoy some of the nicer things in life, but not too many. She’ll look beautiful in the tiara on her birthday.”
Brianna’s lips curled up. “Thank you for understanding.”
“I’ll always try,” he said. Hugh turned his attention to Jean. “And I think your mom is right, too. We can find a happy medium that we all agree on. Jean, I can’t tell you how much it means to me that you were able to come and support Layla tonight.”
Jean looked at Brianna and her eyes softened. “I wanted to support all of you.”
“Thanks, Mom.”
Jean folded Brianna into her arms. “I love you, baby girl.” She drew back. “Hugh, you’re leaving Friday? When do you return?”
“I’ll be back after the press conference Saturday night.” A pang of loneliness touched his heart at the thought of leaving Brianna behind. Before he could weigh his thoughts, he suggested, “Why don’t the three of you come with me?”
“I have to work Friday,” Brianna said. “So does Mom.”
“We could fly you out right after,” Hugh offered. “It’ll be a fast trip, but you’ve never seen me race, and I like the idea of you being there.”
Brianna lowered her eyes. “I don’t know. After working all day, trying to rush through the airport, and you have to be there more than an hour early to fly because of security. Layla would be exhausted.”
“What about if you didn’t have to wait for the plane or show up early?” he offered.
Jean raised her eyebrows at Brianna, and Brianna shrugged.
“Bree, I can fly you down on a private plane,” Hugh explained.
“See. No idea of what little means,” Brianna said to her mother.
“It might be an adventure,” Jean said excitedly. “And Layla can sleep on the plane.”
Hugh saw a shadow in Brianna’s eyes that he couldn’t read. “Excuse me, Jean. Do you mind if I speak to Brianna alone for a moment?”
“No. Go right ahead.”
He led Brianna a few feet away. “What is it? Is it just the extravagance? Because, Bree, I have enough money to—”
She shook her head. “It’s not that.”
He brushed her hair away from her face. “Then what is it?”
She let out a breath and closed her eyes for a beat too long. Hugh’s chest tightened again.
“Bree?”
She placed her hands on his forearms. “This is going to sound stupid, but I went online and I saw all those pictures of you and women—lots of beautiful, rich-looking, sexy, too-hot-to-deny women—and I read about accidents that happen at the track, and it all kind of scares me.” Her grip tightened.
“What are you saying?” He could barely breathe.
“If I don’t go to the race, I can pretend it’s not dangerous, and if I don’t see the women all over you, it will be like it doesn’t really happen.” Her eyes filled with worry.
“Brianna.” He took her cheeks in his hands. “Baby, I need you there. I want you there. I can’t change the danger. We both know it is what it is. But the women? When I’m at the tavern, I see men looking at you and it kills me, but I know that you’d never hurt me. Can’t you see the same in me? Don’t you trust me?”