Careless (12 page)

Josh laughed as he poured strong coffee
into a disposable cup and handed it to Mike. “Looks like someone hasn’t had his
shot of caffeine this mornin’.”

“I’ll need somethin’ a hell of lot stronger
than coffee if I’ve got a prayer of gettin’ through the day.” Or more
specifically,
the night
. He had no doubt he’d be making himself crazy
wondering what Tori was up to with her date. “By the way, I’ve got a bone to
pick with you.”

Josh rolled his eyes. “What’d I do this
time?”

“You told Tori she could go out with this…”
Mike didn’t even know his name or anything about him. Within the hour, he
intended to have a full report on this dude, and if he had so much as an unpaid
parking violation, Mike would find a way to prevent her from going out with
him.

“Bryan Tate? Yeah, what’s wrong with that?
She’s been out with him lots of times.”

“Yeah, she’s probably been out with her
stalker lots of times, too. How the hell do you know they’re not one in the
same?”

“Come on, I checked this guy out myself.
He’s clean.”

It wasn’t often Mike went toe-to-toe with
his father, or had reason to, but he wasn’t backing down this time. “You guys
hired me to do a job, and you need to stay the hell out of my way so I can do
it.”

Josh raised his hands, obviously trying to
wipe the smile off his face. “I’m not tryin’ to do your job, kid. I checked him
out before you were even hired.”

Mike sighed. He knew this wasn’t his dad’s
fault. If he’d had a sleepless night thinking about Tori taking another man to
bed, he had only himself to blame. He had two longs years to make things right
with her, and he’d squandered every opportunity. “Look, I’m sorry, Dad. I
didn’t mean to come down on you. This is just so damn frustratin’.”

“I thought you were gonna be able to keep
your personal feelings out of this. If you can’t… ”

There was no way Mike was handing this
investigation off to someone else. At least now he was living in Tori’s house
where he could keep her safe. None of his colleagues would be willing to make
that kind of sacrifice, not that he intended to give them the chance. “Don’t
you think I know I’m breakin’ every damn rule in the book by letting my
personal feelings affect my judgement?”

“About what?” Trey asked, coming up behind
them.

“Nothin’, forget about it,” Mike said,
wishing he’d kept his big mouth shut. Before long, everyone in their inner
circle would know that he and Tori had slept together.

“Come on, I’ve known you since you were a
kid,” Trey said, nudging him in the ribs. “You can tell me what’s got you so
worked up.”

Any other time he wouldn’t have thought
twice about confiding in Trey. He’d been like an uncle to him most of his life,
but he couldn’t talk about his relationship with Tori until he knew where they
stood.

“It’s not what… it’s who,” Josh said,
chuckling.

Mike glared at his father. “Did anyone ask
you?”

Josh laughed. “Has that ever stopped me
before?”

Trey followed Mike’s eyes to the stage.
“Ah, I shoulda known. Man, if you expect to tame that little lady, you’ve got
your work cut out for you.”

“Don’t I know it. I tell her I don’t want
her goin’ anywhere alone and she takes off while I’m in the shower. I tell her
to make sure the house is secure at all times, and she leaves the front door
wide open. I tell her to keep a low profile, and she has a date for a charity
event tonight.”

Trey laughed. “I’m willin’ to bet that’s the
one that’s got you in such a foul mood today, am I right?”

“How the hell am I supposed to investigate
this case if I’ve gotta worry about babysittin’ her all the damn time?”

“You don’t have to worry,” Josh said.
“She’s in good hands with us. You go do what you need to do.”

Mike wanted to stay and talk to her,
hopefully convince her to reconsider her plans for tonight, but he knew in his
state of mind, it would likely escalate to an argument in no time. “Fine, I’ll
head over to Luc’s office, but I want you to email me everything you have on
that Bryan guy.”

Josh saluted him. “Yes, sir.”

“Don’t mess with me. I’m serious.”

“I know you are…” Trey said, grinning. “Seriously
messed up over the pretty little blonde with the big ol’ voice.” He looked at
his old friend. “You know what they say don’t you, Josh?”

“No, what’s that?”

“The bigger they are, the harder they
fall.” He chuckled. “I think this big guy has already fallen
hard.
” 

Tori had never been distracted on stage
before. Performing her music always put her in the zone, making her untouchable
to outside diversions. But this morning was different. As soon as she felt
Mike’s eyes on her, she’d nearly forgotten the words to a song she’d sung
hundreds of times. Living under the same roof with that man was torture. Not
only was it costing her sleep, knowing he was just down the hall, but his hot
and cold attitude was costing her sanity.  

“Let’s take five, guys,” Tori said into the
microphone. She reached for the bottle of water at her side as her band made
their way off stage. She tried to ignore the curious sidelong glances they were
shooting her way. They’d been working together for a long time and she knew
they’d never seen her this preoccupied.

Titan Records publicist, Avery McCall,
raised a finger, beckoning to her.

Tori groaned inwardly, half-expecting to be
read the riot act. She was supposed to have attended the opening of a hot new
club downtown last night, but she’d begged off at the last minute, claiming she
was tired and stressed. The truth was, she just wanted to go home, kick her
heels up, and enjoy a quiet dinner with Mike. Unfortunately, the hours they’d
spent together left her more confused than ever about the direction they were
taking.

She’d suspected trying to forge a
friendship with a man she’d been intimate with would be difficult, but she had
no idea that thoughts of him would intrude on every other area of her life,
including her music.

“Hey there,” Avery said, offering her a cup
of coffee, just the way she liked it. “You look like you could use a pick me
up. What happened? You didn’t sleep well last night?”

Tori felt like she hadn’t had a decent
night’s sleep in weeks. Between worrying about the man tailing her and the sexy
cop making himself at home in the bedroom down the hall, she was surprised she
managed even a few winks of shut-eye at night. “I’m okay.” She wasn’t one to
complain. She’d made it this far by convincing people she was tough, she could
handle anything they threw her way, and she was. She just had to refocus.

Avery sipped her coffee before asking,
“What happened last night? Why didn’t you make it?”

“I’m sorry I had to bail. I just needed a
night off. I hope they weren’t too pissed that I wasn’t there to sign autographs.”
Tori felt guilty for shirking her responsibilities, something she’d never done
before.

“I just told them you weren’t feeling well.
Is that true?”

Tori shrugged. She wasn’t feeling well, but
her problem was more mental than physical. She just couldn’t seem to get her
head back in the game, and with their group gearing up for a tour, her malaise
couldn’t have come at a worse time. “There’s just a lot goin’ on, ya know?”

“I know.” Avery looked around to make sure
no one was standing nearby. “Luc told me about the episode at your house the
other night. Thank God Mike was there.”

“I know, right?”

“I heard he’s staying with you. Is that
true?”

“Yeah, he insisted.” She took a fortifying
sip of coffee, suddenly wishing she drank it strong and black, like Mike.

“I think that’s a good idea, but we need to
be careful. We don’t want this getting out.”

“You mean about him staying with me?”

“That, and I don’t want people to know
about this guy who’s after you. We need to keep all of it under wraps. I don’t
want anything to overshadow this tour. I mean, come on, this is gonna be huge.
Four of the biggest names in country music touring together. Tickets in every
city have sold out in minutes. It’s crazy.”

Avery was married to Ty McCall, one of the
artists Tori was touring with, so she knew her publicist was working even
harder to make this tour a success for her husband’s benefit. “I won’t do
anything to screw this up for everyone, I promise.”

Avery put her arm around Tori’s waist.
“Hey, I didn’t mean it like that, hon. I love you. We all do. Your safety is
our top priority, you know that.”

“I know, thanks.”

“So about tonight, you’re still going to
that benefit with Bryan, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Good, he’s perfect. Exactly the kind of
man you want to be seen with.”

Bryan owned a bottled water company that
donated a portion of their profits to various charities. According to Avery, it
would show the public that Tori cared enough about the important causes to take
an interest in a man like Bryan, who lived to help others.

Tori did like him, enjoyed spending time
with him and talking to him about his interests, but no matter how hard she
tried, she didn’t feel a spark with the man, not like she did with Mike. She
had no intention of bringing Bryan home tonight; she’d simply told Mike she
intended to so she could put some much-needed distance between them.  

“I thought you said bein’ seen with bad
boys was better for my image.”

“That was before,” Avery said, sighing.
“People were still trying to figure out who you were as a person and an artist.
Now they know. You’re a straight shooter. You tell it like it is, don’t give a
rip what people think about you, but there’s a compassionate, tender side to
you as well. I think it’s time we let people see that.”

Tori wasn’t too keen on baring her soul for
the world to see. She trusted Avery. The woman knew her business like no other,
but Tori felt like she already gave so much of herself to her fans. She wanted
to keep a small part of her life private. “I don’t know where you’re goin’ with
this, but—”

“Don’t you worry about a thing. I’ve got it
covered.”

And for some reason, that assurance did
worry Tori, a lot.

Mike walked into Jimmy’s bar to meet his
brother, Jay, wishing like hell he could just head back to Tori’s place, open a
bottle of wine, and talk until the sun set, just like last night. In fact, he
couldn’t think of a more perfect way to spend the evening.

J.T. McCall, the owner of Jimmy’s and a
life-long friend of their family, stopped Mike before he could make his way to
the table his brother was occupying. “Hey, I’ve been meanin’ to talk to you. I
hear you’re hittin’ the road with us.” J.T. was married to Nikki and often
toured with her so they were able to take their little girl on the road with
them.

“That’s the plan.” And since he hadn’t made
any progress on the case yet, he expected to be with them for a good, long
while. The thought should bother him. He had open cases at the station
demanding his attention, but nothing in his life took precedence over Tori’s
safety.

“Great. We’ll have a blast.”

Mike grinned. “I’m sure we will, but I’m
not there to have fun.”

J.T. laughed. “Great music, cool people,
the best liquor money can buy. How can you not have a good time, right?”

“True.” Mike could care less about the
party. The only thing on his mind was keeping Tori safe.

“So, I thought we were friends.”

“What are you talkin’ about, man? We are
friends.”

“So, why didn’t you tell me about you and
Tori?”

Mike groaned. “How the hell did you know
about that?”

“My wife told me. We don’t keep secrets
from each other. Tori knows that.”

“Tori told Nikki?” Mike muttered a curse.
He trusted J.T. and Nikki to be discreet, but he had no doubt it was only a
matter of time before everyone in their inner circle knew about them. J.T. was
his stepfather’s brother, which meant it wouldn’t be long before his mother
found out about it, and given her feelings about Tori, she’d be riding him
relentlessly. “Listen, no one else can know about this. What happened between
me and Tori happened a long time ago. There’s nothin’ goin’ on between us now
.”
Not that he wouldn’t like there to be.

“I’m sorry to hear that. I think you guys
would be great together.”

“Too bad she doesn’t share your opinion.”

“Oh yeah? Why’s that?”

“I screwed things up pretty bad. She’s not
willin’ to give me a chance to make it right.”

“So, you’re just gonna give up? Just like
that, huh?” J.T. tipped his cowboy hat back on his head. “Guess she don’t mean
that much to you after all.”

“How the hell do you know how much she
means to me?”

“Man, I’ve known you your whole life. When
you want somethin’, you go after it. You don’t let anything stand in your way.”