22
“Watch your wallet, boy. She’s crafty as well as beautiful.
23
The curse of a Whaley female.” Mike winked at his wife. “The
24
blessing too. Always got your back in a corner. Vicious.”
25
Jeanne waved a lazy hand at him. “Charmer. Go on and
26
don’t worry, Mary, I’ll keep him safe.” Mary’s mother patted
27
his hand with a cheeky grin.
28S
“Lord,” Mary muttered as she escorted her father from the
29N
room.
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“Now then.” She pulled out two decks of cards. “I’ve got a
01
few games I like to play. ’Course they’ve got special rules, but
02
you’re a quick one, I wager.”
03
He liked Jeanne Whaley. Even when she played cards fast
04
and loose, and he wasn’t quite sure, but he thought she may have
05
played fast and loose with the rules too.
06
“You must like her a lot to let me cheat so much.” She lifted
07
her beer and tapped it to his.
08
“I do like her. A lot.”
09
“What’s your plan?”
10
“I’m trying. She’s wily, your daughter. We’re moving forward
11
into something deeper. I hope, anyway. It’s going slow. She wants
12
it that way so I’m doing my best to accommodate her wishes.”
13
“Lots of differences between you.” She caught his eye. “You
14
live in another state. Part of your job is to travel around a lot.
15
A fast life. Mike is atrocious with computers. But I’m not. I
16
researched you and your band.” She didn’t say more. She didn’t
17
have to.
18
“Fame is . . . well, it’s not easy, no matter how well adjusted
19
you are. So much is beyond what you can do anything about
20
and you have what seems like an unlimited amount of money.
21
People don’t tell you no. In fact there are people around you
22
who make it their business to get you everything you ever
23
dreamed of. We live hard. The road is sort of crazy. But we have
24
a business, it’s our band and we know better than to screw
25
that up.”
26
She looked him over carefully. “What does your family think
27
of this thing between you and Mary?”
S28
“They like her. She’s a small- town girl in a lot of ways. When
N29
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Lauren Dane
01
we’re not on the road we live on a ranch. Work on a ranch. It’s
02
grounding. My parents have been married thirty- six years.
03
They’re solid people and they see that Mary is solid too. She
04
values the things they value. Family. Hard work. Compassion.”
05
“How do you think this will work with you out there travel-
06
ing around? Surrounded by women and drugs. You live over
07
four hours away even when you’re not on the road. My daugh-
08
ter has a life. She’s built something for herself.”
09
“I know that and I respect her business. I respect her life. I
10
don’t want her to give it up to be with me. I don’t know who
11
we’d handle the living situation. But we have a ways to go before
12
we take that step anyway.”
13
“Fair enough. You plan to get out there and start nailing
14
every female you take a liking to? On the road?”
15
He shook his head. “No, ma’am. That part of my life is over.”
16
She looked up from her cards and he realized she was the
17
disciplinarian of the family. She caught him in place and held
18
him, the threat in her gaze totally and utterly clear. The only
19
other woman who had that gaze of terror was Sharon Hurley.
20
“You see to it that it is. Because if it isn’t, if you hurt her, you’ll 21
have me to deal with. I will hunt you down and make you sorry
22
you ever looked twice at my daughter.”
23
A shiver of fear went through him. Man, she and his mother
24
could possibly have been separated at birth.
25
“Yes, ma’am.”
26
She smiled, the threat relayed. “All right then. I believe you
27
owe me ten dollars. I’m going to get the bread under the broiler.”
28S
She stood.
29N
“Can I help?”
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“The plates are up in that cabinet. It’s just the four of us
01
tonight. Silverware is in that drawer.” She pointed and went
02
about her work and he set the table like he was supposed to.
03
04
05
“So? You ready to hightail it back to Hood River yet?” Mary
06
asked him, backing down the drive.
07
“Nah. Your mom is a great cook, though not in your league.
08
Don’t tell her I said so though. Your parents are nice people,
09
just like you said. Though your mom is really scary.”
10
She laughed. “What’d she say?”
11
“Don’t worry about it. She’s concerned for you. I get it. It’s
12
my job to prove her fears are groundless.”
13
“Yeah?”
14
“Yes.” He took her hand. “My job to prove it to you too. I
15
get it. You’re wary. My track record isn’t the best. But to be fair, 16
I’ve never really made any attempt to be in a relationship with
17
a woman. I want that with you. I’m willing to wait you out. To
18
prove to you that I’m ready for it.”
19
She didn’t say much as they drove back to her place.
20
When she stopped the car, she turned to him. “I’m really
21
scared.”
22
“What for, Curly? I’m laying it all out on the table for you.
23
I want you. Not for a fl ing. I don’t want to date you. I want there 24
to be an
us
.”
25
“There’s a lot of temptation out there. I can’t compete with
26
that.”
27
He nodded. “I can’t lie and I don’t want to. Yes, there is. But
S28
you’re wrong to think you can’t compete with it. You’re better
N29
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01
than anything out there. There’s you. Here. Waiting for me.
02
There’s nothing that can beat that, temptation wise. I’ve done
03
faceless, nameless women in every city. I don’t want that any-
04
more. I want you. I want what you make me feel.”
05
She licked her lips and he knew she was deciding on whether
06
or not to share something with him. Finally she sucked in a
07
breath. “My pictures with Daisy were copied from her Twitter
08
account and put on the Internet.”
09
Damn it
. “What? When?”
10
“Today. Miles actually told me. He saw it on some board he
11
visits. I guess it’s offi cially news in some sense that Mary Whaley 12
is dating Damien Hurley.”
13
He scrubbed hands over his face. “I’m sorry. Why didn’t you
14
tell me before now?”
15
“He only told me a few hours ago. I’ve been processing it.
16
Trying to fi gure out if it mattered more than being with you.”
17
The pause she took felt about a million years long.
18
“But it doesn’t.”
19
He let out the breath he’d been holding.
20
“Daisy locked her account. Took all the pictures of me off.
21
She changed the settings on her Facebook account too.”
22
“Do you hate me?’
23
She shook her head slowly. “No. You didn’t do it. And if we’re
24
going to do this, I have to get used to it, I guess. I don’t like it 25
that my friends have to be affected by it. But I don’t like the
26
alternative even more.”
27
“I’m glad to hear that.”
28S
“Yeah. So, all right. We can take it slow. But I need to tell
29N
you I’m not that woman, you know the one who looks the other
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way when her man is out on the road. If you betray me, there
01
won’t be a next time. I’m not stupid. I’m not desperate. I won’t
02
pretend that I don’t see it.”
03
He kissed her fi ngertips. “Of course. I’d expect nothing less.
04
And I told you; I’m only interested in you. Mary and Damien.”
05
She let out a long breath. “All right then.”
06
“Does this mean you’ll be our personal chef while we work
07
on the new album? Have you given it any thought?”
08
“This is serious. This is my business.”
09
“I know it is! I’m serious. I swear.”
10
She got out and he followed her into the house, steering her
11
toward the couch. She kicked her shoes off and allowed him to
12
get close. “It’s a real offer. Ezra is the person who suggested it, 13
actually. So it’s not all about me having you near, though I can’t
14
lie and say that’s not attractive.”
15
She gave him a look before snorting and reaching for a nearby
16
pad and pen.
17
“Here’s what I’m willing to do. I’ll come down four days a
18
week. I need to be up here on the weekends for supper club any-
19
way. I’ve decided to hold off on all but weekend catering gigs
20
for a bit of time. But I’m looking into the food- delivery personal 21
chef thing I told you about. I’ve got two clients already. Anyway,
22
it means I can take off four days a week to be in Hood River.”
23
He tucked the hair back away from her face. “Are you going
24
to be all right? That sounds like an awful lot of work.”
25
She softened, leaning into his touch. “I’m good. Thank you
26
for worrying about me. I’m still trying to fi gure out what to do
27
with my business. I’m experimenting, and having the income
S28
from the personal chef stuff and your job enables me to do it.”
N29
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Lauren Dane
01
“You
are
going to allow us to pay real rates, right? Because 02
we normally eat junk food and takeout and whatever my mom
03
feels sorry enough to make for us. We’re sort of wretched when
04
we’re recording so she stays away a lot.”
05
“You will pay my standard rates. I’ll get free room and board
06
anyway and you’ll pay for the food. Fair enough?”
07
“Good. Yes.”
08
“Particulars? What are your hours? I mean do you work on
09
a set schedule? Or what?”
10
“We work from about eleven to about, say midnight. Some
11
days it goes much later and starts later the next day. But Ezra
12
and Paddy are super- anal about staying on task. Our last record
13
took three weeks to make. The one before that was six weeks.”
14
She nodded, scratching out notes. “There’s a kitchen in the
15
barn right?”
16
He nodded and she kept writing.
17
“All right. For my fee, I’ll make you guys three meals and
18
two snacks. I’ll talk with the others to see what they like and
19
then give you a menu in advance. You have three days to submit
20
changes. After that, if you don’t like grapes or whatever, pick
21
them out.”
22
He grinned, leaning in to steal a kiss and then another. “I
23
love it when you’re stern.”
24
“Hm. I’m working here, so back off.”
25
He did, but he kept grinning.
26
“When I come back up here on the weekends, I’ll leave you
27
all enough food to last the weekend. If you’d prefer, I can set up
28S
a buffet a few times a day and you can graze as you please.”
29N
“I’ll let you decide after you talk with the rest. What else do