Sweet Harmony (11 page)

“That’s what friends are for. Well, that, and being your wingman.” When her phone buzzed, Mia picked it up and smiled down at the screen. “A text from Cam saying he misses me.” She bit her bottom lip and blinked as if holding back tears.

“It must be hard that he has to travel so much.”

She nodded. “It is. I offered to give up my job with the Cougars so I could go to more games with him, but Cam knows how much I love it and wouldn’t hear of me quitting. Of course, if he gets called up to the major leagues, we’ll have to move, but for right now we just deal with it. When you love somebody enough, you make sacrifices. And Noah Falcon gives me time off when Cam is playing within driving distance. Do you mind if I go outside and give him a quick call?”

“No, of course not. Go ahead. But be warned I might eat the rest of the wings and the last fried pickle.”

Mia laughed as she scooted from her stool. “I’ll be back in a few minutes, but don’t give up my seat for a cute baseball player or farm boy.” She hesitated and then
said, “Only for a super cute country singer who keeps looking your way.”

Cat made a point of rolling her eyes but then stared down at her beer bottle for a moment after Mia walked away. Maybe it was the small-town atmosphere or the cozy cabin or seeing Mia so happy, but Cat was suddenly longing for someone special in her life. She looked around the bar and it suddenly seemed as if everyone was with someone except for her. And despite her resolve not to, she searched for Jeff, who was still talking to Clint at the bar. When Jeff laughed, she found herself smiling, but then glanced away. Kissing him had awakened feelings that had been dormant for far too long.

A demanding career that kept her on the road had curtailed her love life in a big way, but that wasn’t the whole story. Cat knew she was a bit, well, different. Her unconventional childhood coupled with the kidnapping scare had changed her parents in a good way, but made for a rather odd and sheltered existence. Books and music were her escape and for the most part that still remained true. In high school she’d been tall and gangly but found humor as a way to cope with her insecurity, especially with boys. Her success gave her some hard-earned confidence, but to this day she was still floored when people called her beautiful.

“You look like you’re a million miles away,” Mia said as she sat down. “Everything okay?”

“I think I’m going to do it.”

“You have to be more specific,” Mia said with a laugh. “I’m not quite that good at reading your mind,” she added, but then her eyes widened. “Wait. You mean Jeff?”

Cat opened her mouth to tell Mia that she was going to quit being a weenie and see where her attraction to Jeff would take her, but then out of the corner of her eye she spotted a gorgeous blonde throw herself into Jeff’s arms and to Cat’s dismay he hugged her back. If that
wasn’t enough, she eased up on tiptoe and planted a lingering kiss on Jeff’s mouth.

“Don’t jump to conclusions,” Mia warned her. “Remember that Jeff is a celebrity and women throw themselves at him.”

Cat nodded, but then thought that this was yet another complication she wouldn’t want to deal with. Oddly, while women tended to go after music stars, Cat had the opposite experience. Men, maybe because they were intimidated by her celebrity status, actually avoided approaching her. So Cat merely shrugged as if her heart hadn’t dropped all the way to the bottom of her stomach, making the hot wings take flight. She faked a yawn. “I meant that I should get going. Tomorrow is a busy day.” After her fake yawn she forced a smile. “Will you be here for the concert tomorrow night?” Cat asked brightly.

“No doubt.” Mia nodded, but Cat could tell that she saw right though her. “Do you want me to head home with you? Slumber party?”

“I appreciate the offer, but I might actually do a bit of songwriting.”

“Text me when you get home, okay? I’m going to hang out for just a little bit longer.”

“You don’t have to stay here and spy for me.”

“Of course I do.”

Cat managed a slight grin. “You will always be my best friend.”

“I will and to prove it I’m also going to get the tab.”

“Thanks. I’ll get you back next time.” Cat scooted back her stool and grabbed her purse. After giving Mia a quick hug Cat walked with long-legged strides, but the front door seemed a million miles away. She knew eyes were upon her and tongues were wagging. Perhaps leaving while Jeff was deep in conversation with another girl made it seem like she was running away, so she willed her legs to slow down when she wanted to sprint. Just before she reached her escape she felt a hand on her shoulder.

“Hey, where are you rushing off to?”

Cat turned around to face Devin. “I have a long day tomorrow and I need my beauty sleep.”

“You can’t possibly get any prettier.” He gave her a charming grin. “Can I get you to have one last drink? I owe you a chocolate martini.”

“I’ll take a rain check, if that’s okay.”

“Then I’ll pray for rain,” Devin said, and then leaned over to give her a light kiss on the cheek.

Pleasant, but no tingle . . .
Damn
. Cat mustered up a smile anyway. She imagined the gossip mill was having a field day.

“At least let me walk you to your car.”

“It’s Cricket Creek. I’ll be fine.”

“Then indulge me.”

Cat didn’t want to be rude, so she nodded. “Okay.” Once outside, she breathed deep, air that smelled of late-spring flowers tinged with burning wood, most likely from bonfires. Devin fell in step beside her as they walked to her SUV. When they got there she dug into her purse for her keys and then turned to face him. “Thank you.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t recognize you earlier.”

Cat waved him off. “I don’t mind. In fact, I try to remain pretty low key and avoid pictures. I wear a lot of baseball caps,” she added with a smile.

“I just wanted to let you know that’s not why I approached you. I didn’t realize you were Cat Carson until I overheard people talking.”

Cat nodded. When he shoved his hands in his pockets she could tell he was suddenly nervous. “I’m pretty down-to-earth. Don’t ever hesitate to approach me. I want to be a part of the regular crowd and just have fun like everybody else.”

“Well, then, would you like to go out to dinner with me? Just something casual,” he added. His smile was chock-full of charm and she wanted to say yes.

“I’m actually pretty busy right now. I’m writing some new songs for an album, so I’m staying to myself pretty much these days.” She put a hand on his forearm and squeezed. “But thanks for the offer.”

He nibbled on the inside of his lip as if contemplating, but then nodded. “Well, if you change your mind, let me know. And you do have to eat, you know.”

“I’ll do that,” Cat said, and then opened her door and slid behind the wheel. She watched Devin walk away and for some reason felt a lump form in her throat. For a second she considered rolling down her window and calling him back, but she stopped herself. In her life and in her career she’d often done things simply not to hurt someone’s feelings. She had a very hard time saying no and it felt liberating to start living her life on her own terms.

But as she drove home to her cabin, the melancholy mood remained. As she turned the steering wheel she spotted the bandage that Jeff had wrapped around her scratch. She touched the cotton with her fingertips. The image of him hugging that girl slipped into her brain and the lump in her throat returned. Cat knew that she had no right to be jealous that Jeff was hugging or kissing another woman. He wasn’t her boyfriend. She shouldn’t feel the weight of sadness or the hot flash of anger that Jeff had obviously been toying with her earlier on the deck. And yet all of those emotions swirled around in her brain like dry leaves in a windstorm.

After getting out of her SUV, she closed the door harder than necessary but then felt guilty that she was somehow disturbing the solitude of the woods and waking sleeping animals. She thought of the pretty doe and hoped she hadn’t startled the poor thing from peaceful slumber, so she walked very quietly to her front door trying to make up for the noisy slam. She knew she was being ridiculous, but that was the kind of mood she was in. When a tear slipped out of the corner of her eye, she gave it an impatient swipe.

“I think I’ll go all Taylor Swift on him and write a song,” she muttered and started humming “I Knew You Were Trouble.” Angry with herself for caring, she stomped her foot and then, to her horror, realized she couldn’t find the key to the front door. “This isn’t happening,” she whispered, digging around in her oversized purse. She swallowed hard and reached over to turn the knob, thinking she must have simply forgotten to lock the door. Cat groaned when the doorknob refused to turn. “Damn it all to hell and back! How in the world did I manage this fiasco?” How could the door be locked when she didn’t have the keys? Was it the kind of door that locked automatically? Were the keys lying on the kitchen counter?

“Typical, ADD me . . .” she muttered with a groan. She could have sworn she’d had her keys when she’d left. But then again, she often misplaced her keys, phone, or wallet.

She just bet that Jeff had a key to the cabin. When she saw his car drive up to his place, she started to walk his way but then stopped herself. No, she was
not
going to let him rescue her again. Surely there had to be a way to get inside without his help. “I can figure this out.”

Cat started walking around the porch but then heard some scurrying in the bushes and she nearly yelped. Still, she squared her shoulders, determined, and then snapped her fingers. She’d left the bathroom window open a crack to let out the steam from her shower. The window was up pretty high, but if she could find something to stand on she just might be able to break in.

“Aha!” she said and scooted the sturdy bentwood table over from the front porch until it was beneath the window. She gingerly stepped up on top of the table and, careful to keep her balance, went to work. To her delight, she made quick work of removing the screen and then carefully tilted it up against the wall. Then she eased the window up as far as she could, but would have to hoist herself up by her arms and then tilt her body forward.

“Yes!” She felt the thrill of success, even though it was
a bit scary. When her feet pushed off the table, she managed to knock it over. But she was in!

But it was when she was halfway inside that Cat realized she hadn’t really thought this whole thing through. She was headfirst, but the window wasn’t wide enough for her to swing her leg up and over the windowsill. The whole headfirst thing was a huge mistake and she decided it was time to abort the mission, when she remembered the table was turned over, leaving her several feet off the ground. Was it far enough down to break a bone? No . . . most likely not. And she could ease her body out and dangle there, letting herself down slowly.

Right?

Cat swallowed hard and felt her palms start to sweat.

“Here goes nothing,” she muttered. But when she started to ease herself backward, the movement somehow made the window slide down and land across the small of her back. Her heart thudded.

She was stuck.

With a Little Help from My Friends

J
EFF STARED DOWN AT HIS CELL PHONE WONDERING how long it was going to take Cat to call him for help. When Mia had brought him Cat’s door keys, he was so glad to have a reason to escape Cindy Shafer’s clutches. The woman had chased him in high school because he was the lead singer of South Street Riot, and now that he was a success, she wanted him even more. During the years in between, when he’d worked on his parents’ farm, she’d acted as if he no longer existed. Jeff was slightly amused that she didn’t realize he could see right through her actions.

A polite hug was one thing, but when Cindy planted a kiss right on his mouth, he wanted to tell her to back off. Although when he looked across the room and saw the look on Cat’s face, he wanted to thank Cindy—because if he wasn’t mistaken, Cat was jealous. Then again, he could simply be a victim of wishful thinking.

When Mia had brought the keys over to him, Jeff wasn’t quite sure whether Cat had left them on the table by accident or Mia had lifted them from Cat’s purse. Mia had a
little gleam in her eye that said she just might be up to bit of matchmaking. Not that Jeff cared. The whole getting a kiss each time he rescued Cat was a spur-of-the-moment comment but pure genius. While Jeff was usually a thinker, a planner, when he was around Cat he found himself becoming spontaneous, and damn if it wasn’t fun. She brought out a playful side of him he didn’t know even existed.

Jeff couldn’t stop thinking about her. He glanced at his phone and then up at her cabin, wondering what to do. Maybe she’d left the door unlocked and was already in the cabin? But still, he had to deliver the keys to her, right? With that thought in mind he jogged up the road and hurried up to her front door. He frowned when he spotted her suitcase of a purse and then with a grin realized that she must be trying to somehow break into the cabin. He walked over to the side of the porch and spotted her. Well, half of her. “Need some help?”

“No!” was her muffled reply. “As you can see I have the situation under—
ouch
—control.”

“Let go and I’ll catch you.” He angled his head and admired her very nice ass. She had somehow lost one pink cowboy boot and he grinned when he spotted it near the overturned table.

“Sure you will.”

“I can unlock the door and help you in from the bathroom.” He jangled her keys.

“No, I don’t need your help.”

“Sorry about your luck. You might not want my help, but you do need it.” He jangled the keys again.

“Wait.” She sucked in a breath. “How did you get my keys?” She lifted her head, and when she whimpered as if in pain, Jeff decided he’d had enough of this nonsense.

“Cat, I’m going to grab hold of your legs and then you can push up on the window. I’ll hold up your weight so you can use your arms.”

“If you grunt I’m going to kick you.”

“Use the foot without the boot, please.” Jeff laughed and then wrapped his arms around her thighs.

“Stop laughing and don’t look at my butt.”

“You’re pretty bossy for someone needing help. And your ass is resting next to my face. Sorry.”

She mumbled something and then pushed up on the window.

“I’ve got you,” he said in a more gentle tone. He remembered that she bruised easily and wondered how long she’d been dangling there, and suddenly the situation wasn’t quite so funny. When she clung to the windowsill he said, “Now don’t get pissed, but I’m going to reach around your waist and set you down.”

“Why would I get pissed?”

“You’re always pissed at me.” He held her tightly and backed up before taking his time letting her feet touch the ground. “You okay?” he asked.

“Yes,” she said, but when there was a slight hitch in her voice Jeff turned her around and hugged her. To his surprise she clung to him. “I think. I was actually starting to get a little bit scared.”

“Are you hurt?”

She rested her head on his shoulder. “Just bruised, I think.”

“Cat, why didn’t you call me?”

“I didn’t want to have to pay up.”

Jeff felt a stab of disappointment. “I won’t ask, then.” He pulled back and tucked a lock of her hair out of her eyes. “If I kiss you, will you kick me in the shin?”

“No.”

“Punch me in the face?”

“No.”

“What will you do?”

“Kiss you back.”

That was all Jeff needed to hear. He lowered his head and kissed her gently, coaxing her lips apart. Her soft sigh of surrender had him threading his fingers through
her hair. He tilted his head and deepened the kiss, loving the sweet taste of her lips and the soft silky heat of her mouth. When she wrapped her arms around his neck, Jeff hugged her closer, needing to feel her body pressed against his. When she tugged on his shirt, Jeff understood. He wanted to feel her warm skin and explore her body. The woman he’d been thinking about constantly was now in his arms, and it felt so damned good. Jeff pulled his mouth away from her lips and nuzzled her neck.

She sighed softly, and the sexy breathless sound had him wanting her even more. “Cat . . .” he said, and she understood.

“Come inside with me,” she offered, and it was all the invitation Jeff needed. He stooped and picked up the keys while she scooped up her purse. Moments later they were inside the cabin. The keys landed with a clank onto the counter and Cat dropped her purse with a thud. Jeff pulled her back into his arms and all the reasons he’d told himself to stay away vanished like fog lifting from a lake. He kissed her, not softly this time but with a hungry passion that had his heart thudding. When he tugged at her shirt she tugged at his and a moment later he was touching skin . . . warm, soft skin.

And he wanted even more.

“Cat?” Jeff wasn’t bad boy enough not to give her an out, but she answered by running her hands up his back and pressing her body closer. When she lightly raked her fingernails down his shoulder blades, Jeff moaned. In one quick movement he scooped her up into his arms.

“What are you doing? You’re going to break something, like your back. We’ll have to wheel you onto the stage and—”

He smothered her protest with a hot, hungry kiss and carried her easily.

“I’m impressed.”

He grinned when he shouldered the bedroom door open. “You ain’t seen nothin’ yet.”

“Oh, confident, are you?”

“No.” He gazed down at her. “This isn’t something I take lightly.” He put her gently down onto the big brass bed and then traced a fingertip down her cheek and over her bottom lip.

“Me neither.”

He sat down. “This will complicate things.”

“Like they aren’t already complicated? You have really bad timing when it comes to second thoughts.”

“I’m an overthinker.” He sighed. “I should have kept my damned mouth shut. Can we go back to a couple of minutes ago?”

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Cat sighed and turned over to her back. For a moment she remained silent. “What game are you playing here, Jeff?” She sounded hurt and it clawed at his gut.

“I don’t play games.” He lay down next to her and stared up at the paddle fan.

“For the record, you kissed me this time.”

“Guilty.”

“So, now what?”

“I guess I go.” Jeff held his breath, hoping she’d ask him to stay. If she reasoned with him or told him that they could make this work without interfering with their music, then he would be willing to chance it.

“Oh.” She sounded sad and confused and Jeff wondered whether he was making a colossal mistake.

Jeff cleared his throat. “So, then, what are you going to do with the rest of your evening?”

“Write a song.”

“About me?” he tried to joke.

“Ha.” She turned to give him a look. “You wish.”

“Cat,” Jeff said on a more serious note. “If we don’t want this to happen again, we have to make an effort not to . . .”

“Lock lips?” she asked lightly, but her eyes told a different story.

“Yeah.”

“Don’t worry about it,” she said, just a little bit sharply. “I’ll make an effort not to get into precarious situations. But I’ll be honest—don’t expect miracles. Just come up with some other payment like cupcakes or cookies or something instead of a kiss.”

Jeff came up and turned to his side but she failed to look at him. He leaned on one elbow and wanted to trace a fingertip down her cheek again, but he didn’t chance it. “Well, then let’s take a pledge.”

“A pledge? Jeff, I don’t do things like get lost or stuck in windows on purpose. See, I have ADD and tend to lose things, which, in turn, gets me into, well, said situations. I also do things spontaneously but with immediate regret. Like this . . .”

Jeff chuckled. “No, not that kind of pledge.”

“Well, I did take a pledge of some sort when I was briefly a Girl Scout Brownie, but I was politely asked to leave when I failed to follow instructions and do things like sit still.”

Jeff laughed. He could imagine her attempting to behave.

She nibbled on the inside of her lip. “Well, I took the pledge not to text and drive and I am proud to say that I do adhere to that one.”

Jeff hated what he was about to say. He liked Cat so damned much and, in truth, was probably already falling for her. He wanted so badly to throw caution to the damned wind but he was so afraid it would end in disaster. He saw the vulnerability in her eyes, and the very last thing he ever wanted to do was hurt her. And so he took a deep breath and let it fly. “Let’s take a pledge to just be friends, Cat.”

A few seconds ticked by when she failed to respond. The only sound in the room was the soft
whoosh
of the
paddle fan. Jeff saw her chest rise and fall and wondered what she was going to say.

“Not on your life.” She said it softly but with an edge that held a bit of surprise.

“What?”

“You heard me,” she said firmly. “I’m so tired of people jacking me around.”

“I didn’t do that,” Jeff protested, and wondered whether he should scramble from the bed and run like hell.

“You—and I mean
you
—kissed me in the woods. You flirted with me at Sully’s and acted pissed that I was dancing with Devin.” She finally rolled over to face him. “You came up with the whole kissing-as-payment thing.” She pointed a finger at his face. “And now you want to take it all back and want to be
friends
?” She said the word as if he’d just asked her to be a devil worshiper and gave him such a hard shove to his chest that he fell over onto his back. Then she stood up. “Go! Just . . . go!” She turned the finger pointing at his face toward the door. “And take your ‘this will complicate things’ and your stupid pledge with you.”

“Cat—”

“I mean it.”

When she looked around as if searching for a weapon, Jeff decided he’d better take her warning seriously. He scooted from the bed and was pelted with pillows as he walked toward the doorway. When he braved turning around a stuffed teddy bear hit him in the head. He opened his mouth to explain that he was only trying to do the right thing for them both, but she gave him a little squeal and looked around for something else to throw. Deciding that the weapons might get more lethal, he backed up.

“And the show tomorrow is off! So is the whole duet thing. So you can tell your band they can rest easy.”

Jeff stopped in his tracks. “See!” He pointed his finger
right back at her, even though finger pointing was a pet peeve of his. “I knew that getting involved would create this kind of thing. That’s why it wouldn’t work.”

“Don’t you point that finger at me unless it’s loaded.”

“You are pointing at me.”

She looked down at her finger and lowered it. “I detest finger pointing.” Her chest was rising and falling and she suddenly looked close to tears.

“Cat,” he said more gently, but when he took a step closer she picked up a shoe and hurled it at him. When it hit the wall with a loud smack, Jeff raised his hands over his head. “Okay, I’m leaving.”

“Good, and I don’t care if I am hanging from the top of Mount Everest or dangling from the tip of the moon. I won’t even ask you to kill a spider and I have a severe case of arachnophobia.”

“You have several phobias, don’t you?”

She lifted one shoulder. “A few. But I don’t care. I will not call you for help. Ever.”

“Don’t say that.”

“I just did.”

“Okay, then.” Jeff nodded stiffly, but as he walked out the door he felt a hot surge of sadness wash over him. He wanted to start the night over. He wanted to have her back in his arms and to hell with reason. She was right. He’d led her on and then backed away.

What an ass. Jeff looked up at the sky. He tried so hard not to be an ass and he’d just failed miserably. She had every right to be angry, but, just as he’d thought, if he kept her pissed it would be easier to keep his distance. Because when she smiled at him, he was lost. And if she did call for help, he’d be there in a heartbeat.

When he entered his cabin all he could do was pace and curse. When his phone vibrated inside his pocket, his heart kicked into high gear. But when he looked at the screen, he saw it was Snake.

“What’s up?” Jeff asked, knowing he sounded angry.

“Dude, I guess I should be asking you that question. What are you so damned pissed about?”

Jeff sighed. He explained the rescue. “And then I kissed her. It got kinda . . . you know, out of control, and when I was the voice of reason and said we should just be, you know, friends, she went bat-shit crazy on me and started throwing things at me. Seriously. Like a boot and shit.”

“You have got to be kidding me.”

“No, she really did wing a boot directly at my head.” He pointed at his head and remembered he was on the phone.

“No, I meant you really did ask her to just be
friends
? Jeff, once you’re in the friend zone there’s no turning back. You’re stuck there forever.”

“Um, I think I’m in the she-hates-me zone. Cat called off tomorrow’s show. See, that’s why getting tangled up with her is so damned wrong.” Jeff looked up at the ceiling. “I might be an ass but I’m right. It messes with business.”

“I’d rather be happy than right.”

“That doesn’t really make much sense but could be the title to a song. I like it.” Jeff blew out a sigh. “I didn’t want to do the damned duet anyway. This is a blessing in disguise.”