Sweet Seduction Serenade (17 page)

"You'd have to be allowed within ten feet of me to accomplish that and if memory serves," I said pointedly, twisting and pushing him back a step, "you are disobeying my rules."

"Don't mistake me for someone who gives a damn about rules, angel. Not when something this important is on the table."

We stared at each other for a second or two. There was surprisingly no frost in those ice-blue eyes. I was full of it, but Nick clearly was enjoying himself too much to bring the ice. I shook my head at him, halfway enraged, halfway incredulous... halfway kind of turned on. The twitch that had been threatening his lips won out and he speared me with one of his signature stop traffic smiles.

It was way better than Pierce's - Garth Brooks lookalike goatee beard or not.

"Go make your statement, angel. I'll see you tonight." And with that Nick spun on his heel, showing me his mighty fine back and ass, and walked out of the room.

I must have been standing there ogling his butt the entire way, because my entertaining musings were interrupted by Pierce's - clearly amused - voice, "Ms Rowe, shall we get on with this?"

I jumped, spun around and faced him, finding to my increasing embarrassment that Detective Stone was already waiting in the room as well, and blushed.

"Sure," I said, sweet as pie. "Couldn't think of anything better, Detectives," and threw in a little Tennessee charm.

By the end of the statement I had them eating out of my cowgirl hand. Both of them promising to come along to my show that night and insisting I call them by their first names. Harvey for Detective Stone and Ryan for Detective Pierce. We were winding up the meeting when Ryan said, "We can probably hold him for a further 24 hours, but it's likely Bailey will be granted bail." Ruining the good cheer that had enveloped us since the first name basis exchange.

"Just that long?" I asked, getting even more angry at my loser cousin for making me feel so small and scared. I never used to be frightened of them, but all of this statement making and police station visiting was ratcheting up the fear factor to the extreme. Levi and his brothers had only appeared as bullies to me in the past, but with Pierce and Stone taking the entire episode so seriously, warning me to watch my back, and insisting that the threats Bailey had made were not to be taken lightly, my whole perspective on my cousins' abilities to do me harm was being turned upside down.

But I would not let them win. When times get tough, cowgirls get tougher. I had a show to prepare for. I had a father who needed tending. A best friend to make feel welcome. And a soon-to-be-ex-kind-of-boyfriend to sort out. I was not going to let the Russell boys come between me and my life. Not that I intended to do anything stupid, like run off on my own to the Reserve again, but I would also not cower inside my bedroom all day and night. I had a life to live and I was so darn well going to live it.

"'Fraid so," Stone added. "But stick close to Nick or one of the other ASI men and you'll be fine. They know what they're doing. They are the best at personal security in this city, you couldn't have a better team on your side."

Well, Ben didn't seem too bad to have around, he certainly didn't say a hell of a lot. Or maybe I could ask for Adam, although that may make Adam feel uncomfortable. I hoped not, I would have liked Adam as a friend - albeit a brief friend while I was here in Auckland - and losing that chance because of unrequited attraction or whatever it was we'd had, would be a darn shame. And then there was Nick of course. Who had made it quite clear he wouldn't let me out of his sight again. Although the fact he trusted Ben to be my personal guard today - and not take the task on himself - said something about Ben's skills in his eyes.

I forced a smile on my face, pushed all concerns about who on the ASI team I'd be tagged with and shook hands with the detectives. It was well after lunch and I was starving, Cary would be too, not to mention Dad probably needed a rest and a small bite to eat. So, leaving the Police Station gladly, I asked Ben to stop off at a bakery so I could grab some lunch for everyone to have back home.

By the time we arrived at Dad's flat my stomach was rumbling loudly, which caused all manner of amused looks from Ben at my side. A taxi was just pulling away from the curb as we came to a stop, but I couldn't see anyone around who could have used it, the street outside Dad's flat was bare. Grabbing the bag of baked goods I headed towards the door, only to be stopped by Ben's arm on my shoulder and a curt, "Wait up, cowgirl. Someone's here."

I glanced around, but took a sharp breath in when I noticed Ben had a gun out, held loosely in his hand. He wasn't holding it out in front of himself obviously like they do on TV shows, it was kind of hidden down the side of his jeans clad thigh, but his eyes were alert and face hard, as he pushed me behind his back and opened the front door.

I knew immediately who was here, the sound of his rich Tennessee accent reaching us as soon as the door swung open from Ben's touch.

"Where is she?" Derek demanded from just inside the lounge.

"Not here," Dad replied succinctly.

"I see that," Derek shot back. "Is she with
him
?"

"If she is, you gotta know it's no longer any of your business," Dad replied steadily.

"To hell with that!" Derek almost shouted back. "She's my girl. I've come here to take her home."

Take me home? I wasn't ready to go back.

"Derek," Cary said softly, "I'm not sure Eva's ready to go home." Good call Cary.

"She's got no choice in the matter. She comes home with me tonight."

OK. Enough's enough. I pushed past Ben, who was still trying to block my ingress into the room, and slapped my hands on my hips.

"Derek, I can't go home yet. Dad needs me." Dad grunted, I was guessing in agreement.

Derek spun around and I watched his face soften as he spotted me. It darn near broke my heart, because I just didn't feel the same way about him.

"Babe, I was worried about you," he said softly stepping towards me, but being cut off by the big black-clad body of Ben.

"Not one step closer, cowboy," Ben instructed, arms loose at his sides, legs spaced wide apart, directly between us.

"You don't wanna come between me and my girl," Derek said in an impressive growl.

"She ain't your girl, 'sfar as I can see."

"You ain't looking closely then," Derek shot back. "Tell him, babe."

And all eyes turned to me. I blinked slowly and took a deep breath in. Forced myself not to look down at the ground and said, "Derek, we need to talk."

"No," he said abruptly, surprising the darn hell out of me. "You need to pack your bags and get ready to head out to the airport. Our plane is set to leave at eight."

"What plane?" I asked dumbly.

"
Our
plane, the one I've got us both booked on to head back to Nashville and our lives. We've been dancin' around this for too long, baby. Times we made it official and you moved in with me."

What?

"What?"

"You gotta know, Eva baby, that I want you in my home, in my bed. I want you there when I come home from my run. I want to know when I talk to you on the phone those lonely nights on the road, that you're lying in
my
bed. It's been buildin' for a while, time to do the deed."

Oh, holy hell. This was not what I expected. I thought Derek was happy with casual. Hell we'd been casual for close to six months now. If he'd wanted more, why hadn't he acted sooner? He didn't want more, I knew this. I was certain. But three months of me not returning his text messages straight away, three months of me being on the other side of the world, and he turns possessive.

I had absolutely no idea what to say. I felt like he'd blind-sided me. Caught me completely off guard. And unfortunately it wasn't the first time this week that I'd felt this reaction. Hell it wasn't even the second or third. I'd had my world tossed and tipped and scrambled to such a degree since that first practice run at Sweet Seduction, that this was just the last straw. One more thing to mess with my head. One more thing for me to have to face.

And you know what? I was sick of having to face up to things. I was so darn tired of being forced to unscramble my scrambled life. I wanted peace and quiet, to perform with my band, sing Country and play my guitar, and see out the last of my Dad's days at his side. To maybe, just
maybe
, rekindle a relationship with him that I may have been able to have, but had somehow overlooked when I was young.

Was it too much to ask for?

"Eva?" Derek asked uncertainly. I hadn't realised how long I'd remained quiet for, my head about to explode.

"I can't do this," I said, feeling suddenly trapped. "There's too much going on right now to deal with this as well."

"Eva, baby," Derek said soothingly.

I shook my head and held up my hand to stop him from going on.

"Derek," I took another deep breath in, then another and another. It occurred to me I was breathing rather fast, but I pushed it aside and went on. "My Dad's dying. I have a show to perform tonight. I'm not done here. Not by a long shot." And you're not the one I want.

Why couldn't I just say it? It needed to be said, but I didn't have it in me.

Cary appeared at my side, placed an arm around my shoulders, then curved me into his chest.

"Eva, sweetie, slow down. Slow your breathing down."

"I think you should leave," I heard Ben say in his deep, gravelly voice.

"I think you should butt out. And who the damn hell are you anyway?"

"Eva's bodyguard," Ben shot back immediately.

"Bodyguard?" Derek asked, clearly surprised that I'd need one.

Cary had forced me to a seat and made me lean forward, head between knees, to slow my breathing down. But despite all of that, I could still hear the conversation going on around me. I could still feel the pressure against my skull. A headache was forming and I so did
not
need a headache the afternoon before a performance. I was beyond hungry, emotionally upset and careening towards tears.

Cowgirls don't cry and I'd be damned if I did it again now.

Which only made me madder and caused my head to pound and my breathing to escalate and Cary to demand, "All of you, get the fuck out!" I'd never heard my Nashville friend swear like that. He was a sweet Southern man with the good manners to go with it. But something had got him riled pretty good.

"I'm not leaving unless he leaves!" Derek ground out.

"I have a right to be here, you don't," Ben shot back. Then added, to my increasing horror, "In case you didn't know already, she's fucking someone else."

I thought I was at my limit before, clearly I was wrong. Because nothing could have prepared me for this. And there was no way I could deal with it right now.

I stood up, hands fisted at my side and screamed. Just screamed. One long pain-filled sound. It was high-pitched and agonised, and I realised too late that it damaged my larynx. My voice tapered off on a moan of discomfort, a cracked sound hitching halfway down my throat. My hands already wrapped around my neck to still the ache that had settled there announcing to my numbed brain that the damage had already been done.

And there was nothing I could do about it, the performance at Sweet Seduction tonight would have to be called off.

An hour later I was lying in bed, a hot decaffeinated herbal tea with a spoonful of honey inside it in my hands, the members of my band sitting around the edge of the mattress, offering moral support and instructions on how to help heal my voice.

"Drink, Tennessee," Gus advised. "The heat and the honey will soothe your throat, and the hydration is essential to start the healing."

"Yeah, rest easy for now, but in an hour, we'll start some low-volume vocal exercises to massage your cords back into shape," Gonzo added.

"It won't be permanent," Spike threw in. "Now, if you'd screamed for ten minutes straight, that'd be a different matter altogether."

I smiled weakly at them, feeling like an utter tool. Truth was my throat was beginning to feel better already, I hadn't spoken since "the scream" even when Nick came crashing through the door, scaring the shit out of me and Cary, and glaring daggers at
both
Derek and Ben. Even when they all began shouting at each other and Dad, bless his soul, picked up the TV remote and threw it against the far wall, sacrificing it by making it shatter, which made the men all stop arguing and stare at him stunned.

With the type of tone only a father could have, he'd said, "I am very disappointed in all of you. Can't you see there is more going on here than your right to my daughter's heart?"

And on that extremely unexpected and entirely too cognisant statement, he wheeled himself from the room. I was so proud of that exit. And despite the whole scene playing out in front of me, I'd been rather touched by his words and the fact he'd bothered to say them at all.

Cary humphed in agreement and helped lead me from the room directly to my bed, where he proceeded to fuss over me and brilliantly thought to ring the band. I could still hear low voices out in the lounge as he did it, but although they still seemed to be arguing, they were no longer shouting at each other and demanding another fist fight. However, whether that happened or not is debatable, by the time the band turned up and I asked them if anyone was out in the other room, the men had all disappeared. So, I suppose they could have gone off somewhere else and drawn pistols or crossed swords or done whatever they needed to do to prove themselves men. I was picturing clubs, by the caveman like behaviour all three of them had displayed.