Chapter 18
“You’re so hot,”the girl standing next to Shane at the bar said.
He glanced over at her. “Thanks. You’re not so bad yourself.” She wasn’t. In fact, she was gorgeous. But only in the most removed sense was he acknowledging that. He felt absolutely zero attraction to her.
She giggled. “Gee, thanks, asshole.” She leaned over the bar, way over, so that her ass lifted in a beautiful portrait of female form, as she strained for a cocktail napkin.
No one who hadn’t spilled something toxic needed a napkin so bad they couldn’t wait for a bartender to get it. She had done the maneuver just to entice him. He knew the moves. Normally he applauded them. But tonight he just wasn’t feeling it.
Walker mouthed “what the fuck” to him. His buddy was already cuddling up with the girl’s friend, leaning in way too close and exchanging flirtatious comments. Shane had nothing to say. He was bored. Normally the bar they were in was one of his favorites because it wasn’t as loud as other joints and he had engaged in plenty of entertaining and amusing conversations here.
Now he just wanted to drink his beer in silence, which was not like him at all. He shrugged at Walker.
“Are you sick?” Walker asked him when the women went to the restroom. “Like a fever or something? You’re acting like a prick.”
He was. He knew it, but he couldn’t seem to shake off the malaise. “Maybe I am coming down with something.” It had to be the only possible explanation for why he wanted to be alone at home, not out on the scene.
“If I didn’t know you better, I’d think you have girl troubles. But you never have girl troubles. So what is it, work?”
“Nope. If it was, I would not be talking about it here, anyway.” Walker knew that. He was in the industry too. Too many eyes and ears.
“So, you’re not going to tell me what’s going on?”
“Nope.” He couldn’t talk about Avery. That wouldn’t be fair to her.
The girl Walker had been talking to returned and was listening to them both, wide-eyed, straining to hear. It wasn’t a stretch to think she knew who they both were, but maybe she didn’t. He had no clue. The truth was, he didn’t care either way.
The one woman he cared about hadn’t called him all weekend, nor was she going to. He knew that. It still bugged him. He had wanted to be wrong. He had wanted her to want him even though she had made it clear she felt like it was a conflict of interest.
He thought about his conversation with Jolene as he sipped his beer. Maybe there was something in between being in a relationship—which frankly he was surprised to find he wanted—and this. Maybe he could just focus on getting to know Avery for a while. Take it slow. Date her. Not a commitment, not a promise, if she didn’t want that. Just knowing that they were interested in each other, and he would be the only man touching her.
That made him want to go in the restroom and punch himself in the face. He wasn’t being fair to her. She had a lot on the line here. He had promised her he would respect that.
He didn’t even know her. He’d spent all of three hours in her presence and yet he hadn’t been able to get her out of his head for three months.
But damn it, he liked her.
He wanted to get to know her better.
He didn’t want to just fuck her. He wanted to date her. Well, date her and also fuck her. But that distinction was important.
The world as he knew it had completely changed and he needed to get this right.
Being out at the bar with random women hitting on him wasn’t the way to honor what he wanted to build with Avery.
Clamping Walker on the shoulder, he drained his beer. “I gotta go.”
There was no reason to be at a bar. There was nothing he was looking for there.
When Shane walkedinto Rusted Truck on Monday with his sister and Chance, he felt an odd nervous energy coursing through him. He wanted to see Avery like nobody’s business. She was the woman he wanted to be with.
He needed to figure out how to be around her and be patient.
Not his fucking strong suit.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” Jolene asked him when he inadvertently cut her off in his haste to enter the waiting room. “I was kind of walking here.”
“Sorry.” He had almost knocked her off balance in her high heels, so he reached out and steadied her. “I’m just distracted.”
“I can see that. Snap out of it. You brought me here so don’t make me do all the work.”
Chance sauntered over, his hands in his pockets. “Do you not want to do this?” he asked her, studying Jolene’s face.
“Of course I want to do this. I’m curious about the song. But Shane is being a turd.”
It didn’t take much for them to revert to childish name-calling. It was their right as siblings. “Because I walked in front of you? Get over yourself.” He rolled his eyes.
But then Jolene grinned at him. “Oh, my God, this is because of her. You’re nervous. I love everything about this.”
Luckily, Pat came into the room before that discussion could go any further. Avery was just a few steps behind her.
“Good morning, ladies. Thanks for having us in,” Shane said, determined to be normal.
Pat started talking, but he didn’t hear a thing. Avery had come forward, and all he could do was stare at her. She was wearing a flowing kind of top thing that he didn’t have a name for, and a denim skirt that cupped her ass and showed off her trim and strong legs. His mouth went dry. Those thighs had been wrapped around first his bike and then him…
He realized everyone was staring expectantly at him.
He coughed a little bit. “Avery, this is my sister, Jolene Hart and her amazing partner, Chance Rivers.” He gestured to them and attempted to bring Avery forward for handshaking, but Avery was rooted to the floor like an old-growth oak.
“Wait, Chance is amazing and I’m just your sister and that’s it?” Jolene joked. “That isn’t saying much.”
“Hush,” he told her. “You have an ego as big as your hair, you don’t need me stroking it.”
Jolene grinned.
Avery finally spoke. Her voice squeaked. “It’s a pleasure to meet you both. I’m so honored.” She rubbed the palms of her hands on her skirt then reached out to take Jolene’s hand. “I’m sorry. I’m new in town and I’m country still. I get star struck.”
“You were me six years ago. I know the feeling well. Remember, if you’re ever too nervous to speak just smile and nod. Smile and nod got me through my first dozen events and cocktail parties.”
Avery smiled and nodded.
Jolene laughed. “Perfect. This is my partner, Chance.”
“Hi,” Avery said, nodding to Chance before ducking her eyes down. A red stain spread across her cheeks.
“Pleasure to meet you,” Chance said.
Shane felt like Avery was his show-and-tell. It wasn’t often he got excited about new talent, but this was one of those moments. And it had nothing to do with the fact that they’d slept together. In truth, he’d had sex with more than one aspiring musician, and none of them had intrigued him professionally.
The thought was both frustrating and amusing. Avery really was the whole package. He should be more worried about mixing business with pleasure, but he wasn’t, even if this was a delicate dance.
Pat ushered them into a large boardroom that had a casual sofa and some rolling chairs. There was a sideboard with a full breakfast spread and flutes with orange juice, presumably for after the presentation. Avery’s guitar was waiting next to one of the chairs and she sat down, crossing her legs.
“I didn’t know,” she said, “that I would be performing for y’all. I don’t have the best voice, so forgive me for that, and look past it.” She strummed her guitar, humming a little, finding herself.
She was incredibly nervous, he could tell that. He gave her a smile. “I’ve already heard you sing, it’s fine. Just do your thing.”
The first time she’d sung the song, he had been in the hallway. Then she had fiddled around with it when he had asked to hear it again, but hadn’t dug in and sung with confidence.
She started out slowly, but once she found her rhythm, her fingers coaxing her guitar, Shane relaxed back and just watched her. He studied the way her mouth moved, the tilt of her head, the way her eyes sometimes drifted half-closed.
Holy hell, she was so gorgeous.
And he was a guy who had found that woman. That one woman who would make your whole world just stand still for a minute and all you could see or think about was her.
It never occurred to him to look at his sister or Chance to see what they thought. He was wholly focused on Avery. He wanted to devour her, inch by inch. He wanted to pick through her brain, read all her thoughts. He wanted to make her laugh.
When the last note faded, Jolene clapped, jerking Shane out of his reverie. “Girl, that was mighty pretty.”
Avery smiled. “Thank you, Ms. Hart.”
Jolene looked over at him. “Hey, y’all give me a minute alone with Avery.”
Shane frowned at his sister. “Why?”
“None of your damn business.” She rolled her eyes. “I just want to talk to her, get to know her. Go find something to do for three minutes.”
He didn’t like that, but he didn’t have much choice. Pat left and he and Chance followed. It was tempting to linger in the hallway, but Chance shook his head.
“Dude, I wouldn’t do that. Let’s go grab some coffee in the waiting room.”
Shane tried to catch Avery’s eye, give her a smile or a wink or share a moment of intimate reassurance with her, but she never even glanced his way.
Frustrated, he went to the waiting room.