“With Pomona offering us a regular slot, we can expand,” and Kes glanced at Luke, “bring on another member so we can be more flexible if one of us needs time off. It would be $370,000 for five months work, 15% for Zach as our manager, then split four ways.”
Zef pounded Luke on the back. “Congratulations, man! Welcome to the Daredevils!”
Luke grinned as we all shook hands, then blushed as Aimee wrapped her arms around his neck and stood on tiptoe to kiss him on the cheek.
“We’ve still got to vote,” Kes said, smiling at her. “Do we take the Pomona gig?”
The vote was a unanimous, Hell, yeah!
“Who’s going to tour with me from April through June?” Kes asked.
Zef, Luke and Zach raised their hands, then stared at me.
“I . . .”
I wanted to say I’d still travel with them, that I’d always have their backs, but if I’d learned anything from Kes and Aimee, it was that I should to talk to Tera first.
“I need 48 hours,” I said.
Kes grinned at me and Zef rolled his eyes.
“Pussy whipped!” he pretended to cough.
Aimee just smiled.
Tucker
The next afternoon, Zach drove me the 25 minutes it took to reach the suburb of Brea, and pulled up outside the motorcycle dealership.
“Have fun with the other woman,” he laughed.
“Dude, I’m going to have fun with both of them!”
“Tera will kick your ass if she hears you say that.”
“Nah, she understands.”
Zach grinned at me, then saluted and drove off.
I was picking up my new Ducati. I’d be paying it off for the next three years, but I didn’t care. I was also putting aside $150 a month for Scotty: it was just something I wanted to do. For him, not for Renee. It wasn’t the kid’s fault that he’d gotten a shitty start in life. And that was something I knew a hell of a lot about.
After what Renee had tried to pull, I didn’t want anything to do with her. But I’d promised Scotty that I’d be there for him, so the money was going into a trust fund that Renee wouldn’t be able to touch. Scotty would get it when he was 18. It could pay for some of his college education. Something.
The season had gone well for us, and with the promise of a good contract next year, I decided to sign on the dotted line. I’d missed Daisy.
Kes had let me take a day off. I didn’t like missing a performance, but it was something I needed to do. It had been a sudden decision, although one I’d been toying with for a while now. Tera had told me that in spite of her mom’s best efforts, she was going stag to the big fancy fundraiser she’d told me about. I’d argued like hell when she tried to persuade me to go with her, listing all the reasons why it was a bad idea, but now the thought of her dancing with another guy was making me want to get violent on someone’s ass. So I’d changed my mind.
I was about to gatecrash a black-tie party. How hard could it be?
Tera
The fundraiser was just getting started and I was already irritated with my mother.
“Darling, there’s absolutely no need for you to be here by yourself. Frankly, I’m relieved that you didn’t invite that rough young man from the circus . . .”
“He’s a stunt rider in a carnival—there’s a difference. And he’s not r—”
“Really, darling,” she interrupted. “Pedantry isn’t very becoming. Look, Olivia Hartington is over there with Josh. Why don’t you go and say hello.”
I narrowed my eyes at her.
“I hope you’re not trying to set me up, mother. I have a boyfriend. How many times do I have to remind you?”
She sighed faintly.
“The Hartingtons are old friends. It would be very impolite to ignore them.”
I knew what she was doing. My mother was a master of manipulation. I suppose she’d learned a lot being married to my father all these years.
“Hello, Tera dear,” said Mrs. Hartington, raking her eyes over my outfit and assessing every stitch by the dollar, from my Chanel shoes, to my borrowed sapphire necklace, courtesy of my mother’s safety deposit box.
“Hello, Olivia. Lovely to see you again. Hi, Josh.”
He kissed my cheek, lingering a little too long as he pulled back, and I suspected he was checking out my cleavage while he was in the area.
“You look stunning, as ever, Tera.” Then he looked around him theatrically. “No date tonight?”
I gave a practiced smile in return. “Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to get away from work.”
“Oh what a shame,” said Mrs. Hartington. “Josh wouldn’t miss it for the world, even though his brokerage firm could hardly run without him.”
“Slight exaggeration, Mother,” laughed Josh, who had the grace to look embarrassed, which made me like him a little more.
But only a little bit.
“Well, seeing as you’re by yourself,” he said, clearing his throat, “perhaps you’d like to join our table tonight?” Then he lowered his voice. “And a dance, Tera? You look so hot in that dress.”
And yes, he was talking to my boobs. Any flicker of liking was extinguished.
Before I could answer, there was a commotion at the entrance to the ballroom.
My astonished eyes met Tucker’s, as he stood on a chair waving wildly. But before I could get to him, two enormous security guards rounded on him, forcing him to the ground.
Tucker
The Fairmont Grand Del Mar was a swanky resort hotel 20 miles north of San Diego. When I checked on my phone, the description said it had four swimming pools and a golf course. Yeah, totally my kind of place.
It was less than a hundred miles from Brea, so it had only taken me an hour to get there on the Duke. Damn, it felt good to have her between my knees again.
When I arrived, I overtook a line of limousines heading for the entrance. I wasn’t going to trust the Duke to a valet, so I parked in the furthest corner of the parking lot and stripped off the leathers. I didn’t have saddle bags, so I tucked them under a yucca tree, hoping that the place was too ritzy for someone to rip them off.
I eyeballed the tux that I’d brought with me. I’d never worn anything like that before. I’d never even worn a sports coat or suit jacket. Never wanted to, but I was trying a lot of new stuff with Tera. For Tera.
I’ll pulled it out of my backpack. I’d been careful how I’d packed it, so it wasn’t too wrinkled.
I’d found the tux in a charity shop up in San Francisco. It had been cheap, but it didn’t look it. I hoped.
I pulled on the slacks, a new white shirt, black socks and shiny shoes . . . and had a total fail as I stared at the black bow tie. In the end, I tucked it under the shirt collar and left the ends hanging.
I took a deep breath.
Showtime!
“May I see your ticket, sir?”
The guy on the door held out his hand expectantly. But instead of giving him a ticket, I shook his hand.
“My girl has the ticket,” I called over my shoulder, taking the steps two at a time.
“But, sir!”
That was easy. I wondered why I’d ever been worried.
But then out of the corner of my eye, I spotted two goons built like brick shit-houses making their way toward me. I stepped it up, dodging around a silver-haired woman whose wide ass and long dress made her look like a ship in full sail.
The goons were getting closer, weaving their way through the crowds, eyes targeted on me.
I sprinted across the polished floor, skidding to a stop as I tried not to crash into a line of men in Dress Blues standing at the double-door entrance. The Marines didn’t try to stop me, instead giving a ragged cheer when they saw the security goons on my tail and standing back so I could shoulder my way through the crowds of well-padded guys with skinny girls. I’d have to buy those dudes a drink later. I slid through the ballroom entrance and looked around desperately for Tera.
The goons were
close behind now, and the only thing keeping them from catching up to me was the fact they didn’t want to cause more of a scene.
There must have been upward of 500 chairs in the room, although only half of them were already filled. I stood on the one nearest to me, ignoring the gasp of surprise from a woman sitting at the table.
“My goodness! Are you the entertainment?”
“No, ma’am, but the strippers will be along later.”
“You’re not one of them? How disappointing.”
I winked at her, ignoring the craning necks and heads that were turning in my direction. But a sudden movement caught my eye. Tera was standing at the far end of the cavernous room, waving wildly.
I jumped down from the chair, narrowly missing Goon 1, who was snarling into his hidden mic. But I wasn’t lucky twice, because as I tried to dodge around an elderly woman, Goon 2 grabbed my right arm, forcing it up behind my back.
I couldn’t tell if it was the same guy that had fucked me up before—they all looked the same to me. But chances were they were the Senator’s men.
“Dude, not the bad arm!”
I’d done a lot of healing since my shoulder had been messed up, but his actions made my eyes water. I could have tried to kick the shit out of him, but I didn’t think that getting my ribs stomped on would be a great start to the evening.
Tera marched toward us, her eyes flashing with anger. Behind her, I could see her mom, grinding her teeth at the sight of me.
I grinned painfully at Tera. “Hey, sugar.”
“What are you doing here?” she gasped as her lips rose in a wide smile.
That’s why I’m here, I thought. To see that smile.
“You invited me,” I pointed out.
She laughed happily as the other guests shook their heads in disapproval, and Tera’s mother attempted to incinerate me with her glare.
Tera turned to the goon who was slowly forcing me to my knees.
“Would you mind not manhandling my boyfriend,” she said frostily.
The goon’s eyes widened.
“Excuse me, Miss Hawkins, but he entered without a ticket.”
“Because I have it,” she snapped.
He let go of me reluctantly, and I grinned at him. “No hard feelings, man.”
He tugged at his collar, staring at someone behind me.
I turned to look.
Senator Hawkins was barely holding it together. I had to admit I felt a bit nervous staring at the man who could have me evicted and then get his death squad to break my legs for real this time, but Tera just raised her chin and spoke clearly.
“Daddy, I think you’ve met my boyfriend Tucker McCoy.”
Tera’s tone was challenging, and she hooked her arm through mine possessively.
“Yes,” the Senator conceded, forcing a smile and shoving his hands in his pockets so he wouldn’t have to shake hands.
“Hey, Senator,” I grinned. “You probably didn’t recognize me without the black eye.”
Tera nudged me with her elbow, a silent warning not to poke the grizzly.
But the Senator continued to smile. “No, I don’t think it’s that—it must be the tuxedo. But if you had a black eye with the tux, yes, I think I’d recognize you.”
It was a warning, a threat, but with Tera’s arm in mine, I wasn’t backing down. There was nothing he could do to me here without embarrassing his daughter.
Tera’s back stiffened and she glared at her father.
“Well, thank goodness there’s nothing dangerous about attending a fundraising dinner. I’m sure Tucker is safe here.”
Her father shrugged, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.
I leaned down to kiss Tera’s cheek. “You look beautiful, sugar.”
Her angry frown melted and she smiled at me.
“Thank you. So do you.”
“Your mother wants to see you,” the Senator bit out, unable to hold his fake smile any longer.
“Yes, I do. Right now,” snorted Tera’s mom, closing her mouth with a snap.
Tera just smiled. “It can wait. I think Tucker deserves a glass of champagne after that.”
She held my arm tightly with both hands as we walked away.
“I can’t believe you’re here!”
“Good surprise?”
“Amazing surprise!” she laughed happily. “You scrub up well.” Then she tugged at the end of my loose bowtie. “Want me to fix that for you?”
I smiled down at her. “Does it bother you that I have no clue how to do that?”
She cocked her head to one side. “Does it bother you that I can’t cook banana pancakes like Aimee?”
“Well, now you mention it . . .”
“Shut up!” she laughed, slapping my arm before knotting the bow tie. “There. Perfect.”
“Nah, not even close.”
“Tucker, I’m quite aware that you’d rather pull out your toenails one by one than come to something like this. You did it for me—so yes, if I say you’re perfect, just nod and agree with me.”
“Yeah? What if I didn’t do it for you, Miss Hawkins?”
Her eyes were questioning.
“Maybe I did it for me.”
“Explain,” she commanded.
“Because I couldn’t stand the thought of you dancing with any other man except me.”
She raised her eyebrows in surprise. “Really?”
“Oh yeah. And if these bootnecks don’t get their eyes off of you right now, we might have a problem.”
She laughed out loud. “Probably not the smartest thing, challenging a room full of Marines.”
“No one ever accused me of being smart.”
“Oh, I don’t know. You’re dating me—so you must be smart enough to know a good thing when you see it.”
“Damn straight!”
I pulled her into my arms, kissing her the way I’d wanted to ever since I arrived.
“Tucker,” she sighed, melting against me. “Thank you for coming tonight. It means a lot to me.”
Something tightened in my chest. “There’s nowhere else I want to be, sugar.”
We spent the next hour sipping champagne and circling the room, Tera introducing me to a bunch of old folk that I guessed were friends of her parents. Most of the conversations went over my head as they talked politics and about people I didn’t know. I felt like an overdressed bodyguard most of the time, but Tera held onto my arm, letting everyone know that we were together.
“And what do you do, young man?” asked a woman wearing the remains of a small mammal around her neck and enough diamonds to choke a horse. “You don’t look like a young Republican.”
I grinned at her. “No, ma’am. I’m a roustabout in the carnival.”
“Good heavens!”
Tera rolled her eyes. “He’s being modest. He’s a motorcycle stuntman. In the carnival.”
“My, how interesting! And such a change from the stuffy young men you usually date, Tera, dear.”
Tera laughed out loud and grinned up at me. “Yes, I’d have to agree that he’s an improvement. It’s a work in progress, of course, but his training is coming along nicely.”
The woman shook her head, smiling kindly at us.
“Oh my dear, if you think you can train a man like that, it’ll be the work of a lifetime.”
Tera’s eyes were soft as she smiled at me, and that strange ache in my chest intensified.
“I hope so,” she said.
The moment Tera left to go to the bathroom, the Senator made his move. I’d been expecting it, so it was almost a relief when he finally strolled over to me.
This time he came alone, no goons. The dude was mighty sure of himself; that put me on edge.
He settled comfortably into Tera’s empty seat and leaned back, his hands behind his head, a professional smile masking his anger.
“She’ll get tired of you eventually,” he said conversationally, targeting in on my weak spot.
“Did Dono say the same
thing to you about Kes’s mom?”
His eyes flared with fury, but he tamped it down.
“Tera would never choose to live an itinerant life. Her naïve interest will wear off—sooner rather than later.”
I shrugged. “Well, until then, I’ll do everything I can to make her happy.”
He gave a humorless chuckle. “My daughter is intelligent, well-educated and beautiful. What makes you think a dumb redneck like you could possibly make her happy?”
My chair rocked against the wall as I turned to face him. “I’m uneducated, not ignorant. I know I don’t deserve her, but I’m going to work my ass off to change that.”
“You live in a trailer—a trailer you don’t even own! You barely earned minimum wage last year! You think that’s good enough for her?”
“I don’t think a fuckin’ palace is good enough for her!”
He applauded quietly.
“Well played.”
“It’s not a fuckin’ game!”
He leaned forward, his eyes dark with dislike.
“When you fuck up, which you will, I’ll . . .”
“Save it. Kes already told me what he’d do to me if I upset Tera. And what he says means a hell of a lot more to me than any bullshit you can spout.”
The Senator looked surprised, as if it hadn’t occurred to him that Kes would look out for his half-sister.
“You think carnies are trash,” I said, my voice low and hard. “But that didn’t stop you from fucking one, did it? Four years you were with Kes and Connor’s mom. You were just too chickenshit to choose that life. You made your choice a long time ago: let Tera make hers.”
He leaned back again, his expression thoughtful.
“You’re going to pretend that you care about my daughter, that you’re not simply using her to get to me?”
I felt a flare of anger as I studied him, rich and entitled, telling everyone else how they should live and what they felt.
“Yeah, I fuckin’ love her.”
I heard Tera’s gasp behind me.
“You . . . you love me?”
I stood up quickly, catching her arms as her knees gave way.
“Tera . . .”
“Do you?”
I grabbed hold of her hand and led her away from the table, almost dragging her across the ballroom and hotel lobby, until I found an empty bench outside.
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