“Yes, that’s God’s truth,” Max told him, laughing. “My stuffed-shirt brother is my hero.”
“Mine too,” Sam said sincerely, setting the glasses he’d been drying on the shelf. “You’re turning out to be a good man as well, Maximillan. You picked some good footsteps to follow in.”
Sam walked down and leaned on the bar in front of Max. “Jasper deserves a chance with this woman he likes. We can’t let his crazy ex screw this up for him.”
Max nodded. “Don’t worry, Sam. I don’t intend to,” he said firmly.
Chapter 11
It had taken Ryan Carmichael several days, two road trips to places she worked, and over twenty phone calls to track down Emma Wallace. She had been as hard to locate as any third world dictator on the run had been back when he was still doing field reporting.
Finally, Ryan had just bribed her next door neighbor with tickets to a concert in exchange for her whereabouts and secrecy about his search for her. The twenty-something-year-old had known exactly where she was and had a key to Emma’s apartment no less. Ryan had spent the last twenty-four hours wondering what the hell else the kid knew about Emma and just how friendly the two of them were. Once he’d started chatting, the boy hadn’t shut up about her.
Then he saw the woman who consumed his every thought lately the exact moment he stepped into the lounge. His gaze had gone right to her. She was sitting at a table laughing with a woman Ryan had never met, talking to her friend Taylor, whom he had met, and smiling at two good-looking men, one older and a bit gray, the other obviously much younger.
Yet he hadn’t come this far and gone to so much trouble to locate her just to walk away because she might be on a date.
Ryan told himself that it didn’t matter who Emma was with, or dating at the moment, because he was not going away again until he knew for certain if there was any chance of him coming back to her. Emma had liked him before, and there had been a pull between them—a really strong pull between them.
It was part of the reason he’d taken the assignment away.
His love life had been hard enough pining for his cousin’s widow for years when she had never thought of him in a romantic way. The last thing he had needed was to spend time pining for a married woman, or worse feeling tempted to lure her away from a relationship that obviously wasn’t making her happy. Of all the sweet, sexy women he’d ever come across in his travels, the good-hearted Emma Wallace definitely deserved a man dedicated to routinely putting a smile on her face. Since her ex had obviously failed at doing so, Ryan thought maybe he might come up with reason Emma might let him have a shot at it.
Besides—he was back to stay awhile, and there was no reason now that they couldn’t be together. Plus, he was ready to do whatever it would take to get into her life. Seeing his widowed cousin, Thea, finally fall in love again after a decade had inspired Ryan. It had also been a wake-up call to not wait a whole damn decade himself before acting, which is exactly what Morgan and Thea had told him at their wedding.
So Ryan walked to the bar with as much confidence as he could and ordered a drink to give himself time to build up the nerve to confront her. He well knew the benefits of telling the right story, and sometimes finding the right timing was truly everything.
“Got a local microbrew on tap?” Ryan asked.
“No, but got several in the bottle,” Sam told him, noticing the newcomer had never stopped staring at the table where Jasper, Max, and the women were having dinner.
“Give me the darkest one you have,” Ryan said, letting his gaze drift back to Emma.
“Which one at the table are you interested in?” Sam asked, setting the frosty bottle on a coaster in front of the man.
“Curvy blonde in the white dress and tiny pink sweater,” Ryan answered immediately, instinct telling him this man knew what was going on and might be willing to share the information. He also knew from the shrewd grin he got in answer, it was not the time to bullshit about his intentions either.
“Good choice. That’s the only one at that table not taken,” Sam said, grinning. “Proceed with caution.”
Ryan laughed and stuck a hand over the bar. “Ryan Carmichael. I’ve been tracking Emma down for three days.”
“Sam Hanson. Why are you tracking her? Are you a stalker?” Sam asked, shaking his hand. “I may have to ask you to leave. We get too many of those in here as it is.”
Ryan laughed again. “No—it’s worse. I’m just some sap in love with her. I’ve known her for a long time, but I never said anything because she was married. I just found out she’s been divorced for over a year. I got tired of waiting to tell her I was interested, so I tracked her down.”
“Well, you’ll have to wait a little longer, at least until after the end of the first set. They’re getting ready to sing,” Sam said, leaning on the bar and thinking how tame life had been at the hotel before the three women had shown up.
“What are you talking about?” Ryan asked, sipping the cold beer around his laugh.
“Listen and learn, friend,” Sam said, motioning for Ryan to look behind him.
When Ryan turned, he saw Emma and the other two women going to the piano.
***
“I’ve got the warm-up song picked out,” Taylor said, launching into a few bars of “In His Kiss.”
“Oh! I love that song,” Chloe exclaimed, eyes lighting up with excitement enough to have both Emma and Taylor laughing. “Start again.”
Chloe’s voice was so revved when she started singing that Taylor and Emma ending up laughing through their first chorus, almost unable to keep up with her exuberance. By the set round of the chorus, they had smoothed out their backup.
Sneaking a look back the table, Taylor saw Max smiling at them and sighed. He was the reason the song had just popped into her head while they were eating. She’d been thinking she still owed Max a kiss and wondering how to get out of it. She’d also been wondering what it would be like to really kiss him with no holding back.
***
Across the room at the bar, Ryan looked back over his shoulder to see the bartender frozen in place listening.
“They work here often?” Ryan asked.
Sam shook his head. “Just friends on vacation I heard.”
“They’re really good to just be just friends on vacation,” Ryan stated, moving his attention back to the trio.
“That they are,” Sam said, moving on to check the customers down the bar.
After the first number, they performed three more, finally ending with a ballad from a seventies musical which Ryan noted the piano player had to persuade the singer to sing. The song, “I Don’t Know How To Love Him,” featured the singer’s voice much, much more than the piano. The woman could really sing, and she was doing it without a microphone, Ryan noticed.
It didn’t surprise him a bit to hear the boisterous applause afterwards, especially since he was clapping madly along as well.
Ryan was captivated by the singing, beer forgotten on the bar. When Emma walked over to him, he was still caught in a dream state thinking about the main singer’s talent.
“Ryan Carmichael? Is that really you?” Emma asked, unable to stifle her delight. “It’s been so long. Slide down here and hug me.”
Emma tugged at his sleeve until Ryan did as she asked. When she wrapped her arms around him, she smelled his cologne and couldn’t prevent herself from pressing a little against him, confirming that even after all their time apart, his presence still could set her body humming. She had been his personal trainer, only stopping when he’d taken a long-term assignment in the desert somewhere. She couldn’t remember where he’d gone.
Ryan left about the time she and her ex-husband had separated. Emma had never said anything to him about her disintegrating relationship because it hadn’t been the kind of thing she could share with client. Her divorce had sure been a lot tougher though without being able to see Ryan’s smiling face once or twice a week.
Emma pushed away
and looked at him, squeezing his biceps. “You look really great. And I can tell you’re still working out from how toned your muscles are,” she said.
“Thanks,” Ryan said, finally getting his senses back. “You look great too. Can I try that hug again? I’m over the shock of seeing you now.”
Emma laughed at his comment and nodded, but had to catch her breath when Ryan scooped her into an enthusiastic, very tight embrace which lifted her toes from the floor and set her hips against his. His hands seemed to travel everywhere over the back of her. Her body was humming in acknowledgement of the embrace when he finally let her go.
“I’ve really missed you, Emma,” Ryan said, his body coming fully awake at the realization they were together at last. It was like living a fantasy to have his hands on her in any way at all, no matter how innocent.
“I missed you too,” Emma said truthfully. “Would you like to sit at our table so we can visit? It’s a table for six, so there’s room for one more. Oh, wait—you’re not with a date here, are you?”
“No. I came to find—I mean I was just out for a drive along the coast and popped in for a drink. I’d love to join you and your friends,” Ryan said, happily letting her take his hand.
He snagged his beer off the bar before following her, winking at the bartender’s grin, even though having his arms around Emma had buzzed him more than any kind of alcohol ever would. His head was spinning from a single unrestrained embrace.
And what he had suspected for a couple years was now confirmed by research. He was totally infatuated with Emma Wallace.
***
“Since we had another chair, I invited a friend to sit with us,” Emma announced when they got to the table, noting the interested gazes of Chloe and Taylor. “This is Ryan Carmichael. Ryan used to be one of my clients, but he’s also a dear friend. I haven’t seen him in a long time.”
“Ryan Carmichael,” Jasper repeated, narrowing his gaze on the smiling newcomer who seemed quite enamored of Chloe’s smaller friend. “I know you. You’re a travel reporter. I’ve followed your articles. Didn’t I read you used to be a war journalist earlier in your career?”
“Yes,” Ryan said softly. “I did. When my car was bombed for the fifth time, I decided I’d done enough of that. Now I do travel pieces, mostly biological events or environmental concerns.”
“Wind turbines,” Taylor said excitedly, snapping her fingers, excited that she remembered. “I read the article you published in the LA Times from your report on wind turbines. We’re going to be using that as a source of energy in California soon, aren’t we?”
“That would be the hope,” Ryan said, nodding at finding not one, but two fans in the group. “And you’re Taylor Baird, right? You own Pink Link Sports. I remember when Emma introduced us a couple years ago.”
“Yes, that’s right,” Taylor beamed, just as pleased that he had remembered the business as her.
“You’re kidding me. You own a sporting goods company?” Max asked, shocked, giving Taylor more serious consideration than before.
Taylor nodded. “Yes. I own a chain of four brick and mortars, two with gyms attached, plus an online store.”
“Sporting goods,” Max repeated, trying to take it in. “That explains the swim team bathing suit this afternoon. I wondered about your choice.”
“I beg your pardon?” Taylor said, her tone demanding an apology, even though she laughed and was more pleased than she should have been that Max had noticed what she’d worn.
“Don’t worry. It was very sexy. I thought it worked well on you,” Max said, waving her concerns away with his fork as he dug into his food.
His comment had Taylor rolling her eyes. “Oh well, it’s a relief to know you approved of my swimwear, Max,” she said sarcastically.
Beside Chloe, Jasper snickered as he sipped his ice water.
Chloe leaned near him to whisper. “Somehow I thought your brother would be much smoother with women.”
“He usually is,” Jasper assured her, laughing more when Chloe did.
“So, Chloe,” Ryan asked. “Are you a professional singer?”
“Professional singer? No, I’m an unemployed accountant on vacation,” Chloe said easily, smiling at Ryan. “Actually, I just moved back here from Massachusetts.”
“Accountant?” Ryan exclaimed, as if she had said something truly horrible. “That’s blasphemy. You should have a recording contract.”
“That’s really nice of you to say. Thank you. But this weekend was the first time I’ve sung in years. It’s fun and entertaining. Taylor, Emma, and I used to sing as a group in college,” Chloe explained. “It kept us in play money.”
“You sound good enough to do it for a living,” Ryan said sincerely. “Why don’t you?”
“Because I haven’t talked her into it yet,” Jasper said, interrupting. He turned to look at Chloe. “I’m willing to offer you an arrangement that includes room and board until you find other work.”
Chloe blinked several times. “I—I don’t know what to say.” She picked up her drink and sipped it several times, fighting the minor earthquakes going on inside her.
“I suspected you weren’t sober enough last night to believe my compliments. Now I want you to consider it seriously,” Jasper said, his gaze locked onto her panicked one as he guided her hand and glass away from her mouth. He wanted her sober enough to take in the information this time. “With that kind of security, you can do whatever else you want—when you’re ready.”
Chloe swallowed hard and coughed as she choked a little. He wasn’t just talking about singing anymore. “I thought you were teasing last night, just flirting.”
“I’m too serious to flirt. And I never tease about business,” Jasper said, still staring hard at her.
Chloe blinked, tearing her gaze away from Jasper’s to see everyone at the table was staring at her, waiting for her answer. “I don’t know what to say.”
“Say yes,” Max advised, grinning at how fast his brother was moving in on a woman he just met yesterday. Jasper was finally learning. “We can do some more duets. Maybe we’ll even get Jasper to sing. He’s the one that took voice lessons.”
“You sing?” Chloe asked, staring at Jasper again in shock.
“Max exaggerates,” Jasper said, finally turning his head away to glare at Max, who merely grinned.
Taylor wanted Chloe to say yes, and when she looked at Emma, she saw she had crossed her fingers. They both wanted their friend to take this chance, plus there was the added bonus of a man like Jasper who could make Chloe feel wanted for herself.
Taylor swung her gaze back down the table and drew herself up a little to look as businesslike as possible. “Well, actually—I’ve offered Chloe a job. You may need a singer, but I need an accountant. How is your deal better than mine?”
Beside her, Taylor heard Max snort softly, so she kicked him under the table.
Max reached down to rub his still-healing leg, whispering to Taylor that she was going to pay.
“I already turned you down several times, Taylor Baird,” Chloe said. “I appreciate the offer, but I don’t want to be an accountant anymore.”
“Then you should definitely say yes to this opportunity,” Ryan said firmly. “All we mortals have is the now, Chloe. You’re too good not to take this chance.”
Ryan felt Emma’s smile as he turned his head. “What?” he asked her.
Emma put her hand on his arm and leaned over to kiss his cheek. “You are absolutely right.”
If she hadn’t pulled away so fast, Ryan would have turned his head a fraction and had his mouth on Emma’s before she realized what had happened. The knowledge made him forget what he’d just said. His gaze was locked on Emma’s profile even after she’d turned back to her friends.
“I don’t know,” Chloe replied thoughtfully. “I was planning to stay a week with Taylor, and then one with Emma while I looked for a real job.”
“Stay here instead,” Jasper encouraged. “You ca
n have your own room, free parking, and use of the facilities. Your friends can come visit. You can look for another job during the day and sing four nights a week, including the weekend. What I’m offering you is a real job, by the way. I expect you to sing.”
“Me? Work for you—the hotel—as a lounge singer?” Chloe said in shock, scared of committing. Plus she also wasn’t keen on being financially bound to yet another man she had romantic ideas about. “I don’t know, Jasper. I’ve never given real performing any thought.”
“No matter what else you think you’re not ready for, you’re ready to sing professionally, Chloe,” Jasper said firmly, no doubt in his voice. “I mean that.”
“Let me think about it,” Chloe told him. “Can I let you know tomorrow?”
“Certainly,” Jasper said, uncaring that his gaze was full of determination and heat as it rested on the woman he wanted. “It gives me the rest of the evening to influence your decision. I can be very persuasive when I want something as badly as I want you to stay here. I plan to make you an offer you can’t refuse.”
Max leaned back in his chair and just stared at his brother, the innuendo of what Jasper really was after not lost on anyone sitting at the table, with maybe the exception of Ryan Carmichael, who had just joined the party.
Beside him, Taylor sighed and returned her attention to her plate. Max reached under the table and squeezed her knee in support, then wished he hadn’t because it was very tempting to run his hand up her leg. He moved his hand away quickly so he wouldn’t.
Gazes still locked, Jasper and Chloe continued to stare at each other as if they were alone. Max decided it was on him to rescue the moment and diffuse the tension.
“Well, since we have a cliffhanger about whether or not I’m going to be sharing the lounge limelight on a more permanent basis, I’ll just go fill in the gaps of silence with my lonely piano music. Maybe when you ladies finish your meal, you’ll come sing again. Thanks for dinner, Taylor,” he said as if she had personally invited just him, grinning at her irritated scowl. “Ryan, it was a pleasure to meet you.”
Next Song I Sing (NEXT TIME AROUND) Page 9