by Leah Braemel
“I wanted to talk to you about both your parents. And whether you’ve bothered to tell Jake any of your history. Because quite frankly it worries me. Since his father—” his lips tightened, “—since Ed is gone, I feel responsible for him.”
“Jake knows everything about me. Unlike you and Cissy, I haven’t kept any secrets from him.” She let her gaze fall to the drawer. “Why didn’t you tell Jake the truth that day you brought out the other DNA test.”
“I didn’t have these results then.”
Liar. “Why didn’t you tell him that day? Why pretend you didn’t know it was you?”
“I couldn’t. Cissy begged me to wait. She figured he needed to process the first report before I admitted that we’d betrayed Ed.” He slumped into his chair and scrubbed his hands over his face. “I hadn’t intended to...be with her that way that day. And I never intended to betray Ed.”
“But you did. And then you both lied to Jake. And to Ed too?”
“Yeah. And I’ve hated myself for it every single day since.”
“It was while they were apart, right?” Because if Cissy had had an affair after they’d gotten back together, Jake would never forgive her.
Randy nodded. “Ed called me right after Cissy told him she wanted a divorce. Went on about how much he loved her. How he still did. But he was giving up. That it was over between them. It made me so angry. At them both.
“Ed had been in love with her from the first day he’d seen her. You should have seen her back then. She was so beautiful. There was a freshness about her back then. A vivacity. There still is.”
“So you went to see her. To try to convince her to go back to Ed?”
“No, I went to see him.” His gaze clouded. “I was worried about him after he hung up. And he wouldn’t answer the phone that night. So the next day, as soon as I could get out of the office, I drove out to talk to him.” His lips thinned. “I walked in on him and Denise. Told him he was full of shit. That a man who really loved his wife, wanted to win her back, wouldn’t be fucking another woman in his living room while his kid was asleep upstairs, especially without fighting for his wife. I told him Cissy didn’t deserve him and no wonder she’d asked for a divorce.” He rubbed his knuckles. “I hit him too. And to this day, I don’t regret it.”
Images of Randy hovering over Cissy, the heat in his eyes as he watched her the day they waited to tell Jake the DNA results flipped through her brain like a slideshow. He loved her still. Maybe he did back then too. “Then you went to see Cissy. To tell her that Ed had cheated on her?”
“Yes.”
“So what happened? Did the two of you decide to teach Ed a lesson?” Or were you hoping she’d turn to you at the news her husband had moved on so quickly? Had you been jealous of him all along? Did you whisper words in Cissy’s ear about how she was being neglected? Maybe even encouraged her to leave in the first place, then swooped in when he’d accomplished his mission only to lose the prize in the end?
“It wasn’t like that.” Bit by bit, his composure returned. From the straightened spine, to the crisp speech.
“I don’t need the details. But Jake does.”
The color leached from his face but his expression didn’t change. “I’m not so sure of that.”
“He already knows his mother slept with some other guy. That he’s not Ed’s son. The one thing that he kept talking about after you gave him the DNA test results was how he didn’t know who he was anymore. That he needed to find his father.
“He’s still hurting, Mr. Freeman. And I don’t want to see him hurt anymore. You have to tell him the truth.”
“Are you implying that if I don’t, you will?”
“I won’t lie for you. Or for Cissy. Jake’s had enough lies told to him for a lifetime.”
His gaze locked on her, he released a slow breath before he nodded. “I’ll need to talk to Cissy first.”
So you can get your stories straight. “Then talk to her. And then talk to him. Because as you say, if you don’t tell him? I will.”
“Be careful with your tone around me, Miss Reynolds.” His gaze was hypnotic, reminding her of a cobra right before it struck. “I may not have the Grady land or the Grady name to wield. But I’m just as dangerous as George Grady ever was when I feel the need to protect those I love.” He leaned in, his tone quiet but the underlying menace in it undeniable. “Which makes me very dangerous now that I know Jake is my son.”
She hid her shiver. “Then you promise me you’ll tell him you’re his real father. No more lies.”
“I will tell him. Once he gets home from his tour. It’s not the type of thing to tell someone over the phone and I can’t leave my business right now. But if one word gets out about this between now and then, I will know exactly who to come after.”
“Fair enough. I will give you one week after he returns to tell him. If you haven’t talked to him at the end of that week? All bets are off.” Wondering if she’d just baited the cobra, she picked up her bag.
The shaking started three blocks away. It got so bad she had to pull her bike to the side of the road. It was only then she remembered she’d not learned the decision regarding Kligman and Tuckett, and whether she still had a job.
Chapter Twenty
“I wish you were here.” Jake rolled onto his back and stared at the too-close ceiling. It’s not the same without you sitting in the crowd, watching me. Without you to sit with during the breaks. To hear you laugh at one of my corny lines. Sitting beside me in my truck.
“So do I.” Paige’s quiet response worried him.
“What’s going on? How’d the auditor’s report go? Ben told me a bit, but how’d it go from your end?”
“Bob came up with the same figure I’d told you before you left. So no surprises.”
Why did he get the feeling there was “but” coming. Except she didn’t say anything.
“How’s the traveling going?” Her tone was so muted, so unPaige-like. Something must be going on. “You’re heading to Nashville tomorrow for your recording session, right?”
“Yes, we’re all jazzed about it. Cam and I have decided which songs we want to record, but we’ve been practicing a dozen, in case Southern Gents wants more to choose from.” He drummed his fingers on his thigh. “Paige? Is something wrong?”
“Yeah, but it’s nothing I can talk about. Don’t worry about it.”
Huh, her answer sounded an awful like “fine” and every guy knew when a woman said fine she meant the opposite. “Is it about the ranch? Was there something wrong with the audit? Or is something wrong at work? Because Ben and Gabe have no problems with you continuing to be our accountant.”
“No, it’s nothing at work, or about the audit. Just think of it as a client confidentiality thing.”
“You’d tell me if there was something I’d done though, right?”
Her chuckle reassured him. “Of course.”
He sought for something to tell her about, but since they talked every night, he’d already told about how when they’d first started out, he and Cam talked a lot, told jokes, compared thoughts on the various towns and states they passed through. He got her laughing when he described the roadie in Tennessee who talked so fast and in such a monotone it took Jake a few seconds to decode what he was saying.
“But hey, you’re more than halfway through the tour right.” Paige’s voice was a pleasant distraction to the noise outside. “Six more weeks and I’ll be back in your arms.”
In your bed. On you, beneath you. Around you.
The party in the courtyard gained strength, someone turning up their music and voices raised over it. “Hang on, let me shut the balcony door. There’s a convention going on and they’re rowdy.”
He slide the patio door closed and locked it, staring out over the city lights. He missed the sound
the wind made as it wove through the grass and the leaves, a dog barking in the distance, cattle lowing. He even missed the ache in his muscles telling him he’d done a good day’s work. But he could go on without all that if she was by his side.
He turned the desk chair around and eased into it. “I miss you.” I miss lying beside you late at night, listening to you breathe, filling my lungs with the scent of your shampoo.
“I miss you too.” Paige’s voice was a soothing balm to the irritation rising in him.
Would she smell like oranges tonight? Vanilla? Or one of those other spices she loved?
I miss touching you, skimming my hands over your belly, cupping your breasts. Feeling your hands on me. Claiming me.
Strange how of all the nights he’d sleep out under the stars on the ranch he’d never felt as alone as he did right now, even though there were hundreds of people at the party just yards away. Hell, Hunter had fallen asleep less than four feet away.
“How are things going with Drew? He still causing problems?”
“Yeah. We’re working on a solution.” He shifted, not liking Drew and all his issues intruding on what had been a pleasant conversation. “Hey, how are the dogs? D’they miss me?”
“They’re fine. Pebbles is asleep on my feet as we speak. Any news on whether they’re going to extend your tour?”
“Looks like December’s really slow so I figure I’ll be back when we’d planned—unless they want us to do any Christmas parties.” If they did, would they expect him to sing Christmas carols? Guess he’d better dig out some and learn them just in case. “I guess they’ll see how our numbers are before they schedule anything else. I’m hoping they’ll give us time to record some of my new stuff before we go out on tour again next year.”
Almost all of his new material was about how much he missed her, how he loved watching her, wondering who she was beneath the masks she wore. This was no way to have a relationship. Sooner or later she’d get tired of him just being a voice on the other end of a phone, or a text message. She needed a live body there, someone to challenge her. Push her buttons and challenge her to dye her hair blue or purple or something next time. “Maybe you could schedule some time off and come see us play at Greensboro, or maybe Myrtle Beach. Even just for the weekend. I could arrange for the flight if you want. I’ll even rent a hotel room so we can have some alone time.”
“I’ll have to see.” There was a wistfulness in her voice that raised his hopes. “I may have some vacation time coming up.”
There was the sound of rustling as if she were changing position on the bed. God, how he wished he were lying right there beside her. “Where are you?”
“In the bedroom.” A pause. “Want to know what I’m wearing?”
“In my imagination, it’s nothing.”
A soft giggle. “And here I was going to tell you how I’m wearing your shirt—you know, the blue plaid one.”
He loved her in that shirt. In any of his clothes. He pictured her the last time she’d worn it, and how she’d left all the buttons undone, giving him a peek-a-boo show of her cleavage and gentle swell of her breasts, the smooth skin of her belly, her belly button ring glinting in the soft bedroom light, and the most delicious view of the thin strip of hair leading to heaven.
His phone beeped its low battery warning. He just couldn’t catch a break. “I have to get going. My battery’s dying.”
“Call me tomorrow?”
“Yeah. I’ll make sure my phone is fully charged.” He paused. “Paige?”
“Yeah?”
“I miss you. Love you too.”
“Me too.”
She ended the call before he realized what she’d said. Had she meant she missed him and loved him? Or was she just agreeing that she missed him too?
Cursing the flashing red battery symbol, he dug around for his charger but couldn’t find it.
He tucked the phone under his pillow and lay back, staring at the now-familiar smudge on the ceiling. He missed the ranch, but all he wanted right now was Paige beside him, in his bed. It didn’t matter if it was on the ranch or even snuggled together in the trailer. Nah, if she were with him, he’d dig into his savings and rent a hotel room for the two of them. Let the guys use the trailer. Not that he could afford to rent a hotel room every night.
There had to be a way to have a relationship and still sing. Right?
* * *
Inside the Kligman and Tuckett foyer the next morning, the receptionist gave Paige such a terse greeting that Paige wondered what she’d done to piss off the older woman. Bryce kept his head down in his cubicle, as did the two other co-workers as she passed who normally would greet her with a casual hi or at least a finger wave. Reba’s office door was open, but there was no one at her desk. Bill Kligman’s office door was closed but that was hardly unusual.
As if on cue, the door opened and Reba appeared, worry filling her face. She blinked then carefully smoothed her expression the second she saw Paige. “Paige, honey, can you come in for a minute, please?”
“What’s going on?” Reba followed her in and closed the door behind her.
Bill Kligman, Reba’s partner and the co-owner of Kligman and Tuckett, gestured to the seat on the other side of his desk. Once she was settled, he leaned back in his chair and folded his hands over his ample stomach. “I got a call from Victoria Taylor-Massey yesterday expressing some concern about your association with her client.”
Shit. “She should have talked to her client first. Because Gabe has assured me he has no problem with me remaining on as their accountant. Ben and Jake feel the same way.”
“True. Mr. Grady phoned me last night to assure me he was happy to keep you on. But Ms. Taylor-Massey has suggested that she has some clients in need of our accounting services, but only if I assure her that you will not be doing their books.”
“Considering I have my own clients, I can’t see how that will be an issue.”
Her aunt nodded. “Which is exactly what I told Bill earlier. It’s not an issue.”
Bill dropped his chin and stared at Reba over the rim of his glasses. “And as we discussed, it is an issue. If Bryce or John go on vacation, we’ll need someone to back them up. And we won’t be able to use Paige. Which will leave us shorthanded and we’ll look unprofessional to our clients.”
“In other words, you want me out.” Paige stood, her whole body vibrating with the urge to challenge Bill’s smug assurance.
“Paige, please, that’s not what he’s saying,” her aunt murmured. “And, Bill, we didn’t come to any decisions. Don’t do this now.”
“No, that’s exactly what he’s saying, isn’t it, Bill?” Why couldn’t her aunt grow a backbone? If she’d been strong enough to phone George Grady and rat out her own family, why couldn’t she stand up for her now?
“Yes. I don’t like your attitude. I never have. You’ve made no effort to fit in around here with your strange hair and disrespectful outfits. I only accepted you here as a favor to your aunt.” His gaze slid to where Reba sat passively. “Your aunt and I have been having a lot of discussions over the past weeks. About the changes our firm needs to make if we’re to survive.”
“So even though my accounting skills are good, I’m guessing I’m the first on list of people to let go so you can ‘trim the fat.’ Am I right?”
His jaw clamped. “Yes. You’re a good accountant. But as the last accountant hired, you have the least seniority. So if changes are to be made, I have to start with you.”
“Bill, please.” Reba’s voice firmed. “We hadn’t made any decisions to make changes yet. Don’t be precipitous.”
“No, it’s all right, Aunt Reba. He wants me out. You always have, haven’t you Bill?”
“Don’t be a drama queen, Paige.”
Wow, he was calling her a drama que
en when his own daughter wore that tiara in the office? “Fine. I’ll save you the bother. I quit.”
Paige strode out of the office and back to her desk, stopping off at the photocopier and picking up an empty paper box.
“I’m really sorry, Paige.” Reba hovered at the cubicle entrance as Paige packed her belongings.
“Bill’s right. I don’t fit in here. I haven’t worn the standard mousy accountant’s clothes. I haven’t tried to fit in.” She hadn’t wanted to either. Yet she’d fit right in at the entertainment accounting forum she’d attended the week before. “Maybe this is just the kick in the pants I needed.”
“You don’t have to quit. Call me in a couple weeks. We can call it a vacation.”
Like that was going to happen. “No. Nothing’s going to change. And if I come back, Bill will treat me with even less respect.” She opened her drawers one by one, discovering precious little to pack. Maybe she’d never moved in because she knew this job wasn’t permanent all along.
“What are you going to do?”
Huh. She didn’t even have to think about it. She knew exactly what she was going to do. “I’m going to Nashville. I’m going to hook up with Jake and tour with him, be his resident head groupie. Make some connections in the music industry and start my own business catering to musicians.”
Reba nodded, relief filling her face. “Good. That’s...good.”
Paige closed the lid on her laptop, rested a hand on it, remembering powering it up her first day on the job. The satisfaction it had given her to open the various software programs and sign in as owner. Since it had come with the job, it would have to stay. Strange how she’d become so attached to it.
Reba enveloped her in an extra tight hug. “Don’t be a stranger. And if you ever need any help, come to me. I’ll always be here for you.”
“I know.” Of all the people in her life, her aunt had been the one constant, even if she hadn’t stood up to Bill.
Ignoring the receptionist’s snarky good-bye, Paige stomped outside and tied the box to the back of her bike. As she drove back to Jake’s place, she planned. Though she may have lost her regular paycheck, she still had her accounting degree, which meant she could hang out her own shingle. From listening to Jake and the rest of the guys, there were probably other musicians and entertainers who didn’t realize what they could and couldn’t claim. Maybe she could take a couple marketing courses, maybe even get into auditing. She’d research the accountants in Austin and the Metroplex to see if there was any competition. Or someone who might be looking to take on another accountant.