by LuAnn McLane
She sighed softly, and the sexy breathless sound had him wanting her even more. “Cat …” he said, and she understood.
“Come inside with me,” she offered, and it was all the invitation Jeff needed. He stooped and picked up the keys while she scooped up her purse. Moments later they were inside the cabin. The keys landed with a clank onto the counter and Cat dropped her purse with a thud. Jeff pulled her back into his arms and all the reasons he’d told himself to stay away vanished like fog lifting from a lake. He kissed her, not softly this time but with a hungry passion that had his heart thudding. When he tugged at her shirt she tugged at his and a moment later he was touching skin … warm, soft skin.
And he wanted even more.
“Cat?” Jeff wasn’t bad boy enough not to give her an out, but she answered by running her hands up his back and pressing her body closer. When she lightly raked her fingernails down his shoulder blades, Jeff moaned. In one quick movement he scooped her up into his arms.
“What are you doing? You’re going to break something, like your back. We’ll have to wheel you onto the stage and—”
He smothered her protest with a hot, hungry kiss and carried her easily.
“I’m impressed.”
He grinned when he shouldered the bedroom door open. “You ain’t seen nothin’ yet.”
“Oh, confident, are you?”
“No.” He gazed down at her. “This isn’t something I take lightly.” He put her gently down onto the big brass bed and then traced a fingertip down her cheek and over her bottom lip.
“Me neither.”
He sat down. “This will complicate things.”
“Like they aren’t already complicated? You have really bad timing when it comes to second thoughts.”
“I’m an overthinker.” He sighed. “I should have kept my damned mouth shut. Can we go back to a couple of minutes ago?”
“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Cat sighed and turned over to her back. For a moment she remained silent. “What game are you playing here, Jeff?” She sounded hurt and it clawed at his gut.
“I don’t play games.” He lay down next to her and stared up at the paddle fan.
“For the record, you kissed me this time.”
“Guilty.”
“So, now what?”
“I guess I go.” Jeff held his breath, hoping she’d ask him to stay. If she reasoned with him or told him that they could make this work without interfering with their music, then he would be willing to chance it.
“Oh.” She sounded sad and confused and Jeff wondered whether he was making a colossal mistake.
Jeff cleared his throat. “So, then, what are you going to do with the rest of your evening?”
“Write a song.”
“About me?” he tried to joke.
“Ha.” She turned to give him a look. “You wish.”
“Cat,” Jeff said on a more serious note. “If we don’t want this to happen again, we have to make an effort not to …”
“Lock lips?” she asked lightly, but her eyes told a different story.
“Yeah.”
“Don’t worry about it,” she said, just a little bit sharply. “I’ll make an effort not to get into precarious situations. But I’ll be honest—don’t expect miracles. Just come up with some other payment like cupcakes or cookies or something instead of a kiss.”
Jeff came up and turned to his side but she failed to look at him. He leaned on one elbow and wanted to trace a fingertip down her cheek again, but he didn’t chance it. “Well, then let’s take a pledge.”
“A pledge? Jeff, I don’t do things like get lost or stuck in windows on purpose. See, I have ADD and tend to lose things, which, in turn, gets me into, well, said situations. I also do things spontaneously but with immediate regret. Like this …”
Jeff chuckled. “No, not that kind of pledge.”
“Well, I did take a pledge of some sort when I was briefly a Girl Scout Brownie, but I was politely asked to leave when I failed to follow instructions and do things like sit still.”
Jeff laughed. He could imagine her attempting to behave.
She nibbled on the inside of her lip. “Well, I took the pledge not to text and drive and I am proud to say that I do adhere to that one.”
Jeff hated what he was about to say. He liked Cat so damned much and, in truth, was probably already falling for her. He wanted so badly to throw caution to the damned wind but he was so afraid it would end in disaster. He saw the vulnerability in her eyes, and the very last thing he ever wanted to do was hurt her. And so he took a deep breath and let it fly. “Let’s take a pledge to just be friends, Cat.”
A few seconds ticked by when she failed to respond. The only sound in the room was the soft whoosh of the paddle fan. Jeff saw her chest rise and fall and wondered what she was going to say.
“Not on your life.” She said it softly but with an edge that held a bit of surprise.
“What?”
“You heard me,” she said firmly. “I’m so tired of people jacking me around.”
“I didn’t do that,” Jeff protested, and wondered whether he should scramble from the bed and run like hell.
“You—and I mean you—kissed me in the woods. You flirted with me at Sully’s and acted pissed that I was dancing with Devin.” She finally rolled over to face him. “You came up with the whole kissing-as-payment thing.” She pointed a finger at his face. “And now you want to take it all back and want to be friends?” She said the word as if he’d just asked her to be a devil worshiper and gave him such a hard shove to his chest that he fell over onto his back. Then she stood up. “Go! Just … go!” She turned the finger pointing at his face toward the door. “And take your ‘this will complicate things’ and your stupid pledge with you.”
“Cat—”
“I mean it.”
When she looked around as if searching for a weapon, Jeff decided he’d better take her warning seriously. He scooted from the bed and was pelted with pillows as he walked toward the doorway. When he braved turning around a stuffed teddy bear hit him in the head. He opened his mouth to explain that he was only trying to do the right thing for them both, but she gave him a little squeal and looked around for something else to throw. Deciding that the weapons might get more lethal, he backed up.
“And the show tomorrow is off! So is the whole duet thing. So you can tell your band they can rest easy.”
Jeff stopped in his tracks. “See!” He pointed his finger right back at her, even though finger pointing was a pet peeve of his. “I knew that getting involved would create this kind of thing. That’s why it wouldn’t work.”
“Don’t you point that finger at me unless it’s loaded.”
“You are pointing at me.”
She looked down at her finger and lowered it. “I detest finger pointing.” Her chest was rising and falling and she suddenly looked close to tears.
“Cat,” he said more gently, but when he took a step closer she picked up a shoe and hurled it at him. When it hit the wall with a loud smack, Jeff raised his hands over his head. “Okay, I’m leaving.”
“Good, and I don’t care if I am hanging from the top of Mount Everest or dangling from the tip of the moon. I won’t even ask you to kill a spider and I have a severe case of arachnophobia.”
“You have several phobias, don’t you?”
She lifted one shoulder. “A few. But I don’t care. I will not call you for help. Ever.”
“Don’t say that.”
“I just did.”
“Okay, then.” Jeff nodded stiffly, but as he walked out the door he felt a hot surge of sadness wash over him. He wanted to start the night over. He wanted to have her back in his arms and to hell with reason. She was right. He’d led her on and then backed away.
What an ass. Jeff looked up at the sky. He tried so hard not to be an ass and he’d just failed miserably. She had every right to be angry, but, just as he’d thought, if he kept her pissed it would be
easier to keep his distance. Because when she smiled at him, he was lost. And if she did call for help, he’d be there in a heartbeat.
When he entered his cabin all he could do was pace and curse. When his phone vibrated inside his pocket, his heart kicked into high gear. But when he looked at the screen, he saw it was Snake.
“What’s up?” Jeff asked, knowing he sounded angry.
“Dude, I guess I should be asking you that question. What are you so damned pissed about?”
Jeff sighed. He explained the rescue. “And then I kissed her. It got kinda … you know, out of control, and when I was the voice of reason and said we should just be, you know, friends, she went bat-shit crazy on me and started throwing things at me. Seriously. Like a boot and shit.”
“You have got to be kidding me.”
“No, she really did wing a boot directly at my head.” He pointed at his head and remembered he was on the phone.
“No, I meant you really did ask her to just be friends? Jeff, once you’re in the friend zone there’s no turning back. You’re stuck there forever.”
“Um, I think I’m in the she-hates-me zone. Cat called off tomorrow’s show. See, that’s why getting tangled up with her is so damned wrong.” Jeff looked up at the ceiling. “I might be an ass but I’m right. It messes with business.”
“I’d rather be happy than right.”
“That doesn’t really make much sense but could be the title to a song. I like it.” Jeff blew out a sigh. “I didn’t want to do the damned duet anyway. This is a blessing in disguise.”
“Personally, I don’t like my blessings to be in disguise. And when people say that shit, what it really means is that it’s a screwed-up situation and you’re just gonna have to make the best of it. That’s what you’ve got goin’ on here, my friend.”
Jeff closed his eyes and sighed. “You wanna jam over at Big Red?”
“It’s almost eleven.”
“I don’t give a damn what time it is. Give the guys a call. I’m heading over there.”
“Okay.”
“Snake, did I just screw up?”
“Your career or your life?”
“Aren’t they one and the same?” Jeff had wanted success for so long that nothing else seemed to matter. But right now all he was thinking about was the look of anguish on Cat’s face.
After a moment of silence Snake said, “I would say yeah, but I don’t think you’re talking about the music. Jeff, man, I’ve known you for a long-ass time and I’ve never seen you so tied in knots because of a girl. She means a lot to you whether you like it or not. When you admit it, things will suddenly become clearer. Anyway, I’ll make some calls and bring a twelve-pack. See you in a few.”
After Jeff hung up he walked over to the window and looked up at Cat’s cabin. He knew that Snake was right. But he owed it to South Street Riot to go ahead with the plans they’d made. His involvement with Cat was already creating havoc with his life and his career. His happiness wasn’t the only thing at stake. Being nothing more than friends was the smart thing to do—the right thing to do. Jeff swallowed hard and shook his head.
Then why didn’t it feel that way?
13
You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away
“CAT, YOU’RE EARLY. THIS NEVER HAPPENS,” MARIA SAID, but then frowned when she saw the look on Cat’s face. “Something wrong, sweetie?”
“I can’t do the duet.”
Maria put her reading glasses down and came around to lean against her desk. She folded her arms across her chest. “You can’t be serious. Rick and I are really excited about releasing ‘Second Chances’ as a duet single. It’s not professional to back out of this, Cat, and you know it.”
“I’m sorry, Maria. I … I just can’t work with Jeff. We’re like oil and vinegar.”
“I happen to like oil and vinegar. And when mixed together it is actually delicious.”
Cat rolled her eyes. “Okay, we fight like cats and dogs.”
“The fact that you can only come up with tired clichés tells me that”—she grinned—“you’re grasping at straws.”
“Maria, he gave me the whole ‘Let’s be friends’ speech.”
“Ouch.” Maria pressed her lips together in sympathy. During songwriting sessions, she and Cat talked about everything under the sun, and she was beginning to care for Cat like a daughter.
“Exactly.”
“And this bothers you because you want more than just friendship with Jeff. Am I right?”
“Yes.” Cat closed her eyes and nodded. “I’m not even going to try to hide it from you because you’ve got my number. You and Mia see right through me, so I might as well own up to it.”
“Did you tell Jeff this tiny bit of information?”
Cat raised her hands skyward. “Of course not! I’ve spent a great deal of my life humiliating myself. I’m not adding this to the list. Wait. I already did. Damn!”
“Maybe he needs to know how you feel.”
Cat crossed her arms over her chest. “I will suffer in silence.”
Maria tapped her cheek. “Oh … good song title.”
“Why are all of the amazing songs written when you feel like crap?”
Maria looked up at the ceiling and laughed but felt a stab of pain. “I am the poster child for that.”
“Seriously, you’ve suffered for all the years you were separated from Pete? That’s where all those amazing heartbreaking songs came from.” Cat shook her head. “I should have known.”
“Yes.” Maria tapped her chest. “From here. I missed him each and every day.”
“Why didn’t one of you just give in?”
Maria shrugged. “I was waiting for him to come to Nashville and drag me back home where I belonged. But he didn’t. It wasn’t until a health scare last Christmas that I knew I needed to make the move back to Cricket Creek.”
“And so will you get back together?”
Maria shrugged.
“I don’t get it.”
“I think I’ve forgotten how to be happy.” She snapped her fingers. “Oh … lyrics.” She tried to smile but failed. After a moment Maria sighed. “I guess the reason I’m telling you this is that if you allow too much time to pass, it gets more and more difficult to repair the damage.” She shook her head. “I’m in my fifties now. Sand is slipping through the hourglass.”
“So Pete is the love of your life.”
“No doubt.”
Cat sank down onto the smooth leather sofa and looked at her. “But … you’re not even trying.”
Maria felt startled at Cat’s statement and her heart thudded. “Dear God,” she whispered and then inhaled a deep breath. “You’re right.”
“Why?”
Maria looked toward the window and then down at her feet—anywhere but at Cat.
“Maria?”
“I guess I’m scared. I’m just so used to clinging to the pain.”
“Well, that’s just silly. I mean, cling to hope instead.”
“It’s not that simple,” Maria felt compelled to argue.
“I think it is.”
“You’re not even thirty yet. How did you get so wise?”
“I’m an old soul.”
A laugh erupted in Maria’s throat. “Well, old soul, then let’s take a pledge, you and I.”
Cat groaned. “Not another pledge! Why doesn’t anyone understand that I just suck at pledges? Okay, hit me with it.”
“Let’s drive Pete and Jeff crazy. Make them come after us.”
“Ah-ha.” Cat nodded slowly. “I really like this plan of action. Go on.”
Maria started warming up to the spontaneous notion. She licked her bottom lip and then said, “Oh, make it subtle, Cat. A touch, a sultry look will get the ball rolling. Men are such simple creatures. Show a little leg, a bit of cleavage and they are goners. They just need a bit of help now and then.”
“I’ve got the getting-rescued thing down pat.”
Maria chuckled. �
��Use it. Oh, and play the jealously card, but sparingly.”
Cat grinned. “This feels a little bit wicked.”
Maria laughed hard. “Doesn’t it, though?”
“And takes the whole humiliation factor out of the picture too. Wow, I love this.”
“Cat, trust me. Jeff doesn’t want to be your friend.” Maria rolled her eyes. “Come on now.”
“You really think so?”
“Absolutely.”
“Well, since we’re talking about it.” Cat scooted to the edge of the cushion. “Pete adores you, Maria. I’ve seen it in the way he looks at you with a complete puppy dog stare.” Cat demonstrated and Maria laughed.
“Like I said, all the man ever had to do was come after me.”
“Did you ever consider he might have been scared of getting turned away and never mustered up the courage, so he clung to the pain as well. Makes me think of the two of you hanging on to a piece of driftwood out in the middle of the ocean, when all you had to do was hop into the lifeboat.”
Maria chuckled. “Other normal people would think of that analogy as a bit out there, but we’re songwriters and that’s how our minds operate.”
“I wouldn’t know how to be normal if it slapped me across the side of the head.”
Maria angled her head at Cat. “Would you want to be?”
“No,” Cat whispered with a sense of wonder. She blinked at Maria for a moment. “No,” she said with more conviction, and then laughed. “Wow, this is liberating. I always longed to be more like, well, conventional … to simply fit in.”
“Cat, the only thing you need to fit in to is your own skin.”
With a whoop Cat jumped up from the couch and held her palm up in the air. “High five.”
Maria smacked Cat’s hand. “Are we gonna do this thing?”
“Yes!”
“It has to be subtle so they don’t catch on.”
“Oh … I’m not so good at subtle.”
Maria laughed again. “You know Rick said that along with taking on the role as your manager, I need to be a mentor. But you are teaching me some things, Cat.”
“I hope that’s a good thing.”
“It is.”
“Now what do we do?”
“First we write a song about this whole situation. Then we put our plan into action. You need to make Jeff think you’re buying into the whole friends notion. Then you maybe—oh, I don’t know—brush up against him by accident.” Maria demonstrated and they both dissolved into a fit of laughter.