Sing Like Nobody's Listening

by S. J. McCoy

  “Just the same as you could with any of those guys.” Laura jerked her head toward the guys with the fresh bucket of beers.

  “Yeah. If I wanted, but I don't.”

  Holly appeared next to Laura. “Hey ladies. How are we doing?”

  “Just great,” said Laura. “How about you?”

  Holly smiled. “Getting there. Wherever there is!”

  Kenzie left them to it. She figured the band would be taking a break soon and she wanted to make sure that everyone at the bar was taken care of before then. That way she'd get as many minutes as possible with Chase.

  When she turned around again, he was letting himself in through the bar. “Hey, lover.”

  Her breath caught in her chest at the sight of his gorgeous smile. “Hey, you. Do you want to take a bucket of beer for the guys?”

  He nodded and pulled her to him. She looped her arms up around his neck and kissed him.

  “Hey. Are you supposed to get one of those free with every bucket of beer?” asked the guy who’d been trying to flirt with her earlier.

  She ignored him, but Chase lifted his head and glowered at him. “No. No one gets one of those but me.”

  The guy laughed and jerked his head at a couple of girls who had followed Chase inside. “You've got them lining up for it. Why not give someone else a shot back here tonight.”

  Seeing the look on his face, Kenzie put a hand on his arm. “Leave it, Chase. He's had one too many that's all. I can handle it.”

  Chase turned his angry scowl on her. “I'm not standing for that shit!”

  She stepped back, surprised at the anger in his voice and his eyes. “Excuse me! It's not about you and what you can handle. It's about me doing my job. I think you'd better take your beers back to the guys and let me get on with it.” She grabbed an ice bucket full of beers and shoved it into his chest…hard.

  He glowered at her for a moment, then slammed out of the bar. Wow! She'd never seen him like that before. What was his problem? Didn't he trust her?

  “You're better off with me anyway, sweetheart,” called the loudmouthed guy.

  Kenzie shot him a dirty look. Asshole!

  ~ ~ ~

  Chase took the beers back to the guys, then stalked out onto the back deck to take a long swig of his own. He was jealous again. He'd never been jealous in his life. What was she doing to him? And he'd acted like an idiot. I'm not standing for that shit? That's what he'd said, and it made him sound as if he was bothered about himself. That wasn't true. What he'd meant was that there was no way he would let some guy talk about Kenzie like that. He'd messed up though. Now she was angry with him and had sent him out of the bar. Damn!

  Eddie came out to join him. “What's up?”

  He shook his head. “Nothing. I was just wrestling with that green-eyed monster again and while I did Kenzie kicked my ass out of the bar.”

  Eddie laughed. “You need to get over that you know.”

  He nodded. “I know. I need to go back and tell her I'm sorry.”

  Eddie shook his head. “No. Sorry, but you're not messing our timings up again. You can go see her after this set, but we need to get back up there in five and no way will you be back that quickly.”

  Chase nodded with a sigh. It was probably better to wait anyway. He hadn't completely calmed down yet, and Kenzie might need a little longer, too. If he went back now, he might just take a swing at that guy if he said anything else.

  ~ ~ ~

  Kenzie's mind was working overtime. She was mad at Chase. Was it all just about his ego? He wasn't standing for that shit? Well, screw him. What was she? Just some prize to be fought over? When the band launched into what she knew was the last song in the set she looked over at Ben who'd come back to help out while it was busy.

  “Are you okay if I make a run to the ladies' room?”

  He nodded but looked concerned. “Of course, I am. Are you all right though?”

  She laughed. “I will be if I go now.”

  He laughed with her, but his face told her he knew there was something up. She shook her head as she let herself out through the bar. Was there really anything up? She and Chase had had a momentary spat, that was all. He'd been jealous about the way some guy had talked to her. She'd been defensive that she could hold her own and didn't need his help. It was that simple. There was no need to blow it up into anything it wasn't. If she was going to stay in Summer Lake, stay with Chase, then she needed to learn to deal with the little bumps in the road, not run at the very first sign of them.

  She was quite proud of herself as she made her way back from the bathroom. She was being smart about things. She chuckled at the thought that she was being even smarter than her sister. Megan and Michael had almost screwed things up between them, by being too scared to talk to each other properly. She wasn't going to do that. She was no longer a screwup! She wasn't going to get all bent out of shape. The first chance they got, she and Chase would sit down and talk about how they could handle this sort thing in the future. It was bound to come up again.

  Chapter Twenty-three

  When he finished the last song, all Chase wanted to do was get back to Kenzie. He wanted to hold her, see that soft sweet look in her eyes as she reached out to him. Right now, he was haunted by the harsh tone of her voice and the angry glare she'd given him earlier. He needed to explain to her what he'd meant. He made his way off the stage, but was immediately surrounded by the girls who had been giving him signals all night. A tall brunette caught his arm.

  “Where are you off to?” she asked with a smile. “Why don't you come hang with us?”

  Her friend stepped in front of her. “Yeah, why don't you bring your guitar and come back to my room?”

  Where was Robin when he needed him? He'd be all over this. “Sorry, ladies. My girlfriend works the bar. That’s where I’m headed.”

  The brunette gave him a come-on smile. “Well, if she's working she won't miss you for a while yet, it's busy back there.”

  He shook his head. “No thanks. I'm going to go give her a hand.” He scanned the bar and saw that it really was busy. That asshole from earlier was still there with his friends, too. Chase just wanted to get over there. He felt the jealousy bubble up again as he watched the guy watching Kenzie work.

  The other girl reached into her purse and took out a room key. She slipped it into his shirt pocket. “Room 236 if you change your mind.” She looked over to where Robin and Aaron were chatting with another two girls. “Looks like it's going to be quite a party.”

  Chase wasn't even paying attention now, he was getting more and more agitated as he watched the guy ogling Kenzie's ass and then laughing with his friends. He needed to get back over there. He pushed past the brunette, there was no point trying to turn them down politely. They weren't the type to take no for an answer.

  When he got to the bar, he let himself in and glared at the asshole. When Kenzie turned around, she scowled at him. “I told you, I can handle it!”

  “And I told you I'm not standing for that shit!” Oh, for fuck's sake! He'd done it again. He took a deep breath to try to calm himself. “I'm sorry, lover. I just see red. I only mean I don't want him talking to you or about you like that. You're my girl.”

  Her face softened for a moment. “Okay, Chase, I get it. But I need you to trust me and I need you to let me do my job. Do you get that?”

  He nodded. “Of course, I do.”

  “Good. Then let me get finished up here.”

  Chase felt a bit out of place back here now and she was obviously busy getting everything closed up. Ben put a hand on his shoulder. “Can you do me a favor, and run these up to the lodge?” He handed Chase a couple of bags of change. “Amy's on the front desk and they're fresh out.”

  Chase looked at Ben, then at Kenzie then down at the bags. Apparently Ben wanted him out of here—and he could kind of see why. “Okay.” He looked back at Kenzie. “I'll be waiting when you're finished.”
She nodded then got on with taking care of customers.

  ~ ~ ~

  Once Chase had gone, Ben turned to Kenzie. “Are you two okay?”

  “Yeah, we're fine. Sorry about that.”

  “No apologies needed. I'm just hoping I did the right thing. We don't need any tension back here and it looked like you might both need a minute to cool off.”

  She smiled. “Thanks, Ben. We did.”

  Ben grinned. “You'll get the hang of it. I haven't minded Chase coming back here, but he's going to have to get used to the fact that some guys are going to be like that.” He nodded his head to where Mr. Loudmouth was still holding court.

  Kenzie sighed. “I can handle it. I'm sorry.”

  Ben shook his head. “I know you can. I'm not worried. We just need Chase to understand that too.”

  “Well, if you've got any suggestions, I'd love to hear them.”

  “We'll figure it out, but for now we'd better start cleaning up and throwing them out.”

  Kenzie got busy and was grateful that Ben took charge of the end of the bar where that guy was sitting. She could handle him—but she was relieved not to have to. She wanted to get finished up as quickly as possible so she and Chase could get home and get straight with each other.

  She looked up at a brunette who came to sit at the bar. “Sorry, we're not serving anymore.”

  The woman smiled. “That's okay. I just wanted to sit for a while.”

  Kenzie nodded and carried on clearing up.

  “Do you know the guys in the band?”

  Kenzie smiled, lots of the women tourists were interested in the band—usually in Robin. She nodded. “I do. They're probably out on the deck packing up if you're interested.”

  The woman smiled back at her. “Oh, they are. My friends are out there with them. Except the lead singer, he wasn't wasting any time.”

  “No, he had to go take care of something up at the lodge.” Kenzie thought about what Laura had said earlier, about women hanging around her man. She was glad Chase wasn't out there with the others.

  The woman laughed. “I know he was the one I was interested in, but I lost out. The thing he's taking care of is my friend! She slipped him her room key as soon as the band finished playing and I just saw him running up to the lodge. Looked like he was in a real hurry.”

  Kenzie swallowed, hard. That wasn't true. It couldn't be. Chase had come straight back to see her when the band got finished. But he had disappeared pretty quickly, too, hadn't he? No. No way could she believe he'd done that. She shook her head. No. It wasn't true. She got busy cleaning up and when she looked again the woman had gone. Maybe she'd been confused and had meant Robin, not Chase? She looked out at the deck. Robin was still out there, but where was Chase?

  Anxiety was starting to gnaw at her now. Had she misjudged him? Did he think it was okay to carry on sleeping with the tourists while she was busy working? She knew he used to do it all the time. She had too. Had she gotten too carried away with everything? Maybe this was his way of getting back at her because he was jealous of that guy earlier? She looked around. The bar was almost empty now, just a few stragglers here and there. Ben was shooing them out onto the deck so he could lock up.

  “Did Chase come back yet?” she asked.

  Ben shook his head. “No. I haven't seen him.”

  Where the hell was he then? He hadn't really gone up to some girl's room with her had he?

  There was still no sign of him by the time they were done. Ben gave her a puzzled look. “I thought he was okay and calmed down.”

  She shrugged. “So did I.”

  They walked out into the square. His truck was still where they'd left it earlier. Kenzie was starting to believe that maybe that girl had been right. Then she saw him. He came running down the steps from the lodge. The look on his face, when he spotted them, wasn't very reassuring—he looked guilty as sin. Her heart started to race. Surely he wouldn't have?

  He wouldn't meet her eye when he reached them. “Hey, lover. Are you ready to go home?”

  She nodded. She couldn't bring herself to speak.

  “I'll see you guys tomorrow,” said Ben. He gave Kenzie an inquiring look.

  She smiled back at him reassuringly. “Yeah, see you tomorrow, boss.”

  “Good night,” said Chase. He took her hand and walked over to the truck.

  When they got in she turned in her seat to face him. “Where have you been?”

  He started the ignition. “Ben asked me to take some change up to the lodge.”

  “I know that, but what took you so long? That was ages ago.”

  He shrugged. He sure as hell looked guilty about something. Did she have him all wrong? Was he just feeding her bullshit about loving her while he was going to carry on screwing anything else that caught his eye? She sat in silence, fuming with questions as he drove them home without a word.

  In the kitchen, she popped open a couple of beers and handed him one. She was overreacting. She must be. He had been gone a long time, but it was hardly long enough for him to have taken some girl back to her room and slept with her—was it?

  “What are you looking so guilty about?” she asked. She wanted him to tell her what he had been doing all that time, to set her mind at ease.

  He scowled at her. “I was staying out of the way, like you and Ben wanted me to.”

  Hmm. That wasn't too reassuring. He was definitely defensive about something. She relaxed a little as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her against him, into his now familiar embrace. “I'm sorry, lover. I guess I'm just a little tense tonight. I don’t want anything to come between us.”

  As he hugged her to his chest, she could feel that there was something between them. Something hard and flat in his shirt pocket. Oh, God! Please say it wasn't a room key? She took a deep breath and made herself relax, that was stupid. No way would he have done that. She wanted him to trust her, and she needed to learn to trust him, too.

  She couldn't sleep. She lay awake for hours after they went to bed. They hadn't made love, she hadn't wanted to, but it worried her that he hadn't either. He'd held her close for a long time, but they hadn't talked. She'd decided that she'd sleep on it—wait and see how things looked in the morning. Part of her knew she was being ridiculous to believe that he might have slept with someone else in the half hour he'd been missing, but another part of her wanted an explanation and some reassurance. This felt a lot like the life she was used to. Guys were only into you until they got into someone else. She knew how it worked, she'd played the game long enough herself. Now she was afraid that she'd laid herself open to get her heart broken. She wasn't playing anymore, this was deadly serious for her, but what if Chase was? What if he'd decided he didn't want to leave that lifestyle behind?

  She stared up at the ceiling. She needed to get to sleep, but she couldn't. She kept turning it all over in her mind. Why would that woman have said anything if it weren’t true? Why would he have taken someone's room key if he didn't intend to use it? And if he hadn't been with someone, why had he taken so long? She slipped out of bed, she needed to check his pocket. Maybe she was just letting her imagination run away with her? She tiptoed around to his side and found his shirt. She held her breath as she fumbled for the pocket. There was a card in there, but she needed to get to the light to see. She took it into the bathroom and closed the door before she flicked the light on. Her heart sank when she recognized one of the familiar resort card-keys. She felt herself start to shake.

  Fifteen minutes later she was walking down the road into the resort. If Chase intended to continue with his old way of life, then guess what? So did she. She didn't need to stick around for that. She'd stuffed a few things into her backpack and headed out the door. She could get Megan to send her the rest. She'd known all this was too good to be true, and now it was over. She didn't even know where she was going—but she was on her way. She'd see if there were any buses scheduled to lea
ve early, and if not she'd just keep walking until she could hitch a ride. Maybe she should head back down into LA. She still had friends there—at least she knew people. She might be able to pick up some work in a bar. That made her sad. She was running out on Ben. She didn't want to, but it had to be done.

  She stopped to check out the tiny bus station. There was nothing due to leave until eight. By that time, Chase would realize she'd gone—and she wanted to be long gone, so she followed the road out of the resort and picked up her pace as she left the little town behind. Someone would come by soon enough, she'd never had a problem hitching a ride.

  She was feeling a little less confident about that after an hour. The only vehicles she'd seen were heading into town, not out of it. She should have prepared better for a long walk, but she hadn't been thinking straight, she'd just needed to get out. Now she wished that she'd at least picked up a bottle of water.

  She heard a vehicle, but soon saw headlights approaching from the opposite direction—another car coming into town. This was a big, new Ford pickup, it looked kind of familiar as it shot by. She just hoped she didn't look familiar to whoever was driving. Her heart beat a little faster when she heard it slow down. Oh shit. She looked back over her shoulder to see it turn around and come back behind her. She shielded her eyes against the glare of the headlights. Who the hell was it and what did they want? They obviously weren't going where she wanted to, so why not just leave her the hell alone? She kept on walking.

  The vehicle pulled alongside and the passenger window rolled down. Smoke grinned out at her. “Good morning. Nice day for it, huh?”

  She kept on walking. “For what?”

  “For whatever it is you're doing.”

  She looked in at him. “I'm leaving, Smoke. That's what I'm doing. You need to get home to Laura.”

  He laughed. “Not a chance. Climb in Kenzie, and tell me about it.”

  “No. There's no point!”

  “Yes there is. You have to help me out here.”

  “I have to help you?” What the hell was he talking about? She was the one who was running, and he wanted her help?