Baby Did a Bad Bad Thing (Hautboy Series Book 3) (12 page)

Resolved, I dropped onto the chair behind me.  “He showed up at my parents’ house Sunday afternoon.  We were just sitting down for dinner.  I might have been rude, but only because he hadn’t called in two weeks, and then he hid behind a Ficus tree when I was here Saturday, trying to avoid me.  I guess because I was rude, he was rude back.  He kept insisting that I take the job.  I kept refusing.  I mean, he was just being a jerk.  Why would I want to deal with him every day if he was going to act so immature?  He
hid
behind a ficus tree.”

Coop’s eyes brightened.  Her belly shook with suppressed laughter.  Despite the subject at hand, a smile crept across my own face.

“In the middle of our argument,” I continued, “my mother invited him to have dinner with us.  I was mortified.  At first, I thought he’d accepted because he didn’t want to be rude to my mother, but I gave him every opportunity to back out, and he kept shooting them down.”

“Merda.”  Em rubbed her temples, trying to dispel the thought.  “With your family?  On Easter Sunday?  After your brother gave him a black eye?”

“He was blackmailing me to take the job.”

“He admitted to it?”

I smiled indulgently.  “And then reminded me that he didn’t date acquaintances of friends or employees.  Which—”  I held up my hand, bidding their pause.  Objections perched on the edge of their lips.  “Which I promised wouldn’t be a problem, because I wasn’t interested.”

“Burned,” Em drawled with satisfaction.

“How did he take that?” Coop inquired.  She wedged her hand in the back of the sofa and pushed herself upright, intent on the conversation.

“He kissed me.”

Coop slapped the cushion, crowing in delight.  “I knew it!  I knew it!”

Wish I shared her enthusiasm.  “So he’s attracted to me.”  I shrugged, revealing my feelings on the matter.  “He made it clear to me and my family at Easter dinner that we were not and would not be dating.”

All humor was wiped from the girls’ faces, their hopes and expectations annihilated over a few spoken words.

“You don’t have to feel bad for me.  My mom—the matchmaker—made a comment about love and….
fate
.  Jake choked on a glazed carrot.  I had to give him the Heimlich.  It came out of his mouth, bounced off the Easter ham, and then landed in the green bean casserole.”

Chapter 10
 

H
autboy’s departing felt similar to sending the troops off to war.  By that, I mean the family gathered, teary-eyed to say their farewells, while the bus sat idling conspicuously off to the side.  It was a somber event, as if they might not return whole and unharmed from their extended weekend of radio interviews and rock concerts.  Of course, Hautboy was famed for their hardcore partying, but it appeared that they’d settled down a bit in the recent months.

“It’s less than a week,” Tate murmured to Coop.  His hands cupped her face, their foreheads touching.  He sounded like he was trying to convince himself of that.

He had a full schedule.  A small, acoustical event the band was playing tonight, an interview in the morning, and a set of back to backs at the Toyota Center Thursday and Friday.  After that, they were flying into Philadelphia to meet with Carter’s brother in law—who was the band’s lawyer—to discuss Tate’s upcoming testimony against Amanda Keller.  She was Tate’s ex groupie, the one that attacked Coop during his concert in Nampa.  Her trial was set for Monday.  Coop had been excused due to her medical condition and her inability to travel.

“You’ll be fine,” Coop told him.

“I’m sorry.  You know that, right?”

“Stop apologizing,” Coop chastised.  “She’s not your fault any more than Grant was mine.”  She pressed her lips to his in a brief kiss.  “It’ll be over soon enough.  She’ll be history.”

“She
is
history,” Tate promised.  They sank into a deeper kiss that had me turning away.  Likewise, Shane and Em were busy bidding their own farewells.

“What do ya say, Violet—gimme a kiss goodbye,” Carter proposed.  “I’m feeling a little left out.”  Before I could get a chance to shoot him down or fire off some witty retort, he dipped me back and planted his lips on mine.  He wasn’t a bad kisser at all, but he wasn’t for me.  There was no spark.  No heat.  Nonetheless, I threaded my fingers into his hair and arched into him, well aware that Jake was watching.

“Damn, Violet, you almost had
me
convinced,” Carter commended, still holding me in stance.  His breath rolled over my ear in a burst of laughter.  “I only meant to fuck with your boy Jake, but I think you actually made my dick move.”

“You’re assuming that Jake cares.”  Jake hadn’t said two words to me since I’d started the day before.  Why bother lying.  He hadn’t even
looked
in my direction.

“Oh, he cares.”  Eyes glittering with humor, he circled the tip of my nose in an Eskimo kiss.  “Don’t let him fool you.”

“Doesn't matter.  He’s not mine.”

“Then what's the show for?”

“Maybe I just wanted to fuck with him too.  In fact, do me a favor and spank me before you walk away.  A nice slap on the ass.”

“Jesus fuck.  Are you serious?”  He’d all but stopped breathing.

“Don’t be gentle.”

“Houston,” Carter drawled, “we have lift off.”  Slowly, he shook his head, shifting uncomfortably above me.

“Are
you
serious?”  I shouldn’t have found it funny, but I laughed nonetheless.

“You just can’t say those things to a man!”

“What?  Spank?”

Quickly, Carter returned me to my feet, and as I stumbled away, propelled by his effort, he swatted my ass.  “You’re a naughty girl, Violet!  A very,
very
naughty girl!”

My laughter was cut off with a sharp intake of breath.  He'd taken my request to heart.  Rubbing the sting away, I looked up.  We'd gathered more than Jake’s attention.   Nearly everyone was staring in our direction.  Feigning nonchalance, I winked at Carter and blew him a kiss goodbye.

“Trouble,” Carter reproved.  “Nothing but trouble.”  Adjusting his bag on his shoulder, he strode to the bus and disappeared up the stairs.  A second later he was beeping the horn, raring to hit the road.

“I’ll call,” Tate said.  He pressed a last kiss to Coop’s lips, then he, too, boarded the bus.  Shane followed, rubbing a smear of scarlet gloss from his mouth.  Jake boarded last, and if I'd thought he'd turn back, I was sorely mistaken.  He climbed the stairs without as much as a glance in my direction.

“He’s a stickler when it comes to his rules,” Coop stated.  “You're going to have a hell of a fight getting him to break.”

“I don't want him to break; I just want him to bleed a little.”  I was beginning to think he was inhuman.  He didn't budge.

“He bleeds,” Em said. “Internally, I think. He's ignoring you for your benefit, remember.”

“I wish he wouldn’t do me any favors.  I’d rather feel awkward than ignored.”  Kicking a small rock across the driveway, I sent the dogs chasing after it.  Levy found it entertaining and chased after them, squealing in delight.

“NO!”  I flinched at Em’s admonishment, but she had her red lacquered fingertip pointed at the dogs.  “Drop it!” she demanded.  “Drop it!”  Lowering his head, Rake unfurled his tongue and surrendered the pebble he gobbled up before his sister could reach it.  He didn’t raise his eyes again until Em pulled something from her pocket.  Immediately, he perked up, daring to lift his head and turn full tilt into a wiggle machine.  “There’s my good boy,” Em cooed, handing him the treat.  While Rake gobbled down his reward, Fiend took advantage and swallowed the rock, sending Em into a tirade of Italian epithets.

“She saided a bad wood?” Levy asked Coop.  Dogs temporarily forgotten, Em looked at Levy, stricken over his unexpected revelation.

Saving her from her guilty conscience, the bus beeped, announcing its immediate departure.  Coop grasped Levy’s hand.  I was swift to intervene by lifting him from under his arms and resting him on my hip so that he could get a better view.  “Wave bye-bye to daddy.”

Instead, his lip curled into a pout.  Tears pooled in his eyes.  “I wanna ride on da bus.”  His voice was so small it was almost heartbreaking.  Why did I sign on for this?

I looked at Coop, who was fighting tears herself.  “Hormones,” she blamed.  She quickly turned and waved goodbye, although you couldn’t see a thing through the tinted windows.

“I can take him,” Em offered.  She held out her hands.  Levy turned his head away from her and rested it on my shoulder, his tears soaking into my shirt.  His blond curls ticked the underside of my chin the same way my brothers used to tickle it with buttercups.

“Um, I think we’re good.”  I guess.

Em looked like she wanted to swear, but refrained now that Levy vocalized his understanding of her use of Italian.  Turning, she watched the bus inch down the driveway.

It was temporary, I told myself.  I was a nurse.  I’d dealt with much worse, like the sick and the dying.  I could handle a few despondent wives and children.

“I have to go see how my linguine is drying.”  Em turned and made her way back to the house.  She lifted her hand to her face and wiped away the tears she didn’t want us to see.

“
It bothers her
,” Coop said.  “
She doesn’t like to admit it, but it does
.”

“Nobody likes goodbyes.”

“
No, I mean Levy rejecting her.  She takes it personally
.”

“Maybe he's afraid of her.”

Coop laughed and looked at me curiously.  “
I doubt that.  She spoils him rotten
.”

“Just saying—she gets wound up while holding that wooden spoon in her hand, and starts spouting off Italian…it's enough to make anyone fear for their life.”

“
Do you really think so
?” she asked in earnest.

I shrugged.  “He’s young.  All it takes is one bad experience.  It didn’t even need to be directed at him.  I can’t tell you how many lessons I learned at my brothers’ expense.”

“
It’s possible.
”

“Or maybe he’s just playing her so that she gives him extra cookies.”

“
The latter is more likely
.”  Coop pointed toward the yard, where the dogs were currently headed at a lanky run.  “
Take a walk down to the water
?”

“I walk,” Levy said, hopefully.  Bus forgotten, he began to squirm, wriggling his way down my side.

“I suppose that’s a yes.”

“
It’s breathtaking.  You’ll enjoy it
.”

“I’m sure.”

“
The trees are beautiful and the water…the wind can cut right through you at times, but it’s warm today—oh, what am I saying, you’re from the area.  I’m sure you’ve seen it all before.
”

“Never this stretch.”

Behind Coop and Levy, I followed a flagstone path around the house and down the incline toward the water’s edge.  She was right, the wind cut right through you.  In fact, it took your breath away, but the view was worth it.  Jesus.  The Puget Sound was one of the most beautiful sights to behold, even if you were accustomed to living in the area.  Tate Watkins had little slice of Heaven in his own backyard.  I had to give it to the guy; he was living the fucking life.

“If I lived here, I’d never have to vacation again,” I professed.  “I’d sit in my breakfast room all day with a bottomless cup of coffee, and I’d stare out the window while pondering the mysteries of the universe.”

“
Like men
?”  I glanced at Coop, found a smirk toying at her lips.

“I know.  I know.  I said I wasn’t chasing him.  And I’m not chasing him.  I’m not, damn it!  That was Carter’s fault! 
He
kissed
me
.”  I poked furiously at my chest, stressing my point.

Laughing, Cooper held her stomach.  “
Your hands went into his hair!
”

“He enjoyed it more than I did.  Trust me.”  I crossed my arms over my chest, indignant over the conversation.  “It was like kissing my brother.  He’s so much like Peter it’s not even funny.”

“
I’m sure Carter would love to hear that
.”

“Oh, there was nothing there.  No spark at all.  I think we were in agreement on that.”

“
You sure had Jake fooled.
”

I stuttered, and quickly followed it up with an absurd snort.  “Yeah.  Right.”

“
Just saying, he was not happy when he boarded the bus
.”

“And that’s any different than normal?” I objected.  “The guy’s always so grim and brooding.  I never know what to think.”

“
Jake?  You’re talking about our Jake?
”

“Grim and brooding,” I reiterated, “never smiles.”

“
Jake
,” she repeated, as if I heard her wrong.

“Blond hair…pale blue eyes…plays the keyboard…”

“
He likes you
,” she concluded.  As if it were simple and I just wasn’t seeing it.

“I’m an inconvenience.  He’s annoyed.”

“
Love isn’t always convenient
.”

“Stop!” I demanded with a slice of my hand.  “We slept together.  Once.  That doesn’t constitute love.  It’s a one-night stand gone horribly wrong.”

“
Fine
,” she amended, “
he’s in
lust
with you
.”

“He’ll have better luck lusting after his left hand,” I stated.  “Putting on that show with Carter—that was a slip.  It won’t happen again.  I’m not chasing him.  I’m done chasing men.  Especially musicians.  They’re worse than doctors.  God knows, I’m sure he has girls lined up around the block when he’s out on the road.”

“
People change
,” Coop stated.  I looked over.  Her smile had recoiled to a frown.  I gave myself a mental smack on the forehead.

“I’m sorry,” I backtracked, “Tate would never.  He obviously loves you.”  It sounded logical.  Though, love didn’t always equate monogamy.  Tate did have a track record.

“
They’re all
good guys
.”

“I’m sure they are.  It’s just…there is no Jake and I.  If I knew I was going to be working for you, I would never have slept with him.”

“
If you could go back, would you change it?
”  Her expression dared me to deny my attraction to Jake.  I felt my face flush with color.

“No.”  As I watched a smile spread across her face, I quickly clarified my answer.  “That doesn’t mean that it’s going to happen again.”

Cooper rolled her eyes and made a sound of annoyance.  “
Deny it all you want, but you apparently can’t control yourself when he’s around
.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence.”

“
I’m rooting
for
you, not against you
.”

“You want me to lose,” I pointed out.  “You’re hoping I fail.”

“
I want you to win,
” Coop clarified.  “
You’re the one rooting against yourself
.”