Hopeless (16 page)

“Yeah, I know what you mean. But come on,
Jay, there are exceptions to every rule.” He smiled. “Nice thing about bein’
the boss, you get to bend the rules whenever you want to.”

Trey was right. He didn’t give a damn about
his stupid self-imposed rules anymore; he just wanted to steal his brother’s
place by Victoria’s side before his mother started talking about venues for the
wedding. He knew his mother wasn’t quite
that
bad, but he wasn’t willing
to take any chances.

“Hey, I just thought of somethin’ I need to
talk to your brother about. If you’re headin’ over there, you mind tellin’ him
I’d like a word with him?”

Jay smiled. He knew Trey was just trying to
pave the way so he could have some time with Victoria. “Sure.”

Trey extended his hand. “Good luck, kid.
Seriously…”

Jay frowned as he accepted Trey’s hand.
“What’re you talkin’ about?”

“You have the same look on your face I had
when I saw Sierra for the first time. It was like I’d been struck by a damn
thunderbolt.” He gripped Jay’s shoulder. “I’ve never looked at another woman
like that since. When you meet the right one, you just know.” He inclined his
head toward Victoria. “Just don’t waste too much time lettin’ her know.”

Victoria was trying to listen politely
while Ashley humored her with stories of Mike’s childhood, but her gaze kept
drifting to Jay. He was standing there talking to a superstar, yet she couldn’t
take her eyes off him. Trey Turner could have started serenading her right
there in the backyard and she didn’t think she’d notice. In a house full of
people, Jay was the only one who drew her attention.

“I guess we should head back inside,”
Ashley said, drawing Victoria’s attention back to the conversation. “I need to
talk to Sierra about a benefit we’re working on for the school.”

“It was really nice meeting you, Mrs.
McCall.” She extended her hand to Ashley, who pulled her into a tight embrace.

“Call me Ashley, and believe me, the
pleasure was all mine.” She nudged her son. “After some of the girls my sons
have brought home over the years, you’re like a breath of fresh air.”

“Hey now,” Mike said, raising his finger in
warning. “You be nice.”

Ashley laughed. “This one especially…” She
waved a hand in Mike’s direction. “He likes the ones who go along with whatever
he wants.” She winked at Victoria. “What he doesn’t realize is that he needs
someone like you, who’ll put him in his place now and then.”

The conversation had flowed easily because
she wasn’t trying to impress the McCalls. Mike was her friend, not her
boyfriend, and it allowed her to join in on the good-natured teasing that had
the big, burly cop blushing like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

Victoria bumped her hip into Mike’s side.
“It would be my pleasure to put your son in his place whenever he gets out of
line.”

Mike put his arm around her neck and pulled
her into a hug. “Careful, sugar,” he whispered in her ear. “I just might tell
them it’s you who’s steppin’ outta line.”

She pursed her lips as she swallowed a
smart retort. He had her right where he wanted her and they both knew it. “I
hope to see y’all again before I leave.”

Ashley smiled as she squeezed her hand. “You
can count on it.”

“Oh great,” Mike muttered, letting his arm
slide down to her waist. “I was hopin’ to avoid her.”

Victoria’s mouth fell open when she saw who
was heading in their direction. Tori Warner. She’d won an internationally
televised singing competition four years ago, and Victoria, along with the rest
of the world, fell in love with not only her voice, but her quick wit and grace
under pressure. She went on to win the competition and had been topping the
country and all genre charts ever since.

“Oh wow,” she whispered. “I can’t believe
she’s here.”

“Yeah, lucky us.”

Tori was even more beautiful in person than
she was on TV
, Victoria
thought as she watched her approach. She’d never been star-struck before, and
she tried to remind herself Tori was just a regular person who happened to have
been blessed with an incredible singing voice.

“Hey, hotshot,” Tori said, grinning up at
Mike. “Aren’t you gonna introduce me to your friend?”

It was obvious to Victoria why Mike didn’t
like Tori. She was exactly like she appeared on TV. When most of the
contestants were kowtowing to the judges, she’d been respectfully defending
everything from her song to wardrobe choices week after week when they continued
to challenge her. She claimed she knew who she was as an artist and she wasn’t
going to conform for the masses.

The judges told her she needed to think
about her commercial appeal, and she told them she thought the music-buying public
was ready for an artist who wasn’t afraid to speak her mind, even if it got her
into trouble now and again.

When Mike didn’t appear interested in
taking the lead, Victoria extended her hand. “Hi, I’m Victoria Pierce. It’s a
pleasure to meet you, Tori. I’m a huge fan.”

She flashed a big, white smile complete
with deep dimples. She was a tiny little thing, at least five or six inches
shorter than Victoria and a foot shorter than Mike, but her larger-than-life
personality clearly held audiences captive.

“It’s nice to know you have better taste in
music than men.” She poked Mike in the ribs and giggled. “No offense, sugar.”

Mike rolled his eyes. “Don’t you have
anything better to do than waste your time givin’ me grief? You must be losin’
what… twenty Gs standin’ around here talkin’ to us?”

“Awww…” She pouted. “But I’ve missed
bustin’ your chops. You haven’t been around much lately.” She put her hand on
her lip. “Have you been avoidin’ me?”

“Only every chance I get.”

Instead of being offended, Tori threw her
head back and laughed. “See, that’s what I like about you, Coop. You give as
good as you get.”

Wow. If Ashley thought Victoria could keep
Mike in line, what must she think of Tori? Victoria cleared her throat when
Mike scowled at his nemesis and she smiled back. “Um, I hear you’re gearing up
for a new tour, Tori?”

“Yes, ma’am. Me, Trey, Nikki, and Ty.” She
took a pull from her longneck beer bottle.

“Classy,” Mike muttered.

She stuck her tongue out at him. “You’re
just mad ‘cause I can drink you under the table.”

Victoria laughed. Seeing someone like Mike,
who usually commanded control of every situation, cut off at the knees by a little
bit of thing with a southern drawl was more entertaining than watching reality
TV.

“What are you laughin’ at?” Mike asked,
turning his attention back to Victoria. “She doesn’t need any encouragement to
act like a spoiled brat.”

Tori tipped her chin up and tried to look
down her nose at Mike. “I’d rather be a spoiled brat than an uptight pain in
the ass like you.”

Victoria pinched her lips together to try
and suppress her laughter when Mike looked like he’d like to hoist Tori over
his shoulder and tan her behind for talking back to him.

“I need a drink.” He looked at Victoria’s
near empty glass. “You want anything?”

“No, I’m good for now. Thanks.”

When he walked away, Tori called after him.
“Hey, aren’t you gonna ask me if I want anything?”

“Get it yourself!” he shouted.

Tori burst out laughing, doubling over at
the waist. “I love messin’ with him.” She stood up and swiped at the tears
collecting at the corner of her eyes. “He’s so damn easy.”

It had been a long time since Victoria had
met someone as likeable as Tori. It was obvious that, in spite of her fame, she
didn’t take herself too seriously, and she still didn’t give a rip what people
thought about her. “Have you always given him such a hard time?”

Tori took another sip of her beer before responding.
“I know he’s a cop and he deals with death and depravity every day, but geez,
you’d think the guy would lighten up once in a while.”

The Mike she knew had been fun, confident,
and flirtatious, yet he seemed like a completely different person around Tori.
Victoria couldn’t help but wonder if the mega-star might actually intimidate
him. In his line of work, he was used to being the one to intimidate others,
but Tori clearly threw him off his game.

“So, what’s your deal?” Tori asked.

Had anyone else posed the question,
Victoria might have been offended, but she was beginning to understand being blunt
was just Tori’s M.O. “I’m working for Jay, managing his new karate studio.”

“Now he’s a hottie.” Tori turned around to
look for the man in question. “Hey, where’d he go? He was here a minute ago.”

Victoria had been so entertained by the
exchange between Tori and Mike, she hadn’t even noticed him slip away. “I’m not
sure.”

“Okay, so what’s the deal with you and the
hotshot?”

Hotshot
. Victoria smiled when she realized Tori was talking
about Mike. “Why do you call him that?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess ‘cause
I know it pisses him off.”

“And you like pissing him off?”

Her blue eyes sparkled with amusement.
“It’s damn near the highlight of my day.”

“Well… to answer your question, Mike and I
just started seeing each other.” She wasn’t lying; dinner, drinks, and movies
qualified as seeing each other. She couldn’t risk telling Tori the truth about
their relationship in case it got back to Jay.

“Huh, you don’t seem the type he usually
goes for.”

“Really? What type is that?”

Tori rolled her eyes. “God, the last one
would’ve jumped at the sight of her own shadow.” She covered her mouth when a
giggle escaped her lips. “I gave him a really hard time about her. Man, did he
get mad.”

“But that didn’t stop you?”

“Why would it stop me? I love to get him
all riled up. It’s good to keep him on his toes.” She took another sip of beer.
“You know, I have a theory about him.”

“Do tell.”

“He’s used to dealin’ with these bad-ass
criminals who damn near wet their pants when he says boo, so he thinks the rest
of us should treat him the same way.”

Victoria suspected Tori was onto something
with her analysis of Mike, but it didn’t escape her notice she must have spent
a lot of time thinking about it to come to that conclusion. “That’s why you
think he likes submissive women?” 

“I know it is. Jay, on the other hand, is a
different story.”

Victoria tried not to get her back up when
Tori mentioned Jay for the second time in as many minutes. She already knew
Tori found him attractive, and he’d have to be blind not to notice Tori’s
obvious attributes. She couldn’t help but wonder if they’d ever…

“Jay looks all mean and bad-ass, but he’s
not afraid of women who challenge him. I like that.”

“Yeah, me too.”

“I mean, who the hell wants someone who’s
gonna jump when they ask ‘how high?’ Am I right? Really, what does Mike see in
girls like that anyways?”

Victoria didn’t know, but she sensed it
bothered Tori a whole lot more than it bothered her. “I don’t know. Why don’t
you ask him?”

“Oh please, like he’d be willin’ to give me
a straight answer.”

“He just might surprise you, Tori.”

She shrugged. “Whatever. It’s not like I
care.”

Victoria grinned. “Riiiight.” 

Jay grabbed his brother by the back of the
shirt. “I wanna talk to you, now.”

“Whatever it is, I’m not in the mood.”

“Yeah, too damn bad. I want to know what
the hell’s goin’ on between you and Victoria.” Jay had been trying to hold his
tongue all night. He knew this wasn’t the time or place to get into it with his
brother, but he couldn’t help himself. Not knowing where things stood was
killing him.

Mike poured a shot of Jack Daniels into a
crystal glass. “You’ll have to ask her.”

It wasn’t like Mike to drink heavily at
family functions, and he never got the behind the wheel after he’d knocked back
more than one beer. “Are you drivin’ tonight?”

“No, Victoria drove. My truck’s in the
shop.”

Damn. Jay was hoping they’d arrived at the
party in separate vehicles. “Tell me somethin’. Are you really into her, or are
you just doin’ this to piss me off?”

Mike threw back the drink in one mouthful
and grimaced. “I couldn’t care less whether you’re pissed. I’ve got my own
problems.”

Jay frowned when Mike reached for the
bottle again. “What the hell’s got you all worked up?”

“Can you believe…” Mike took a deep breath.
“You know what, it doesn’t matter. I don’t know why I let anything she says get
to me.”

Jay could only hope Mike and Victoria were
already on the outs. “Who the hell are we talkin’ about?”