“I really think you’re overthinking this.”
“You’re not the first person to say that to me.” I slow the pace down to a quick walk now. “I guess it’s in my nature to overthink.”
“Of course it is. You’re a woman.” Cami also slows her pace. “Holy shit, look at that.”
Across the room is a man lifting weights. His muscles are crazy big. He’s not bad on the eyes at all.
“I’m telling you,” Cami says, her eyes still on Mr. Beefcake. “They should have an observation deck here, where we can sit with a glass of wine and watch the show. I’d come to the gym every day.”
“I can get behind this idea,” I reply thoughtfully. “We should put it in the suggestion box.”
“I’m totally gonna do that.”
“Great. Now that that’s solved, what am I going to do about Jake?”
“You’re going to see him. If this all bothers you too much, talk to him. Ask him if this is just a fun time in bed for a while, or if he wants more. And if his answer makes you happy, go for it. If it doesn’t, don’t see him.”
“You make it sound simple.”
“It is, Addie. It’s really simple. Don’t make it harder than it needs to be.”
She’s right. I don’t know if I want to have that conversation with him, but it doesn’t have to be difficult.
“I need to have my roots done,” Cami says with a sigh as we both stop our machines and climb off to head to the showers.
“Let’s call Cici and schedule a girls’ night for this week.”
“That sounds like heaven. There are few things better than being pampered by Cici.”
Being pampered by Jake Keller doesn’t suck, friend.
“YOU WENT TOO long between cuts,” Cici scolds Mia as she trims her hair. “You should have been in here weeks ago.”
“I don’t know if you know this,” Mia replies sarcastically, “but I have a kitchen to run.”
“That’s no excuse to neglect your scalp.”
Cici is short and stick thin, despite having four kids. She keeps her bleach-blond hair in a pixie cut, and her makeup is always flawless.
Her makeup was flawless when she gave birth, for crying out loud.
“When did you get the new Chanel bag?” she asks me.
“Last week.” I pet the black leather with pure joy. “Isn’t she pretty?”
“I prefer Gucci,” Riley says as she reads People magazine, waiting for the color to do its job on her head. “There are some new brown heels out this season that I’m dying for.”
Kat is lying on a facial bed with a mask on her face and cucumber on her eyes. Her hands are folded over her stomach. “Y’all spend too much money on accessories,” she mutters.
“You enjoy tattoos,” Cami replies, snuggling Cici’s youngest baby in her arms. She is only three months old, and we all love snuggling her. “They like bags and shoes.”
“What do you like?” Mia asks Cami.
“Saving my money,” Cami says with a grin, then kisses the baby’s head.
“Mom! Mom! Mom!” Two little boys come running through Cici’s basement, wielding foam swords. Their faces are smeared with chocolate. “Daddy won’t let us stay up to watch TV!”
“You’re supposed to stay upstairs,” Cici says with a scowl. “Where is your sister?”
“On the phone. As usual.” The boys shrug, have a long, dramatic sword fight in the middle of the room, then run back upstairs as quickly as they came down.
“You know I love you, Cici,” Kat says. “But the best birth control in the world is one night a month at your house.”
“Oh please, learn from my mistakes, friends. Not that they’re mistakes, and I wouldn’t trade any of them for anything, but they’re a handful.”
“I’ll just come over and share your handful for a while,” Cami says with a soft smile on her pretty face. She looks so at home with that baby in her arms. Cami’s going to be an awesome mom someday.
My phone pings in my hand with an incoming text. I grin when I see that it’s from Jake. I haven’t seen him since Sunday morning, but he’s texted me several times a day, every day. I never know what they’re going to say. Sometimes he’s flirty. Sometimes he sends silly selfies, and sometimes he’s just sharing something that happened that day. It’s only Wednesday, but I miss his face.
Thinking of you. What are you up to tonight?
“Who’s that?” Mia asks with a frown. “All of us are here.”
“Is it Jake?” Cami asks innocently, but I narrow my eyes at her.
I’m getting pampered with the girls this evening. What are you up to?
“Why would Jake be texting you?” Riley asks. “What aren’t you telling us?”
“And why does Cami know and the rest of us don’t?” Kat asks as she peels the cucumbers off her eyes.
Good. You deserve to be pampered. I’m writing a song with Max tonight. Take you to dinner tomorrow night?
“Addie. Start talking,” Mia demands.
“Can’t I have two minutes to respond to messages?” I bite my lip, and type my response.
Okay, but don’t get any ideas about me being attracted to you or anything.
“Is she seeing Jake?” Riley finally asks Cami.
“Not my story to tell.”
“Addie!”
Stop fawning all over me. I’ll go out with you. Geez. Have a good night.
“Everyone calm down.” I shove my phone in my pocket and take a deep breath, then relay the same story I told Cami the other day. Everyone has stopped what they were doing to listen to the story. Cici has even stopped trimming Mia’s hair.
“I haven’t even seen him since Sunday.”
“When are you going to see him again?” Kat asks with a grin. “And also, I approve of this. I like him.”
“He’s taking me out for dinner tomorrow.”
“And after-dinner sex.” Riley does a happy dance, then fist-bumps Kat.
“Maybe.”
“Maybe?” Cici rolls her eyes and snips at Mia’s hair. “Girl, he’s gorgeous. And sexy. And a rock star. You better hit that.”
“Hit that?” I laugh out loud. “Since when do you speak like that?”
“I don’t know, it just came out,” Cici says with a laugh. “And you know we’re going to want details.”
“No details.”
“You’re no fun.” Riley pouts and crosses her arms over her chest.
“You’ve never wanted details before,” I point out.
“You’ve never had sex with Jake Knox before,” Mia says.
“Keller,” I reply automatically.
They all blink at me for a minute, then look at each other.
“She’s got it bad,” Kat says. “Not that I blame her.”
“He’s the trifecta,” Cami says. “Music, hot body, and personality.”
“I’m jealous,” Cici says with a sigh.
“You have an awesome husband,” I reply with a roll of my eyes. “And he worships the ground you walk on.”
“True. But he’s not a rock star.”
“No, he’s just a literal rocket scientist,” Riley replies. “You don’t ever get to complain.”
“I’m not complaining. I’m coveting.”
“We’re all coveting,” Mia says. “But I’m so damn happy for you.”
“And if he hurts you, we get to kill him and hide the body,” Kat says as she pops a frozen grape in her mouth. “We’ve always threatened to do that, but now we’d get to make good on it.”
“We can still kill Jeremy and hide the body,” Riley suggests. “And speaking of that, what was he doing in the alley, Addie? That doesn’t make any sense.”
“He was just drunk, and being stupid. It’s really no big deal.” If any one of them lied to me about something like this, I’d be pissed. But I don’t want them to worry. It’s over. Jeremy’s too lazy to come back for more. He’s most likely moved on to someone new now. And good luck to her.
; “I don’t think Jeremy’s worth potential jail time,” Mia says.
“And Jake is?” I ask with a laugh.
“Hell yes. Jake’s the real deal. He could seriously do some damage.”
That’s what I’m terrified of.
“Or he could be the best thing that ever happens to you,” Cami says thoughtfully. “Just lead with your head and not your heart. ’Cause your heart’s an asshole.”
“They all are,” Kat agrees with a sympathetic smile. I nod and chew my lip. Cami’s advice is exactly what I needed to hear. And being with my girls tonight is exactly what I needed for my soul.
Chapter Six
Jake
Max and I are in the studio, finishing up a song and checking our schedule for the next week.
We’re swamped. And damn if that doesn’t make me happy. When we started the business, I was terrified that we’d fuck it up. That artists wouldn’t want to work with us.
But it seemed that from the minute Max came to me with the idea and we set it in motion, it had a life of its own.
We have to turn people away.
“I know you don’t like to work on Sundays,” I say to Max while examining the schedule, “but it’s the only day we can get Steve in the studio, and I’m not willing to turn a musical legend down.”
“Agreed,” Max says with a nod. “It’s fine. Maybe I’ll just bring Tiffany along. She’d get a kick out of it.”
Max and Tiffany have been together for more than ten years, with no sign of marriage in sight. She’s been through everything with him. Sundays are their one day off a week together.
“Good idea.” I wonder if I can talk Addie into coming too.
What am I thinking? This isn’t a backyard barbecue. This is work.
“Wanna start that new song for Starla tonight?”
I shake my head and close the laptop. “I can’t. I have to get ready to go.”
“Go where?” Max asks with a raised brow.
“I have a date.” I grin, but don’t look him in the eye. He’s going to give me shit. If I don’t look him in the eye, maybe he’ll leave me alone.
“A date? With who?”
And maybe not.
“With Addie.”
Silence. Finally, I glance up to find him watching me, hands on his hips, a frown between his eyebrows.
“Addie from the restaurant?”
“That’s the only Addie I know.”
“So, you have a girlfriend?”
“No.” She’s not a girl, she’s an incredible woman.
“So, you’re gonna bang her?”
“You’re starting to piss me off, man.” I cross my arms and stare Max down, eye to eye now.
“I’m confused. You don’t date. You work and you sulk, and sometimes you get laid because you’re Jake fucking Knox, but you don’t date.”
I sigh and rub my hands over my face. “What’s your point?”
“That’s pretty much it.”
“I like her,” I reply with a shrug. “I want to hang out with her. It’s really that simple. There’s no need to make a big deal out of it.”
“She’s beautiful.”
I narrow my eyes on my friend.
“Come on, man,” he says with a chuckle. “I may be taken, but I’m not six feet under. She’s a beautiful woman. Smart. Too smart to waste her time with a bozo like you.”
“I love you too.”
“Do we need to have the talk?” His grin has turned pure evil now. He loves flinging shit at me.
“Fuck you.”
“Be safe. Condoms are important.”
“Stop talking.”
“No means no.”
“Shut the fuck up, Max.” But I can’t help but laugh. God, he’s a bastard.
“Be a gentleman. Open doors, pull out her chair, and all that happy horseshit. Oh! Do you need money for dinner?” He reaches for his wallet. “She shouldn’t pay for dinner.”
“I’m going to deck you.”
Max is laughing in earnest now, almost doubled over at my expense.
Asshole.
I turn away and walk to the door, not looking back at him.
“Compliment her shoes!” he calls out behind me. “Girls like that!”
I flip him off, then jog to the house to quickly shower and change clothes, and just as I pull out of my driveway, my phone rings.
“Keller.”
“Hey, handsome.”
Christina.
“Did Max call you and tell you to give me shit about my date tonight?”
“I don’t know what any of those words meant,” she replies. “I haven’t talked to Max.”
Well shit.
“But now I want to know everything.”
“Of course you do. Why are you calling?”
“Oh no,” she says with a laugh. “You’re not changing the subject. Spill it.”
I take a deep breath and merge onto the freeway. “I have a date with Addie tonight. And before you start,” I say, interrupting her, “Max already gave me a bunch of shit.”
“I like her.”
“You do?”
“Sure. What’s not to like. Hold on.” She doesn’t bother pulling the phone away from her face as she talks to her husband. “Jake’s going out with Addie tonight. Yes, on a real date. I know, I like her too. I told him that. Oh, you think she’s pretty?”
“Chris, do you want me to let you go so you guys can talk about Addie, or was there a point to this call?”
“Sorry. We both approve.”
“Thank goodness,” I reply sarcastically. “Otherwise, I’d have to call and cancel.”
“So, now that you have a girlfriend, does this mean I won’t see you as often?”
My hands tighten on the steering wheel. I knew she’d tease me. “No, you won’t see me anymore because you annoy the shit out of me.”
“Aww, you’re so sweet,” she says with a smile in her voice. “If you talk to Addie like that tonight, you’ll get laid for sure.”
“Why is everyone so damn worried about me getting laid?”
“Well, everyone should get laid,” she says, as though I’m a slow child.
“Getting laid isn’t my objective tonight,” I mutter.
“What is the objective?” Christina asks.
“To have dinner. To spend time with her. To get to know her.”
“You’re seriously going out on a date.” Her voice is heavy with surprise, and that just pisses me off.
“I’ve gone out on dates before.”
“Okay, all joking aside,” she says, her voice excited, but sincere. “I really like her, Jake. She’s smart and funny, and she runs her business brilliantly.”
Hell yes she does.
“You look good together,” she adds.
“Is that part of the criteria?” I ask with a laugh.
“Of course. And you make a beautiful couple.”
“It’s all her,” I reply softly. “Anyone would look good standing next to her.”
“Wow,” she whispers. “That might be the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard you say about a woman.”
“I like her.”
“I’m glad. Have fun tonight, friend. Call me tomorrow and fill me in, after you get home of course.”
“I’ll be home tonight.”
“Jake, if you’re taking her out on a date, you really should stay the night after you have sex with her. It’s the right thing to do.”
“I’m not having sex with her tonight.”
Christina is quiet on the other end so long I think I’ve dropped the call.
“Chris?”
“This one is different,” she says.
“Are you crying?”
“No.” She sniffles and I roll my eyes. “I’m just so happy for you.”
“Oh my God, C. Stop crying. It’s a date, not a wedding.”
“You deserve to find someone like Addie who’s smart and pretty and likes you.”
“I’m not so sure she likes me
,” I reply honestly. “Or if she does, she doesn’t want to.”
“Trust me, J, if she didn’t like you, she wouldn’t be going out with you tonight.”
I nod, then remember she can’t see me. “Good point.”
“I have to go.”
“Why did you call in the first place?”
“Oh! I almost forgot. I have news.”
“Okay.”
She sniffles again, and my stomach drops. “What’s wrong, C?”
“I’m not going to have a baby. It didn’t take this month.”
My own eyes get misty. “Wow.” My voice is gruff with emotion. “I’m so sorry, sweetheart.”
“I know.”
“Are you okay?”
“I think so. Kev and I are a little sad, but we’ll try again next month,” she says, trying to sound better than I know she feels. “I wanted to tell you. Because you’re my person.”
“I love you, C. This is going to happen.” I hope. I pray.
“Thank you. Now, you go enjoy your date, and call me tomorrow.”
“Yes, ma’am.” I grin as we hang up, and pull through Addie’s gate, ready to see my girl.
“I’VE NEVER BEEN here before,” Addie says with a grin as she dips her bread into cheese dip.
“How have you never had fondue before?” I ask, watching her eat. God, that mouth makes everything in me sit up and take notice.
“I dunno,” she says with a shrug, which makes the black blouse that lays off of one shoulder slide farther down her arm. She has gorgeous shoulders. “Just never got around to it. Here, you have to try this.”
She holds a piece of bread, dripping with cheese, out for me to take. I oblige her.
It’s delicious.
“Good?” she asks with a smile.
“Good.”
She immediately dives in for more and it occurs to me that I’ve never seen her eat before. The way she enjoys her food is fun.
“Did you grow up in Portland?” I ask and finally dig in with my own skewer. If I keep watching her, I’ll walk out of here with an embarrassing hard-on.
“Yep,” she replies and licks cheese off her lips. Maybe fondue wasn’t a great idea. “Mia, Cami, and I all grew up here, and have been friends since we were little.”
“That’s cool,” I reply, remembering the photos on her mantel. “Are your parents still married?”