Avery raised her hand to attract the attention of the waitress. “What’ll it be, Luc?”
He scrubbed his hands over his face. He’d been drinking too much, not sleeping enough, barely eating. It was starting to take a toll on his body. “I’m gonna stick with ginger ale tonight, Avery.”
She raised a manicured eyebrow and snickered. “You must have been on one hell of a bender last night. Still hung over?”
He smiled. Avery knew him too well. They’d dated several years ago, but that ended abruptly when Marisa moved back to town. “How’d ya know?”
“Rumor has it you’ve been hittin’ it pretty hard lately, Luc. You wanna talk about it?”
Luc looked up at the waitress approaching their table. She was petite but curvy with long hair and big blue eyes. She reminded him of Marisa. Every woman he met lately made him think of her. “What are you gonna have, Avery?”
“Just a diet coke. You hungry?”
He shook his head. He could barely stomach the thought of a carbonated beverage, much less food. “Nah, but you go ahead and eat.”
Avery smiled at the young waitress. “How ‘bout a diet coke, ginger ale, and plate of nachos?” She winked at her. “I’ll talk him into sharing with me.”
The waitress scribbled their order on a notepad and took their menus before rushing off to tend to another table.
It was a Friday night, and Jimmy’s was packed. It was the hotspot in this part of town, and they regularly hosted up and coming talent. Luc’s job was to keep his finger on the pulse of music in this city. Everyone who wanted to make it in country music eventually came to Nashville hoping to be discovered, and the first step on their journey to success was landing a manager with Luc’s connections. He was inundated with calls, emails, video clips, and demos from hopeful artists every day. His assistant fielded most of them on a good day. Lately, she’d been fielding all of them. He just couldn’t bring himself to care about work or anything else.
Avery popped a pretzel stick in her mouth. “Okay, this poor me routine is getting old, Spencer. You need to snap out of it.”
Luc smiled at Avery. She was tough and tenacious, which helped her build a reputation as the most sought-after publicist in their business. “Don’t hold back, Avery. Tell me how you really feel.”
She glanced at the screen on her phone when it buzzed. “God knows someone needs to set you straight. So your ex got engaged, get over it already.”
“I wish it were that easy.”
Avery stared at him for a long time before speaking. “I don’t understand you, Luc. You’ve been in love with that woman for years. You dumped me because you wanted to pursue a relationship with her.”
“I didn’t...”
She held her hand up to silence him. “Shut up and let me finish. You kept her tied down in a relationship that was going nowhere for two years. Then you have the gall to act like the injured party when she finally decides to stop wasting her time and finds a guy who is ready to commit. You had your chance, and you blew it, buddy. You have no one to blame for this but yourself.”
He knew Avery was right, but it still hurt like hell to face the truth. “I wanted to be with her. I just didn’t want to get married.”
“Yeah, well, she did wanna get married, so one of you had to have the balls to make a choice. Now you have to find a way to deal with it and quite acting like a fifteen year-old girl who just got dumped by her first steady boyfriend. You’re starting to get on everybody’s nerves.”
He gaped at her. “When did you become such a hard-ass?”
She laughed. “Years of being jerked around by guys like you and Trey.”
“Excuse me?”
She rolled her eyes. “Please, don’t act all offended. You know it’s the truth. You got involved in a relationship even though you knew you didn’t want a commitment. You just wanted a warm body in your bed at night. Then you wondered why the woman got fed up and told you to hit the bricks? You’re lucky Marisa gave you two years. It’s a helluva lot more than you deserved.”
He and Avery had maintained a friendship, not to mention a productive working relationship, since their break-up. He had no idea she was still so bitter. Not that he could blame her. He shouldn’t have wasted her time when Marisa was the woman he wanted. “Listen, Avery, about what happened between us...”
She laughed. “You think that’s what this is about? Get over yourself, Spencer. I’m glad you cut me loose. It allowed me to focus on what really matters: my career.”
“Think you’ll ever settle down?”
She shrugged her shoulders and popped another pretzel stick in her mouth. “Who knows? Maybe someday, but I’m in no rush. I do know one thing: he’ll be as far removed from country music as a guy can get. My days of mixing business and pleasure are over. I learned that lesson the hard way, thanks to you and Trey.”
Avery’s experience with Trey had been similar to her experience with Luc. She served as a warm and willing body to soothe his battered ego after his divorce from Sierra. As soon as Avery started to fall for him, he ended it. No wonder the woman was resentful.
“The way we treated you was brutal, Avery. I really am sorry.”
She tried to act nonchalant about it, but Luc could tell it still hurt her pride to acknowledge being a man’s second choice, not once, but twice.
The waitress appeared with their order just as the M.C. took the stage to announce the evening’s act.
Luc sat back and waited for the singer he’d been hearing so much about to command the stage. He listened while the guy sang his first song, oblivious to Avery’s reaction.
“So whaddya think? Has this guy got what it takes?”
She dropped her head in her hands. “Shit. I don’t believe it,” she whispered.
“What’s wrong?”
“I hooked up with that guy at a New Year’s eve party last year. I haven’t seen him since.” She peeked through her hands. “I hoped I wouldn’t ever have to see him again.”
Luc laughed. “That bad, huh?”
“No, he was that good. I just didn’t want to get mixed up with another musician, so I bailed before he woke up the next morning. I was drunk when we did the deed. I wasn’t exactly thinking about the ramifications, if you know what I mean?”
Luc popped a nacho in his mouth and chewed. “Think you’ll still be able to work with him if I decide to sign him?”
“Hell no!”
“Avery, come on, I need you. You know how this works. We have to build the brand, and that’s not gonna happen without the right public persona. He’s got the looks. He’s got the talent. He just needs the right team. What do you say? Are you in or out?”
She slid out of the booth. “I’m out, definitely out.” She grabbed her purse and coat. “Don’t even mention my name to that guy, Luc. I’m serious.”
He watched her sprint to the door. What the hell just happened? He sighed and reached into his pocket to retrieve a credit card to pay the bill when he noticed Josh and Lexi walk through the door. He beckoned them over when he realized, too late, they weren’t alone. Marisa and her fiancé were in tow.
The foursome walked over to his booth. Marisa’s eyes scanned the bar, looking everywhere except at him.
Josh held out his hand. “Hey, buddy, what’s up? You here alone?”
Luc shook his hand and smiled at Lexi, who winked at him. “No, I was here with Avery. She just bailed on me.” He nodded toward the stage. “I’m interested in this singer, thought I’d come and check him out.”
Tim wrapped a possessive arm around Marisa and drew her closer to his side.
Luc clenched his fists, trying hard not to react to the other man’s baiting. “What are you guys up to?”
“We just came in for a drink. Jimmy reserved a table for us in back. Why don’t you join us?” Josh asked.
“I’m sure Luc has better things to do than waste his time with us, Josh,” Marisa said, shooting him a warning glance.
He gri
nned back at her. Luc wasn’t about to let his ex off the hook without making her squirm a little. Watching them together would be torture, but it would be just as difficult for her current man to watch his woman with her ex and, for that reason alone, he was willing to endure the torture. “I’d love to join you guys. Thanks, Josh.”
He got up, and Lexi linked her arm with his as they walked back to their table. “Haven’t seen you in a while. You been keepin’ a low profile?”
He watched Marisa’s backside sway in her tight, low-riding blue jeans. Lord have mercy, that woman was hot.
Lexi pinched his arm.
“Ow. What was that for?”
“I saw you checkin’ her out. Behave yourself.”
“Why should I? Out of respect for that dumbass?” He inclined his head toward Tim. “That guy doesn’t deserve my respect, and he sure as hell doesn’t deserve Marisa.”
Lexi sighed. “But you do deserve her? Face it, buddy. Marisa’s out of your league. ”
Luc grabbed his chest, pretending to be wounded. “Why are all the women in my life doggin’ me lately?”
Lexi poked him in the ribs. “Aw, poor baby. Who else has been givin’ you a hard time?”
“Avery was just reamin’ me out for wasting two years of Marisa’s life and havin’ the nerve to whine about it now that she’s moved on with farmer Brown over there.”
Lexi threw her head back and laughed. “Smart girl, that Avery. I’ve always liked her.”
Luc grunted. “You would; you two are cut from the same cloth.”
“If you mean we’re both strong, independent women who are too smart to waste our time with losers like you, you’re right.”
Luc stopped short and grabbed Lexi’s upper arm. “What the hell is with you tonight?”
She pushed him into an empty booth and waved her husband on when they made eye contact. “I’m sick and tired of seeing you tear my friend apart.” She sighed. “Look, I love you, Luc. You know that, but this is bullshit.”
He glared at the back of the cowboy’s head as he bent to kiss Marisa. “She doesn’t belong with him, Lex. I don’t trust that guy.”
Lexi kicked him under the table with her pointy-toed boot. “Face it; you’d say that about any guy Marisa hooked up with. You just don’t want her to be happy with anyone else, do you?”
“Hell no, I love her. Would you wanna stand by and make nice while Josh married some other woman?”
Lexi folded her arms across her chest and leaned back against the upholstered booth, staring at him.
“No, I wouldn’t have let that happen. You, Sierra, and I all had a shitty time of it growing up, Luc. So how come we’ve been able to get past it and you haven’t? You sure there’s not more to the story than you’re tellin’ us?”
Shit. Luc knew it was only a matter of time before someone called him out. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Is it a crime to not want to get married? What the hell’s the big deal?”
The waitress approached Luc with his bill for the soft drinks and nachos, and he handed her his platinum card. He was grateful for the interruption. It gave him a chance to collect his thoughts. He hadn’t expected Lexi to confront him about his past tonight, and he struggled to think of an excuse that would justify his behavior in her mind.
“Staying single is a personal preference, and I get that, believe me, I do,” Lexi said.
He started to stand up. “Good. End of discussion.”
She grabbed his forearm and glared at him. “Not so fast. Sit your ass down in that seat until I’ve said my piece.”
He sunk back down on his side of the booth and dropped his head back, staring at the ceiling. “Fine. Let me have it.”
“You say you love Marisa, but you don’t want to get married, right?”
He forced himself to look at her. “Yeah, so what?”
She twisted her diamond wedding band around on her finger. “I don’t know. It doesn’t make sense to me. You’re not a quitter, Luc. If you’re willing to give up on her, even though you clearly don’t want to, there must be some other reason. And don’t give me that bullshit about your crummy childhood or divorce statistics or the fact that you’re not ready to commit to just one woman. You and Marisa were together for two years. Did you ever cheat on her?”
He reared back. “What? No, I’d never do that to her.”
Lexi grinned. “My point exactly. You were already committed to her, whether you had the piece of paper to prove it or not. My guess is this is more about kids than marriage, am I right?”
He shifted uncomfortably in his seat. This conversation was venturing into dangerous territory. “You know I don’t want kids, Lexi.”
She stared at him as though she was trying to read his body language. “Why not?”
He looked over her shoulder at the threesome behind them talking, laughing, and drinking beer. “I’m not good with kids.”
“Ever tried?”
He swallowed, trying to avoid eye contact. He had the feeling she was on to him. “No, why would you ask me that?”
She shrugged. “How do you know you’re not a natural? If you had a baby...”
He stood up. He was not going to have this conversation, not tonight. “I don’t wanna talk about this anymore, Lexi. I know you’re trying to help, but don’t bother.” He left her sitting in the booth. He could feel her eyes boring into him as he claimed the seat beside her husband.
“Uh oh.” Josh inclined his head toward Lexi and chuckled. “It looks like somebody’s got her pissed off. Sure glad it wasn’t me.”
“Pour me a beer,” Luc said, pointing to the pitcher of brew.
Tim looked at Marisa. “You wanna dance, darlin’?”
She cast a glance at Luc. “Uh, sure. Why not?”
He watched them walk towards the dance floor as he took a swig of beer. “What the hell does she see in that hick?”
Josh laughed. “He’s not a bad guy, Luc.”
Lexi beckoned Josh over and he excused himself.
Luc sat back and watched Marisa dance with her fiancé. He knew Tim wasn’t the man for her.
Something was missing, that glow that lit her up from the inside out. That sparkle she used to get in her eyes whenever he teased her, or told her he loved her, or just held her in his arms. He’d bet his last dollar he could still put that sparkle in her eyes. The song ended and he stood up, ready to test his theory.
Tim was making his way to the men’s room as Marisa walked toward their table. He decided to head her off at the pass. The music started to play and he smiled. Perfect.
He stood in front of her, making it impossible for her to make her way past him. “I believe they’re playin’ our song, pretty lady.”
She shook her head and cast her eyes at the ground. “I can’t, Luc.”
He took her hand in his. “Come on, baby. Just one dance, for old time’s sake.”
She bit her lip as she looked toward the restrooms.
“Come on, he’ll have you for the rest of his life. I’m just asking for the next four minutes. What do you say?”
She led him onto the dance floor. She placed her hand on his shoulder, trying to keep a respectable distance between them, but he stepped in, closing the gap between them.
He flattened his palm against the curve of her spine, just above the swell of her round bottom. He took her other hand in his and held it against his chest. “I haven’t heard this song in a long time,” he whispered.
“I have it on my iPod,” she whispered back. She looked up at him and quickly looked away when their eyes met.
He knew she was trying to fight their attraction, and it broke his heart. “Do you ever listen to it?”
She stared at a button on his shirt. “Sometimes.”
“Do you ever think of me, of us?”
She looked up at him, her eyes shining with tears. “You know I do. Why are you doing this to me?”
He tightened his hold on her, wanting nothing more than to ease
her pain. “Doesn’t that tell you something, sweetheart?”
“It tells me I’m a fool for falling in love with you.”
He shook his head. “I was watching you with him, Marisa. He’s not the one.”
She bit her bottom lip. “Don’t say that. You don’t know anything about him.”
“I told myself that if I saw that look in your eye, I’d get up, walk out, and never bother you again. I didn’t see it.”
She looked up at him. “What look?”
He smiled. “The look you have in your eyes right now. It’s that look you get every time you look at me. I love you so much, baby.”
Luc felt a firm hand on his shoulder. “What the hell?”
Tim pulled him back. “I’m cuttin’ in, buddy.”
Luc turned out of Marisa’s arms and stood toe to toe with his adversary. “The hell you are.”
Marisa stepped between the two men. “Please don’t do this.” She flattened her palms against Luc’s chest and looked up at him. “Luc, you need to go, now.”
He tore his gaze away from her fiancé long enough to look down at her. He could see this was tearing her apart. The last thing he wanted was to cause her any more pain. “Fine. Just remember what I said.”
Chapter Six
Marisa cradled her niece in her arms and pressed her lips against the girl’s downy soft hair. She inhaled the fresh scent of baby shampoo and felt the longing that had been ever-present in the weeks since Alisa graced their lives. “You’re so beautiful,” she whispered. “Your mommy and daddy are so lucky to have you.”
“You can say that again,” Trey said, coming up behind her. He put his arm around his sister’s shoulder and smiled down at his daughter. “I still can’t believe it. Some days I ask myself what the hell I did to deserve all this.” He laughed. “I must’ve been a saint in a previous life.”
Marisa looked up at her brother. He’d been more at peace in the weeks since Alisa’s birth than she had ever seen him. It was as though this tiny, perfect baby had healed his broken heart, making him whole again. “I’m so happy for you guys.”
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