Next Song I Sing (NEXT TIME AROUND)

by McDonald, Donna

  Marla had a good voice on her own, Chloe thought, wondering for a few seconds why she wasn’t a headliner somewhere herself.

  When the song was done, all three women were smiling and laughing.

  “You’ll do,” Marla said when the piano notes had faded away. “Max, you got us. When is practice?”

  “Hey—don’t I have a say in this?” Chloe demanded.

  “You’re the star, girlfriend. We’ll be all about you when we perform. Promise,” Marla said, smiling genuinely. “You got a nice set on you, and I’m not talking about those double-D’s, Sister.”

  Chloe sputtered as she laughed. “Maybe I do have the pipes—and other things—but I bet you’re going to be the real entertainment.”

  “You got that right,” Marla said with wide smile. “How did you figure it out so quick?”

  “The bartender obviously likes you,” Chloe said with a grin. “He has great taste in women.”

  Marla looked coyly over her shoulder. “I should be so lucky. Samuel’s a good man. I can’t get one of those to stay interested.”

  “Amazing things can happen around this place—trust me,” Chloe said sincerely. “How do you feel about Aretha in general?”

  “Aren’t you looking at me? I know Vanessa is light, but this body is deep mocha all over, honey. Aretha is in my blood. I don’t mind that old fifties stuff Max says you like either. You give us a play list and we’ll sing what you want,” Marla vowed. “Max said you’re used to a couple other backups. When your friends come around, they can spot us.”

  “Yeah? Who’s going to spot me when I need a break?” Chloe asked on a laugh.

  “We’ll talk about that later,” Marla said, winking. “Seriously, are we good on this or not?”

  Chloe shrugged. “What do I know? I’m not a professional. You sound good to me.”

  “Well with pipes like yours, you should be doing better than a spa hotel lounge, but it’s damn hard to get a real break these days,” Marla said.

  “Can you and Vanessa practice tomorrow morning?” Max asked. “Jasper says we can try keeping you on for a couple of weeks and just see how it goes. I think we’re going to charge a cover on the nights you and Vanessa are here. That should make up part of your costs.”

  “We sing for scale rates like always, but Jasper will get his money’s worth,” Marla said. “We’ll make your girl here sound like she was meant to.”

  Max nodded. “Excellent. See you tomorrow at ten.”

  Marla nodded. “Let’s go, Vanessa. If I don’t get you home early, that man of yours is going to think I’m corrupting you again.”

  “Reggie’s not that bad,” Vanessa protested.

  “You tell him to get a sitter if he doesn’t want to watch the babies himself because we’ve got solid work for a couple of weeks,” Marla said firmly.

  She turned to Chloe and put out a hand. “It was a pleasure to hear you, Chloe. Looking forward to singing with you.”

  Chloe smiled and shook Marla’s hand, still mostly in shock from their exchange.

  Marla and Vanessa got almost to the door before Sam found the nerve to stop them. “Hey, Marla. How about that drink I owe you?”

  “Missing me already, Sam? We’re just getting started, Sugar. You can’t be missing me yet. Look, I’ll be back tomorrow morning for practice,” Marla told him. “You can buy me lunch. I’m broke.”

  “That’s a deal,” Sam said, smiling and planning how to shift his work to make sure he was here and not at one of the other hotels.

  “Later, Baby,” Marla said, blowing him a kiss that made him laugh.

  Sam watched them until they were out of sight, and then stared at where they had been while he wondered if Marla really was divorced now, and what it might mean to him if it was true. After knowing her practically since he took the job with Jasper, he could probably write a dissertation about all the fantasies he’d had about Marla over the last decade.

  When Sam stopped staring at the door and thinking about seeing her again tomorrow, he looked over at the piano to see Chloe and Max smiling at him.

  “Didn’t you ever see a man make a date before? What are you two smiling about?” Sam demanded, mock glaring and trying to discourage their interest in his business.

  “Nothing,” Max and Chloe said together, pretending to study the sheet music on the piano while they both tried hard not to laugh at how interested in Marla Sam obviously was.

  Ignoring them, Sam went back to his inventory, humming as he counted, not realizing it was the song Marla and Chloe had been singing.

  Across the room, Max and Chloe heard it and busied themselves, both biting their lips to keep from laughing and ruining the moment for Sam.

  “All I can say is I better be next in line to find a woman,” Max grumbled, keeping his voice low enough so only Chloe could hear.

  Chloe patted his shoulder and rubbed his back. “I thought you had already found one,” she teased.

  Max laughed softly. “You know Taylor doesn’t want anything to do with me,” he said, frowning. “I haven’t given up, but she hasn’t given me any hope either.”

  “Your press precedes you, Wicked Wade. You’ve been publicly outed via the Internet as a cold-hearted user of women,” Chloe said gently, watching contrition pass through Max’s gaze. “Is it true?”

  Max thought about it for a bit before answering Chloe, thought about what Taylor had probably thought reading the published side of his life.

  “I suppose some of it was true about me until I got hurt. Public adoration is addictive, and I’d be lying if I didn’t say it was fun as hell to have beautiful women throwing themselves at me all the time. After my accident though, I realized life and fame were both short and that I needed to grow up,” Max said carefully. “That’s the reason I came here to recuperate. I knew Jasper would make me keep my promises to myself.”

  “So is Wicked Wade planning to seduce my friend and break her heart too?” Chloe asked. “Taylor mentioned you did that to Ryan Carmichael’s journalist friend.”

  “Is that what they say I did? I thought she and I were just good friends having some fun together. She thought I was good for her career and made sure I was in her paper under her byline all the time no matter how much I asked her to respect my privacy. After I broke it off with her, I went out a couple times with other women, but never got involved because I got tired of women feeling sorry for the wounded jock. Taylor is the first woman I’ve even paid any real attention to in a long while.”

  “I understand more than you realize about the kind of attention a good-looking jock like you would get,” Chloe said easily. “I married a retired, but still fairly famous football player. His reputation before me was not quite as notorious as yours, but turns out it was deserved in his case. I finally divorced him over the other women after five years. If you don’t have better scruples than Aaron, I’m going to have a real hard time convincing my friend to give you a chance, no matter how much I like you.”

  “I have the scruples Jasper raised me to have,” Max said sincerely, looking at Chloe who wouldn’t hold his gaze. “Do you think Jasper would cheat on you? He passed up Rayonna’s friend Lea.”

  “I made that choice pretty easy for him. Sometimes it’s not that easy,” Chloe said sincerely, giving him her best “don’t play stupid with me” look. “Just because Jasper is smart enough to go after what he wants with me now doesn’t mean he might not want someone like Lea again someday. That’s reality and I am a realist.”

  Max shrugged and gave Chloe’s body a sweeping look. “So might you, Babe. You’re the one with the collection of business cards. Jasper was having pity sex with his plastic doll ex before you came along. I haven’t had sex in over four months now. Both of those statements are the bald truth. Make sure when you talk to Taylor later that you pass my celibacy statement along. I’m trying to wait on her.”

  Chloe laughed hard at Max’s honesty and leaned down to kiss him on the cheek. “You definitely have your
brother’s charm, Maximillan. I’ll give you that. I even feel a tad sorry for you.”

  “Maybe I’m not one of the good guys yet,” Max admitted, shrugging one shoulder as he did. “But Taylor makes me want to be one. Hell, I’d try to be pretty much any kind of guy she needed to get a single date. I have a good feeling about her. I had it the first time I ever saw her.”

  Chloe laughed again, wondering if Max was half as earnest as he looked. “That’s a good line, Cutie.”

  “Oh hell no,” Max said, standing and gathering the sheet music. “No more of that ‘Cutie’ stuff. It wasn’t a line. It was the truth. What’s it going to take to convince Taylor Baird I’m on the level?”

  “I have no idea. Taylor is a jaded woman. If I think of anything, I’ll let you know—no, really, I will,” Chloe said to his disbelieving stare.

  She hooked her arm companionably in Max’s and waved at a still-humming Sam as they walked out.

  Chapter 20

  Aaron Kells, former receiver for the Los Angles Pirates, walked into the Laguna Nigel hotel and smiled. Three people immediately recognized him and came over to talk. Tucking the massive bouquet of roses he had purchased at the airport under his arm, he shifted the jeweler’s box containing his peace offering to free one hand for shaking, happily spending several minutes chatting. Fans were what he had missed most when he retired, and the attention was something he’d always missed after moving back east to work in his parents’ company.

  Full of his renewed confidence after receiving accolades for his sports past for twenty minutes, Aaron finally made himself focus on the real reason he was here. As much fun as it was, he wasn’t here just to take a walk down this particular memory lane, but God, he had missed California. His parents had offered him a job and security. Without an endorsement offer, he hadn’t had many career choices, unlike the woman he’d made his wife who seem to make money from anything she touched.

  Aaron said a polite goodbye and walked to the hotel front desk. He smiled at the female clerk who stared up in awe at his six-foot-four-inch height and mile-wide shoulders filling out his custom suit. He pulled a honeymoon photo from his pocket and showed it to the woman, who stared at it with ever widening eyes.

  “Hello. I’m looking for my wife and, like a doofus, lost her hotel information. Do you have a Chloe Kells registered here? Wait—check for Zanders too. She sometimes uses her maiden name when she travels,” Aaron said with his disarming smile, using the mild lie about their marital status to ease his way.

  And if she took him back again, it wouldn’t technically even be a lie, Aaron thought. He hadn’t fully appreciated how much stability and acceptance Chloe had given him in their relationship until she was truly gone. Nor had he realized how much he would miss coming back to her until it hadn’t been an option anymore. He almost didn’t blame his parents for being mad at him.

  “Just a moment,” Lily replied politely, stalling while wondering what to do and what to say. “Let me check something and I’ll be right back with you.”

  Looking at her fellow desk clerk, Lily motioned for Brent to follow her into the alcove where they stored luggage to hold it for guests.

  “Did you hear what that man said? He said he’s Chloe’s husband, and he has a picture of the two of them. But Chloe is with Mr. Wade, like right now with him, even as we are talking,” Lily whispered fiercely. “What am I supposed to do? Call Mr. Wade’s room and ask for Chloe? There’s no good answer here.”

  “I know,” Brent said, frowning and nodding. “The discreet thing would probably be to put the man in Chloe’s room until you could get word to her about him being here. However, the discreet thing is also an illegal thing. That’s something we’re never supposed to do. She didn’t list any relatives when she signed for her room.”

  “Yes, I know, Brent, but he’s Aaron Kells the football player,” Lily said. “Why would he lie? And the man has a picture of him and Chloe hugging and smiling. It doesn’t look like it was very long ago either. She still looks just like the picture.”

  “I figured the dude was somebody famous when he got stopped coming across the lobby,” Brent said, his voice thoughtful. “Football player. Not surprising with shoulders like that.”

  “Forget his shoulders and focus on the problem here. We have no time to indulge your jock envy. Everyone in the hotel knows Chloe is ten times nicer than Mr. Wade’s ex,” Lily insisted. “How can I mess up his relationship with Chloe, even if she really is cheating on her husband with him? If I could just keep Aaron Kells out of sight until I can warn her, then it will be her problem, not mine. It’s more like helping a friend than breaking a rule.”

  “I think that’s a stretch, Lily. I vote you tell him no and let it play out however it does,” Brent advised. “Doing the discreet thing might delay Mr. Wade getting his heart broken, but it also might get you fired.”

  “You’re right. I know you’re right, but this isn’t about regular guests. This is about Chloe and Mr. Wade,” Lily hissed, swearing under her breath as she followed Brent back out to the front desk.

  “You’re a good person for caring, but do the right thing,” Brent insisted.

  “I hate this,” Lily said, straightening her body as she walked. Managing hotel staff indiscretions had definitely not been listed as a requirement in her job description, and she sucked at lying. Brent was probably right.

  “Yes, Chloe is listed with us under Zanders, but she left no directions to give out her information to other guests. I’m sorry, but I can’t give you her room number until I contact her,” Lily said, smiling smoothly and meeting his gaze.

  Aaron smiled shyly and sighed, leaning against the counter, using his best timid moves to put the nervous woman at ease. Soothing frazzled female nerves was one of the things he did best, and pretending to be a bit shy around women was an act that always produced great rewards for him.

  “Okay—I understand. How about I’ll just go over and wait in the lobby while you let Chloe know I’m here? She doesn’t really like surprises anyway. You’d think after five years of being married to her, I’d stop trying to do it,” Aaron said, running a hand through his hair as he grinned. “She’s already going to be surprised enough that I made the trip after I told her I couldn’t come with her. Thanks for the help anyway.”

  Lily thanked him in return and nodded as she watched the very handsome and very polite man walk over to a lobby chair and fill it with his massive bulk.

  In the three years she had worked at the hotel, this wasn’t the most awkward situation she’d ever had to handle, but it was ranking highly as the most uncomfortable one. She dialed Chloe’s room but got no answer, which didn’t surprise her. Mr. Wade had mysteriously disappeared about an hour ago as well, citing some lame excuse, as had become his new habit.

  Two and two typically made four, and Lily could do basic math as well as the next front desk clerk. She chewed her lip while she wondered again if she should just call Mr. Wade’s room and ask for Chloe.

  Then she looked at the man in the lobby, who was making pleasant conversation with people near him and not demanding anything at all. While she wanted to think there had to be some mistake about who he was, his actions certainly weren’t giving her any cause for alarm.

  What if he was telling the truth about being Chloe’s husband? What if Mr. Wade walked into the lobby right now and asked who the guy was? Would she lie then?

  Lily could imagine the fight scene, the tears, and Mr. Wade going into a blue funk over Chloe. She met Brent’s questioning gaze and realized that she couldn’t watch the heartbreak happen when there was clearly another choice.

  Lily swore again, then picked up the phone and dialed the kitchen. “Eddie? There’s a man in the lobby waiting on Chloe. I’d like to put him in her room to wait discreetly while I look for her. Yes, I already got the lecture from Brent on how bad an idea it is, but it’s not like I can just tuck him away in a conference room. He’s insisting he’s her husband. No, I don’t really w
ant to believe it either. Yes, thanks. We need to be as quick as we can.”

  Moments later Eddie showed up with a bellboy jacket thrown over his kitchen clothes. Lily very calmly walked over to the man in the lobby with a frowning Eddie in tow.

  “Mr. Kells? Eddie is going to escort you to Ms. Zanders’ room to wait. As soon as we find her, we’ll inform her you’re here.”

  Aaron smiled and stood, reaching out a hand for her to shake. “Thank you,” he said, favoring her with his best smile. “I don’t want anyone to get into trouble just because I decided to surprise my wife.”

  “Everything’s going to fine,” Lily said bravely, more for her sake than the man shaking her hand.

  “This way, Mr. Kells,” Eddie ordered, walking to the elevators, thinking this just wasn’t right.

  Aaron followed the surliest bellboy in the history of hotel service to Chloe’s room. The frowning guy walked in, looked around, then left abruptly without even saying goodbye. That worked for him anyway, Aaron thought, staring at the guy’s back as he closed the door with a slight slam. The bellboy’s bad attitude just saved him from having to tip.

  He laid the roses on the bed and arranged the jeweler’s box next to it.

  ***

  “Chloe, stop—Baby…please don’t finish me off,” Jasper rasped thickly, squirming against her strong hands and sharp nails that held him pinned to the bed. “If you do that, I won’t be able to…”

  He screamed quietly against his release as Chloe’s laughter vibrated against his erection. He throbbed in the depths of her lovely, talented mouth that he’d just learned could do much more than just hit the high notes beautifully.

  “I definitely wasn’t ready for that to happen,” Jasper exclaimed, fighting for breath as he took stock of how many brain cells he’d lost. “I’m not twenty-five you know. I need more than a few minutes of recovery time to be any good to you after that.”

  “No need to recover for my sake,” Chloe said softly, kissing her way up her lover’s now totally relaxed body. “You can make it up to me next time. Maybe we can have chocolate mousse for dessert tonight. Have Eddie bring two or three. I’d like to actually eat some of it from a dish this time just to see what that’s like.”