Just for Now (Sea Breeze #4)(13)

I walked down the stairs and into the living room. As I entered the room, Willow smiled at me and motioned me over. She was surrounded by guests, but her attention was on me. I could see the concern in her eyes. If anyone understood my life even a little, it would be Willow. She’d had a suck-ass family tree too.

“You’re back,” she replied, with a smile to let me know she was glad I’d returned.

“Yeah, I figured things had time to cool off. I didn’t want to miss tonight. I’m sorry about earlier.” I stopped at that. I couldn’t explain any more to her.

Willow shrugged one shoulder. “No worries. I think the guys were just worried about that guy causing a stir. He was a friend of a guest. He’s been escorted out.”

I reached behind her to the bartender and grabbed a beer. It was safer than the tequila shots.

Willow raised an eyebrow. “Ever heard the saying ‘Liquor before beer, never sicker’?”

I tipped the bottle to my lips, took a swig, and grinned. “Sweetheart, it’s liquor before beer, never fear.”

Willow laughed. “Guess you’d know this better than anyone.”

“He’s been drinking before he was old enough to shave,” Marcus drawled as he came up behind Willow and wrapped his arms around her waist.

Willow tilted her head back, and I watched as Marcus bent his head to capture her mouth with his. They were so f*cking sweet it made me sick. It also made me jealous as hell. I would never get that. I could never love like that. Ever.

“Glad you came back down to the party. I knew you weren’t drunk when Amanda took you up there,” Marcus said, once he’d released his fiancée’s lips.

“Yeah, I figured I’d given the guy time to leave or calm down.”

Marcus nodded. “I walked him to the door. Trisha said she was sorry. She told Krit he could bring a few friends. That was one of them.”

Krit was Trisha’s brother and the lead singer in a band. He didn’t normally have the best crowd surrounding him, and he traveled with a posse.

“Well, Krit’s friends have gotten classier. That guy was the son of a neurosurgeon in Mobile.”

Women always talked. They told me about their husbands and how they were neglected. I didn’t need to hear an excuse as to why they hired me, but they always felt like they had to give me one. It had been my first time with that woman. Normally, I kept my client list small. I had the usuals, but she’d been a friend of a client, so I’d agreed.

“So you did sleep with his mom?” Marcus asked. The disbelief wasn’t there. He knew. He always knew.

I sighed and took another drink of my beer. Of course I did. I wasn’t going to answer this, though. Not tonight.

“Listen, either you dance with your girl, or I’m going to,” I said, shooting Willow a grin. She knew I was kidding, but I loved getting Marcus all riled up.

“Back off, lover boy, or I’ll be the one kicking your ass,” he replied in an amused tone.

“Dancing sounds like fun. I want to go see Amanda and her new friend, too. I saw them walk down there,” Willow replied.

My somewhat good mood vanished. I wouldn’t be going down to the dance floor. I couldn’t handle that. I’d want to dance with her just to see if she felt as good as I knew she would.

“She’s with a Stone. Pisses me off. She don’t need to get mixed up in that world. He might not be a rock star, but he is awfully close to it,” Marcus snarled.

Willow laughed and slapped his arm. “He seems like a nice guy. Don’t judge him because of his family.”

I wanted to argue that, yes, you should judge him because of his family, but I kept my mouth shut. I couldn’t show any concern. Marcus would catch on, and he’d be shoving Amanda at Jason Stone. There was no way he’d ever agree to let his little sister near me, and I couldn’t blame him.

“I’m being good,” Marcus replied. “Besides, he leaves to fly off to LA soon, I’m sure. This is just a friendly thing. Amanda doesn’t seem real interested. Which is good, because he ain’t flying my baby sister out to LA with him. I’ll let her go five hours away, but that is as far as I’m allowing her to go.”

Willow sighed. “She’ll need room to breathe soon enough, Marcus. You can love her and care about her while you stand back and let her make her own decisions. She isn’t the little girl you took care of all your life. She’s a big girl now. Don’t forget that.”

Marcus bent down and kissed Willow’s head. “I don’t want to talk about family tonight. I just want to hold you in my arms. Let’s go.”

I gave them a small good-bye wave with my beer in hand and watched them walk toward the doors leading outside.

I could leave now and they’d never know. That way, I wouldn’t have to drink until I no longer cared about Amanda and Jason Fucking Stone.

“Hey, sexy. Why haven’t you called?” The cooing sound came from behind me, and I glanced back over my shoulder to see a familiar-looking brunette.

“Because I’m the * who never calls,” I replied with a wink.

She giggled and closed the space between us. Large fake rack. Big brown eyes. I’d screwed her before. She was a Jackdown groupie—I’d hooked up with her at the club one night while Jackdown was playing.