Ready for You (Ready #3)(20)

She nodded enthusiastically and took my hand. That shocked me a little, but I figured she didn’t want to get lost in the crowd. So, I wove us through until we finally made it to the small group. Logan, Declan, and their friend, Colin, instantly rose to greet us.

“Hey, man! I didn’t know you were coming down! Take a seat!” Logan said with a hard pat on my back.

“Just coming by to say hi,” I said, so he wouldn’t feel obligated to find us seats. “I didn’t know you were such a fan of karaoke,” I followed up with a grin.

He laughed and shook his head. “I’m not—at all. Colin chose the place, and he didn’t realize it was karaoke night. When we got here, we talked about going somewhere else, but he thought it would be funny to watch. So, here we are.”

“So, I shouldn’t expect you to hop up there and bleed out your heart to all these women?”

“The only woman I sing for is your sister,” he said sincerely.

Logan and my sister had been married for a few years now, and I honestly couldn’t imagine a better man for her. After her first husband, Ethan, had passed away, she had been left alone to raise their infant daughter, and I’d thought she’d given up on ever finding anyone again. Logan had come into their lives and taken care of both of them. When he had been diagnosed with cancer a few years back, Clare had then taken care of him. I’d never seen a stronger couple.

I gave a quick nod to everyone else at the table, and then I noticed Logan glancing down at my hand still joined with Kara’s. I quickly let go, not wanting to give the wrong impression to either of them.

“Logan, this is Kara, my coworker. A bunch of us came down here to unwind after a long day. She, uh…saw Declan and wanted to meet him.”

Kara blushed, and Logan grinned. As the son of a billionaire, Logan wasn’t invisible to the public eye either, but since marrying and settling down, his popularity had died down significantly. When you were famous for being a rich playboy and suddenly you’re not anymore, people lose interest.

Declan, however, was an actor—or he used to be. He’d stopped taking roles over two years ago when he stepped behind the camera and started directing, but that didn’t mean people stopped recognizing him. He was gaining some serious credibility as a director. He hadn’t shown up in the tabloids as much, but the women could still point him out in a crowd.

“Well, we wouldn’t want to disappoint a fan, would we, Declan?” Logan said over his shoulder to his good friend.

Declan just shook his head and chuckled, standing to greet us. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Kara,” he said in a voice that oozed sex appeal.

Kara’s blush spread even further. “Can I get your autograph?”

“Uh…sure. You got anything for me to sign? I’m afraid I don’t really carry anything like that.”

She dived into her purse and rummaged around, looking for something, but she only found a pen. Nothing to write on. “I have a pen. You could sign me,” she said with a giggle.

I heard Colin choke on his laugh as he had been sucking down his beer. Declan gave a half-grin, but he handled it like the pro he was.

“That’s very sweet, but I gave up signing body parts a long time ago,” he said, holding up his wedding ring as an explanation.

“Of course. I was just being silly,” she answered, fumbling now and looking highly embarrassed.

Didn’t this girl just go on a date with me? Next to Declan James, I was suddenly chopped liver, not that I was jealous. It actually made my life a hell of a lot easier.

Declan reached down and grabbed a napkin off the table. He took the pen from her hand, and he scribbled something on the napkin. When he handed it back to her, she thanked him. They took a picture, which of course caused a domino effect, and he had to take many more pictures with several other women who were suddenly brave enough to come over.

After about fifteen minutes, he politely thanked them and said he was going to join his buddies for a beer. He sat back down, and everyone, thankfully, dispersed. The conversation Logan, Kara, and I had been having started to come to a close. Just as Kara and I were about to say our good-byes to everyone and join our coworkers again, Logan caught someone’s eye over my shoulder and cursed.

“Motherf*cker!” Declan joined in.

“Is that my wife?” Colin asked.

I turned to see my sister and her two best friends entering the bar. I lost interest immediately when I saw who was walking behind them.

Mia.

She was dressed in a short skirt and f**k-me heels, and I had to brace myself against the wall for a second to recover from the impact. Mia had always been beautiful and sexy in a natural way. She was never overdone but never plain either. Tonight though, she was dripping sex from head to toe, and I wanted to kill every man in the bar who was eyeing her as she walked in.

She wasn’t mine though. I had no right. My hands fisted at my sides, and I took a cleansing deep breath that did absolutely nothing to calm my nerves. I tried to turn back and start another conversation with Logan, but he was now entirely focused on Clare. He stood frozen in place, completely mesmerized, as he waited for her to join him. When Clare reached his side, she grinned, and he whispered something in her ear, which caused her to blush.

“Funny meeting you here, handsome,” she whispered.

“My night just got much, much better,” Logan said.