Lead (Stage Dive, #3)(25)

And if they weren’t, then I had to.

I couldn’t take another broken heart. Especially not when I could see it coming a mile away as in the case of Jimmy Ferris. He needed me to be a helper and a friend, not a lovelorn little twerp making starry eyes at him. He already had those by the bucket load.

I drew a deep breath, let it go. If only it didn’t feel like I was being slowly cut open at the thought of leaving him. Overly gruesomely dramatic, but true. But it was just the like the old ripping off the Band-Aid analogy. Better a smallish pain now than heartbreak and ruin down the track.

Still, the next few weeks were going to be hard.

Afterward, once I had my replacement settled in, maybe I’d go sit on a beach somewhere and feel sorry for myself. Get out of the rain and into the sun for a while, order frothy drinks with little umbrellas and fruit in them. I could wait out my sister’s wedding and then sneak home while she was away on her honeymoon. Yes, I had a plan.

Jimmy’s feet were bundled together, arms pressed against his chest. Poor, baby. He must be cold. Not good after his time out in the rain this afternoon. I grabbed a couple of throws from the cabinet, chucked one at his feet and spread the other out wide. The fine woolen material drifted down to cover him from shoulder to toe.

“Better,” I whispered.

“Yeah,” he whispered back, opening one eye to look me over. “Cute jammies.”

“I’ll have you know that flannel teddy bear print jammies are on the cutting edge of fashion.” I sat down, slumping tiredly. “What are you doing here?”

“Fell asleep. You woke me stomping down the stairs.” He sat up in slow motion, rubbing at his head. His dark hair stuck out every which way. The television cast shadows across his face. “What time is it?”

“Just past two-thirty.”

“What are you doing up?”

I shrugged. “Couldn’t sleep. Sometimes I just can’t get my stupid head to turn off.”

A nod and a yawn. “Pretty sure we can find something better than a nature documentary to watch.”

“You don’t have to keep me company. It’s late. Or early,” I amended. “Go on up to bed, I’ll be fine.”

He picked up the spare blanket and tossed it into my lap. “Once I’m awake I don’t tend to get back to sleep so easy.”

“Sorry I woke you. Pass me the remote?”

He chuckled darkly. “Lena, Lena. Shame on you. I’m half awake, not crazy.”

“Boys and their toys.” I wrapped the blanket around me, settling in.

He just gave me a half smile with the faintest trace of dimple. Actually, it was more of a quarter grin with a dash of the devil. But he was getting better at smiling and that’s what counted. It was going to be one of the regrets of my life that I’d never got to see the full thing. I bet it was lethal in all the ways.

We didn’t talk much. It was nice just having the company.

The last thing I remembered was being spread out on my half of the big couch, watching some cool old black-and-white movie about gangsters in the ’40s. I woke up in my own bed the next morning, carefully tucked in. So carefully, it was a struggle to get my arms out at first from beneath the blankets. Jimmy had obviously carried me up and put me to bed. When I tried to thank him, he just ignored me and changed the subject.

Same old, same old.





CHAPTER FIVE


Three weeks later …

“Lena!”

My head shot up, the mug of coffee jumping in my hands. Hot liquid scalded my fingers, stinging. “Shit.”

Jimmy came pounding down the internal staircase. “Where are you?”

“In the kitchen.” I snatched up a tea towel, dabbing at my pink skin.

“What the f*ck?” he roared, striding into the kitchen, dripping with sweat.

I sighed as only the long-suffering can do and rubbed at the coffee stains on my green Henley. “What the f*ck, what, Jimmy?”

Another set of heavy-assed footfalls followed behind the man in question. Ben the bass player came into view. Picture a sexy lumberjack with musical abilities and you’ll pretty much have him down right. He was equally sweaty—fitting, considering they’d both just been for a run.

“Hey, Ben.” I waved a hand and the big guy gave me his usual chin tip. But wait, was that a smirk lingering on his lips? He leaned against the wall and crossed his arms, obviously settling in for something.

Whatever was going on here, I already didn’t like it.

Jimmy tossed his phone onto the kitchen counter in front of me. “Why the f*ck do I have some …” He picked the cell back up again, squinting at the screen. “… Tom Moorecomb really looking forward to meeting with me about the new assistant position?”

My stomach fell. “Oh. That.”

“Yeah. That.”

“I’ve been waiting for the right time to tell you.”

Brows drawn tight, Jimmy braced his hands on the counter. “Let’s try now.”

“Well, I’ve decided to leave your lovely employ,” I said, holding my head high and speaking nice and clear in a friendly professional tone. Just liked I’d practiced over and over again in the shower, in bed, on the john. Pretty much anywhere and everywhere when I got a moment. No more excuses. “Not that I haven’t valued the time we’ve spent together, but I feel I’m ready to move on to new challenges. Tom is who I would suggest you hire as my replacement. He has a background in counseling, but is—”