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They hadn’t even made it to the next group of partygoers when Chad glanced over his shoulder and offered her a soft smile. “Hovering,” he said quietly, and she cringed.
Sorry, she mouthed.
She forced herself to turn away and tried to find a friendly face in the crowd. One appeared in front of her almost instantly.
“Oh hello, Jordan,” she said, wondering how long he’d been following her. “How have you been?”
“Kind of bored now that the tour’s been canceled,” he said. “You’re looking good, Lindsey.”
Sole Regret’s lackey-of-all-trades was only a couple of years younger than she was, yet she thought of him as a kid. He was a real sweetheart, though. He always went out of his way to help her out.
“Thanks. I feel like a duck-buffalo most days.”
“A duck-buffalo?”
“Waddling and lumbering at the same time.”
He laughed a little too uproariously, and she couldn’t help but smile. He tried so hard to connect with her.
“You’re staying with Owen?” he asked after he’d caught his breath.
“Just until I can find a job and get my own place.”
“You can crash at my apartment if you ever need to,” he said. “It’s not very big—just one bedroom—but I can take the couch, and you can have my bed.”
“That’s sweet of you, Jordan,” she said.
He was doing that clingy thing he tended to do. It sort of reminded her of how she’d acted when she’d first shown up pregnant behind the stadium in Houston. She cringed inwardly at the person she’d been. No wonder the band had wanted to leave her on the side of the road.
She spotted someone she needed to talk to making his way toward the chow line that was forming along the buffet table. “I need to talk to Adam,” she told Jordan.
“Oh, I’ll come with you. I wanted to ask him if he’s got an extra guitar I can borrow. I play some, you know. Been practicing. Do you like guitar best? Or drums?”
“Bass,” she said. And not just because it was the instrument that Owen played.
“I could play bass.”
She smiled, realizing she wasn’t going to shake Jordan easily. It was as if he liked her or something. But that was dumb. She was pregnant and older than he was. And totally not interested. She allowed herself a quick glance in Chad’s direction and found him laughing with Kellen, while Joan kept one eye on him—Lindsey wasn’t the only one who hovered over the dauntless veteran. She was happy to see Kellen had stayed at the party, even though Owen seemed to wish him dead, and that Chad held his brother’s recently acquired nemesis no ill will.
“It’s a real shame about Owen’s brother,” Jordan said quietly. “Taken down in his prime. He was such a strong guy.
Lindsey whipped her head around and leveled Jordan with a glare. “He’s still strong,” she snapped. “Still in his prime. Nothing took him down.”
She stalked off, forcing herself not to rush to Chad’s side and comfort him over words he hadn’t heard spoken.
“I didn’t mean . . .” Jordan said. He was following her still. “Lindsey, please don’t be mad. I didn’t mean to upset you.”
She showed him the palm of her hand over her shoulder, effectively telling him that their conversation was over. She spotted Adam’s girlfriend—er, fiancée, rather—sitting under Owen’s only large shade tree. Madison had a huge cast on one arm from wrist to shoulder and looked pretty fucking miserable in the cloying heat. Poor thing. The only time she brightened at all was when her gaze landed on Adam, who’d entered the chow line and was loading up two plates.
Lindsey knew for a fact that Madison hated her fucking guts, so in hopes of gaining her favor at least a little, she waved in greeting, but was ignored. So, Lindsey blew out a tense breath and steeled her nerve to approach Adam. He was talking to Melanie’s best friend, Nikki, but Lindsey had to take the opportunity to spring her request on Adam before it closed. Was Nikki one of the women who hated her? She was getting confused. Did she dare approach Adam now? She had two mouth swabs tucked into a pocket, one of them already labeled with his name. Jacob’s swab was in there too, just in case.
“Are you hungry?” Jordan asked.
“I’m always hungry,” she admitted, deciding her attempts to shake him were futile. Plus, he was pretty good at fetching stuff. Normally Sole Regret paid him to do it.
“You look a little tired. Why don’t you sit down? I’ll grab a plate for you. What are you craving?”
Calories.
“Jordan, that’s really not necessary.”
“I want to do it,” he assured her, sliding a hand to the middle of her back and urging her toward the row of folding chairs she’d help set up earlier along either side of the long tables they’d rented. Caitlyn and Dawn had let her help do some of the setup even though she wasn’t supposed to serve as a hostess or let on that Dawn had been involved in the planning of the dual engagement party. All the keeping track of who knew what and what not to say to who and who knew something about this but not that made Lindsey tired. She’d never known so much drama surrounded the band, though she did know she was a big heaping cup of their current drama.
“I think I will sit for a while.” As soon as she was seated, and Jordan had hurried off to get in line, Chad wheeled himself over to her.
“Who’s your shadow?” he asked.
She tilted her head. “Shadow?”
“The kid with the lapdog expression who’s been following you around with a hard-on since you came out of the house.”
“You mean Jordan?”
He glanced in Jordan’s direction and narrowed his eyes. “Are you two involved?”
Lindsey laughed. “Why? Are you jealous?”
“Should I be?”
“I’m not interested in him,” Lindsey said, unable to stop herself from resting a hand on his thigh. “I’m only interested in you.”
“Why?” Chad said. “He’s got two fully functional legs, isn’t surly or bossy, and has great hair.”
“He’s also annoyingly subservient.” She looked over at Jordan and found him staring at her and Chad. He beamed a smile at her and waved.
Lindsey waved back. “But he has always been nice to me, so don’t be a jerk to him.”
“Then don’t let him touch you again.”
“He didn’t touch—”
“He did.”
“Why are you acting all possessive?” She hoped it was because he was thinking of her as more than the body that served his physical needs.
“Because you’re mine,” he said.
She was? News to her. She opened her mouth to ask him to clarify his intentions, but she caught sight of Jacob out of the corner of her eye and jumped up as if the mere sight of him released a magical power that straightened knees. She’d heard of the enigmatic vocalist’s ability to spread female thighs like magic, but nothing about a knee-straightening skill.
“I’ll be right back.”
“Where are you going?” Chad asked, but she was too focused on Jacob to respond.
Jacob was crouched next to Gabe, who sat reclining on a blanket next to his Melanie in the wide side yard of Owen’s house. The two of them were surrounded by his family and hers, and both looked deliriously happy. As she watched the couple interact with obvious loving devotion toward each other, Lindsey was glad Gabe wasn’t her baby’s daddy. Not because he wouldn’t make a great father, but because she wouldn’t want to put strain on the newly engaged couple’s relationship.
