“How does he feel about you and Auden?”
Her question prompted a stab of guilt, like maybe I should have considered Knox’s feelings before I jumped into bed with his opening act. But that was stupid, because Knox and I had just been good friends when Auden and I did the deed. That was before the weird sexual tension thing we seemed to have going on now.
“I don’t know.” Yes, I did. He didn’t like it.
“What’s going on with you, sis?”
Uh oh. I knew that tone. She was on to me. “What are you talking about?”
“Mama said she definitely picked up on some strange vibe between you and Knox and now you’re acting all weird about him.”
“No, I’m not!” Yes, I am. Because I don’t know how I feel or how he feels and I’m so messed up right now. “Knox and I are good. Solid. Friends, just like always. Nothing’s changed.” Except it feels like everything’s changed when he looks at me… or touches me. “Besides, you know Knox. He’s a man-whore, Char.”
Knox didn’t do relationships. One-night stands with groupies in towns we were just passing through was more his speed. He claimed things wouldn’t get messy if he slept with women who lived in a different city. No expectations beyond a few toe-curling orgasms, and I had a feeling he’d be the king of those too.
“Who says he couldn’t change, for the right woman?”
I barked out a harsh laugh. “Are you listening to yourself right now? Really, Char? Aren’t we supposed to be smarter than that these days, expecting a man to change?” I shook my head, even though she couldn’t see me. “No way, I accept Knox for who he is. I don’t ever expect that guy to change. He is who he is, bad habits and all.”
“Then maybe you’re selling him short.”
I didn’t think so. He’d never even indicated he wanted to change. And why would he? He had the best of all worlds. Rich. Famous. World travel. And women who were just happy to go along for the ride, with no expectations. What guy wouldn’t want that?
“And maybe you’re imagining things that aren’t there.” My sister was a hopeless romantic, always looking for her HEA and assuming everyone else should want the same. “Just because Mama put some crazy idea in your head—”
“Hey, speaking of Mama and her crazy ideas…”
Oh good, time for a subject change. “Yeah?”
“She said something about Dade Jarvis looking for an assistant. That’s not true, is it?”
I should have known this was coming. Mama never could keep anything under wraps. “I don’t know. I haven’t talked to him in a while. Knox may have mentioned something about it.” I wasn’t outright lying, just downplaying the truth.
“You think you could get me an interview with him, since y’all are friends? Or would it be with one of his team members? Yeah, that’d be more like it. It’s not like it’d be with the man himself. He’d probably be too busy to meet with every person who applied for the job. Someone is probably doing the preliminary interviews and he’ll just meet with the top few candidates or whatever, right?” She was rambling, which meant she was either excited or nervous.
“Cece? Are you still there?”
I smiled when she finally wound down. “Yeah, I’m still here.”
“So, what do you think? Could you put in a good word for me, maybe get me an interview?”
My sister rarely asked me for anything, so it was hard to turn her down when she did. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea, honey.”
“Why not?” She sounded hurt and maybe a little disappointed. “You know I’m damn good at my job. You think I couldn’t handle it? Couldn’t keep up with the demands—”
“This has nothing to do with your skill or work ethic.” There was no easy way to put it, so I was just gonna blurt it out. “You’ve been crushin’ on this guy forever. If y’all met you’d probably go all fan girl on him and make a fool of yourself.” And me.
“I would not!” She paused. “Okay, maybe I might want to, but I’d rein it in. I can be professional.”
“I know you can, honey. But this is Dade Jarvis we’re talking about. Not the cute barista at Starbucks who winks at you whenever you order coffee.”
She huffed. “Would you give me some credit? I can treat Dade like any other guy, I swear.”
I wasn’t convinced. “You may think that, until you meet him.” I’d been watching people get all stupid and tongue-tied around Knox for years. Meeting your idol up close and personal was always crazy exciting and there was no way to downplay that reaction.
“I don’t care. I still want this chance, Cec.” She hesitated. “And how cool would it be for us to live in the same city again? I’ve missed you.”
Ugh. She always knew how to wear me down. “Fine, I’ll call Dade and talk to him about it, but I’m not making any promises.”
