I believed him. When he looked at me, he didn’t see a groupie, or a silly fan girl. He saw a woman. Maybe one he was attracted to and would want to date, if he felt free to pursue a relationship.
“Tell me something,” I said, hoping he would answer me honestly.
“Okay.”
“If you’d been able to track me down that night at your concert, what then?”
A pained expression crossed his face before he said, “The past year might not have happened. Had I met you before I mether…” He swore softly. “Let’s just say I doubt there would have been a her.”
Her. His ex-fiancée. The woman who had a total meltdown at one of his concerts because he’d invited a girl up onstage with him. A girl who was getting married, celebrating her impending nuptials with her bridal party. Yet his crazy ex stormed the stage and tried to start a fight with her, claiming the bride-to-be wantedherman.
“Sometimes I wish we could get a do-over, don’t you?”
His smile was sad when he said, “Yeah, I do. Right about now I’d give just about anything for a do-over.” He hesitated. “But one thing I wouldn’t take back? What happened between us last night. I don’t care what I said, sweetheart, that definitely wasn’t a mistake.”
Chapter 4
Dade
Since it was getting late, we finally ordered a pizza instead of cooking and were waiting for Charli’s mama to drop off a suitcase for her while we ate it.
“I’m sorry about this, Dade.” She shook her head as she tore her crust into bite-sized pieces. “I still don’t know how the hell she managed to invite herself over. One minute I was telling her about this temporary gig working for you, because of paps crawling all over their house, and the next thing I know she’s telling me to sit tight, she’ll be right over with some of my things. Barely let me get a word in before she was screeching at me to text the address ‘cause she’d be out the door in five.”
I chuckled at how distraught she seemed. Her mama was a riot. She’d been cozying up to me at her eldest daughter’s wedding, telling me to pay her husband no mind, ‘cause she just knew Charli was the perfect woman for me. And Charli’s daddy would come around eventually. I tried to tell her there was nothing between us, but she merely patted my arm and winked, like she knew better.
“Don’t worry about her.” I laughed. “I’m used to meddlin’ mamas tryin’ to set me up with their daughters.”
She groaned, palming her forehead. “But you’ve never met one like my mama. She’s got this fool idea in her head that you’d ‘take care of me,’ if we were together,” she said, making air quotes around the words. “Like I can’t take care of myself!” She slammed her hand against the quartz island. “Seriously! How’s that for a slap in the face, huh? My own mama thinks I need some rich man to take care of me ‘cause I’m too—”
I got in her face, distracting her with my close proximity, though our lips weren’t quite touching. “I think you’re cute when you get all riled up.”
“Oh shut up!” She pushed against my shoulder, stifling a laugh. “And don’t you dare egg her on when she gets here either!” Wagging a finger in my face, she added, “I mean it, if she finds out about last night, I mean, what happened after everyone left, she’ll go bat-shit crazy.”
“Hmmm.” I leaned in again, whispering in her ear, “Are you talkin’ about the six, or was that seven times I made you come for me?”
She gasped before her cheeks flamed and she pushed me away. “You did not just say that! Wait, you were keeping track of how many orgasms I had? Why? Is that a matter of personal pride or something, makes you more of a man to—”
I laughed when the doorbell rang and she dropped her head, chin to chest. I’d called the gatehouse and told them to send her mama up when she arrived, even though Charli wanted to insist she leave the bag with the security guard.
I opened the door with Charli following reluctantly behind. “Hey, Aidy.” She’d insisted I call her by her first name, which made sense, since she already treated me like a life-long friend. “Come on in.”
“Mama,” Charli said between clenched teeth as she was swept up in her mother’s arms. “Thanks for bringing the bag by. You really didn’t have to.” She gave me the stink-eye when I closed the door and smirked. “But you should probably be getting home now, don’t you think? I know you don’t like to drive at night after the cataracts surgery.”
“Nonsense,” Aidy said, waving her hand dismissively. “I can see just fine. It’s your daddy who doesn’t like me drivin’ at night. Says I’m as blind as a bat. Damn fool man.”
I was trying hard to keep a straight face, but it wasn’t easy. I cleared my throat. “Aidy, can I get you a drink?”
“My my,” she said, ignoring me as she walked through the house, peering into every room. “This is nice, isn’t it? You live here all alone, Dade?”
“No Mama,” Charli said, rolling her eyes. “It’s Dade and the sister wives.”
I chuckled before covering my mouth with my hand when Charli shot me a warning look. “Uh yeah, Aidy. Just me.”
She clucked her tongue, shaking her head. “This house it too big for a man on his own.” She shook a blue fingernail at me. “I’ll tell ya what you need. A nice wife and a bunch of kids to fill all those bedrooms.” She looked up the stairs. “How many bedrooms are up there anyhow?”
“Uh, five,” I said, biting my lip as Charli tipped her head back, staring at the ceiling.
“Five, huh?” She nodded. “So three kids then. One spare room, for when they have friends sleep over.”
