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Bella stood and tucked her phone away. “Being smart and a coward are two totally different things.”
“If this guy lights the fires, what’s the big deal?” Nic snapped the last book into place and leaned on the bookcase.
“Because he’s lit the fires—bad metaphor, by the way—with dozens of others.” Accurate metaphor, but Nic didn’t need to know that, for God’s sake. Surely her skin couldn’t burn from the inside out?
“That’s what condoms are for.”
Bella stalked to the register, flipped off her heels, and jammed her feet into the ballet flats she kept under the registers. “How much did you charge him?”
Adam folded his arms with a smug smile. “Three hundred.”
“No discounts?”
“Figured King Midas could take care of it.”
“Babe, would you tell Izzy here—”
“Don’t you start that crap. It’s bad enough that he calls me that.”
Nic tsked. “Oh, you like it. I bet your panties are asunder as we speak.”
Adam snorted. “I like the name. It’s quite the rockstar girlfriend name.”
“Both of you, that’s enough.”
“Oh, c’mon. That man has lost weekend written across his forehead. What’s the harm?” Nic slid behind the counter and hooked her arm around Adam’s waist. “Remember when we have those?”
Adam leaned into Nic’s ear and said something that made her dark eyes widen, then she smiled broadly. “Maybe we’ll be having one this weekend.”
“Oh, gross. Save it for after hours.” Bella pushed her hair out of her face. Adam and Nic were exactly why she wasn’t going to get naked with that man. Well, besides the fact that he seemed to be on the same page as she was. She wanted what Adam and Nic had. She wanted it with one person that would be there for her.
That man wouldn’t be Logan King.
As amazing as the sex would be—and she was pretty sure it would be appallingly amazing—it was only sex. It would be a memory to add to all the other misdeeds of her past. And she had enough of those for her own memoir. Just because his chapter would probably sell a million copies didn’t mean she should have a Logan chapter. She plucked a rubber band out of her stash behind the counter and scraped her hair back into a stubby tail. “I’m going downstairs to work.”
Nic slid away from Adam and dragged out her laptop. “We got a few new inquiries.”
“Good.”
“This isn’t the end of the conversation, Isabella Marie.”
Bella escaped to the stairs and down to her workshop. Nic was only being a good friend, but she had the love of her life since the age of sixteen. Hell, more like six. Bella hadn’t found her Adam yet. And she wasn’t going to find him in a famous musician.
So she focused on the things that she could understand. The clean air of her studio was a good place to start. Hermetically sealed cases were disguised by old paned doors and windows. The room was kept at a constant sixty-five degrees and a dehumidifier kept things as even as possible. Summer was a drag on her resources and she was entirely sure she didn’t want to see her electric bill this month.
And yet it was always her favorite room.
The bank of computers hummed. Some were on a constant search algorithm that Adam programmed, some tracking auction sites, and her favorite wide screen had quotes from famous books scrolling in screen saver mode. She also had a set-up to do some simple paper testing. The book forgery market was as rampant as paintings these days. So, she did her own testing as often as she could, but it wasn’t her specialty.
Hers was the research. It settled her and emptied her brain. And right now she needed both before she had to deal with the board. And to put Logan King firmly out of her mind.
Six
Logan slammed the door on his truck and walked around to the back of his house. He caught the flash of a lens in the brush and sighed. Word was out that he was home. He wasn’t sure what the paparazzi thought they were going to catch from the back of his property. Like he was going to lay out naked by the pool or do a full workout for them to record.
Zeke would be in with his dog, Cody, the following evening, so they could start rehearsing for the festival. Cody’s favorite thing was scaring the shit out of the photographers. Always entertaining to watch.
But right now he needed more time to figure out songs. And for the first time, he actually wanted to pick up his guitar.
