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But Jax ate his pie and listened while Chase ran through what had happened with Summer at the club and the ideas he’d been having about starting an agency. By the end of it, the pie was down to crumbs and Jax’s wary expression had turned into pure curiosity.
“What about training? Neither of us has worked in the security field before.”
“Says who? I worked as a bouncer.”
“Oh yeah? For how long?”
Chase leaned back and spread his legs. “It’s not all about length, boy. Don’t you know anything?”
Jax pulled off a piece of the flaky crust and popped it in his mouth. “So you’re talking out of your ass, as usual. Lemme guess. You only bounced for one night.”
Not even a full night. Chase cleared his throat. “So what kind of training?”
“There has to be classes, right? In security techniques and martial arts or whatever…” At Chase’s eyeroll, Jax sighed. “I’ll look into it, if we’re going to be partners.”
That again. “I hadn’t gotten as far as the partners thing, but then I thought I’d be flying solo for a while anyway. I was prepared for you to only be a part-time employee.”
“Partner. Not employee. We don’t go in halves, we don’t go in at all.” Jax laced his fingers together. “Where are you thinking of setting up this agency? You’re not even local, are you?” He wanted to say more, Chase could tell. Jax must’ve developed restraint in the last decade, since he could fish with the best of them.
“Not local to Yardley, but neither are you. Right now I’m based in New York. I’m, ah, pursuing treatment for a slight injury.”
He didn’t appreciate or want Jax’s sympathetic glance at his pitching arm. So his ex-best friend had heard the rumors there too. They were surfacing more often now, especially in his and Jax’s circles. And apparently those of avid “fans” like Mark from the club. No matter how Chase had tried to keep the information on a need-to-know basis, word always traveled eventually. Luckily Jax didn’t comment.
“Yeah, well, I’m about to be local to Yardley again. I got an offer here too good to turn down. Not this one,” Jax put in. “Though this one’s certainly got my attention too.”
Knowing Jax wanted him to ask, Chase said nothing.
“So little Summer, a singer. I should go check her out. Maybe bring Cass—”
“No can do. She’s not telling anyone about this career of hers yet. Her choice,” he put in when Jax started to argue. “She’s the client. We don’t tell her how to run her business. We need to run ours.”
“Has she actually paid you for anything yet?”
“No. Since I don’t have a fee structure set up, I was thinking I’d take her on pro-bono, at least for a while. She’s a good kid,” he added gruffly when Jax continued to stare.
“Good kid. Uh huh. Right.” Jax motioned to their waitress. “Hey, honey, think we need some more pie. And keep it coming. We’re going to be here a while.”
Summer paced backstage in the Vienna Room, her phone to her ear. Behind her Kyle’s strumming scraped over nerves rubbed raw. “I know I said I’d work tomorrow. And I will. I just can’t be there at the crack of dawn, Cass. I’ll be in as soon as I can.”
“Are you in trouble?”
“For God’s sake, no. You’re no better than your brother.”
The momentary silence let her know she’d gone too far. “Have you seen Chase?”
Summer wanted to ask, “Haven’t you?” but she held her tongue. It surprised her more than a little that Chase hadn’t been by to see his sister now that he had so much more free time, but since she was currently hiding out from Chase herself, she couldn’t fault him for his vanishing act. “Yeah, briefly. A few weeks ago. We ended up in the same club. He looks good.” Too good. Lickable wasn’t an overstatement. “He was as overprotective of me as he always is. Just like you. Maybe someday you’ll both realize I’m an adult with my own money and my own life and my own vagina.”
Kyle’s plucking came to a halt. Vaginas weren’t his favorite topic of conversation, but then again, she was pretty sure he wouldn’t enjoy discussing cocks either. He had a sense of decorum she did not possess. Summer tossed him an apologetic glance over her shoulder and mouthed, “Sorry.”
“I’m pretty su
re I was already aware of that, especially the vagina situation since yours gets a lot more use than mine. Beeyotch.” The affection in Cass’s tone made Summer smile. “Look, I’ll back off, okay? Come in when you can tomorrow. I may be done with inventory when you get here, but we can always marathon taste test. And promise me you’ll call if you drink too much and need a ride tonight or whatever. Anytime, from anywhere. Promise me, Sum. Please.”
Summer sighed and clenched the end of the braid she’d tossed over one shoulder. It fit the peasant skirt and floaty blouse she’d worn tonight. The Vienna Room had a relaxed coffeehouse vibe, and she’d dressed to match. She kept tripping on the darn skirt and her lace-up granny boots were squeezing the life out of her bigger-than-waif-sized calves, but whatever. She looked the part. “I won’t be drinking tonight. Much,” she amended, thinking of her flask. “I’ll be totally safe, I promise. But if I need you, I’ll call. Now go do something fun with your Friday night and stop stressing over me, okay?”
“If you insist.” Cass’s long-suffering sigh made Summer grin. “Though I’m not stressing about you, I’m merely inquiring—”
“No need. I’ll be happily orgasming by the end of the night, no worries.” A small lie, but better that Cass think she was hooking up than pursuing a music career. If she was worried now, that would send her into full freak-out mode. Her best friend would be certain Summer had embarked on a path to drugs and danger and emotional ruin.
