Page 12 of Bad Habits
“You’re the best!” I meant it. Spending a few hours alone with my parents could mess me up for days.
My dad was an old biker, with a scary mean streak when crossed and my mother was the relentless nag who always set him off. Their arguments never escalated beyond bickering, but the back and forth was constant. When I asked them why they didn’t just divorce already and get it over with, they’d look at me like I was crazy and claim to love each other. I didn’t get it, but I guessed it worked for them.
“Your old man still working on that ’36 EL Knucklehead?” Knox asked, polishing off his eggs.
One motorcycle was the same as another to me, but Knox and my father were both obsessed with classic bikes, and had bonded over that obsession from the first time they met. I suspected Knox was the son he’d always wanted. Someone he could watch sports and drink with, ride and fix bikes with, share wild stories about his glory days. Whenever they got together they retreated to my dad’s man cave and didn’t come out until my mother started screaming about the dinner getting cold.
“I don’t know. He’s always working on something out in the garage.” Since he sold the auto body shop he’d owned for thirty years I suspected he hid out in the garage to get away from my mother. Not that I could blame him. She was a handful. A loud, opinionated, controlling, bossy handful. But we loved her anyway.
Knox grinned. “Hidin’ from your mom, huh?”
“You know it.”
Knox was the only guy my parents ever liked. Not that I’d brought many boyfriends home. Daddy had colorful full sleeves, with a white beard and long hair, who weighed in over three hundred pounds and stood six three. Most guys pissed their pants when they saw him and came up with a convenient excuse to bail before dinner. Not that I could blame them. I’d probably run the other way if I saw him coming too. But my little sister and I had always been daddy’s girls and I knew that would never change. We could do no wrong in his eyes and I was content to let him go on believing we were angels. Pure as the driven snow, or so Daddy thought. No need for him to know there were plenty of tire tracks in that snow.
Knox leaned back, stretching his arm across the back of the bench seat. “How’s your kid sister? You haven’t mentioned her lately.”
I was really glad I hadn’t bailed when things were still awkward between us. Hanging back and talking about my family helped re-establish the comfort zone we were used to living in. “She’s good.” I tugged my hair out of the bun and ran my fingers through it. The elastic was pulling a little too tight, catching a few strands.
Knox watched me run my fingers through my hair, like he hadn’t watched me do it a hundred times before. But this time he seemed transfixed. Shit. Things were getting weird again.
Back to my sister. “She’s an amazing V.A., and I think she likes freelancing, but it would be nice if she could get a gig in Nashville. You know, as a personal assistant to someone in the biz. You know she’s as obsessed with music as we are.”
My sister and I had been singing, playing instruments and writing songs together since I was twelve and she was eight. I’d been blessed with a good set of pipes, but she was able to play half a dozen instruments, so I was a little jealous of her sometimes.
“Yeah.” Knox bit his lip, looking thoughtful. “Hey, you know what, I heard Dade is looking for someone. I should give him a call, see if he might like to meet up with your sister next time she’s in town.”
“Dade Jarvis?” Like we knew anyone else named Dade. I loved Dade, as a friend. He was a country music God, but he also had the worst track record with women and my sister had been crushing on him since he broke on to the music scene twelve years ago. “Uh, I don’t know if that’s a good idea. Didn’t I hear he was between girlfriends again?”
Knox laughed, slapping his palm against the table. “That’s right. I forgot, your little sister has had a thing for him forever, hasn’t she?”
“Uh yeah, like I said, bad idea.” My sister had the worst taste in men. She loved the bad boys, and unfortunately they loved her back, twice as hard. She was a knockout. And I knew one look at her and our poor old buddy Dade, the ultimate bad boy, would be going down for the count again.
“Dade would love her.” Knox’s smile spread. “Like seriously, he would owe me big-time for making that introduction.”
I kicked him under the table. “Would you shut up? That’s my sister you’re talking about. You’re not using her to score points—”
“Who said anything about scoring points?” he asked, raising his hand. “Dade’s a good buddy. I owe him one for lending us his drummer when Catch was out with Mono last year.”
We did owe him a favour but I wasn’t serving up my baby sister. I knew she was a grown woman, but I still looked out for her. I loved Dade like a brother, but he was the last guy on the planet I’d want Charli working for. I had no doubt she’d be having his car serviced one day and he’d be servicing her the next.
“Besides,” Knox said, still trying to convince me. “After that shit show with the last fiancée, who cheated on him, he’s sworn off women.”
I rolled my eyes. “Dade’s sworn off women. For how long, a day?”
“Come on now,” Knox said, reaching for my hand. He played with my fingertips, running his thumb over my smooth polished nails. “We can trust him. We’ve known the guy forever. If we tell him your sister is off limits, he’ll respect that.”
It was hard to concentrate now that he’d started drawing circles on my palm with his thumb. Knox had always been a touchy-feely guy and it never bothered me before, but today it was making me all tingly.
“Don’t be so sure. When my sister sets her sights on something she usually gets it and she hasn’t just had a little thing for Dade. I mean, she’s crushin’ on that man hard, Knox. Put those two in a room together and we’re talking… explosive.”
“Explosive, huh?” His grin was dirty, but his eyes said it all. “I love explosions. You?”
I pursed my lips, trying to keep a straight face. I was used to his filthy mouth and the sexual innuendoes, but now that we’d stepped into a gray area in our relationship I wasn’t sure how to deal. “Shut up.”
“What?” He pulled the silver wave ring off my left hand and moved it to my right. “I’m just sayin’…”
“I’ve gotta go make sure the girls are up. We’ve got rehearsal in an hour.” I stood, but he was still holding my hand and pulled me back before I could get past him.
