Page 18 of Bad Habits
He released my hands and I whirled around, standing in front of him, but no longer touching him. “Knox,” I said, desperate to change the subject. “Mama thinks Charli working for Dade is a great idea. Can you believe that?”
“I told her that too!” Knos said, obviously pleased he’d been vindicated. “But she’s all worried that Charli’s gonna get in over her head with Dade. I tried to tell her that wouldn’t happen.” He chuckled. “Dade’s sworn off women, for as long as that lasts.”
I rolled my eyes, wondering if it was safe to return to the counter. “Oh please, he said that before he got engaged the last time too. That guy’s like an addict. He can never be without a woman for long. And I don’t want my sister getting mixed up in his mess.”
“How do you know they couldn’t maintain a professional relationship?” Knox asked, gripping the chair in front of him when I quit acting as his human shield.
“Oh please, have you met my sister?” She had guys panting after her like she doused herself in pheromone perfume. Granted, they were losers, but that didn’t diminish the sheer number of suitors.
“Sure, she’s gorgeous,” Knox conceded. “But so is every other woman who throws herself at Dade. Not to mention the women he’s been married to, engaged to—”
“But they’re not like my baby,” Mama cut it. “You mark my words. You introduce that friend of yours to Charli and he’d see her for the gem she is.” She fanned her face. “Lordy, and the way that man could take care of her—”
“Mama!” I couldn’t believe she was talking money in front of a guy who was stinking rich and wouldn’t appreciate being targeted by a woman because of it.
“What?” She shrugged. “The way I see it, it’s just as easy to fall in love with a rich man as it is a poor man. Lord knows your sister has had enough experience with the poor ones. Why not a rich one for a change?”
Knox laughed. “That’s one way of lookin’ at it, I guess.”
“Don’t encourage her,” I snapped, crossing my arms. “Mama, you can’t say shit like that. Money is the last thing someone should be thinking about when they consider whether or not to get involved with someone.”
“Do you believe this one?” Mama asked Knox as she gestured towards me. “So naïve. You’d think she’d be a little worldlier, wouldn’t ya? After all she’s seen and done. But no, she still thinks we have to pussy-foot around when it comes to money.”
Knox pinched his lips together, obviously not wanting to get in the middle of another family dispute. “I think it’s kinda nice, to be honest, Aidy.” His gaze strayed to me. “Your daughter doesn’t give a shit about money, unlike every other girl I’ve dated over the past five years.”
“She’s always been like that,” she said, slicing her hand through the air. “Both my girls have. Don’t give two hoots about money, as long as they have enough to ‘get by’,” she said, making air quotes around the words. “Why you’d just want enough to ‘get by’ is beyond me.”
Mama and Daddy had never been rolling in it, but they’d never been flat broke either. His auto body shop always did well and she’d owned a beauty salon for thirty years that picked up the slack during the lean years.
“I don’t know,” Knox said, smiling at me. “I’ve been poor and now I’m rich. I can’t say that I’ve changed all that much. Sure, things are easier now, but I’m no happier. I was happy before and I’m happy now.”
I loved that about Knox. He’d never let the money go to his head. “See Mama,” I said, gesturing towards Knox. “Listen to the man. He knows what he’s talking about.”
“If you say so.” Clearly she wasn’t convinced. “Knox, you need something, honey?”
“No, just came in to use the restroom.”
She had the decency to wait until he was out of the room before she said, “I knew you were sleeping with him. Don’t think I missed that little dance y’all were doing.”
Mama could make any woman question whether she was getting hot flashes. “We are not sleeping together.”
Her lips twitched before she gave in to the smile. “You may not be now, but mark my words, you will be.”
Chapter 7
Knox
Iwas walking through the backstage area the morning after my dinner with Cece and her family and saw something that stopped me in my tracks. Cece and Auden. They were sitting at a table together, their heads bent, looking cozy as hell.
I strode over, intent on breaking up their little party. “Hey guys.” My voice was strained, even though I was trying to sound cool. “What’s up?”
“Oh hey, Knox.” Cece smiled up at me and I felt like I’d been gut-punched. I didn’t know if I’d ever get used to the new norm with this girl. “We were just workin’ on a song.”
“Really?” Cece and I had worked on a few songs together over the years, but I’d never known her to collaborate with anyone else. I couldn’t say I liked it. In fact… I hated it.
“Yeah.” Auden smiled as he leaned back and stretched his arm across the back of Cece’s chair. “It kind of came to me last night,” he said, gesturing to the legal pad on the table. “But I needed some help fleshing it out. This girl,” he said, pointing to Cece. “Is crazy talented, man.”
Like I needed this little puke to tell me that? “I’m well aware.” Asshat.
