Page 64 of Dirty Mind
I dropped my head in my hands, wondering if there was any way to undo the damage I’d done.
* * *
She’d broughthimto the party. Max. Her so-called friend. But they didn’t look like friends. They looked like a hell of a lot more, and watching them made me feel chewed up and spit out.
Chee slapped me on the back. “Seen happier faces at a funeral. What the hell’s got you so down, boy?”
I shook my head, knowing if I started spewing my guts now they’d be blasting that shit off the walls and ceiling. “No problem, Chee.” I tipped my scotch back, savoring the burn.
“Bullshit.”
He was starting to sound like his son-in-law. “Just got a lot on my mind. Shit to sort out.”
“You waste more time sortin’ it out and you’ll be too goddamn late.” He gestured towards his youngest daughter. She was posing for a picture with her friend, the smile lighting her pretty face twisting the knife in my gut a little deeper.
I drained my glass before slamming it down on the bar, drawing the bartender’s attention. “One more, please.”
Chee chuckled. “I have a feeling you’ll be havin’ more than one.”
“You’re enjoying this?” I asked, side-eyeing him. “I thought you hated that little puke?” Max didn’t seem like a bad guy, but right now he was public enemy number one.
“What I hate,” he said, looking me in the eye, “is watching assholes jerking my baby around.”
Apparently the gloves were coming off. No more Mr. Nice Guy for Charli’s daddy. “And you think that’s what I’ve been doing?” I asked, stuffing a bill in the bartender’s tip jar, since it was an open bar. “Jerking her around?”
“I think you want her,” he said, sneering. “But you’re too much of a pussy to man up.”
I barely heard her old man’s taunt. She kissed him. And my world bottomed out. They were posing again, and I couldn’t tell from my angle who had initiated the kiss. I only knew her lips were on his and they belonged on mine.
“You know what I woulda done if I’d seen someone kiss my woman like that? I’d crack his skull.”
I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t tempted, but I had too much respect for Cece and Knox to ruin their party.
“Hey, man,” Evan Spencer walked up, shaking my hand. “Good to see you. It’s been too long.”
I forced a smile before gesturing to the crotchety ballbuster at my side. “You remember Chee from the wedding,” I said to Evan. “Cece’s father.” To Chee, I said, “Evan’s the president of our record label.”
“I know who he is,” Chee snapped. “Ain’t gotta be told twice.” He shook Evan’s hand. “Nice of you to show up. You must be a busy man.”
“It’s my pleasure.” Evan smiled, deepening the lines bracketing his mouth.
Most of the female artists on our label thought he was hotter than hell, for an older guy, but he was totally devoted to his wife and the mother of his children. According to Evan, they’d been together forever and he still regretted the years he missed out on before that.
“Your daughter and son-in-law are two of my favorite people,” he said to Chee. “I was glad to hear Knox finally proposed. Long time coming, if you ask me.”
“You can say that again,” Chee muttered. “But at least Knox was smart enough to figure out what he wanted before it was too late.” He hooked a thumb at me. “Can’t say the same for this guy.”
I clenched my jaw as I watched him walk away. Someone should put the meddling old bastard in his place. But it wouldn’t be me, ‘cause he was right and we both knew it.
Evan gave me a questioning look before he took a sip of his red wine. “I’m guessing this has something to do with his daughter. Charli, right?”
I’d ask how he knew, but the picture that blew up on social media wouldn’t have slipped under his radar. Evan earned the big bucks to know everything about his artists. Especially the shit that could hurt the brand his company had pumped millions into building.
“Yeah.” I stared at the woman in question, even though she’d been giving me her back most of the night. “I didn’t expect it, Ev. This woman… she’s knocked me on my ass.”
He grinned. “That’s the way it usually is, my friend. Blindsides ya, right?”
I shook my head. “I didn’t think I could be blindsided. Thought I was too smart, or too cynical, to go down for a third time.” I threw my drink back. “Apparently not.”
