Page 110 of Doc Rock
“No,”Donnie huffed.“I collect grown-up Lego sets. I find it relaxing to build them. It takes my mind off the stress that certain people cause me.”
He stared pointedly at Scotty and then Ford, who were both trying their best to look innocent.
“Fair enough. So what’s your pointless rich man collection?”She reached out and poked Ford’s arm, knowing that her hand lingered and she touched him for far longer than she should.
“Trainers,” Donnie supplied.
Ford flushed and shrugged.“Yeah. I guess I’ve got a few pairs.”
“A few pairs!”Scotty spluttered.“One whole spare room in his unit is a shrine to trainers. He buys two pairs of everything, one to wear and one to display.”
Mai bit her lip to stop the bark of laughter that wanted to escape. Instead, she inquired,“So you have a trainer museum?”
“Guilty as charged.”Ford grinned ruefully.“I dunno, I got such a rush from buying a pair of vintage Nike Jordans that I kept buying them. I figuredit wasbetter for me to buy more shoes than drugs. It became an obsession; every time I thought about buying drugs, I’d go and buy shoes instead. And now I just like having them.”
“Oh.”Mai wasn’t quite sure what to say, so she asked about Joel.“And Crocodile Dundee, who has currently gone bush, what does he collect?”
“Cars.”Donnie rolled his eyes.“He’s got a car collection that’s worth over twenty million dollars.”
“What now?”
“Yeah. He really loves those cars. But to be fair, he never has more than ten at a time, and he’s got a great eye. Most of the things he’s bought in the past he’s sold for a profit,”Donnie explained.
“Wait, wait. His cars are worth two million dollars each?”Mai was gobsmacked.
“No. Some cars are worth way more. Then he has a few cheaper ones,”Ford said.
“That’s mind-blowing,”Mai said, her voice full of wonder.
“Youknowyou’re far richer than he’s ever been. You can start your own‘rich woman’collection,”Donnie joked.
Mai shook her head.“I don’t think I’ll evergetused to having money.”
Ford chuckled.“You say that now, but give it more than a week and it’ll soon start to sink in.”
She'd made an appointment to meet with her new money managers, but until she had access to the money, she couldn’t believe what her net worth actually was.
“We should fetch Joel. Dinner won’t be long.”Mai changed the subject.
“I’ll go.”Scotty leapt to his feet and headed for the door. His phone clutched in his hand, having opened the tracking app.
Chapter 38
Ford
“You did not!”Sie exclaimed, her delighted laughter ringing through the room.
Joel nodded very seriously.“I’m afraid I did. I was stuck in that hotel corridor naked, hiding behind a large pot plant for three hours until Scotty got back from the bar. I couldn’t go to the reception astherewere some MT fans downthere. So I was trapped.”
“Where were you while your bandmate huddled in the nude?”Sie nudged Ford.
He enjoyed the brief contact so much, but a bucket of ice water was thrown on him when he registered her question.
“I was staying at Sierra’s house,”he said flatly.
“Oh yeah. Sierra had that massive house just outside of town. You refused to let us stay over so you twocouldchristen all—”Scotty bit off his words, and his eyes flew to Sie and widened. He glanced at Ford and winced in apology.
The hour they had spent laughing and joking while they ate descended into awkward silence. Ford didn’tknowwhat to say. It had been sixteen years, and he’d waited a long time before hesawanyone else. But now Sie was back in his life, every girlfriend he’d had over the yearsfeltlike cheating.
