Page 31 of No Words

“He told you,” Kellyjean said. “Something so deeply tragic happened to him that he doesn’t want to talk about it, and it made him behave badly.”

“If it were only his sister we were talking about, I would fully respect her right to privacy. But it isn’t. I have the right to know why Will said what he did.”

“Did he say he was sorry?”

“Well, yes. But I still need to know.”

“For heaven’s sakes, why?”

“Because, Kellyjean, I’m awriter! I’m curious about people and what motivates them.”

“Well, I’m a writer, too, and I say butt out.”

“Maybe because it wasn’tyourgood name that he trashed.”

“I think there’s more to it than that,” Kellyjean said primly.

“Oh, really? Like what?”

“Like you’re in love with him.”

“I’m in love with him?”I started laughing. “Kellyjean, what on earth would make you think I’m in love with Will Price?”

“I’ve got eyes in my head, don’t I? I’ve seen the way you look at him. When you two were talking when I came up to you on the beach before dinner, you could have cut the sexual tension with a knife.”

“That was hatred, Kellyjean. That was pure, unadulterated hatred.”

Kellyjean shook her head. “I don’t think so. I’m a romance writer, Jo, don’t forget. I’m an expert in these things.”

Astonished, I looked over at Bernadette for help. “Are you hearing this?”

“Uh, Kellyjean,” Bernadette said. “I have to agree with Jo here. This isn’t one of your paranormal romances. No one is going to shape-shift into a wolf. I can assure you, Jo hates Will’s guts.”

I did hate his guts. I absolutely did.

Although I had to admit that some of the parts outside his guts were pretty appealing. Sitting next to him all night, I’d been all too conscious of his hands—big, strong-looking hands for a man who apparently did nothing all day but type.

And those wide shoulders I’d first admired back in that green room hadn’t gotten any less irresistible, either. Neither had his night-dark eyes.

Ew, yuck, what was I doing, describing Will Price’s eyes as night-dark? That was like something straight out of a Will Price book... both a cliché and not true. Will’s eyes were brown. Just plain brown.

Not that I didn’t think of those eyes, and often. Occasionally, when I came across photographs of Will in airline magazines (he was forever getting interviewed in them, and I was forever coming across those interviews as I flew to and from book events), I blacked out those brown eyes and even his teeth with whatever pen I had handy, then left the periodical for the next passenger to discover.Who hated bestsellingauthor Will Price so much that they’d do something like this?I often imagined the passenger wondering to themselves when they came across the defaced photo of him.What did he ever do to them?

Ha! Plenty!

Ugh, I needed to drink some water. But Baileys tasted so much better.

“I think it’s good for Jo to find out what Will’s hiding,” Frannie was saying when I tuned back into the conversation. “Supposing it turns out he secretly ran over her husband?”

“Happens.” Jerome shook his head. “Happens all the time. White people are crazy.”

Kellyjean looked confused. “Jo, are youmarried?”

I grinned. “No, Kellyjean. They’re talking about Will’s new book,The Moment.”

“Oh. Well, I don’t think this is a joking matter,” Kellyjean said. “If Will doesn’t want you to know what happened to him and his sister, you shouldn’t be trying to look it up. It’s an invasion of his privacy, and it’s wrong.”

Frannie sighed. “Loathe as I am to admit it, Kellyjean is right, but not for the reasons she thinks. It’s wrong because it’s futile. I see Will Price’s name in the news every week, practically, for donating to charity or coming out with a new movie or being nominated as one ofPeoplemagazine’s sexiest men alive. If something bad had happened to him, we’d know already.”