Page 83 of Fresh Tracks
I hum and nod rapidly. “Yep, totally fine.” My voice turns into a nervous squeak.
“Grace.” His eyes flick to mine for a second before going back to the road, but long enough for his smile to fade and his lips to press together into a line. “Why don’t I believe you?”
CHAPTER 31
TJ
SIBLINGS
Grace looksat me from the passenger seat wearing a very unconvincing smile.
“So remember how Veronica is one of your biggest fans?”
I nod. “Hardly see how that’s relevant right now, but yes.”
“And remember how that picture was on a music blog with a bunch of your fans?”
“Yeah. And? What does that—” I cut myself off when it clicks. “No. Please tell me she didn’t see it.”
“Do you want the truth or do you want me to do what you asked?” I hear a playful tone in her voice. I’m glad she’s having fun with this because she’s not the one who is probably going to face down her brothers.
“Shit.” I strum my fingers over the steering wheel. “You know we already have our bags. We could take an impromptu road trip to literally anywhere — anywhere your brothers aren’t?”
“Tommy.” I hear the seriousness in her voice, but also the calmness. Then I feel her hand gently squeeze my knee in a comforting gesture, but I keep my eyes on the road. “If we want to keep taking this seriously, we might as well rip this bandaid off. V said Tanner’s waiting at your house. So let’sget it over with.”
I take a deep breath and exhale. “You’re right. It’s not like we got married without telling them. We’re just two adults that are happy together.”
She lets out an infectious laugh and a thought I’ve never even let see the light of day creeps into my mind. What does she want long-term? Would she ever even want to get married? And if I’m thinking about that, is that what I really want deep down? I bury that thought for another day and focus on the task at hand, getting home, and talking to her brother.
“Relax,” she says, her calm voice soothing my nerves. “We’ll do this together.”
Sure enough,when I pull through the gate into my driveway and past the main house, Tanner’s truck is there, parked right next to Grace’s van. And leaning against the truck is the six-four, rugged mountain man that I’ve known for years, who also happens to be the brother of the girl I’m falling for. Correction, I’ve completely fallen for.
I park behind her van and look at her in the passenger seat. “You think if we sit here long enough he’ll leave?”
She gives me a playful shove, but I see her hesitation. “Come on, let’s get this over with.” She unbuckles her seatbelt, stopping to look back at me. “Besides, if he really does beat your ass, I can nurse your old, frail body back to health.”
She tosses me a wink and suddenly, I don’t feel nearly as bad about this as I did fifteen minutes ago.
I step out of the car and walk around to the passenger side, opening the door for her. She hops out and hugs me, tapping the door shut behind her with her boot. I hold her against my chest, rubbing her back.
Tanner just stands there menacingly, briefly lookingat us before focusing all his intensity on me. Knowing him, I’m sure his pulse is a goddamn flatline. He’s worked for me for years before we became friends and I’ve never once seen him lose his temper. The look on his face now though is pure, quiet rage and I get it. I’d probably be pissed too if I had a little sister and someone I called a friend was going after her. Much less an infamous rockstar who was fifteen years older than her and has baggage that still follows him around.
I brush her bangs out of the way and press my lips against her forehead before letting go of her and I don’t miss the way Tanner grimaces.
I tip my chin to him. “Hey,” I start, “I’m sorry you had to find out that way. She wanted to tell you herself when she was ready. This is what she wanted though.”
He looks at Grace for a second before stepping toward me, stopping within arm’s reach for someone his size. “What the fuck is wrong with you, TJ? You hire my little sister and now you’re dragging her into the media for some publicity stunt or whatever it is you’re even doing?”
I shake my head. “No, that’s not it at all. I hired her because I know she’s passionate about what she does. Because she’s smart. Because she cares so deeply. Everything else sort of just happened after that.”
His nostrils flare and I see the doubt in his expression. “So you’re telling me that you never thought about her like this before hiring her?”
I sigh and palm my face. “I’m not going to lie to you. I was interested in her. When we met in Bend, she was just so genuine, so—” I run my hand through my hair and sigh. “So damn energetic and real. But I meant it when I said that’s not why I asked her to work for me.”
He takes a step toward Grace and holds her shoulder. If he wasn’t her brother, I’d have already decked anyone for gettingthat close and touching her. “Are you alright? I’m so sorry for letting him take advantage of you.”
I watch her reaction and the look in her eyes might be more intense than her brother’s. She steps into him and shoves him square in the chest, almost knocking him off his feet. Tanner normally dwarfs most people around him, but I can see that she’s used to being up in her brother’s face with her height. He takes a step back and looks between us.
