Page 96 of Tempting the Player
“Oh, heavens no.” She waves off the idea. “But my daughter was a huge fan of that show you were on. The one with all the singing.”
Light laughter slips from her lips. “How old is your daughter?”
“She’s seventeen. A junior in high school. All honors and she’s in chorus too.” The woman hypes her daughter and Jane just grins back like it’s all super fascinating stuff.
“That’s incredible. Congratulations. You must be really proud.”
“Thank you.” She holds up her phone. “Do you think we could take a photo? She’ll never believe me when I tell her I ran into you. You’re really going to Valley U then? What about your acting career?”
“Absolutely.” Jane nods eagerly, ignoring all the questions except the first one. I detect the tiniest bit of discomfort, but I doubt anyone else would be able to see it. “Let’s take a selfie or a video. What’s her name?”
I watch on as Jane and the woman chat back and forth and then take several photos and videos. She thanks her, and Jane tells her how nice it was to meet her. She’s sincere too, which surprises me.
“You’re something,” I say after we’re alone again. “You just made that woman’s night.”
“Sorry about that.” She takes a sip of her water.
“Nah, don’t be. I just met your number one fan.”
“My number one fan’s mother, maybe.” She grins. “Are you ready to get out of here? I saw a waiter eyeing me like he’s trying to figure out who I am and how he can use it to his advantage.”
Fuck, that has to be weird. I do a quick sweep of the room as I stand and find the waiter she’s talking about instantly. Sure enough, he has his phone out and has it aimed this direction. I step in front of her and block his view the entire way out of the restaurant.
Once we’re outside I find myself slowing my pace as we walk out to my truck. Before I open the passenger door for her, I stop and use her hand to tug her around to face me. “I don’t want to go back home yet.”
“Okay,” she agrees quickly.
“Yeah?”
“I mean, if we go back, we can get naked sooner, but whatever you want.”
I take her mouth in a quick, hard kiss. That is tempting, but I want her all to myself for a little while longer. No brothers interrupting or in the other room listening in.
I don’t have a plan when I get behind the wheel. She plays with the radio, scanning until she finds a song she likes. Finally, she stops on an old Fleetwood Mac song. Sitting back, she sings along.
I glance over at her, ignoring how this particular song makes my chest tighten. Even more so with her voice drowning out Stevie Nicks.
“You like this song?” I ask.
“Of course. It’s a classic. You?”
“It was my mom’s favorite.”
“Really?” She beams as she angles her body toward mine.
I nod.
“What was she like?”
Staring straight ahead, I try to think how to explain her. I guess no one has ever really asked me about her so directly. “She was smart and funny. Very no-nonsense, which I guess she had to be raising four boys basically on her own.”
“What did she do for work?”
“She owned a bar.”
“Really?” Her eyes sparkle as she stares at me in surprise.
“Yeah. Her family owned it for something like twenty years. She took over when her dad passed away. She was only twenty-one, pregnant with me. It was a cool spot, not far from where The Hideout is actually.”
