Page 41 of The Bachelor

“You’re not even going to ask what he said about you?”

She wasn’t sure what the correct answer was here. Was she interested? Absolutely. Did she think that might make her look bad and was she terrified she wouldn’t like what he’d said? Yes and yes. “Uh…no?”

Jolene laughed. “You know you want to know. That wasn’t a trick question. And it’s nothing bad, I promise you. He said you’re sweet. Which you clearly are.”

She had no idea what that meant for what Jolene was implying. “Oh. Well, that’s nice of him.” It was. Though she would prefer to be called sexy or irresistible.

“I’m in a tight spot here. Because I love my brother beyond anything and I want him to be happy, and I think you’d be good for him. But I also feel a responsibility to warn you that all of this will bounce off him, but none of it will bounce off of you. You’ll be a target.”

She knew that. She also knew she was keeping a massive secret from all of these people that might never see the light of day if she was just a songwriter. It might if she were Shane Hart’s public girlfriend. Or whatever it was he wanted her to be.

It was too risky. “I need to focus on my career right now.”

“I totally understand and support you in that. All right, then,” Jolene said, with a nod. “Now that we got that out of the way, a toast.” She raised her glass. “To making a hit record out of this song, which I think we should title, ‘Cleaning Up a Man’s Mess.’”

Relief made her damn near giddy. Her relationship with Shane wasn’t going to impact what happened with the song. She raised her glass and tapped it against Jolene’s. “Cheers.”

Holy crap, this was actually real.

Yet without Shane, this wouldn’t even be happening.

She was sitting in a meeting room with the Jolene Hart, having met Chance, because of Shane.

She wasn’t quite sure how she felt about that. Avery tapped her flute against Jolene’s and thought life was a wild ride. Like being on the back of Shane’s motorcycle.

He was waiting for them when Jolene opened the door. He gave his sister a stern look.

“Relax,” she said, squeezing his arm. “We had some girl talk. It’s all good. I want the song.” She looked over to Chance. “Right, baby?”

Chance nodded. “I agree. It’s perfect for you.” He held his hand out to Avery and she took it, shaking as firmly as she was capable of while trembling with both excitement and fear.

Yep. This was real.

“Can I talk to you, Avery?” Shane asked.

He didn’t wait for an answer. He took her arm and steered her right back into the office. Avery had one glance at Pat’s startled face before the door closed. Shane locked it.

“What the heck are you doing?” she asked. She wasn’t afraid of him. She was embarrassed. “Pat is going to be suspicious.”

He leaned against the locked door, folded his arms over his chest, and gave her a smile. “Congratulations, Avery. Your song is going to be a huge hit.”

“Thank you, Shane. It’s a dream come true.” It was. But she was also terrified as to what was going through her boss’s head right now. “Open the door.”

“Go to dinner with me. Let’s celebrate.”

This was so dang unfair. “I want to, you know that, but I can’t… not yet. I need to be more established.”

“Pat’s already figured it out. So has Jolene. What did she say to you anyway?”

“She wanted me to be sure I understood what all of this means for me.” She wasn’t saying a word beyond that. “If you don’t open that door, I swear I’m going to jump out the window.”

“I just want—

She cut him off. “I know what you want. I want it too. But the timing isn’t right.”

To her surprise, he capitulated instantly. He shoved off of the door, reaching behind him to unlock it. “Okay. I get it. I do. Call me when you’re ready, Avery. Because I’m going to be waiting.”

A shiver rolled up her spine. Could anything be hotter than a man saying he would wait for her? She didn’t entirely believe him. He’d move on in a month or two. But dang, it was amazing to hear.

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