Page 11 of Finding Emotion

Damon set his glass down. “I think the term is ‘reckless.’” He glanced behind him, but none of the local diners appeared to be listening. “The whole thing seems like it was a whim to her.”

“One the fans are eating up. It’s the whole opposites-attract thing.” Jimmy tapped at his phone. “Hell, the amateur videos of the airport ass grab have more views than the official interview already. This is much better for you than that wimpy stalker shit that almost blew up.”

Some of Damon’s irritation at Skylar faded at the reminder. Like it or not, she had helped him out. Was the interview just that morning? The day felt like a blur. Skylar had saved him twice and rocked his sexual world in less than twenty-four hours. Any irritation toward her was irrational, and made him more than pathetically insecure. It also made him a jackass.

“Dame!” a voice shouted.

Damon turned in time to grunt over Blake’s sudden, rib-cracking hug. His friend practically lifted him from the stool in his exuberance. Damon groaned. “Fuck, Blake. Having a baby should have made you gentler.”

“Well, sure, toward her.” Blake laughed as he released him. “Damn, I missed you. But, dude, you’re too fucking light. Don’t the groupies like a little more meat and muscle? My daughter weighs more than you.”

“Don’t exaggerate,” Trenton said, brushing Blake aside so he could add his own quick shoulder squeeze. “Welcome home, Damon.”

The term ‘home’ didn’t sit quite right, not after a year on the road, but there wasn’t anywhere else that he’d call that. “Yeah, thanks,” Damon said.

Over Trenton’s shoulder, a dark-haired man in a suit, who could only be his sister’s husband, Nicholas, nodded at him.

“Shit, even you came?” He looked around at his friends and laughed. “I guess this means we’re all going to get wasted together tonight, and for once it won’t be over the phone.”

Jimmy slid off the barstool next to him. “That’s my cue to skedaddle.”

Damon grabbed his arm. “Stay for a bit. You don’t have any family here, and the hotel will be boring.”

His manager’s lips pressed together in that way they’d been doing all day. “I’m good. But thanks.” He shrugged Damon’s grip off and headed for the door.

Damon felt a twinge as he stared after Jimmy. He’d have to talk to him about Skylar later. Hopefully by then, he’d know what to say.

Blake snagged the empty stool. “Beer me, Mal!”

Trenton winced. “We agreed you’d stop saying that.”

Damon let their laughter flow over him as he turned back to the bar. Catching up with some friends, and maybe cementing a new one in the form of his brother-in-law, sounded like the evening he needed. He asked Nicholas what Erin was up to, and found that he liked the way the man’s face eased as he talked about her.

Chapter 7

Damon accepted the cup of coffee Malcolm set in front of him, though he didn’t need it.

“Did you sleep at all?” Malcolm asked as he started clearing the used glasses from the night before.

Damon shook his head as he sipped the caffeine. “It’s fine. I’ll conk out at the hotel today.”

Blake continued to snore over at the table where he and Nicholas had nodded off. The two seemed close for being complete opposites, but that made sense given how often Erin and Katie likely threw them together. His sister and Malcolm’s had been best friends since forever.

“He seems solid now,” Damon murmured, turning back to face the bar.

Trenton nodded beside him. “Taking over his father’s businesses suits him. He’s made a lot of strides in improving the companies, especially for the employees. It’s remarkable.”

“Must be.” Damon had never cared anything about business. As long as Erin was happy with Nicholas, that was all that mattered to him.

“How are you holding up, really?” Trenton murmured, his eyes steady despite his refusal of coffee and the amount of gin he’d thrown back the night before. “That’s one topic you’ve avoided. Does that mean things have quieted down or that you don’t want us to ask?”

The heat from the coffee mug sank into the palm of Damon’s hand, making the rest of him feel even colder. “Dwelling on it seems kind of pointless, you know?” He remembered the backlash from the leak at the beginning of the tour. “The press agreed with Jimmy’s take that it’s harmless and I’m whining about nothing.” The memory of the cracked mirror surfaced. “It’s not like the stalker has done anything to actually hurt me.”

“You don’t have to brush it off. Not in front of us.” Trenton’s jaw tightened. “I’m sorry none of my contacts found the person.”

“It hasn’t helped that I travel so much.” He’d spoken to a different police department each time, and each time, the gifts had been seen as harmless. Besides, the more people he told, the more likely the press were to get ahold of it again. “The weird thing is that when I do pay someone to watch out, nothing happens. Like the stalker knows.”

Malcolm’s eyes narrowed. “Doesn’t that mean it’s someone close then? What about your manager? He seemed to laugh it off.”

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