Page 46 of Wish You Were Mine

“Okay, hit me with it.”

He studied my face, any trace of humor gone from his expression. “I promised Eugene that I’d play a set on guitar at Drunken Destiny this Saturday. I don’t have my band or backing vocalists obviously, so I’d really love it if you’d join me. We could do a duet.”

I hesitated. “It’s a big risk on your part to ask without listening to me sing. How do you know I’m actually any good?”

His smirk returned. “Heather showed me a video of you performing in one of your school’s musicals.”

I grimaced. “She would do that, wouldn’t she?”

I’d gone through a period when I’d thought that theater might be my calling, but it turned out that I both hated acting and was terrible at it.

“I’m out of practice,” I warned him.

He shrugged. “So, we’ll get together sometime this week and clear the rust off your vocal cords.” He held out his hand. “Let me see your calendar and I’ll find a time that suits.”

I passed my phone over. “What makes you think I use a calendar app?”

“You seem like the type.” He scrolled through my phone and tapped on something. “Uh-huh. I thought so. How about after work on Wednesday?”

Asher’s car crawled past us. I glanced through the window and blinked in surprise. He was glaring a hole through Blair.

“Um, sure,” I said distractedly. “That should be fine.”

He entered the time into my calendar, and I watched Asher pull out onto the road. What the hell was up with him?

22

ASHER

Jeers rang out as I strode into the staff room at work. Darcy whistled from the table where he, Liam, and Zane were playing cards. Someone catcalled.

“You’re getting all the excitement lately,” Zane said, grinning broadly.

“We thought we could have cucumber salad for lunch tomorrow,” Igor added from where he lay stretched out on the sofa.

I groaned and turned to Maia. “You told them?”

She snickered. “Wouldn’t you? Come on.”

I threw up my hands. “Yes. I did have to rescue a cucumber from someone’s ass. It happens, okay?”

“Yeah, you did,” Darcy hooted.

Zane laughed. “People need to remember that butt plugs have a thicker base for a reason. Ass safety is very important.”

I flopped onto one of the chairs at the table. Maia joined Igor, shifting his legs out of the way so she could sit.

“Can you deal me in for the next round?” I asked Darcy, who was shuffling the pack of cards.

“It’s euchre,” he said. “You’ll have to wait until we finish this game, but it shouldn’t be too long. Zane only needs two more points.”

“Speaking of sex accidents,” Liam said, picking up the cards Darcy dealt him. “Did Tia ever find out what really happened to her house?”

I glanced at the door to check that Parks wasn’t hovering nearby, then over at Maia, who thankfully wasn’t listening. “Someone may have sent an anonymous note that suggested she might want to ask a few questions about particular details of his story.”

“Good.” His tone was blunt. “Think she’ll end it?”

“I hope so.” She deserved better, but I also knew it could be tempting to stay with someone you’d been with for years. People got used to each other, and change was scary. I just hoped Tia had enough self-respect to kick him to the curb.

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