Page 123 of Snared

She nodded and headed down the hallway.

I hadn’t seen Phillip since I’d gotten back, but we were grabbing dinner before the Vikings show tomorrow night, and it was his birthday, so I owed him a bottle of vintage scotch. It was tradition.

My phone pinged.

SD: Stop ducking my calls. You still in LA? I want to see you.

I rolled my eyes. My father wasn’t giving up. I’d heard that a few big pop stars had decided not to work with him. He’d been burning bridges for years and it looked like the habit was starting to catch up to him. Guess that’s what happened when you fucked the wrong—and married—starlet. Eloise Penworth’s star had been on the rise, and she was married to Alan Penworth, head of one of the largest music labels in the country.

And someone had pictures of Eloise and my father making out at an industry party two weeks earlier. My father thought he was untouchable because, for so many years, he had been. I got a thrill from watching people pull projects from him. Alan Penworth was a force you did not mess with, and he’d fancied himself in love with the young Eloise.

Karma had shown up and I was here for it. And I had no plans to remind people that he was my father by getting involved with whatever he was calling me about. The man clearly wanted something. There was always an ulterior motive and I wasn’t interested.

Chapter 24

CHARLIE

“Tous,”Cassiesaid,lifting her champagne glass to clink with mine and Evie’s.

We were finally having our testosterone-free day, and we’d decided to go to a chocolate spa that Cassie had picked out. I still wasn’t sure about chocolate as a beauty product, but I’d eat all the snacks they gave me.

Evie grinned behind her chocolate face mask. “To us. And to a toddler-free day.”

“Definitely that. Although I do love that little man,” Cassie said.

“Me too. He’s killer on drums.” I took a sip of my mimosa. Tart and perfect.

Cassie’s smile was a little less bright. “Jamie would’ve loved to see that.”

I squeezed her shoulder. “Yes. He would’ve.” I loved having James around. Having that piece of Jamie alive and thriving was therapeutic for everyone, myself included, even though I’d never met the man.

“I’m so glad he has all of you,” Evie said. “But no crying or it’ll mess up my mask.”

“What do you think they’re doing with him today and who is going to be napping when we get back?” I asked, bringing some levity back. We’d left James with the guys.

“James definitely won’t be napping, but who knows with the rest of them. I bet we’ll go back to Jax and James jumping off the walls,” Evie said.

“Sounds accurate. But as much as I love talking about my perfect nephew, we need to get to the good stuff. So, Josh.” Cassie shot me a knowing smirk.

“We’re married and we’re dating,” I said, shrugging like it was no big deal.

Cassie laughed. “And he’s smitten.”

“I don’t know about that,” I said, hiding my smile behind my glass. It was nice to hear it from someone else. Someone who knew about us from the beginning and was witnessing our real relationship now.

“Oh, you know. And you’re in love with him, too,” Evie stated.

“I guess, yeah. I miss him,” I said. He said he’d be gone a week, but tomorrow would be ten days. I knew he had stuff to take care of, but I couldn’t help missing him. We’d been in each other’s pockets for months on tour, so it was weird to not see him daily. And dirty FaceTime chats didn’t count.

I wanted to touch him. Taste him.

Watch that last Thin Man movie with him and then figure out what classic film series to watch next.

“Well, I think it’s great. I’ve never seen him like this, and as long as he treats you right and makes you happy, nothing else matters,” Cassie said, smiling softly.

“He does. I can’t wait for him to get back. We still have to figure out so much. He lives in LA, and I’m here, so that’s the biggest hurdle right now.” We hadn’t talked much about it. We both had the means to fly cross-country, but I wanted more than that. I knew he loved LA, but would he give that up to be in New York?

“This was exactly what I needed,” I said as the three of us got dressed two hours later, thoroughly relaxed and pampered.

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