Page 8 of One More Song

“Rock music,” Synn says, picking up on my daughter’s question and playing an air guitar. “Rock and roll.”

“Really?” Her eyes go wide with excitement. “I love rock and roll.”

“Do ye, now?” Dusky asks, grabbing a cracker for himself.

“Yeah,” Cadence smiles. “Have you ever heard of Queen? Freddie Mercury is my favorite.”

I bite back a smile at her innocence. Wishing I could bottle it up and give it to her as a gift when she’s all grown up.

“Actually, yeah I’ve heard of them,” Saint says. “Pretty wicked fellas.”

“Are you wicked too?” Cadence asks wide-eyed.

I twist my lips. “Honey, why don’t you go put your backpack away, okay? And put on some play clothes. We can walk to the park while dinner bakes.”

Never being one to argue, she agrees. But before she leaves, she remembers something. “Oh, I wanted to tell you what happened at school. Emily’s mom asked if I wanted to come over for a play date!”

I grimace, forcing myself to smile. Emily’s mother is Deb. And Deb is dating Mitch. My ex. No one is supposed to know, but Millie saw them together at the grocery store getting handsy. Well, in her words, they were two seconds from fucking in the frozen food aisle.

Why in the hell would Deb be dragging my daughter into this?

“Great,” I say tightly, as she leaves the kitchen, feeling deflated at the reminder of Mitch moving on with his life. What am I holding on to? Surely not him ... but what?

I suppose Mitch would call it another expensive memory. It sure is costing me a lot of emotional real estate.

“Well, that went better than expected,” Ash says, settling onto a stool. The band circles me at the island and I suddenly feel like this large estate is too small for so many men.

Especially when one of them is so insanely attractive.

I need to lay down the law before things get out of hand. If the conversation I just had when I was alone with Ash is any indication, things between us could escalate very quickly.

I clear my throat. “She’s the reason you have to be—”

“On our best-behavior?” Synn asks, cutting me off. “No problem. We’re nicer than we look.” In his tank top, I see the two sleeves of tattoos more clearly, half-naked women and a menacing tiger swirl his biceps.

“It’s true,” Saint says. “We’re not here to fuck around. We’re here to get our shit straight and write some songs.”

Dusky leans on the kitchen island. “And Maryll will be expecting good report cards from all of us. She’ll set us up on tour dates in Antarctica if we don’t make good on our word.”

“Our word?” Synn snorts, that sneer I’d seen earlier back. “Isn’t it because of Asher we’ve been relegated to the middle of fucking nowhere in the first place?”

His words paint tension over the room, and I step back from the island not wanting to dig any deeper into these men’s lives. This is a business arrangement, nothing more.

“Look,” I say, wanting to take back a bit of control. “I’m taking my daughter to the park. Dinner’s in an hour.”

Ash looks over at me, those eyes so piercing it hurts to look at him straight on. “Is that when your husband gets home from work?” he asks.

“Husband?” I roll my eyes, refusing to let him in. “Like I said, you know nothing about me. Let’s keep it that way, shall we?”

I leave them in the house, my daughter’s hand tucked into mine as we walk down the sidewalk to the neighborhood park. Every day I meet Millie here after our kids get off the bus and have their after-school snacks. And I have a feeling that today my level of gossip is going to shock her. After all, an hour ago we were standing in my living room discussing my lack of a love life and tonight I have four men sleeping under my roof.

Gorgeous, intense, completely off-limits, men.

It wouldn’t be such a big deal if I didn’t already know that one of them was going to keep me up all night. There’s no way I’m letting the man in my bed, but I can already tell he is going to be in my dreams.

I just hope it doesn’t turn into a nightmare.

Chapter Four

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