Page 41 of Token

“And we had a perfectly nice time,” Kennedy said kindly.

“But not nice enough for you to go out with me again,” he teased lightly.

A spark of discomfort flashed in her eyes. “Yes, well, that was a crazy time in my life. I was laid off around that time. A week or so after, I think.”

Sam frowned. “Really? I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Actually, it turned out to be one of the best things to happen to me,” she said. “I’m working for myself now.”

“That’s wonderful, and congratulations.” His smile tempered when confronted with Nate’s tight-lipped expression. He couldn’t help that forced cordiality wasn’t one of his strong suits. “I should probably let you get back to your...evening. It was nice seeing you again.” To Nate, he gave a brisk nod.

Not a horrible encounter, but Nate wasn’t sorry to see the back of the man, and he sensed the feeling was mutual.

“’Bye, Sam,” Kennedy said. As soon as he strode off, she turned to Nate, her mouth set in a pink line of disapproval.

“What?” he asked innocently, an eyebrow raised in query.

“Thanks for nothing.”

Whatever crime he was being accused of, he stood blameless. “I didn’t do anything.”

“My point exactly. Would it have killed you to be nice?”

“What do you mean? I was being nice,” he protested. He’d politely nodded hello and stood quietly by while they’d caught up.

Kennedy huffed. “You know you can be pretty intimidating. I think you made him nervous.”

“Oh really? What did you want me to do, ask him to join us for dinner?”

“I would have welcomed the company,” came her cheeky response.

“If I didn’t think there was a good chance he would’ve accepted, I would have,” Nate said dryly.

Once they reached the hostess, she greeted them and waved them in. They then proceeded down a short hallway that led to the main room, and it was only then Kennedy spotted the stage at the front.

Pausing, she shot Nate a look, pleasure lighting her eyes. “Oooh, a live band. Dinnerandentertainment. How exciting.”

“Dinner and entertainment, yes, but no live band.”

Kennedy’s eyes went back to the stage. “Then what’s that for?”

“Karaoke.”

Aurora had informed him Kennedy was a big fan. That was one of the benefits of having a knowledgeable and trusted source on the inside. But also a complication. He’d made the mistake of dating one of his sister’s friends before and it hadn’t ended well. Since then, he’d made sure to give not just his sister’s friends butallclingy women a wide berth. Kennedy, however, he hadn’t been able to resist, and frankly, he could have tolerated a little clingy from her.

“You like karaoke?” Her question emerged in amused disbelief.

They resumed course, passing the lounge area as they headed toward the dining area in the rear. “I don’t like or dislike it, but I’m guessing you do,” Nate said as he stopped at the first of the few empty tables available and pulled out a chair for his beautiful date. Kennedy gracefully sat and cast a curious look around.

The place had the feel of a Vegas nightclub, moody and dimly lit, the patronage a mix of young hipsters and white-collar happy-hour regulars.

“You took a wild guess I was a karaoke fan?” She appeared skeptical that his predictive skills were that good, watching him as if her bullshit meter was going off loudly in her head.

“Or you may have said something to me about it. I can’t remember,” he replied evasively as he sat down across from her.

It had been embarrassing. He’d been like a high school boy instead of the more experienced college graduate he’d been at the time. Even with a couple long-term relationships under his belt, he’d tried to find out everything he could about his sister’s friend. But he’d had to be subtle in his questioning, slipping into the protective older-brother role, expressing a justified interest in the beautiful stranger his baby sister had recently befriended. As the son of celebrity parents, he’d met more than his share of women who’d tried to use him to get to them in hopes of wedging their foot or pinky toe in the exclusive door to Hollywood success.

Sandwiched betweenIs she an aspiring model or actress?andDid she know who you were when you met?, he’d casually dropped,What does she like to do for fun?Aurora had told him what he wanted to know, but in the end, she wasn’t fooled. Apparently, he hadn’t been as clever in hiding his real motives as he’d thought.

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