Free Ready For You by J. L. Berg Page A

laughing, drinking cold beers, and trying to ignore a drunk sorority girl singing a horrible rendition of No Doubt’s “Just a Girl.”  
    I hadn’t really wanted to come in the first place. Nothing sounded better than a beer, but I’d rather enjoy it at home by myself—without the noise.  
    God, I was fucking lame.  
    I turned to Kara, who was leading the pack of us. “Hey, I see my brother-in-law. I’m going to go over and say hi for a second.”  
    She glanced over at the table I was pointing at, and she immediately zeroed in on Declan, one of Logan’s best friends. Her eyes widened in what could only be described as wonderment.  
    Oh, great. She’s a fan. I gave a sigh. “Do you want to come with me?”  
    She nodded enthusiastically and took my hand. That shocked me a little, but I figured she didn’t want to get lost in the crowd. So, I wove us through until we finally made it to the small group. Logan, Declan, and their friend, Colin, instantly rose to greet us.
    “Hey, man! I didn’t know you were coming down! Take a seat!” Logan said with a hard pat on my back.  
    “Just coming by to say hi,” I said, so he wouldn’t feel obligated to find us seats.   “I didn’t know you were such a fan of karaoke,” I followed up with a grin.
    He laughed and shook his head. “I’m not—at all. Colin chose the place, and he didn’t realize it was karaoke night. When we got here, we talked about going somewhere else, but he thought it would be funny to watch. So, here we are.”
    “So, I shouldn’t expect you to hop up there and bleed out your heart to all these women?”
    “The only woman I sing for is your sister,” he said sincerely.  
    Logan and my sister had been married for a few years now, and I honestly couldn’t imagine a better man for her. After her first husband, Ethan, had passed away, she had been left alone to raise their infant daughter, and I’d thought she’d given up on ever finding anyone again. Logan had come into their lives and taken care of both of them. When he had been diagnosed with cancer a few years back, Clare had then taken care of him. I’d never seen a stronger couple.  
    I gave a quick nod to everyone else at the table, and then I noticed Logan glancing down at my hand still joined with Kara’s. I quickly let go, not wanting to give the wrong impression to either of them.
    “Logan, this is Kara, my coworker. A bunch of us came down here to unwind after a long day. She, uh…saw Declan and wanted to meet him.”
    Kara blushed, and Logan grinned. As the son of a billionaire, Logan wasn’t invisible to the public eye either, but since marrying and settling down, his popularity had died down significantly. When you were famous for being a rich playboy and suddenly you’re not anymore, people lose interest.  
    Declan, however, was an actor—or he used to be. He’d stopped taking roles over two years ago when he stepped behind the camera and started directing, but that didn’t mean people stopped recognizing him. He was gaining some serious credibility as a director. He hadn’t shown up in the tabloids as much, but the women could still point him out in a crowd.
    “Well, we wouldn’t want to disappoint a fan, would we, Declan?” Logan said over his shoulder to his good friend.  
    Declan just shook his head and chuckled, standing to greet us. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Kara,” he said in a voice that oozed sex appeal.  
    Kara’s blush spread even further. “Can I get your autograph?”  
    “Uh…sure. You got anything for me to sign? I’m afraid I don’t really carry anything like that.”
    She dived into her purse and rummaged around, looking for something, but she only found a pen.   Nothing to write on. “I have a pen. You could sign me,” she said with a giggle.
    I heard Colin choke on his laugh as he had been sucking down his beer. Declan gave a half-grin, but he handled it like the pro he was.
    “That’s very sweet, but I gave