Free Sorrow's Muse by Shyla Colt Page B

ride.”
    “Just thinking. I know
Paul hasn’t heard back about working with Rocco again and I’m kind of nervous.”
    “You don’t want the
answer to be yes?”
    “No, I do. It’s just—he
comes with a lot of speculation and paparazzi.”
    “Ahh.” She paused. “For
what it’s worth, I know you’ll do an amazing job. I think it’s the next logical
step in your career and I think you’d be amazed by how supportive people are as
a whole. Look at J. R. Martinez from Dancing with the Stars . He’s broken
a lot of the stereotypes and ignorant behavior that occurs with burn victims.”
    “But he’s a hero, someone
hurt in the line of duty while defending our country. It’s different.”
    “Hmm, I don’t know that
it would be, Julian.”
    He sighed. She made it
sound so easy. The thought of people prying into his past, making him relive
the fire and the treks from foster home to hospital, made his stomach ache.
It’d been a long time since he’d been bombarded by questions that made him remember.
He liked it that way. “We’ll see.”
    She nodded, turning to
look out the window.
    Thank God, she knows when
to leave things alone.
    They listened to music
the rest of the drive. After he pulled up into the driveway, he exited the car
and opened her door. She hooked her arm through his and they headed up the
drive.
    “You’ll like Gina. She’s
real personable, just like Paul.”
    “I’m excited to meet your
friends. Though, I can’t say when I’ll get to return the favor. I’m sort of
starting from the ground up out here. Maybe I’ll have some visitors soon.”
    “That’d be nice,” he
said. “Have you told them about me?”
    “Oh yes, my best friend,
D and my sister, Calli, know all about the sexy, musically inclined man next
door who I gently persuaded to date me.”
    “Is that how you see me?”
    She gave him a sly
once-over that made his blood boil. “That’s the PG version.”
    He chuckled at her
sauciness and knocked on the door.
    Paul answered a minute
later. “Hey, guys, come on in.” He welcomed them inside the foyer, issued a
quick hug to Julian and kissed the back of Colette’s hand. “It’s lovely to see
you again, Colette. I thought I saw sparks going off between you two when we
first met. It’s good to see I wasn’t wrong.”
    “Not one to beat around
the bush, are you?” Colette asked.
    “Nope.”
    They both laughed and he
relaxed. Tonight would be fun.
    “Stop flirting with my
girlfriend and tell us where Gina is. We need her to keep you in line.”
    “Come on. She’s waiting
for us in the backyard. We have beer, water and lemonade on ice…we weren’t sure
what you’d prefer, Colette. The meat is marinating and ready to be grilled
whenever we’re ready for it. We also have potato salad, baked beans and
watermelon in the fridge to go with it.”
    “Sounds delicious,” she
said.
    Paul led them through the
house and out onto the spacious green lawn that stretched out before them. The
sandstone patio had a natural design that was broken up by the monstrous silver
grill that sat up against the wall. Twenty feet away, the sound of the
waterfall attached to the alcove designed to look like a rock formation greeted
their ears.
    Gina, who was sitting at
the black wrought iron table, stood to greet them. “You must be Colette! It’s
so nice to meet you. I’m Gina.”
    “Hi.” Colette shook her
hand. “You have an amazing house.”
    “Thank you. Can I get you
something to drink?”
    “Lemonade would be
great.” She followed Gina over to the far corner where the bright red cooler
sat.
    Paul turned to Julian
with a smile. “I didn’t want to say this in front of your girl, but I am so
happy for you, brother.” He patted his back. “This has been a long time
coming.”
    “I’ll be the first to
admit I thought this day might never come. It feels good.” He glanced over to
where the two girls were alternating between conversation and sips of lemonade.
    “Well,