Free It Had to Be Fate (An It Had to Be Novel Book 3) by Tamra Baumann Page B

But why would her opinion mean that much to you? You’ve only known her for like two days.”
    He sat up and leaned forward. “I know. It’s the weirdest thing. I’ve never felt such a gut-level attraction to any other woman before.” Man, he hoped by telling Mandy the truth he wasn’t hurting her too much. But he wanted to be honest.
    Mandy’s eyes shifted from his to the sheet music lying on the console. In a soft voice she said, “Yeah. I know exactly how that feels.” She slowly gathered her things and then stood. “So, I’ll leave you alone to stew. Goodnight.”
    “See you tomorrow, Mandy.”
    After she closed the door softly behind her, he laid his head on the back of the couch and closed his eyes. He was batting a thousand in the “disappointing people” game. The look in Mandy’s eyes made him feel like he’d just kicked a puppy.

    Casey searched the crowded, loud bar for her sister. She spotted Meg in line getting drinks before happy hour ended, so Casey slid into one of the last empty booths to wait. She closed her eyes and rubbed her temples as she ran that news conference through her head again. She needed to come up with some sort of damage control to tell her kids over breakfast in the morning. Damn Zane Steele that she had to do that.
    “You’re doing the rubbing thing. What’s wrong now?” Meg said as she laid their drinks on the table and then slipped into the leather booth across from Casey.
    “The boys just saw proof of Zane’s antics on TV. He says there’s another side to the story, but I can’t imagine what it could be.”
    “Yeah, I saw that.” Meg frowned into her beer. “But maybe there is another side to the story. Josh had a darn good reason for leaving me and Haley, but he couldn’t tell us right away. Zane’s going to be here for two long months. Do you think you should give him the benefit of the doubt?”
    Casey sipped her wine. “Josh being an undercover FBI agent is a whole lot different than a badly behaved singer in a band.”
    Meg shrugged. “I didn’t know that’s what Josh did, hence the undercover part, but I’m glad I gave him a second chance. And Zane is much more than just a singer in a band, Casey. He’s very well respected in the music industry. The guy has like ten Grammys. And he has a foundation that supports schools to help bring back their music programs.”
    The man was a walking, talking contradiction. “How do you know all that?”
    “Because I’m a fan. And mostly because I Googled him.” Meg smiled and took a drink. “Wonder who the blonde is who just walked in?”
    Casey glanced over her shoulder. “Mandy. Zane’s assistant. Kip’s granddaughter.”
    “Kip’s granddaughter? Maybe we should invite her to sit with us then?”
    “I invited her to join us earlier, but maybe she didn’t see us. Be right back.” Casey drew a long drink from her glass then crossed the crowded bar. “Hey, Mandy. Did you decide to join us for Blitzed Bingo after all?”
    “No. Just really needed a drink.” She lifted her glass and took a long pull. After she’d downed three-quarters of it, she softly laid it on the bar. With tears in her eyes she said, “I just found out Zane thinks of me as a little sister. So congratulations, he’s all yours now.”
    Zane must’ve had that talk with her. Poor kid. “I’m sorry, Mandy. Men can be pretty dense about the signals we practically hit them over the head with, right? Why don’t you come join me and my sister? Maybe a girls’ night will cheer you up?”
    “Why not?” She tilted her head back and drained her glass. “If you can’t beat ’em, might as well join them.”
    “I’m not interested in Zane, Mandy. I’ve got two kids to worry about. They look up to him, and I just hate what they saw earlier.” Casey led the way through the little clusters of people and back to their table.
    As they approached the booth, Mandy said, “He’d never do anything to hurt your kids. That was just a