Free BlackJack (A Standish Bay Romance Book 1) by Christine Donovan

said mortified and wondered how her cheeks could get any warmer.”
    “Are you sure
he’s not gay?” he asked with a spark of hope in his gray eyes.
    Shannon choked
on her wine. “Quite sure.”
    “I’m really
bummed,” he said as he held up his hands in disappointment. “I was holding out
hope that after spending all those years in prison, he may have had a change of
heart and switched sides, so to speak.”
    The waiter
arrived with their Caesar salads, causing them to pause their discussion. When
he was out of earshot, Shannon remarked, “Sorry to disappoint you, but he’s on
my side, so to speak.”
    Kevin frowned. “Well,
I can dream, can’t I? So, are you seeing him again?”
    Her lips tugged
down into a frown and her eyes watered. “I don’t know. I don’t think so. He’s
on tour for six months. I don’t even know where he lives or how to reach him. Besides,
John read me the riot act and came to the hotel for Cameron the next morning.”
    “You don’t
answer to your prick of an ex-husband anymore.”
    Shannon’s eyes
widened. “Since when have you thought John was a prick?”
    “Since now.” He
winked.
    He handed her a
tissue from his pocket. “Jesus Shannon, I’ve never seen you like this. In all
the years I’ve known you, I’ve never seen you cry. Not unless you were crying
from laughing too hard.” He reached across the table and took her hand. “What
can I do? Just give me the word and I’ll go after John. I’ll beat him up for
you. Hell, I’ll even seduce him if it’ll help.”
    Laughter
bubbled out of her mouth as she fought to contain her tears. Her hand curled
around the delicate wine glass and she sipped, hoping to soothe the fire
burning the back of her throat. “Thanks Kevin, but no.”
    All through
dinner she kept expecting him to ask whether Cole had killed his wife and what
she thought about it. But she should have known better with Kevin. He wasn’t
going to upset her any more than she already was. And she truly loved him for
that.
    They drove to
her hotel pretty much in silence, listening to Mozart on the car stereo. Kevin
knew her well enough to know she didn’t want to talk anymore. They pulled up in
front of her hotel, and he turned to her with concern in his eyes.
    “Do you want me
to walk you in?”
    Shannon leaned
across the stick shift and kissed his cheek. “No, thank you and I’ll be in
touch.”
    Once in her
room she ran a hot bath, hoping to soak away the soreness of her day and force
her mind to concentrate on what was to come tomorrow. Her agent was picking her
up at six and bringing her to the set of Good Morning America and from
there to two different bookstores and then she was free until her flight the
next afternoon to Chicago. For now, she plopped down on the bed with her
laptop, powered it up and typed in the name Lindsey Jackson.
    ***
    Cole tried to
relax back in his too cramped for comfort airplane seat and listen to the music
on his phone. There was nothing like a little Led Zeppelin to get you through a
flight. Cole, AJ, Ted, Anita, Brad and Dawn were flying to New York and
crossing over the bridge to New Jersey while the road and equipment crew went
in the band’s specially equipped buses. Tomorrow night started their three
consecutive nights of shows at the Meadowlands. Then they were taking five days
off and meeting up again in Philadelphia, then Pittsburgh and so on across the
country.
    Ever since his
release from prison, Cole hated to travel. He obsessed with thinking everyone
looked at him and saw a man who murdered his wife. AJ thought he was just being
paranoid and maybe he should see a doctor about getting on some meds to help
his paranoia. Cole rolled it over in his head and thought AJ was probably right.
Most people didn’t know who he was, yet he still felt uncomfortable around
people and in crowds. Felt as though everyone was whispering about him,
watching him, judging him.
    He never minded
the whispering and attention when