Free Sweet Solace (The Seattle Sound Series Book 1) by Alexa Padgett Page A

grinned and I counted the freckles on his nose. Damn, I loved this boy. I’d throw in the whole of my retirement account and all our cash as long as I got equal time with Mason.
    “Mom’s home,” Mason said, looking over my shoulder.
    I turned. Jessica’s mouth was set in a thin line, her hands on her hips.
    “She’s mad,” Mason said. He scooted closer to me.
    “At me, I bet.” I ran my hand over Mason’s sweat-dampened head.
    He glanced up, his brows furrowed. “Why is she so mean to you?”
    Shit. Not a question I wanted to answer. “Because I’m sure I did something to make her angry.”
    “I don’t like it,” Mason muttered, sliding his small hand into mine.
    I rested my other hand on his shoulder and hugged him tighter to my side. I’d missed this. I needed more time with my kid.
    “Mason,” I said. “Why don’t you go get a drink?”
    He scampered into the house without responding. I wished I could follow, but instead I braced myself.
    Jessica crossed the yard in quick, jerky strides. Pissed didn’t cover the look on her face. Awesome. This ought to be fun.
    Jessica had a pretty smile, all dimples and straight white teeth. I’d loved to see her turn those brown eyes toward me in the beginning. I’d written songs about her and for her. I’d kissed her eyelids and rubbed her expanding belly. I’d held her as she wept.
    “Were you going to tell me about your new sound track project?”
    “I don’t have a new project,” I said. “I have an inquiry for a new project, and I really don’t see how that’s your business.”
    Jessica’s eyes narrowed. “I’m your wife.”
    “Correction, you were my wife. We’re legally separated, which means anything I do in the future has no bearing on you, especially now that I have the newest settlement agreement in writing as of this morning.”
    “All the years I spent waiting for real fame, and now that you’ve been asked to work with HBO—”
    “Which you’d only know by checking up on me. Who’d you sweet talk? Richard?”
    My agent and I would be having words. And if he didn’t listen, I was firing him. No way was I giving Jessica more access to my life. What was next? Hacking my e-mail?
    She tossed her short, brown waves back from her cheeks. She flicked her fingernail against my chin, scraping my stubble. “Your career was always supposed to open doors for me. I want that, Asher. It’s what I’ve always wanted. Fame. Money. That’s success, security. That’s what people respond to.”
    Sure, I could provide those, but Jessica didn’t want me . And that was the hell of it—I couldn’t rescue a marriage that had long been dead. More, I didn’t want to.
    “I thought you were marrying Dale.”
    She glared at me. Like I had done something wrong by bringing up her new lover. “No, I said he asked me. Now that you’re doing this big project I might just stick around, like you asked me to the other night.”
    She batted her eyelashes at me. Sickness swirled into my throat. I was such a fucking idiot. I’d made an offer I had no desire to keep.
    I wanted to spend time with Dahlia, and this project offered the perfect excuse. I didn’t, however, want to keep spiraling into negativity each time Jessica and I tried to have a conversation.
    I wished I’d met Dahlia a few months later.
    No, I didn’t. The night on the beach was the most honest one I’d ever had. I wanted more of those moments. So I did the most natural thing I could do with Jessica: I lied. “I told Richard the HBO project’s a no-go.”

9
    Dahlia
    O ur drive back to Rathdrum started off quiet, Abbi staring out the window. While I should have been considering methods to get beyond my writer’s block, I spent too much time thinking about Asher. I couldn’t wrap my head around the fact he wanted me. Still wanted me. The way he’d held me, the concern in his eyes—those moments were real, almost too perfect.
    “Don’t let this go to your head, but I’ve missed our