was... I just... You know, like, how great would that be...if you had a babe that looked like that.”
Willie had hoped Kacey was his girlfriend. The idea made his little brother happy. The opposite...he’d been bitter.
“I’m sorry, okay?” Willie tapped his foot on the floor and his hand against his thigh. “I shouldn’t have said it. I... Look, man...”
With another remote in hand, Mike pushed buttons and a game came on the screen. He queued it up to where he and Willie had left off. “It’s not a problem, Willie,” he said now. “And for the record, I don’t have a girlfriend because I choose not to, not because I can’t get one.”
“Yeah, whatever.” Willie grabbed a control.
And started racing his car down a busy street.
* * *
WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY were killer days on the set. Kacey worked from seven to seven to get the week’s scenes shot within the new four-day workweek. She’d barely had time to text with Mike. The biggest news had been the name of the shop where he’d traced the IP address, an internet café not far from her condo where she sometimes took her tablet to read news while she enjoyed a cup of coffee.
Oh, and he’d been able to straighten things out with his younger brother. The kid got to stay in class. And keep his grade. Michael had said something about counting the days until graduation. He actually knew how many were left.
She loved that about him. That he cared that much. That he was so...aware.
“Now, when you first meet them, my folks can be a little overwhelming.” Bo broke into her thoughts and she was back in his Jaguar, dressed in a short tight-fitting black dress with three-inch heels and almost as much makeup as she wore on set.
Her necklace, an angel pendant with multicolored Swarovski crystals, was big and bold on her bare chest, hanging almost to her cleavage. At the last minute she’d changed the matching earrings for the ones Lacey had given her. Diamonds and Swarovski went hand in hand.
“And my brother, he can be a bit of a nerd, but he’s harmless.” Bo was embarrassed by his brother. He hadn’t said so, but the thought came to her anyway.
It wasn’t a normal Kacey observation. But then, she’d just been thinking about Michael and his brother troubles.
Mostly, she wasn’t her usual happy-go-lucky, take everything at face value self. She couldn’t shake the fact that someone was out to sabotage her. And she was exhausted.
Definitely not up to meeting the folks.
Bo reached for her hand and squeezed it. “You okay?” The smile he sent her was as gorgeous and adoring as they came.
“Of course.” Sending him an equally engaging smile, she squeezed back. She liked Bo. He seemed to support the changes she was making in her life. Sure, there was an occasion now and then when he wanted to go to an after-party and she insisted on going home.
But he was trying.
“Thank you for doing this. You have no idea how much it means to my folks.”
His words brought a bit of a clench to her heart. She and Bo...they were together, but not together together. Not yet.
She supposed they were heading that way, and wasn’t fighting the possibility. Bo, whose last gig was playing the heartthrob star of a sitcom, was currently considering his options on his way to becoming one of the nation’s top stars. Their lives would be busy and exciting and everything she’d always envisioned.
But he also had family he cared about. Down-home, earthy, real-life stuff.
Suddenly glad to do this, she gave his hand another squeeze. “I’m anxious to meet them,” she said. If she and Bo made it all the way, the people she was about to meet could be her family someday.
And she’d discovered over the past year that family was what she valued more than anything.
* * *
MIKE SAW A photo of Kacey during his routine client surfing Friday morning. He’d been searching her name continuously since their Monday lunch meeting and had seen more beautiful, sexy and revealing shots of the woman than he’d needed, if his nighttime sweats were anything to go by.
The whole thing was off. It wasn’t like he hadn’t seen images of beautiful women before. To the contrary, he saw them all the time in his line of work and had pretty much grown immune to them.
But these photos weren’t of a stranger. Or even just a client. They were of Kacey. Except for the one in question, they were also all legitimately posted, including the one from the night before.
It was a seemingly random shot by a journalist who happened to be having dinner at the same place as Bo and Kacey and Bo’s parents. A common occurrence in Beverly Hills.
Still, as he dressed in jeans and a cream-colored button-down denim shirt, ran his fingers through the blond mop that had once won him a “best hair” award and headed toward the computer shop outside the Lemonade Stand, he couldn’t get the vision of Kacey’s short black dress and remarkable cleavage out of his mind.
Neanderthal had been looking at that cleavage.
Kacey’s smile was directed toward the older couple holding their hands out to her.
The caption read, “New family ties in the making?”
Had she seen it?
He couldn’t wait to hear what she had to say about the shot.
Unless she thought it was great...
Wait.
The thought stopped his self-talk cold. If she thought it was great, that was cool. Totally cool.
She was his friend. He wanted her happy.
And if joining Neanderthal’s family made her happy, then he was happy for her.
Period.
KACEY DIDN’T HAVE a lot of time in Santa Raquel on Friday. The studio benefit scheduled for that evening started with hors d’oeuvres at the home of one of the Rich and Loyal producers. They’d move from there to a yacht that would be taking them out to sea for a five-course meal. A new record label was providing entertainment. Tom and his partner were hosting one of the after-parties.
Ever since she’d asked Bo to be her date for the evening, he’d been talking about it.
Her hair appointment was scheduled for eleven and would take at least three hours. Getting highlights to look like they’d grown in wasn’t an easy task.
She had nails and a pedicure scheduled right after that, and then the appointment to pick up the dress she’d ordered. They’d need at least half an hour to make any adjustments, which was why she had her makeup person meeting her there. The jewelry she’d be wearing was already in her bag, as were the shoes and evening bag she’d bought for the occasion.
She loved the entire ritual. Had loved it even more when she and Lacey were doing it together.
Getting ready for the event was usually more fun than the event itself—a secret she and Lacey used to share.
Her class ended at nine, so that gave her a few minutes to stop by Michael’s office at the Stand.
She entered the building from the secure and private resident walkway. His office door faced the back door, and she was glad to see him sitting at his desk. Michael’s casually styled hair, the shoulders that filled out his shirt, eyes that could see all the way inside a person...
Not just her, everyone. The residents. People who worked for him at the computer shop. Customers. Everyone. He understood people.
“Hi.”