A Not-So-Innocent Seduction. Janice Maynard

taken up with food choices and wine selection. When the three of them were alone again, Liam sat back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest. “Spill it, Dylan. What brings you up to the rarefied air of the Lodge?”

      Dylan’s wavy hair was still damp from his shower. He pushed a hank of it off his forehead, pulled his chair closer to the table, and lowered his voice. “I ran into a guest of yours today.”

      The back of Liam’s neck tingled. “Oh?”

      “Zoe Chamberlain.”

      Liam kept his expression neutral, but inside, every Neanderthal impulse he possessed urged him to tell his brother to back off. The lady was taken. That his knee-jerk reflex was ridiculous, he freely admitted. “Where did you see her?”

      “She came into the Silver Dollar for an early supper. We chatted for a moment, because the place was mostly deserted.”

      The salad course arrived, and Liam was forced to hold his tongue for long, frustrating moments while the waiter fussed about with fresh-ground pepper and grated Romano cheese. At last the man departed.

      Liam picked up his fork and set it down again. “What did she have to say?” It galled him that his brother had seen as much or more of Zoe today than Liam had. He suspected that she was avoiding him. Without making it obvious, he had looked for her on and off all afternoon. There were a lot of places in the hotel where she could be hiding. The salon, the spa, the workout room, the library. Not to mention the grounds. But he had neither seen her nor heard from her since lunch. Clearly she had made use of the loaner car and decided to go into town.

      Dylan chewed and swallowed a bite of his perfectly cooked prime rib, his expression beatific. “I’d forgotten how good this is,” he groaned, taking a swallow of his 1972 burgundy. “I love my place, but I’ll admit that a guy can get tired of burgers and chicken wings.”

      Maeve tapped his hand lightly. “I know you pride yourself on being a regular guy, but I happen to know that your bank account could handle a few luxuries. Besides, it wouldn’t hurt you to make a standing date with your mother. It’s not as if you have any romance in your life at the moment.”

      “Hey,” Dylan said, aggrieved. “That’s not fair. I can’t help if my girlfriend thought Hollywood was more exciting than a small town in the middle of nowhere.”

      Liam frowned. Sometimes he thought that Dylan worked too hard at being one of the guys. Being a Kavanagh set a man apart in this town. Dylan could fight it all he wanted, but he was a rich man, and people knew it. “Your love life or lack thereof doesn’t interest me, no offense. Tell me about your conversation with Zoe.”

      Dylan kept on eating, apparently intent on clearing his plate in time for dessert. In between bites, he paused to give his brother an assessing glance. “Why so interested? And since when did you get chummy enough with her to use first names?”

      Maeve looked from one to the other of her offspring, shaking her head. “I swear you two needle each other every chance you get. I thought you’d grow out of it, but I suppose that was wishful thinking.”

      Dylan lifted an eyebrow, his smile innocent. “I don’t know what you mean, Mom. But you might want to keep an eye on your eldest son. If he starts hitting on sexy hotel guests, we might have problems with jealous husbands.”

      “Zoe’s not married.” Liam ground his teeth together, incredulous that his brother’s taunts were getting to him. It was an old game they played. But Liam was on a short fuse tonight. “Tell me what you know about her. Please.”

      Dylan wiped his mouth with his napkin and shrugged. “Not much. But she caught me off guard this afternoon.”

      “How so?”

      “She asked if I would let her play and sing down at the bar.”

      The table fell silent. Even Maeve seemed perplexed. “Why?”

      Dylan shrugged. “Who knows? She claimed it was because she was going to be here for a while and she wasn’t used to twiddling her thumbs.”

      “Did she talk about payment?”

      “Offered to play for free.”

      “What did you tell her?”

      “I made an excuse. Said I had to look at the calendar. You know I wouldn’t do anything like that without running it by you. Don’t want to create a sticky situation. It occurred to me that she might be awful. And that could be damned awkward if she’s dropped several grand to stay at the Lodge.”

      Maeve pursed her lips. “I don’t see what it could hurt. She’s an unusual woman. Call it my Irish ancestral intuition, but I think she’s had a hard life.”

      Liam and Dylan stared at her in sync. Dylan pointed out the obvious. “She’s booked a multiweek stay here at the Lodge. It’s not like the woman has lived on the streets and played music so people would toss coins in a tin cup.”