In Her Sights (The Thousand Words Series Book 2) (6 page)

BOOK: In Her Sights (The Thousand Words Series Book 2)
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“Come in,” Paige said as she grabbed his hand and pulled him inside. “I’m really glad you came.”

Kenny laughed at her excitement as he followed her. She led him through the entry, the living room, and out into the conservatory where a romantic candlelit table was set by an old brass and marble fountain. The drops of water hitting the pieces of brass on the fountain got Kenny’s attention: the fountain was out of tune.

He shrugged off his annoyance with the fountain as he found Paige unexpectedly in his arms.

The sensation of someone behind him made the hair on Kenny’s neck tingle, souring the moment. He reluctantly pulled away from Paige to look. An elderly man in a suit ignored them as he transferred covered platters from a cart to the table.

“Don’t worry about Jeeves,” Paige said, putting a hand on Kenny’s cheek and gently forcing him to face her again.

“His name is Jeeves? You’re kidding.” Kenny turned to look again.

“Yes. Well, no. I don’t remember what his name really is. Preston and I started calling him Jeeves ages ago, when we were little. Uncle Albert started it, actually, and it just stuck.”

Kenny wondered what Jeeves thought about that.

“Come eat. Roberta is a wonderful cook.” Paige took Kenny’s hand and led him over to the table. He started to sit, then stood again when the plastic box in his front box made it difficult.

“What is it?” Paige asked. Alarm in her voice made Kenny stop in his effort to dig the small box out of his pants and look at her. She would probably be embarrassed to know her anxiety was so plain on her face, but it amused him. For all her family history, money, and title, underneath it Paige was behaving more and more like a fan. He wouldn’t have guessed she’d be affected by his fame.

He freed the small plastic box from his pocket and handed it to her. “I know you said not to bring flowers, this isn’t really a date. But I smuggled in a little one anyway,” Kenny said.

Paige took the box, and looked at the tiny pink rose bud through the clear plastic with a smile. “It’s adorable. I sort of feel like it’s prom now.”

Kenny laughed. Technically the rose would count as a boutonnière, not a corsage, and a small one even for that, but he could see her point.

Dinner was delicious, conversation was casual. Paige seemed upset to learn Kenny was only in town a couple more days before leaving on their European tour. They finished recording already, she was lucky to catch them at the studio at all on Saturday. They were just touching up some things. Jess and Bryan were gone as of tonight. Kenny and Dev stayed behind to mix the songs.

He didn’t know what to think that Paige listened to all this with a medley of interest, acceptance, and something Kenny couldn’t yet identify. Jess once said if a woman was listening but you couldn’t figure out what else she was doing, she was planning. He said on the whole it wasn’t usually a good thing. Taking the source of that advice into account, Kenny considered Paige’s behavior so far.

“Penny for your thoughts,” Paige said looking at him through long eyelashes. Kenny knew that trick, but recognizing it didn’t make it any less effective. He realized he was spending too much time thinking about her and not enough time holding up his end of the conversation.

“Thinking about you actually,” Kenny said, deciding to just be honest and see where that took them.

“Oh you’ve got to be kidding me!” The furious exclamation from behind Paige made her jump and knock her wine glass off the table, shattering the fragile glass and spilling white wine on the marble floor. She looked at the glass, then turned to look at the man behind her. The man that looked remarkably like her, Kenny saw. Her brother, he assumed.

Paige stood with one hand on the back of her chair and the other on the table. Kenny wasn’t sure how unsteady she was, so he stood as well and moved around the table behind her. He put one hand over hers on the table to let her know he was there as a show of support.

“What are you doing here?” Paige asked her brother.

“Visiting Mom. What are you doing? I agreed to let you handle things for Mom’s sake, but ...” Preston gestured toward Kenny. “God, you’re just determined to go from the frying pan to the fire, aren’t you?”

“Preston, you know what? Just stay out of my business.”

“The thing is, what you do affects the
family
business. I’d love to just to stay out of it; let you sink or swim on your own. But you mentioned Alastair and the merger, and it got me thinking. I spoke with Hale and wouldn’t you know? Al told his daddy on you. Seems there needs to be a reckoning, Paige.”

Kenny caught Paige, putting his hands on her waist to hold her steady as she took an uneasy step back into him. She shook slightly, bringing up an all too familiar feeling in Kenny. He stared at Preston and pushed memories of his own father’s indiscretions from his mind.

“I’ll talk to Al,” Paige said. “I’ll fix it. Hale doesn’t need to get involved. It’s none of his business.”

Preston shook his head and laughed derisively. “You honestly believe that? I don’t. Hale doesn’t. Al clearly doesn’t because he told Hale to begin with. He was upset enough to go running to his dad with a fifth of Jack for a shoulder to cry on. I was going to take it to Mom after all and not specifically say what you did, just that we had a problem. We need to be proactive.

“Given everything that’s going on,” Preston gestured again to Kenny, “do you really think
now
is the time for you to start dating again?

“No offense,” he added, finally actually looking at Kenny but sparing him little more than a passing glance. Preston thought he was a prop, Kenny realized, while Paige originally thought he was –what? The answer to her problem? Until she decided she might not have a problem. Now he was something else.

Kenny didn’t have time to analyze what might be on Paige’s mind, her brother was sparing him more than just a passing glance after all. Kenny recognized the concerned scrutiny Preston bestowed on him now. It was the ‘I’ve seen you somewhere but for the life of me I can’t remember where’ look. He got it often when he wasn’t with Jess or Dev and ran into people who would certainly recognize one of them. Kenny
could
introduce himself and resolve the problem, but Preston was being an ass. Kenny decided he’d rather let him flounder for a bit.

“You’re in that band,” Preston said finally, pointing an accusing finger at Kenny. “The one on the charity cruise. I read about you in the paper – there was something about you weren’t even planned, you were just in town. You bought tickets – expensive tickets – then went on TV and the radio and announced you were all excited about the event. The cruise sold out two hours later and there was a waiting list. They actually had scalpers for charity tickets because of you.”

“It was for a good cause.” Kenny gave him a tight smile while mentally cursing Dev. At the moment he couldn’t for the life of him remember what the charity even was.

“Is that where you met Paige? Drawn to a damsel in distress?”

Kenny laughed softly. “She’ll land on her feet just fine. We met on the cruise though, yes.”

“Kenny did me the favor of keeping the lead singer of his band from ruining my reputation by merely looking longingly my direction,” Paige explained. She turned her back on her twin, sweeping Kenny’s hand in hers in the process, but hiding it with the angle of her hip. Kenny saw the glint of moisture in her eyes and nodded in agreement.

“Jess didn’t mean any harm and most women enjoy his company. Although Paige isn’t most women and he needed a reminder.” Kenny met Preston’s eyes and held his eyes slightly too long for the statement to be truly casual.

Preston nodded. “Then you did my sister a favor and I appreciate it.” He smiled, but it lacked any sincerity. “Paige, can you run and tell Mom that I’ll be up in a minute? She’s bound to be wondering by now. I’d like just a moment with – I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name.”

“Kenny Wright.” Kenny held out his hand and was almost surprised when Preston shook it.

“Why can’t you just go yourself? You don’t need to spend time –” Paige began.

“No offense, sis, but shoo. You’re not in a position to rock the boat.” Preston motioned with his hand to brush her off, never taking his eyes off Kenny.

Kenny squeezed her hand then cast her off. He was curious what Preston wanted. Paige hesitated, but finally gave Kenny’s hand a squeeze in return and walked off. Both men watched her before turning their attention back to each other.

“What’s your relationship with my sister?” Preston asked without preamble.

“Ask your sister.”

“Don’t be difficult.”

“I’m not,” Kenny shrugged. “I made Jess walk away on the cruise, that’s true, but she kept me from doing the same. Then she crashed our studio appointment to invite me here, but you showed before I could find out what’s on her mind. She’s got plans, I don’t doubt it in the least. You’ll have to ask her what they are.”

Preston paused. “I imagine you can get women.” He let the statement hang in the air between them as if he expected a response. Kenny didn’t really want to give him the satisfaction of an answer; it would almost certainly be followed by some sort of warning that Paige was too much trouble or wasn’t worth it or something along those lines. Still, it might be worth it just to get this conversation over with.

“Usually.”

“Then find another one. Paige comes with baggage and complications you don’t need.”

“Nice.”

Kenny found his eyes caught by piercing dark blue ones as Preston considered him. He held his ground and let his opponent take his time, falling back into techniques he perfected on Dev and Jess.

Finally, Preston sighed and took a step back. “Did she even tell you?”

It was Kenny’s turn to hesitate. “I didn’t ask. It’s not my business. It’s not your place to tell me, but I assume you’re going to anyway.”

“Preston –” Paige’s voice made both of them turn to look.

“I have no idea what your plans for him are, Paige, but is it fair to him to draw him into this without telling him what he’s walking into?” Preston asked her.

“This isn’t about Kenny, it’s about you and Jondelle,” she said, shaking her head as if she could deny what her brother was going to do. Kenny could have told her there was no stopping Preston, and she was probably right in her assessment. He reached over and took her hand, pulling her to him. Sliding an arm around her waist, Kenny felt Paige deflate with the realization of what was to come.

“Paige always wanted to be a beauty queen,” Preston said. “It was silly –”

Kenny laughed. “Not that unusual. I have a younger sister that was the same way.”

“She was driven. There’s a company that wants to merge with ours. We’ve worked together for a long time. Hale’s son, Alastair and Paige were together for a while. She tossed him when she was a serious contender for Miss Great Lakes,” Preston said.

That was a pause, not a finale, Kenny decided. It wasn’t enough.

“What she failed to mention, was that she was pregnant. Paige was so driven to live her dream, she tossed Al and then went and had an abortion.”

Preston folded his arms and planted his feet as if preparing for an argument. Kenny still had one arm around Paige, who finally succumbed to tears on his shoulder. It was odd to have Paige crying on his shoulder, Kenny thought. With her heels, she was a few inches taller than him. The random thought left his mind as soon as he recognized it and a response formed instead.

“Preston, you’re upset about your sister’s decision and you’re lashing out, but you’re not thinking anything through first. You told her ex, now you’re panicking because it’s going to hurt your business. You don’t know where I fit into the equation so you tell me to try to push me away. But you didn’t stop to learn anything about me or even think about what I am.

“I know what it’s like to have that one in a million dream, the kind of dream some people would sell their soul to achieve. Sometimes you pay a heavy price, it’s unfortunate. If you’re looking for someone to condemn Paige for her decision, you’re looking at the wrong man.

“What I don’t understand is when families don’t support each other. I take it back, I get it. I’ve just never been a fan. Actually it’s a pet peeve, I suppose you could say. The more I learn about this whole thing and the further I get drawn in, the more compelled I feel to offer the support you didn’t.”

In his arms, Paige shifted to look at him. Kenny pulled her tighter but held Preston’s eyes instead of turning his attention to the woman who walked into his life and turned it upside-down. He had a cold feeling in the hollow of his stomach that it was going to get worse.

Preston shook his head, and Kenny chided himself for the childish impulse to grant himself a point for not breaking eye-contact first.

“She’s going to crash and burn, and you’re going to feel the backlash from that,” Preston said.

“First, have a little faith in your sister. Second, I think you overestimate how much the teenagers and twenty-somethings that listen to my music will care about this.”

With a last brief glance at his sister, Preston turned and left back the way he’d come. Kenny heard a door somewhere slam and impulsively declared himself the winner. Feeling Paige’s eyes on him tempered his celebratory mood, however, and her teary eyes reminded him it wasn’t over. Not by a long shot.

BOOK: In Her Sights (The Thousand Words Series Book 2)
5.37Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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