Brenda Jackson The Westmoreland Collection: ZaneCanyonStern Page 43

  “His daddy?”

  “Yes. Carmichael’s from the Midwest and his family is pretty well off, which is why he drives that flashy car and wears expensive clothes. I understand he only works because his father decreased his allowance a couple years ago, although he’s been known to boast that his mother sends him money on the side. I also heard he’s in Denver because he had to flee from Indiana amid a scandal involving a married woman whose husband threatened to kill him.” Sampson lifted a brow. “Anything else you want to know?”

  Stern had heard enough. From the rundown Sampson had just given him, there was no way he would let someone of Carmichael’s character become involved with JoJo. “Yes, there is something else. I need you to point him out to me.”

  If his request seemed odd, Sampson gave no sign of it. He looked through the one-way glass and Stern followed the direction of his gaze. “That’s him in the navy blue slacks and tan jacket, looking like he just stepped off the page of one of those fancy magazines.”

  Stern studied the man’s features. He was hanging with a group of guys at the bar, laughing at something one of them had said. Stern decided then and there that he didn’t like the guy. Sampson was right; Carmichael had the look of rich-boy entitlement written all over him.

  Stern was about to turn around to say as much to Sampson when he noticed Carmichael, his friends and several other men in the Punch Bowl look toward the entrance of the club. Stern’s gaze shifted to see what had snagged everyone’s attention. His eyes widened and the breath was snatched from his lungs. Wow! Holy...

  It was JoJo. And she looked absolutely, positively hot. Damn, what had she done to herself? Her hair was fluffed up on her head in a style that showcased the beauty of her face. Her face was perfectly made up and not overdone. Her lashes appeared longer, her cheeks a little rosy and her lips a luscious ruby-red.

  And then there was what had to be the sexiest dress he’d ever seen. The hem was shorter in the front, barely covering her thighs, with the skirt only a little longer in the back, showing off her gorgeous legs in a pair of blue stilettoes. And the plunging neckline supported firm breasts that made him wonder if she was even wearing a bra.

  “Nice-looking lady,” he heard Sampson say. “I hope she knows what she’s doing by coming here looking that hot without a date. The hungry wolves are certainly out tonight. Look.”

  Stern switched his gaze from JoJo to the crowd. Every man in the place had eyes on her. Some were even licking their lips. Stern felt his blood pressure shoot sky-high.

  He saw the moment she noticed Carmichael and smiled at him. But Stern knew JoJo better than anyone and he could tell by the way her bottom lip quivered beneath that smile that she wasn’t as confident as she appeared to be.

  “This room is soundproof if you need more practice time,” he heard Sampson say.

  “No, I don’t need any more practice time,” he replied, not taking his eyes off JoJo. “I’ll be ready to do what I need to do when the time comes.”

  Unknown to Sampson, Stern’s response had double meaning. As far as Stern was concerned, tonight he would be squashing any plans JoJo had for her and Carmichael.

  * * *

  JoJo slowly drew in a breath as the hostess led her to a table. When she’d entered, the first set of eyes she’d met had been Walter’s, but he didn’t seem to recognize her. Granted she looked very different without her uniform, work shoes and cap, but surely something about her would be familiar.

  “The show starts in half an hour.” The young woman whose name tag read Melissa smiled. “Would you like some wine?”

  “Yes, a glass of Moscato.”

  “Good choice. I’ll be back in a minute.”

  While waiting for the hostess to return with her drink, JoJo forced herself not to glance back over at the men standing at the bar. She’d made eye contact with most of them when she’d first walked in and she didn’t want to give them the impression that she was hungry for anyone’s company...anyone other than Walter, that is. What if another guy approached her before he did? She would have to turn him down nicely and let him know she wasn’t interested. But if that happened and then Walter finally did approach would he feel like the one who’d grabbed the golden ring? Would he feel entitled to whatever he wanted?

  “Excuse me. This might sound like a pickup line, but I have a feeling we’ve met before.”

  It was Walter. He was smiling down at her in a way that made his lips crinkle at the corners and his eyes sparkle with intense interest. She was relieved he was the first one to approach her. He looked good tonight, but for the life of her, she couldn’t recall why she and Wanda had ever thought he favored over Stern. Stern had him beat in the looks department hands down.

  She returned his smile, thinking that the night was already going just as she wanted. “We have met, Walter,” she said, deciding not to play coy.

  She could tell he was surprised and pleased that she knew his name. “Really? It must only have been in passing. There’s no way I would have held a conversation with you and not remembered.”

  He was smooth, but he would have to try a lot harder to truly impress her. She was best friends with the master of lines, and she’d heard Stern use them often enough.

  Which reminded her that she hadn’t heard from Stern since Wednesday, and he had refused to return her calls. JoJo knew he wasn’t sick because none of his cousins had mentioned him being under the weather. That could only mean he was still upset and taking it to a ridiculous level by refusing to talk to her. The only other time they had stopped speaking to each other was in the tenth grade when he’d sworn that she’d deliberately given him chicken pox...like she would deliberately do such a thing. She’d contracted it first and he had caught it within days—right before he was supposed to compete at a band fair.

  To keep his siblings and cousins from catching it, which would have meant bad news for Dillon and Ramsey, her father had invited Stern to stay with them while he was recovering. Her father had figured if he had to tolerate one sick and demanding child with the pox he might as well tolerate two. By the end of the second week, Stern had realized she was blameless for his condition and that being sick hadn’t been so bad anyway, especially because her father had given him tons of car magazines to read. In fact, if she remembered correctly, he hadn’t wanted to leave her house when his time was up. He’d claimed he’d had more fun being sick at her place than being well at his.

  Drawing in a deep breath, she forced thoughts of Stern from her mind. The whole point of tonight was to forget about her feelings for him. It wasn’t fair to keep comparing Walter to her best friend.

  “So where have we met?” Walter asked.

  She held his gaze, wanting to read his expression when she told him who she was. “My shop.”

  He lifted a brow. “Your shop? And just what kind of shop do you have?” He shoved his hands into his pockets and stood in what some women would probably think was a sexy pose.

  A smile spread across her lips. “I just saw you this week. I’m surprised you didn’t recognize me right away. My name is Jovonnie Jones, from the Golden Wrench. JoJo.”

  She saw the shocked look in his eyes and it lingered way too long to suit her. What he did next really got to her. He reached out, picked up her hand and checked her nails. What exactly did he expect to find? Grease on her fingertips? Annoyed, she pulled her hand out of his. “Is anything wrong?”

  He shook his head as if he was trying to come to terms with what he’d just discovered. “No, I just can’t believe you’re the same woman who...who...”

  It seemed he was having a hard time filling in the blanks, so she said, “The same woman who repairs cars? Always wears a uniform? Puts her hair under a cap?”

  “Yes,” he said, grinning. “All those things. You clean up rather nicely,” he said, his tone dropping as he looked her up an
d down. “I never would have thought.”

  Cleaned up rather nicely? Did he assume he was giving her a compliment? The thought made her even more annoyed, but she tried pushing away her aggravation. She had to remember he served a purpose in her life. Little did he know he was making it harder and harder to believe that he could be the one to make her forget about her feelings for Stern.

  “Here’s your drink,” the waitress said, placing the glass of wine in front of her.

  “Thanks.”

  “Are you expecting someone to join you?” Walter asked.

  She glanced up at him, tempted to lie outright and say that she was. But she quickly reminded herself that he was the reason she was here tonight. He was the reason she had spent an entire day shopping till she dropped. And today, because of him, she had gotten plucked, waxed and trimmed.

  “No, I’m not expecting anyone. I’m here alone.”

  “I’m here alone, too,” he said in a deep, husky tone. “Mind if I join you?”

  She forced a smile. “No, I don’t mind.”

  * * *

  “You okay, son?”

  “Yes, I’m okay.”

  Stern had been so focused on the interactions between JoJo and Carmichael that he’d forgotten Sampson was still in the room. Now Carmichael was sitting at JoJo’s table, engaging her in conversation that had her smiling. A player like Stern could easily recognize player instincts in another man, and there was no doubt in his mind that Carmichael was laying it on thick. Now he was pouring more wine into JoJo’s glass, and Stern couldn’t help wondering if the man’s play was to get her drunk. Stern chuckled. If that was Carmichael’s plan, he’d better come up with another one because JoJo’s body was resistant to alcohol. It was as if the stuff didn’t affect her.

  “Show’s about to start so I’m leaving to open.”

  Stern glanced over his shoulder. “Okay. And again, thanks for adding my number to tonight’s lineup.”

  “No problem. I figure there’s a reason you called last night wanting to perform.” Sampson looked past Stern and through the glass to the table where JoJo sat. He then looked at Stern. “Now I know.”

  Stern swallowed. “Do you?”

  “Yes. When a man loves a woman it’s hard to keep certain feelings hidden.”

  Stern frowned. “It’s not like that. She and I are just good friends. We’re best friends.”

  “I see.”

  Was Sampson seeing him in the same way Zane had? That possibility didn’t sit well with Stern because he couldn’t see what they were seeing. He was glad when the older man opened the door and left. It kept him from having to say anything more.

  Stern leaned back on the stool, bracing his back against the wall as he remembered how fast things had moved yesterday. He didn’t have to pump Wanda for information; she’d given it willingly. And once he’d gotten it, setting up his own plan had been easy.

  This place used to be Riley and Derringer’s favorite hangout and Derringer had called it “pickup alley.” Basically, women came here alone to meet men, so this was where men had a tendency to hang out to meet those women. It stood to reason this is where Carmichael would be on the weekends. And the live entertainment was probably the best in Denver, with Sampson on the piano and Mavis on bass.

  Stern had come up with the idea of performing, playing his violin, and all it had taken was a phone call to Sampson to make it happen, no questions asked. Even tonight when Sampson had observed how intently Stern stared through the glass at JoJo, the man hadn’t asked any questions. He’d just made his observations—with precision accuracy. Except for the part where Sampson had insinuated that Stern was a man in love.

  When Stern walked out on stage he was going to give JoJo the shock of her life. Stern was the last person she expected to see here tonight. And she definitely wouldn’t expect him to break up her and Carmichael’s little party.

  The house lights dimmed for the show and Stern saw Carmichael move from sitting with his back to the stage to sitting beside JoJo to face the stage. It was an understandable move, but it was too close to JoJo for Stern’s liking.

  He grabbed his violin. He was ready to play and clear his mind of negative thoughts. Because, right now, quite a few were flowing through his head.

  * * *

  “You know you want to leave here with me, so what are we waiting for?”

  JoJo took another sip of her wine and wondered what the jerk sitting beside her was drinking. It had to be something strong if he really believed she wanted to leave here with him. Over the past twenty minutes she had realized just what a mistake she’d made in singling him out as a man worthy of her affection. This man didn’t deserve the heart of any woman. The only thing he had on his mind was sex, sex and more sex.

  She’d lost count of how many times he’d hinted that he wanted to leave with her. To take her to bed. His, hers, even the nearest hotel would do. Granted she looked different from when he’d seen her last, but now she wondered if she’d had a sign plastered to her forehead during her makeover: Ready to Get Screwed.

  Deciding to ignore his last remark, she said, “Oh good, the show is about to begin.”

  “Come with me and we can have our own show at your place. Or mine.”

  JoJo drew in a deep breath. She’d encountered very few pushy men in her life, but obnoxious ones she’d come across often enough. Those came into her shop asking specifically for Beeker to work on their cars because she was a female and couldn’t possibly know what she was doing. Their way of thinking annoyed her but she’d long ago decided not to lose sleep over it. Men thought what they wanted to think and there was no changing them. Just like Walter. He thought she was easy, but he was wrong. And he thought he was God’s gift to women, but he was wrong about that, too. He had spent most of their conversation bragging. She would never have believed any man could be so into himself.

  Walter Carmichael was a real disappointment. After all the work she’d put into transforming herself from a woman no man would look at twice into a woman they looked at...but for all the wrong reasons. Just like Stern had said.

  The saddest part was that the person she had hoped Walter would replace in her heart was no longer her best friend. It seemed her obsession with attracting Walter had driven Stern away.

  She was glad when the band struck up. Hopefully Walter would shut his mouth and listen for a while. She would stay long enough to enjoy the music, then she would leave and rethink how she could get herself out of the mess she was in with Stern.

  After the band had performed a couple of jazzy numbers, an older man, Sampson Kilburn, stepped onstage to a standing ovation. He was the headliner, and she’d heard he was good on the piano. Moments later he proved the rumor true. The man was truly gifted.

  “He’s good, isn’t he?” Walter whispered close to her ear. “As good as I know the two of us will be in bed.”

  JoJo bit down on her bottom lip, coming close to telling the man to go screw himself. But she didn’t bother because at the first intermission she intended to leave.

  * * *

  Stern stood at the glass and stared at JoJo. He wasn’t sure what Carmichael had done, but even in the dimly lit room he could tell by her expression that the man had somehow pushed several wrong buttons. That might be good for Stern because he wouldn’t have to go through the trouble of breaking up their little party, but it couldn’t be good for JoJo.

  He knew how much she’d wanted to impress that guy and all the trouble she’d gone through to do so. He hoped she realized the mistakes were not hers; they were all Carmichael’s. Now the music he intended to play for her would be more appropriate than ever.

  Sweety stuck her head in the door and smiled. “You’re up next, Stern. Sampson is bubbling all over himself to have one of his protégés perform with him.”

  Ster
n chuckled. “It’s really my pleasure. Sampson kept our music lessons real and kept us focused after Mom died. He was even able to handle my baby brother Bane for a while, and that wasn’t easy to do.”

  Moments later, Stern walked with his violin toward where he would stand until he was called out onstage.

  Eight

  “I’m leaving after this number,” JoJo leaned over and whispered to Walter.

  “Good. I’ll be right behind you.”

  She frowned. Evidently he had drawn his own conclusions about how this night would end. She figured it was time to let him know, in very clear terms, that when she left she would be leaving alone. However, before she could do so, Sampson Kilburn finished his number and began speaking.

  “It gives me great pleasure to bring onstage a former student of mine who I think you’re going to enjoy. I want all of you to give a big round of applause for Stern Westmoreland and his violin.”

  Air left JoJo’s lungs as she stared at the stage. Stern? Here? She watched as he walked out with his violin, smiling for the audience. She couldn’t believe it. What was he doing here? Had he found out this was where she would be? No, how could he have? They hadn’t spoken in days. More than likely he had no idea she was in the audience.

  She watched as he readied his bow amid whistles and applause. His smile deepened when he said, “I hope all of you enjoy my musical rendition of this song about true beauty. I’m dedicating this to a special lady in the audience, Jovonnie Jones.”

  For the second time in less than ten minutes, air left JoJo’s lungs. Stern’s gaze unerringly found hers and he smiled. He had known she was here. But how?

  “Hey, that guy’s talking about you. You know him?” Walter asked, sounding annoyed.

  “Yes, I know him,” she said, trying not to show any emotion. “He’s my best friend.”