“Are we in agreement?” Julia asked after running through the final items on the list she’d made during the day.
“Brilliant,” Susan said with a trace of awe. “I love the idea of branching out into classes and doing hen’s nights is a stroke of genius.”
Christina nodded. “Are you sure the burlesque will work? Are there other places that do it or are they strictly strip clubs along K’ Road?”
“I did a bit of quick research online. There are no places offering burlesque performances in the area, but it’s big overseas. Burlesque might widen our appeal and get more women in the place,” Julia said. “What’s taking Connor so long?” She took two steps toward the door and came to an abrupt halt. Her pulse roared in her ears like a thundering train, shock threatening to buckle her knees. She staggered two steps before reinforcing her shaking limbs enough to bear her weight.
“Ryan?” she croaked.
“Julia!” Ryan crossed the room in seconds flat and grabbed her into a tight embrace before she could react. His familiar scent rolled over her, masculine with a hint of spicy green and the outdoors. He pressed her head to his chest, apparently content to hold her against his trembling frame. For long seconds she let him, too stunned to react. Then her shock gave way to fury, and she lashed out with her foot, kicking him in the shin.
“Ow!” He released her abruptly, an aggrieved scowl distorting his pretty face. “What did you do that for?”
Cripes, she’d broken her foot, not that she’d admit it to him. She gathered the pain and hurled it back in harsh words. “You can’t come waltzing back after a year and expect me to welcome you. Didn’t you receive the divorce papers?”
“I don’t want a divorce.” His blue eyes bored into her. Determined. Steady. He glanced at their avid audience. “We should take this somewhere private.”
Julia dug in her heels, feeling contrary. He had no right to burst into her life again. And as for orders—forget it. She squared her shoulders and glowered at him. “They’re my friends. They can hear anything you have to say.” Aw, heck. Ryan. She’d thought she’d hate him… No! She hated him. “You cheated on me.”
“When did Julia get married?” Susan asked.
Curiosity buffeted Julia in waves, coming at her from all directions. Great. Just great.
She lowered her voice, steeling herself against his charisma. One look at his dark hair, blue eyes and strong runner’s body and her willpower seeped through the soles of her favorite high-heel pumps. Go figure.
“I can’t talk to you now. We should discuss this with our lawyers present.”
A total contradiction of her previous words. Off-balance, surprise and a tinge of outrage ran hotly through her veins, yet she wanted to grab him and lay one on his sexy lips. She wanted to lick along the tail of the dragon winding around one biceps and explore the scaled body tattooed on his shoulder. How could he do this to her?
“I’ve never cheated on you.” Her fault this was playing out publicly, his determined expression told her. He’d wanted to do this in private. The stubborn man didn’t move an inch, didn’t shift his intent gaze from her. “I haven’t slept with a woman since our last time together.”
“That’s a lie.” She’d seen the pictures of him with other women, heard the gossip. Hell, the husband-stealing slut had even spoken to her on the phone. Ryan’s cell phone. Anger and betrayal pumped through her again, the wound as fresh as the day he’d broken her heart.
“Caleb, tell her,” Ryan said, without moving his gaze off her.
Caleb stepped forward, tall and dark and so much like Ryan they were often mistaken as brothers instead of friends. Heat suffused her cheeks, memories of the three of them cavorting in bed blindsiding her.
Damn.
Julia closed her eyes, hoping the two men were a fanciful mirage.
Unfortunately, her life lacked magic. When she opened her eyes, Ryan and Caleb still stood right in front of her, silent, stubborn sentinels.
“Why would I believe him?” she demanded. “He’s your best friend. He’d lie if you asked him.”
“You haven’t met Neil and Jeff.” Ryan pulled out his phone and pushed speed dial. “Ask them your questions.”
“It’s true,” Caleb said. “Ryan acted like a monk for our entire tour. Now I get it,” he added. “We had no idea you were married.”
“Hey, Neil. It’s Ryan. I’m going to put Julia on the line. Can you answer her questions?” He paused. “You don’t need to know her name.” Another pause. “Hell, no idea. It’s not multi-choice. Just answer whatever she asks you. Tell the truth.”
Julia accepted the phone from Ryan, humoring him. “Hello.”
“Go on. Ask them anything,” Ryan repeated.
She glared at Ryan as she spoke. “Is Ryan a man-slut?”
“Jesus, Julia,” Ryan snapped.
“Where’s the popcorn?” Maggie asked the room at large. “This is better than a movie.”
“Shush,” Connor whispered to his wife. “I don’t want to miss anything.”
Julia glowered at both of her friends and received unrepentant grins in return. “Well? Are you going to answer my question?”
“The truth?” a low, gravelly voice asked.
“Of course.” She wanted to learn the truth, didn’t she? The pit of her stomach seemed to fall away in the few moments she waited for Neil to speak again.
“Before this last tour, Ryan used to have a lot of women. Women are always throwing themselves at him. This tour was different. He still attended the parties, but he didn’t leave with anyone. He didn’t let any of the women drape themselves over him unless it was a publicity shot. Nothing too personal during the parties either, even before the mugging.”
“What mugging?” Julia asked.
Ryan reached for his cell phone. “Satisfied?” He studied her, silently enforcing his will. “Thanks, man. Yeah, I’ll explain when you get back to Auckland.” He ended the call.
Julia stared at him for an instant longer. “Who was mugged?”
“That’s what I want to know,” Christina said, nosy interest in her tone.
“I have never cheated on you. Do you believe me?” Ryan’s face was devoid of his normal humor, his eyes darker and more intense. She studied him, taking in the details she hadn’t noted due to her initial shock on seeing him. He’d lost weight, his skin bearing a pallor that was in stark contrast to Caleb’s healthy tan. When she studied him more closely, she noticed his jeans hung on him and the corners of his eyes bore lines she was sure hadn’t been present during their last meeting.
“What about the woman who answered your phone?”
“Ryan was mugged and someone stole his phone and wallet,” Caleb said. “Maybe the thief answered your call.”
The excuse seemed too easy, too pat, yet a streak of worry jumped into her mind. He’d been hurt? “When? What happened?”
Ryan grimaced. “It happened about a month after we got to Europe.”
A burst of emotion choked her throat. Around about the same time she’d lost the baby. She’d cursed him because he hadn’t been there for her when she needed him.
Could he be telling the truth?
Julia firmed her resolve and straightened. “As riveting as this conversation is, I need to check on my mother before we hit the club.” She turned away from Ryan, needing space to order her thoughts. Her mind had bounced in twenty directions all day. Now Ryan—well he’d taken center stage in typical lead singer fashion.
Someone thumped on the front door. “Probably some of the staff,” she said to Connor. “If it’s Stan, our security man, ask him if he’d mind keeping an eye on the door and letting in the rest of the staff as they arrive.”
“No problem.” Connor ambled away, giving Julia one less thing to worry about.
Julia continued to ignore Ryan and Caleb, paid no heed to the curiosity bubbling through her friends. They’d have questions. Hell, she did, but right now she had to focus. “Susan, I’ve calculated the wages.” She pulled a heavy book out of the bag she’d lugged around all day. “Here’s the wage book and the wage packets I did this afternoon. Can you pay everyone as they arrive? Get them to sign for their wages and ask them if they’d mind waiting for a few minutes. I’ll speak with them and run through my plans as soon as I’ve checked on my mother.”
Susan wrinkled her freckled nose as she accepted the book and wages. “Your mother runs a manual wage system?” The horror lacing her tone pulled a bark of amusement from Julia.
“We need to get a computer program sorted. It’s one of the many things on my list. Tell the staff we’re going to pay wages by direct credit once we reopen.”
Susan nodded. “I’ll take care of it.”
“What do you want me to do?” Maggie asked.
Christina grabbed Maggie’s arm. “We’ll take measurements and work out what we need in the way of materials. The chairs need recovering. The tables are awful.”
“Thank you.” With a grateful nod, Julia started toward her mother’s apartment. Footsteps behind her jerked her to an abrupt halt, and she turned to nail the culprit—Ryan—with a glare. “Where are you going?”
“I want to meet your mother.” Ryan’s brows drew together while his mouth grew tight-lipped. “The miracle mother who has mysteriously returned from the dead.”
An uncharacteristic flush suffused her cheeks, and she caught her bottom lip between her teeth, worrying it while she avoided Ryan’s gaze. No wonder their marriage hadn’t worked. They’d both had secrets, parts of their lives they kept private. That was the trouble with a short courtship and a hurried marriage. Stuff got put off until later.
“I’m gonna hang around and help with measurements or something,” Caleb said with a smart-ass grin. “The chick is right. This is way better than a movie.”
“Friends are a pain in the ass,” Ryan muttered.
Julia glowered in Caleb’s direction. “On that we agree.” She stomped up the stairs to her mother’s apartment. Earlier, she’d checked on her via phone but Julia wanted to see in person. Soft feminine voices filtered through the door. Ah, good. Janet, her mother’s friend, had arrived.
“Why did you lie about your mother?”
Julia whirled around to face Ryan. “Are you still here?”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
“Why? Our marriage was a stupid mistake. Just sign the divorce papers so we can both move on with our lives.”
“Damn it, Julia. Our marriage isn’t a mistake. Can’t you give us a chance? You told me you loved me.”
“I—”
The door flew open before she could get out her reply.
“Ah, I thought I heard voices.” Janet was a petite brunette, stylish in her black slacks and red and black silk shirt. As usual, she’d boosted her height by teaming her outfit with a pair of gorgeous black shoes with a spike heel. Janet spent a lot of time with Elise and Julia didn’t ask nosy questions—not when she was so grateful for Janet’s presence.
“Is it Julia?” Elise called.
Janet smiled and gave Julia a swift hug. “Julia and her young man,” she called back. “Make sure you’re decent. I’m bringing them in.”
“I’m Ryan, Julia’s husband,” Ryan said. “Pleased to meet you.”
“We’re getting a divorce,” Julia snapped, thrown off balance by Ryan’s solid presence, his insistence on keeping up the marriage charade.
Ryan placed his hand on the small of her back to shunt her through the doorway, and she couldn’t prevent her gasp of shock. His sparse touch generated an electric charge that rocked her to her toes. A healthy dose of heat blossomed where it had no business blooming, and her pulse kicked into a racy beat.
“You’d better come in,” Janet said dryly, her gaze darting from her to Ryan and back again with curious fascination.
“Do not tell my mother we’re married,” Julia ordered in a harsh whisper. Her friends would ask enough questions. Right now they were likely pulling supposition together, speculating. “She has enough to worry about at present without you upsetting her.”
“The good news would cheer her up. Not the divorce part,” Janet said, winking at them with mascara laden eyes. “But the fact you’re married. She worries about you, Julia. She thinks you hate men.”
Julia’s mouth opened and closed, another weird flash of heat striking her cheeks at the sound of Ryan’s husky laugh. “I do so like men,” she said when her wits unscrambled.
“I can vouch for that,” Ryan said, arming his cheeky grin with enough charm to win over the grumpiest maiden aunt.
Julia counted to ten under her breath but didn’t reach five before she blew. “No one asked you.”
Amusement played tag with Janet’s lips. “I wasn’t implying you were a lesbian. I meant you treat men as commodities and throw them away when you’re done.”
“And you had the cheek to call me a slut,” Ryan said silkily.
Her gaze jerked to him, her mouth opening to refute his charge when she caught the familiar twinkle in his eyes—one that weakened her knees and sent sensations coursing the length of her traitorous body. The one that made her want to jump him.
“What are you whispering about out there?” her mother called. “I might have one foot in the grave but my hearing is still excellent.”
Janet stood aside, making shooing motions with her hands. Julia walked into her mother’s room, each step filled with foreboding. “Mum, how are you?”
“Thanks to you, I had a good night’s sleep. Aren’t you going to introduce me to your young man?”
Ryan stepped forward before Julia could reply. “I’m Ryan Callander.” He swung a glance in her direction, his chin lifting a fraction in challenge.
“Ryan, this is my mother, Elise Maxwell. And you’ve already met her friend, Janet Wright.” She cut across his challenge, barely pausing for a breath as she prayed he wouldn’t drop the H bomb again.
“He’s her husband,” Janet said.
Julia groaned, bracing herself for the inevitable fallout.
“You never told me you were married,” her mother said.
Julia swallowed, seeing the hurt in her eyes, hearing it in her chiding voice.
“Are you ashamed of me?” her mother asked. “I thought you’d got past your embarrassment with my occupation.”
“I worked here too.” Once again, Julia’s attention slid to Ryan. She could practically see the questions ticking over in him, and she silently implored him to stem his curiosity.
“It’s not Julia’s fault,” Ryan said. “I asked her not to make any announcements because…well, it’s complicated and a long story.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” her mother said, showing a little of her usual fighting spirit. She struggled to right herself on the pillows, and Ryan was at her side in an instant, assisting her with gentle hands.
“Not tonight,” Julia said. She’d kill him. The minute she got him alone, she was going to kill him. “I need to talk to you about the club. I’ve looked at the books, and we need to make changes before we go broke. Are you okay with that?”
Janet and her mother exchanged glances. “We’ve already talked about a revamp,” Janet said. “Elise knows the club is in trouble, but she hasn’t had the energy to do anything to get things back on track.”
“Do you want me to run things past you before I put them into action?” Julia was surprised by her mother’s willingness to let Janet speak for her.
“Janet is a silent partner in the business,” Elise said, answering her unspoken question. “It’s fine with me as long as Janet agrees.”
“If Julia will take responsibility for the club, it means you and I can find somewhere sunny to take a real break for a change.” Janet reached over and patted her mother’s hand, the action speaking of easy intimacy. “What do you say to that, Elise? As soon as you have clearance from the doctors, we’ll book ourselves a holiday on a Pacific Island. Imagine sitting by the pool, sunning ourselves during the day, and watching the sun go down with a cocktail in our hands.”
“White sand. The gentle music of waves coming to shore. It sounds wonderful,” her mother said with a soft sigh of longing.
“Wait! You’re not Elise,” Julia said, speechless at the idea of her mother agreeing to a holiday. She glanced around the bedroom at the pile of glossy magazines sitting on the bedside cabinet, the dressing table with the crystal bowls and antique hairbrush. “What have you done with my mother?”
“Hilarious,” Elise retorted. “The club is all yours. Have at it. Now tell me about this man of yours. How did you meet?”
Ryan followed Julia down the stairs. Her straight back and stiff gait vibrated with fury. She didn’t want him here. Too bad. He’d married her for the long haul, and he’d do whatever it took to win her back.
“I should have ignored your advice to keep quiet about our marriage,” he said. “I should have argued harder until I convinced you to travel with the band or at least come over to visit me for a few weeks.”
“Your manager doesn’t want the band members to have permanent women,” she said brusquely. “Wives.” She stalked over to her friend, the one with the long straight hair and freckles, who was taking care of the wages. His gaze followed the gentle sway of Julia’s hips beneath her tight black trousers before he hurried to catch up.
“And we both know Seymour can’t force me to remain single.”
She stiffened even further, if that were possible, and swung around to face him. “The way you’re carrying on you might as well take an ad out in the newspaper.”
Good point. He and the rest of the band didn’t want word to get out about their true identities. “Meet me tomorrow for lunch and we can talk.”
“I’ll have to work here tomorrow.”
“You have to eat. I’ll grab something and meet you here.”
She muttered something under her breath before scowling at him. “Fine.”
“Good, it’s a date. Since Caleb and I are here, we’ll help. Give us an assignment.”
She tossed her head, setting her long blonde curls in motion. “Leave.”
Caleb jogged across the club to join them and overheard their last words. “You’ve put your friends to work. What do you want us to do?”
Julia’s shoulders drooped. “You’re not gonna leave, are you?”
“Nope,” Caleb said, grinning in the familiar stir-it-up way he had.
Ryan remained quiet, happy for his buddy to take the flack. Yep, he’d save the spotlight for a more private time.
“Fine,” she muttered again—her go-to word apparently. “Check out the lighting and the stage for me. Tell me what I need to do to upgrade and improve on what’s there now.”
“You own this place?” Caleb asked.
Respectable job, Caleb. Keep up the quest for information. Ryan knew she did, or rather her mother and friend owned the joint, but he wanted details, fascinated by what he’d learned tonight. He was certain Julia hadn’t mentioned a family business, and she’d had ample opportunity to tell him about her mother. He should shout and holler, but he was so damn pleased to see her he couldn’t hold onto his irritation.
“My mother owns The Last Frontier. It’s been in the family for four generations.” Her tight-lipped voice hinted at her conflict. She wasn’t the prim, uptight type, so he wondered why the club embarrassed her.
“Cool,” Caleb said. “Do you strip as well?”
Whoa! Ryan glared at his friend. No one saw his wife naked apart from him.
“I’m a secretary,” Julia said in a tight voice. “I don’t normally work here.”
Caleb raised his hands in surrender. “Just curious. You said nothing when we first met.”
Julia’s glare darkened. “You two understand lighting. Give me a verbal report on anything that needs fixing.” She wheeled around and stomped away, the slap of her high heels highlighting her annoyance.
“Did you have to wind her up?”
“You wanted answers. I asked the questions for you.” Caleb glanced over his shoulder at a burst of feminine laughter. “I told her friends we were roadies with a successful band.”
“And?”
“They adore French Letters. Their words. They wanted to learn about Dubois and Beauchamp. Their favorites,” he said smugly.
At the revelation, a flash of amusement doused some of Ryan’s Julia-related anxiety. “Yeah?”
“I said they were assholes but weren’t bad singers,” Caleb said. “What? I could hardly tell them Beauchamp was standing right in front of them and Dubois is married to their friend. Seymour would kill us for letting out that info.”
“You’re a pain in my ass.” Ryan stalked off toward the stage, grinning when he heard his friend running after him. Secretly he was glad Caleb was here, helping diffuse some of Julia’s anger and aiding him as he floundered through unchartered waters.
“She doesn’t want a divorce.”
“What?” Ryan swung around to face his friend.
“She watches you when you’re not looking. You’ve hurt her, but it’s fixable.”
“That’s your considered opinion?”
“It is.” Caleb’s seriousness gave way to a grin of pure evil. “Perhaps I should give you an incentive. If you fuck this up with Julia and let her get away, it will clear the way for me. She likes me a little.”
“Don’t even consider it,” Ryan snarled, possessiveness roaring through him at the idea of someone else with his wife. “Julia gave us a job. We’d better get to it.” He climbed the set of pitted steps at the far end of the stage.
“You think I don’t mean it. Julia is a sexy woman. She might be the one to make me settle down.”
Ryan snorted. “She’s my wife.”
“Only because you thought of it first.”
“Because I’m the intelligent one,” Ryan said. “Where the fuck are the lights? It’s dark as hell back here.”
“Isn’t hell full of fires?”
Ryan groaned, more alert and mentally with it than he’d been for months. Caleb, ever the smart-ass. He patted along the wall with his hand. “Ah, I’ve found the switches.” He flicked them and bright light illuminated the stage.
He and Caleb exchanged a look.
“I wonder how the acoustics hold up.” Caleb warbled a few notes of a current pop song. “Nice. Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
“Yeah,” Ryan said. “We get a place to practice that’s out of the public radar, and I get to hang out with my wife.”
“Good plan.”
“I liked it,” Ryan said.
“What about Julia’s friends? Won’t they wonder why we’re playing music?”
“We’ll tell them we got the bug and are starting our own band. Besides, we’re working on new songs. If we play an oldie, they’ll think we’re doing a cover.”
Caleb smirked. “I never knew you were so devious.”
“Whatever it takes to win back Julia,” Ryan said.
Whatever it takes.
“Julia! Where did you meet two roadies? They’ve worked with French Letters,” Christina said, excitement making her bounce around like a kid. The motion set her multitude of bracelets jingling.
“Did they say how long they were back in Auckland before they head off again?” she asked in an attempt at casual.
Christina and Maggie both stared at her. “Don’t you know?”
“We’re getting a divorce. It’s none of my business,” Julia said.
“He doesn’t want a divorce,” Maggie said. “I think he’s cute.”
“Connor, your wife is lusting after my husband,” Julia shouted.
Maggie clicked her fingers in Julia’s face, her satisfaction veering close to smugness. “So you admit he’s yours.” She sobered. “Was he the father—?”
“I don’t want to talk about that,” Julia snarled, her teeth bared in a heart-pounding flash of rage. “And if you tell him I’ll never speak to you again.”
Maggie’s humor faded and she backed away, her hands held up in a gesture of surrender. “Julia, I’d never do that to you. I’m sorry I mentioned it. It was a bad joke. I didn’t mean to upset you.”
Anguish filled Julia then, the feelings she’d tried to stuff in the pockets of her mind jumping front and center. The fury at Ryan, at herself for losing their child. The accursed guilt that never seemed to go away. Why had Ryan crashed back into her life? She’d pulled herself back together, and now that he’d appeared every bad memory seemed brand new again. She sucked in a breath, battling the need to blubber. God, she was turning into a crybaby. Her hands clenched the clipboard like a lifeline.
She wondered how long Ryan was back for this time. French Letters was doing well on the charts. Surely it wouldn’t be too long before they headed off on tour and her life could return to normal.
Julia’s glance hit the stage and landed on Ryan and Caleb. Or as normal as it could be for the manager of an ailing strip club.