Nashville Flirt (2 page)

“
It’s worked out so far. I
get to meet a lot of interesting people.” He grinned at them. “So
are you two ready to meet Bo and start the evening?”

“
Absolutely,” Emily
said.

“
OK, here's how this will
work. Bo needs a few minutes to shower and get changed, then he has
autographs to sign for another group. After that, he’ll be all
yours. First, dinner for four is being set up in the main lobby
downstairs,” Sean said. “It’s being catered by one of Bo’s favorite
Nashville restaurants. After that, we will hop in the limo and
cruise around Nashville. Bo will show you some of his favorite
spots. After that, we will head over to Nashville's most famous
dessert bar, Happy Endings, for Bo's favorite dessert—chocolate
gelato.”

Emily frowned. “Wait a minute. ‘We’? I
thought this was a date? A date means two people.”

For once, Sarah was in agreement with
her sister. Dinner for four? The last thing Sarah wanted to do was
play the third wheel on Emily’s date. Maybe she cold feign sickness
and still get out of this thing.

“
For legal reasons, I
can’t actually ‘award’ you a real date with Bo. But there will be
plenty of time for you two to talk during the evening.”

Emily got a look on her face that
Sarah recognized well. Her scowl transformed into a sweet smile.
Too sweet. Emily had something up her sleeve.

“
That sounds great.” Yep.
Way too accommodating. When there was something Emily wanted, she
was absolutely tenacious about getting it. The fact that she’d
given in so easily said that Emily was up to no good. Sarah
couldn’t
leave just
yet.

“
Let’s head backstage. Bo
should be just about ready for you.”

As they followed Sean out of the
auditorium, Sarah nudged Emily, giving her a hard look. “What are
you up to, Emily Kingston?”

“
Nothing at all. Just
getting ready to enjoy my group date with Bo Branson, the man of my
dreams.” She sighed dramatically.

Right. Like Sarah
believed
that
.

Sean led them through a door at the
side of the stage. Behind the door was a corridor that looked like
any other corporate office, except for all the framed and
autographed pictures of acts who had played the Ryman covering the
walls. People like Elvis Presley, Dolly Parton, and Reba McIntire,
Sarah recognized. Many others, she didn’t. Even though Sarah had
less than zero interest in country music, the history of the Ryman
was fascinating.

Sean led them past several unoccupied
dressing rooms and let them peek inside, explaining that each room
had a theme, like the June Carter and Johnny Cash room, and the
Women of Country Music room. Finally, Sean stopped outside a door
with Bo’s name on it and asked them to wait in the hallway while he
checked to see if Bo was ready.

Emily leaned over and whispered to
Sarah. “If I’d wanted a tour of the Opry, I would've signed up for
one. I’m ready to get on with it, already.”

“
I thought it was all very
interesting,” Sarah said. “I never realized how much history
outside country music this place contained. Elvis! Really, that's
pretty impressive.” And Sarah been able to distract herself just
enough to get her libido under control. Sort of.

“
It’s interesting, just
not as interesting as Bo. Maybe you and Sean should do a little
tour of the Opry while Bo and I are occupied somewhere else…alone.”
Was Emily trying to set her up with Sean? Suddenly it hit her. She
wanted Sarah to pair off with Sean so that she and Bo could have
the date Emily had envisioned. Not a bad plan. And totally not
happening. Emily alone with Bo? That had trouble written all over
it.

“
Sean is nice,” Emily
said, gazing at Sarah, her eyes half-lidded.

“
Yes, he is very nice. I'm
kind of glad this turned into a group thing. It’ll be fun to have
him hanging out with us tonight.” Sean’s would make more pair of
eyes trained on Emily to make sure she didn’t get in trouble with
Bo. Maybe Sarah should warn Sean what Emily was up to.

“
I think he would be
perfect for your fling,” Emily said.

“
My fling? Just because I
said he was nice doesn’t mean I’m ready to jump his
bones.”

“
Come on! He's smart, he's
handsome, and you have a lot in common. I’ll bet he's got a great
ass under those baggy slacks.”

“
We just met. He might
have a wife or girlfriend waiting for him at home.” Plus there were
zero sparks between them. Sean was solidly in the friend zone. A
fling was definitely not happening.

“
No ring. I checked.
Please, Sarah. If you distract him long enough for me to get some
alone time with Bo, I’ll owe you a big favor.” Her expression
turned from sly and confident to petulant in an instant, just like
when they were children and someone told Emily “no”…which wasn’t
often. Sarah was only a couple years older than Emily, but
sometimes it felt like decades.

“
Can’t you just appreciate
the evening? You and Bo are going to have dinner, a limo tour and
have dessert. You’ll get plenty of time with him, just like Sean
said. Besides, you don’t know anything about this guy. Do you
really want to be going off alone with him?”

“
You think he's some kind
of rapist? He's a country music superstar! Women throw their
panties to him up on stage. I hardly think he’d have to resort to
rape.”

“
That doesn't mean he's
not a creep,” Sarah said. “A few dollars and a solid singing voice
does not a nice man make. Necessarily.”

“
Oh my God. You could make
absolutely anything into something boring,” Emily said. “Always
such a worry-wart.”

Boring and uptight. That’s how Charles
described Sarah when she’d asked him why he’d cheated on her,
throwing away years of a good, solid relationship for a meaningless
screw. “Yeah, well we both can’t be reckless all the time. You
don’t plan things out more than five minutes in advance. For once
in your life, just play by the rules, OK?”

“
Fine. If you won’t help,
me I’ll handle it on my own. I'm getting get Bo Branson alone, with
or without your help.”

“
Fine,” Sarah returned.
“But don't come crying to me for bail money.”

“
Fine.”

Just then, Sean stepped out of Bo's
dressing room, closing door behind him. “Bo's ready for you ladies.
Are you ready to get this night started?”

“
Born ready,” Emily said,
glaring at Sarah, then she followed Sean into the dressing
room.

Sarah forced her fists to unclench.
Emily was out of her gourd. There was no telling what kind of stunt
she might pull if Sarah wasn’t there to stop her. As mad as Emily
made her, she was Sarah’s only sister and she didn’t want to see
her make a fool of herself or get into any real trouble. She’d have
to go along on the stupid date and make sure things didn’t go off
the rails.

As for Sarah’s silly reaction to Bo
during the show? Well, she’d just have to push it down deep and
think of Emily. Bo was a performer. He was a star precisely because
he did have that “it” factor. Maybe it was just his stage presence
that Sarah had responded to. He could be totally different when he
wasn’t performing. A normal guy. Sexy, sure, but just a guy. It
would be all right. It was only a couple hours, after all, and
Sarah was a logical, sensible woman, not given to flights of fancy
like Emily.

No problem.

Chapter Two

“
Evenin’, ladies,” Bo said
when they stepped into the room. His hair was wet from the shower
and he was wearing fresh clothes: tight t-shirt, jeans and cowboy
hat. The scent of his soap permeated the small dressing room, and
Sarah had the urge to bury her face in his chest and just inhale
his essence. Not weird. Not weird at all.

“
Thanks for coming,” Bo
said, smiling at them. Oh, geez. He was deploying the dimple. “Did
you enjoy the show?”

Emily thrust her breasts out and
smiled at Bo. “Oh yes, it was awesome.”

“
Good,” he said, smiling
with all his white, perfect teeth. Bo turned to Sarah and held out
his hand. “Bo Branson.”

Sarah simply stared at him for a
moment. He was even better looking up close, and damn, it hadn’t
been just a stage persona. She swallowed hard as Bo’s large, warm
hand closed around hers. “Sarah Kingston,” she managed. His gaze
met hers and Sarah felt like a deer caught in the headlights…and
about to be mowed down by the Bo Branson tour bus.

“
Emily Kingston,” Emily
said, thrusting her hand out. Bo blinked, then dropped Sarah’s
hand. He turned to Emily, a bright smile turning the corners of his
sensual mouth upwards.

“
Emily
is the contest winner,” Sean said.

“
Oh, right.
Congratulations.”

Sarah stared at the toe of
her left shoe, trying to rein in her reaction to him. But she could
feel his gaze on her, hot and penetrating. This was going to be a
long night if Emily and Sarah were both going to go nuts over the
same man. Not that Sarah planned to act on the outrageous
attraction. Emily would, though. She
so
would.

“
Supper’s ready,” Sean
said. “You ladies ready to eat?”

Bo blinked and then focused on Emily.
“I’m starved,” he said. “I hope you like good Southern
cooking.”

“
I love it,” Emily said.
Sarah would bet Emily couldn’t even name three Southern
dishes.

Sarah shrugged, determined to play it
cool. The last thing she needed was Emily realizing Bo had Sarah
boggled, too. “It's okay. If you don’t mind all the extra fat and
calories.”

Bo laughed as if Sarah had made a
joke. “True enough,” he said. “But delicious. Surely you can
indulge once in a while, right?”

The way he said it made it sound sexy
and a little naughty. Like they were talking about more than
dinner. Or maybe it was Sarah’s overheated imagination. “I guess,”
Sarah said, feeling her face burn.

“
This way,” Sean said,
indicating the hallway.

“
After you, Miss Sarah.”
Bo put a hand at the small of Sarah’s back and ushered her out of
the dressing room. The touch of his hand felt like a caress and
Sarah bit her lip. His scent, his voice, his lips, even his
freakin’ teeth did weird, quivery things to her insides. And what
about Emily? This was her date, not Sarah’s. She had been looking
forward to the date with Bo for weeks. Sarah had to get a damn grip
on the situation and quit acting like a googly-eyed teen
girl.

Sean led the group down
the stairs and into the main foyer, where a large circular table
had been set with a white tablecloth, china, silverware, and
candles. Dolly Parton’s
I Will Always Love
You
was playing in the background and the
lights were turned down low. The stage was set for romance.
Perfect.

“
Can I talk to you for a
minute?” Emily asked Sean, as Bo pulled out Sarah’s chair for her.
Uh oh. That tone in Emily’s voice didn’t bode well for poor Sean.
Sarah suspected he was about to experience Emily’s full-on diva
side before Sarah had even had a chance to warn him.

“
Sure,” Sean said, and led
her towards the front doors. Oh, no, no, no, and hell, no. They
were
not
leaving
Sarah alone with Bo in the foyer. Except they were.

Sarah couldn’t exactly go running
after Emily and Sean at this point. She had no choice but to take
her seat and hope their little chat wouldn’t last too long. Bo
scooted his chair closer to hers and sat down. Sarah hid her hands
in her lap so he wouldn’t see the slight tremble his nearness
caused.

“
So,” Bo said, leaning in,
invading Sarah’s space with his masculinity and overt sexuality.
“How did you really like the show?”

*****

Bo had always been a performer. From
the time he was barely out of training pants growing up on the
farm, he’d loved it when his audience responded to his jokes, the
little skits he’d performed with his younger sisters, or when he
sang. His mama’s favorite had always been the singing. He’d listen
to her favorite country albums on the little record player in his
shabby bedroom for hours, then, when she was looking particularly
sad, he'd sing something for her. It had always cheered her up, if
only for that moment.

Somehow, he didn’t think crooning
Patsy Cline or Conway Twitty was going to crack the woman seated
next to him, though.

He’d noticed her the first time he’d
looked up into the crowd packed in for his charity show. She was in
the front row, and he hadn’t been able to look away, even though
she wasn’t the type of woman who would usually catch his eye.
Sarah’s sister, sure. She was classically beautiful with dark hair
and red lips and had been looking at him seductively the whole
show. But the auburn-haired woman who didn’t look all that happy to
be there—the connection with her had been instant. He hadn’t been
able to resist seeking her face out in the sea of fans every few
minutes. She’d been staring right back—not singing along, not
smiling, not clapping, just looking.