Next Song I Sing (NEXT TIME AROUND) (6 page)

“Mr. Wade, would you like to have a drink or maybe dinner with us? We would like to say thank you for the wonderful time we’re having,” Taylor said, smiling.

Jasper looked at Max, taking a moment to think of how to answer.

Max tilted his head and stared at this brother. The universe was all but shouting at Jasper, the glibbest man Max knew, while he just sat there mute. Max wanted to answer for his brother and had to bite his tongue to keep from doing so.

“Sure. I’d like that,” Jasper said finally, smiling. “Let me get some menus sent over from the café. It’s a step up from what we serve in the bar. Call it a gift for the wonderful entertainment you provided.”

“I don’t see how our stay could be any better. This was an amazing first day. I plan to tell all my friends about the hotel. See you shortly.” Taylor turned back to Max. “I put a twenty in your jar to get you started tonight. Thanks again, Max.”

“My pleasure,” Max said, watching her walk back to the table. “She tasted like bliss, Jasper. I want more.”

Jasper smacked his arm. “Watch yourself. She’s a hotel guest.”

“Yes, and you’re a lucky bastard for getting to buy them dinner tonight. By the way you owe me twenty now. One of them kissed me. I’ll collect the rest later.”

Jasper whipped a crisp bill out of his outer pocket.

“I’ve decided I want public humiliation. Put it in the jar so people will see you doing it,” Max said, grinning. “Now I have go play something to keep the natives settled until the second set. You should offer the woman a job.”

“I’m not going to offer her a job,” Jasper protested, appalled at the suggestion. “Why would I do that? She’s here as a guest.”

Max rolled his eyes. “Well, at least find out where she’s living so you can look her up once you come to your senses.”

Max walked away to the piano, leaving a huffing Jasper sliding off the stool to head to the café for menus.

Chapter 6

“The piano player is your brother?” Emma repeated, surprised.

Jasper smiled. “Yes. He’s a lot younger, so I understand your surprise. I was fifteen when Max was born. It was quite the shock for our parents who assumed they were almost done raising children.”

“And for you too, I imagine,” Chloe joked, smiling at him.

Emma had cleverly made sure that Jasper was sitting next to her. Not that Chloe minded smelling his heady cologne or listening to his deep voice. Jasper Wade was a very pleasant man in many ways. She held his gaze for as long as she dared, then turned to smile at the others.

Jasper looked at Chloe’s smile, full of genuine pleasure when she looked at her friends. With Max’s irreverent comment still fresh in his memory, he found himself wondering if Chloe would taste like bliss. He watched Chloe pick up her mai tai and take a sip. It was the first time he could remember being envious of a glass. He was most definitely in trouble.

“You have an amazing voice. Do you sing professionally?” Jasper asked, excited to see the drink actually quivering in her hand at his comment. Was he making her nervous? The thought of her being that aware thrilled him.

“No. I’m not professional. Haven’t sung in years actually—I just love it. I used to sing in college,” Chloe explained. “Well, we all three did.”

“I guess you majored in music though,” Jasper stated, completing the logical leap for someone with a talent as large as hers.

“No, I majored in accounting,” Chloe said on a laugh, steadier now. “I like to eat so I picked a profession that I thought would be the most likely to make sure I always did.”

“Chloe is just as good at accounting as she is at singing,” Taylor told Jasper, liking the disbelieving lift of his eyebrows as he took in the startling information. “I’m trying to hire her to work in my business.”

Chloe made a face at Taylor, who just laughed.

Ignoring the friendly banter, Jasper studied Chloe’s gaze for answers. Why wouldn’t someone who sang like her want to do it for a living? Max was right about the crowd she drew. Even now most of the customers in the lounge were waiting and hoping. He could tell because their gazes, like his, just kept coming back to her.

“I’m sure accounting pays well, but wouldn’t you like to be a professional singer?” Jasper asked, already thinking of several people he knew in the business whom he could nudge to give a listen.

Chloe laughed in disbelief, and Jasper shifted in his chair as his body tightened again. His intense reaction to her every utterance almost embarrassed him.

“Me? A professional singer? Jasper, if you really want to be my fairy godfather, I’d like to be skinny, blonde, and tan,” Chloe said sincerely, smiling at Jasper’s frown.

“Why in the world would you want any of that?” he asked, incredulous at the request. “Maybe you don’t have a sense of how well you sing, but surely you know how incredibly beautiful you are?”

Emma and Taylor stopped laughing to stare at their friend, who was staring at Jasper Wade in stunned surprise. His tone hadn’t even been flattering, just matter-of-fact, but his gaze on Chloe was another matter. It would have raised any woman’s temperature to be on the receiving end of that direct I-know-just-how-to-convince-you gaze.

“I have some friends in the business who would love to find someone like you,” Jasper said slowly, tearing his gaze from Chloe’s to let her absorb the implication that he was willing to use his connections for her.

He realized all three women were hanging on his every word, but it was the sincere interest in what he was saying that caught him up. They all seemed genuinely surprised. It was a female reaction he wasn’t used to from women.

“You have friends in the business? You actually mean that, don’t you?” Chloe demanded softly, fighting not to laugh at Jasper’s unbelievable offer. Her mind was still whirling on all the other incredible things he had said before it.

“Of course, I mean it. Why would I say it otherwise?” Jasper demanded, letting loose a short laugh, a bit indignant at the question but trying not to show it.

Chloe laughed again, but more softly and simply shook her head.

“It must be the mai tais working on me again. I think I need some air, Jasper. Would you like to talk a short walk with me to make sure I don’t get lost?” she asked, holding his gaze with hers. “There’s something I’d like to ask you about privately anyway.”

Jasper looked at Chloe’s face and saw she was serious. “Sure. I guess that would be—okay.”

Emma and Taylor exchanged an interested look when Chloe stood with her gaze still locked on the man who had called her beautiful.

Jasper stood without removing his gaze from Chloe’s. His heart was beating hard and his hands were damp.
For pity’s sake, get hold of yourself
, he thought, shoving one hand into his pants pocket to hide his nervousness about her request.

Chloe continued to smile even as she walked ahead of him as they left the lounge. Jasper didn’t even fight the urge to watch her hips swaying as he followed her.

Taylor and Emma laughed softly at Jasper’s perusal but said nothing.

Max watched them leave and then looked over at Taylor, who only shrugged at his questioning gaze. When he looked back, his brother and Chloe Zanders had disappeared.

Max grinned as he lifted his coke.

***

In the hallway, Chloe waited until Jasper was alongside her. “Is there someplace private we can talk?” she asked softly.

Despite his misgivings at walking by in full view of the front desk, and the gossip he probably wasn’t ready for that it would undoubtedly create among the staff, Jasper walked Chloe to his office and unlocked the door.

When they were inside, he closed the door behind them and turned to Chloe, who was now standing in the middle of the space, which seemed much smaller with her filling it.

“Nice office,” Chloe said conversationally, looking around at the polished surfaces that gleamed in the soft lighting.

“Thank you,” Jasper replied politely, putting hands in his pockets again, mostly to hide his nervousness.

“So—here’s my question, Mr. Wade. Did you really mean what you said?” Chloe asked bluntly.

Jasper nodded. “Certainly, I’d be happy to have some people come by to hear you sing,” he assured her, coming a little closer, noticing his heartbeat speeding up as he did so.

Chloe waved her hand and laughed, shaking her head. “Not that part, Jasper. I told you I wasn’t a professional. Did you mean it when you said I was beautiful?”

Jasper’s forehead furrowed, but he nodded as he spoke. “Yes. Of course, I did. You are quite beautiful. Why? Was I out of line to say it? Are you offended by the compliment?”

Chloe laughed for real then, feeling the same kind of euphoria that the singing had brought her.

“Oh my God, Jasper Wade. You said it again,” she exclaimed, covering her face with her hands as she blushed. “I have to believe you when you use that snooty tone, which I find attractive rather than snooty, in case it matters to you. This is absolutely turning out to be one of the best days of my life. I hope all the alcohol doesn’t keep me from remembering it.”

Jasper stared at Chloe and blinked. “It was just a simple compliment. I don’t understand what you’re trying to say.”

“No, of course you don’t. In fact, you probably think I’m quite insane, but I just divorced a man who cheated on me with three other women, all of whom were the size of my friends. With one sincere compliment, you have given me back my best ideas about myself. Thank you, Jasper Wade. Thank you for thinking I’m beautiful,” Chloe said, grateful in that moment that all the mai tais were making her tongue much looser than it was used to being. She wanted to be grateful, and she wanted to tell him thanks.

And dear God, she wanted to be the beautiful woman Jasper said she was, just for this one evening at least. Chloe stepped into Jasper and raised her hands to his face, pulling his head down to hers. In her heels, it wasn’t very far for Jasper to bend.

Her mouth touched his gently. His didn’t move under hers, but Chloe felt him draw in a surprised breath. It was nice to think she affected him. His reaction made her think one day a man as sexy or even sexier than Aaron might truly want her. In fact, Jasper made her think anything was possible.

“Thank you,” Chloe whispered again against Jasper’s mouth just before she stepped back. “We can go back now. I just didn’t want to embarrass myself by asking you in the lounge.”

Chloe walked out around him, heading to the door of his office.

Jasper beat her to it by a fraction, his hand slamming against the edge, rattling the door in the jam as he pushed it closed again after she’d just opened it.

“Wait!” he demanded, his voice rough and urgent. “You can’t leave yet.”

Staring into Chloe’s very wide and now alarmed eyes, Jasper damned all of his years of politeness training for making him hesitate. There wasn’t any way to explain his irrational action of stopping her retreat, so instead he just told her what he wanted.

“I need to try that kiss again,” he said desperately, spinning her back to face him and putting his mouth confidently on hers, aware this time and fully cognizant of everything about the amazing woman.

At first Chloe was too shocked to do anything other than fit her mouth to Jasper’s as it lowered over hers. Then as his lips slid across hers expertly, she wanted to giggle at the little hum that escaped her throat. God, was he good at kissing. Especially when it was his idea.

“Bliss,” Jasper said succinctly, breaking the first kiss before diving back for more.

“Jasper,” Chloe whispered, her voice husky, her heart in her throat when his lips came to hers, this time hot and urgent instead of seeking permission.

She laughed at her own excitement. Jasper was good-looking, sure—but who would have guessed he would kiss like he had to or die? He was a desperate, determined kisser, and Chloe liked his style much more than was smart since she’d just met the man that day.

“Open your mouth, woman. Let me taste you,” he ordered, sliding his mouth over hers again, his tongue plunging deep when Chloe laughed and fell against him, letting him kiss her any way he wanted.

When he felt Chloe’s weight sag against him in surrender, Jasper spread his legs to brace himself, and scooped her close to hold her upright. He hadn’t felt so masculine in ages, or so powerful as a male in a couple of decades. Chloe was lush, womanly, and felt so damn good he didn’t want to let go.

“I simply can’t remember the last time I genuinely wanted a woman as much I want you right now,” Jasper admitted, not minding the mai-tai fueled giggle he got in response. In his view, they had gone way past the politeness of being mostly strangers the first time she’d wrapped her tongue around his in welcome.

“This is too much—way too much,” Chloe protested, dipping her head away from Jasper’s mouth, his very talented mouth. “I’m—God, my divorce was just final a week ago. I really am not ready for anything this intense yet.”

Jasper slid his hands up her sides until they rested under breasts that he knew would fill his hands and overflow. He wanted to crush her in his hands, make her needy and weak with wanting him again. He closed his eyes against how strong the urge was to do it no matter how much she protested it was happening too fast.