Roustabout (The Traveling #3) (37 page)

I glanced back at Ollo, hoping that he’d go away and irritate someone else, but I wasn’t that lucky.

“You better treat her right,” he said. “She’s only got one heart to break . . . but you have 206 bones, my friend.”

It still pissed me off that everyone expected me to fuck up.

“Is your ass jealous of the amount of shit that comes out of your mouth?” I asked without looking at him.

He laughed and then tossed a piece of watermelon rind that hit me on the back of the head.

I swore softly. “Fuck off and play with the traffic, Ollo.”

He sniggered quietly. “You’ve got it bad, brother.”

I straightened up and looked at him.

“Yeah, I have. Why is that so fucking funny?”

His smile dropped away and he sighed.

“She won’t follow you. Tera is family, but she’s not one of us. She won’t follow the carnival.”

I stared up at the Ferris wheel, a spidery silhouette against the gray sky of early November, remembering what it felt like being inside her, knowing that I’d fallen for Tera; fallen far and hard and deep.

“I know.”

“So how’s this going to work for you?”

I shrugged. “I have no freakin’ idea. Tera wants to do the long-distance thing . . .”

“What do you want?”

I couldn’t help smiling. “I want Tera.”

Ollo nodded then gave a sly grin. “You sure about that?”

“Yeah, I am. What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”

He stood up and dusted himself off, then held Bo’s paw as they ambled away.

“What?” I yelled after them.

Ollo turned and grinned at me. “This is the carnival, where magic happens . . . and dreams come true.”

What the hell?
I stood scratching my head.

We’d finished the final show of the day and I’d almost forgotten Ollo’s cryptic words, but when Kes called a powwow, I could feel a change coming, like storm clouds were gathering inside me.

The bonfire was blazing, and Kes stood in front of it, hands on hips, staring into the flames.

Zef was already there, squatting on his heels, chewing a piece of beef jerky, and Zach was sitting next to Aimee, talking quietly. Luke was hovering in the background and I was sort of surprised to see him, because I’d understood that this was a meeting about the Daredevils.

Kes looked up when he saw me, his expression hard to read.

There was no preamble; he just dove right in.

“Pomona has offered us a deal,” he said. “They’ve already got us for Thanksgiving, but now they want to book us for five months next year, from July through November. The money they’re offering isn’t bad—it’s pretty good, but it would mean changes.”

He glanced at Aimee.

“With the money they’re talking about, we wouldn’t need to go on the road after Easter . . .”

Zef frowned. “You giving up the road, man? You saying you want to give up traveling?”

Kes shook his head. “No, I’m not saying that.” He squeezed Aimee’s hand. “I’ll still be traveling. It’s in my blood, it’s what I do, but if we take the Pomona contract, we don’t
have
to travel.” And he looked at me. “You guys could have a normal life . . . whatever that is.”

Zef snorted angrily. “You think we’d bail on you?”

Kes gave a small smile, then glanced at me again. “Nah, I’m saying things change. Traveling all the time, it’s not for everyone.”

I thought about what he was saying. I could be in Pomona for a chunk of time each year, which was only a five-hour drive from San Francisco. Tera and I could see each other most weekends. And for Winter break, I’d be with her; we’d only be apart for maybe 14 weeks in the whole year. Or not. We’d have a chance . . .

“With Pomona offering us a regular slot, we can expand,” and Kes glanced at Luke, “bring on another member so we can be more flexible if one of us needs time off. It would be $370,000 for five months work, 15% for Zach as our manager, then split four ways.”

Zef pounded Luke on the back. “Congratulations, man! Welcome to the Daredevils!”

Luke grinned as we all shook hands, then blushed as Aimee wrapped her arms around his neck and stood on tiptoe to kiss him on the cheek.

“We’ve still got to vote,” Kes said, smiling at her. “Do we take the Pomona gig?”

The vote was a unanimous,
Hell, yeah!

“Who’s going to tour with me from April through June?” Kes asked.

Zef, Luke and Zach raised their hands, then stared at me.

“I . . .”

I wanted to say I’d still travel with them, that I’d always have their backs, but if I’d learned anything from Kes and Aimee, it was that I should to talk to Tera first.

“I need 48 hours,” I said.

Kes grinned at me and Zef rolled his eyes.

“Pussy whipped!” he pretended to cough.

Aimee just smiled.

Tucker

The next afternoon, Zach drove me the 25 minutes it took to reach the suburb of Brea, and pulled up outside the motorcycle dealership.

“Have fun with the other woman,” he laughed.

“Dude, I’m going to have fun with both of them!”

“Tera will kick your ass if she hears you say that.”

“Nah, she understands.”

Zach grinned at me, then saluted and drove off.

I was picking up my new Ducati. I’d be paying it off for the next three years, but I didn’t care. I was also putting aside $150 a month for Scotty: it was just something I wanted to do. For him, not for Renee. It wasn’t the kid’s fault that he’d gotten a shitty start in life. And that was something I knew a hell of a lot about.

After what Renee had tried to pull, I didn’t want anything to do with her. But I’d promised Scotty that I’d be there for him, so the money was going into a trust fund that Renee wouldn’t be able to touch. Scotty would get it when he was 18. It could pay for some of his college education. Something.

The season had gone well for us, and with the promise of a good contract next year, I decided to sign on the dotted line. I’d missed Daisy.

Kes had let me take a day off. I didn’t like missing a performance, but it was something I needed to do. It had been a sudden decision, although one I’d been toying with for a while now. Tera had told me that in spite of her mom’s best efforts, she was going stag to the big fancy fundraiser she’d told me about. I’d argued like hell when she tried to persuade me to go with her, listing all the reasons why it was a bad idea, but now the thought of her dancing with another guy was making me want to get violent on someone’s ass. So I’d changed my mind.

I was about to gatecrash a black-tie party. How hard could it be?

Tera

The fundraiser was just getting started and I was already irritated with my mother.

“Darling, there’s absolutely no need for you to be here by yourself. Frankly, I’m relieved that you didn’t invite that rough young man from the circus . . .”

“He’s a stunt rider in a carnival—there’s a difference. And he’s not r—”

“Really, darling,” she interrupted. “Pedantry isn’t very becoming. Look, Olivia Hartington is over there with Josh. Why don’t you go and say hello.”

I narrowed my eyes at her.

“I hope you’re not trying to set me up, mother. I have a boyfriend. How many times do I have to remind you?”

She sighed faintly.

“The Hartingtons are old friends. It would be very impolite to ignore them.”

I knew what she was doing. My mother was a master of manipulation. I suppose she’d learned a lot being married to my father all these years.

“Hello, Tera dear,” said Mrs. Hartington, raking her eyes over my outfit and assessing every stitch by the dollar, from my Chanel shoes, to my borrowed sapphire necklace, courtesy of my mother’s safety deposit box.

“Hello, Olivia. Lovely to see you again. Hi, Josh.”

He kissed my cheek, lingering a little too long as he pulled back, and I suspected he was checking out my cleavage while he was in the area.

“You look stunning, as ever, Tera.” Then he looked around him theatrically. “No date tonight?”

I gave a practiced smile in return. “Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to get away from work.”

“Oh what a shame,” said Mrs. Hartington. “Josh wouldn’t miss it for the world, even though his brokerage firm could hardly run without him.”

“Slight exaggeration, Mother,” laughed Josh, who had the grace to look embarrassed, which made me like him a little more.

But only a little bit.

“Well, seeing as you’re by yourself,” he said, clearing his throat, “perhaps you’d like to join our table tonight?” Then he lowered his voice. “And a dance, Tera? You look so hot in that dress.”

And yes, he was talking to my boobs. Any flicker of liking was extinguished.

Before I could answer, there was a commotion at the entrance to the ballroom.

My astonished eyes met Tucker’s, as he stood on a chair waving wildly. But before I could get to him, two enormous security guards rounded on him, forcing him to the ground.

Tucker

The Fairmont Grand Del Mar was a swanky resort hotel 20 miles north of San Diego. When I checked on my phone, the description said it had four swimming pools and a golf course. Yeah, totally my kind of place.

It was less than a hundred miles from Brea, so it had only taken me an hour to get there on the Duke. Damn, it felt good to have her between my knees again.

When I arrived, I overtook a line of limousines heading for the entrance. I wasn’t going to trust the Duke to a valet, so I parked in the furthest corner of the parking lot and stripped off the leathers. I didn’t have saddle bags, so I tucked them under a yucca tree, hoping that the place was too ritzy for someone to rip them off.

I eyeballed the tux that I’d brought with me. I’d never worn anything like that before. I’d never even worn a sports coat or suit jacket. Never wanted to, but I was trying a lot of new stuff with Tera. For Tera.

I’ll pulled it out of my backpack. I’d been careful how I’d packed it, so it wasn’t too wrinkled.

I’d found the tux in a charity shop up in San Francisco. It had been cheap, but it didn’t look it. I hoped.

I pulled on the slacks, a new white shirt, black socks and shiny shoes . . . and had a total fail as I stared at the black bow tie. In the end, I tucked it under the shirt collar and left the ends hanging.

I took a deep breath.

Showtime!

“May I see your ticket, sir?”

The guy on the door held out his hand expectantly. But instead of giving him a ticket, I shook his hand.

“My girl has the ticket,” I called over my shoulder, taking the steps two at a time.

“But, sir!”

That was easy.
I wondered why I’d ever been worried.

But then out of the corner of my eye, I spotted two goons built like brick shit-houses making their way toward me. I stepped it up, dodging around a silver-haired woman whose wide ass and long dress made her look like a ship in full sail.

The goons were getting closer, weaving their way through the crowds, eyes targeted on me.

I sprinted across the polished floor, skidding to a stop as I tried not to crash into a line of men in Dress Blues standing at the double-door entrance. The Marines didn’t try to stop me, instead giving a ragged cheer when they saw the security goons on my tail and standing back so I could shoulder my way through the crowds of well-padded guys with skinny girls. I’d have to buy those dudes a drink later. I slid through the ballroom entrance and looked around desperately for Tera.

The goons were close behind now, and the only thing keeping them from catching up to me was the fact they didn’t want to cause more of a scene.

There must have been upward of 500 chairs in the room, although only half of them were already filled. I stood on the one nearest to me, ignoring the gasp of surprise from a woman sitting at the table.

“My goodness! Are you the entertainment?”

“No, ma’am, but the strippers will be along later.”

“You’re not one of them? How disappointing.”

I winked at her, ignoring the craning necks and heads that were turning in my direction. But a sudden movement caught my eye. Tera was standing at the far end of the cavernous room, waving wildly.

I jumped down from the chair, narrowly missing Goon 1, who was snarling into his hidden mic. But I wasn’t lucky twice, because as I tried to dodge around an elderly woman, Goon 2 grabbed my right arm, forcing it up behind my back.