oughtta save that line for her.”
Shooting Banks—who was as close to him as a brother—a look that threatened bodily injury, Dylan walked to the rear of the stage to amp everything down.
Banks soon crouched beside him to help. “She is totally hot,” he said, sounding contrite. Definitely out of character for Banks, who never regretted anything he did.
Dylan hesitated for one second, wondering how much to reveal. Finally, between clenched teeth, he admitted the truth. “She’s Cat Sheehan.”
Banks jerked so hard he almost fell on his ass. His eyes widened and his jaw dropped. When Dylan confirmed the truth of his words with a nod, Banks emitted a long, low whistle. “The Cat woman herself, huh?”
Dylan nodded again, knowing he didn’t have to say anything more. Banks knew all about Cat. He was probably the only one who knew the entire truth about Dylan’s relationship with the blonde.
The one-sided relationship that had been going on for several years now.
“Did you know she’d be here?”
He shook his head. “I recognized the building when I pulled up outside. Her family used to own the place. But the name’s changed. I figured she was long gone.”
Banks nodded. “Did she know who you were?”
No. She hadn’t. Which still slightly burned him. But he didn’t want Banks to know that. So he shrugged in disinterest. “We’ve barely spoken.”
Banks merely smirked, the sorry son of a bitch, knowing Dylan much too well to be fooled by that. Then he looked over Dylan’s shoulder, toward the other side of the bar, nodding as he sought out Cat. “So you finally have your shot,” he murmured. “Your dream girl has been looking at you all night like she needs a sugar fix and you’re a giant Tootsie Roll.”
Banks’s words brought some intense images to mind and he had to busy his hands winding cable to keep them from shaking. “You’re imagining things,” he said. “She’s barely paid attention to us at all.”
Banks let out a bark of laughter that caused several people standing nearby to glance over in curiosity. “Man, you are losing it if you didn’t see the way that girl kept her eyes glued to you. Except every time you looked in her direction—then she turned away right quick.”
Okay, it was possible. He and Cat had shared a sexy, flirtatious conversation before the rest of the band had shown up. There had been some definite spark, a genuine intensity between them.
A lazy smile widened his lips at the memory. He had never fallen into such instant sync with anyone before. And he’d certainly never been so completely affected by a woman before—at least, not in his adult life. Even now, nearly two hours later, he could still smell the warm, sultry aroma of her perfume and hear her throaty laugh.
“She’s yours for the taking,” Banks added. “You can finally have what you always wanted.”
Dylan was shaking his head even before Banks finished his ridiculous statement. His friend was wrong. Very, very wrong.
Cat might be interested now. Judging by the heat-filled moments they’d shared earlier, he’d say she probably was.
Didn’t matter. Because the minute she found out his true identity, the spark would fade, the intensity would disappear and his chances along with it. He knew it. Knew it like he knew his own guitar.
She was interested in Spence, the bass-playing rock and roller with a strut and a sneer and a cocky-as-hell attitude. Which was pretty funny, come to think of it, in a you-poor-sorry-sucker way. Because the man she was attracted to didn’t exist. He was a phantom. A facade. A fictional character.
In truth, Dylan Spencer was a complete and utter fraud.
2
IF TEMPTATION HAD HAD more nights like this, they might have had enough money to hire a better attorney for their fight to stay open. Cat couldn’t get over the people who’d squeezed in over the past couple of hours, all of them thirsty. And hungry, judging by the way Zeke, their cook, was whipping out everything on their limited menu just as fast as he could.
The Four G’s, music seemed to have had some kind of Pied Piper effect on the residents of Kendall, many of whom were former patrons who hadn’t wanted to deal with the hassles of road construction in recent months. Temptation hadn’t been this crowded since the spring, when an erroneous rumor had circulated that they were hosting a wet T-shirt contest.
If it would have saved the bar, Cat would have given it some serious consideration.
“I think I’m going to have to kill Tess when and if she ever comes back.”
Cat quickly swung two beers, a Sex on the Beach, and a mojito onto a serving tray and gave Dinah, their part-time waitress, a commiserating smile. “I don’t think any of us ever expected to have nights like these during the last few weeks we’re open. I’m sure Tess and Laine would both have stuck around if they’d thought we were going to actually be having crowds, rather than our usual quartets.”
Cat firmly believed that. She was still a bit upset with Laine for taking off on some daring, photographic wildfire adventure in California. Secretly, however, she had to concede she was glad Laine was there to help their Aunt Jen, whose house was being threatened by the fires engulfing the state. Besides, Laine had been talking for a long time about how much she wanted one of her photos on the cover of the magazine she worked for, Century. This might actually be her shot. So while she was peeved at her, Cat couldn’t be too upset.
As for Tess, their other waitress…well, with her, you never knew what to expect. Like the way she’d stumbled into the job at Temptation a few years back. She’d started waitressing to work off a bar tab she couldn’t pay and had never left.
Unpredictable. That described Tess. So her deciding to take off last Tuesday night to help distribute some old guy’s money was entirely understandable. Unlike Laine, at least Tess had asked Cat first if she minded, and had even offered her some of her newfound riches.
Cat hadn’t accepted the money—it was too late for that. But she had minded her friend leaving. Not so much because she needed Tess’s help—or Laine’s, for that matter—but because she’d had this whole sappy image of the four of them crying in each other’s arms during the last few weeks the bar was open.
She hadn’t told Tess or Laine that. In fact, she’d urged Tess to go. And Laine…well, after their argument, she hadn’t been surprised her sister had taken off.
She’d missed them both ever since, much more than she’d ever have expected. Which was silly, really, since she’d always known everybody was destined to leave. Her grandparents, her father. Her remarried mother. Her brilliant sister.
Cat ending up alone had been inevitable. But she’d always thought she’d at least have Temptation.
Dinah clucked her tongue and shook her head, making her poufed platinum blond hair teeter a bit to one side. “I still can’t get over the two of them bailing out of here. You sure you don’t want me to tell your mama…”
“Don’t even think about it,” Cat said, already grabbing two bottles of Bud for the guys waving to her from the
