Lauren stood and smoothed her black pencil skirt. “Perfect. I shouldn’t be too long.” To Anna, she said, “Don’t forget about Jimmy’s. You want me to pick you up?”

  “No, I’ll take a cab.” She wasn’t much of a drinker, but she just might make an exception that night.

  “Suit yourself.” Anna blew her a kiss and wiggled her fingers. “See ya later.”

  Ty propped a cowboy boot over his knee. “So, your mama and I haven’t seen much of you since we got back from St. Thomas. Why’s that?”

  She couldn’t pretend she’d been busy since she had the summer off. “Um, I don’t know. I’ve been working on my books, hoping to find a publisher.”

  “Really?” Ty asked with a grin. “That’s great, honey.”

  “I don’t know if anything will come of it,” Anna said, shrugging. “But I figure I should at least try, right?”

  “Absolutely.” He reached for her arm. “You know I don’t like to pry, but… Justin Hunt? Really?”

  Anna would gladly have sought refuge under the desk, if possible. Anything to avoid having that conversation with her father. “We’re just friends.” Even that seemed like a stretch since they hadn’t spoken in weeks.

  “Why do I get the feeling there’s more to it?”

  Anna smiled sweetly. “Maybe because Lauren has a big mouth.”

  Ty chuckled. “I’m kind of glad I walked in when I did. If I hadn’t, I wouldn’t have had a clue you’re seein’ someone new.”

  “I’m not seeing Justin.” She cleared her throat when she realized her voice was a little too high-pitched. “Like I said, we’re just friends.”

  “You know I like him. He’s a hell of a nice guy…”

  “But?” Her father rarely spoke ill of anyone, and given the fact he’d sung Justin’s praises dozens of times over the short time they’d shared the island, Anna couldn’t imagine he would object to their friendship.

  Her dad cleared his throat. “You’re just gettin’ over what happened with Tom. I think you need a little time before you think about gettin’ involved with someone new. Especially someone like Justin.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  Ty hesitated before he said, “Let’s just say he rarely visits the island alone.”

  “You mean he has a different woman with him every time?” Anna thought back to the night they’d met. He’d tried to lure her up to his bedroom within minutes of meeting her, and there were half a dozen scantily clad women nearby. No doubt one or more of them had shared his bed.

  “I’m afraid so.”

  Anna smiled, trying to convince her father his words had no impact on her. “I already suspected as much, Daddy. Don’t worry, I have no intention of getting mixed up with a guy like that.” She leaned over to kiss his cheek.

  Capturing her chin in his hand, he looked her in the eye. “I love you. You know that. I just don’t wanna see you get hurt.”

  “Don’t worry, I won’t.” She would never admit she was already hurting just thinking about Justin with another woman.

  Chapter Eight

  Justin had felt restless all day, so he decided to hop in his Lamborghini and drive to Nashville instead of taking his plane as planned. A long drive always helped clear his head. Turning up the tunes, he rolled down the windows and let his mind drift to thoughts of Anna as he passed the sign welcoming him to Music City.

  He assumed she was still in St. Thomas, unless she’d returned to prepare for the approaching school year. At the very least, he hoped her brother could give him some insight into her relationship with the good doctor… like whether she was really over him and ready to consider moving on with someone new.

  Justin followed the directions on his G.P.S. until he saw a sign for Jimmy’s bar. It didn’t look impressive from the outside, but he’d been around enough to know the hole in the wall spots were often the most memorable.

  Pulling into a parking spot, he checked his messages before getting out of the car, locking it, and pocketing his keys. He hadn’t even reached the entrance when people started swarming him.

  An older man in a black cowboy hat and boots said a few words to the bouncer before beckoning to Justin.

  Eager to slip inside before fans started demanding pictures and autographs, Justin walked up to the men. “Hey, any chance I can get in without waiting in line?” He smiled and hoped the men were racing fans.

  The man wearing the cowboy hat offered his hand. “Justin Hunt, right?”

  “That’s right, sir.” Justin shook his hand and smiled.

  “I’m J.T. McCall. I own this joint.”

  “McCall?” Justin frowned. “You wouldn’t be any relation to Ty, would you?”

  “Yeah, he’s my brother.”

  Justin smiled. “Hey, he and I are neighbors in St. Thomas. Your brother’s a hell of a nice guy.”

  “He’s said the same about you,” J.T. said. “My nephew’s waitin’ on you inside. Why don’t you head on in?”

  “Thanks, J.T. It was nice meeting you.”

  “You too.” J.T. gestured toward Justin’s car. “I’ll make sure the boys keep an eye on your ride tonight, too.”

  “I’d appreciate that.”

  “I set you boys up at a booth in the back,” J.T. said, “and I told the bouncers inside to make sure the autograph seekers keep their distance. I’m assumin’ that’s the way you want it?”

  Justin didn’t have to ask how J.T. knew he’d appreciate a little peace; his brother was Ty McCall. “That’d be great. Thanks.”

  “See ya inside,” J.T. said, tipping his cowboy hat. “Drinks are on the house tonight.” He grinned. “I’m a big racin’ fan. It sure is nice to see you back on the track.”

  “Thanks, man. It feels good to be back.”

  As soon as Justin stepped inside, one of the doormen ushered him to a booth in the rear of the crowded bar, trying to draw as little attention to him as possible. “Let me know if you need anything, Mr. Hunt.”

  “Thanks, I’ll do that.”

  Nick got to his feet when he spotted Justin, a huge grin splitting his face. “Man, it’s good to see you,” he said, offering his hand. “It’s been a while. Why the hell did you make yourself scarce when we were on the island visitin’ Anna?”

  Justin sat down across from Nick and reached for one of the clean glasses and the pitcher of beer. “I was packing up, getting ready to head home. Besides, I didn’t want to intrude on your family time.”

  “Since when?” Nick laughed. “You know we always love to see you.”

  “That’s nice of you to say.” Pouring the beer into his glass, Justin tried to sound nonchalant. “Speaking of your sister, how is she?”

  A waitress approached, her pen and notepad poised until her eyes landed on Justin. “Oh wow,” she said with a smile. “You’re Justin Hunt, aren’t you?”

  “Yes, ma’am.” He took a sip of his beer, hoping she would take a hint and make herself scarce. She was cute, but he didn’t come all this way to hook up with a random waitress.

  “You want anything to eat?” Nick asked, sliding a menu toward him.

  “No, I’m good for now.”

  “So am I.” Nick smiled at the waitress still fixated on Justin. “That’ll be all for now, Marla. Thanks.”

  “Just call if you need anything, Nick,” she said, winking.

  “You know I will.” Nick chuckled as he watched her walk away. “Man, does havin’ pretty girls throwin’ themselves at you ever get old?”

  Justin shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess it depends on the girl.” He wouldn’t mind if Anna felt so inclined, but that wasn’t her style. He suspected that may be the reason she’d managed to reel him in so quickly.

  “I’m glad you finally made it to our neck of the woods,” Nick said, topping his glass up. “What brings you out here? Business?”

  Justin had confided in Nick about his business interests outside of racing, including a company that specialized in a line of hot sauces and had an office in Nashville. “Uh, no.” He decided he couldn’t dodge the truth forever. “I was kind of hoping to talk to you about something.”

  Nick laughed. “This is a conversation we couldn’t have had over the phone?”

  “It’s kind of personal.”

  “I’m listenin’.”

  Justin leaned back and reached for his beer. “It’s about your sister.” He brought the glass to his lips.

  “What about her?”

  “Has she… uh… said anything to you about me?” Justin closed his eyes when Nick chuckled. The question made him sound like a high school freshman with his first crush.

  “Yeah, she mentioned you,” Nick said, smiling.

  Leaning forward, Justin asked, “She did? What did she say?”

  Nick laughed and slapped the table. “Man, you’ve got it bad, haven’t you?”

  “Don’t mess with me. Just tell me what she said.”

  “She said she liked you, that you’re a decent guy.”

  Justin tried to hide his disappointment. “That’s all?”

  “She also said she could never get involved with someone who does what you do for a livin’.”

  “Huh.” Justin didn’t want to reveal too much, but he knew he wasn’t concealing his displeasure well. He’d come all that way; he may as well ask the question that had tormented him for weeks. “You think she’s over that doctor dude?”

  Nick grimaced. “God, I hope so. Just the thought of havin’ that guy for a brother-in-law gave me a rash.”

  Justin laughed in spite of his discouragement. “Tell me how you really feel, Nick.”

  “It’s not that he’s a bad guy. He’s just not the guy for my sister.”

  “How do you know?” Justin reached for his beer.

  “The right relationship is supposed to bring out the best in you, right?”

  Justin shrugged. “You’re asking the wrong guy. I don’t know shit about relationships.”

  “Well, Tom brought out the worst in Anna. She’s always been pretty straight-laced, ya know? Never gave the folks any trouble, always got straight As.”

  Justin smiled. That’s exactly what he would have expected. “And that’s a bad thing?”

  “It was for me,” Nick said, scowling. “She was always makin’ me look bad.”

  Justin laughed. “I know what you mean. I’ve got two sisters who stayed the course, too.”

  “The thing is,” Nick said, lifting his baseball cap to push his dark hair back, “with Anna, I always get the feeling that she’s dissatisfied, especially with Tom. He fed her fears about steppin’ out of her comfort zone, tried to make her into his idea of the perfect little woman.”

  As far as Justin was concerned, she was already perfect. He wouldn’t change a thing about her. “What do you mean?”

  “He wanted the stay-at-home wife who drives car pool and takes their kids to little league and dance recitals.”

  “And you don’t think that’s what Anna wanted?”

  “I do, but I think she wants more. Take her kids’ stories. She’s always been passionate about them, but Tom never encouraged her to pursue publishing them. I think he was threatened by anything that would take her attention away from him.”

  “Is that so?” Justin clenched his fist. Thinking about Anna wasting so many years with a man who didn’t deserve her angered him. “Why do you think she agreed to marry him at all?”

  “He was a safe bet.” Nick smiled. “Anna doesn’t like to gamble, especially when her future’s at stake.”

  “Which is why she’d never give a guy like me a chance, huh?”

  Nick grinned as his eyes landed on the dance floor. “I don’t know. Why don’t you ask her yourself?”

  Justin’s heart nearly stopped when he spotted her in the middle of the dance floor talking and laughing with a group of her girlfriends. His mind flashed back to their kiss on the beach, and suddenly the only thing he could think about was getting another.

  “Jesus, Nick, I didn’t even know she was back in town. You could’ve warned me.”

  “You didn’t ask.”

  “I need to talk to her. Just give me a minute.”

  Justin could barely breathe as he forced his way through the crowd of people. He hadn’t expected to see her again so soon, and the shock nearly rendered him immobile.

  Anna gasped when he grabbed her arm and spun her around. “Oh my God! What are you doing here?”

  “I was having a drink with your brother.”

  “I don’t mean what are you doing at Jimmy’s. What are you doing in Nashville?”

  “I have a little business here.” She didn’t need to know his little business generated more than fifty million dollars in revenue last year.

  He’d never been very involved in Hotshots, preferring to act as the silent partner for an old college friend who’d approached him with a proposal and asked him to invest. But if it gave him an excuse to visit Nashville more often, he may have to become a little more hands-on.

  “You do?” She looked suspicious when she narrowed her eyes and tipped her head to the side. “What kind of business?”

  “Dance with me, and I’ll tell you about it.” He smiled when the band slowed it down with a Lee Bryce song.

  “I guess one dance wouldn’t hurt,” she said, stepping into his arms.

  The group of girls she was dancing with giggled and whispered as they cleared the dance floor.

  “It’s good to see you, Anna,” he said, drawing her as close as propriety allowed. He knew this was her home turf, and he didn’t want to make her self-conscious by giving people reason to gossip about them.

  “It’s good to see you too,” she said, tipping her head back to smile at him. “You’ve done well since you got home. Congratulations.”

  He couldn’t hide his satisfaction. Knowing she’d been following his races made him feel good. “I didn’t know you were a racing fan.”

  “I’m not, but most of my family are, especially my daddy and Nick.”

  “I met your Uncle J.T. outside. He said he was a racing fan too. He seems like a nice guy.”

  “He’s the best.” She smiled. “We’re all pretty close.”

  Justin wasn’t surprised Anna’s family was close. He saw that in the way her parents and Nick had interacted on the island. The McCalls often invited friends and family Justin recognized from country music circles, though he usually respected their privacy when they had guests. He knew how important having a little down time was, and since Ty and his friends were in the same position he was, always trying to fight off autograph seekers, they had that in common.

  “Yeah, your family seems tight. I met your parents and brother plenty of times. Why didn’t you ever visit the island?”

  “I did.”

  Her hand slipped up to cradle his neck, though he suspected it was unconscious. The subtle touch made him react the same way he had on the beach. “So, how is it our paths never crossed?”

  “Bad timing, I guess.”

  She ran her other hand down the front of his button down shirt, and he began to suspect she knew exactly what she was doing. Justin stumbled over his words. “I’m… uh… glad we finally got it right. The timing, that is.” His body seemed to have a mind of its own. The months of dormancy finally caught up to him, and his body welcomed the revival.

  “You were telling me about your business in Nashville.”

  He wouldn’t admit she was his main reason for making the trip until he had a better read on what she was thinking. “My buddy and I own a hot sauce company. Maybe you’ve heard of it… Hotshots?”

  Her mouth dropped open before snapping shut as quickly. “You own that company?”

  “Only fifty percent. My buddy Deacon owns the rest. He’s really the brains behind the operation. I just agreed to put up the money when he was starting out. A few hundred grand bought me fifty percent when the company wasn’t worth much.” He chuckled. “I don’t know that either one of us thought it would grow to the size it has.”

  She tipped her head back to look him in the eye. “So you take risks in business too, huh?”

  “Some people might describe me as a venture capitalist. I love investing in new businesses and watching their growth.” He shrugged. “Or sometimes I have to watch them crash and burn and take my money down with them.”

  “You don’t mind losing all that money?”

  He laughed. “Nah, my accountant says I need the write-offs. Besides, if you don’t take a chance, you never know what might happen, right?” Business was the last thing on his mind as he fought the urge to kiss her. He wanted her to admit she was ready to take a chance on him.

  “I don’t know how you can do that,” she said, shaking her head. “I’m always so careful with money. Of course, I have to be on a teacher’s salary.” She smiled.

  “Come on, don’t give me that. Your old man is Ty McCall. You must be used to living in the lap of luxury.”

  “Not really,” she said, obviously considering his statement. “We had a nice ranch house when I was growing up, but it was definitely not luxurious. My parents have a couple of vacation homes because they’ve always been big on spending time with family and friends during their down time, but as you can tell, they don’t usually go for the biggest or flashiest house.”

  Justin threw his head back and laughed. “Unlike me, you mean?” He didn’t mind her teasing him about his ostentatious taste in homes. Wait until she caught a glimpse of his car collection.

  She asked, “What makes you think that was a shot at you?” with her tongue firmly planted in her cheek.

  They shared a smile before the amusement was replaced by a more passionate vibe. His eyes landed on her glossy, full lips. “Anna, I like you a lot. If you want to know the real reason I’m here, it’s because I couldn’t stop thinking about you.” Never before had he felt so compelled to lay it all on the line with a woman.

  Ever since they’d lost Todd, he started approaching life differently. He could be the next one killed too soon, and he didn’t want to lie on a stretcher in the back of some ambulance knowing his moments were numbered and struggle to come to terms with the things he didn’t say or do.