Ryan remained quiet, happy for his buddy to take the flack. Yep, he’d save the spotlight for a more private time.
“Fine,” she muttered again—her go-to word apparently. “Check out the lighting and the stage for me. Tell me what I need to do to upgrade and improve on what’s there now.”
“You own this place?” Caleb asked.
Respectable job, Caleb. Keep up the quest for information. Ryan knew she did, or rather her mother and friend owned the joint, but he wanted details, fascinated by what he’d learned tonight. He was certain Julia hadn’t mentioned a family business, and she’d had ample opportunity to tell him about her mother. He should shout and holler, but he was so damn pleased to see her he couldn’t hold onto his irritation.
“My mother ownsThe Last Frontier. It’s been in the family for four generations.” Her tight-lipped voice hinted at her conflict. She wasn’t the prim, uptight type, so he wondered why the club embarrassed her.
“Cool,” Caleb said. “Do you strip as well?”
Whoa!Ryan glared at his friend. No one saw his wife naked apart from him.
“I’m a secretary,” Julia said in a tight voice. “I don’t normally work here.”
Caleb raised his hands in surrender. “Just curious. You said nothing when we first met.”
Julia’s glare darkened. “You two understand lighting. Give me a verbal report on anything that needs fixing.” She wheeled around and stomped away, the slap of her high heels highlighting her annoyance.
“Did you have to wind her up?”
“You wanted answers. I asked the questions for you.” Caleb glanced over his shoulder at a burst of feminine laughter. “I told her friends we were roadies with a successful band.”
“And?”
“They adoreFrench Letters. Their words. They wanted to learn about Dubois and Beauchamp. Their favorites,” he said smugly.
At the revelation, a flash of amusement doused some of Ryan’s Julia-related anxiety. “Yeah?”
“I said they were assholes but weren’t bad singers,” Caleb said. “What? I could hardly tell them Beauchamp was standing right in front of them and Dubois is married to their friend. Seymour would kill us for letting out that info.”
“You’re a pain in my ass.” Ryan stalked off toward the stage, grinning when he heard his friend running after him. Secretly he was glad Caleb was here, helping diffuse some of Julia’s anger and aiding him as he floundered through unchartered waters.
“She doesn’t want a divorce.”
“What?” Ryan swung around to face his friend.
“She watches you when you’re not looking. You’ve hurt her, but it’s fixable.”
“That’s your considered opinion?”
“It is.” Caleb’s seriousness gave way to a grin of pure evil. “Perhaps I should give you an incentive. If you fuck this up with Julia and let her get away, it will clear the way for me. She likes me a little.”
“Don’t even consider it,” Ryan snarled, possessiveness roaring through him at the idea of someone else with his wife. “Julia gave us a job. We’d better get to it.” He climbed the set of pitted steps at the far end of the stage.
“You think I don’t mean it. Julia is a sexy woman. She might be the one to make me settle down.”
Ryan snorted. “She’s my wife.”
“Only because you thought of it first.”
“Because I’m the intelligent one,” Ryan said. “Where the fuck are the lights? It’s dark as hell back here.”
“Isn’t hell full of fires?”
Ryan groaned, more alert and mentally with it than he’d been for months. Caleb, ever the smart-ass. He patted along the wall with his hand. “Ah, I’ve found the switches.” He flicked them and bright light illuminated the stage.
He and Caleb exchanged a look.
