“Always.” He bent to kiss her and she stood on tiptoes to meet him. God, he tasted good. She swore she could taste the faintest hint of adrenaline and it excited her. Mmm, she could melt into him right now, take him back to her place and…
…And she remembered she was standing in the middle of Riversong’s parking lot when she heard Kevin sing, “Brianna and Poopman sitting in a tree,” followed by April’s scandalized shriek.
Gotta love family.
Chapter 12
During dinner with Brianna, the judges, some headliners who had gotten to town earlier, and the rest of the workshop group—minus Jerold tonight, thankfully—Brock got a text from Kyle asking him to come up to the ranch house for a debriefing. Well, that was going to require some changes in plans. Even with Brian in custody and the likelihood that the near hit-and-run today was just a joyride gone stupider, Brock had a hunch that Brianna hadn’t seen the last of her troubles. Something was nagging at him.
Yes, dinner was pleasant—even fun—without Jerold there, but where was the bastard and why? Brock wanted Brianna safe, and to do that, he wanted her either at his place or for him to stay at hers. He’d planned on explaining his rationale to her after dinner and expected her to put up a fight. But with Kyle wanting a meeting—no doubt to discuss what went down at Riversong—he couldn’t exactly schlep her along for that, could he?
As he half-listened to the music-based conversations going on around him, he caught Jake’s eye. The man had not left his wife’s side since he got back to the farm after the debriefing with the sergeant. Jake had been nodding along and contributing to the conversation here and there—the man knew music after all—while still scanning their surroundings. They had a private room but Jake wasn’t about to let his guard down for an instant, and neither was Brock. Two additional team members were stationed at a table just outside the room like a couple of guard dogs, but looking like two friends having a meal instead of bringing attention to themselves as guards.
Which gave Brock an idea about how to keep Brianna safe. Something that would allow him to know she was protected even when he wasn’t there. He took out his cell and texted Kyle, got the go-ahead, then texted Alex to set things up.
When dinner was over, the party broke up with hugs and laughter, and excitement about the next day. Festival-goers would be setting up their tents or parking their RVs at the temporary campsites beside the farm and checking in. They were allowed to wander the farm once they had their festival bracelets, so the workshop was moving up into the hills for the final day before the festival started. Then their competition would begin first thing Friday morning, kicking off the festival.
Brock approached Jake while Rachael and Brianna were busy saying their goodbyes for the night. “Hard to believe they’re all competitors, isn’t it? They act like long-lost friends.”
“Great, isn’t it?” Jake said, grinning. “That’s why Rachael agreed to be a judge. This festival and the workshop have a reputation for being friendly, more cooperative than back-stabbing. God knows you get enough of that in the industry. A lot of these competitors go on to have serious music careers and they end up playing together. The more they get along now, the better opportunities they have later. Instead of that REM song ‘Everybody Hurts,’ everybody wins.”
Brock grinned at Jake’s musical reference. The guy just could not help himself.
“So I’m glad you got Brianna back here for dinner,” Jake went on. “I know she’s shy, but it’s only gonna help her, the more she interacts. And I don’t need Rachael to tell me that girl’s got talent. I’ve got my own ears.” He tapped the side of his head. “Amber’s got serious skills too; she’s some stiff competition. And as much as it pains me to say it, Jerold is no slouch.”
“Speaking of being social or back-stabbing, notice who wasn’t here tonight?”
“Yeah, I did.” Jake gritted his teeth. “Hate to quote my son-of-a-bitch father-in-law, but he always said he liked to keep his friends close and his enemies closer. There’s wisdom in that. I’d have preferred to keep my eyes on that bastard tonight.”
“Kyle have a tail on him, do you know?”
“I don’t know. I was madder than a bull today and he was smart enough to let me go see to my angel instead of trying to talk to me like I was a fellow human being with any sort of rational brain.”
“You gonna be at the meeting tonight?”
“Yup. We’re staying up at the ranch with them, but there’s no way I’d miss it anyhow, now that I’m calm again. You gonna brief us on what happened at the coffee shop?”
“That’s the idea.” Brock shifted on his feet. The group was finishing up their goodbyes and he was anxious to see how Brianna would react to his plan. “First, I’ve gotta make sure Brianna’s taken care of for the night.”
“How?”
“You’ll see.” He smiled at Brianna as she crossed the room to him. God, the confidence shining in her eyes made up for the day. He’d been so worried that she’d retreat back into her shell after coming so far. He’d watched Sonny’s face as she played—and it was a masterstroke of hers to play a jazz tune, since the man apparently loved jazz—and the transformation from skeptical to supportive was damn near magic. She couldn’t give up now, and she wasn’t going to. And Brock would make sure she was safe to pursue her dreams.
She wrapped her hand around his arm as if she’d done it a thousand times. It just felt so good and right to have her there. She took the edge off the pain he’d been feeling since Sean died and he’d left California alone, made him think he could have a chance at a happy future, and that future didn’t need to be lonely.
“I have a surprise for you,” he said as they walked out of the room.
“Oh?” she asked. “Why do you look like I might not like it?”
Brock laughed. “Damn. Am I that transparent?” He patted her hand wrapped around his biceps. “You might not, but, I’m not giving you a choice.”
“Badger.” She rolled her eyes.
“That’s my name, that’s my game.”
She quirked up an eyebrow, then turned her attention to a man in a suit coat who was smiling and asking how everyone’s meal was as they left the private dining room. “Fredrick, tell Jeff he had mad grill skills tonight. My bacon burger was excellent.”
Fredrick smiled back as he winked. “I’ll be sure to tell him, Brianna.”
