Total pages in book: 60
Estimated words: 57350 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 287(@200wpm)___ 229(@250wpm)___ 191(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 57350 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 287(@200wpm)___ 229(@250wpm)___ 191(@300wpm)
Joan sniffed. She turned and studied the clusters of people gathered around the tables. Ranch hands sat with longneck beers while a group of younger locals argued over a game of darts near the back wall. Then she turned back toward him. “Are they filming anything in here?”
“Hell no,” Adam said immediately. “I don’t want movie people taking over my place.”
Joan’s shoulders drooped. “I really want to be an extra,” she admitted. “But I can’t figure out where they’re filming.”
Adam felt a twinge of guilt. Had Bianca found another ranch house yet? He knew the town council had approved two days of filming in the center of town. The old Samuelson place had already been rented for the equipment trucks and trailers. He probably should have told Bianca about the Willoughby agreement earlier that morning. Instead, he had enjoyed their time together and left the conversation for later. Not exactly his finest decision.
“Excuse me for a minute,” he said. He caught Tara’s attention and pointed toward the bar.
She gave a quick nod.
He pushed through the double doors behind the bar and stepped into the hallway that led past the kitchen. The noise of the bar softened as he walked down the narrow corridor to his office.
The room was simple but comfortable.
A wide wooden desk stood near the center with stacks of paperwork arranged in uneven piles. A computer monitor glowed in the dim light, displaying the bar’s inventory records. Shelves along one wall held binders, supply invoices, and a few framed photos from past music nights.
Adam sat and rested his hands on the edge of his desk. Bianca should have called by now. He pulled his phone free of his pocket and punched in her number.
On the third ring she answered. “Hello?”
“Hey, it’s Adam. I was wondering if you were coming by the bar tonight.” He rested one hand on the desk and stared out the window into the dark. “If not, I can come pick you up wherever you are. You shouldn’t be out alone tonight.”
There was a pause on the other end. Then her voice jumped an octave. “Oh, were you?”
Adam winced. His instincts kicked into overdrive. Every nerve in his body lit up with warning. “Yeah,” he said carefully. “I thought you might want to come back for a drink before we headed to my place.” Her belongings already sat neatly in his bedroom.
“Well, gee, Adam,” Bianca snapped, “I’m in the middle of a fucking mess right now.”
His jaw went rigid. Had he ever heard her swear before? “Excuse me?”
“Yeah,” she said. “Turns out I don’t have the Willoughby place as a filming location anymore.”
Adam closed his eyes. He barely stopped himself from slapping his palm against his forehead. “Yeah,” he said slowly. “About that.”
“About that nothing,” Bianca shot back. Her voice rose enough that he pulled the phone away from his ear. “We were all set, and you had to butt in.”
Adam stared at the wall. His woman had a temper and an impressive set of lungs when she wanted to use them. “Let’s talk about this in person. Why don’t you come by the bar, have a drink, and then I’ll take you home?”
“Home?” Bianca snapped. “You think I’m going home with you?”
“Yes,” he said quietly.
Silence crackled through the phone for a second.
“The least we can do is talk,” he said, forcing patience into his voice.
“Well,” Bianca said, “at the moment I’m driving up to Billy Rockefeller’s house.”
Everything inside Adam went cold. Earlier that day he and Quinn had stopped by Billy Rockefeller’s place to ask questions. Billy had denied sending the strange roses and denied shooting at Bianca’s car. But he had made one thing clear. He didn’t want movie people anywhere near town.
“That’s not safe,” Adam said immediately. “You shouldn’t be out there.”
“Well,” Bianca replied, her voice sharp as broken glass, “I guess you should’ve thought about that before you ruined my deal with the Willoughbys.”
His ears heated. “Bianca—”
“Now, if you’ll excuse me,” she cut in, “I’m done talking to you.”
The line went dead. Adam lowered the phone and stared at the dark screen. For a moment he didn’t move.
She did not just hang up on him. He shoved the chair back from the desk and headed for the door. Billy Rockefeller’s house sat a good distance outside town. And Bianca was driving straight into a situation Adam didn’t trust one bit.
He grabbed his truck keys from the desk and strode out of the office, his temper blowing wide open.
CHAPTER 17
Adam’s truck fishtailed as he turned into Billy Rockefeller’s gravel drive. His headlights bounced across the front of the house just as the front door flew open.
Bianca burst outside with Clancy and Ewan right behind her.
Adam put his truck into park and jumped out before the engine finished rumbling. “Bianca!”
She spotted him at the same moment.