LITMIR.BIZ

       5

      “Oh, my gosh! You have Lourdes Bennett staying at the farmhouse?”

      Kyle blinked in surprise. He’d just walked into Black Gold Coffee to meet his friends, twelve of whom were crowded around their usual tables in the back corner, when he was confronted by this question. It’d come from Callie Vanetta-Pendleton, the woman he’d suggested Lourdes stay with, but he didn’t look at Callie. He shifted his gaze to Riley. “You told them? What happened to ‘don’t tell anyone—she’s trying to keep a low profile’? And ‘this is Riley, the friend I can trust with my life’?”

      Riley flinched. “I don’t recall that bit about trusting me with your life.”

      Dylan and Cheyenne were there with their one-year-old. So were Addy and Noah and their little girl, Emily, who was slightly older than Dylan and Chey’s boy. Eve had shown up without her husband and baby, since she ran the B and B her parents owned in town, even though they now lived in Placerville. Ted and Sophia, Callie’s husband, Levi, Riley and his fiancée, Phoenix, rounded out the group—along with Brandon and Olivia, of course. As always, Kyle was hyperaware of their presence, as well as whether or not he’d be sitting close to them. He figured, since he couldn’t put Olivia behind him, he’d be conscious of details like that forever. “Maybe not, but that’s what I was thinking.”

      A sheepish expression appeared on Riley’s face. “Sorry ’bout that. But if it’d been something important, something more than an interesting development that didn’t affect you much either way, I wouldn’t have breathed a word. And these guys are the only ones I’ve told. You can trust them as much as you can trust me, right?”

      “Now I’m hoping I can trust them more!” Taking great care not to focus on Olivia, Kyle pulled out a chair and slid it to the left so that once he sat down, their knees wouldn’t touch.

      Callie had gone silent the moment she realized she’d gotten Riley in trouble. But at this, she leaned forward. “Your secret is safe with me, with all of us. I’m just excited. I’m a huge fan of Lourdes Bennett’s. Do you suppose she’ll ever come into town? Maybe I can arrange to bump into her.”

      “I’m sure she’ll have to buy groceries at some point,” he told her. “But she really wants to go unnoticed, Callie, so be careful about approaching her.”

      “Why is she here?”

      It was Olivia who’d asked this question, so he had to look at her, but he did his best to seem impassive. With her wide blue eyes and honey-blond hair, he still found her one of the prettiest women he’d ever seen. “She’s sort of having a difficult time. I don’t think she’d want me to say much more than that.”

      “Wow. Sounds like she’s already told you what’s going on—and you’re protective of her,” Brandon said.

      Kyle scowled. “I’m just trying to give her the space and privacy she requested.”

      “Is she here by herself?” Callie asked.

      Grateful for the distraction, he moved his attention away from Brandon and Olivia as he nodded.

      “Oh, no!” she exclaimed. “Don’t tell me she and Derrick have broken up.”

      “You know her boyfriend’s name?” Kyle said. “You really are a fan.”

      Callie pressed a hand to her swollen stomach. He got the impression her baby was moving, but she didn’t say so. She was too caught up in his news. “Anyone who follows her on Twitter knows Derrick’s name. For a while there, they were talking about getting married. She even posted a few pictures of various engagement rings she liked. But he hasn’t given her one yet—not that she’s revealed, anyway. What’s going on?”

      Kyle shrugged. “Every relationship has its ups and downs.”

      Eve frowned at him. “Really? That’s all you’re going to say?”

      “I’m trying to be discreet.”

      “With us?” Callie acted wounded.

      He sighed. “They’re having some problems, okay? Just like you’ve guessed.”

      “Is that why she came here?” Callie asked. “To get away from him?”

      Shit. He’d already said too much. “No. She’s here on business, to write her next album. She needs peace and quiet. So...let’s all keep our mouths shut.”

      Callie shifted again. She was obviously at the uncomfortable stage of pregnancy. “Is this a country album?”

      “Of course,” he replied. “Why wouldn’t it be?”

      “Because her last one wasn’t, and it didn’t do very well.” Cheyenne lifted her chubby baby from his carrier. “As far as I’m concerned, it was too much of a departure from what made her famous.”

      “I haven’t heard it,” Kyle said, and several others, mostly the guys, said the same.

      “It was more...pop,” Cheyenne explained as Dylan helped her ready a bottle.

      “I didn’t like it as much as her other work, either,” Addy agreed. “And I love pop music. Lourdes Bennett is just more...authentic as a country artist, if that makes sense.”

      “You listen to her, too?” Kyle asked.

      “Don’t you?” she replied.

      “I’ve heard a few of her songs on the radio, but it’s not like I’ve ever downloaded them onto my iPod.”

      Addy wadded up a napkin and dropped it on her empty side plate. “Is she as pretty in person as she is in her pictures?”

      “I think so.” That was the truth, but Kyle said it nonchalantly so he wouldn’t give away how strong his feelings actually were on that subject. Then, eager to avoid all the attention he was receiving, he checked the order line at the register. It had been winding out the door when he arrived. He still needed to get his coffee and a muffin but had been trying to outwait the rush.

      “She must really be something.” The tone of Addy’s voice said she wasn’t fooled. “And she’s staying at the farmhouse? That’s very close to your place.”

      “I suggest you see if she needs dinner out occasionally,” Noah chimed in, catching on to the implication.

      “Or, better yet, you might want to bring dinner in,” Dylan joked.

      The line hadn’t shortened. If anything, it’d gotten longer, and Kyle wasn’t willing to wait, not when he could have Morgan bring him a cup of coffee once he started work. “Why hold off until dinner? She’s at my house right now, not the farmhouse. I could bring her breakfast.” He knew better than to get them excited but couldn’t resist having a little fun.

      Eve put her coffee down so fast it sloshed over the side. “So she did break up with her boyfriend.”

      “No.”

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