Next Song I Sing (NEXT TIME AROUND) by Donna McDonald Page B
Authors: Donna McDonald
Tags: General Fiction
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been drying on the shelf. “You’re turning out to be a good man as well, Maximillan. You picked some good footsteps to follow in.”
Sam walked down and leaned on the bar in front of Max. “Jasper deserves a chance with this woman he likes. We can’t let his crazy ex screw this up for him.”
Max nodded. “Don’t worry, Sam. I don’t intend to,” he said firmly.
Chapter 11
It had taken Ryan Carmichael several days, two road trips to places she worked, and over twenty phone calls to track down Emma Wallace. She had been as hard to locate as any third world dictator on the run had been back when he was still doing field reporting.
Finally, Ryan had just bribed her next door neighbor with tickets to a concert in exchange for her whereabouts and secrecy about his search for her. The twenty-something-year-old had known exactly where she was and had a key to Emma’s apartment no less. Ryan had spent the last twenty-four hours wondering what the hell else the kid knew about Emma and just how friendly the two of them were. Once he’d started chatting, the boy hadn’t shut up about her.
Then he saw the woman who consumed his every thought lately the exact moment he stepped into the lounge. His gaze had gone right to her. She was sitting at a table laughing with a woman Ryan had never met, talking to her friend Taylor, whom he had met, and smiling at two good-looking men, one older and a bit gray, the other obviously much younger.
Yet he hadn’t come this far and gone to so much trouble to locate her just to walk away because she might be on a date.
Ryan told himself that it didn’t matter who Emma was with, or dating at the moment, because he was not going away again until he knew for certain if there was any chance of him coming back to her. Emma had liked him before, and there had been a pull between them—a really strong pull between them.
It was part of the reason he’d taken the assignment away.
His love life had been hard enough pining for his cousin’s widow for years when she had never thought of him in a romantic way. The last thing he had needed was to spend time pining for a married woman, or worse feeling tempted to lure her away from a relationship that obviously wasn’t making her happy. Of all the sweet, sexy women he’d ever come across in his travels, the good-hearted Emma Wallace definitely deserved a man dedicated to routinely putting a smile on her face. Since her ex had obviously failed at doing so, Ryan thought maybe he might come up with reason Emma might let him have a shot at it.
Besides—he was back to stay awhile, and there was no reason now that they couldn’t be together. Plus, he was ready to do whatever it would take to get into her life. Seeing his widowed cousin, Thea, finally fall in love again after a decade had inspired Ryan. It had also been a wake-up call to not wait a whole damn decade himself before acting, which is exactly what Morgan and Thea had told him at their wedding.
So Ryan walked to the bar with as much confidence as he could and ordered a drink to give himself time to build up the nerve to confront her. He well knew the benefits of telling the right story, and sometimes finding the right timing was truly everything.
“Got a local microbrew on tap?” Ryan asked.
“No, but got several in the bottle,” Sam told him, noticing the newcomer had never stopped staring at the table where Jasper, Max, and the women were having dinner.
“Give me the darkest one you have,” Ryan said, letting his gaze drift back to Emma.
“Which one at the table are you interested in?” Sam asked, setting the frosty bottle on a coaster in front of the man.
“Curvy blonde in the white dress and tiny pink sweater,” Ryan answered immediately, instinct telling him this man knew what was going on and might be willing to share the information. He also knew from the shrewd grin he got in answer, it was not the time to bullshit about his intentions either.
“Good
Sam walked down and leaned on the bar in front of Max. “Jasper deserves a chance with this woman he likes. We can’t let his crazy ex screw this up for him.”
Max nodded. “Don’t worry, Sam. I don’t intend to,” he said firmly.
Chapter 11
It had taken Ryan Carmichael several days, two road trips to places she worked, and over twenty phone calls to track down Emma Wallace. She had been as hard to locate as any third world dictator on the run had been back when he was still doing field reporting.
Finally, Ryan had just bribed her next door neighbor with tickets to a concert in exchange for her whereabouts and secrecy about his search for her. The twenty-something-year-old had known exactly where she was and had a key to Emma’s apartment no less. Ryan had spent the last twenty-four hours wondering what the hell else the kid knew about Emma and just how friendly the two of them were. Once he’d started chatting, the boy hadn’t shut up about her.
Then he saw the woman who consumed his every thought lately the exact moment he stepped into the lounge. His gaze had gone right to her. She was sitting at a table laughing with a woman Ryan had never met, talking to her friend Taylor, whom he had met, and smiling at two good-looking men, one older and a bit gray, the other obviously much younger.
Yet he hadn’t come this far and gone to so much trouble to locate her just to walk away because she might be on a date.
Ryan told himself that it didn’t matter who Emma was with, or dating at the moment, because he was not going away again until he knew for certain if there was any chance of him coming back to her. Emma had liked him before, and there had been a pull between them—a really strong pull between them.
It was part of the reason he’d taken the assignment away.
His love life had been hard enough pining for his cousin’s widow for years when she had never thought of him in a romantic way. The last thing he had needed was to spend time pining for a married woman, or worse feeling tempted to lure her away from a relationship that obviously wasn’t making her happy. Of all the sweet, sexy women he’d ever come across in his travels, the good-hearted Emma Wallace definitely deserved a man dedicated to routinely putting a smile on her face. Since her ex had obviously failed at doing so, Ryan thought maybe he might come up with reason Emma might let him have a shot at it.
Besides—he was back to stay awhile, and there was no reason now that they couldn’t be together. Plus, he was ready to do whatever it would take to get into her life. Seeing his widowed cousin, Thea, finally fall in love again after a decade had inspired Ryan. It had also been a wake-up call to not wait a whole damn decade himself before acting, which is exactly what Morgan and Thea had told him at their wedding.
So Ryan walked to the bar with as much confidence as he could and ordered a drink to give himself time to build up the nerve to confront her. He well knew the benefits of telling the right story, and sometimes finding the right timing was truly everything.
“Got a local microbrew on tap?” Ryan asked.
“No, but got several in the bottle,” Sam told him, noticing the newcomer had never stopped staring at the table where Jasper, Max, and the women were having dinner.
“Give me the darkest one you have,” Ryan said, letting his gaze drift back to Emma.
“Which one at the table are you interested in?” Sam asked, setting the frosty bottle on a coaster in front of the man.
“Curvy blonde in the white dress and tiny pink sweater,” Ryan answered immediately, instinct telling him this man knew what was going on and might be willing to share the information. He also knew from the shrewd grin he got in answer, it was not the time to bullshit about his intentions either.
“Good
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