Page 161 of Dirty Like Jude
So this time, I told her thetruth.
“You and me, darlin’, we’re goin’ down the longest road thereis.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Roni
“Hey you. What time is it?”
Jude looked over at me, in no particular hurry. “It’s Saturday,” he said. “Who the fuckcares?”
He was just finishing hanging up the big black-and-white photo on canvas of him and Piper with their dad—on my living roomwall.
I smiled and went to grab my phone from my purse. “Just want to make sure I give myself enough time to get ready. You’re coming tonight,right?”
“Yup. Gonna swing by with Jesse and Katie to catch the end of the set and pick your sexy ass up.” He stood back and examined his hanging job. “This look straight toyou?”
“Hmm.” I came to stand next to him and looked at the photo, tilting my head at various angles,considering.
“Are you shittin’me?”
I grinned. “It’s straight. Finally.” Then I popped up on my tip-toes and kissed him on the cheek. “Nicework.”
“Gotta say. It looks good over your girly-asscouch.”
“My girly-ass couch is an antique and I’ll have you know it’sgorgeous.”
“It’s alright,” he said, sitting down on it to start unpacking what looked like motorcycle magazines and random handfuls of paperwork he probably needed to sort through. “Could be softer. It’s stiff asfuck.”
I just smiled and went back to what I was doing—sticking push pins into a map of North America that now hung on the dining room wall next to my desk. I was pleased as shit that Jude was moving his stuff into my place before he left on tour. He’d given up his rental place, parked his car over at Jesse’s and his bikes at Piper’s, dumped some of his giant dude furniture at Piper’s too, and brought all his personal stuffhere.
Which meant that even when he wasn’t here, his stuff would be… and I would know he was comingback.
Totally worked forme.
Plus I could open my closet and touch his clothes, and smell his woodsy man-musk and swoon and allthat.
I was staying in Vancouver to work; I was optimistic about being able to quit my day job, soon, and focus on promoting events. After the New Year’s Eve event, Summer and I had talked about doing a couple of shows in the spring when she was back from a short tour she was doing down the coast. And I had a pretty big event tonight that she was gonna do a little impromptu guest appearance at, which I was super excitedabout.
Once I was promoting events for her, it would just open moredoors.
And in-between all the fabulous parties I’d be throwing, I’d be visiting my man on the road. Maybe I’d even drag him out clubbing with me in some of the bigger cities, to get ideas and makecontacts.
“I’m just gonna cherry pick the places I want to go, and forget the others,” I told him. “Fargo? No thanks. Austin, yes please…” I already had the tour schedule pinned on the wall next to the map, with the dates I was planning to join him on the road highlighted inpink.
“Can’t blame you,” hesaid.
“Three shows in New York… I’m totally coming for that.” I turned to look at him, sitting on my girly-ass couch beneath his photo. “And while you’re gone, I’ll just gaze at yourpicture…”
He glanced at me, raising an eyebrow, and I batted my eyelashes. He grinned halfway. “Still can’t believe you really want that thing inhere.”
“Whatthing?”
He pointed his thumb over his shoulder at the giant black-and-whitephoto.
“Seriously? It’s gorgeous.” I took a few steps closer, crossing my arms as I gazed at it. “Just look how fucking cute you are, peeking out from behind your dad’s leg with your little mop of dark hair… and thoseeyes… What were you, likefour?”
“Something likethat.”
