Page 128 of Hot Mess
Xander didn’t even look up. He was too busy talking in Nikki’s ear, his hand buried in her hair.
“Hey, man,” Ashley said, offering his hand. He gave Carter pretty much the same blank-yet-annoyed look he’d given me when I’d arrived at his apartment for our first consultation.
“Hey.” Carter shook hands, but he definitely scoped out Ashley in a weird way. Then he leaned into my space and said in my ear, “You need me to get rid of this guy for you?”
I almost laughed. First, at the suggestion that Carter was my savior or something. Second, that he actually thought he might be able to “get rid of” Ashley.
I had no idea if Ashley was a brawler or anything, but all you had to do was look at the two of them to know he could clean the floor with Carter if he wanted to.
They were about the same size, but you could just tell Ashley was stronger. Carter sat at a desk all day. Ashley was athletic and kickass.
Plus, he had Xander as backup.
And two bodyguards.
I looked at Ashley. There was probably no way he could’ve heard what Carter said to me, but the look on his face was, for once, pretty easy to read. He didn’t like the vibe Carter was sending my way anymore than Melody did.
Carter, for his part, still hadn’t backed the hell out of my space. His arm was on the back of the seat behind me.
Then just to make matters more awkward, Nikki slid out of the booth. Xander leaned over to say something to Ashley, then he slid out, too, and he and Nikki disappeared into the crowd with one of the bodyguards on their tail.
Ashley looked at me. Then he looked at Carter. Who was still in my space.
“So how do you know Danica?” Ashley asked bluntly.
“We used to date,” Carter answered, just as bluntly.
“Just for a few months,” I put in.
“Eight months,” Carter said.
“It was more like seven-and-a-half.”
Ashley’s blue eyes flicked to me. And I could pretty much feel Melody glaring daggers at the side of Carter’s head.
Awkward.
“Ashley’s a musician,” I offered, feeling the need to fill the awkward space between us all. “And I’m redecorating his place.”
“You’re a client?” Carter said, still scoping out Ashley.
Ashley said nothing.
“I thought I recognized you,” Melody said, leaning in. She was eye-groping Ashley’s tattoos, or maybe his toned arms. “You’re the singer in that band. What’s that song…? ‘Vasoline’…?”
“‘Gasoline,’” I corrected her. “You’re thinking of the Stone Temple Pilots song.”
“Oh.” She frowned at me a little. “Right.”
I glanced at Ashley and his lips quirked. Maybe I’d impressed him that I knew his song. But honestly, everyone knew that song. It had to be the Penny Pushers’ biggest hit by far. It got so much radio play in Vancouver you couldn’t help getting kinda sick of hearing it. But it was still a great song.
“You’re a singer?” Carter asked, sounding skeptical, jealous and dickish all at once.
“I am,” Ashley said.
“What’s your band called?”
“The Penny Pushers,” Melody supplied.
