The Duet(39)

A moment later, he answered with a quiet, hard tone. “Write about it.”

My mouth fell open. “Are you serious?”

“The written word will be my life’s mistress,” he answered with a mocking tone.

“Oh, please,” I answered, rolling my eyes and leaning back onto my elbows in the grass. “You sound like a pretentious ass.”

He winked. “What about you?”

Obviously, it was a no brainer. Up until that point, I’d never known the real thing. “I’d want to live it.”

“You’d give up performing forever?” he asked, our gazes locking as he stared down at me.

“Of course. Why write about something you’ll never experience?”





Chapter Twelve





Holy cow, was my vajayjay (as Cammie liked to call it) sore after riding Dotty all day. I never knew that area could be so sore from non-sex related activities, but note to self: put some bubble wrap down there next time.

I sat in the bathtub for a solid hour after we got back, washing the smell of pine, sweat, and horse out of my hair and off my body. The more I relaxed, the less I ever wanted to leave. I’d just live in the bathtub forever and LuAnne could sneak me in food. Unfortunately, just as my fingers really started to prune over, my phone started vibrating on the tile next to the tub. In spite of my better judgment, I peered over the ledge to see Summer’s purple hair and smiling face staring up at me. She’d programmed a picture of herself holding up a sign that said, “answer this call!!!!” when she’d first started working for me, and now the image was taunting me.

I groaned and laid back against the back of the tub. There was no way I was talking to Summer while I was taking a bath. I made a mental note to call her back after I finished and then I closed my eyes as the jasmine bath salts started to fade. I either had to get out or add more.

Obviously, I was going to add more.

Except, I never got the chance.

The second I opened my eyes, I saw a big, black spider hanging directly above me on the ceiling and before I could process how big it was, I let out a guttural scream. A shudder ran down my spine as I pressed against the back of the tub, splashing nearly half of the water over the sides. Footsteps pounded in the hallway and then the door to the bathroom burst open.

I blinked rapidly to find Jason standing in the doorway, breathing hard and staring at me like he was seeing a ghost.

“What the hell is wrong?” he asked, not even bothering to avert his eyes. To his credit, with my knees bent to my chest, he wasn’t actually seeing anything.

I couldn’t look back up to the spider. I pointed to the ceiling and squeezed my eyes closed.

“Kill it, please. Kill it before it drops in the tub with me. I’m serious. I am not a spider person. I don’t even like Spider-Man, not even when Toby Maguire played him. He almost made it worse.”

The moment I stopped rambling, I realized Jason was laughing, but not just light giggles. No, he was bent forward and wiping his eyes he was laughing so hard. I peered back up at the ceiling and realized that my big, fat spider was actually small— embarrassingly small.

I sighed. “Yeah, okay, you can stop laughing now. It was surprising, and to my credit it looked a lot bigger at first.”

He stood back up and tried to wipe the smile from his face.

“Do you still want me to kill it?” he asked, taking a step forward as he stared up to the ceiling.

“Wait! It’s wet!” I yelled, watching in slow motion as Jason stepped forward and slipped into the pool of water I’d splashed out of the tub. He went from standing and staring at the ceiling to crumbling back against the floor, landing with a thud on his back. I held my hand over my mouth as I bolted up to see if he was okay. I scanned his body, looking for blood, but, luckily, I think his shapely derriere caught most of his fall.

“Are you okay?” I asked, parting my hands over my mouth so that he could hear me.

“Peachy,” he groaned, staying on the ground. “But just so you know, your spider friend just fell into the bath.”

I screamed and jumped out of the tub as fast as I could. I didn’t care if Jason could see everything. I’d flash a whole subway if it meant I didn’t have to swim with spiders. I hopped over Jason as quickly as I could, careful not to slip in the same puddles that he had. I reached for the robe behind the door and tugged it around myself, tying the belt in one smooth gesture.

“Just so you know, I’m not even mad about falling anymore because I just got the best view of my entire life,” he explained with a smug grin on his face. I would have helped him up, but that little comment had earned him about ten extra hours in the doghouse.