Chapter 4

CHAPTER FOUR

H utton

I sang my song that hit number one on the country charts last year. I shook the hands. I posed for pictures. The night is still young and yet I'm packing it in. Shit. Forty birthdays on this planet is hitting me hard tonight. There was a time when I could pull all-nighters and have no problem. I probably should stay at the reception a little longer and dance a few numbers, but I just don't have it in me.

It's not that I'm not happy for Ella and Liam. It's just I always thought I'd be the groom one day, deliriously in love with the light of my life. Sadly, that hasn't happened. Sure, I had that four-month marriage to Holly back when I was younger and stupider, but that didn't count. She'd been hoping to cash in on my rising fame. I'd been hoping to see her boobs. I'd learned a thing or two since then, mostly that Hollywood hopefuls will show you the boobs without a marriage license and the hassle of filing a divorce afterward.

So yeah, I'll admit it. I'm jealous. Instead of putting on a happy front and counting my riches and acting like the playboy country singer I'm known to be in the public eye, I just want to grab my son, go back to my hotel room, and sulk a little with a glass of top-shelf whiskey. Is that too much to ask?

It's the sulking and staring down at my favorite cowboy boots that has me running right into a whirling dervish of crazy. It's a woman. I think. I can't really tell behind the mountain of candy and the eyelashes flying off like she hit the eye of a hurricane. I did the polite thing and helped her pick up her dropped candy. And the eyelash strip.

It's when she calls me her hall pass that I have to laugh. Tilting my head, I examine her, envisioning that face without the pile of makeup. She's pretty. Somewhere under there. And those tattoos lining her arms are drawing me in. Hollywood hopefuls never get tattoos for fear it'll keep them from getting a part. This girl ain't Hollywood. I'd bet my latest thoroughbred.

When she starts babbling like she's already on a sugar high, that's when I have to stop her before she tells me her life story. "Let's get you back to your room, sugar."

I put my hand on her elbow to guide her to the elevators, but she promptly drops the candy again. Shit, maybe she's drunk. I drop down in a squat and pick it up again, keeping my full hands to myself.

"I got it. You get the elevator."

The woman gives me a slightly dazed smile and spins around to lead the way, walking a perfectly straight line. My gaze drops and suddenly her tattoos aren't the prettiest thing about her. Not even close. It's the ass, the curve of her hips, the dip of her waist. The way her black jeans highlight it all and showcase it as she walks away from me in chunky boots. Her long blonde hair trails down her back in those effortless waves all the women have in Nashville. Without the garish makeup staring at me, this woman is fucking hot.

She clears her throat and I realize we've quit walking to wait for the elevator. And she caught me looking at her ass. Normally, I'd wink and start my flirting game to usual success, but this woman has giant flakes of sparkles jumping off her eyelids with each blink. I'm not exactly sure she's stable. Then again, I left a decent party to go hang out in a boring hotel room instead. Not exactly stable behavior for either of us.

The elevator dings and we climb in. She hits the button with a three on it and the elevator rises. She's looking at me and I'm looking right back. Honestly, I don't have it in me to flirt tonight. All I want to do is get my son, sink into the thousand-thread-count sheets, and try to be both parents to a little boy who deserves the best. I'll drop this woman and her candy at her room and call it a night. Her other eyelash starts to droop off her eyelid right as we hit the third floor.

"You got a little something…" I motion toward my own eye and she rips the strip off her face with a yelp. I wince. "That had to hurt."

She lifts her head, looking only slightly more normal without the lashes. "The teen that I babysit for. She did my makeup tonight." She twirls a finger in front of her face. "I don't normally look like this."

"Ah." I gesture for her to get off the elevator first. "I was wondering about that. Although I heard Glamour Shots is making a comeback."

The woman chuckles and the sound is rich and throaty. "I'll see if Imogen wants a job there as makeup artist."

"Imogen?" I ask, stopping when she stops at a door in the hallway, her body blocking the door. "Morgana's daughter?"

Footsteps rushing down the hallway have us both looking up. Aksel is rushing our direction, his suit jacket gone and the tie around his neck loosened.

"Rae! Morgana sent me," Aksel says in his deep accent. "It's starting to come down pretty hard out there. You better get back to your place before the snow gets too deep."

Ah. So the crazy woman's name is Rae. I like it. It fits her.

Aksel notices me and shakes my hand, breaking into a grin. "Sounded good out there, Hutton."

"Thanks, Aksel." See? Definitely besties.

"But who's going to stay with the kids?" Rae crosses her arms over the band T-shirt that's had the sleeves cut off and jewels added. It's the type of thing that looks like you got it at a boutique that charges exorbitant prices for secondhand clothing.

Aksel makes a hideous face. "What the hell happened to you?"

Rae smirks. "Your daughter happened."

Aksel rolls his eyes, but can't tamp down the smile. "I will stay with them. Morgana is posing for pictures and doing her celebrity shit."

Rae tilts her head. "You volunteered to leave, didn't you?"

Aksel looks at me, and even though I barely know the man, I understand. "Weddings are for women anyway."

Aksel claps me on the back. "See? Hutton gets it."

Rae pulls a card key out of her pocket. "That's extremely sexist, but I expect that from you, Aksel." She gives me a hard look and I suddenly feel horrible for what I said.

"I helped you pick up the candy. I can't be all bad."

She lifts a single eyebrow and I feel the judgement. Rae opens the door and deposits the candy on the entryway table. I do the same. Imogen and Nora come running for the door and attack their father. My little man looks up from the television and follows suit, drilling me right in the knees as he barrels into me.

"Daddy!" he shouts, obliterating all that melancholy I was feeling earlier with just one word. There for awhile I thought my career was everything to me, but somehow this kid is showing me he's my life's pride and joy. I swing him up in the air and catch him, squeezing him tight.

"Hey, buddy. Ready to head back to our room?"

"I want candy," he says, squirming in my arms to eyeball all the candy Rae and I deposited on the table.

A quick glance at the woman shows her mouth in a cute little "o."

"I didn't realize Henry is yours," she finally says, handing my guy a couple bright and shiny candy packages to choose from. Henry grabs a candy bar and a bag of those fruit-flavored things that always dye his tongue crazy colors.

"Henry, my love," she says to my boy, putting down the candies he didn't pick and leaning in to give him a hug. Her arm brushes my chest and my whole body freezes on contact. I inhale sharply and get the heady scent of peaches and cream. "I hope I get to see you again sometime. You are a real trooper hanging out with all us girls."

"Not a twooper, Rae-Rae. A cowboy!" And then he's making a lassoing motion with one hand, his candy his imaginary rope.

"Yeehaw, baby!" Rae croons, giving my son a brilliant smile. Then she grabs an oversized leather crossbody purse off the entry table and hugs the girls before exiting the room again. "Girls, your daddy said you could eat candy for dinner tonight. Help yourselves!"

The girls shriek, letting go of Aksel and rushing over to grab it off the table. Aksel gives Rae a harsh look.

"Oh, please, like you won't be eating it too the second this door swings shut," Rae retorts with enough sass to have me chuckling.

Aksel slams the door in her face as we wait in the hallway, but Rae just bursts out laughing. It's a nice laugh. A really nice laugh. When she sobers up, she looks at me, silence filling the space between us. Well, except for Henry already ripping into the candy wrappers.

"It was nice meeting you, Hutton Calder. Even nicer meeting Henry." She sticks out her hand. Her nails are short and painted a deep navy blue. Rings flash from every finger.

I shift Henry to my other arm and take her hand, but end up holding it a bit longer than strictly necessary. "Nice to meet you too, Rae. What's your last name?"

She smiles and takes her hand back, already walking to the elevators. "Just Rae."

I follow after her, like my boots have made a decision my brain hasn't gotten on board with yet. "I think, as your hall pass, I have a right to know your name." Henry seems completely oblivious to our conversation with his mouth stuffed with caramel and chocolate.

She huffs a laugh and hits the button for the elevators. "You were my hall pass."

I grab my chest. "Dang, woman, you wound me. Why'd I fall off your list?"

The elevator dings and Rae gets on, holding my gaze with a pair of golden-brown eyes that seem to sparkle in the bright overhead lights. She shrugs her shoulders, the red hibiscus tattoo on one shoulder cap moving as her muscles flex.

"I got older and realized that the reason I had a hall pass list was because I wasn't that much in love with my husband."

Oh, shit. She's married. With all the rings, I hadn't considered one might be a wedding ring. Not that that means much these days. At least to other people. I dip my head in goodbye.

"Enjoy your night with your husband."

She smirks, one glittering eyelid sliding shut in a sultry wink. " Ex -husband."

The elevator doors start to close. My brain whirls with the decision in front of me. I could go back to my room and try to get Henry to bed after ingesting all this sugar. Enjoy that sleep I haven't gotten after the long drive. Or…I could walk this woman to her car and enjoy her company just a little bit longer. I could be lonely again tomorrow.

It's an easy choice.

With Henry tucked in my arms, we leap into the elevator as the doors slide shut. Rae's eyes widen in surprise.

Right before her lips tip up into a sultry smile that has my lungs pumping.