Calling His Bluff by Amy Jo Cousins Read Free Book Online Page B

tonight?” Grace asked him.
    “Not now that I know what you two plan on doing with your free time. I don’t need
     the mental pictures, thank you.” He grabbed one of the juice-filled sippy cups Tyler
     had set on the bar and passed it down to Daniel, who was waiting at his knee like
     a terrier. J.D. figured the boy was old enough for a real cup, no lid, but he’d learned
     from past experience that unless he wanted to take responsibility for mopping up any
     spills, he’d better keep his mouth shut.
    “Besides, I’m off in a couple hours.”
    “Let me guess. Malaysia? No, you’ve been there. Zanzibar?”
    “Been there, too. Nice island. Spice trade. Big carved wooden doors everywhere. Excellent
     beaches.”
    “So?”
    “Vegas.” He tilted his head back to take another swallow of his beer. “The film I
     worked on might, uh, win some kind of MTV award.”
    “My buddy, the rock star.”
    “Shut up, Tyler. I knew I shouldn’t have told you.”
    Grace was swaying with Isa and pelting J.D. with questions about whether he’d meet
     U2 and what he’d be wearing. J.D. tried to explain that it wasn’t what it sounded
     like. It was
not
a big deal. The film had won an MTV technical award of some kind. The director must
     have had some kind of belated guilt attack about the whole thing with Lana. Either
     that or the fact that his coffee table book of photographs had driven a surge of interest
     in the film had apparently gotten his name on the invite list for the ceremony. Which
     was, with various other non-flashy awards, being conducted a month before the main
     show and would probably involve wine from a box and a choice between underbaked chicken
     and overcooked steak.
    “It’s just an excuse for a party, really,” he explained. “Everyone gets dressed up,
     drinks too much and pretends for a night that they’re as famous as the people on the
     other side of the camera.” Time for a change of subject. “So where’s your little sister,
     Tyler?”
    “Sarah or Maxie?” Grace asked as she snagged a handful of pretzels from a bowl on
     the counter.
    “He better be talking about Maxie.” In response to his wife’s look, Tyler said, “J.D.
     has already seen plenty of Sarah.”
    A man had to defend himself. “Hey, the whole thing was your idea.” He turned toward
     Grace. “It was your husband’s idea to have me check her out, and now he’s pissed because
     I gave her one lousy kiss.”
    “I asked you to check
on
her, not ‘check her out,’” Tyler retorted with air quotes.
    “Stop!” Grace threw her hands in the air. She pointed at her son. “You, go to the
     kitchen and ask nicely for some tortellini and broccoli. You can pretend to eat the
     broccoli if you go now.” Daniel went. Grace passed her youngest back to J.D. and ducked
     behind the counter to pour herself more wine. Propping her elbows on the bar, she
     rested her head on her interlaced fingers and grinned at J.D. “You, tell me about
     that kiss. No, wait. First things first. Why were you checking her out?”
    “
On,
checking
on,
” Tyler protested. “I wanted J.D. to see if he could feel her out.” As he snagged
     the baby from J.D.’s lap, he gave his friend a sharp look and said, “I said
out,
not
up,
buddy. Don’t get any ideas. I told him how we’re a little concerned about Sarah.”
    “Worried sick and not a little pissed off is what he means,” Grace added in a helpful
     and pleasant tone of voice. J.D. knew that Grace and Sarah had formed a close bond
     from day one. The two women joked that they didn’t need to bother with the “in-law”
     part of the phrase “sister-in-law” since they were already sisters, separated at birth.
     “We’ve been trying to get her in on the planning for Susannah’s birthday, but she’s
     been blowing off all our calls.” He knew that the Tyler kids went all out for their
     mom’s birthday every year. It was a family tradition that he couldn’t imagine Sarah