In Tune (Red Bird Trail Trilogy Book 3) (12 page)

She breathed easier, realizing for the first time he understood. “I’m glad you get it.”

“I do,” he reiterated. “I really do.”

Doc Jones clapped her hands together, a smile on her face. “I know that we haven’t had many sessions, and truthfully some people only need a handful of them. I knew almost as soon as the two of you walked through the door that you loved each other, and all you needed was a push in the right direction. I can’t tell you how happy I am to have given you that push.”

“So we’re fixed?” Cash asked, because truthfully he didn’t know.

“I don’t think anyone is ever ‘fixed’.” She made air quotes with her fingers. “I think things are made better, and you learn how to live with life on a level you can understand. Do I think you’ll never have to see me again? No, I think the two of you should definitely keep my card. There are things that are going to come up that neither one of you are going to know how to deal with. Remy, from what you’ve told me, will more than likely have problems as he gets older. Same with you, Cash.” She pointed to him. “At some juncture of your life, you may want to expand on what took place during your childhood.”

“I’m not there yet,” he stopped her from speaking.

“And that’s okay,” she continued. “Not everyone is on the same life plan, and it’s not bad that you aren’t there yet. There’s not been an incident that’s forced you to look at where you came from yet and dissect it. I have a feeling you’re the kind of man who compartmentalizes everything and deals with it when he has to.”

Harper snorted from where she sat beside him. “You have just described Cash Montgomery to the T.”

Cash frowned at both of them. “You can stop talking about me like I’m not here.”

Doc Jones gave him a patient smile. “You’ll get there one day, and when you’re there, I’ll be here to help you work through, just like I’ve helped you and Harper work through the issue with her dad, which I believe in turn helped you work through your relationship—if the vibe I’m getting from you two is a correct and true one.”

“Yeah.” Cash grinned over at Harper, giving her a wink. “I think we’re good.”

“Then I think we’re done here for now. Good is a million times better than I had imagined the two of you would be when you showed up on my doorstep. As long as t you continue to talk through things and not let the magnitude of the situation get the better of you—no matter what kind of situation it is—I think you will be alright.”

Harper looked over at Cash and smiled, letting all the love she had for him shine through. She thought that they would be just fine too.

‡
Chapter Nineteen

“T
uck your other
leg around the side!”

Harper grunted as she slid down the pole at Wet Wanda’s, landing with a thud on her ass. This was her third session with the girls there, and this was her last. Tonight, she would be dancing for money, and she had to at least fake her way through this. “This floor hurts,” she winced as she stood on shaky legs and rubbed her bottom.

“Maybe the best thing for you to do, honey,” Wanda told her, “Is to make use of the floor. Crawl around on it, arch your back, stick your tits out, swing around the pole, but don’t try to do anything drastic. You don’t want to hurt yourself.”

Harper snorted. “Is that your way of saying I’m clumsy?”

“That’s my way of saying you need to do what works for you, otherwise, you’re not making any money here tonight. Work with what you have, and make it work
for
you. You have an amazing body, show it off.”

If that’s what would work, then that was exactly what she was going to do.

*

“Are you absolutely,
positively sure that Cash isn’t here tonight?” Harper asked B and Meredith as she snuck in the back door at
Wet Wanda’s
.

Both B and Meredith had called in favors with Wanda, and she’d agreed to let Harper have two nights. Harper hoped with everything she had that it would only take two nights to get the money she needed.

“Did you bring me stuff to wear?” she asked B.

B held up a clothing bag and what looked like a makeup bag. “I gotcha covered. You’re not going to know who you are when I get done with you.”

Harper hoped like hell no one else knew who she was either. Cash had received his papers that told him how much his fine was going to be, and after seeing it was more than two month’s rent, she knew she was going to have to do something drastic. He was going to try and plead, because they couldn’t afford to lose their insurance, but things would still need to be paid for, and they’d both come to an agreement that he wouldn’t do the Trail again. They couldn’t take that chance.

“Fix me up,” she told them, trusting them completely.

“We’re gonna have so much fun.” B grinned.

*

Harper gave herself
a once-over in the mirror situated in the dressing room. The skirt she wore was short, the heels she wore were high, and the shirt she wore was tight. B had done her makeup smoky and her hair was “jacked to Jesus”—or so Wanda had said as she’d given her a thumbs-up.

“What’s your song?” B asked.

“Song?” This was all such a new experience to Harper, she had no idea what the other woman was talking about.

“You know, your song. The one, the minute it comes on, makes you want to give anyone around a strip show? Every woman has that one song. Mine is ‘Porn Star Dancing’. Can’t even explain it, but when I hear it, I want to shake my ass and get paid for it.”

Harper went through her mental database of songs that made her want to get up and shake her ass. It took her a few moments, but then it dawned on her. “‘Rocky Mountain Way’, but the Godsmack version.”

“Hell, yeah, now go out there and make some money!” B gave her a high-five and went to give her request to the DJ working that night.

It was easy for B to say; she had made a living showing off her body for a long time. Harper never showed hers to anyone except Cash, but she thought about how far the money would go. She would be able to buy Christmas gifts, maybe put some back in savings. She knew this wasn’t something she would do all the time, but especially with the ticket and the fees, desperate times called for desperate measures.

She looked out over the crowd and gasped. Cash was not supposed to be helping out tonight, but she could see the back of his head, and she wondered what he would do if he caught a glimpse of her. So deep in her thoughts she hadn’t even heard them introduce her, B pushed her so that she stumbled onto the stage. Harper had never been in this situation before, and she wasn’t sure how she was supposed to act or respond to the catcalls from the men in the audience.

“Go for it,” B yelled at her. “Look at Cash, and go for it.”

Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath, not sure she could look at Cash. It embarrassed her even more to know he was in the crowd and still hadn’t turned around yet.

Walking further out onto the stage, she decided that if she was going to do this, she was going to do it right. It was easy to pretend she was dancing for Cash, and she was in good shape—it was nothing for her to grab onto the pole in the middle and swing around on it, attempting to do moves she’d seen other women do before in movies.

She watched the back of Cash’s head as she came to a stop and stood in the middle of the stage. She teased the crowd, suggesting she was going to take off her shirt. The whistles of approval and the dollar bills thrown on stage were enough of an incentive for her to keep going. She took the skirt off, winking at one of the guys in the crowd and moving her head this way and that, letting her hair obscure her vision. It was easier that way.

She dropped to the ground and crawled towards where Cash stood, shaking her chest and letting the men in the front row get a good look at her covered tits. Slowly, she approached Cash, and when she got close enough, she snaked her arms around his torso, pulling him back against her.

The crowd went insane as she kissed his neck, letting her tongue snake out and grab the taste of him.

“What the fuck?” he yelled, turning around.

She wished she had a camera to capture the look on his face when he saw it was her grabbing him.

“Surprise.” She grinned, but it was shaky, she was scared of what he would do. Instead she grabbed hold of the dollars being thrust her way.

It took less than a minute for him to determine what the hell was going on; she could see it in his eyes as he put two and two together. He glanced at Drew, Drew nodded, and then Cash scooped her up in his arms.

“Wait,” she yelled, arms flailing out. “That’s my money! I earned it!”

“They’ll get your money.” He spoke in her ear, his voice deep, his tone rough.

Well that was good, but she had no idea where they were going until he turned down the hallway. With complete clarity she saw they were heading to one of the boom-boom rooms. “Cash? What are you doing here? You weren’t supposed to be here tonight,” she questioned.

“Oh, baby, it doesn’t matter why I’m here. What matters is that you are in
so
much trouble.”

For once in her life, Harper Stillwell was speechless, and she wasn’t sure if that was a good or a bad thing.

‡
Chapter Twenty