onto her hip. He immediately reached for my necklace again and grasped it as she leaned in to give Courteney a hug.
“Is the temper from his daddy?” I teased. “Or from you?” I really didn’t know Katie or her husband well enough to know the answer to that.
“Hmm.” Katie considered that. “Actually, I think he got it from Aunt Becca.”
“What!” Becca had just walked in, followed by Katie’s best friend, Devi. “I heard that!” Becca set a couple of takeout cups on the counter by Katie’s purse and frowned at her sister.
“Oh, but it’s true,” Devi said. She greeted me, Courteney and Katie with hugs, then plucked Madsen from Katie’s arms.
“Okay, it’s probably true,” Becca conceded. She turned to me and Courteney. “You ladies want some coffees before we head out? You can skip the lineup.”
“You know, it really pays to know the VIPs,” I said, and Katie smiled.
Courteney and I put in our drink orders, gave Madsen a goodbye kiss, and the two of us headed out into the café. The tables were all taken, so we sat at the bar along the front window on a couple of high stools.
“That is one lucky kid,” Courteney remarked as we got settled. “Pretty sure he’s got permanent dibs on whatever he wants in life.”
“Maybe. I hope they don’t make it too easy for him, though. A little struggle is good. Builds character.”
“Right.” She looked at me with a question in her eyes. She was probably wondering what I was about to say about her brother and his… struggles.
“Hey, your kids will have it good, too,” I added casually. “They’ll have their own rock star daddy.”
“Oh, God. I hope rock star daddy doesn’t want the kids anytime soon. I’m a little young for that yet.”
“Well, when you’re ready. There’s time, right?”
One of the staff appeared and set Courteney’s coffee in front of her. “This is from Becca, hon. I’ll be back with yours,” she told me, and headed off.
“I guess we have it pretty good too, huh?” Courteney smiled a little.
“Yeah. VIP-by-association isn’t too shabby.”
“True.” Courteney blew on her hot coffee and looked me over. “You look awesome, by the way. Why are you so damn stylish?”
“Um… is this stylish?” I glanced down at my black dress. “Pretty sure I bought this at least seven years ago.”
She laughed like I’d said something funny.
Courteney looked like a breath of fresh summer air in her casual, sleeveless, pink sweatshirt dress and white sneakers. Nineteen and gorgeous, with oodles of long blonde hair, the girl did not have to try very hard to score that perfect ten.
No wonder she’d scored Xander Rush, the Players’ smoking hot drummer.
I’d considered trying to score with Xander myself when I first met him, but now I was really glad that I hadn’t. I’d never mention that to her now. Seemed irrelevant since nothing between Xander and I had ever happened, and he and Courteney were such a great match.
Just the thought of how hot they must’ve been together in bed was kind of sickening.
But that was just my single self being a little envious.
“Okay. I’m dying here,” she said. “Please tell me how it went with my brother.”
“It went fine,” I assured her.
“Really?” She seemed so stricken, I almost laughed. “Tell me everything.”
“Okay.” I took a breath. “But I’ve gotta tell you, upfront, I’m not sure your brother actually needs an assistant, Courteney. What he probably needs is a life coach or something. And maybe… a therapist?”
Courteney’s mouth floated open.
“At least, that’s my humble opinion,” I added quickly. “He didn’t actually seem like he wants to hire an assistant, though I think he would let you hire one. Maybe because deep down he knows it would be good for him, or maybe because he loves you. But…” I trailed off, because Courteney was officially gaping at me.
I knew what I’d just said had to be hurtful. But I respected her—and her friendship with my best friend—enough to give it to her straight. She asked me for my assessment. Well, that was my assessment.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I don’t mean to be harsh—”
“He talked to you?”
“Yes.”
She just stared at me like she was completely shocked by that.
“Wait,” I said. “Why?”
“I’m just… surprised that he talked to you. In a good way.”
“Oh. Yeah, we talked for about twenty minutes or so.”
She stared at me like I’d sprouted wings and turned her coffee into wine or something.