A Thousand Miles

Part 12

"Thank you, ladies. It's been a pleasure."

JoLynn snapped one last picture as Shane, oozing charm, said farewell to his new fan club-the royal court of the Lampasas Spring Ho! Festival, decked out in full formal regalia. She slipped the camera inside her backpack and zipped it closed.

"Y'all be sure and watch the show." His plug followed the girls' giggling chatter as they began to disperse. "Saturday nights at ten-thirty. Tell your friends."

"Nice work, man." Curtis zipped up and clipped a camera bag closed, and hefted the thing up onto his shoulder by its strap.

"They were nice girls." Shane stood, hands on his hips, watching them go with a contemplative smile. One threw a coy little look back at him over her shoulder, diverting as much attention as possible to the delicate, heart-shaped tattoo on her bare shoulder. "Except for that one. I think she slipped me her number before she left."

JoLynn rolled her eyes. "I guess she didn't notice you're old enough to be her father." Shane fished around in his shirt pocket and extracted a slip of paper. "Nah. There's no way I could have a kid that age. She'd had to have been born when I was..." His voice trailed off as he glanced skyward and did the math. "Never mind."

A satisfied chuckle erupted before JoLynn gave any thought to stopping it. Mel gave a little, unladylike snort as well. Then she zipped up another equipment bag and handed it to JoLynn, who turned for the path to the Suburban and ran right into Shane.

"Jealous?" His deep, low voice and mischievous blue eyes sent an indescribable kind of tremor through her. He moved one arm toward her and she tensed, anticipating, hoping that he would slip it around her so she could feel his warmth. But he only took the equipment bag from her and hooked it over his shoulder.

JoLynn cast a sideways glance at Mel, whose eyebrows arched upward, seeming to ask the same question. "No." Her answer sounded overly defensive, and spoke as much to Mel as to Shane. "But I think our friend, Freddie, might be."

Shane's grin only widened. "Did you see her tattoo?"

"That little old heart was nothin'." Curtis threw out the assessment as he walked past, loaded down with equipment like a pack mule. "You should get JoLynn here to show you her tattoo. Now there's a work of art."

Shane's grin vanished for a second as shock registered on his face.

JoLynn met his stare with a level one of her own, immensely satisfied by his reaction.

"Wait a minute. You have a tattoo?"

She sidestepped him and fell in behind Curtis and Mel who followed the path along Sulphur Spring toward the bridge that would take them across it, and from there on to where they parked the Suburban.

He turned and followed right on her heels.

But she refused to answer. Let her tattoo be a source of mystery for awhile. At least there was something he hadn't been able to find out before Truman hired him. She put on her most mysterious smile and continued in silence to the SUV where they loaded their equipment, and Curtis glanced back and forth between them looking like he was proud to have started something and couldn't wait to see how it played out.

"So." JoLynn unfolded a brochure and began perusing the festival information. "The fireworks display starts at nine-thirty. We should definitely get some footage of that. That gives us a couple of hours to get something to eat and look around a bit."

She tried to ignore Shane's persistent attention as they checked out the food vendor booths, made their purchases, and carried them along the path beside the river until they found a shady place to sit and eat. But his interest was unwavering, and although she never actually caught him in the act, she couldn't help feeling as if, every time she looked away, he was examining every exposed patch of skin as if trying to spot the tattoo in question.