Smoke and Mirrors - Hollywood Knights One by L.B. Clark

his cooking long enough
to glance at me.
    “Good morning, Sunshine,” he said.
    I just stared at him. It was that or tell him to blow
me, so I felt that by staying silent, I was actually being quite
polite.
    “Breakfast?”
    I opened my mouth to ask what he was attempting to
cook, but just about that time, he picked up the skillet and tilted
it, slid the spatula inside, and lifted out a big, beautiful,
cheese-topped omelet.
    “Gimme,” I said.
    Seth laughed as he plated the omelet. He handed the
plate to me and leaned in to kiss my cheek. “You’re welcome.”
    I took my plate and coffee to the table and then
circled back for a fork. Seth was already busy constructing omelet
number two. By the time he was done cooking and joined me at the
table, my breakfast was mostly gone.
    “How is it?” he asked.
    “Damn tasty. I’d forgotten that you know how to
cook.”
    “Thanks to your mom.”
    Smiling, I looked up from my plate, which proved to
be a small mistake. Seth Webber is a beautiful, beautiful man, and
he was sitting across the table from me wearing next to nothing.
We’d been friends for a long time, and I’d been attracted to him
for just as long. I had to remind myself that no matter how good he
looked, he was off-limits for a whole host of reasons.
    Shaking off my sudden surge of lust, I turned back to
my omelet. “I think Mom was kinda disappointed that you and Chris
were better students of the culinary arts than her only
daughter.”
    Seth laughed. “She was not. Amused, maybe, but not
disappointed. She loves when her kids thumb their noses at the
status quo.”
    “She does at that.” I finished my last bite of
breakfast and reached for my coffee. “How’s the tour?”
    “So far so good,” Seth said around a mouthful of
cheesy goodness. “Kev’s staying out of trouble. The new songs are
going over well. Nothing to complain about.”
    I almost asked about his new female friend, but
something stopped me. Maybe I didn’t really want to know just
then.
    “Thanks for letting me sleep last night,” I said
instead.
    “You looked like you needed it. Besides, I convinced
everyone to come back tomorrow. I can force you to be sociable
then.”
    I smiled at him over the top of my coffee mug. “Since
you’re nice enough to give me advance notice this time, you won’t
even have to force me.”
    “Even better.”
    We continued to make small talk while Seth ate and I
finished my coffee. After, he had to get ready and hurry off to
soundcheck.
    “You coming to the show tonight?” he asked when he
came back downstairs, his clothing now covering more skin than it
showed.
    “How disappointed will you be if I say ‘no’?”
    “Not at all…if you promise to make the show on
Saturday.”
    I smiled. “Already have a date for it and
everything.”
    Seth’s brows drew together in a little frown. “A
date?”
    “Yup. A hot younger chick. Tall, leggy.”
    Seth laughed. “I take it Parker is working
Saturday.”
    “No, Lori just didn’t want to go with him. I think
there is trouble in Whoville.”
    “That sucks. They’re both great kids. Anyway, I gotta
jet.” He leaned in and kissed my cheek, like he had earlier. “I’ll
be home late. Don’t wait up.”
    He slid on a pair of overpriced sunglasses, scooped
up an equally overpriced backpack, and headed off to play rock
star. I found myself wondering, not for the first time, who Seth
Webber really was. I wondered, too, if even Seth knew the
answer.
    I seemed to be surrounded by mysteries that I
couldn’t solve, and I didn’t like it much. So I did what any good
investigator would do and got back to work.
    I spent some time trying to get in touch with one of
Sarah’s former co-worker who had moved on to greener pastures. She
had proved easy enough to track down, but she hadn’t returned any
of my calls and she never seemed to be at work when I dropped by. I
was beginning to wonder if she had something to hide.
    When my attempt to catch up with the