But how was he going to pull that off when she was so determined to keep her distance? And how could he do it without acting like a self-obsessed jerk who thought he ruled the world the way he had today?

His phone rang and if it had been anyone but his personal assistant, he would have let it go. Carol Vale had worked for a hugely famous British musician for several years before she’d decided she wanted to be back in the U.S. to be closer to her kids. She wasn’t impressed by money or fame...and she was a freakin’ genius with details.

“How was the house?”

The house? He’d walked through every room and over much of the grounds, but all he could really remember about it was Mia. How beautiful she’d looked standing in the tower with light streaming in over her hair. The gorgeous flush of her skin when she watched him lay down on the bed in the master suite. The surprise on her face when he’d talked about wanting kids someday.

Then again, she hadn’t been the only one surprised by that. Especially since they hadn’t just been empty words...he’d actually been able to visualize kids running around the house. Kids who looked like an exact cross between him and her.

Finally, he replied, “It’s a killer place.”

Efficient as ever, Carol went over his interview and sound-check schedule. But before she signed off, she said, “One other thing—you wanted to attend Nico’s wedding this weekend, is that correct?”

He’d always thought Nico—or Nicola, as the well-known pop star preferred that her friends call her—was a great girl. He had to turn down most wedding invitations for one reason or another, but the two of them had become friends over years of criss-crossing tours, and a handful of weeks where they’d even toured together a few years back.

“Right,” he confirmed, “but I thought we couldn’t get the schedule to work out?”

“While I still need to do a little more juggling,” Carol said, “it’s looking like you could at least make the vows. Just as long as you remember that you’re going to have a show that night, so you probably shouldn’t enjoy too much of Sullivan Winery’s finest while you’re in Napa.”

Wait a minute. “The wedding is at Sullivan Winery?”

“Nico is marrying the owner. I thought you knew that.”

He’d been so busy trying to figure out a way to sneak back into Mia’s life that he’d been blind to the opportunity that had been staring him in the face.

Namely, that Mia was a cousin of the guy who owned Sullivan Winery!

Just like that, the music that had started playing in his head when he saw Mia again was suddenly like an entire orchestra trying to get out.

“Thanks for making the arrangements, Carol. I’ll call Nicola to let her know I’ll be there.” But even as he placed the call, he was grabbing one of the guitars he kept on board his plane.

Finally, inspiration had come...and, yet again, it was all because of Mia.

* * *

Her date was six-two with blond hair. His muscles were big and his smile was sexy as he greeted Mia that evening with a kiss to her cheek, outside the wine bar two blocks down from her office.

“You look gorgeous,” he said, his words echoing what she could see in his eyes. It was almost exactly what Ford had said to her that morning. Only when Ford said it, every cell in her body had leapt to life, as if no other words had ever meant so much. Whereas, the compliment from her date was having no impact on her cells whatsoever. They simply stayed right where they were as if lying in wait for her real date to arrive.

Mia gave herself a little mental shake as she made herself focus on the man standing in front of her, rather than the one who had driven her crazy all morning.

Her date was incredibly handsome. And clearly successful at the financial firm he worked in, given the cut of his suit and the watch on his wrist. Mia should have been all over him.

Only, instead of her pulse racing, or her skin heating up, every instinct in her wanted to move away from him. As if she were already taken.

No! What was she thinking? Worse, what was she feeling way down deep in her heart?

She most definitely was not taken. On the contrary, she was perfectly free to do exactly what she pleased with whomever she wanted to do it. And wouldn’t it serve Ford right if he found out that after she left him today she’d shared an intimate evening with another man? Oh yes, that would be the perfect way to end her horrible day, the only way to truly make sure that she’d blanked out Ford and everything he’d made her feel despite knowing better.

But when she looked up into her date’s eyes, for a moment she couldn’t remember his name. The blank hole in her brain widened for a few moments before she could fill it.

“James,” she finally said in too-obvious relief.

He looked bemused by her strange greeting, before smiling down at her again and speaking her name back at her in the same tone. “Mia.”

She laughed then, glad that the moment when she felt absolutely nothing at all for her date had finally passed.

When he held out his arm, she put her hand in the crook of his elbow and let him take her inside to an empty booth in a somewhat private corner of the busy wine bar. This was one of her usual stomping grounds with the girls and a safe place for a first date. The bartenders and cocktail waitresses knew her so well that one signal from her was enough for them to come and extricate her from anyone with whom she didn’t feel safe.

If only, she thought with a small sigh, she could have had some help extricating herself from Ford this morning.

Ugh. Why was she still thinking about him?

Until tonight, she’d been looking forward to this date with James. They’d met last weekend jogging around Green Lake Park, and she’d been inspired to run just a little faster than usual to keep up with his excellent form. She’d planned to get to know that “form” of his a little better tonight. A lot better, even, if it felt right. Only, here she was about to plead a headache just so she could get out of there...and do what? Brood over Ford? About the way he’d tricked her into seeing him again? Or worse, about all the stupidly traitorous feelings that had risen inside of her as though five years had never passed?

No, damn it, there had to be something between her and James, at least a little of that spark she’d felt last weekend when they were jogging together. Because if there wasn’t—if it turned out that it was all gone due to one arrogant and infuriating rock star’s unwelcome reappearance in her life—then she was going to have yet one more reason to be mad at Ford.