House of Mirrors by Bonnie Dee and Summer Devon

high-grass one at that.”
    Jonah knew a mud show meant any not on the railroad circuit. They were performers who’d have to drive their wagons into fields. “High grass?” he asked.
    He loved collecting the language of the carnival, and Rafe and Claudia were the ones who had the most patience with his constant questions.
    “Yeah, you know, held in lots that no one bothered with. ‘Short grass’ means in places that are maintained. Get it?”
    He nodded. “Would you go for a larger show if you could?”
    “Naw. I reckon I’m not unique enough for them. I’m doing just fine. I come from a family of twelve. It’s amazing I’m as fat as I am, because there was never enough to eat. A couple of my sisters married young just to get a roof over their heads that wouldn’t leak. The rest work in the mill like our parents before us. Except Joanna. She earns her living on her back, if you get my drift. I count myself lucky to get paid almost as well for sittin’ on a chair.”
    When Claudia laughed, it was almost impossible not to laugh with her. Jonah smiled despite the melancholy edge to her story.
    Scowling Mindy was in her usual affable mood. “We should’ve headed east instead of south into Kentucky. There’s no money to be had in these backwoods. Even less now that the Orcully Brothers are dipping into our well, the bastards.”
    Jonah flinched. He should be getting used to foul language, since everyone in the carnival used it, but it still surprised him to hear such words. He couldn’t help the flare of disapproval that flashed through him. A lifetime’s training about what was proper and what was sinful didn’t simply disappear because he no longer attended church or had his father there to pronounce judgment.
    Sam stretched out his long legs, and they bumped against Jonah’s on the other side of the table. “We head east, and we get into the Albertinis’ territory. You know that. Those guys aren’t anybody to mess with. They once burned out an outfit that crossed them.”
    Mindy snorted. “Rumors. Back when my dad owned this outfit, we worked from Mississippi to Maine and never had a bit of trouble. Sylvester’s Extravaganza was respected, the top of the heap.”
    “And you sat on a diamond throne and smoked Cuban cigars,” Ellen Fisher interrupted. “We’ve heard the song and dance before, girl. If you were such great shakes, why’d your daddy go bankrupt and have to sell out?”
    “He didn’t! He retired for his health and moved to Florida.”
    “You keep telling yourself that, honey.” Ellen laughed.
    “Play nice, children.” The voice from behind Jonah set the hair on his nape prickling and sent a shiver through him, as if Rafe had traced a fingertip down his spine. Merely the sound of that deep, resonant voice twisted his insides and made his cock stiffen—and that was before turning around to see Rafe’s handsome, devilish face.
    Rafe rested a hand on both his and Claudia’s shoulder. There was no hint of sexuality in his touch, nothing to tip off anyone that there was any connection between him and Jonah. Nothing except Jonah’s flaming cheeks. He dipped his face and stared at his half-eaten plate of pork and beans.
    “How long are we going to try to eke out a living playing the backwoods?” Mindy demanded. “This circuit is beneath us.”
    “Maybe.” Rafe was unruffled. He’d accept blunt talk from Mindy, while the same words coming from Parinsky would have him jumping down the man’s throat. “But even Kentucky yokels need entertainment. Perhaps we should give them a little Shakespeare tonight, Jonah. What do you think?”
    Jonah glanced at him. Half the time he didn’t know when Rafe was serious or when he was teasing. His family hadn’t gone in for ironic humor. Facts were facts, and lightness was frowned upon.
    Rafe smiled, and Jonah’s throat tightened. Since that night they’d held each other in the grass by the horses’ picket line, they’d seized other