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“Thank you.” Warmth filled my cheeks and spilled into other areas.
“Damn near irresistible.” He swept his gaze over me. “Especially wearing my shirt.” He turned back to the stove where he had a pan sizzling and a pot of water boiling.
Because there was this new closeness between us that made me feel brave, and since I’d been wondering, I asked, “How could you afford all this? The restaurant, the loft, the beautiful furnishings upstairs.” Even with prices in Southside being lower than elsewhere, all those things cost a lot. “What did you do for a living before you moved back here?”
“I started out as a busser in the restaurant Katy’s family owned,” he said. “I eventually worked my way up to being a cook, and then part owner. I sold my share after we divorced. When I came back to the States, I wanted to do something entirely different, so I did some engineering fieldwork in Texas gas and oil.”
“Did you like living in Texas?”
“Not really.” He shook his head, turned back to the stove, and plated a few more items. “But I’d hoped Tommy might fit in there better than he had in Vietnam.”
“Why didn’t he fit in?” I asked.
“He’s part Vietnamese. Part me. He feels like he sticks out wherever he is.”
“That must be tough on him.” I remembered Barry feeling like an outcast as a teen, but for a different reason.
“He’s tough.” Barry plated vermicelli, ladled some broth over it, and brought it to me.
“I’ll bet he is. Like his dad.”
Being ridiculed because of his father being in jail, Barry had learned to be tough. Plus, with the couch surfing, he’d never had a place of his own to call home. He’d certainly remedied that now. His upstairs apartment was lovely.
“I’m glad you think so. I didn’t feel tough after the divorce. I felt pretty rocky. Let me get you a fork.” Spinning on his bare feet, he opened a drawer, then swung back around to give it to me.
“You’re graceful on your feet,” I said. He had a way of moving that made me think he had music playing in his head like I once did.
“So are you.” His gaze glittered darkly. “Saw your sexy moves the other day.”
I rolled my eyes. “If that’s what you call them.”
“You’re graceful too.”
“I’m glad you think so,” I said, deflecting his compliment like he’d deflected mine.
“I know you don’t think you have any musical talent, Addy, but you do. You have an ear for music. Without your instincts, ABCR would never even have gotten off the ground. You have rhythm. You’re always on beat. I’ve watched you. As a teen, your foot was always tapping to some song only you could hear.”
Used to tap. Used to dance.
Looking away, I shrugged. “Those days are long past.”
My ear still worked, though. I knew a good band when I heard one. My lineup at Footit’s didn’t suffer. On the treadmill and at work, music had its place, but it was no longer prominent. It wasn’t an escape anymore. It was something I allowed, but only in the corners of my life.
He touched my nose. “You were cute.” Again, he acted like he didn’t hear my comment, or maybe he refused to believe me. “I remember you dancing to ‘Slide.’” His tone and expression turned reflective. “Inside the Camaro, I watched you. I couldn’t look away. Your feet seemed to float. Your lips were parted as if awaiting a lover’s kiss. You glow as if you are the music when it controls you.”
“Barry, I—”
He cut me off. “I wanted to be the man waking up in bed beside you. The one you whisper your secret desires to, like the woman in that song. I still want to be the one.”
“The girl I was only exists in your memory.” And when I was around him, he brought her back to life.
“She’s here.” His gaze hardened. “I’m looking right at her. She’s everything I remember and more.”
“Because of you.” I wanted to mold myself to him. Fuse our essences. Reclaim every lost moment. “But it’s only nostalgia. A temporary revival. We can’t recreate the past.”
“I disagree.” He gave me a firm look before he turned the gas off on the stove. “But finish your food. Then we’ll talk.”
“I’m finished.” I scooted my plate to the side and tried to jump off the island, but he stopped me.
