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“I’m sorry, but no,” Zach said.
She stared at him. He looked determined. Stubborn. Just like his sister. Which meant that “no” really meant “no.” At least, for now. And that if she didn’t want to end up doing something entirely unprofessional, like punching him for being so goddamn shortsighted, she’d better leave.
“You’re making a mistake,” she told him and headed for the door.
Chapter Four
Zach stared at the screen door, still vibrating after Leah had slammed it.
Leah Santelli asking to work with him.
He hadn’t expected that.
Hadn’t expected her, which was dumb because she worked on the Harper estate, and where Faith was, Leah and Ivy Morito—the other member of the trio of trouble as he and Eli had called them back in the day—were rarely far behind. Presumably they weren’t still quite as in each other’s pockets as they had been as teenagers, but it was still a small island.
Leah Santelli.
Dammit.
He should have handled that better.
But when it came to Leah, he’d always had a way of sticking his foot in his mouth.
And she’d blindsided him with that producing question. Of all the things that might have brought Leah back to his doorstep, he hadn’t imagined that particular scenario.
Still, he’d delivered his “no” in a manner that had distinctly lacked chill.
And now she was pissed.
Big green eyes ready to spark, hands on hips. Leah wasn’t tall—maybe five foot five if she was lucky—but what she lacked in size she made up for in attitude. Or temper, perhaps.
He should have thought before he’d answered, let her down more gently. Because now Leah was mad at him, and that was going to make Faith mad at him all over again.
Well done. Back home for just a couple of days, and he was already screwing up.
He seemed to have developed a talent for that over the last few years.
Or he’d inherited it from Grey and it was just now making itself known.
Leah Santelli.
Some might say she was one of his first big screw-ups. He never should have slept with her all those years ago. Not when he was leaving and he knew she had a crush on him. But she’d been gorgeous—not quite as gorgeous as she was now—and she’d asked. And he’d been young and stupid. Now, apparently, he was older and still stupid.
He thought again of those big eyes flashing at him and the curving fullness of her mouth when she’d said hello. She’d been beautiful at eighteen but so very young. Though pretty damn persuasive. He’d seen her in the intervening years, of course. Not much in the last few years. She’d always been perfectly polite and friendly to him. Of course, this was the first time he’d seen her since she’d gotten her divorce. Maybe that was the difference.
Current-day Leah wasn’t just gorgeous, she was fierce. She knew what she wanted. She had gone after it. No beating around the bush. No game-playing or flattering or sucking-up, the way most people in the music industry seemed to go about trying to get something from him. Leah had just laid out her offer. Just like she had at eighteen. It was undeniably hot—which was all kinds of wrong because she’d been pitching him professionally, not personally. And now she was pissed off at him. Had she marched straight over to Faith’s place to tell her about him being a dick? He winced. He hoped not. Because that was likely to bring Faith marching right back here to read him the riot act.
He didn’t think he wanted to be yelled at twice in one night. So maybe it was time to beat a strategic retreat. The watch on his wrist told him it was closing in on dinnertime anyway. And he hadn’t yet made the effort to stock his fridge. He reached for his phone. Eli. Eli wouldn’t mind if Zach invited himself for dinner.
“Bring forth the beef,” Billy bellowed from out on the deck.
Eli shook his head in mock-exasperation. “Give the dude a grill and he thinks he’s suddenly a five-star chef.” He picked up the platter of steaks that lay on the counter in Billy’s kitchen. “Hope you like yours well done. Dad’s grill skills seem to lack a certain finesse.”
“That’s because Shane always used to work the grill at Blacklight parties,” Zach said. “And if Billy is anything like Grey, then he doesn’t do much grilling on his own.”
“No,” Eli agreed. “Plenty of ordering of takeout though. Good at finding the best barbecue in any given town, but I’m not sure I’ve ever eaten a meal that Dad cooked from scratch.”
“How long is Nina going to leave him unsupervised?” Zach asked. He’d come to Eli’s seeking dinner and a place where Faith couldn’t find him if she tried to yell at him about Leah. It was, as usual, a little chaotic. The place looked like five people were living there with shit strewn all over the place. And Eli seemed to be cooking for five, judging by the amount of food and the size of the steaks.
