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And she didn’t really know how to feel about that. It was sweet of him—and yes, she was having a good time—but it wasn’t the sort of thing that someone who was just a fling did, was it? So what did that mean?
That maybe there was something more? Or was that just wishful thinking on her part?
And how was she supposed to figure it out without flat out asking him? Which was not an option when this was supposed to be casual.
So things were confusing enough without trying to figure out what was going on with the Harpers. But if something had happened, she wanted to know. It wasn’t like Faith or Zach to bail on a party and even Mina had been socializing more since she and Will had gotten together. Zach had his arm around Mina and was laughing at something she’d said and Faith was smiling too, but something about her best friend’s posture made Leah think that the smiles weren’t one hundred percent real.
“Hey, there’s Faith,” she said, interrupting the superhero talk. “I need to ask her something. You two excuse me a minute, okay?”
Ivy and Stella nodded and waved her off, still too interested in comparing notes on which superhero had the best biceps to be really paying much attention to Leah. Leah appreciated Chris Evans and Chris Hemsworth as much as the next gal but she wasn’t a super geek like Ivy or a die-hard Marvel fan like Stella, so she drained her margarita, put the glass down on the nearest table, and started across the room toward the three Harpers.
It was slow going to get there, everyone wanted to say “hello” and “happy birthday,” which was lovely, but having to stop every thirty seconds gave Faith, Mina, and Zach time to split up before she could reach them.
She hesitated, making small talk with Theo King, the Harper Inc. COO, who’d been the last person to step into her path, and wondering whether she should go after Faith or try to talk to Zach.
At that moment, Zach caught her eye and lifted one eyebrow, as though asking if it would be okay if he came over and joined them. She flashed him a smile and nodded slightly. She trusted that he’d play it cool. Sure, some of the people here already knew and something about the way she’d caught her mom looking at Zach earlier made her think that Caterina at least suspected but she wasn’t looking for a big pronouncement.
As he made his way across the room, looking beyond gorgeous, she almost regretted that decision. It would’ve been nice if she could’ve planted a big fat kiss on him, and claimed him as her birthday present for the second time in her life. But, she only had herself to blame for the fact that that wasn’t going to happen. Zach said hello to Theo as he reached them and then bent and kissed Leah’s cheek, taking a moment to slip his hand around her waist and squeeze gently before he straightened again.
“Happy birthday,” he said. “Having a good time?”
She smiled up at him, torn between wishing that kiss could’ve been more and being grateful that he was playing by the rules. “Yes, thanks,” she said. “Remind me to thank whoever is responsible.” She hoped he’d get the hint that she knew it was him.
Zach nodded. “I will.”
Did that mean he understood?
“Faith tells me your recording sessions are going well, Zach,” Theo said.
Zach shrugged. “It’s good. But I don’t want to talk about it too much. Don’t want to jinx something, you know,” he said, looking a little sheepish.
Theo laughed. “You musicians are all so superstitious. Give me a nice well-behaved spreadsheet any day rather than trying to do this creative shit that you do.”
Zach grinned. “Trust me, I’m very happy to just keep doing my job and you do yours, Theo,” he said. “Spreadsheets are kind of my idea of hell.”
Leah rolled her eyes at him. “That’s not entirely true. You got all your song stuff and music ideas and all that stuff pretty well documented.”
“Maybe. But not in spreadsheets,” Zach said. “You’re the one who does all that detail stuff.” He grinned. “She’s a bit of a slave driver. I’m lucky she let me out of the studio tonight.”
Well that was just an outright lie, but not one she could call him on in front of Theo. “Well, that’s because I didn’t know there was a party on,” she said. Which was also kind of a fib. But one that Zach couldn’t call her on either. So she’d call that even.
Zach shook his head, pretending to look disappointed. “Too busy to have a birthday party. I don’t know what you’re putting in the water around here, Theo. But it’s turning everyone into workaholics.”
“Busy time of year, with the festival.” Theo said. “You know that.”
“Just as well I came back to remind you all how to have some fun.”
From the other side of the room came the sound of Billy cheering, though she couldn’t make out what he was saying. Zach looked over and grinned. “Or maybe I’ll just leave that up to Billy.”
“Please don’t,” Theo said. “God knows what would happen if Billy was left in charge.”
“Don’t worry, he has plenty of adult supervision,” Zach said just as the music cut off and the sound of a guitar rippled through the room. Zach turned in the direction of the sound.
“Is that him?” Leah asked. Eli played guitar, but his hand was still recovering. Billy, though a drummer at heart, was one of those musicians who could turn his hand to most instruments. As evidenced by the number of them hanging on the walls throughout the house—though she was pretty sure he didn’t actually play tuba—and by the sleek black Steinway grand piano that sat in a corner of this very room and always made her hands itch to play it. Billy mostly kept his experiments offstage, but he was a damn good guitarist when he put his mind to it—maybe not near Grey’s or Danny’s or even Zach’s level—but he could more than hold his own.
“Sounds like it,” Zach said as the random guitar noises turned into the riff from an old Erroneous song.
“Hey birthday girl, get over here,” Billy bellowed across the room.
