AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Zach laughed. Then reached out and pulled her fingers gently away. “Say that again.”
“I’m not sure I want to.”
“Say it again and I promise you, you won’t regret it.”
She stared up at him. She wanted to say it. Wanted to hear him saying it again too. But if she just said it, nothing would change. “I’m leaving Lansing,” she said. “I want to produce.”
“I know. And hey, to get you started I know this guy who has this half-finished album. They say it’s pretty good. Probably due to the producer he was working with.”
“I mean it, Zach. I want to get away from Lansing for a while.”
“That’s good,” he said. “Because I kind of have this job where I need to travel.”
“I don’t want to follow you around. I’m done waiting for Zach Harper.”
“Maybe I want to follow you around.”
He hadn’t let go of her hand, she realized. And her fingers were tangling with his, the familiar feel of his hand so good it made her want to cry. “You need to be in the spotlight.”
“Not all the time. Sometimes I just need you. I love you, Leah Santelli. Wherever you are, that’s where I want to be.” He straightened. “So we can leave. And we can come back.” He hitched a shoulder. “I made Shane an offer to buy his house. He accepted.”
“You bought a house here? You bought Shane’s house?” He wanted a house on Lansing? He wanted her? Disbelief was battling with sheer delighted joy.
“This is home,” he said. “I want somewhere to come back to.” His fingers tightened and he pulled her toward him. “I want us to have somewhere to come back to. So what do you say? Make a life with me, Leah. Make music and memories and mistakes with me. Figure it out with me. Don’t make me go away again.”
Maybe she was dreaming. If she was, she didn’t want to wake up. And maybe, when it came to Zach, there was no way she would ever wake up. So maybe there was no other choice to make. Only him.
She tightened her grip on his hand. “I have three conditions.”
The smile that spread across his face was all she needed to see. “Yes?” he said.
“No more running. We figure things out together.”
“I can live with that,” he said, mouth quirking. “Next.”
“Be my date to Faith’s party tonight.”
“Try to stop me.”
She grinned at him then, so happy she wasn’t sure why she hadn’t exploded.
“And the third?” Zach asked.
“Kiss me.”
“Always,” he said and then he did.
Epilogue
Two weeks later …
Zach was starting to think he knew the drive between the Harper house and Shane’s—no, his house—by heart. He’d been driving or walking it several times a day since he’d bought the place. Whenever he could steal a few hours from the studio or the rapidly escalating round of festivities that were leading up to Faith and Caleb’s wedding, he headed there. Walked around. Still getting used to the idea. Both the house and the fact that Leah would be living there with him when they were on Lansing. Which would be for the next few months at least while they finished his album.
There was plenty of buzz about it after the gig at CloudFest. More buzz about them than about Erroneous. And maybe it made him a petty motherfucker, but part of him was happy about that. But after the album was done, well, they’d play things by ear. He wanted to tour. She wanted to do some more producing. That was a portable profession. They could make it work.
He looked over to Leah, who was slouching back in her seat, her feet up on the dashboard and a goofy, daydreaming expression on her face. “Happy?” he asked.
She smiled. “How many times a day are you going to ask me that?”
