“You mean none?”
“Hey aren’t you—?”
“Nope.” The door slammed loud enough to rattle the windows.
“What are you doing?’ she whispered, reaching for the door handle, but he put his hand on the door above hers, keeping it shut.
“Saving you from another bad date.” He moved closer, his body caging her in slightly. The air around them sizzled with awareness. He put his other hand above her head and suddenly he was closer. Except it hadn’t been him who’d moved, it had been her.
Her gaze dropped to his lips and he grinned. “What if I don’t want to be saved?” she whispered.
“Good thing, because I’m as far away from a prince as there is.” His eyes slowly roamed down to her toes and back, making a few stops along the way. “You are so damn beautiful.”
Her heart melted at the compliment and her determination to keep her distance diminished. Maybe it was their honest conversation or maybe it was the way he was looking at her, as if he wanted to kiss every inch of her body, but her insides sighed a bigoh my.
“This is a bad idea. We’re a bad idea. We can’t even agree on whose house this is, how will we agree on what a kiss would mean?”
He didn’t budge and neither did she. “I don’t know.”
There was a knock and she jumped, but he held his position.
“This is going to happen, Red. There’s no way we can live together and keep our hands off each other. Not now.”
“What changed?” she breathed.
“You could be mine.”
It was as if a cold bucket of water had been thrown over the moment. “I don’t want to be anyone’s except my own. I came home to find myself, not find myself in another complicated relationship.” There was another knock. “I have a date waiting on the other side of the door.”
He paused, a shocked expression overtaking him. “Do you really want to go on this date? If so, I’ll move.”
“I don’t know. While you’ve been traveling the world, I’ve been home, trying to balance my career and marriage and failing at both.” And while she was mad at Axel, she was angrier at herself. She’d let him take the lead and then he left her in the dust. A hard lesson to learn. When there are two dreamers in a relationship, one had to become the realist.
So did she want to go on this date? Not really. But it was smarter than staying home with a fellow dreamer and sharing their secrets and deepest desires. “I’d at least like to meet B-team.”
Without another word, he stepped back. But she could tell he didn’t want to. She saw a flicker of disappointment before those walls slammed shut. “Then let’s meet B-team.”
“Does he really have a man bun?” she asked, teasing.
He smiled, a fun, easygoing, no harm–no foul smile. “You’ll have to find out.” With a playful wink, he opened the door and a knot of relief and confusion tightened in her chest.
She channeled Faye the Millionaire Whisperer and said, “Hi, I’m Elsie.” Then took one glance at B-team, with his suave vibe, dark jeans, and well-fitted button-down.
“The name’s Pierce. It’s nice to meet you.”
“Sorry about that. I forgot to let him out today,” she said to B-team, who, in fact, did not have a man bun, but sleek black hair. She looked over at Rhett and stuck her hand out. With a groan he handed over a twenty.
He leaned in, “He probably has the IQ of a sloth.”
“It is you,” Pierce said excitedly to Rhett, sticking his hand out. When Rhett didn’t move to shake, Elsie stepped on his toe.
“Ow,” he said, then grinned. Then begrudgingly, he extended his hand. “Rhett,” was all he said.
B-team beamed. “Wow, I mean, what are the odds. This is kismet.” He looked at Elsie, who’d become the third wheel in an unrequited bromance.
“Kismet,” Rhett said—to Elsie.
“I recently read a scientific study about how guitarist brains are different than others. They have the ability to sync their heart rate variability to the music while playing.” When no one said a word, Pierce went a little red. “Sorry, I have a doctorate in music theory.”
