“Of course you do,” Rhett mumbled.
Elsie quietly whispered to Rhett, “That will cost you another twenty.”
“I’m short on cash.”
“We have different definitions of being short on cash,” she whispered.
“Well, I hope you two have a good time,” he said, louder. And for a moment she wondered what would have happened if she’d taken Rhett up on that kiss.
Chapter Eight
Dating Tips from Elsie Dodd
A date is a two-person exchange.
Ignore the peanut gallery.
Rhett had learned how to play the piano before he could walk. Was still in diapers when he got his first guitar. And was barely into elementary school when he discovered the ladies.
He still played piano, never left home without his guitar, and he still had ladies on the brain—tonight it was a specific lady. Which was how he found himself walking down the street with his guitar in hand and his focus firmly on business.
Elsie might be as tempting as a sexy summer fling in that flirty dress and strappy heels, with those mile-long legs and hand-cupping curves, but she was a temptation he couldn’t give in to. Because behind that brave face was a raw vulnerability that hadhandle with carewritten all over it.
And while he could finesse the strings, Rhett didn’t have the gentlest hands when it came to women. Just look at his marriage. His relationship with Steph had been hot from the word go and never slowed down. They went from dating to married in less than six months. But then the honeymoon period ended in a matter of weeks when their schedules came into play. Rhett tried to prioritize his marriage but between a national tour and other job-related obligations, not to mention Steph’s commitments as a fashion influencer, going the distance wasn’t a possibility.
Getting them in the same time zone was hard enough, let alone in the same city.
If picking up the pieces after his divorce hadn’t taught Rhett the downfalls of overcommitting, then his current situation did.
It took concentration, hard work, and laser focus to make an album and pull off a stadium tour. Unlike most of his brothers, his job wasn’t a nine-to-five. His day started when most people were getting ready for bed. A stadium tour was exhausting, required his full concentration, and wreaked havoc on relationships.
It also didn’t leave room for complicated cuties. Plus, this complicated cutie was his friend’s ex. A clear reason to keep his distance, since Axel had been positioning himself to get his new band to open for Subtle Warfare. It wasn’t going to happen. Rhett already had an opening act, but that didn’t mean that every few months Axel wouldn’t reach out—testing the waters.
In fact, he’d reached out today, which was why Rhett found himself at Stout looking for some advice. And maybe a stage to play on.
The sky was fading from pink to orange as the early-summer sun dipped behind the skyline, creating a silhouette over downtown Portland. When he reached his family’s bar, he walked through the back entrance to the family-only section.
With enough recognizable faces and names in the Easton clan, Owen had the brilliant idea to create a roped off section so that the brothers could enjoy time together and throw back a cold one in the place their father had built from the ground up. For Rhett, it was also a place that reminded him of who he was—something that was getting harder and harder to keep in the forefront of his mind.
He wore so many hats, had so many people depending on him; he was being strangled by obligations and expectations. On the best of days, he felt like he was treading water, most days he felt like he was being pushed under.
Today, in that kitchen, with Elsie, he’d felt neither.
Ball cap pulled low, three days’ growth on his face, Rhett slid onto a bar stool and did a quick glance around the room. The place was packed. Not surprising since the PGA Open Championship had started and people were looking to watch a game with family and friends. That’s not why Rhett had come. He’d left the blessed privacy of his house to go to an overcrowded bar where, once recognized, people would hound him for everything from an autograph to a picture, because he needed to take his mind off what was transpiring on that date and get it back on his music.
He was also hungry for a little taste of home. And the one place, other than his mom’s kitchen, that served meatloaf with smashed potatoes was Stout.
“Does Mom know that you’re out past bedtime?” Owen asked, coming over. He leaned across the bar and gave Rhett a brotherly clap on the back.
“Does Mom know that you’re bailing on family dinner this weekend to go on a trip to the family cabin without her?” he asked, knowing that Owen and his fiancée were taking a romantic weekend to Mount Hood.
Panicked, Owen glanced around the bar. “Lower your voice. That T-R-I-P is a surprise and no, I didn’t tell Mom because she can’t keep a secret to save her life. Work is already cockblocking me this week, I don’t need to add Mom to the list.”
Rhett thought about that for a moment, then heard himself ask, “How does it work?”
“Bro, if you’re asking me how it works, then you have bigger problems than I thought. I mean, we all took health ed in high school.”
“I’d already moved to practical application by then. Good to know that the class helped you so much,” he said, and Owen gave him the finger. “But seriously, between your schedules and responsibilities, how do you two make it work?”
