“I take it you’re a fan of classical music.”
“I am,” he said, “which is lucky because it’s all I heard for at least the first five years of my life.” He smiled as he glanced at me. “My mother was a musician.”
“Really?” No wonder he understood the artist’s life despite his own very practical career. “Did she play piano?”
“She studied it growing up and again in conservatory, but she was a singer. She made her living directing professional choirs and privately coaching opera singers.”
“That’s amazing. You said made her living. Is she retired?”
He kept his gaze straight ahead and gave a quick shake of his head.
The weight of his admission crushed the air out of my lungs.
“Both my parents died twenty years ago.”
“I’m sorry,” I choked out.
“It was a long time ago, but thank you.”
He’d said he was in a bad place when he’d met his wife. I hadn’t imagined it was that terrible.
Him opening up to me, even such a small amount, undid me. “You don’t tell many people that, do you?”
“In the last five years, I’ve told three people. Henry, Mason, and now you.”
Knowing Mason and having heard of Henry, and realizing how much both men meant to the retired vets they helped, I understood what an honor it was to stand amongst them as one of Nick’s confidantes. “Thank you for trusting me enough to tell me.”
He smiled at me. “Well, you promised you’re a good listener, so...” He cleared his throat. “What about you? Any musicians or other artists in your family?”
I had so many questions about his tragedy, but he wasn’t ready to share the details. I followed his lead. “Not a one. Mom’s COO of a tech company and Dad’s a forensic accountant. My brother teaches freshman math at U Penn. But enough about me. Back to you. Did you ever study music?”
Was that pink flush of his ears a blush? “I did. I started with piano.”
“Were you any good? Do you still play?”
“I was okay. I’ve barely played in years. But I learned it during my formative years, so some of the skills are still in my fingers.”
I arched an eyebrow. “So, talented hands.”
He smiled, then covered it. We both let the innuendo hang in the air.
“You continue to surprise me,” I finally said.
“I aim to please.” He slid a sultry, sideways glance full of naked lust.
I had to take a few deep breaths before I could speak again. I finally asked, “Anything else I should know about your musical career?”
“Hmm. Well, I studied voice. Mom wanted me to be an operatic tenor. Unfortunately for her, my vocal cords had other ideas and I was a baritone by the time I was a high school junior. And I didn’t love opera. Listening to it, yes. Performing it, hell no.”
“Would you sing something for me?”
He was quiet for so long, I assumed he wasn’t going to answer. He surprised me when he said, “I would. Not at this hour in the morning. But someday, I will.”
I wanted that day to be as soon as possible. And hearing him sing wasn’t the only thing on my Nick to-do list. The things I’d learned about him in the past fifteen hours had blown my mind. But they hadn’t changed my feelings for him. They’d only clarified and intensified them. And the words and looks we’d shared this morning had thrown gasoline on the sparks between us.
I might get hurt and it was probably a bad idea and we’d definitely both agreed anything romantic was off-limits. But I was hellbent on renegotiating the terms of our travel arrangement from friendly to friends-with-the-best-kind-of-benefits. What happened on the road could stay on the road. Or we could pretend it never happened. Or we could shout it from the rooftops. I didn’t care.
For whatever time we had left together on this trip, I just wanted Nick.
