“He’s never said it out right, but it’s more in the things he doesn’t say.” He ran his fingers through his beachy blond hair. “It’s in the way his eyes light up when you come into the room and how he always finds a way to be near you when we’re all together.”
He had me there. After Liv and Jax got together, we’d started a tradition of Sunday dinners when everyone was in town. I couldn’t think of a single Sunday dinner we’d had where Cash hadn’t sat beside me.
“You’ve really noticed all of that?” I asked, and Bradley Cooper touched his cold nose to my arm.
He nodded. “I may be the quiet one in the group, but that means I see everything.”
I shook my head. “So, you see my predicament. You see why this is a bad idea.”
“I don’t think that’s true at all,” Derek said. “Why do you think it’s a bad idea?”
“He’s Grace and Liv’s boss,” I began. “Our friend group is more like a family. What if we get together and it ends badly?”
He shrugged. “But what if it doesn’t? And right now, don’t you kind of have a golden opportunity to figure it out while nobody knows what’s going on? I know, but I won’t say anything. Grace is out of the country, and Liv is a little preoccupied. You’re getting a free trial before you have to pay the full price.”
I laughed. “What if it’s too expensive?”
“You have time to figure that out, but you’ll never know the cost if you don’t bother to look at the price tag.”
“Were you a financial analyst in a past life?” I teased. “Fair enough. Thanks for letting me get that off my chest. I’ve been going crazy not having anyone to talk to about all of this.”
“Anytime. I’m glad you asked me to come with you today.” Bradley Cooper sneezed and flopped at Derek’s side.
“I mean, youarea dog whisperer. I kinda had to.” I laughed. “And Derek… I know I’m only like ten years older than you, but I’d be honored to be your Diane Keaton.”
He chuckled softly. “Well, Diane, what do you say we break Bradley Cooper out of this joint?”
Bradley Cooper raised his head and whined his agreement.
I nodded and rose to my feet, which caused the dog to jump in circles. “Alright, Bradley Cooper, are you ready to go home?”
Ten
Cash
It had been exactlyeleven days since I talked to Ella. Not that I was counting every minute.
I’d checked my phone constantly since the morning I’d dropped her off in front of her house after we took Grace to the airport. I pressed the button on the side of my phone, illuminating the screen just in case I’d somehow missed her text the twenty other times I’d looked at my phone that day. When I saw I still had no new messages, I placed the phone face down on the mahogany desk in my office at Carrie On Records.
The office was painfully quiet without Grace’s music and her off-key singing that I adored. She’d been sending me text and email updates here and there about what was happening on tour, but it wasn’t the same as having her energy bouncing off the walls like a rubber ball. Our team was small and worked from home most days, coming in only for meetings. Grace and I were the only ones that were there consistently. I considered calling a meeting just to have other people around.
The clock on the wall ticked a loud reminder of the time that was passing—all of it without so much as a word from Ella. I’d even considered asking Grace how her mom was doing but didn’t want to raise any suspicion asking such a random question. Sure, I’d asked about her many times before, but that was before—before I’d known what it was like to want her this much, and it also wasn’t via text. It was a lot easier to slip something like that into a casual conversation than ask in some work-related email. What if I somehow gave something away that clued Grace into what happened between her mom and me? I knew she didn’t want Grace to know, and I respected that.
I didn’t want to pressure Ella, but I couldn’t stop thinking about her. When she’d said she needed time, I thought she meant a couple of days. I had no idea I’d be on day eleven without so much as a text from her. I wanted to respect her wishes, but this was killing me.
Yes, I missed her, but it was more than that. I knew this was a tough time for her with Liv being so preoccupied and Grace being gone. Would it be too soon for me to just check on her? Maybe see if I could take her some dinner? I sighed and raked my hands down my face, attempting to push the thoughts from my mind as I shifted my focus back to the laptop in front of me.
An email notification sounded, and I had to read the message five times because my mind continued to drift back to Ella. After tapping out what I hoped was a sensible reply to the email, I slammed my laptop shut with a dissatisfied snap.
I was reaching for my phone again when it started to ring. My heart lurched, and I lunged for it, sending the overpriced technology sailing to the floor. I dove under the desk, fumbling for the phone until I had it in front of me.
“Hey, Cash,” Sam’s British accent greeted me. “Everything alright, mate?”
“Yeah, sorry,” I replied. “I should be asking you that. What time is it there? It’s got to be nearing midnight.”
“Yeah, I just got back to the hotel, but I wanted to touch base with you.”
“Is everything okay there? Has Grace settled in with the crew?”
