“It worked. She agreed.”
Over the weekend, after brainstorming a few ways to win her back, we’d all agreed that having her songwrite with me was the winning idea. The guys would stay away and let me prove to Adeline that she and I could work together. Selfishly, I also wanted to prove to myself I had more than one song in me.
I needed to make this work to fix the mess I had made. I’d do anything to show her just how badly I wanted her to do this with us.
“Okay, ready?”
I slipped the phone in the back pocket of my jeans and lifted my gaze to her. She was beautiful, as always, wearing an old band T-shirt and cut-off jean shorts that put her toned legs on display. I had to use every inch of my willpower not to stare.
“Yeah.”
“I have an extra guitar you can use.”
To my surprise, she led me to her bedroom, where two instruments leaned against the wall. I had thought we’d be working in the living room, but the cozy, intimate vibe of her bedroom immediately felt right. This must be where she composed her songs. I didn’t know how I knew that, but I felt sure I was right.
She grabbed her guitar and sat down on the bed, motioning me to take the small armchair in the corner.
“I’ve had this little melody in my head for a while. What do you think?”
I smiled at how eager she was to jump right into it. I’d collaborated with enough famous musicians to know that half of them wanted to just fuck around instead of do any actual work. As I listened to her play the melody to me, I could tell there was nothing else in the world she’d rather be doing.
“It’s catchy,” I told her before playing a slightly altered version and immediately earning an excited smile.
Warmth spread through my body. This was off to a good start.
By Wednesday afternoon, we had three tracks in the works. Working with Adeline was a dream, and I was even more angry at myself for not fully appreciating the potential between us earlier. It was rare to find a partner who could push you to new heights as a musician, and she was making me climb Mount fucking Everest. The exhilaration I felt at the top was unreal.
She didn’t tease me, not like Charlie did. She also didn’t tear me down until I was no more than a shred, and somehow, we still worked well together. I couldn’t help but pray to the universe that she would agree to join the band. There was so much potential here, the thought of leaving it unrealized physically hurt.
Unencumbered by old secrets and doubts, I felt more in touch with myself than I had in years, and I knew the truth now. I wanted her badly.
The night of the Mastery concert had taken a sharp turn for the worst, but I’d spent the past few days replaying how Adeline had molded to my body as we’d watched the show. Her hips beneath my hands, her ass grinding into me, the sweet taste of her skin… I couldn’t get those memories out of my head.
We stopped for a quick lunch, and I followed her to the kitchen to fill a glass of water at the sink.
“Are you okay with a turkey sandwich? I don’t have the ingredients for anything fancier.”
“Yes, sounds great.” I turned to face her and caught her quickly shifting her gaze up. Was she checking me out? The blush on her face was a sign I might be right.
She sucked in a breath and walked over to the fridge. Of course, I did what any red-blooded male would do in this situation, and let my eyes drift down to her ass. It was just one of the things about her that had been on my mind a lot lately. My balls tightened, and I quickly sat down at the kitchen island.
She made the sandwich with precise efficiency and handed me my plate before sitting down on the stool beside me and digging right in.
I knew I was a goner when I caught myself thinking how cute she looked munching on her food.
Fuck.
It’s like the very real prospect of losing her had finally made me realize what an idiot I’d been all these weeks. I gulped down my water before turning slightly toward her. She must have seen my movement out of the corner of her eye because she stopped chewing for a moment before resuming.
“So how’s Molly doing?”
For the past two and a half days, we’d been all work. I didn’t think she’d done anything besides writing with me and working at the bar. It was great to be so focused during our sessions, but I wanted to know more about her life.
“Fine, I think. We haven’t had a good chat in a while, but we text frequently. She says she likes two out of her three roommates, and that so far, the classes are pretty straightforward.”
“Do you miss her?”
The second song we were writing was shaping up to be a ballad about loss. I could piece together what I knew about Adeline’s life with the hints in the lyrics, and I was pretty sure it was about her family leaving her. Her parents in a tragic death, and Molly in a natural progression to adulthood. Of course, the two weren’t the same, but the feelings they brought up in her might be similar.
