Page 41 of Rebooting Conor Flynn

“Tell me about it.” She handed me one of the last cupcakes and shooed me out to the back patio. “I, on the other hand, do not blur lines. You are a guest, so go outside and enjoy the view and relax. You have loads of work ahead of you.”

I followed her orders and strolled to the pool, cupcake in hand. I sank to the deck, rolled up my jeans, and dabbled my feet in the pool, the voices and odors of the catering crew floating up from the beach.

Closing my eyes, I bit into the cupcake, and the sweet-tart lemon flavor exploded in my mouth.

“You’ve got the moon shimmering on the water and white caps zipping along the tops of the waves, and you’re eating with your eyes closed.”

I opened one of those eyes to glare at Conor. Why did he have to ruin a perfectly good concert? Everything was on track until the fans picked up on those photos. I didn’t even know if Ashley had seen them...and those comments. I didn’t want to know.

“My eyes get tired when I wear my contacts all day.”

He lowered himself beside me, crossing his legs at the ankles. “I like you in glasses. I like you any way.”

My head snapped around. “What is this, Conor?”

He blinked, but he wasn’t fooling me. “I can’t say I like you?”

“Yeah, whatever, but...” I picked up my phone from the pool deck and brought up TikTok. I searched for the concert and when I landed on the pictures and comments, I thrust the phone in his face.

His gaze flickered as he read the comments, and then he reached out with one finger to scroll through the pictures. His eyes widened for a second but instead of denial or explanation, his mouth softened into a smile.

“What are you smiling about? Why were you looking at me that way?” I smacked my phone onto the patio.

He dipped his hand in the pool and cupped some water in his palm. “I didn’t realize I was, but it makes sense.”

“Nothing makes sense to me.”

“I wrote that song for you, Noelle.” His blue eyes matched the water in the pool, lit from beneath.

“I...I” My gaze dropped to his mouth, which suddenly seemed a lot closer to mine.

“When I started singing it...there you were. It’s the first time I ever got to sing it to you. It was just natural to look at the inspiration for the song.”

“But everyone noticed.”

“I’m not sorry.”

I felt his warm breath on my mouth. My lashes fluttered, and I parted my lips. His presence acted like a magnet, drawing me ever closer.

When my phone rang, trilling Dina’s ringtone, a sob caught in my throat. I jerked back. “I...it’s Dina.”

Had she already seen the social media blast? Was she ready to rip into me? Fire me?

To protect myself, I put the phone on Speaker and answered, “Hi, Dina. I’m here with Conor, and I have you on Speaker in case you want to congratulate him on the great show.”

When I recoiled from Conor, it seemed to bring him out of his dream state, and he called out to Dina, “Hiya, Dina.”

“Oh, hi, Conor. I suppose you should hear this too.”

Every muscle in my body coiled. Would she fire me in front of Conor?

“Look, babe. Nolan is out of commission. He won’t be able to document the tour.”

I shook my head. “Nolan?”

“Nolan Zeman. Your co-worker. He tore his ACL playing basketball, and he can’t join the tour.”

“Oh, good.” This wasn’t my notice to pack up and leave 92 West. I almost melted into the pool with relief at my reprieve.