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“Who’s that quote from?” she inquired. He just smiled slightly as if that explained it all. Even when he said nothing, his presence was enormous.
“That piano hasn’t been played in a while.” He turned to look at the instrument.
“How would you know?” she challenged.
“Musician’s intuition.” He sat back with his legs spread wide, powerful arms hanging to the sides.
“Hasn’t been played since my grandmother passed away,” she said quietly.
“Ah. Sorry about that.”
They sat silently for a minute as Rory wondered why she’d brought that up. Thankfully he broke the uncomfortable silence.
“You never play it?”
“Me? No.” She laughed. “I used to, when I was little, as I sat in my grandmother’s lap, but I guess I didn’t have it in me to pursue it.”
“Nonsense. We all have music within us. I can bet you twenty bucks that I can have you playing a song in ten minutes.” He tilted back his head with confidence.
“Oh c’mon. I am as unmusical as they come.”
“I don’t believe you.” He squinted his dark eyes mischievously.
“You don’t believe something I know about myself?” she challenged him.
“Why don’t we find out?” He got up and extended his hand to her. Talk about overconfidence. Rory suppressed her smile and just walked toward the piano instead of taking his hand. She could feel him beaming behind her back. He grabbed a candle stand from the side table and put it on top of the piano.
As she sat on the piano bench, Arsen leaned over her. She was unprepared for the potency of feeling him so close to her. The distance between them was tempting, the space between them warmed by the heat of their bodies. Arsen’s scent, a combination of cologne, leather, and something more, overpowered her senses, waking up a long-forgotten desire in her body. She was yanked back from her thoughts by the sound of his soft baritone voice.
“I’ll teach you a song that everyone knows. One of the simplest ones to play. Okay?” He looked at her and his eyes were kind, looking for affirmation. She nodded.
“I am going to hit one key at a time. Just do your best to remember which keys I hit, is all.” In the light of the candle that he had brought over, she could see the keys much more clearly. Arsen started hitting the notes slowly, and it was then that she realized that he was playing “Amazing Grace,” her grandmother’s favorite. How did he know? She stared at him with wide eyes.
“Eyes on the keys,” Arsen said, without looking away from the piano, and Rory sheepishly looked down. Arsen played it for her a few times more and Rory was surprised that after a few tries, she was able to play the first verse of the song completely, even if she did so with only one finger.
“Congrats! Now you know the main melody of the song. But if you are to play it properly, you need to learn the chords.” He smiled a warm smile.
“I can’t believe I just played that.” Rory shook her head in amazement.
“Wasn’t so difficult, now, was it?” he said, as he walked back to the sofa. Rory followed. Why did he play “Amazing Grace”? It was too coincidental to ignore.
“It wasn’t d
ifficult at all. You were right,” Rory admitted with some difficulty, but still got no response from Arsen. He poured some more wine in their glasses.
“Thank you for letting me stay here for the night. I really appreciate it.” There was weariness in his eyes, and for the first time, he actually sounded grateful.
“It was nothing,” she replied. “I would have done that for anyone.”
“Yes, but you did that for me and for that I am thankful. I apologize if I came across as arrogant. I wasn’t in the best of moods.” His apology wasn’t sheepish. He took full responsibility for his behavior and that surprised Rory, who had written him off as just another cocky, arrogant celebrity.
“Yes, you were.” The words left her mouth before she could stop them, but Arsen only broke into a laugh.
“Good-looking and honest. I like that in a woman,” he said. That slight smile now was turning into a wide grin. He finds me good-looking? Rory tried to envision how she must look in that moment. Heck, she hadn’t even taken a bath since she had woken up.
“I bet you say that to every girl you meet,” she replied.
“Honestly? I can’t remember the last time I called someone honest.” He grinned. “Wouldn’t you say that there is a lack of honest people in the world?” he asked. Rory instantly thought about her sister and her future husband and how badly they wanted to take over this house and make this a holiday home for their perfect little American life. Yes indeed, not many honest people around anymore.
