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“I don’t know what you want me to say. I wanted her. She liked being with me. No one got hurt. You found a couple new friends to spend the evening with.”
The corner of his mouth hitched. “That’s the only reason I’m not more pissed at your breach of bro code. Melissa and Andrea were pure delights and all too happy to nurse my broken heart.”
I straightened, giving him the laugh he wanted. “All’s right in the world.” I plucked a toothpick from my pocket and rolled it between my lips.
“I guess it is.” He cocked a head toward the studio. “My dick is about to snap off from the cold. Let’s go in. No doubt Iris is frothing over us being late.”
We entered Good Music side by side, both of us focused on the empty front desk. My chest tightened at the absence of the timid, cheery greeting I’d come to expect when I arrived every day.
“Where is she?” Adam’s head swung back and forth, like he’d find her hiding behind one of the oversized planters.
She appeared from a doorway at the back of the lobby, hurrying toward her desk with a lime green mug in her hand. Her long, purple dress danced around her legs, and the lights seemed to follow her, glinting off her shiny hair like her own personal ray of sunshine.
She stopped in her tracks when she noticed us hovering near her desk.
Her mouth fell open in surprise, but she quickly schooled her features and forced out a smile. “Good afternoon.” She set the mug down on her desk and smoothed a hand over her hair. “I stepped away for just a moment to get some water for my plant. I’m sorry I wasn’t here to greet you.”
She held up the small plant Adam had given her, and I swore he preened, puffing out his chest like a proud rooster.
“No worries, cutie. I’m glad you’re taking care of your gift,” he said.
She petted a leaf gently. “I’m trying. I have a black thumb, so it’s going to take some luck for me not to kill it.”
“Good luck. Better you than me. It’d be dead within a day in my care.” He tapped her desk. “Are you good after everything that went down at the party?”
She sucked her bottom lip between her teeth. Her gaze darted to mine, then back to Adam. “We’re fine. I’m good.”
He tapped the desk again. “Rad. You’re a good girl, Wren. Too bad tall, dark, and devastatingly charming isn’t your type.”
Adam swaggered off, leaving Wren giggling and me still lurking near her desk.
“Every two weeks,” I said.
Her laugh fell away, and she canted her head in confusion. “What’s every two weeks?”
“Last week you were wondering how to care for a succulent. I looked it up. You’re supposed to water them every two weeks, after you allow the soil to dry out completely.”
Looking away from her curious gaze, I shoved my hands in my pockets.
“Well, shit,” she whispered. “Did I just kill my poor plant? The soil definitely wasn’t completely dry.”
I peered over the high top of her desk to her work surface below. The small plant was nestled between her computer and phone in a bright pot.
“If it dies, I’ll buy you a new one. This one’s too small anyway.”
A laugh burst out of her. “By whose standards? I think it’s cute.”
I lifted a shoulder. “No standards, it just is.”
A smile still played on her small mouth, and amusement lit her wide, amber eyes. There was no balance or symmetry to her features, yet they all fit on her heart-shaped face. She really was pretty, whether she knew it or not.
“Well, I’m not going to kill it, so it doesn’t matter if it’s too small.” She tucked her hair behind her ear. “Don’t you have to get upstairs? The rest of your band arrived a while ago.”
“They’ll be all right without me.”
“Isn’t the bass important?”
Resting my elbow on the desk, I leaned closer to her. “I’ll tell you a secret, Wren.” Her nose was smattered with freckles, and I wondered if they darkened in the summer. Did she burn in the sun? Probably. Didn’t redheads burn easily?
