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Murray
The plate in myhand spilled to the floor when I caught sight of the Post-it on Yael’s door. She’d left me a pretty damn artful drawing of a middle finger, and somehow, I knew that meant she wasn’t inside her apartment.
I took the ruined breakfast back to my place and shot off a text to Mo.
Where did Yael go?
Mo:She’s in Vegas for two days. Had to drop off her commissioned pieces and wanted to do it in person.
Me:She told you about that?
Mo:Finally. I’m proud as hell. Are you going to get her?
Me:I’m already booking a flight.
Mo:Someday we’ll get this album recorded. Be safe!
I paid out the ass to fly private, but I ended up landing only an hour after Yael. A car drove me directly to the hotel, and security escorted me through the opulent marble and gold lobby into a mini shopping mall filled to the filigreed rafters with tourists. I tried to keep it low key, but with my height and red hair, plus the two brick walls in suits at my sides, I started to get noticed.
New Yorkers had a tendency to play it pretty cool when I went out, but we weren’t in New York anymore, Toto. By the time we made it to the jewelry store, I had a real parade following me, clamoring for my autograph or selfies.
The hell of it was, I hadn’t been sure she’d even be in the jewelry store until I caught a glimpse of her perfect profile through a window.
“Mr. Murray, we’ll clear the area for you when you’re ready to leave. Just let security inside know,” one of the guards said.
“Thanks, dude. Sorry to be a pain.”
Another man who looked like he could bench press me opened the door to the shop, allowing me inside, then sealed it behind me.
Both Yael and the finely-suited man she’d been talking to looked up upon my entrance. Her red lips fell open, and her gorgeous brown eyes shined under the bright lights above.
“Alex?” she whispered.
I held my hands up. “I’m sorry. I’m not here to get in the way. I’ll wait over here until you’re done.” I took a seat in one of the armchairs at the front of the store, attempting to formulate a plan better than crawling on my knees and begging to be let back in. Right now, that was all I had, and I knew damn well it wasn’t enough.
She continued to stare at me like she wasn’t sure I was real. I stared back because that’s what I did. When she was in my vicinity, my eyes were on her. She was my beacon, and my antenna was tuned solely to her.
“Do you want to see the flowers?” she asked.
I straightened, unsure I’d heard her right. “Me?”
She rolled her eyes. “Yes, you. Do you want to see them with the gems set inside?”
I flew out of my chair to her side faster than a beat of my own heart. “Yes.”
That made the man beside her snort, which he quickly covered with an elegant hand. “Excuse me, that was just too adorable,” he said.
Yael touched his arm. “Phillip, this is Alex Murray, my brother’s bandmate. It seems he’s in Las Vegas too.”
Her brother’s bandmate? Oh, that was some heavy shit placed right atop my chest.
I shook the guy’s hand, even though my solar plexus had just been caved in. It was fine. Everything was fine. I hadn’t been able to breathe properly in weeks anyway.
“Here are the beauties Yael created for us. I’m in love,” Phillip gushed. “I was just discussing with her how I could commission my own piece. Ineedone of Yael Aronson’s flowers in my life.”
The flowers were each different and easily twice the size than when I last saw them. In the center lay egg-sized gems set in gold. She had woven the wires together to perfectly cradle them, and the effect of the entire thing stunned me. I cocked my head, then bent forward to see them closer and lost my ever-loving mind at the talent the woman I loved possessed. That she hid this from everyone boggled my mind.
“Amazing, Boo. I’m blown away,” I murmured.
