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Marisol’s smile faded. “Did he…say something?”
“He didn’t have to. I’ve known him since we were fetuses. I know when he’s upset, just like I know when he’s into someone.” Mia sat her mug down and leaned forward, propping her chin in her hands. “Though I can’t say I’ve seen him look at anyone the way he looks at you. Not even his ex, Casey, who he pined over forever when she moved away. So the only question is…are you as into him?”
“We work together.” Marisol dropped her gaze to her coffee cup, wishing she’d headed straight for the door the minute she woke up. “I think we should keep things professional.”
“But is that what you reallywant?” Mia prodded. “Given, this is coming from a woman who loves Bubba like a brother, so I’m admittedly biased, but he’s a really good catch, Marisol. I mean, he’s obviously easy on the eyes, but he’s also one of the kindest people I’ve ever met. He would give his life for a friend in a heartbeat.”
“I know,” Marisol said, keeping her eyes on the steam rising from her mug.
“Seriously,” Mia continued. “He was there when I was going through a really hard time in my life recently, but no matter how messed up I was, he never gave up on me. I don’t know what I would have done without him. That man is a treasure, and that’s the truth.”
“I believe you.” Marisol lifted her eyes and forced a smile, sensing this intervention wasn’t going to end until she made it clear to Mia she understood where she was coming from. “I know he’s a really good friend, and I admire him a lot, as a singer and a person.”
“But…” Mia prodded, nailing Marisol with a compassionate, yet take-no-prisoners look that reminded her a lot of Robert’s. But for some reason it was easier for her to be honest with Mia, even though they’d only just met.
Probably because you’re not working with her, or so attracted to her you have to devote half your energy to not jumping her bones.
“But I’m not ready for a relationship,” Marisol said with a shrug. “And Robert isn’t up for anything casual, so…”
“I wasn’t ready for Sawyer when he came into my life.” Mia cupped her hands around her mug as she leaned back in her chair. “I’d been in a bad relationship, and I wasn’t sure I’d ever be ready for another one. But you don’t turn your back on a man like him. Opportunities for something real, with someone wonderful, don’t come around every day.”
“Where is Sawyer?” Marisol asked, glancing over her shoulder at the open door to Mia’s bedroom. “I thought you two were living together.”
“He left for work early.” Mia narrowed her eyes. “And don’t think it’s going to be that easy to change the subject, missy.”
Marisol couldn’t help but smile, no matter how uncomfortable this conversation was making her. “Was it that obvious?”
Mia shook her head, sending her fuzzy curls bobbing gently around her face. “No, but I was on the opposite side of this conversation not too long ago. I remember how scary it can be to think about opening yourself up to someone new after you’ve been hurt.”
Marisol’s smile slipped. “Iwasin a relationship that ended badly, but it’s more than that. There are…other factors.”
“Like what?” Mia asked, hurrying on when Marisol visibly balked at the idea of going into the nasty mess with her family, or any of the rest of it. “I don’t mean to be nosy. I just want you to know that I like you, and it’s clear Bubba adores you. And I think…maybeyou have a thing for him, too.”
Marisol sighed, a sound filled with so much longing it was a confession of its own.
“I thought so,” Mia said softly. “It really would be a shame if you two don’t give things a chance. Working together doesn’t have to be a deal breaker. You’re both grown-ups, and it’s not like you’re in the army. You’re in the music business. It’s an industry practically built on breaking the rules.”
Marisol nodded, but she didn’t look up from her coffee after she took another sip. She didn’t know what to do with all the conflicting thoughts and feelings swirling inside of her. What Mia was saying made sense, but Mia knew Robert as a friend. Men were understanding of things in their friends that they weren’t in their lovers. Robert had stood by Mia as she worked through her issues, but he might still walk away from Marisol as soon as he got a good look at the scars on her heart.
She’d pulled her professional life together, but emotionally, she was still a mess. Until now, that hadn’t affected her work, but with Robert, everything was bleeding together, and she didn’t know how to stop it without cutting things off between them completely. But the thought of never seeing him again, never learning how the unfinished songs they’d been writing together ended, or simply seeing him smile, made it feel like a knife was twisting in her gut.
“I don’t know if I’d be good for him,” she finally said, heart beating faster as the unusually frank words escaped her lips. “And I don’t know if I could handle it if we got involved and he decided my baggage was too much.”
“Well, Bubba’s a pretty tough guy,” Mia said. “He can handle a lot, and he’s not prone to sudden changes of opinion. It took years for him to decide to give a singing career a shot, no matter how many times I told him he was hiding his light under a bushel.”
Marisol chewed her bottom lip, wanting to believe Mia was right, but still torn.
“The truth is, you won’t know what either of you can handle until you give it shot,” Mia continued, rising from her chair and crossing back to the coffee pot for a refill. “Yes, there’s a chance things might end badly, but I know from experience that fear doesn’t keep you safe. All fear does is keep you lonely, and shout so loud you can’t hear your heart when it whispers.”
The heart when it whispers…
What was her heart whispering? Beneath the fear and the hurt? Beyond the worry and the never-ending litany of scary “what-ifs?” If she turned her attention to the stillness at the core of her, where only truth was allowed to enter, what would it say? She wasn’t in the habit of listening to that still, peaceful place, but she sensed it would tell her that there is no heart in the world too broken to learn how to love, not even hers.
Marisol’s lips curved. “I wish the heart would talk louder.”
“I wish fear would keep its big mouth shut,” Mia countered with a wink over her shoulder as she poured an obscene amount of cream into her coffee. “Can I get you a refill?”
“No, thank you.” Marisol pushed her chair back, suddenly filled with urgent purpose. “I should head back to the ranch. Face my fears while I still hear the whispers.”
