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I hang up with my mom and am alternating between sipping my third cup of coffee and typing out a response to an email about final arrangements for the benefit concert tomorrow when there’s a knock on the open door.
I glance up.
“Kyle!” I shoot to my feet, knocking my coffee mug off my desk. It doesn’t shatter, but it does make enough commotion that everyone in the immediate vicinity is suddenly staring this way.
I grab a handful of tissues from the box on my desk and kneel to blot the puddle of coffee on the floor, feeling my cheeks burn.
Kyle leans down, too, grabbing the now-empty mug and setting it back on my desk. I toss the wet tissues into the trash bin next to my desk and stand, wiping my hands on my navy skirt as I wobble unsteadily in my heels. Play with the worn hem of my sweatshirt and wish he’d shown up before I swapped my blazer out for it.
“Wh-what are you doing here?” I’m tempted to poke him to make sure this isn’t some hallucination or my imagination.
But his scent is already permeating the small space, replacing the aroma of lemon cleaner and coffee.
He leans a hip against my desk, looking like he’s been in here a thousand times before. It’s unfair—how he’s so at ease in my world when I literally stumbled my way through his. And that he’s so nonchalant about seeing me when I’m obviously a fumbling mess.
“I’m in New York to sing at the fundraiser. I’m in the office to meet with Carl. And I’m in your office…to talk to you.”
“Oh.”
I clear my throat.
Uncross my arms and cross them again.
Since he’s no longer signed to the label, he’s under no obligation to perform at the fundraiser. It never occurred to me that Kyle might choose to, and I’m shocked I didn’t hear that he apparently is.
“I, uh…I thought about you. When I heard the news.”
“I didn’t know him that well. When he opened for me, he kind of implied I was a subpar singer. I agreed with him, and I think he assumed I was messing with him. We didn’t talk much after that.”
I smile briefly. “I mean, I thought about you when I heard how he died.”
Kyle nods slowly, amusement slowly slipping off his face. “That’s why I decided to perform. It’s a good cause.”
“Yeah, it is.”
He glances around my tiny office, gaze settling on the three boxes piled in one corner. “You moving offices?”
“Yeah, actually. I start in A&R on Monday.”
“You got the promotion?” The naked excitement in his voice makes my chest ache.
“I got the promotion,” I confirm. “Apparently, Brayden had some nice things to say, and you not answering a single call of his convinced Carl I managed some Olympian feat by talking to you at all. So…thank you.”
His gaze is intense. “Don’t let anyone else take the credit, Piper. This was all you.”
I swallow the lump that’s appeared in my throat. “Thanks.” I chew on the inside of my cheek, trying to decide what else to say. “So, you’re meeting with Carl?”
“Nothing’s changed. I just thought I owed him the courtesy of a meeting after all the calls I dodged.”
“How long are you in town for?”
“I don’t know. I booked a one-way ticket.”
I booked a one-way ticket.
My heart leaps, taking off at double time.
“Really? There’s no third cutting of hay that needs your attention?”
