Page 12 of His to Love

Yeah?

It was only a text but she could see his lip pulled between his teeth and she wanted nothing more than to nip it loose with hers.

Let me know how many dishes I have to bring.

She attached a laughing GIF.

I’ll scrounge some up so you won’t have to go to the trouble.

She had to look like an idiot with a smile so wide.

I’m flattered.

Rainy, this could be the start of something beautiful. Who knows, you might have to quit your day job...

Rainy sat up straight. She didn’t have the nerve to ask him to be serious and to clarify what he meant. She didn’t have time to think. A waitress approached her with a drink called the Bloody Maven.

“What’s this?” she asked the waitress, confused.

“Kris Brock called and ordered it for you.” The waitress eyed her like she was trying to figure out who she was.

Rainy smiled. Coffee, pineapple juice and now a variation on a Bloody Mary was not a combination of drinks she would have ever chosen for herself, but she wasn’t about to turn it down.

“Thank you.” She lifted her glass as if to toast the waitress, but she’d already turned and walked away.

She wished she could keep the glass as a souvenir of the drink Benjamin Brock of the Septempermentals bought her. She’d have to be satisfied with the memory. She sat in the Cricket Café and finished off three very different beverages. Each represented something different in her life. The coffee was the bitter truth. The pineapple juice was the sweetness she craved. The Bloody Maven was a mystery. It was everything that was unwritten. She walked home unexpectedly happy.

The feeling carried her through the week as she took a tour of endless warehouses and got bombarded with soul-crushing meetings. She only made it because she knew when the week ended she’d be seeing Kris. While his motive for the meeting was his interest in her music, hers was simply seeing him.

Six

Kris

Saturday could not come fast enough for Kris. Before meeting Rainy, he had actually looked forward to visiting Los Angeles. Malibu was one of his favorite places in the world. The beaches were spectacular and dramatic. However, the people left him wanting something different. When it came down to it, there was no place like home. Now that Rainy was his neighbor that was especially true.

He carried a drinking glass to the beach in front of his place and filled it with sand so he could bring it back to Rainy as a gift.

He and his band met with their producer, Tanya, about their own music, but he also shared Rainy’s music. Just has he thought, it was a hit with her. It was edgy and different. If everything worked out, Kris might save Rainy from a life of drudgery in corporate hell, or at least put it off for a while.

She was such a breath of fresh air and so incredibly talented. He couldn’t imagine her spending life inside the walls of Grand Canyon. That place would choke the sunshine straight out of her. He understood her need for the money. The need to be independent. It was one of the perks he enjoyed given his success, but despite his wealth, Kris never strayed from his simple values. Though he had a mansion on the Malibu shores, he preferred the classic American, seasoned, old-school neighborhood of his youth.

He texted Rainy as Saturday approached. He had an idea of what he wanted to make her for dinner. He had some elk a popular podcast host gave him. He’d been saving it for the holidays, but this felt more special than that.

Hey, you’re not vegetarian, are you?

She replied instantly.

I’m not. Vegetarianism is a misdemeanor in Baltimore.

He fist pumped the air and he let out a whoop.

I have a treat for you if we still have a date on Saturday.

He watched the scrolling dots until her message popped up.

Oh, yeah. We’re having

dinner at your house, right?

Source: www.allfreenovel.com