Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 68247 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 341(@200wpm)___ 273(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68247 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 341(@200wpm)___ 273(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
He hoped he wasn’t deluding himself.
After they took the elevator to his floor, he decided to walk her through Lola’s old place first. He unlocked the door and gestured for her to enter.
“As you can see, it has the same layout as my apartment, but the decor is much different.” Where he had dark wood accents, courtesy of the furniture Rep had left behind, Lola’s was pops of color and huge pieces of comic book–inspired artwork on the walls.
“Oh my God! Is that . . . Superman and Wonder Woman kissing in midair?” Avery asked, delighted at the sight.
“Yeah. And it’ll be the first thing to go when we start work in here,” he muttered.
She laughed. “This is so great!”
He rolled his eyes and went on to explain the plans for turning this apartment into a studio. She listened intently, and he had the distinct sense she could see and appreciate his vision.
“And this is . . . was Lola’s bedroom. She left me with sheets and the bedspread so that if any of our friends visited, I wouldn’t have to deal with buying stuff. So if you weren’t ready to move in with me, you could stay here until it was safe for you to go home.” He tried to keep the disappointment out of his voice, knowing she had to come to him willingly, not because the situation was forced on her.
Avery walked inside and looked around the also brightly decorated room. “Lola does love primary colors,” Avery mused. “My bright colors are pale compared to hers.”
He shoved his hands into his pants pockets and waited for her to finish peeking into the master bath.
“Grey, I don’t know what I want to do yet.”
He nodded in understanding, frustrated but determined not to let it show.
“Want to head next door?” he asked.
She bit her bottom lip, and he knew he wasn’t going to like what came next. “I asked Rick to take me to meet up with Olivia. She’s done a lot of fundraising for the Thunder, and I figured she’d have some ideas to help me get up and running with the prom for the kids. And Sienna wants to help, so she’s going to join us,” she said of her half sister, whose life Avery had saved. Of course it made sense that Sienna would want to join in on the effort to help the kids.
Grey managed an easy shrug. “I have work to do anyway. I got a call from Chloe Mandrake, the lead singer of Night Madness. She wants to talk about me writing for their next album.”
“Grey, that’s great!” Avery’s eyes sparkled with delight at the news.
“She said she loved the work I did with Alden Mills on the Christmas album last year.”
Mills was a reclusive musician renowned for his time with Beyond the Lights, a band from the early seventies whose fame nearly matched the Beatles. They hadn’t lasted long but had had a major impact on anyone in the music scene, old or new. And when he’d contacted Grey through Simon and requested him for his final solo album, a combination of old work and new lyrics, Grey had jumped at the chance.
As it turned out, Alden had been extremely ill, and Grey had done the bulk of the writing on the final songs, allowing joint credit publicly. All Grey had wanted was the opportunity to work and learn from the man’s genius. He’d been in awe of the older man, and they’d kept in touch until his death a few months ago.
“Aren’t you excited?” Avery asked.
“It’s a cool next step,” he said, though his thrill didn’t match Avery’s, his mood tempered by the feeling that she was deliberately keeping her distance.
Then again, she had legitimate work to do, and he was being a selfish ass, wanting to keep her close.
“How about we meet back here for dinner? I’m in the mood for seafood,” he said, coming up with an idea to wine and dine her on the terrace later.
“I’d like that,” she said, stepping closer and wrapping her arms around his neck. Her touch eased the tension that had been building all morning.
“I don’t want my life to screw up yours,” he told her.
“I know it’s a part of you.” She drew a deep breath. “And I’m really trying to deal with it.”
He knew that. He just didn’t know what or who was waiting around the corner to fuck with their happiness.
He dipped his head and slid his lips over hers, unable to stop with one kiss. He smelled his shower gel and shampoo from the night before, lingering. And although he missed her sexy vanilla scent, knowing she was walking around with his scent on her did something to him, and a low growl escaped from the back of his throat.