Her mouth fell open. “You know how to play fourinstruments?”
Jacques’s mouth twitched. “Technically, I know how to play the piano too, but I wouldn’t do thatlive.”
“You play live?” she asked, her eyesbugging.
He nodded. “I had a band. Epoch. We just broke up, and I’m playing solo until I can find anothergroup.”
“Wow.” She tipped her head forward, giving him her most innocent expression. “Have I mentioned how much I likemusic?”
He threw his head back and laughed at the ceiling. And Rainey could not breathe. The sight was so beautiful. The definition of his jaw, dusted with just a hint of stubble… the lines of his throat… the way the muscles of his shoulders peeked out beneath the crew neck of his T-shirt.
Rainey found herself wondering what those muscles were called. The ones that led from the base of the neck to theshoulder…
“You’refunny.”
She was sure he’d said something, but it was so hard to concentrate. “Hmm?”
“It’s unexpected,” he murmured, and the soft look in his eyes made her start paying attention to what he’d said. He thought she was funny? Was shefunny?
Rainey spent most of her days alone while Holi was at work. But when they were together, she’d talk to Holi. Probably too much. Rainey thought about their evenings and weekends. She couldn’t picture her sister laughing all thatoften.
“Whatdidyou expect?” Rainey dared toask.
Jacques studied her for a moment before shaking his head. “Well, I didn’t expect that bag you had yesterday to be full of steamy romancenovels—”
“Which weren’t mine,” she interjected, the embarrassment of the day before no less for the fact that the books belonged toHoli.
“And I didn’t expect you to know the words to ‘Space Oddity,’” he continued, his straight, white teeth flashing as he spoke with mirth. “And that should have been evidence enough to prepare me for that kickass vinyl treasure trove over there.” He jerked his head in the direction of thearmoire.
Then Rainey’s breath stuck in her throat, because he leaned forward and used the tip of his calloused middle finger to brush an escaped curl back behind her ear. “I also didn’t expect how sweet you’d look asleep in the back seat of my car.” He narrowed his eyes at her, and she was sure he could see her pulse pounding in her neck if he couldn’t hear it over her jagged breath. “I think it’s safe to conclude that you, Rainey Reeves, are prettyunexpected.”
It had been years since she’d been kissed. Years. But Rainey was certain she was about to be kissed, and — even as terrified as she was that she’d forgotten how to kiss — she was pretty darn excited about the prospect. His lips, which now weren’t far at all, looked like a soft place for hers to land, and she knew that stubble would tickle her chin andcheek.
And she was about to find out how much when “Heathens” by Twenty One Pilots erupted beside her. Jacques looked down at the incoming call on his phone and frowned. He glanced back at Rainey and squeezed herwrists.
“Maybe I should takethis.”
She nodded because at that moment she doubted she could speak. He let go of her, picked up his phone, and strode across the room, but she could still hearhim.
“Hello?…No, I haven’t…I wasworking…”
Irritation clipped each of his words. Rainey finished the last of her coffee, figuring she probably wasn’t going to get thatkiss.
“Look, Kate, it’s been — what — an hour since I called you? I’m interested, but I’m also busy, so if you want me to take you and the rest of your band seriously—” He turned back to face Rainey, his eyes widening with disbelief. She watched his free hand grip his hair at theroots.
That was when she noticed he had great hair. Dark, longish without looking shaggy or stringy, but thick and plentiful. Rock star hair. She should have pegged him the moment she clapped eyes onhim.
“At Dockside?…H-how did you manage that?…You’re kidding.” His eyes met hers again, and the disbelief was still there, but the irritation long gone. She definitely was not getting thatkiss.
“Yeah…yeah, I can be there in thirty…I’ll listen to it on the way…See ya.” Jacques ended the call. He walked back to the bar where Rainey waited, trying to keep her expression impassive. He frowned down at his phone and looked back at her. “I don’t really know how to explain what that wasabout.”
Rainey cleared her throat. “You just got the chance to lay down an album at Dockside Studios,” she said, impressed with how even her voice sounded, despite the fact that her stomach had fallen somewhere around herknees.
Jacques blinked his surprise. “Yeah… Your dad ever record there?” he asked,mystified.
Rainey nodded. “Many times. It’s the best of the best around here, but I thought you didn’t have aband.”
He shook his head, still looking confounded, his dark eyes wide and a long way off. “I don’t.” He nodded to his phone. “That was a crazy kid I’ve never even met, but we talked earlier today. She’s looking for what I have, and she knows me, and somehow, her rich-ass daddy managed to get them a slot because Dockside had a cancellation for tomorrowafternoon.”