Sitting up straight, I turned to the man who’d come to my rescue. When who I was looking at sank in, I scrambled backward, hitting the floor hard as I fell off the edge of the bench.
“Warren?”
Letting out a barking laugh, he scooted off the seat and came over, reaching his hand out to help me up.
“Surprised?” he asked, his warm brown eyes twinkling. “It’s barely been a month since we’ve seen each other, and you’ve already forgotten me?”
I didn’t reach for his hand, still too shocked to accept his help. “The last time I saw you, you didn’t have a yeti growing out of your face,” I blurted.
Tad didn’t bother trying to force back a laugh. “Dude, you do look like a mountain man.”
Running his fingers through his thick, burly facial hair, Warren chuckled. “I suppose having a full beard might be a little different.”
“A little different?” I scoffed. “Me growing a third eye would be a little different. You’re practically an unrecognizable hillbilly with that ferret on your face.”
I scurried back to my feet without taking his hand, tugging my t-shirt down and trying to rake a hand through my unwashed hair until my fingers got stuck and I abandoned my efforts to make myself more presentable. With each passing day at Harper Music, I had been too exhausted to wake up early enough to even brush my teeth or swipe on a layer of mascara. Thank goodness Wanda from the beauty department had gotten ahold of me and at least tamed my eyebrows and had given every inch of my body a painful-yet-effective exfoliation.
Hurt rolled across Warren’s face that I’d insulted him by not only scorning his beard but refusing his hand to get up. I jutted out my chin, trying to look like I didn’t care. After our whirlwind, passionate relationship, he left. No attempt to win me back, no apologies. He might as well have ripped out my heart and filleted it in front of me. I had earned the right to be stony.
“That run through was much better,” Tad said, humorously watching the tense moment between Warren and me.
“Thanks,” I said gruffly. I moved to flip my brunette hair dramatically behind my shoulder and turned away so I could have a tiny freak out moment while I piled my hair on top of my head in a messy bun, trying to cover how oily and unkempt my hair must’ve looked. Spinning back around, I planted a fist on my hip. “And just what are you doing here anyway?”
Warren’s eyes darted back and forth, and I tried to force myself not to notice the gold flecks in them, or the mischievous glimmer that always seemed to be present, like everything he was thinking of doing was highly amusing. “Isn’t it obvious? I’m here to go on the concert tour.”
I shook my head, his words not sinking in. “Excuse me…you’re what?”
“Joining you on the concert tour.”
My teeth clenched together so tightly they squeaked with the effort. “Tad, can you excuse me for a minute?”
“Sure. Let’s take five,” Tad consented. “I have to ask a guy about a saddle anyway.”
My head tipped sideways in question. I had no idea what Tad would need to know about a saddle, but I wasn’t about to ask. All I knew was that I needed to get out of the recording studio to find Mandy and fast.
I marched past Warren, yanking open the door and not bothering to shut it behind me. I was determined to find Mandy, and I couldn’t be bothered by shutting anything, although I imagined slamming it in Warren’s face would have been satisfying. The thought made me skid to a stop, seriously thinking about going back for the door. I decided against it and instead, pressed forward on my mission to find Mandy so I could let her know what I thought of her broken promise. Giving me a heads up about Warren was literally the only condition I’d had when agreeing to go on tour, and she couldn’t even do that. I had to come face-to-face with him without any preparation beforehand and instead of being regal and irresistible to make him realize what he’d walked away from like I’d planned, I ended up on my rear end, oily, and tongue-tied.
Stomping down the hallway, I wished I’d been wearing a solid pair of heels so I could smash my feet into the ground, creating a sound that would echo my current mood. I was regrettably wearing the same loafers Vanessa liked to tease me about, pointing out they made me look like an old lady. As hard as I slammed my feet into the tiled floor, they barely made more noise than a rat scurrying across a subway terminal.
I could see Mandy in her office. Her head was down as she sat at her desk, concentrating so hard on the paperwork in front of her that her eyebrows were knit together tightly enough that she was going to have permanent scowl lines if she didn’t relax.
“Mandy!” I said sternly as I crossed the threshold into her office.
The tone of my voice startled her, and she knocked over the water she had uncapped, spilling it all over the paperwork scattered across her desktop. Immediately, I regretted being so harsh. “Sorry,” I muttered, reaching for a box of tissues to try and help sop up the mess.
“It’s fine,” she sighed. “That’s just how my day is going today.”
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to add to your sucky day.”
“It’s not your fault,” she said, shaking the water off the papers, then dabbing them with tissues. When the ink started smearing, her jaw tightened and she crumpled them up and tossed them in her recycling bin, muttering that she’d reprint them later. With her desk cleared, she wove her fingers together, giving me her full attention. “I didn’t feel like working on that right now anyway. What can I do for you, Eloise?”
I wanted to shrink away and pretend like I hadn’t barged in on her, bringing a tidal wave of disaster with me. Feeling much calmer, I cleared my throat and politely asked, “Why didn’t you warn me that Warren was coming in today?”
Mandy blinked. “Warren is here?”
“Yeah,” I said. “He kind of burst in on my lesson with Tad.”
“Really? I’d called him a couple of times but hadn’t heard back from him.” Grabbing her tablet, she swiped through her schedule. “I was going to try calling again later this afternoon if he didn’t call back. Why? Is something the matter?”
I threw my hands into the air and let them fall back down, slapping my hands on my thighs. “I wanted to look smokin’ when I saw him again, but I haven’t washed my hair, my breath has to smell like something crawled down my throat and died, and I’m wearing the same pants I wore to bed.”
“Your shirt’s on backward, too,” Mandy pointed out.
Looking down, I realized she was right. I smacked my head into my hands. “Of course it is,” I muttered, sticking my arms in my shirt and twirling it around so the playful print of music notes was on the front. Tears started clouding my eyes. “He shows up, looking like a rugged, hot lumberjack while I look like something on the bottom of his shoe. I just wanted to make an impression, you know?”
“You always do,” a deep voice behind me said.
I jumped higher than my cat when I accidentally stepped on his tail at the intrusion.
“Warren,” I chided, pressing my hand over my pounding heart. “How long have you been standing there, eavesdropping?”
Warren hooked his thumbs in the pockets of his jeans and gave me a crooked smile that melted my insides. I steeled myself by clenching my fists and standing straighter.
“I might’ve possibly been standing close enough to hear your entire conversation,” Warren admitted. “But in my defense, I’ve always been told I have excellent hearing.”
I could tell I looked like a deer in the headlights, but I couldn’t fully comprehend the immensity of the horror that was unfolding. Everything since realizing it was Warren sitting next to me on the piano bench had been one nightmare after another.
Looking past me, Warren spoke to Mandy. “I’m sorry I didn’t get back to you sooner about joining the concert tour. I was on a fishing trip with my gramps. No cell phone reception out in the sticks.”
Mandy waved away his apology. “Don’t worry about it, Warren. It’s sweet that you spend time
with your grandpa. I have to ask though, how’d you get here so fast? Did you book a flight? I can get it reimbursed if you did.”
Warren’s eyes dropped to his cowboy boots, and he confessed, “I might’ve been a tad excited about the prospect of coming back and driven straight here.”
“From Alabama?” I asked.
Warren looked at me, a smirk still glued on his face. Touching my elbow, he tossed his head. “Mind if we talk for a minute?”
My mouth gaped open, but no words came out. I pleaded with Mandy to give me a reason to stay, hoping I wouldn’t have to be alone with Warren so mentally unprepared to resist his inherent charms.
Mandy was no help. “She’s all yours.”
I narrowed my eyes ever so slightly at her, which only made her look pleased. Letting Warren guide me out of the office, the lightest brush of his fingertips on my lower back made electric jolts zip through my body that revved my heart rate. Past the offices and back to the open hallway where there wasn’t another soul in sight, Warren pulled me to a stop in front of a row of floor to ceiling windows. Looking out over the city, I inhaled, hoping I that if I didn’t look my best, I could at least be witty or charming.
“It’s nice to see you, Eloise,” Warren said, his expression soft.
Folding my arms stubbornly across my chest, I did little to try and tame my anger. “I wish I could say the same.”
Warren snorted out a laugh, like I’d told a silly joke instead of insulted him. “Still mad at me, huh?”
I pinched my lips into a thin line. “Is it obvious? I thought maybe I was being too subtle.” Warren laughed again, and I didn’t want to like it but I did.
“You know why I decided to come back?”
I figured he’d returned for the same reason I had—to have a second chance to fulfill the unrealized dream of being a professional singer. I hadn’t considered any other purpose to him driving straight from Alabama to the Big Apple.
“Eloise,” Warren said, putting his warm hands on my shoulders and ducking down so he could be eye to eye with me. “I came back because of you.”
Chapter Four
When my heart started beating in my chest again, I shoved my way past Warren. I hadn’t said a word in response. What could I have said? Sure, we’d had an amazing few weeks together, but it had ended and in my history of dating, I’d never taken anyone back. Or more accurately, they’d never taken me back. When the reality of breaking up with Warren had sunk in, and the loneliness settled over me like an itchy wool blanket on a hot summer day, I hadn’t been sure I was going to be able to bear the pain.
I hurried down the hallway, not really sure where I was headed, other than to get some distance between Warren and me. I wanted to laugh, pull my hair out, scream until my throat was raw, and run back into Warren’s arms all at the same time. I couldn’t trust myself to think rationally while I was intoxicated by his presence.
“I think that sounds like a fantastic idea,” I could overhear Kiki Loveless saying around the corner where the women’s restroom was. “Mr. Drake would be all over that and if they could pull it off, it’d be the kind of thing that would endear them to all sorts of people.”
I had planned to retreat to the bathroom and have my mental breakdown in a toilet stall but didn’t want to have to pass Kiki on my way. I doubted I’d get much sympathy from her.
Carefully, I peered around the corner. Tad was facing Kiki and Ruby Hawkins, discussing something of interest. Whatever it was, I wished they’d move along so I could sneak into the bathroom without them noticing.
“Do you think she’ll be up for it?” Ruby asked. “I mean, a duet is surprisingly difficult to pull off well. All of the performers are on an insanely tight schedule as it is.”
“That’s the thing,” Tad said eagerly. “They’ve already performed it successfully before, and since Mr. Drake has maintained she play the piano, this would give her a way out of having to learn the entire song by only having to know half of it. Isn’t that right, Eloise?”
Tad’s grayish blue eyes looked past Kiki and Ruby to me. My face flushed, realizing I’d been caught eavesdropping, something I’d been upset with Warren for doing only a few minutes before.
Stepping out from my hiding spot, I pushed a feral strand of hair behind my ear. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to be spying on you. I just needed to use the restroom.”
Kiki raised an eyebrow at me. “I hope you’re planning on stopping in front of the mirror in there.”
Ruby’s mouth fell open, and she swung her hand at Kiki who stepped aside causing Ruby to stumble when she missed. She would have been splayed on the ground if Tad hadn’t reached out and steadied her. Fixing her perfectly straight chin-length blond hair, she gave a calculated look to Kiki.
“I can’t believe you!” Ruby hissed.
“What?” Kiki shrugged. “I’m pretty certain Eloise knows she looks like a hobo. I was going to offer my emergency makeup kit.”
Digging through her purse, she removed her Pomeranian dog, Cinnamon, and placed him on the floor while she searched. He yawned and stretched, then looked squarely at me, yipping twice before Kiki shushed him.
Handing over a case that looked large enough to hold an entire backup wardrobe, she asked, “You’re a cat person, aren’t you?”
“Yeah,” I said warily. “So?”
Picking Cinnamon back up, he shook with excitement as Kiki ran her manicured nails down his head. “Cinnamon can tell. It’s uncanny.”
“Probably because your dog is smaller than my cat,” I said, smirking haughtily.
Ruby and Tad snorted behind their hands, while Cinnamon peeked over the top of Kiki’s hobo bag, growling and barking once more.
Unamused at my jab, Kiki said, “Don’t let me keep you from freshening up.”
“Look,” I huffed, “I know I appear like I’ve doused myself in bacon grease and probably smell like something that’s been dead for the past week, but keeping up appearances while trying to prepare for a major concert tour—something I’ve never done before, mind you—is very taxing. I barely have time to inhale a granola bar all day, much less properly bathe myself. What’s worse, the hottest man alive and the very one who broke my heart showed up today while I look like an absolute hag. It’s not the kind of impression I wanted to lead with, but I’m trying to hold my head high so I don’t start bawling, because as far as I can tell, that’s the only alternative to how this day is going.”
I glared at Kiki, who looked back at me with a humor that I didn’t think my speech should have produced. When I glanced to Ruby, looking for direction, her sharp blue eyes very intentionally looked over my shoulder at something behind me. I ran through every possible meaning of her gesture until it clicked.
“He’s right behind me, isn’t he?”
All three of them nodded, making me want to melt into a puddle and ooze away out of sight so I could avoid acknowledging I’d repeated my error. Again.
Instead, I spun around and narrowed my eyes at him. “Just what are you doing following me? Didn’t I make it perfectly clear that I’d rather not be around you at the moment?”
“You did,” Warren acknowledged.
“Then what on earth are you doing shadowing me again?”
Tipping his head toward the restroom, he said, “Fourteen hours from Alabama was a mighty long trip, and I need to use the little boy’s room. I’m sure I could use some freshening up, too.”
“Right,” I agreed. “Understandable. Be my guest,” I said, motioning him for the men’s room.
He stepped closer and whispered into my ear, “For what it’s worth, I think you look spectacular, bacon grease, smelling like something that died, and all.”
His gaze captured mine, and I felt a very distinct pull toward him, but my mind raised a red flag. Without a thanks, I turned around. Clutching Kiki’s makeup bag, I retreated to the safety of the restroom.
After I rinsed my face and powdered my hair with a hearty dose of dry shampoo to co
unteract the oiliness of my scalp, I used a monotone pink eyeshadow and applied enough mascara that made my blue eyes pop. Unable to find any deodorant in her Mary Poppins makeup bag, I doused myself with a very generous helping of Kiki’s expensive smelling perfume. Giving myself the once over in the mirror, I felt like a million bucks compared to what I had looked like only a few minutes earlier. Not exactly the transformation the hair and makeup team could pull off, but a definite improvement.
Pushing my way out of the bathroom, I saw that Warren had already rejoined the group, and I couldn’t help but admire how dreamy he was, even from behind. He was all broad shoulders and trim waist and wore a faded pair of jeans and cowboy boots that accentuated his muscular thighs and long legs.
“I’m all for your idea, Tad,” he said as he rubbed his hands together. “As long as Eloise is on board with it.”
“On board with what?” I asked.
Warren whipped around to look at me, his eyes blazing with enthusiasm. “Tad had an idea from our little duet this morning.”
I furrowed my brow. “Oh, did he?”
Thanking Kiki, I handed back her makeup bag, though I would’ve loved to keep a fraction of the supplies she had inside for myself. She gave me a subtle nod of approval and tucked it back into her bag, disturbing an unappreciative Cinnamon once more.
“What’s your idea?” I asked.
“That you and Warren perform your duet together,” Tad said simply.
I stared at him, waiting for more. I knew it was probably a given that we’d perform together when Mr. Drake expressed interest in it during our initial meeting.
I shook my head, trying to make sense of his statement. “Yeah…I figured. What’s so revelatory about that?”
“He means that you and Warren play the piano together while singing, like you did in your practice,” Kiki answered, spelling it out for me.
“It’ll be uber romantic,” Ruby said dreamily. “The crowd will eat it up.”
I swallowed hard at the mention of romance, and snuck a peek at Warren, who had the silliest grin on his face. Of course he was eager to say yes to Tad.
Written in the Stars Page 4
