Page 50 of The Wanderer

Hearing her posh English accent made his insides clench with longing and he cleared his throat.

"Hey, Hope, it's me, the rude prick that blew you off. Anyway, I thought you might like to hear this." He held the phone away from his ear and directed it towards the nearest speaker for a few moments, before pressing it to his ear again. "You're amazing, you know that, right? Congrats on releasing your first song. I'm in Sydney quoting a job and this pub can't get enough of you. Anyway, I'll be back in Melbourne later tonight and was hoping you'd see me tomorrow. Call me, okay?"

He hung up before he could sound any more desperate and cursed under his breath. He'd rambled, almost gushed. Dickhead. He should've called back later, waiting until she picked up. Then again, considering how he'd ended things between them, she may never pick up. He didn't blame her for screening his calls.

Now all he could do was wait.

Though if she didn't return his call by tomorrow, he had a sneaking suspicion he'd be paying a visit to Hope and Harmony.

He wouldn't quit.

What he had to ask her was too important.

Chapter Twenty-Six

After playing back Logan's message for the eighth time, Hope admitted it.

She’d let him back in a little.

Hearing the deep timbre of his voice made her tingle and she replayed it several times just to get that buzz before actually listening to his words.

He thought her song was great.

He wanted to see her.

She should be ecstatic.

A small part of her was. So ecstatic, that after hearing the message for the tenth time a song poured out of her. Which pretty much confirmed what she already knew: he made her happy and when she was happy she composed much better.

Her muse was such a fickle bitch.

She wrote three more songs before she called him back. He answered on the second ring. Eager. She liked that.

"Hey, thanks for calling me back."

"No problems," she said, managing to sound cool and aloof while her thighs clenched at the sound of his voice. “You're in Sydney?"

"Yeah, I finished up a quote today. I'm at the airport now."

Hope bit back her first impulse to blurt an invitation to come see her when he landed. She couldn't sound desperate, not when she wanted to do this right.

But what was right? If she invited him here, they’d end up in bed before they had a chance to talk. And she couldn’t go to him, not after the last time at his place. He wouldn’t appreciate if she booked them into a fancy hotel.

Unless…"How about we catch up when you get back?"

"Tonight?"

He sounded surprised. Not as surprised as he'd be when he saw what she had in mind. She intended on keeping their reunion simple, no frills, appealing to the heart of the man who’d captured hers without trying.

"Yeah. I'll text you the details of where to meet me. It's not far from the airport."

He hesitated, before responding. "Okay, sounds good."

She exhaled in relief. She intended on doing this right and not screwing up like last time.

"And Hope?"

"Yes?"

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