Page 17 of Love Song, Take Two

“Yeah?” she whispered.

“We’re friends, right?”

“Are we?” She looked back at him as he dragged a hand through his now untied hair.

“I’d like us to be, yeah.”

Nodding, she turned to face him fully. “Okay, we’re friends.”

“Great,” he said the word softly, eyes locked on hers. “Do friends get coffee together?”

“It’s 10 p.m., Fletch.” She was paying such close attention that she saw the way he reacted to the nickname—chest heaved and fingers flexed.

“Did you know you’re the only person to call me that?”

“Even now?”

He nodded, taking one step towards her and Micah bit her bottom lip at the dark look in his eyes. “Always seemed to correct people if they called me Fletch.”

Oh fuck it, give yourself to him right here in this aisle.

“So, coffee,” she forced out, the words breathy and almost squeaky. She had to curl her toes inside her sneakers to stop from swaying in Fletcher’s direction.

“Maybe another time. When it’s not so late.”

“Okay.” If she didn’t rein it in, she was in serious danger of wanting to hump him every time she saw him. “Good night, Fletcher.”

“‘Night, Mick.”

She flashed him her best smile and turned around, casually hurrying out of sight before she sucked in a deep breath and closed her eyes.

Fletcher

Fletcher Claus is back in town!

In the four days since he’d seen Micah at the grocery store, Fletcher hadn’t thought of anything but the gorgeous brunette. The wildest part was that no other woman had ever taken up this much space in his brain. Not Alice when they were married for eight years and definitely not the woman he’d had a long-term fuck buddy situationship with. Micah had captivated his waking and sleeping moments for two years after they met and now in four short days, she’d infiltrated his mind again.

He wasn’t surprised, not really. She’d hooked him long before they’d spoken sixteen years ago and now with all that sass and beauty still firmly in place, she was even more irresistible.

Then there was the whole ‘single mom’ thing that threw him for a loop. He couldn’t believe that he’d flat out asked her if Emery was his, because her reaction had disappointed him. Which was strange considering until that moment, he’d never thought about being a father. He’d kept that to himself when he’d flown out to Los Angeles to spend Thanksgiving with his friends.

Sitting around a table with Jack, Soren, their flavors of week, Brandy and her partner; Fletcher told them all about reconnecting with the woman that inspired “Mermaid”. Then he’d spent the whole evening answering every question, which was a lot more than he expected.

“I remember she was hot, is she still hot?”

“Smoking hot. Beautiful too.”

“And she’s a mom? That’s also hot.”

“Okay, that’s enough of thinking about her.”

“Does she know you wrote a song about her?”

That made him pause. His eyes drifted to the tattoo on the inside of his left forearm, the one he got when the song went platinum and was nominated for a bunch of awards. The cerulean mermaid tail was the last piece of art he’d added to his body, for good reason.

“I don’t think so. She didn’t mention it,” he said, sipping on his whiskey. “I also don’t want to assume that she listened to our music after that night.”

Brandy tossed a napkin at him, flashing a smug smile. “I’m pretty sure she’s not the only one who left a mark that night.”

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