Page 28 of They Break Beauty

“Are we talking in a Little Mermaid way here?”

He frowned for a moment, then that movie star grin was right back, lighting up his pretty-boy-with-an-edge features. “Right, no stealing it or anything. Although, likening me to that sea witch is something I’m down with. She’s a real badass.”

Interesting way of looking at it.

Maybe interesting wasn’t the right word.

He took a step closer, making me tense. “It’s for a song I’m recording. A ballad. Yours has a unique quality and a timbre that will mesh well with the grittiness of mine.” Off my surprised look, he explained, “When you sang karaoke at Nirvana, it stood out. So much so that it inspired the song I’m talking about.”

“I’m not a trained singer. Nowhere close.”

“That’s fine. You have raw talent, something I can work with.”

“I’m sure there are plenty of others who’d sell their souls to contribute to your work.”

“Unique quality isn’t something that there’s an overabundance of.”

“Then broaden your search.”

He took another step closer and my back pushed against the building wall. “I want yours.”

I sucked in a steadying breath, quickly wishing I hadn’t when his scent wafted over me in a far too appetizing way.

“Ocean Breeze body wash,” he told me, and I grimaced internally when I realized he’d caught me sniffing him.

He ran his tongue over his teeth as his smoky gray eyes fixed on me, and I took in his tongue piercing.

Don’t focus on it. Look away.

I blinked and followed his attention that was drawn to my necklace, the one I wore every day, my blue and green all-seeing eye pendant.

It didn’t exactly match that well with what I was wearing, but I couldn’t go a day without wearing it.

To say it had sentimental value didn’t begin to describe it.

“The Eye of Providence,” he uttered to himself, before his eyes snapped back to mine. “You’re a bit of a contradiction, aren’t you, cutie?”

“I’m just me.”

“Nah. You’ve got the whole Barbiecore thing going on, but then there’s an edge to you too. This necklace, the tattoos I laid eyes on with the strappy tank you were wearing at the bar.” He reached out and fingered my silky black hair. “The way you sang Hurt, the Leona Lewis version, like you were breathing it in and fueling it with a whole lot of heart and pain that night.”

Crap.

I swallowed hard. “You’re reading a lot into nothing.”

“I guess we’ll see when we work together.”

I batted his hand away from my hair. “I’m flattered, but I can’t. I have a lot going on. I know you’ll find someone else easily.”

“Playing hardball… that’s new for me. Kind of invigorating, honestly.”

“That’s not what I’m—”

“I’ll post Chloe’s latest designs all over my IG. Endorse them myself, even do a Live if she’s down with it.”

Oh my God. He had hundreds of thousands of followers and given that he had connections to the celebrity community, that would undoubtedly be huge for Chloe, getting some real attention to her fashion designs.

This could go a long way to helping her to stay here.

---