Page 10 of Perfectly Wrong

“How many times will I have to ask? / How many more times will she turn away? I just wish she’d tell me.”

That was definitely a hint. But Sam Martin better be ready because Elena Vaughan doesn’t play games.

“I don’t want to set a fire that’ll burn us / but I don’t know what else to do / if only she trusted me a little more / She’d know that my heart…”

“Will always be hers,” I sang, meeting his gaze.

“For evermore,” he continued, smiling. “I know exactly how you feel / I believe you when you say you care / but did he say anything about love? / I can’t lose you to something that isn’t real.”

He nodded, encouraging me to go on.

“How many times will I have to ask? / How many more times will she turn away? I just wish she’d tell me.”

“I don’t want to set a fire that’ll burn us / but I don’t know what else to do.”

“If only she trusted me a little more / she’d know that my heart…”

“Will always be hers.” Sam stopped playing, a broad smile spreading across his face.

“No, don’t stop,” I said. “I love that song.”

He shrugged and started playing again. “If you think you’ve had enough, then it’s done / Though I know it’ll never end / Our love is a delicate, sturdy rose / I don’t want to set a fire that’ll burn us / but I don’t know what else to do / if only she trusted me a little more / she’d know that my heart / will always be hers / for evermore.”

Rose. A rose! I jumped up from my chair and ran to my room in search of my phone. I dialled Matt’s number, and he answered on the second ring.

“Hi, Lena. How are you?”

“A rose, Matt! That’s what we’ve been looking for!”

“What?” I could hear his excitement, but he was cautious. “And why?”

“He was just singing a song, and it clicked.”

“He? Where are you?”

Crap.

“I mean, I was listening to one of his songs on Spotify, looking for inspiration. Then I heard this one, called Our Love is a Rose.” Nice save, Elena. “The creative team is insistent on working with flowers. Let’s tell them we want roses, or at least have them featured somewhere. We can use it to symbolize the transition from the old Sam Martin to the new, evolved version.”

“That actually makes sense.” He sounded thoughtful. “Picture a massive rose in the middle of the crowd, like a chandelier, hanging above the audience.”

My breath caught as I envisioned it. “Yes, exactly! Matt, I’m flying to Japan tomorrow, so you need to lock this down. Get the design team working with roses everywhere.”

“You’ve got it, boss!”

“And I’m sorry for calling so late!”

“Oh, please, Lena. Good ideas can’t wait.” He laughed. “But I need to go. Jenna’s calling. Have a safe trip tomorrow!”

“Thanks. Say hi to Jen for me.”

We hung up, but I was still buzzing with energy. I raced back to the living room and leapt onto the couch, landing on top of Sam.

“Holy—” He was startled and nearly dropped his guitar, notebook, and pen.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you for singing that song!” I said, kissing every inch of his face.

“You’re welcome, I guess.” He laughed, trying to wiggle away from me. “I didn’t expect you to join in.”

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