Page 12 of Melody

Not that she wanted to. She was at war with herself—her heart versus her head. But it all went out the window when she and Denise got to the point that they were doing nothing but making drinks and collecting money as fast as they could.

Although she couldn’t give Intent to Murder her attention while she served the thirsty crowd, she could hear their music just fine—and she realized that she was starting to learn their songs. She even noticed she’d memorized the words to the chorus of “Cat Fight” and a couple of other songs without even trying.

The hour went by quickly and it wasn’t long before Impending Cataclysm started playing their set. Like with Kyle’s band, Scarlett had begun memorizing the words to many of their songs. They played Tequilaville more frequently, though, so she wasn’t surprised, even though their words were harder to understand.

The minutes ticked by and Scarlett didn’t notice it at first, because she was busy—but Kyle hadn’t appeared at the bar at all. Not that he always came to her right after their show…but she’d been anticipating him. Their last flirting session a few days before Halloween had even had her hoping he’d show up for Tequilaville’s costume contest.

He’d dared her to dress like Tinker Bell.

Surprisingly enough, the nickname was bothering her less and less…probably only because of Kyle. The way he said it wasn’t mean or derisive. Somehow, that made all the difference.

She and Denise were slammed, just like Al had predicted. Unfortunately, he wasn’t there to help out because he was visiting family out of state, meaning Denise would help out the servers with the drinks they didn’t know how to make. Al usually took care of them, leaving Denise and Scarlett to care for everyone crowded around them. Although the two bartenders had a couple of backups they could call, Denise had told her there’d be more money for them if they stuck it out together.

Scarlett was fine with that…at least now that she was better at the job.

It wasn’t hard noticing that Impending Cataclysm had finished their set because then they only had the noise of the crowd—so loud that she couldn’t hear the music that normally played in the bar. Even as busy as she was, she couldn’t help but realize that there was no sign of Kyle.

Maybe he’d found himself a girlfriend.

As the tips rolled in, Scarlett consoled herself with the reminder that she didn’t want or need a boyfriend anyway—or even just an interested man. It was better that way.

And that was when she saw him out of the corner of her eye, standing patiently behind several patrons waiting to be served.

Her heart started thudding in her chest and her hands grew shaky. What the hell was wrong with her? How could she make a gin fizz when her brain was going all haywire?

Then she remembered the trick her mother had taught her when dealing with anxiety. While she agitated the liquid in the shaker, she took a deep breath in through her nose and let it out slowly.

Then she did it again.

By the time she was adding club soda to the drink, her pulse had returned toalmostnormal.

But why was she freaking out?

She knew why. It wasn’t just because they’d established a flirty rapport or that he was a local rock star…although none of that hurt. It was the way he looked at her when he didn’t know she was paying attention. He didn’t seem like the possessive, aggressive type, the kind she was used to and avoiding.

He was something else, and she hadn’t quite figured out what.

And he was hot as hell. Tall, good looking. The way his dark brown hair hung, almost obscuring his eyes, made him seem mysterious, and a part of her wanted to delve into the unknown.

It was a bad idea, though.

He was hard to resist, because his icy blue eyes seemed to dance with delight when he saw her—and it was as if he knew she was in danger of falling for his charms.

As he got closer, she took another breath in through her nostrils and slightly parted her lips to let the air flow back out.

Then she smiled, ready to face him with a calm demeanor that wouldn’t give away any of the torrent of emotions roiling inside. And that was why it was good that his band only played at Tequilaville once a month. That made him far easier to resist.

Which was for the best—because she knew damn well her judgment was flawed.

“What’ll it be, Kyle?” she asked, impressing herself at how her voice sounded level and completely chill.

“Hey, Tink. Jumping right to the chase, huh?”

The smirk crossing her face was impossible to stop. “I don’t want to be accused of being bad at my job.”

“Ah.” Lifting an eyebrow, he slid onto a now-empty stool almost in front of her. “If I don’t give you my order right away, does that make me a bad customer?”

Unable to keep the amusement out of her voice, she said, “Possibly. I mean, delaying your order means other customers have to wait.” Then, smile still stuck on her face, she tilted her head as if waiting patiently.

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