Page 22 of Melody

He found a diagonal slot in front of the bar, unusual because it was typically hard to find a place close. Most of the time, he had to park across the street or down the block, usually settling on a side street.

When he got out of the car, he zipped up his leather jacket, because even though the heater in his car wasn’t the best, it was still warmer than the heavy cold settling on the streets as the darkness blanketed the town. Scarlett had told him the door was located just before the windows of Tequilaville began and he thought he could see it just past the dry-cleaning business. But, like much of Main Street—both in Silver City and Charlotte—most of the blocks consisted of just one of two buildings or even several but all pushed together so they all shared dividing walls.Modern businesses only seemed to do that if they were in a strip mall or shopping center.

And that was why, even though all the buildings on Main had two or three stories, it was easy to miss the unmarked doors that almost blended into the background. But, as Kyle approached, he noticed for the first time the reflective numbers that simply said325.

That was the address.

As he reached out to pull the door open, it pushed toward him—and there was Scarlett. “Hey, Tink.”

“Hey. I didn’t know if you’d be able to find it, but I guess you did.”

“Yep. Sure did. Um…are you ready?”

“Yeah.”

Kyle fought the urge to wrap an arm around her shoulders. Even though it was cold, he didn’t have her permission for that, implicitly or otherwise. “So…the first part of our date is at the end of the block and I’m parked halfway down—so would you be okay just walking the whole way?”

“Sure. I take a lot of walks, so that’s no big deal.”

As they made their way west, Kyle glanced at her feet. She was wearing what appeared to be shiny black boots with heels—sexy as hell—but her long black coat went to her knees, meaning he’d have to wait until they were inside to see what she wore.

She asked, “So are we going to dinner at Abato’s? I’ve wanted to try them out.”

“No. We’re doing something else first. But if you want, we can eat there. I like Italian.”

“Me, too. So where are we going?”

Kyle grinned, refraining from teasing her about not telling him about her love of Italian food before. “You’ll just have to wait a little bit to find out. We’re almost there.” Now that they were moving, the cold air wasn’t getting to him as much, buthe worried about tiny Scarlett. Although she didn’t appear to be suffering from the cold, he wanted to make sure she was as comfortable as possible.

Soon, they’d almost reached the end of the block and Kyle said, “We’re here,” pointing to the shop with brightly lit windows full of people.

“Oh…the art gallery. I’ve been curious about this place.”

Silently, Kyle thought,Thanks, Wolf.He’d have to update his fellow guitarist later to let him know his date suggestion had been well received. The art gallery in Silver City was pretty pretentious, but they supported local artists and, once a month, they had a special showing where they focused on one artist’s work. Kyle had called to make sure there was no cost for attending and found that, in fact, it was quite an event. They served hors d’oeuvres, wine, and tiny tarts—all of which were advertised to come from local businesses.

They made money on what people bought during the event—meaning Kyle didn’t need to spend a penny if he didn’t want to.

Kyle had suggested during one of their conversations that Scarlett would want to dress for a semi-formal occasion, and he’d done the same. He wore a black sweater, dark brown trousers, and dress shoes. Everything but the sweater he’d last worn to Liam’s funeral…so that had been difficult, but he’d shoved it to the back of his mind earlier that evening when he’d put them on. Although he wasn’t struggling for cash, he didn’t want to spend money on a new outfit when he planned to blow quite a bit on the date. Even though the art event was free, he planned to wow Scarlett with dinner.

Amato’s wasn’t the most expensive place in Silver City, but it was pricier and it was one of three places he’d settled on—and if it made her happy, it was completely worth it.

When they stepped inside the gallery, they were greeted by an older woman with a warm smile. “Welcome.”

“Hey,” Kyle said. “I’ve never been to one of these showings before. What should we know?”

“Such a good question. Would you like to hang your coats up? We’ve got hooks right here,” she said, pointing to the wall just behind the door.

There were quite a few hooks but most of them were already taken. Kyle’s eyes were drawn to the huge painting above them. The building had high ceilings and the canvas almost touched the ceiling, its base just above the coat hooks. Kyle asked, “Is that the view from Razor Ridge Drive?”

“Itis! It was painted by a visiting artist and, when she brought it in here, I bought it myself. It belongs here.”

Scarlett said, “It seems perfect.” Kyle noticed that she’d taken her coat off but had it draped over her forearm.

It wasn’t until then that he got a good look at her. At the bar, she’d always had her hair pulled up or back but tonight it flowed over her shoulders in soft, loose curls, reminding Kyle of a gentle waterfall—and her darker makeup made her green eyes glow. She wore a snug black turtleneck and a light gray checkered miniskirt. But those boots…they went over her knees, leaving a few inches of thigh exposed between the hem of the skirt and the tops of the boots. For some reason, Kyle found that even sexier than a low-cut blouse. Maybe that was because Scarlett knew how to show off her assets.

Getting a grip on himself, Kyle began to shrug off his jacket because it didn’t seem to fit so well with the crowd he could see at the other end of the room—not to mention their coats. Still, he hung up his jacket and then did the same with Scarlett’s coat.

“I love greeting first timers, and I hope you plan to come back. Basically, there’s nothing you need to do. Just enjoy the art. The main hall here has art we display year-round and, before you enter the showcase gallery, you’ll see that table up there witha little finger food and wine. Um…I don’t need to card either of you, do I?”

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