Page 15 of Melody

“Thanks, but I’m heading to work in a minute.”

“Yeah? Where do you work?”

It was Kyle’s turn to frown, but that was dumb, he thought. He might not be the CEO of a Fortune 500 company, but hedidn’t aspire to that. Right now, he held a steady job that paid the bills while he pursued his dream. There was no reason to be ashamed of it. “Burger King.”

“Very cool. I worked at Wendy’s in high school. I’ve heard all fast-food jobs are similar but I haven’t tested that theory.”

“Don’t worry.Ihave—and you’re not wrong. But I think it all comes down to who’s your boss. I’ve had shitty managers and good managers—and I try to be the kind of team lead I used to like to work for.”

Scarlett nodded, and Kyle couldn’t tell if maybe she was a little bit impressed or just being polite…which meant it was time to shift the conversation to the real reason why he’d come by this afternoon.

“Did you hear that we’ll be playing here two nights a month now?”

This time, her emerald eyes said it all—they sparkled and danced, despite the way she tried to keep her expression neutral. Those eyes just couldn’t hide how she felt inside.

And that gave Kyle the confidence to keep going, even though her voice was calm and cool. “Oh, yeah?”

“Yeah. And since I’ll be here all the time anyway, I thought maybe we should get to know each other better.”

He saw the shields go up as if they were palpable, visible force fields over her entire body. “Aren’t we already doing that?”

“Sort of—but I mean get to know each other outside of the bar. As ina date.”

A soft sigh escaped Scarlett’s lips, one Kyle couldn’t miss even with the low music playing overhead. Her shoulders dropped a bit as she picked up a rag from behind the counter and started wiping down the top of the bar. “We already talked about this, Kyle. I really don’t think I should be mixing business with pleasure.”

“Who said anything about pleasure? I just want to get to know you better.”

“Yeah, and we know where that kind of stuff leads.”

She wasn’t wrong…but what the hell kind of guys had she dated before that made her so cut off from even trying? Kyle’s brain took him back for just a moment as he looked into his not-so-distant past. He’d been a major fucking asshole to Hayley during his darkest days, those moments when he’d acted like a hurt animal, one who’d just wanted to curl up in a ball and die—and she’d been right there, trying to help him, but she’d caught all the shrapnel from his self-destruction.

Maybe Scarlett had been inthatkind of relationship.

But Kyle was finally on a steady path—and he and Hayley had mended the broken bridge between them, partly because he’d apologized and gotten his shit together and she’d found it in her heart to forgive him.

As if she could read his face, Scarlett said, “I’m sorry, Kyle. You’re a super-nice guy and I look forward to talking with you whenever you’re here—but I’m really not in a good place to date anyone right now. I, uh…hope you understand.”

He had to ask one more clarifying question. “Are you saying no for now or for forever?”

She’d been focused on the rag as she scrubbed a seemingly stubborn spot on the bar, but when she looked up at him, Kyle sensed a little hesitation before she spoke. “I don’t know.”

That was all he needed to hear. Now he was positive she was recovering from a shitty relationship, and her heart wanted her to move forward but her head was reining her in. It made perfect sense and he respected it.

But he was positive she was interested…just not ready. That meant all he had to do was bide his time.

“Okay. That’s fair.” Kyle slid off the barstool and smiled as warmly as he could. This was not a moment where he felt theneed to tuck his tail between his legs. This mission had not been a failure. “I gotta head to work.”

“So I’ll see you soon? At your next show?”

“Tomorrow.”

Her smile practically lit up the room. “I’m looking forward to it.”

Knowing that biding his time meant they’d have lots more moments like this one, he agreed wholeheartedly. “Not as much as I am.”

He walked out of the bar, maybe feeling even more confident than he had when he’d walked in. Winning Scarlett’s heart was just a matter of time.

CHAPTER 7

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