Page 37 of Falling for the Guy Next Door

“Wow, I’m sorry, Layla. That must have been so hard. My dad left when I was a kid, but my mom was so amazing. She stepped in, and we hardly noticed him missing. She never let us see how badly she was hurt by what he’d done.”

“That’s what it was like with my grandmother, Nonna, as we called her. My dad had to travel for work, and he was more than happy to send us to Nonna. And as sad as we all were, lost little girls without a mother, we were also content and happy with Nonna. She helped us see past our grief to the magic that still surrounded us every day. That’s why we’ve never sold the cottage. It means too much to all of us.”

We stopped at the end of the road where I usually turned Rocky around. He busied himself with the grass along the sidewalk. Nash and I stopped. He seemed better than a few minutes earlier, so I reluctantly released my hold on his arm.

We both looked up from Rocky at the same time, and our gazes smacked together and stayed that way. “Layla, I’ve already laid myself bare once, so I’m going to do it again. I’d really like to get to know you better. Maybe we could just not tell Emily … at least at first and then we could see which way it goes. I know you just had a rough end to a relationship, but I’m not that guy.”

“No, you’re the guy who has women piling into a crowded bar, dressed in band shirts and screaming at the sight of you.”

“That’s just a band thing. When I’m not on stage, I could walk through that same crowd, and barely anyone would look my way or even recognize me.”

I squinted an eye at him. “Somehow, I don’t think that’s true.”

“Look, if it’s reassurances you want—I already started my day with a giant promise I knew I couldn’t fulfill, so I won’t do it again. I’m sort of floating right now, and I will be even less anchored once the band is through. My track record with women hasn’t been great, but you’re different, Layla. I can’t remember the last time I felt nervous about seeing a woman, but I heard you coming up the front steps, and I swear my heart started racing. I couldn’t wait to see you.”

I sighed in surrender. “Me, too. And this time it wasn’t about the dog. Well, maybe a little of it was about the dog.” Rocky seemed to know we were talking about him. He nudged my hand, so that I’d stroke his head. “Maybe more than a little.”

Nash laughed. “Yeah, I get it. I’m second in line, but as long as I can get into that line—I’ll be happy.” He took hold of my hand and gazed down at me in a way that seemed to indicate the possibility of a kiss. It wouldn’t be unwelcome. The kiss didn’t come, and that was because he was waiting for a more definitive answer from little, ole reluctant me. Only it wasn’t reluctance that kept me from giving an answer. It was good old-fashioned fear. And this time—it was two-pronged. I feared destroying my friendship with Emily, and I feared that if I gave this whole thing a whirl, I’d end up heartbroken.

Nash took my hesitation asno. “It’s all right.” He dropped my hand. “I understand. Just thought I’d give it one more try.”

“You’re leaving in October,” I said before he could walk away. “Am I supposed to fall in love with you and then just as easily say goodbye as soon as your construction job is over?”

“I haven’t thought that far ahead. I just thought it’d be nice to see where this goes.”

I nodded. “All right,” I said quickly.

Nash looked at me as if he wasn’t sure he’d heard it. “All right?” he asked.

“All right. But I warn you, if you break my heart, I’m never going to forgive you.”

Nash reached up, and his finger grazed my face as he tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “That makes two of us.”

Rocky was the first to trot off toward home. He knew he had a treat and water waiting at the end of the walk. Nash and I held hands as we walked his dog back to the cottage. We didn’t say another word about it, about us. It felt really tenuous right now and knowing that I’d eventually have to bring it up to Emily had formed a lump in my stomach, but something about it, something about his big hand wrapped around mine felt incredibly right.

ChapterTwenty-Two

Nash

Layla was having dinner with her sisters, so we said goodbye after Rocky and I walked her back home. Rocky seemed upset that she wasn’t coming back with us. I know I was. I badly wanted to kiss her but decided not to push my luck. Things were still unsteady at this point, but her saying yes to giving us a try had felt like a winning lotto ticket in an otherwise dreary day.

We were definitely starting out with some major hurdles, but sometimes hurdles made a relationship stronger. The walk had left me feeling inspired to work on the song. It was almost finished, and I had no idea what to do with it, but it was something that had started inside my soul, and I badly needed to release it.

My phone rang before I could pick up the guitar. It was Ronnie finally getting back to me. “Well,” she said in a serious huff. “It’s two for selling and one for not selling.”

“Let me guess—Bosco was the holdout.”

“No, actually, Mr. Big Spender is strapped for cash. He said he didn’t care what we did with the songs. He’s kind of down in the dumps about the breakup. I guess I’m feeling it, too. How on earth did the Beatles walk away from each other? Did Paul just look at John and say, ‘hmm, not feeling it anymore.’ Crazy, right?”

“Actually, I think the cracks started with John and Yoko.”

“I think you’re right. Well, I started this diversion, so I could work up the courage to tell you that it’s me. I’m the ‘no.’”

“Seriously, Ronnie?” It made some sense because she was the only one in the group who’d worked hard to stay financially stable all this time.

“I know. It’s just I feel like those songs are the only thing we have to still hang onto, the only legacy our band will leave behind. We’d probably have to sign some non-compete clauses and take our music down, and we still make some decent download money on our songs.”

I sat back. I’d been selfish. I wasn’t thinking about how my bandmates would feel about giving up our rights to our original songs. There weren’t many, but the few we’d managed to produce were pretty darn good.

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