Page 15 of Luck of the Draw

“I guess so.” He slid his glass toward himself and casually turned it in circles. “So where are you from?”

She gave him a mildly chastising look. “Now, now, Brennan. I can’t tell you that. I don’t even know you.”

He chuckled with good nature. So, she wanted to be mysterious. That was okay, too. It meant she wanted to maintain a shred of anonymity, which meant her mind was already made up about where this banter would lead them.

“Fair enough.” Brennan picked up his glass to gesture at her with it. “But you are from out of town, and it’s your first time here.”

“That’s right.”

“Am I allowed to know what brought you here?”

Skye turned forward and looked up at the ceiling, a coy smile playing on her lips as she sipped again. “You’re going to think it’s silly. Possibly stupid.”

“Try me.” He tilted his glass toward her before lifting it to his lips.

She glanced at him again, still smirking, and then sipped the last of her drink before setting the glass on the bar. “I wanted an adventure.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah.” She flipped her fingers at the bartender and twirled her index finger in a circle. “I’m in what you might call a…transitional period. So, I wanted to do something adventurous. You know, before I have to get back down to the business of life.”

Brennan nodded. “Yeah, I get it.” He set his glass back down on the bar. “What’s your adventure?”

She stretched her lips into a wide grin and turned to face him, her crossed legs positioned between his knees. “You’re from here. Do you know of the jazz musician Oscar Quinn Washington? He’s really new.”

Brennan squinted incredulously. “Actually, yeah.”

He more than justknew ofOscar.

The mere mention of his name briefly threw Brennan into a loop of memories from the previous year.

Oscar had been Connor and Liza’s first professional project together. He was a twenty-one-year-old Katrina orphan from the projects, and an absolute phenom of a jazz musician. Jimmy had tasked Brennan’s two best buddies to pursue him in hopes of signing him to the label, which Connor and Liza did.

But while they were doing that, Connor was also being a total dick to Liza the majority of the time. Liza was hiding in the bathroom at the record label house to cry on a regular basis. And Brennan was taking it upon himself to comfort her and convince her to not leave New Orleans because he was completely invested in them working things out—even though every moment of his matchmaking activities felt like driving a stake through his own heart.

But it was fine because Brennan loved his best friends, and they belonged together, and after all, that’s what friends were fucking for. After all, greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life—and his deepest secret desire—for his friends.

Nevertheless, Oscar’s meteoric rise to fame was explicitly linked to a time in Brennan’s life that was quite bittersweet to say the least. And bittersweet as it was, it was one thing in his life that necessitated frequent beautiful, delicious distractions—such as sexy little Skye, the leggy redhead from out of town.

“Well, I just heard of him recently, and I love him.” Skye clutched her chest. “He’s just amazing. I have a total obsession with jazz and New Orleans, and all I ever wanted was to come here and experience the music scene like a local. And when I heard his album it was like…” She gave a slow shake of her head as her gaze drifted around the room. “Like falling in love for the first time.”

The bartender set down another hurricane. Brennan pointed at it and then at himself, indicating he was buying.

Skye’s gaze focused on him again. “I’m sure that sounds silly.”

He shook his head. “Not in the least.”

“So, I decided I was going to have an adventure in New Orleans. I decided to come here and go see a bunch of music shows, and hopefully see Oscar while I was at it.”

She reached for the hurricane, but Brennan swiped it before she could grab it.

“Skye.”

“What?” She giggled. “Why are you stealing my drink?”

“I’m going to ask you an important question, so I need you to focus, sweetheart.”

Her cheeks colored slightly. “Do you know what that word does to a girl?”

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