Page 51 of Wingwoman
“I have a confession to make,” he said and pointed to the napkin. “I saw you before we actually met that day at your apartment. I saw you in a bar working with one of your other clients. And in those moments, not even talking to you, having never spoken a word, or held a conversation, these lyrics came to me.”
With trembling fingers, I lifted the napkin, reading the chicken scratch in front of me.
Her hidden smile. Her sheltered eyes.
That shuttered laugh will be my demise.
The lyrics kept going for several stanzas.
It was like poetry. And even though I was far from musical, I could almost feel the rhythm of the song, simply in the pattern of those words. In the long strokes of the pen he wrote with. I swallowed, but it had a hard time going down. “You wrote this about me?”
He took the napkin from my hand and tucked it back into his pocket. “Yeah, I did. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. As I said, if you were to open that notebook, you’d find the beginnings of at least six different songs, all started since meeting you. So don’t tell me I’m not trying with these other women. I told you from the beginning, I need you to find me someone who makes me forget aboutyou. You haven’t done that yet. But it is not for a lack of trying on my part.”
“You’re stuck in a self-fulfilling prophecy loop,” I said. “The only reason you can’t write songs about these other women is because you’ve convinced yourself that you can’t!”
A cold look passed over his face and he yanked his fingers into his hair, tugging the messy strands. “You think Iwantyou in my head constantly?”
My heart pounded in my chest as I sat there, listening to him talk about me. Sliding the straw in my mouth, I took a sip of coffee distracting myself from his words with the strong cold brew. “Believe me,” he continued, “I’d much rather have a muse whowantedto spend time with me, than someone who seems to constantly want to run away.”
I coughed, nearly sending my sip of coffee launching across the table into his face, but managed to swallow it down before that disaster happened. “I’mnotconstantly running away from you. You gave me a job. I’m trying todothat job.”
He nodded, licking his lips in a way that felt way too deliberate.
Damn him.
I glanced down at the table, studying the grain of the wood in an attempt to stop staring at his beautiful mouth. That mouth that had just been pressed against my palm moments ago. And against my lips nine days ago.Focus, Hope. Focus.
“What are you afraid of Hope?” Josh asked quietly.
I jerked my gaze back to his, meeting his challenging stare. “Nothing.”
A twitch of his mouth. “Liar.”
Josh was sexy as hell. And surprisingly, very sweet… for a famous guy.
But I knew the territory that came with that lifestyle. And I wasn’t ready for it again. I didn’t know if I ever would be. I wasn’t even sure I wanted Brent back after all this.
But it would be nice to make him jealous as hell, I thought.
If I was Josh’s muse, it would be purely lust. Lust and revenge on Brent.
Nothing more.
Because even though he was exactly the sort of guy I could see myself falling for, I couldn’t let that happen. Never again. “It would be really unbalanced if I were your muse,” I said after a moment of silence. “You apparently have these strong feelings for me. Feelings that inspire you to write. To create. I can’t reciprocate those feelings.”
His smile widened. “I’m sort of counting on that, Hope.”
My heart tripped over itself in my chest.“What?”
“I don’tneedyou to be in love with me in order to be my muse. In fact, I’d prefer it if you didn’t fall for me at all.”
I narrowed my eyes at him again. “Then what the hell am I doing here as your wingwoman?”
He shook his head and leaned in across the table. “Look, all I’m saying is that I was able to write multiple songs without you even being around all the time. I’ll have a whole album easily in six weeks if I can have some dedicated time with you. Have a few dates. Maybe even see you every day.” Then he pointed at the article on my phone. “And you, in return, would getthis. How much do you want to bet your ex has already seen this article?”
I rolled my eyes. “Who cares if he’s seen it or not?”
“Youdo.”
