Page 5 of Reckless

Then…well her hand was in his and she couldn’t recall when that had happened. Only that it felt natural to have her fingers tangled with his.

He turned her wrist over, examining her forearm. “Goldfish?” he asked of the five small, scattered goldfish she had inked around it.

“Two things. One, keep fucking swimming,” she murmured as she looked at their joined hands and then tried not to feel lonely when he let go to trace a fingertip across each tattoo.

“I can get behind that,” he told her, his head still bent. And then he sang, “They say goldfish have no memory, I guess their lives are much like mine. And the little, plastic castle, is a surprise every time.”

He straightened and let go of her arm. She took a deep breath but it was full of his scent and that didn’t help her racing pulse either.

She grinned at him. “That was the second thing that inspired the ink. Love that song so much. Love everything Ani DiFranco does really. My aunt introduced me to her along with Bikini Kill. I got to introduce her to Le Tigre so it’s a lovely circle.”

“My aunt Erin plays Ani all the time. Grew up hearing Erin sing along while cooking or whenever the mood struck.”

“I admire the sort of control and independence Ani’s built for herself and her career. I want to say something with what I do and the work I produce. In my own way, of course, but I think that’s her jam anyway. Be yourself doing what you’re passionate for.”

Harlow watched the work on the arena floor just beyond and decided to share a thing she’d been thinking about.

“Also, it’s just so…weird and wonderful that you’re sitting here talking about your aunt but Erin Brown is one of my icons. She’s not only a great songwriter, the production stuff she’s done with your dad has been stellar.” Harlow stopped herself, not wanting to gush any further and make Miles uncomfortable.

He guffawed. “There’s no one in the world like her. I’m so lucky to have her in my life as such a mentor. She and my dad have given me a master class on how to be successful in the music industry.”

Without a doubt, Adrian Brown and his sister Erin had been an indelible part of the alternative rock scene and then later when Erin stepped away from performing and Adrian went solo, that next level career had exploded and catapulted him into superstardom.

“I like that.” And she did. Harlow loved that she got so much from her father in the same way.

“We can’t all learn how to shred from a metal god,” Miles teased her.

Harlow’s dad was a metal hero and most definitely her own personal one, “He’s taught me a lot, for sure. We’re pretty fortunate to have the musical examples we do. When we passed through LA on our tour, he and I spent hours just jamming together at his house. Honestly? I love watching him play guitar. He’s…magical.” She’d probably never in her life be as good and as natural as her dad was when it came to guitar playing. But what a joy that he’d passed it on to her.

“He absolutely is magic,” Miles agreed before his phone made a sound. He looked down at the screen and then back to her. “The rest of Earthquakes is here. We’d love to meet you three in person. Do you have the time right now? Are Brian and Nora here?”

“Yes. I left them in our common room to come out here to watch load out.” She sent him a smile as she stood. “I’d love to meet everyone.”

“Your dressing rooms are just down from ours. We can stop by to grab Nora and Brian on the way if that works for them,” he said, walking at her side.

“It should be, yeah. You all ready?”

“We’d better be,” he said with a snort. “From today until late September we’ll be touring. Hell, you’ve already toured three months and you’ll be out until the end of summer?”

“We just scheduled two new shows this morning, as it happens. Looks like once we’re done with this tour, we’ll hit the festival circuit that takes us into September. We haven’t done any shows in Europe for two years so we’ll most likely schedule some shows in at some point.” Though certainly not the size of the tour Earthquakes was taking to Europe.

“Awesome,” he said, nodding to security who gave them both access to the performer spaces backstage. They recognized Miles immediately but gave the badge she had on around her neck a quick look before waving her through.

At their dressing room Miles paused. “We’re just up there.” He pointed. “Come on over when you’re ready.”

“Okay. See you in a few.”

He took her hand and then halted, obviously surprised by his actions. Harlow squeezed to give him some cover and also to give herself a few breaths once he let go.

She’d planned to watch him walk away but he remained facing her, taking backward steps so she let him see the sway of her hips as she went in to find her bandmates.

CHAPTERTHREE

Miles had to pause a moment once she’d gone through the doorway and out of his sight. The impact of just a few minutes with her fucked with his head.

He’d wondered what that first time they saw one another again after all these years would be like. If it would be awkward or lacking the chemistry he’d hoped for. But he’d been looking forward to finding out.

After making a quick stop in the venue business offices to sign a few things their management needed to have couriered back immediately, Miles had headed down to where their hospitality room space was.

---