“Hmm. This is quite the predicament, you see,” I said. “You can’t really go home for Salty Caramel. Brown Butter Almond Brittle, maybe, but not Salty Caramel.” Her laugh surrounded me, and I pressed on. “Why don’t you let me take you out for a drink instead?”
She raised her brows. “You want to have a drink with me?”
I nodded. “I want to have a drink with you.”
She took a step back in my direction. “I didn’t bring a change of clothes. Don’t you think we’re a little overdressed?”
“I think you look perfect.”
She tilted her head and chewed her lip thoughtfully. “I have to admit, this reception did make me want to go out for a night on the town. I haven’t been dancing in ages.”
“So, let’s go dancing,” I said.
“Seriously?”
“Seriously.” I offered her my arm. “I’ll call us a car right now.”
“What the hell. Let’s do it.” She looped her arm through mine. “But there’s one place I want to go first, if that’s okay.”
“And where’s that?” I asked, suddenly aware of my own heartbeat, thundering in my ears.
Her smile grew as she looked over at me. “You’ll see.”
* * *
“I can’t believeyou’ve never been to Santa’s Pub before,” Ella said over the sound of a man in a cowboy hat singing some very off-key karaoke to “Don’t Stop Believing” by Journey. “It’s basically a rite of passage.”
I glanced around the doublewide trailer at the quirky Christmas decor and twinkle lights that decorated the packed bar. We’d manage to score a small table in the back near the cash-only bar where we’d ordered the only thing on the menu—beer. Cigarette smoke formed clouds around us so thick you could almost grab them. I spotted a man that looked a lot like Santa Claus if Santa Claus happened to be Willie Nelson’s brother.
Ella must have read my mind because she pointed right at him. “Oh, and there’s Santa himself.”
I chuckled. “They take this Christmas business seriously.”
Ella nodded. “That and their no cussing on stage policy.” She pointed to a sign to the left of the make-shift stage with the words ‘NO CUSSING’ scrawled across it.
“Are you going to get up there?” I asked, unable to contain the smile that spread across my face.
“Hell yeah, I am.” She leaned in close to me, her breath sending tingles all the way through my fingertips. “The real question is, are you?”
“It would take alotmore of these to get me on that stage.” I held up my beer for emphasis. “I’m not a very good singer.”
“I didn’t say I was any good,” she countered, taking a drink of her Miller Lite. “You aren’t going to be discovering any talent tonight, Mr. Record Executive. That started and ended with Liv.”
She leaned on the table, propping her head on her hands. “Something just occurred to me.”
“What’s that?”
“Is this the first time since we met that we’ve hung out as just the two of us?”
“I guess it is.” My mind flashed back to the night we first met. It was a year and a half ago when Liv, Ella, and Grace walked into one of our meet and greets in Nashville.
Jax had been taken with Liv immediately, and if I was being honest, he wasn’t the only one who saw something he liked that night. But I wasn’t even able to consider the prospect of being with someone. At that point, Carrie had only been gone about a year, and the little crush I’d developed on Ella since then was hard enough to wrap my mind around.
I already felt guilty for all of the moments I spent with her when we were together with the group or when she stopped by the office to see Grace. This was the first night I’d shoved that shame aside.
Maybe it was the alcohol. Maybe it was Antoni’s words still echoing in my mind. Or maybe it was Grace’s poignant reminder that I deserved some happiness too.
Ella laughed to herself and took a swig of her beer.
