Dean didn’t have that kind of patience. He couldn’t imagine watching Liana with someone else.
But he would, wouldn’t he? Once the tour was over. He’d go home. And she’d move on with her life.
His gut twisted.
Jake cleared his throat. “Did I lose you with the pregnancy talk?”
“Nah.” Dean made a fist and bounced it lightly off the steering wheel as he winced. “I just…”
“How’s the singer?” Jake offered when Dean trailed off.
“I think I might be falling for her.”
Stunned silence was his brother’s only response.
Dean knew the feeling. He groaned.
“Does she…know?” Jake cleared his throat. “Do you need Zander to come and bail you out?”
“Fuck off. Yes she knows. I guess…we’re in a relationship.”
“You don’t sound impressed.”
“I am. With her. Not with myself. I don’t know. She’s…” He thought about her with that guitar. “She’s amazing. She’s got so many clever layers that nobody ever sees. And she’s talented, too. Holy fuck, man, you should hear her sing. On stage, or just off the cuff. There’s nothing like it. But she’s tough, too, because this is a crazy town. And it’s hard to be in the public eye like that. I could never do it. They’ve given me a nickname—”
“Oh yeah, Olivia said something about that. Army Guy?” Jake laughed.
“No. Uh…” No, Dean wasn’t going to correct him. “Yeah. It’s weird.”
“But you don’t mind it.” Another laugh. “Hey, I get it. Prenatal books, and weird nicknames. This is the stuff they never tell you about.”
“I didn’t see this coming.”
“You never do. Hey, I gotta go. Dani’s on the other line.”
“Later. Thanks, man.”
He sat there looking at his phone for a few minutes longer, thinking about what his brother had said—both deliberately and inadvertently. And when he pulled up at the restaurant, he was smiling.
Chapter Twenty-Two
LIANA wasin the middle of singing the same line, over and over again, trying to find just the right end note, when an angry rap on the window of the writing room interrupted them.
Caleb and West were both on their feet, but it was Karen who opened the door and stood bodily in the way of Track coming into the room. “We’re in the middle of a writing session.”
“With one of my signed talent.”
“Liana has every right to be here.” Karen glanced over her shoulder and gave Liana an understanding looking. “But if you’d like five minutes with Track, we can break.”
She pressed her hands, clammy and cold, against her yoga pants. Oh, Dean, hurry back with lunch. Instead of standing, she waved Caleb and West back into their seats. “We’re in the middle of a song. But maybe if you wait five minutes, we can wrap it up?” She took a deep breath as an even better idea came to her. “In fact, come in. Sit down.”
Karen’s eyebrows hit the roof, but she stepped out of the way. Track couldn’t refuse the invite, although he looked like he wanted to, so in he came. He stood against the far wall, and the icy blast radiating off him would normally have killed her creativity, but this song was good, and more to the point, it was essentially done.
She picked up the guitar again and looked to her drummer, then to Caleb, and finally to Karen. “From the top? It’s down to you and it’s down to me. I like that version best.”
West hit play on the drum line he’d already recorded into Pro Tools, and grabbed a shaker to add some depth. She starting strumming, a fast, steady beat, and then dropped into the off-tempo, unexpected accompaniment for the melody.
Caleb gave her a fast grin before they started singing together.
