“Welp, I guess I'd better get down to business. It was good talking to you, Riot.” Mac claps me roughly on the shoulder. “Have fun with the ankle biter.”
I shoot a glare at his back as he saunters toward his office.Good riddance.
Checking the time, I sigh when I realize I’ve left Jane alone for longer than I meant to. Snagging my fresh coffee, I hustle out of the break room with every intention to get back to my student. But then the front door opens.
I’m stopped in my tracks as the woman steps into the store, her shocking pink hair framing comically large, sky-blue eyes that flit around the store with wonder and excitement.
I can’t move. I can’t breathe. I’m certain my heart has stopped beating, yet my blood is pumping, my mind racing.
It’s her.
The girl with the sad eyes. The angel in the golden dress.
She’s here. Here, in Saltbloom. Here, right in front of me, close enough to touch. She’s dressed in jeans and a T-shirt instead of her elegant golden dress, her pale pink locks pulled up into a messy bun—but I have no doubt in my mind that it’s her.
A bolt of lightning strikes my heart the moment our eyes meet, the contact boiling my blood as crackling tendrils of electricity race across my skin. Time slows as I watch her lips move around words I can’t hear past the buzzing in my ears. I blink, unable to respond, to move, to be anything other than utterly entranced by the woman in front of me.
“You,” I whisper. “I… can’t believe you… you’re here.”
The woman blinks, clearly surprised by my choked, incoherent response.Make that two of us.
“Um… is that okay?” She stares up at me, eyes widening and pouty pink lips parting in worry. “Was I supposed to make an appointment or something?”
“No!” I wonder how fast a heart is able to beat before it bursts.I guess we’re about to find out.“No, you don’t need an appointment,” I reiterate.
“Oh. Good.”
When I don’t respond, we stand there in silence for a few moments, both of us at a loss for what to say. Her eyes flit over my face, pausing on my gauges and elaborate septum jewelry before trailing down to my dolphin bites, staring at the rings with a curious expression. She lowers her gaze to my chest, and the corners of her mouth tilt upward as she takes in thecorny design printed onto my shirt—the words “Be Good to Your Wood!” around an image of a guitar in bold, brightly colored lettering.
“I like your shirt.”
“I… Thank you.” For some reason, I’m nervous—something wholly foreign to me in the thirty-one years I’ve been on this earth. I clear my throat, urging my brain to string some kind of sentence together, something that will charm and allure her like I’ve done to hundreds in the past. Something that will prove I have an ounce of control over the situation or the wildfire spreading through my veins.
Before that happens, though, Mac rounds the corner, all mohawk, puffed chest, and arrogance. He steps right up to the woman, gazing down at her like she’s a precious gem that landed at his feet. Only he appears to have retained his knowledge of basic human interaction.
“Hey, doll! Welcome to Hightide Records. I’m Mac—pleasure to meet you.” Mac sticks his hand out, and she jumps back, the pulse point at the side of her neck racing.
“Sorry…” Her eyes dart around wildly before settling on my T-shirt logo, and she takes a small, shallow breath. “Probably too much caffeine. Jumpy.”
“I’m on my third cup of joe myself.” Mac laughs easily, still holding his hand out. Finally, she gives it a slight shake.
“I’m Eloise,” she says, her voice soft.
“That's a beautiful name.”
At my interjection, Eloise and Mac swing their gazes to me, one in surprise, the other in irritation.
“Don’t you have a lesson to get back to?” Mac asks pointedly.
I frown but can’t find any reason to argue.Sorry, Jane.
With a polite smile aimed at Eloise, I turn on my heel and stalk toward the lesson room, my chest clenching with a rarespike of jealousy. As soon as I sit down on my stool, Jane gazes at me with a raised brow and a knowing look.
“Who’s she?”
I shake my head, my brows lowering in a scowl. “No one. Just a customer.”
Jane leans forward, turning her head so she can see out into the store. “She’s really pretty.”
