“Well, in my defense, I don’t play, so I wasn’t planning on inflicting this torture on anyone. Not until I bump into the cranky, old, Russian woman, anyway.”
He shook his head and made a tsk-ing noise. “I think if she was sufficiently cranky, she’d stab you with her umbrella for this.”
“How do you know she’d have an umbrella?” I challenged.
“Don’t all cranky, old, Russian women who hang out in grocery stores have umbrellas?” he asked, as if that was fool-proof logic.
“I’m not sure on that point. As I said, I have yet to run into her.”
“You ran into me instead,” he replied. “And I have no umbrella. Lucky you.”
“Yes, lucky me,” I said softly. And I meant it.
I walked him to the door, and he turned to me, eyes intense. He lifted a hand and stroked the side of my face gently. “Eve,” he whispered in a husky voice. I could read his intent in his eyes. I was so ready to be kissed. I tilted my face toward his and he lowered his lips to mine. Tingles radiated out from our point of connection, and I shivered. He pulled back and looked at me to make sure I was OK. I smiled and leaned toward him, my arms finding their way around his neck. I kissed his neck softly and he stifled a groan as I whispered in his ear, “You’ve earned the chocolate sauce.”
With a chuckle he brought his lips back to mine and skated them over mine, tracing the outline of my lips with his. He pulled me closer and deepened the kiss. “You do taste like chocolate,” he managed to say as we pulled apart, a bit breathless. Kissing Jack felt so right, like kissing him was what I should have been doing all along but had just now figured it out.
As though it took a huge effort, Jack pulled back from me. “I’ll see you soon, hon,” he said and kissed the tip of my nose.
“I can’t wait, Jack.” I watched him walk out then shut the door, my heart still thundering in my chest.
I just kissed Jack Garcia! My inner fangirl was incoherent with joy, jumping and shrieking. I stayed leaning against the door, my fingertips on my tingling lips. I just kissed Jack Garcia—and he’s an amazing kisser!
Chapter 16
The rest of the week raced by. On Saturday I went early to the gym. At home I showered and changed then went grocery shopping, splurging on a bag of pastries. I was getting ready to do laundry, when my doorbell rang. I had no idea who that could be. One of my neighbors would just knock on my door. Perhaps it was a delivery.
I clicked the intercom. “Yes?”
“Is this the home of Eve Lambert?”
“Yes. Who is this?”
“I’m Art Herzer, the piano tuner. A Mr. Jack Garcia sent me.”
“Just a moment please,” I replied, then turned off the intercom and sent a text to Jack, asking if he’d sent someone to me.
Jack:“Yes. Art. Sorry, meant to tell you last night. Good guy. He’ll take about an hour.”
I was unsure about opening my door to a stranger, but if Jack vouched for him…
It turned out that Mr. Herzer was indeed a nice man as well as a very professional, thorough piano tuner. He chatted to me non-stop while working, telling me about his wife who worked at a beauty parlor and the antics of his twin boys. He cleaned the keys, dusted inside the piano, replaced some pads, and then tuned. When he finished, he sat down and played through a beautiful piece that he informed me was Chopin. Then he packed his bags and turned to go.
I expected him to hand me a bill, but when I asked, he said that Mr. Garcia had taken care of it already. Since I couldn’t pay him, I pressed the bag of pastries on him, which he gratefully accepted, then left.
I sat down at the piano. Vaguely wondering if the tuning had somehow enabled me to play beautiful music like Art just had. I lifted my hands to the keys and tried. Nope. Dang it. I’d still have to find that cranky Russian woman at the grocery store.
In the afternoon Diane came over to help me get ready. She dropped several shopping bags in my entryway and gave me a hug. “Are you ready to have the best night of your life, Eve?” she asked with a grin on her face. I led her into the kitchen, and she set up her life-makeover station on my kitchen table.
“I don’t know that it will be the best night of my life, Diane, but I am ready to have fun,” I replied, seating myself in the chair she indicated.
“Girlfriend, this is not just going to be fun. This is going to be amazing, outstanding, life changing…” She waved her hands, struggling to come up with more superlatives. I couldn’t help but laugh; her enthusiasm was contagious. “You are going to be the queen of the concert,” she stated emphatically. “Jack invited you himself. No girl there will hold a candle to you!”
“That feels like a lot of pressure, Diane. I don’t want to be centerstage. I just want to see Jack perform.”
“I have a feeling he’s going to dial it up to 11 just because you’re there, Eve. That boy is smitten. I’ve seen it enough to know, and let me tell you, that man is totally into you.”
I smiled, thinking that the feeling was entirely mutual.
