“Now, this is something I could get used to.” He doesn’t even let me move out of the way as he walks around me and into my house.
I close the door, urgently begging my brain to catch up with what’s happening. “Hello to you too,” I mumble more to myself. “What are you even talking about?”
“You opened the door so happily. It was like your celebrity crush was on the other side.” He pauses, blushing in embarrassment. “I was going to say, which had better be me, but that would be weird, wouldn’t it?”
I laugh, breaking the tension. “You think?”
“Being back here makes me forget everything.” Nostalgia sparkles in his eyes as he gazes around, exploring my house in wonder.
“This must feel strange for you.” I follow him and almost bump into him as he abruptly stops.
“Why do you say that?”
I have to hold back the urge to take a deeper sniff as the faint smell of his woodsy, citrus scent lingers in the air.
“I imagine this feels like traveling back to your old life, the one before all the craziness that came with Hollywood.”
Leaning back on the kitchen counter with his ankles crossed so casually, he assesses me. “Honestly, I thought I’d be really triggered, coming back here, but I feel the most relaxed I’ve been in years.”
I hop onto the island in front of him, and he watches my bare legs as I cross them. He snaps his gaze back up to mine, which makes my cheeks blush from the obvious fact that he just realized I’m half naked. I’m not even wearing a bra.
“Did you come here for anything specific?”
A sudden intensity fills the room.
He nods his head with a small smile. “Oh, yes. Are you still looking for a job by any chance?”
“We talked just a week ago. What do you think?” I frown, wishing life were that easy.
He throws his hands up. “Just making sure you haven’t found anything before I bring this up.”
Oh God.
“I have a job proposition for you.”
Yay …
“I can’t wait to hear this.” My voice drips with sarcasm, which he tsks at.
“Now, now, let me explain before you start acting like a little diva.”
“Your privilege of calling me names without me getting mad has been taken away from you.” I try to look threatening as I point at him with an “evil” glint in my eye.
“I will always have that privilege. But back to what I was saying, I found you the perfect job.”
“Care to enlighten me?”
“Our new album comes out in two weeks?—”
I interrupt him, “I know that.”
His lips, the perfect shade of pink, twitch up. “I’m assuming you know about our tour then?”
I nod, swinging my legs back and forth in a nervous twitch.
“Great. Well, we leave for that in a month. A member in our opening act has a little sister who will be touring with us. A big problem we’re facing is finding a teacher for her.”
“And you’re telling me this why?”
