He chuckled. “Not a chance. But you can sing to me whenever you want.”
“Actually, according to your rules, you owe me a song,” she said, her lips against his mouth. “The whole tit-for-tat. Someone does something for you, you do something for them.”
He full-court grinned. “I’ve been reconsidering those rules.”
“Nu uh.” She tapped the side of his jaw with her forefinger. “That’s not how it works.”
“Becca?” His expression turned serious. The Adam’s apple in his throat bobbed. “Are you in this with me?”
God, how had this even been a question? Why had she waited to make her move?
“I am.” She nodded. Pressed her face into his neck. “But I’m a little afraid of you, to be honest,” she added.
That got his attention.
“Why afraid?” he asked, pulling her back to study her face.
Because more often than not, emotions made little sense. Sometimes the way the body processed them made even less sense. And sometimes the only thing that madeanysense was the thing that a person knew might end up in heartbreak. “Because I don’t want to go slow, but I don’t want to go fast, either. I don’t really know what I want.”
This was presently the story of her life.
“Then we’ll feel this out together.” Not a question. He stated this declaration as fact.
Her throat went thick. “One metaphorical foot in front of the other.”
“I promise, no matter what happens next, I’ll do my best not to fuck it up.” He was gripping her waist like she was his lifeline. Like if he let go of her, his entire world could break apart into pieces.
She could, in fact, totally relate.
“Isn’t that what we all do? Usually. We do our best?” she asked.
He shook his head. “Not me. I do the minimum required and sail through the rest.”
She draped her arms around his shoulders. “I don’t believe that for a second.”
He turned his palm over and held it there until she slipped her fingers against his. Her hand fit perfectly there.
“I have a proposition for you.” He ran his thumb over her knuckles.
Yes, they were on a stage. Yes, she was sitting in his lap. Yes, this time there were people in the room. No, she didn’t care. She still nibbled at his ear. “Oh, yeah?”
He cleared his throat. “There’s a job opportunity available.”
“What’s that?” She pulled back to gauge if he was serious.
“Manager of keeping the band from losing their shit regularly.” He grinned. “We’re gonna give it one more go with Dimefront. See if we can make it work.”
“This is a good thing, right?”
He nodded, but his teeth were gritted. “I want you with me. You’ll get to use that master’s degree of yours.”
She bit at her bottom lip.
“We’re a bit of a rowdy crew.” He continued rubbing her knuckles. “But the job comes with a full package—health insurance, retirement, time off…”
“And you?”
“Yeah, the job comes with me.” He grinned.
