“One of my favorite topics.” I’m pretty sure I’m beaming now. A gorgeous man. And coffee. It’s pretty much all I’ve ever wanted. “And yes, please.”
“Good.” He chuckles. “Because I was stopping either way.”
He must have really mapped out this trip because we’re already pulling into a coffee shop drive through, one I didn’t even know existed. I guess it pays to make a right every once in a while.
Two coffees, a giant chocolate-chocolate chunk cookie for me and a little pouch of almonds for him later and we’re back on our way toward, well, wherever it is we’re on our way to.
I’m still happily sipping along when we come to a stop. And I still have no fucking clue where we are.
“Is this someone’s house?” I ask, twisting my mouth back and forth when he shows up on my side of the truck, opening the door for me. Maybe I haven’t mentioned the extent of my introverted-ness yet. “Are there going to be a lot of people here?”
He snorts, trying not to laugh at me again. “You were hiding behind a plant the first time I met you. You think I don’t know you don’t like being thrust into a crowd of strangers?”
“A girl never wants to assume.” And this girl has never had anyone pay such close attention to her.
He just shakes his head, chuckling again. “Come on.” My hand slips into his before I can form conscious thought around the action. One of us is getting way too comfortable here. Maybe it’s both of us.
If it is someone’s house, it’s someone Knox knows, because he lets himself inside even as he’s knocking to let whoever’s on the other side know we’re coming in.
“Jared?” he calls down the dimly lit hall. “This better be your place.”
A surfer-looking dude with long black hair and a gangly, tan body pops out of a doorway leading to the left. “Back here, bro. Just getting everything set up for you.” Then he notices me. A smile brightens his already friendly face. “The legend lives.”
Knox laughs.
I’m not really following though. “Have you two not seen each other in a while or something?”
“He’s talking about you.”
Me?
Before I can ask for an explanation, Jared is coming toward us, both arms stretched out before him, hands splayed, as if I’m some sort of wonderous sight to behold. Which I am most definitely not.
“The woman that made Knox forget his guitar.” He laughs with delight. “It is an honor to meet you.”
His hand darts out toward me for a proper greeting and I take it automatically.
“Alright, alright,” Knox chides, still chuckling at his friend’s enthusiastic welcome. “Jared, this is Kenley-”
“The legend,” he hisses.
Now I’m starting to giggle myself.
“The legend.” Knox rolls his eyes though he’s agreeing to it. “Kenley, this is my buddy, Jared. He’s been a producer on a bunch of projects with me, and lucky for us, he always creates an in-house recording space wherever he goes. Including here. At his parents’ place.”
“They’re snowbirds, but like, reverse. They like the snow and love the heat. So, they’re not around right now,” Jared is quick to explain.
“Why is this lucky for us?” I’m not saying I’m not feeling lucky. I’m stupid giddy right now, a grin stretched so tight across my face, it’s starting to hurt, but I don’t actually know why. I mean, I can make some guesses, as I’m in the company of a musician, but I don’t officially know shit.
“Because,” Knox starts, his voice taking a softer tone as he leads me into the room Jared only just came out of, “it gives me a chance to invite you into my world, same as you’ve let me inside of yours.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
KNOX
I watch her face after I say it. Part of me was worried she wouldn’t see the significance of the gesture, wouldn’t understand that I’m not just showing her a makeshift recording booth my buddy uses on vacation, but that I’m showing her a piece of myself I can’t show her any other way.
Her eyes gloss over, and her smile shrinks in size but never loses intensity. “Best surprise ever,” she whispers.
