“I’ve been down this road,” she says.
“No, you haven’t. I’m a unique experience.”
Her lip twitches. “You might have met your match, Ronan.”
“Bring it on.” I lean in and kiss her again, lingering for a moment but not deepening the kiss. “’Burning Heart’,” I whisper against her lips.
“What?” she asks after a moment, confused. “The song?”
I laugh. “Yeah, the song. I’m adding it to the playlist.”
“When do I get to hear this playlist?” She puts a hand on her hip.
“Oh, it could take weeks, months. We’ll need to communicate regularly to get it just right.” I walk backward. Cora folds her arms. “So double check that email I sent the other day.” At her confused expression I smirk. “My phone number was in it.”
“One make out session and you think this is a sure thing.”
Instead of answering, I wink, then turn and walk away. It could be a mistake but I’m pretty sure she’s too intrigued not to get in touch.
I can’t wipe the smile off my face. Yeah, the ball is in her court, but I’m confident we’ll see each other again. And not just as a client.
“Ronan!”
I turn at her shout. She has a polaroid camera and takes a picture before I can answer. It pops out of the bottom, andshe catches it and gives it a shake. My grin gets wider. Could she be any more perfect? Cora looks at the image, then tucks it into her pocket and goes back inside.
Things with Cora are going to be interesting, that’s for sure. When I get to the main entrance, I pause a moment. I have no way to get home, maybe Cora will drop me off.
“About time.”
“Holy fuck!” I almost jump out of my skin when Stefan gets up from where he was sitting. “Jesus, since when did you become so stealthy. You gotta stop jumping out on people.” I press a hand to my chest.
“I stood up.”
“Announce yourself.”
“I’ll be sure to do that. You ready?”
No. I want to go back, but that’ll mess things up. It’s a game of cat and mouse, albeit a friendly, flirty one. But I am going to catch her. No matter what it takes.
Two nights later we’re in the studio listening to a playback of Caden singing vocals on another new song. Perry has been on fire writing for the new album. We were already halfway through when shit hit the fan, but since his fight with Christopher, he’s knocked out another four songs.
Christopher leaving has boosted us all. We got back to what we loved without the constant arguing and pressure of keeping him from going nuclear when he didn’t get what he wanted. Even Caden seems more settled in his skin, and new role.
“Sounds pretty fucking good to me.” Grayson slaps his brother on the shoulder.
“I don’t know, the second verse was a little screwy. I should do it again.”
Perry and I share a look. This isn’t because he’s nervous, this is because he’s a perfectionist. I lean back in my chair and watch him slip back into the sound booth. Grayson goes to the soundboard with the engineer and Perry drops into the seat beside me.
“What are you thinking?” I ask.
“That we should have done this years ago.”
“You’re salty about the fight,” I tell him. “It was only last year when he got really out of control.”
“You and I have different memories. But what’s the fucking point in dwelling on it. This is good. We’re good.”
“Did Marissa tell youRolling Stoneare doing a story?”
