“That’s amazing,” Summer said. “I’m glad you had that.”
“Yeah. Me, too.” I studied her. “Did you always want to be a musician?”
“For sure. I didn’t know what kind of musician until I was a teenager. I came to the DJ thing pretty early, but I’d grown up playing piano. My grandma played piano, and it was just the thing we did. Justice played, too. We’d do these little concerts in the living room for our parents.”
“Were you and him always close?”
“Of course,” she said simply. “He’s my baby brother.”
I left it at that. I wasn’t sure yet what the right time would be to mention to her that her baby brother had a coke problem—and a friend problem, in the form of a drug dealing biker—but this wasn’t it.
“So… you became DJ Summer as a teenager?”
“Pretty much. I’d already tried out a bunch of different instruments by then. I liked experimenting with the sounds I could get out of them more than actually playing them properly and learning exact songs. But I knew how to do that, too. By the time I was in high school, I was pretty advanced compared to the other kids in my music class. I was the lead in the school band, playing piano and making arrangements for our performances with the music teacher. At that point, I guess it went to my head. I had this incredible conviction that I was gonna be a famous musician.” She laughed a little. “When I performed with the school band, everything else but the music and the reaction of the audience faded away in my mind. You’d think it was Madison Square Garden or something.”
“You were a star already.”
“I wanted to be a star, but I knew as a DJ I probably wouldn’t get all the way there. How many DJs can you actually name?”
I blinked at her. “Who, me?”
“Exactly. We’re not exactly household names. But I had to go down my own path and follow my musical heart. I carved out a niche for myself. I have a style and a sound and a reputation, and I have my following. But I’m ready for the next stage of my career. I’m more than ready.”
“Well, it’ll be cool to see what you guys can do. See you take off as a band.” I wondered, as I said that, if I’d be around to see it. How long I was gonna be her bodyguard.
Or her lover.
“Yes, it will be.”
“I should, uh, get out of your hair here. Let you get some work done.” I got to my feet, but hesitated.
I looked at her there, relaxed in her composer’s chair, in her midnight-blue jumper; the vision of confidence. Gorgeous. “The zone” looked good on her.
Everything looked good on her.
“Thanks for playing me that song you’re working on. It’s hot as hell.”
“I thought you didn’t know anything about music,” she teased.
“I told you. I know what I like when I hear it.”
And when I see it.
She smiled up at me.
“So… what’s on your agenda tonight?” I asked her, finding my balls. “Your schedule is mysteriously empty.”
She studied me, probably wondering what I was getting at. “I mean, I could splash ‘party time’ across every night of the year if it helps you remember.”
“Is it party time?”
“I was thinking of hitting the Artemis. I know the DJ who’s playing.”
“Of course you do.”
“He’s from New York,” she supplied, like that was supposed to be meaningful somehow.
“I’m sure he’s incredibly talented and it’s a can’t-miss event,” I said. “But…” I reached down, putting my hands on the arms of her chair and leaning in close to her. “Are you bent on that plan?”
“Why? You don’t approve?”
“Just wondering if I could sway you.” My gaze drifted down to her mouth, so close to mine, and I brushed my lips over hers. “Like maybe if I gave you a better option.”
“And what would that option be?” she asked, a little breathless.
“How about dinner with me? You know, in public and stuff.”
A grin spread slowly across her face. “Why, Ronan Sterling. Did you just ask me on a date?”
“Yes, Summer. Yes I did.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Summer
That evening, while I was in my bedroom getting ready for my date with Ronan, Elle called.
“For fuck’s sake, lady,” I bitched as I answered her on speaker. I was just strutting into the bathroom to touch up my makeup—wearing a strappy purple bra, panties and garter-and-stockings ensemble. “How much urgency do I have to pour into a voicemail to get your popular ass to call me back in a timely fashion?” I set the phone on the counter and dug through my makeup.
“It sounded fun urgent,” Elle said dryly. “Not life-or-death urgent. Priorities.”
“What is more urgent than fun?” I asked, carefully applying my favorite mascara.
“I had a hungry baby.”
“Fine,” I conceded. “But trust me, this is almost as important.”
“I’m all ears.”
“Alright…” I finished applying mascara, then stood back from the mirror and checked myself out. “Brace yourself.”
“Okay…”
“Flynn is in love with your sister.”
Silence.
I dug through my lipsticks and selected one. There was no sound from the other end of the line, and I glanced at the phone. “Elle?” I started applying lipstick. “Hello? Did you drop the phone?”
“Uh… almost. What?”
“Your bodyguard. Flynn. Is in love. With your sister.” I rubbed my lips gently together to blend the lipstick. “You know. Angeline. Your one and only sibling.”
“What?”
“Jesus, how many times do you want me to repeat it?”
“Until it makes sense to me.”
“Your bodyguard is in love with your little sister. Desperately.” I stood back from the mirror again, fluffing my hair. “Believe it, baby.”
“Oh, God.”
“Why ‘Oh, God’? This is great news.”
“Why?”
“Why not? Bitch, he’s been single forever. And that girl needs herself a man.”
“Does she?”
“You have got to make this happen.”
“Do I?”
“Elle Delacroix,” I scolded her. “Angeline is a sweetheart and she’s dying to fall in love. And you know Flynn is solid.”
“Angie falls in love every other week,” she said, sounding deeply uninterested in this entire conversation.
“Unrequited crushes are
