Her brow is puckered and she has her arms crossed as she takes in my words, and I’m not sure if my explanation convinces her any more than it convinces me. I’m not wrong, but just because couples kiss hello, doesn’t mean we have to do it in the open doorway.
“We could be kissing inside for all they know.”
Bzzzt. There it is. The sound of the buzzer from the game Taboo that my parents liked to play when we were growing up goes off in my head. She guessed the answer.
I shrug, sitting on the couch and laying my case flat. “True. But isn’t it better to show them what they want to see?” I ask as I flip open the latches.
She holds out her hands. “Who? Who is seeing this?”
Another shrug and I pull out my guitar. “You know how this works, Alexis. There’s always the possibility of someone watching.”
Crossing her arms again, she studies me before sighing. “Fine. But the blinds are closed and the curtains drawn, so none of that while we’re inside.” She waggles a finger in my face.
In response I give her a wide grin and check the tuning on my guitar. “Naturally. You made your position clear last night.” And the fact that I want to convince her to change her mind is beside the point. I’m not going to push or try to coerce. But I’m also not going to apologize for taking advantage of the opportunities that present themselves. It would be different if she really weren’t into me. But that’s not the problem. She’s just scared.
She’s still standing by the door with her arms crossed. I drop the smile and rest my hands on my guitar. “Look, Alexis. I get it. I do. But I’m also very attracted to you. And you’re attracted to me. And that makes it easier for our relationship to be convincing. It also makes it easy for one or both of us to forget that this is just business. So I understand your need for clear boundaries. I promise that my hello kisses will be just like that unless you make it clear you want more, okay?”
She stares at me for another minute before grumbling, “Okay, fine.”
I pat the seat next to me. “Sit. Let me play the song for you that you gave me last night.”
Dropping her arms, she pulls the coffee table farther away from me and plops on top of it instead. I wait a beat, making sure it won’t collapse underneath her. But for all its dings and scratches, it appears solid. She waves a hand at me. “I’m ready. Go ahead.”
She doesn’t like it when I win an argument, it seems. Noted. But she’s willing to listen to me, so that’s a mark in the positive column. And really, sitting across from me gives her a better experience than sitting next to me would, so I don’t bother arguing. I don’t need to be in charge. This is an equal partnership, after all. We both get something out of this deal.
I take a quick peek at the sheet music that’s lying on the bottom of my case to make sure I remember it all, then start the opening, keeping my gaze focused on my fingers, my guitar, the music, anywhere but her.
But when I get to the chorus, I can’t help looking at her. Her face is rapt, her eyes wide and unguarded. They’re light brown today, confirming my suspicion that she wears colored contacts in public. I like seeing this side of her—relaxed, confident, herself. Fully and completely herself. Not wearing any masks for anyone else. Yeah, sure, she changed clothes and put on a touch of makeup for me. But that again is more for her own comfort. She needs that little bit of war paint to take on the little bit of the world that I represent. We barely know each other, after all. Even if we get along well and have crazy chemistry, we’ve only spent a few hours total in the same room.
Will she eventually let down the last of her guard and let me in all the way? Will she get comfortable enough to let me see her with no makeup and crazy hair?
It’s been ages since I’ve been that comfortable with a girl or one’s been that way with me. Well, I guess Gabby is technically that comfortable with me, but she doesn’t really count.
Alexis’s lips part as I strum the last few chords of the chorus, letting the notes die away naturally before breaking the spell with words. “I haven’t learned the words to the other verses,” I offer by way of explanation for how short my performance was. “I haven’t even had the song for twenty-four hours yet.”
She blinks a few times, like she’s coming out of a trance, and pulls her lips into a tiny smile. “Right. That’s true. I’d like to hear the other verses when you get them ready, though. It’d be good to add a little variation on the repeated choruses too, when you get that far. But …” She trails off, licking her lips, her throat working as she swallows. She gives a tiny shake of her head. “That’s a really good start. Strong. Your voice … That song fits your voice even better than I expected.” At first her words were halting, like she was picking them carefully, but she gets more
