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His smile faded and he nodded. “Okay. Well. If you need help with it…”
“It’s a work thing,” she hurried to clarify. “Not a date thing.”
His lips tipped up again on the ends. He hadn’t thought it was a date. But it was adorable that she wanted to make sure he didn’t think it was.
It also made him think she actuallydidwant to tell him what was going on. Was this part of the secret thing she’d been hinting at for a few weeks now? Those hurried texts and phone calls? The audio recordings she kept playing when she thought no one could hear?
He waited, not asking, and not pushing. Just enjoying being in her space and feeling her energy zip all around them.
She swallowed and bounced on her toes. “The person I’m meeting tonight is a major recording artist and she wants me to produce her next album.”
His smile grew with each word she said, and by the time she was finished, he was grinning with everything he had. “Nikki, that’s brilliant!”
She made a face and waved her hands like she was trying to calm him down. Or maybe calm herself down. “You can’t tell anyone,” she said urgently.
“I won’t,” he promised. “I really want to hug you, though.”
She threw her arms around him and squealed. When she stepped back her face was pink with excitement and he forgot how tired he’d been a few minutes ago.
“I haven’t even told Johnny yet,” Nikki said. “And he’s just going to kill me when he finds out.” She sighed. “It doesn’t feel real, you know?”
He did know. It was probably very much how he felt when he’d found out that he’d gotten that gig in the Badlands. Like finally being taken seriously but not knowing if that was a good thing or not.
“Do you…” She stopped and rolled her lips inward.
“Do I what?” he asked.
“Do you want to stay and watch?”
He arched an eyebrow. “Am I allowed?”
She shrugged. “I mean, you’ve already signed all the paperwork. And it would be cool to have you here.” She tossed a hand out. “Or it might be incredibly nerve wracking to have you here. Maybe I’ll crumble under the pressure.”
He chuckled and tapped the tip of her nose. “You thrive under pressure.”
She made a face and looked away.
What was that about?
As usual with Nikki, he didn’t have to wait long to find out. She was an open book in every sense of the word.
“I’m not a producer,” she said. “Sure, I want to be, but I’m not. And it won’t take long before Zara figures that out. I’m just a girl with a dream bigger than her stomach.”
He chuckled. “I don’t think that’s how it goes.”
“No?”
“No.” He realized he was staring at her mouth.
That gorgeous pink mouth that smiled at him. That teased him and talked in ways so free and uninhibited that he felt like he could be free someday too.
He wanted to kiss her. To press his lips to hers and see if she tasted how she used to. To slide his fingers into her hair and hear her sigh against his mouth.
Her phone beeped and she glanced at the screen. He took a breath.
“Your thing?” he asked, his heart rate calming as he remembered where he was.
Damn, he was tired. He could hardly think clearly.
