AllFreeNovel
Share Us
André owned Wranglers?
In one fluid motion he heaved the roll of carpet into the open bin. He placed his hands on his hips and took a step back, his chest rising and falling with his exertion.
Nikki’s mind and heart became a tumble of competing things.
Once upon a time, that body had been hers to explore and touch and hold. That man had made her laugh and smile andfeelmore than she knew she could.
And all that was over now.
He didn’t love her, and she’d accepted that.
But there he stood. The most perfect heartbreak of her life wrapped in golden muscles.
He spotted her and she wanted to bolt but her feet were anchored to the concrete.
She wiggled her fingers in a wave and he smiled.
Really smiled.
Not an almost smile, but a wide-open, happy, genuine smile.
Then he turned and went back inside the studio.
Her left thigh buzzed and she jumped, realizing too late it was her phone and not the wasps chasing her down.
She slipped the phone out of her pocket, relieved she had a distraction.
“I haven’t listened to it yet,” she said as greeting.
“I’m just going to stay on the phone with you until you do,” Zara replied.
Nikki smiled. The turbulent storm of emotions swirling in her chest dissipated to a gentle breeze that she could ignore for a minute.
She entered the studio and went straight to her office, not looking for André and kind of hoping she wouldn’t see him again.
Yes, last night had been…unexpected.
And if pressed she would even admit to having fun with him and being thankful that he’d been there to help with Ryan.
Oh yeah. She should check on Ryan and see how he’d fared after last night.
On her way down the hall, she passed the open door to the lounge and closed her eyes to the activity inside.
She tried to close the door to her office but the couch from the lounge was in the hall blocking it. She growled under her breath and gave up.
“What’s going on there today?” Zara asked.
“Um, renovations?” Nikki answered with the simplest explanation. She opened the sound file on her phone. “I don’t know if it’ll play while I’m on the phone, so be quiet.”
She pressed the volume button up to as loud as it would go and hit play.
The voice memo Zara sent started to play.
Nikki’s eyebrows lifted. She paced across the room and replayed it.
It was a beat she’d made up a few months ago. Zara had walked in on her messing with it and asked if she could play with it.
Zara was singing a spunky verse over the top of the music Nikki had written. The combination made it something new.
