Page 12 of Robbin’ the Rich

Of course, she was a hot nun.

The irony hit me so hard I nearly hit myself in the face trying to put on my bass strap.

Nate looked over, saw my face, and immediately started laughing.

“Oh no.”

“This is fine,” I muttered.

“The priest and the nun?” He wheezed. “Micah, this is the most sexually charged sacrilegious Hallmark movie bullshit I’ve ever seen.”

I ignored him mostly because if I acknowledged reality too hard, I might actually combust. Robin glanced toward the stage while adjusting the sleeve of her costume. Our eyes met briefly. Then she looked away. My pulse jumped anyway.

The set started

Normally once I was playing muscle memory took over. Music settled me. It grounded me in a way that few things did.

Tonight though? No. Tonight I kept searching for one woman at the bar between songs. Robin leaned against the counter talking to Belle while nursing a drink, but every once in a while, I caught her watching the stage.

Watching me.

The first time, I thought I imagined it.

The second time, she looked away slightly too late.

By the third, confidence finally pushed past nerves.

I played through the chorus, caught her gaze from across the crowded bar—and winked.

Robin blinked.

Then, slowly, she smiled.

And unless I was completely losing my mind under these stage lights, I could’ve sworn Robbin Banks just blushed.

3

ROBIN

“Did that priest just wink at me?”

Mel didn’t even look up from her drink. “He absolutely winked at you.”

I stared toward the stage while my brain briefly forgot how to function like a normal human being.

“That seems illegal somehow.”

Beside me, Belle snorted into her cocktail. “You’ve been eye-fucking each other for, like, twenty minutes.”

“We have not.”

“You literally stopped mid-sentence when he rolled up his sleeves.”

“In my defense,” I said carefully, “I just wanted to see his tattoos?"

Belle rolled her eyes. “I totally believe that.”

I ignored her and took another sip of my drink while trying very hard not to stare directly at the bassist currently ruining my peace.