Love Today (8 page)

I glanced at the scribbles next to
both
bands and said, “That’s cool. Thank you.”
I did look over the entire piece
for a few seconds and nodded my head. “You’re right, it looks really good.”

“So good that I have some other jobs for you if you’re interested. Your talent kind of caught a few eyes. This one’s my favorite,” he pointed, moving next to me.
He smelled really good and I hoped he didn’t notice that I took a deeper breath of air to appreciate it.
“At first I was kind of surprised when I heard you made the guys walk
a few
blocks to some alleyway,
” he said, “
but I see why.”

I lightly laughed. “Yeah, they kind of had a few questions about that, but no big complaints. That’s why I did that with just them. I knew they’d be okay with it.”

Jared paused for a few seconds, seeming to think about something. Finally he said, “You ever done a concert?”

“You mean photograph one?” When he nodded his head I
replied
, “Yeah, a couple. Nothing big though, just some small shows for a friend.”

“You have a friend in a band?”

“Yeah, back in California.”

“You’re from California?”
He seemed surprised.
When
I
nodded
he added, “Where i
n California?
”

“San Francisco area.”

“Cool. W
hat band?”

“My friend’s band? Uh, it was called Fish Fry. I know,” I said when he smiled
. “But it’s how they all met—at a fish fry.”

“Nah, that’s cool. What kind of music?”

“
Alterna
tive rock
.”

“Yeah? Are they any good?”

“Uh,
I
believe they’re pretty good. I’ve known Maeve for about ten years—she’s the drummer—and Xavier and Dominic have been playing together for years.”

“Hmm,” he said,
seeming to think
it over.

I tried not to make eye contact with him. For some reason his presence affected me a different way than it had the first time. I gue
ss when we’d met at the banquet
I was in a hurry to get away from it. And Jared’s appearance was handsome at the time, but there was something about him
this
time that altered my assessment.
I didn’t want to spend time putting it into words or a complete thought. I was trying to push it
out
of my head.

“I’m hungry,” Maggie’s voice said from the kitchen.

Oh, din
ner. I almost forgot about it. I set the poster on the coffee table and
told her
, “Just a second, sweetie.” Turning back to Jared I said, “Sorry, I’m just finishing up dinner. Uh…” I motioned that I was going to head to the kitchen and he nodded.

“Sure, I’ll let you get back to your night. Uh… Okay, well, I’ll see you
,
I guess…”

I did get the impression that he wanted to stay, so I said, “Do you want to join us? It’s just lasagna, but there’s plenty.
I just need to finish the salad
and slice the bread
.
”

“Yeah, that sounds great,” he
grinned. And it seemed genuine, like he was really excited or something
. “You don’t mind? I mean I don’t want to interrupt your night with your daughter or anything.”

I smiled and said, “No, you’re not interrupting. And Maggie is my niece. She’s
Rachel
’s daughter.”

He raised an eyebrow.
“
I didn’t know Rachel had a daughter. But
I don’t want to interfere
with girl
s night.
”

“No, you’re not interfering; you’re
joining
girls night
.”

“Sweet,” he grinned
again.

I was beginning to think this guy got excited about the most basic things
.
He was in no way like his dad, whom I had always thought to be stuck up and conceited like my sister. Their idea of a
thrilling
meal
included
five stars.

I liked having Jared join us for dinner. Maggie seemed to like him, especially because he had a sense of humor that she could really relate to. He was pretty casual and laid back, and it greatly contrasted my initial opinion of him. I understood what he meant the first time I met him, when he made sure I knew he wasn’t “corporate.” He definitely wasn’t of the s
nooty sort, even expressing how grateful he was for the
home cooked meal
we’d shared with him.
You’d think
the poor guy a
te frozen dinners all the time, but I just couldn’t
believe
that when he was related to John Miller. But then again, maybe Jared was the black sheep of the family…

“Why do you have play clothes on?” Maggie finally asked him after we’d eaten. I tried to hold back a smile because I knew she was going to say something eventually.

“Play clothes, huh?” he said, looking down at his worn jeans and t-shirt.

“Are you
gonna
go play outside?” she
added.

With a smile he replied, “
Actually no, I’m not. This is just what I wear most of the time.”

“Why?” she asked, truly confused.

“Uh, because
I’m just a playful kind of guy
,” he shrugged. “I don’t think I’d
look very good in a pink ruffled
skirt,” he added, nodding to hers.

She giggled and ended up dropping the subject when I stuck a piece of cake in front of her.

“Sorry,” I told him. “
Rachel
won’t let her wear anything that’s not…well, I don’t know how to describe it. Stuff like that,” I smiled, nodding to her current outfit.

“Ah,
Maggie’s
already a trendy little fashionista,” he chuckled. 

“Totally. She tries to dress me, too.”

“Really?” He lifted an eyebrow with inquiry
. “Did she dress you today?”

There was no way I could even guess why he’d ask that. Did I look terrible?
“Uh, no, I managed on my own.”

He seemed to nod with approval.
“Well you look really nice
.
I love jeans on a girl.
Especially the
right
kind of jeans on the
right
girl,
”
he added with an
intense
gaze that seemed to quiet the world around me.

Was it getting hot in here?

“Taryn has fancy dresses,” Maggie said, taking a big bite of cake.
I was glad for the distraction
to give me time to cool down.

“She does, huh?”
he said with a partial smile
, looking me over again
.

“Yep,” she mumbled. She swallowed and added, “But she only wears
‘em
for cute boys.”

I laughed a little, but I was kind of embarrassed.
So much for cooling down.

“Oh yeah?” Jared smiled. “How many cute boys does she wear them for?” he asked in a teasing tone, glancing at me.

Maggie shrugged but said, “Lots.”

I smiled and shook my head to disagree, but Jared was really amused. “Yeah? What makes a boy cute?”

She shrugged again and took a drink of her milk. “They
hafta
look like Zack,” she finally said.

That made me smile
because we’d just had that conversation earlier. Maggie wanted to know why I kiss Zack, and I
had to kind of explain the whole
dating
concept to her.

“Zack, huh,” Jared said, pretending to think it over. “A
nd
what makes Zack so cute?”

“His
butt,” she said casually.

I gasped and said, “Maggie Mae, why would you say that?”

“That’s what you told mommy,” she replied, seeming ready to defend her position.

I was humiliated, and ashamed for letting her hear such a thing, but I could tell that Jared was trying not to laugh. I think he realized it was time to stop questioning my niece, especially when I said, “Okay, from now on you can ask me your questions.”

“Well I’m assuming Zack is your boyfriend?”

I wasn’t so sure about the “boyfriend” status, but I guess he and I were dating. It was easiest to just agree anyways. “Y
es, he is.”

He nodded. “Gotcha. Question answered.” He helped me clear the dishes from the table and then he asked, “Long time?”

“Long time boyfriend? Uh, actually since Sunday.”

“This past Sunday? What the heck,” he chuckled. “I asked you out and
you told me you were too busy.”

He wasn’t upset about it, but I could tell he wanted some answers. Zack had pretty much broken me down until I agreed to
dance
with him. How was I supposed to explain that I wasn’t interested in having a boyfriend, but it just happened
that way
?

“No, it’s cool,” he said when I didn’t
respond
. “You don’t have to answer to me; I was just curious. I was going to give it another try—asking you out—but I suppose it’s too late, huh?”

“I’m sorry. I really didn’t expect it, it just…”

“Was he more persistent than I was? Let me know how he did it because I’d like another crack at it.”

I smiled when he did, and I was glad that he didn’t seem upset with me. He actually continued to help me clean up the kitchen, and while we did, he asked me about some of the work that I do, and what kind of jobs I like best.

“I’m serious about the other jobs I mentioned,” he said. “I gave out your business card if you don’t mind.”

“No, I don’t mind. Thank you.”

“Sure, no problem. And if you want to do a live show next week let me know.”

“So what is it that you do? Do you promote these bands or something? Are you a
manager
or represent someone?”

“Uh, no, I don’t
manage
anyone
,
really. I’m just kind of in the scene and just…make recommendations sometimes.”

“What do you mean? Consulting?”

“Uh, for other bands? Yeah, I suppose. I just like to help ‘em out.”

“Well do you have a job title?” I chuckled. “I don’t understand.”

He smiled
but
seemed to
stall
for a moment. Why was it so hard to just say what you do for a living?
Like with Zack, I was afraid it was going to be something bad, so I was caught off guard when he said,
“I’m a musician.”

I know I paused for a while as I processed the information. A musician? Well that sounded okay.

“What does that mean?
” I wanted to clarify.
“
You have a band? Or do you, like,
play and compose music sometimes or
…”

“Yeah, both. I have a band, and I write and compose.”

Again I processed the information. I guess it made sense thinking back to our previous conversations, and then all these job offers that involved music. But why did he look uncomfortable telling me he was a musician?

“
Is something wrong?” he asked. “You look
confused
.”

“
Uh, b
ecause I felt like you weren’t going to tell me. Is there more? A reason why you hesitated?”

He seemed a little surprised, and by the way he paused again, I was afraid there really was something more. But he shrugged and said, “I guess I’m trying to figure you out, Taryn. You didn’t like corporate, apparently I’m underdressed
here
… I was only wondering if being a musician was also going to work against me.”

“What?”

“
You asked why I paused, and that’s why. That’s what was going through my head.”

“You don’t seem like the type that would c
are what I think.”
Was he? He just seemed so confident and
secure
.
That
side of him really did remind me of his dad.

“Normally I wouldn’t,” he shrugged.
He dried his hands on a towel and smiled at me, and then he rejoined Maggie at the table
.

The conversation was left just like that. He didn’t expound voluntarily, and I didn’t question it because I knew the answer. He was implying that he liked me and wanted me to like him
too
, but how was I supposed to address something like that w
hen I already had a boyfriend?
Well, someone I was currently seeing…