Strings of the Heart (7 page)

“No, it’s nothing like that.” Part of me debated lying to him and telling him I had to go to work. Where I needed to be was somewhere secret—something I hadn’t even told my parents or Jake about. It wasn’t something I was ashamed of. It was just something I wasn’t sure how they were going to feel about it.

When I continued to remain evasive, Rhys said, “Are you sure? You’re certainly acting like there’s some mystery man you have to get to.”

As he continued staring me down, I finally decided to give in. “Do you promise not to tell Jake?”

Rhys’s dark eyes widened. “You’re doing something Jake doesn’t know about?”

“Seriously? I’m twenty years old. Jake certainly doesn’t know half of what I do or don’t do,” I replied.

“Interesting,” Rhys replied.

“You didn’t answer me.”

Holding up his hands, he replied, “Fine, fine. But only if it turns out not to be something dangerous or illegal.”

“Okay, here it is. I have to get back home and change because at ten tonight, I’m singing at Saffie’s Tea Room.”

Silence permeated the table as Rhys didn’t have a quick response or retort. Instead, he sat motionless, ingesting what I had just said. Finally, he replied, “Did you just allude to the fact you’re singing at some club tonight?”

“Yes.”

“And just how is that possible? You’re only twenty.”

“The owner happens to be Cassie, the woman who owns the house I live in.”

“I see.”

Taking my napkin back in my hands, I twisted it nervously at his response. I don’t know why I was so concerned with his approval. In the end, he wasn’t my parents or Jake. He was just the guy I was completely in love with.

“You see, she has this band that plays during the week. Well, when the lead singer broke up with the drummer, she left the band, and in turn, she left Cassie without entertainment.”

“What’s the name of this band?”

“Pink Magnolia.”

Rhys’s brows shot up, sending my already frayed nerves into overdrive. I couldn’t help hoping that the name of the band had made him think of the magnolia charm he’d given me on my sixteenth birthday. I was probably desperately clawing at straws on that one. “I see,” he once again replied.

“Anyway, so after she heard me singing in my room when I was unpacking, she totally ambushed me to take the singer’s place until she could find a replacement. At first, I didn’t want to because Jake is the entertainer in the family, not me. Truth be told, I’m not that great a singer. But she was desperate, so I finally agreed to do it.”

“Saffie’s Tea Room,” he repeated in an even voice. “Am I correct in assuming this is named after Sappho, the Greek poetess?”

“Yes, it is,” I replied, twisting my napkin a little farther.

“The
lesbian
Greek poetess.”

“Yessss,” I hissed like the sexual orientation was supposed to matter.

Leaning in on the table with his elbows, Rhys cocked his head at me. “Let me get this straight. You are underage and singing at a lesbian nightclub?”

“Mmm, hmm.”

Rhys stared at me for a moment before howling with laughter. “What I wouldn’t give to see Jake’s face when he finds out.”

“It’s not funny,” I huffed indignantly. “It’s a perfectly respectable establishment. And the girls in the band have been nothing but sweet and helpful to me.” When he snorted back his laughter into his napkin, I said, “As a matter of fact, I’m having so much fun doing it, I told Cassie not to worry about finding a replacement. I would just stay on until I went back home.”

The mention of home sobered Rhys up. “You’re going back to Atlanta?”

Glancing down at the table, I sighed. “I guess I’m just a big baby. I miss my parents and my friends. I even miss my dog, Toby. Most of all, it’s hard not being able to see the twins whenever I want to.”

“But that will change when we go out on tour.”

“I know,” I murmured.

Reaching across the table, Rhys took my hand. “It’s okay to be homesick, Allison.”

“It shows a total lack of character strength not to be able to embrace difficulties and challenges.”

“Bullshit.”

I couldn’t help my brows shooting up at his word choice. But then I shook my head. “Oh really? I bet you’re never homesick,” I challenged.

Sadness flickered in his eyes, and instantly, I regretted my words. “There has never really been much of a home here for me. You don’t really bond with your parents when it’s your nanny who dries your tears after a nightmare or sits by your bedside when you’re sick. When I was far too young, I got shuttled off to boarding schools where I only came home on the weekends. Then I moved to Atlanta for college and now I live on and off of a tour bus.” Running his fingertip over the rim of his wine glass, he said, “There’s really never been a home for me.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. It is what it is. So while it’s true I don’t really get homesick, there are times I long for Savannah. I get homesick for my nanny, Trudie, for the familiar landmarks, and most of all, for my sister.”

Latching on to the mention of his secretive sister, I quickly said, “I hope to get to meet her while you’re here.”

Refusing to look at me, Rhys stared at his wineglass, lost in thought. “Maybe,” he finally murmured.

I didn’t have to look at his watch again to know I had to go. As if sensing my need, Rhys jerked his gaze to mine and grabbed his phone. “I’ll get us a cab, so you can make it home quicker.”

“Thank you,” I replied, as Rhys began texting furiously.

After motioning the waiter over for the check, Rhys reached his hand in his pocket for his wallet. When he started to hand the envelope with his card in it to the waiter, I shook my head. “No, please, I can pay for my own,” I protested.

Rhys shook his head. “I told you earlier I would treat you to dinner, and I meant it.” With a wink, he added, “What kind of gentleman would I be if I allowed you to pay?”

“The kind who believes in women’s equality and Dutch treat?”

“Not when it comes to you, my love.”

That statement combined with the tender expression on Rhys’s face caused a shudder to ripple through me. “Okay, fine then. But when we do movie night, I’m covering dinner. Okay?”

As Rhys rose up from his chair, he grinned. “Will it be Penis Pizza? Because I’ll totally let you buy me some of that.”

I laughed. “Yes, it will.” Wagging my brows, I added, “I’ll make sure you get an extra-large slice of sausage, too.”

Rhys’s eyes bulged at my comment. As we started out of the restaurant, he shook his head. “Not quite the sweet and innocent little Allison I used to know, huh?”

“Not by a long shot.”

“I’ve missed a lot not seeing you as much in the last few years, huh?”

“You have a lot to catch up on.”

“I look forward to it.”

I tried not letting my mouth gape open when we stepped out onto River Street to a chauffeur driven car waiting for us. “This doesn’t quite look like a cab.”

Rhys’s response was to open the door for me. After I slid across the seat, I glanced expectantly at him. He shrugged. “It’s an app on my phone that brings a car to you.”

After taking in the sleek interior of the town car, I nodded. “Nice. Very nice.”

“I’m glad you like it.”

We drove along the dusky streets in silence. Occasionally, when we hit a bump in the road, Rhys’s leg would knock into mine. Each time, he would apologize. When the car pulled up outside my house, Rhys once again held the door open for me. He asked the driver to wait a moment, and then he started to walk me to the door. “Would I be overstepping my bounds if I asked to come see your set tonight?”

His question sent me reeling. I had never in a million years thought a Grammy winning musician like him would want to hear me sing with a nightclub band. It seemed like today was the day for wonders to never cease. At my hesitation, he held up his hands. “It’s okay. I shouldn’t have asked.”

“No, that’s not it at all.”

“It isn’t?”

I shook my head. “It isn’t that I don’t want you to see me perform. The truth is I would be honored. It’s just I’m surprised someone like you would want to spend their evening listening to me sing in a lesbian bar.” I shrugged. “I guess I thought you had better things to do with your time.”

He barked out a laugh. “Well, the setting will certainly prove to be interesting, although it might be nice not to worry about being hit on for once.”

“Yes, how troubling it must be for you to be such a handsome and desirable millionaire rocker,” I teased.

Cocking his head, he asked, “You think I’m handsome?”

My chest began to rise and fall in rushed, heavy pants as I desperately tried to catch my breath. “Of course I do,” I quickly replied. At Rhys’s smile, I quickly added, “In your mind, doesn’t everyone?”

“I’m not talking about everyone—I’m talking about
you
.”

“Yes, you’re very, very handsome, okay? Now can you please get out of my way so I can get ready?”

“Excuse me. I wouldn’t dare to deprive your adoring public of your presence.”

“Smart ass,” I mumbled, as I started digging my keys out of my purse.

As I started to unlock the door, Rhys sidestepped me. Bracing his hand on the doorway, he smiled one of the smiles that had captured my heart when I was thirteen and now made me both lovesick and horny. “My very handsome self will see you at ten tonight at Saffie’s Tea Room.”

“Okay,” I murmured.

Just being in Rhys’s presence was enough to make my libido go into overdrive, but when he started to lean in closer to me, I fought the urge to combust from both nerves and hormones. It didn’t help that he smelled so amazing, or that I could feel the heat pouring off his body. Feeling lightheaded from the closeness of him, I tried not to faint.

After placing a chaste kiss on my cheek, he pulled away. “See you later.”

Extreme disappointment at the simple kiss ricocheted through my body. “Bye,” I replied forlornly, as he pounded down the porch steps.

Why did he have to seem so approachable and so acquirable in one moment, and then in the next seem totally and completely unattainable?

W
hen I dared to glance down at my watch, I grimaced. I was officially half an hour late for Allison’s set. I should have known better than to have gone back home before heading to Saffie’s Tea Room. I had been roped into joining my parents in the dining room. They were halfway through their three-course dinner with some of their friends from the Fortune 500 Club. It was a true hell on earth. The moment dessert had been brought out, I had politely excused myself. While my mother threw questioning looks my way, I purposely evaded her. Even though I was twenty-seven, I knew she would give me grief when I returned for bailing on the Mastersons and the talk of their single daughter at Vassar who was dying to meet me. Like I wanted to settle down period, but the last woman on earth would be with a former debutant who cared not about a love match but more about a status and society match.

By the time I’d gotten to shower and thrown on some new clothes, it was the time I should have been showing up, not leaving. Because I was running late, I allowed my parents’ driver to drop me off, rather than driving myself. I figured I wouldn’t lose time having to park. I shifted on the leather seats of the Bentley Mulsanne—one of my parents’ pretentious and extravagant cars—as the driver inched through the weekday summer tourist traffic.

In so many ways, it had been a mind-fuck of a day being with Allison. Although I had seen her at Jake and Abby’s wedding and other events in the last couple of years, it hadn’t truly hit me until today that she really had grownup. Hearing about her sex life had been a jolt to both the head, and to the pants if I was honest, that I hadn’t needed. At the same time, I wouldn’t have had to hear about the sex life to see how far she’d come from the gangly teenager I’d met so many years ago. As beautiful as she was, Jake, and his dad, Mark, had a lot to worry about when it came to Allison and men.

While it might have been her who was homesick, she had truly made my first day back home enjoyable. Since leaving home, my visits back to Savannah were purely out of obligation, not of desire. Being able to be with her in the next few weeks was certainly going to make my stay a lot easier, and it sure as hell wasn’t going to be out of any obligation to Jake or to her. It was because I wanted to spend time with someone who was beautiful, intelligent, and fun to be with as Allison. She sure as hell wasn’t a chore, that’s for sure.

Once the driver finally let me out in front of the club, I barely had time to take in the outside of Saffie’s Tea Room. For Allison’s sake, I was glad to see it wasn’t in a seedier area of town. Jake would probably freak just a little bit less knowing that the club was in a good area. Of course, he wasn’t going to be thrilled that Allison had kept something from him and her parents. It was so unlike her. She had always been such a good girl. I guess she really was spreading her wings and testing out the rebellious waters.

After I hurried down the brick steps to the club’s entrance, I was surprised to see a shredded bouncer checking IDs next to a stylishly dressed woman taking payment for the cover charges. When I handed over my ID, the bouncer eyed me suspiciously. “Are you lost?” he asked.