Chapter 13

13

ELECTRA

N ormally, I'm a bit of a grump on Monday mornings. My parents have usually had all kinds of people tromping through the house all weekend, and I'm exhausted from cleaning the kitchen eight times, along with working longer shifts at the hotel. Sure, I've worked harder during this weekend off than I would have at my day job. But it was well worth it.

It feels like Trey and I all are already a great team as we make coffee and throw breakfast together. He's such a bright and sunny guy. Until he's…oh my…all dark and growly like he was last night. My stomach tightens every time I look at his hands, remembering the way he gripped me, and made me feel so incredible.

I just wish I knew where we were going.

After breakfast, we go into the studio. I do a rough mix of the five songs just to make sure all the pieces are there, while Trey puts the wall hanging back and cleans everything up.

He plays the part of recording engineer again as I add a few backup vocals on songs two and three, and that's it. Recording finished.

Trey nods as I play him part of the track with the backups in place. "I get it. It sort of…fills it out a bit."

"Exactly."

It hits me: I don't want Trey to leave, even though of course he can't be here when my parents get back. Who knows what CC might say if she finds a man she didn't approve of in the house hanging out with her daughter.

It's frankly exhausting dealing with a woman who tries to set me up men in whom I have zero interest and then treats me like a pouty teenager when I politely decline…and ridiculous that the woman's uneven temperament pops into my mind even at times like this when I should be completely joyous! I hope she never finds out that I was in her precious studio or I'd have to explain every detail of why I was here. Ugh.

I back up the files to my password-protected laptop, and to a secret cloud account to be sure.

"Do you think that's secure?" Trey asks with a grin. "What if the CIA or somebody finds your secret songs?"

I laugh. "If anyone hacks into User*6355436's files, they'll be very surprised."

"How did you come up with that top secret number? Your birthday or something?"

"Nah. Too easy to crack. I just smacked my fingers into the number row of the keyboard and that's what I came up with."

"Super random. I love it." He tips up my chin with one finger. "I'd like to listen to those songs again someday. I'm not asking for a copy. But maybe you'll come to my place and bring them over some evening?"

I love how he manages to ask for what he wants without pushing my boundaries. "We'll see." I hope he can tell that I'm trying to tease him.

Trey runs his hand along the back of my shoulders. "I don't want to leave, but work beckons. I need to go home and change, then get to a job across town."

"No problem. I'll walk you out."

I help him carry a few last things to the van, then lean against the side of it next to his open door. His hand slides around my waist, pulling us together. "I guess it's time to go back to the real world, hey?"

"Yeah. I guess so."

"I haven't seen this week's workload yet, but I'll text you and hopefully we can get together in a day or two?"

I breathe an internal sigh of relief as I realize he really does want to see me again. "Sure."

He trails an arch of kisses along the top of my forehead. "Now, I'm not an expert in music, or singing. But I'm pretty sure that after the weekend you've had, you're supposed to take it easy, right? Probably a little light sprawling on a couch for a while to recharge your energy?"

"Sounds wise."

"Good." He presses me up against the van, caging me in with his thick arms as he kisses me deeply. Our bodies instantly meld into one as we clutch each other. It feels like we've been together so much more than one weekend.

His phone beeps, prompting a smoky growl in the back of his throat. "Ugh. Duty calls. I'll see you soon, gorgeous." After another quick, breathless kiss, Trey jumps in the van and waves as he drives away.

I feel exhilarated. And I sort of miss him already, even though it's been, what? Ten whole seconds? Is it possible to become so addicted to a sexy man in just a few days?

I've been surrounded by love songs my entire life, but I never thought that I'd end up living in one. And yet here I am. The feelings I have for him already are far too big to process.

I'll have to put the entire thing aside for a little while.

First, I need to mix those songs while they're fresh in my mind. Second, I have to catch up on housework, so there's no evidence I had a visitor this weekend.

Then and only then I'm going to have to find a way to broach the topic with Mom and find a way to make this relationship work.