"Heart's Content got me through a tough spot," Pia said, shoving her hands in her pockets.
Zoey looked her over. Pia was wearing a casual suit, with loose-fitting pants, an open vest over a button-up, and a blazer. She looked positively handsome. Zoey paused for one moment, wondering if it was weird to ask Pia what brand she was wearing.
"Well, I'm glad we could help," Zoey said, smiling. "Though, I wouldn't take someone so funny for having tough spots."
Pia raised an eyebrow. Her short hair was messy, but her features were naturally flawless. Besides the tiny hint of lines near the corners of her eyes, Zoey wouldn’t have been able to discern her age, which she knew was 40-something. Her dark eyes peeked out from dark rim glasses.
"Sorry, that was..." Zoey shook her head, embarrassment burning her cheeks.
"No, I understand. I'm funny and people think I'm all games," Pia said, shrugging. Judging by how she didn’t seem to tense up, Zoey guessed it was a common feeling.
"We're about to start recording a new album," Zoey said, quickly changing the subject.
"So I'd heard," Pia said, grinning. "Want to release the first single on my show first?"
Zoey blinked. "That's really a question for my manager, but if it were up to me, the answer is absolutely yes," she said, a bit lost for words.
"Well, until then, we'll just have to be mutual fans of each other," Pia said with a sly grin, reaching forward to give her arm a light touch.
Something inside of Zoey's chest did a flip in excitement.
Whoa, what was that? She wasn't a lesbian. She wasn't even bisexual. She was the resident straight girl in an all-lesbian band. It was kind of her schtick.
But something about Pia was completely unnerving her. In a good way.
Pia grabbed two drinks off of a tray and handed one to Zoey. "It'd be a shame to mess up your hair just for bubbles," she said.
"My stylist would kill me," Zoey laughed, then realized how absurd that sounded.
Pia didn't bat an eye at the remark though.
"So, tell me something about the album that no one knows yet," Pia said lightly. "You know, to indulge my fangirl side."
Zoey tilted her head, considering. "So far, I co-wrote four of the songs, and I completely wrote the lyrics for two of the songs," she bragged shamelessly. She held up a pair of crossed fingers. "Here's hoping they make it on the final album after we record them."
Pia looked surprised. "I thought Domino and Billie Rush wrote all of your songs."
"We're doing something different for this record," Zoey said, sipping her drink.
"Are you any good?" Pia asked, and something in her expression made Zoey wonder what exactly she meant.
"Well, I like to think so," Zoey said.
It was surreal. Pia was flirting with her? Was Pia just a flirt? She racked her brain, trying to think of other stories of Pia Marino being a seductress.
"Your turn," Zoey said, looking at her pointedly.
"For?" Pia asked.
"For some insider info. Tell me about a surprise upcoming guest," Zoey asked.
"Obama," Pia answered quickly.
Zoey rolled her eyes. "You two are good friends. That's no surprise. Tell me something else," she continued.
"It may not be a surprise, but I'm in talks to interview a guest who I'm completely terrified of," Pia said, raising one brow. "It might not happen for a while, but..." She wiped her lower lip with her thumb.
Zoey's mouth went completely dry, watching the innocent act turn so intimate and appealing in front of her. "Go on," she said, almost breathless.
"Well, why don't you guess?" Pia said.
Zoey grinned, surprised. "Okay," she said slowly, pressing her lips together as she thought. "Who could terrify the almighty Pia? “Are they in politics?" She asked.
Pia shook her head.
"Is it an actor?" Zoey asked.
"Nope," Pia said, shaking her head again.
"Some kind of child YouTube star?" Zoey lifted her shoulders, running out of categories.
Pia shook her head.
"I'm kind of at a loss here," Zoey said, furrowing her brow in confusion.
Pia shrugged. "Guess you'll have to wait to see," she said.
"That's not fair," Zoey joked. "I told you my secret."
"Is that your secret?" Pia asked, her gaze flitting from Zoey's eyes to her mouth.
It felt as though all of the air had sucked out of the room.
Pia Marino was flirting with her.
And she was totally enjoying every second of it.
She smiled. "It's one of them," she said, raising her glass.
Pia sipped from her own.
The lights In the room suddenly began strobing. Madonna was on stage, yelling into a microphone. A giant clock on a screen showed ten seconds.
"Ten!" Everyone around them yelled.
"Then, let's have our own secret," Pia said.
"Nine!"
"Our own secret?" Zoey asked.
"Eight!"
They were yelling now over the crowd, leaning into one another to be heard.
Zoey glanced around at the entire room, their glasses raised.
"Seven!"
"Can you keep a secret, Zoey?" Pia said, her body so close that Zoey could feel her leg pressed against her.
In the crowded room next to a fifteen foot champagne fountain, they were virtually invisible.
"Six!"
Zoey nodded, looking down, feeling suddenly shy.
"Five!"
Pia reached, lifting Zoey's chin with two fingers.
"Four!"
Oh God, Pia was going to kiss her.
"Three!"
And Zoey wanted her to.
"Two!"
Zoey's eyes searched Pia's. She was both certain and confused at the same time.
"One!"
Pia leaned in, pressing her lips gently to Zoey's at first. Zoey's head swirled as she leaned into the kiss, her lips softening, yielding to Pia's dominance. Pia's lips parted, her hand weaving into Zoey's hair as she held her close.
Zoey wound her arms around Pia's shoulders, the champagne glass still in her hand.
The combination of bubbly and the kiss made her feel as though she was floating. Her stomach clenched in excitement and her body longed to be pressed against Pia's, closing any gap between them.
Pia took Zoey's lower lip between her teeth, nipping her ever-so-slightly.
Zoey grinned, deepening the kiss.
All around them, people cheered, Auld Lang Syne played from a speaker — was Madonna cry-singing? — and yet Zoey felt miles away from all of it.
And then, just as suddenly as it had started, Pia took a step back.
She smiled at Zoey and then lifted a finger to her lips, as though shushing her.
Zoey stood with her jaw slack, stunned into silence and paralysis, as Pia winked and then melted into the crowd around her.
A secret of their own.
Chapter One
February
Zoey
Zoey laid back on the sofa, throwing her arms over her face. They had been in the studio for nearly thirteen hours straight trying to nail down the multiple tracks for one song — they were going on take five thousand.