And it didn’t hurt that she was bewitchingly striking.
Speaking of which, how did a woman go from being, well… how Coral was in high school, to a shapely, statuesque beauty who turned heads when she walked across a room?
Like she was doing just then, hustling back to our table to enjoy her smoked salmon salad.
“I got a pic of him,” she said breathlessly, oblivious to the heads turning in her direction.
She dove into her salad. “I’m glad you suggested lunch. To be honest, I was starving.”
I loved a woman with an appetite.
And now it was time to call out the elephant in the room.
“I’m sorry about what Stone said earlier. He can be such a douchebag.”
She pressed her lips together while she considered my words, then shrugged. “Well, he was right. I was… pretty awkward back then.” She returned to her salad, avoiding my gaze.
But that wasn’t the end of my apology. I knew that girls like her in high school were not treated well. At all.
“I… had a lot of shit going on at home when I was a kid. It wasn’t pretty.”
As soon as I said it, I regretted it. What a lame fucking excuse. Use a crappy family situation as the reason for being unkind. But it got her attention.
She set down her fork. “Really?”
Shit. I hated discussing this stuff. But if we were going to work together, I needed to clear the air.
And maybe my conscience, as well.
“Yeah. It was a fucked-up situation. To this day, I don’t have anything to do with my father or mother.”
She nodded slowly. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
“Yeah. My dad was a bastard, and my mom just went along so he wouldn’t turn on her. As a result, I wasn’t the nicest person back then. Probably still not the nicest person.”
Ah, regrets.
I could swear Coral’s eyes were teary.
“So here’s to getting the hell out of Dodge,” I said, raising my glass.
Unfortunately, my getting out of Dodge meant I’d not seen my long-suffering mother in years. Last time I’d tried to send her money, she’d begged me not to. Said my dad would take it out on her if he ever found it.
Broke my fucking heart.
We clinked glasses. “Sometimes I feel badly about escaping. You know what I mean?”
Her eyes widened. “Oh my god, I do too. I wondered if I was the only person who felt that way.”
Another thing we had in common. “Maybe the guilt never goes away.”
“Well, I guess adulthood is all about reinventing yourself. There’s no shame in leaving the past behind. At least that’s what I tell myself,” she said.
“Right? I mean, why should we feel badly about leaving bad shit behind?” I shook my head.
Time for a lighter topic.
“So, Coral, what other bands have you guys worked with?”
She dabbed the corners of her mouth with a napkin, I think in part to hide that she was furiously blushing.
What was up with that?
“I have to come clean with you, Hugh.”
She looked tortured. Which I loved.
“You’re our first band. I’m supposed to keep that quiet, but since you asked, I’m not about to lie.”
I dropped my head back and laughed. “Shit, Coral, I have no problem with that. In fact, I’m glad you haven’t worked with any other bands. That means you’ll have some fresh ideas for us.”
She nodded with enthusiasm and glanced at her watch. “I can’t wait to get started. In fact, I better get back to the office before my boss thinks you guys kidnapped me.”
Might not be a bad idea…
We wandered to the front of the restaurant, neither of us in a hurry to leave. While we waited for the valet to bring each of our cars around, I turned to Coral.
“Hey, about your not having worked with any other bands…”
Her face dropped. “I should not have told you that. Please don’t tell Bryan. I don’t know what my boss told him.”
I moved a little closer as a sort of test. Her eyes remained wide open.
So I picked up a strand of her hair, and ran it through my fingers. It was silky and warm from the sun. I would have liked to run all my fingers through it, but that would surely be a step too far.
“I’ll tell ya what, Coral.”
“Yeah?” she said, looking up at me, her eyes wide.
And now I was getting a hard-on, dammit.
“Your secret is safe with me.”
“Oh good. Thank you,” she said, smiling broadly.
“In exchange for… a little kiss.”
She took a step back and wrinkled her nose. “What?”
I wasn’t giving up so easily.
“I think you heard me. I’d like a kiss. In exchange, I promise not to divulge your secret.”
The valet pulled my car up, and she looked around nervously for hers.
Which had not arrived yet.
“Well, um, I don’t think—”
I leaned down, and with my hand on the back of her neck, pressed my lips to hers before she could finish.
At first, she tensed, her hands flying to my torso as if to push me away. But as I lightly brushed her lips with my own, she actually moved toward me, her hands relaxing on my chest.
And damn if she didn’t taste sweet, just like I knew she would.
I watched her eyes flutter closed, and the slightest moan sneaked out of her throat. God, she was delicious. And I wanted more.
Hopefully, there’d be time for that, another day.
“Well,” I said, abruptly pulling back from her. “Your secret’s safe now, isn’t it?”
With her lips slightly parted, she stood, looking at me for a moment, then tossed her hair back over her shoulders.
“Oh. Right. Well, thanks.”
She cleared her throat and smoothed her dress.
It was fucking adorable.
Her car had arrived, and I led her to the driver’s side door, inching the valet guy out of the way, and holding her hand as she lowered herself into her Prius.
“Looking forward to our next meeting,” I said, closing her car door and leaning in the window.
“Yeah, me, too,” she said, jamming her car into gear.
I was watching her drive off into LA traffic until her Prius was out of sight when my phone buzzed with a text.
It was Ennis.
where are you? did you run off with her?
Not a bad idea.
Chapter 14
CORAL
I kicked my shoes off and buried my head in my hands as soon as I closed my office door.
What a freaking day.
Hugh.
Hugh Cairn.
I wracked my brain for a visual of Mrs. Siebert’s English class. I hadn’t paid much attention to the back-of-the-class kids, just like they probably hadn’t paid much attention to me.
I hadn’t ever thought about it, but where you sat in class said a lot about you when you were in high school. Unless the teacher assigned seats, like alphabetical order or something, everyone gravitated toward their friends or other kids with similar interests.
You weren’t likely to see the brainy kids voluntarily sit next to the stoners, let’s put it that way.
But the little I remembered was that I’d written him off as just another pothead, even if he was part of the Populars, content to sit in the back of class, take tests when he had to, and put forth little other effort.