“I didn’t mean to,” he admits, picking my shoes up out of the sand and dragging me toward the stone steps and the highway, as far away from the water as he can. He stops, standing right in front of me as he searches my face, his expression stricken yet contrite. “I don’t know. I left immediately after you did, wanting to find you so we could talk. You ran out so quickly, I felt terrible. I just wanted to make sure you were okay. I ended up following your car. By the time I parked and found you, I realized just how much of a creeper that made me seem. So, I didn’t come and talk to you. I just watched the sunset and thought, but then it got dark, and then I saw you go for the water.”
The accusation in his tone when he says that last part forces me to push him off. I shove him back as hard as I can, irate beyond all measure, and taking it out on him when the one I’m really angry with is myself. “How dare you! You had no right to follow me. Creepy doesn’t even cover it.”
“I know that, okay? I know that. And I wasn’t going to bother you. But…it’s fucking dark out, Naomi, and I didn’t feel right leaving you here. It’s not safe.”
“I was fine, Gus.”
“You scared the shit out of me going into the water like that. Were you trying to kill yourself?”
I make some sort of deranged noise in the back of my throat. “No. What the hell?” I shove him again, only this time, he grasps my shoulders, holding me tight. Tight enough to tell me he’s good and pissed. His gray eyes are wild, his jaw locked. “Do I look that goddamn unstable to you?”
“My mother died in the ocean. Drowned.”
“Oh.” I pause. Take a step back and forcing his hands to fall to his sides. I allow that to sink in. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know she…” I trail off, unable to finish that.
He shakes his head, his fierce eyes and light hair reflecting the bright lights of the highway. “She didn’t kill herself. It was an accident. But I didn’t like…”
Hell. I step into him and place my hand on his chest, over his pounding heart. I stare up into his eyes and even though I just met him today, it doesn’t feel weird that I’m touching him. Gus, for some reason, doesn’t feel like a stranger anymore.
I guess it’s true what they say. Sometimes you meet people you already know. Ones you were always meant to know.
One song. That’s what one song has done to us.
Because nothing with him right now feels awkward or strained. It feels like our truths amidst the darkness. And for whatever reason, that doesn’t scare me as much as it should.
“I get it. I lost my mom too.” And my dad. And my fiancé. And so much more.
I’m alone in this world while he has his brother, his band, and even his sister-in-law whom he still loves—and who I know he is still close with even if the tabloids never get anything right. The love and relationship he shares with his brother must be unbreakably strong for them to remain this close even after all they’ve been through. He has people and I have no one. Lyric, maybe. But that’s it.
I let my hand drop.
“Come have dinner with me,” he says out of nowhere, his eyes bouncing back and forth between mine, still a bit wild. “I’m supposed to go to Jasper’s. You should come, but if you do, be warned, I might have to kiss you before we walk in.”
“What?” I burst out, totally at a loss with this man. “Are you high right now?”
“No. I don’t do drugs. I think it’s the ebbing adrenaline from you scaring the shit out of me, but that doesn’t change the facts.”
“Which are?”
“I can’t let you have dinner with Henry and Keith unless they think you’re with me. They’ll hit on you relentlessly if I don’t, and then you’ll never agree to the duet.”
I shake my head. “I seriously have no words for that. But thanks for the invite and that crazy offer, I guess?” I shrug, my lips in a thin line. “I’m gonna have to pass. On all of that.”
He laughs. “I’m not really going to kiss you, Naomi Kent. I’m just trying to lighten this heavy moment. Obviously, I’m doing a piss-poor job of it.”
“No kidding.”
He rubs his hand across his jaw, trying to wipe away his smirk and failing. “Damn, you make me nervous, and I don’t think I’ve been nervous around a woman ever.”
My heart beats out an erratic thump as a swarm of butterflies erupt in my belly. “I’m not trying to make you nervous.”
“No. But you’re doing it anyway.” He sucks in a deep breath, reining himself in. “Bottom line?” I nod. “I want you to do this song with me. The moment I heard you sing, even before I saw you or knew who you were, I wanted that. But then we sang together and now…now, I need you to do it. It’s why I ran after you. It’s why I followed you here.”
His confession has me swallowing hard, the intensity in his eyes or the ferocity of his expression almost too much. I look down, not necessarily uncomfortable, but fidgety all the same with his unerring scrutiny and bold honesty.
His hand reaches up, cupping my jaw and lifting my face back up to his. His fingers linger, brushing the sensitive skin under my chin and sending goosebumps skating down my neck and shoulders.
“Just come have dinner with me. Forget Jasper’s. There is a place near here that cooks up some really amazing southern food and we’ll talk. Get to know each other a little better.”
I stare at him, blinking up into his eyes through the muted light. I don’t think I’ve ever encountered a man quite like Gus Diamond, and I can’t figure out what it is about him that’s drawing me in. He has an energy about him that my body seems to respond to. Recognizes.
His charming smile doesn’t hurt either.
“Just dinner, country boy. I’m not agreeing to sing with you, and this is most definitely not a date. I don’t date musicians anymore, so no more talking about kissing me or anything else you’ve got cooking up in that brain of yours.”
He releases my face and takes my hand, leading me up the steps and away from the sand and water. “I’ll work on it.” He grins, catching my eye. “And you will agree to the song,” he tells me as if he’s never been more certain of anything in his life. “You know what they say about the right person coming into your life at the right time? That’s us, babe.”
I don’t respond to that. This all happened a little too quickly and my mind is still reeling.
And yet I’m following him to dinner. Knowing full well I’ll listen to everything he has to say about this duet. Because part of me thinks he might be right. And that’s what’s scaring me most.
Chapter Six
Naomi
* * *
“What’s good here?” I ask as we peruse our menus. The owners seem to know Gus well. They hugged and laughed, and he introduced me as his friend. They’re also very respectful of who Gus is as they immediately ushered us to a secluded booth in the back, away from all the curious onlookers.
I haven’t been in public much in the last two years. Mostly behind the scenes. No award shows, that’s for damn sure. No new albums. So, my face isn’t as widespread or as recognizable as Gus’ is. His was everywhere last summer. And if that’s not enough, the man has a massive billboard of him in his underwear taking up ten stories in downtown LA.