Chapter 9
CHAPTER 9
K yle drove in the direction of Tequilaville on a Monday night a little over a week later. He and Scarlett had communicated both through phone conversation and texting to arrive at a good day for both of them. Kyle had asked for the entire day off and Scarlett said she always had Monday nights off.
And although five o’clock seemed a little early, she was game. The sun would already be down—and what Kyle had planned had to happen earlier in the evening rather than later. He’d asked Wolf for his advice after Pedro’s inappropriate suggestions had landed like a lead balloon. Although the comedic effect had gotten the laughs their bassist had been playing for, the suggestions weren’t helpful at all.
It wasn’t that Kyle was trying to impress Scarlett—but he didn’t want to treat her like dirt, either. As he drove through Silver City to the west end of town, though, he questioned it. Because after he and Hayley broke up, he’d gone through a string of rebound girls, ones meant to make him feel better in the short run. And it had worked. Why didn’t he feel the same about Scarlett? After all, he still wasn’t looking for a relationship. He and Hayley had been together for years and he wasn’t ready for anything long term right now. But there was something about Scarlett and he knew he just needed to get her out of his system before he could move on.
But that was all she had to be, because Kyle wanted to take advantage of the rock star lifestyle once Intent to Murder made it big. He wanted to have his pick of women who were willing to do anything to sleep with a guitarist in a well-known band.
Unfortunately, that meant that Scarlett would be short-term—but he enjoyed her company and thought she was hot in that petite way about her.
At least that was better than a one-night stand.
As he drove his old blue Charger down Silver City’s Main Street, he wondered if his fascination was because she hadn’t been as easy to pick up as all the other girls over the past year. That had to be it. She’d made him pursue her before finally giving in. And, after all this time getting to know each other, he felt like when it was over, they could still be friends.
If not, he’d have to start getting his drinks from the other bartender at Tequilaville when things went sour.
He found a diagonal slot in front of the bar, unusual because it was typically hard to find a place close. Most of the time, he had to park across the street or down the block, usually settling on a side street.
When he got out of the car, he zipped up his leather jacket, because even though the heater in his car wasn’t the best, it was still warmer than the heavy cold settling on the streets as the darkness blanketed the town. Scarlett had told him the door was located just before the windows of Tequilaville began and he thought he could see it just past the dry-cleaning business. But, like much of Main Street—both in Silver City and Charlotte—most of the blocks consisted of just one of two buildings or even several but all pushed together so they all shared dividing walls. Modern businesses only seemed to do that if they were in a strip mall or shopping center.
And that was why, even though all the buildings on Main had two or three stories, it was easy to miss the unmarked doors that almost blended into the background. But, as Kyle approached, he noticed for the first time the reflective numbers that simply said 325 .
That was the address.
As he reached out to pull the door open, it pushed toward him—and there was Scarlett. “Hey, Tink.”
“Hey. I didn’t know if you’d be able to find it, but I guess you did.”
“Yep. Sure did. Um…are you ready?”
“Yeah.”
Kyle fought the urge to wrap an arm around her shoulders. Even though it was cold, he didn’t have her permission for that, implicitly or otherwise. “So…the first part of our date is at the end of the block and I’m parked halfway down—so would you be okay just walking the whole way?”
“Sure. I take a lot of walks, so that’s no big deal.”
As they made their way west, Kyle glanced at her feet. She was wearing what appeared to be shiny black boots with heels—sexy as hell—but her long black coat went to her knees, meaning he’d have to wait until they were inside to see what she wore.
She asked, “So are we going to dinner at Abato’s? I’ve wanted to try them out.”
“No. We’re doing something else first. But if you want, we can eat there. I like Italian.”
“Me, too. So where are we going?”
Kyle grinned, refraining from teasing her about not telling him about her love of Italian food before. “You’ll just have to wait a little bit to find out. We’re almost there.” Now that they were moving, the cold air wasn’t getting to him as much, but he worried about tiny Scarlett. Although she didn’t appear to be suffering from the cold, he wanted to make sure she was as comfortable as possible.
Soon, they’d almost reached the end of the block and Kyle said, “We’re here,” pointing to the shop with brightly lit windows full of people.
“Oh…the art gallery. I’ve been curious about this place.”
Silently, Kyle thought, Thanks, Wolf. He’d have to update his fellow guitarist later to let him know his date suggestion had been well received. The art gallery in Silver City was pretty pretentious, but they supported local artists and, once a month, they had a special showing where they focused on one artist’s work. Kyle had called to make sure there was no cost for attending and found that, in fact, it was quite an event. They served hors d’oeuvres, wine, and tiny tarts—all of which were advertised to come from local businesses.
They made money on what people bought during the event—meaning Kyle didn’t need to spend a penny if he didn’t want to.
Kyle had suggested during one of their conversations that Scarlett would want to dress for a semi-formal occasion, and he’d done the same. He wore a black sweater, dark brown trousers, and dress shoes. Everything but the sweater he’d last worn to Liam’s funeral…so that had been difficult, but he’d shoved it to the back of his mind earlier that evening when he’d put them on. Although he wasn’t struggling for cash, he didn’t want to spend money on a new outfit when he planned to blow quite a bit on the date. Even though the art event was free, he planned to wow Scarlett with dinner.
Amato’s wasn’t the most expensive place in Silver City, but it was pricier and it was one of three places he’d settled on—and if it made her happy, it was completely worth it.
When they stepped inside the gallery, they were greeted by an older woman with a warm smile. “Welcome.”
“Hey,” Kyle said. “I’ve never been to one of these showings before. What should we know?”
“Such a good question. Would you like to hang your coats up? We’ve got hooks right here,” she said, pointing to the wall just behind the door.
There were quite a few hooks but most of them were already taken. Kyle’s eyes were drawn to the huge painting above them. The building had high ceilings and the canvas almost touched the ceiling, its base just above the coat hooks. Kyle asked, “Is that the view from Razor Ridge Drive?”
“It is ! It was painted by a visiting artist and, when she brought it in here, I bought it myself. It belongs here.”
Scarlett said, “It seems perfect.” Kyle noticed that she’d taken her coat off but had it draped over her forearm.
It wasn’t until then that he got a good look at her. At the bar, she’d always had her hair pulled up or back but tonight it flowed over her shoulders in soft, loose curls, reminding Kyle of a gentle waterfall—and her darker makeup made her green eyes glow. She wore a snug black turtleneck and a light gray checkered miniskirt. But those boots…they went over her knees, leaving a few inches of thigh exposed between the hem of the skirt and the tops of the boots. For some reason, Kyle found that even sexier than a low-cut blouse. Maybe that was because Scarlett knew how to show off her assets.
Getting a grip on himself, Kyle began to shrug off his jacket because it didn’t seem to fit so well with the crowd he could see at the other end of the room—not to mention their coats. Still, he hung up his jacket and then did the same with Scarlett’s coat.
“I love greeting first timers, and I hope you plan to come back. Basically, there’s nothing you need to do. Just enjoy the art. The main hall here has art we display year-round and, before you enter the showcase gallery, you’ll see that table up there with a little finger food and wine. Um…I don’t need to card either of you, do I?”
Dammit. When Kyle used to let his facial hair grow out just a little, people didn’t ask that question. Scarlett said, “I tend bar at Tequilaville.”
“Do you want to see our IDs?”
The woman looked a little uneasy for just a moment, so Kyle reached into his back pocket for his wallet. She was going to be shocked when she saw that he was 25. As he pulled out his license, he realized Scarlett wasn’t getting hers out. The woman held his license for a long time, apparently inexperienced in that department, but was finally satisfied, handing it back to Kyle. There had been a time long ago when he and Hayley were kids that they’d had fake IDs—but he couldn’t remember if they’d actually used them.
Finally, the woman said to Scarlett, “Can I see yours as well?”
“I don’t plan to drink.”
But the woman hadn’t lost the uncomfortable expression on her face. Kyle wasn’t about to tell Scarlett what to do, but he wondered why she wasn’t just handing her license over. After all, as she’d just mentioned, she had to card people at her job on a regular basis.
Scarlett finally gave the woman a curt nod and reached into her small purse. Pulling out the thin plastic license, she handed it over and allowed the woman to take it. Again, she scrutinized the ID as if her life depended on it. Then she looked up at Scarlett again. “You changed your hair color.”
Scarlett’s smile seemed forced. “Yep.”
Kyle wanted to see the photo now, wondering what color her hair had been when she’d gotten it. Blonde? Black? Red? Purple? He couldn’t quite imagine her any way other than how she looked now with her shiny brown hair. But when the woman handed Scarlett back her license, she quickly shoved it back inside her purse.
“Don’t I get to see it, Tink?”
“Maybe later.” Her cheeks almost pink, she shook her head and smiled. “It’s an awful picture.”
Suddenly, it seemed like she wasn’t having much fun now—and Kyle couldn’t understand why. Before they’d walked inside, he’d felt like things were on the right track. Now, not so much—so he didn’t want to push it. “Everybody’s driver’s license picture is awful.” He winked at her and then turned back to the woman. “So how does this work again?”
Finally, her face was again relaxed. “As I was saying, help yourself to the refreshments. The hors d’oeuvres are from Une Touche de France .” Kyle tried not to laugh, because the woman really got into the French accent as she said the name of the only French restaurant in Silver City. “The tarts and cheesecake bites are from Sweet Things Bakery, and the wine is from the Silver Dollar Vineyard and Winery.”
He nodded, not knowing if he should say anything, but realized this was all very serious to her.
She continued. “You’ll also find some guides on the table—some information about tonight’s artist and more. If you find a piece marked for sale that you’d like to purchase and there’s nothing on the label noting it’s already been sold, just find me or one of my assistants and we’ll help you out. My assistants will be wearing a nameplate like mine.” The woman touched the tag pinned to the upper left side of her jacket. “If you do buy one of the pieces in the showcase, you will have to pick it up later this week. But feel free to mingle, chat with all the guests, enjoy the art—and chat with the artist too if you like.”
“Thanks.” Kyle shifted his gaze to Scarlett. “Are you ready?”
She simply nodded, her mood quite definitely dampened. What exactly had happened—and would he be able to recover the evening? Or would this so far disastrous date ruin any chances he had to get to know her better?