Chapter Three #2
He smiles and doesn’t move for a minute. And the light on his skin, how relaxed he seems, makes me want to take a photo or two. Which would most probably definitely be a weird thing for me to do. “Good,” he says. “It feels good.”
“This coffee really is excellent.”
“Simple pleasures, huh?” he asks. “Our lives should be made of them.”
“You’re right. I listened to the birds as I walked into town. Such a pretty and relaxing sound.”
“Yeah. I like the hiss of the espresso machine,” he says. “So many good connotations. What else have you got?”
“Looking at the stars and spending time with people who don’t drain you. Both of which relate to you in a way.”
He laughs softly as he soaks up some more sun. “You’re pretty sparkly yourself.”
“What would you normally be doing at this time of day?”
“I wouldn’t normally be conscious,” he says, turning back to face me with a half-smile.
“My tour recently finished, and I used the downtime afterward to plan this escape. Otherwise by now I’d be writing the new album.
I write on my own, so it’s a lot of long, lonely hours while people are waiting on me to get into the studio and start recording. ”
“And you had a housekeeper and other people who organized everything for you?”
“Pretty much. Audrey turned those houses into homes. I missed her when she left.” He checks out the paintings, drawings, and sculptures in the shop window.
“But I’d have breakfast. Go to the gym. Meet with my assistant and manager.
Then lock myself away for the rest of the day.
Promo and press are paused during the writing phase.
Don’t need those dickheads getting into my head.
“I usually got a good break and more than a few drinks in during the downtime after the tour. Catching up with friends and things like that. So at the end of the day or night, as the case may be, it’s another update with my assistant, gym again ’cause sitting down all day drives me wild, dinner, usually a movie or some gaming, and then bed. ”
“You’re not allowed lunch?”
“Audrey used to bring me snacks, smoothies, or adult beverages as required.”
“Sounds structured.”
“Just a little.”
“And gaming or watching movies are your favorite hobbies?”
He shrugs. “There was never much time or energy for anything else.”
“What changed and made you want to leave? If you don’t mind me asking.”
He thinks it over. “There have been days I didn’t want to go into the room and write. When I would’ve rather been somewhere else. But never when I fucking hated the idea. It wasn’t even that I didn’t know what to write about. I just didn’t want to do it anymore.”
I nod and take a sip of the brew.
“The pressure of having everyone standing around waiting for you to produce new songs. I don’t know…it just wasn’t in me.”
“Now you have your days to do as you please.”
“And I’m apparently spending it with the sort of monster who puts sweet toppings on a biscuit.”
“Get out of here,” I say. “Mascarpone and honey on a biscuit is amazing. You wait till you try it.”
“Such a travesty is never passing my lips. You’re a monster, Junebug. Biscuits are made for gravy.”
“You don’t even know what you’re talking about.”
“Can you remember at what age you first felt the spirit of evil enter your body and give you such bad taste in food?”
I don’t mean to laugh so loud. But it happens. “You’re the worst. Wait. Is that why I like you?”
“Guess it must be,” he says casually. And he tries not to smile.
People are looking at us. Which makes sense since we’re being raucous.
Some are sitting at the tables outside Grind.
Others are across the road smoking in front of Town Hall.
But they turn away again, returning to whatever they were doing before my loud-ass laugh disturbed the peace.
Or they mostly do. Some give Nash second glances. Nothing out of the ordinary.
And the expression on Nash’s face is hopeful, and it’s a beautiful thing. He needs this break from stardom and all its trappings. I don’t know how long we can realistically keep his identity on the low down. But I am one hundred percent willing to try.
“This is all some perverted lumberjack fantasy for you, isn’t it?” asks Nash.
“So don’t try on the flannel shirt. You could have picked out clothes yourself.”
“I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with it.
” He pulls back the curtain separating us and huh.
There’s a lot of skin on show. Like, he’s half naked.
I’m confronted with his pecs and nipples and the soft, dark tufts of his underarm hair.
And the way the sight makes me catch my breath is a terrible, wonderful thing.
“What do you think?” he asks.
“About what?”
“The jeans.”
My gaze drops to his belly button and the light dusting of hair leading down.
He has a treasure trail. Clothes shopping with him was such a bad idea.
Because denim sits on his hips and frames his thick thighs just so.
The man has not been skipping leg day, and it shows.
And I absolutely positively will not stare at his crotch.
Something seems to be stuck in my throat. My heart or my libido or I don’t know. But him and his body have got me in a stranglehold. This is not good.
And then, just to make everything worse, he leans in and says, “Your cheeks are pink.”
“It’s hot in here.”
“Not really.”
“You don’t think? It feels warm to me.”
He reaches for a white tee without further comment. Lighter colors suit him. His muscular arms and thick shoulders seem more pronounced now. And he’s standing taller, as if there’s less chance of him being recognized. Or maybe he’s proud of how hard up he’s got me.
“Take a deep breath, June.”
“I don’t need to take a deep breath. I am fine.”
He gives me a half smile, lazily scratches at his abs, and says, “Yes you are.”
“God, you’re confusing. Aren’t we respecting Grandma’s wishes and not making things complicated?”
“Sure. I mean…there’s the stick to be considered.”
“So, stop flirting with me, Nash.”
“Where’s the fun in that?” he asks with a drawl. “Me behaving like a fuckboy makes you smile. And I like seeing you smile. I also like it when you ogle me, in case you were wondering.”
“No one is ogling anybody, thank you very much,” I say primly.
“Whatever you want, Junebug.”
And my gaze goes to the floor because there are definitely no funny, beautiful fuckboys down there. The ground is totally safe territory.
“You know what I really miss is my hat,” he says.
“Saw you wore one in most of your pictures. Where is it?”
“Back in Nashville. I knew I’d be too recognizable with it, but leaving it behind hurts. It was like cutting off a limb.” He frowns at the worn pair of black leather cowboy boots on the ground. “Should I get new boots?”
“How attached are you to them?”
“They were made especially for me. I’ve gone around the globe in them more than once.”
“Do as you please. I doubt anyone’s looking at your footwear.”
He grunts. “Hiking boots and sneakers seem to be big around these parts. Might as well grab some. Can’t believe you looked me up online.”
“I wasn’t supposed to?”
“I’m joking,” he says. “It’s normal to be curious. Got any questions?”
“Who did you write the song ‘Lady Caroline’ about?”
He just laughs.
“There are so many chats hypothesizing her identity.”
And he doesn’t answer the question. We’re in the back of a clothing store beside the dressing rooms. Nash gives himself a once-over in the mirror propped against the wall.
“I don’t know,” he says. “How do I look?”
“Good. I mean…you always look good. But yeah…you look good.”
“Your cheeks are pink again.”
“Shut up.”
His grin is entirely too self-satisfied.
Me and my stupid mouth and stirred-up hormones. Ugh. Time to stare at the floor some more. Sex had become a perfunctory thing with my ex. Another sign we shouldn’t have been together. Neither of us were putting in the effort.
In other news, Nash and his music have been sending me to sleep lately.
Which is not to say it’s boring. But it is the last thing I play at bedtime.
The quieter, slower songs he sings. He has a low speaking voice with a rough edge.
I would happily listen to him recite the manual for the dishwasher.
And hearing him sing is everything. Though he doesn’t need to know that.
He already has me blushing on the regular.
“Can’t help but think Johnny Cash, the man in black, would be ashamed of me,” he says.
“I don’t know what to say to that.”