“Knox Tavern?”
“Is there any other place?”
My lip twitches as that. “See you there about seven?”
“Sounds good, bye Tee.”
“Bye.”
I message Saxon and tell him I’m going out with Lexi, then resume my work. By the end of my work day, I tick the first two things off my list.
I still need to work on the second two.
*****
“Who are you?” I ask of the pretty blonde manning the bar.
“I’m Anna who the f**k are you?” she replies, raising an eyebrow.
I grin at her language. “I’m Tenielle. Where are Ryan, Reid, or Tag?”
“They had some family thing happening tonight, so it’s just me for the next hour,” she explains.
“How long have you been working here?” I ask her.
“A couple of weeks. Just part-time,” she replies.
“Cool. Can I have a beer please,” I ask her.
“Which one?”
“Surprise me,” I say.
Nothing like living life on the wild side.
She comes back and places a beer down in front of me. “Tenielle. Why does that name sound familiar.” She suddenly grins, her eyes widening. “You’re the drunk lawyer, that’s right!”
Eh, I’ve heard worse.
“That would be me. I’m the guys’ favourite customer,” I let her know. “I see they have been talking about me.”
She laughs and pulls up a sticky note. It reads: If Tenielle comes into the bar, pretend we’re out of tequila.
I laugh with her. “They tried that last time. It didn’t work.”
I notice a sexy looking biker walk into the bar and sit down. He may have the best beard I’ve ever seen on a man. She looks over at him and sighs.
“That man has a great beard,” I mumble.
Anna smirks. “Tell me about it.”
Definitely something going on there. I’m about to ask if that’s her boyfriend when Lexi walks in, wearing black skinny jeans and a red skull top. She kisses me on the cheek and plops down next to me.
“How was your day?” she asks. “I’m in desperate need of some girl talk.”
“Not bad, how about you? What do you want to drink?” I ask.
She shrugs. “Ryder was in the studio all day, and I was bored out of my mind. Oh I’ll just have what you’re having.”
I ask my new friend Anna for another beer.
Lexi looks around. “Where are all the hotties who usually work here?”
“At some event apparently.”
“So are you thinking about coming on tour? Did you ask your boss yet?” she asks me as Anna slides her a beer. “Thank you.”
“Not yet,” I reply, fiddling with the label on my beer bottle.
“So, remember ages ago when I told you that Saxon couldn’t keep his eyes off you?”
How could I forget?
I take a sip of my beer. “I remember. I also thought you were batshit crazy.”
“Well,” she says with a cute grin. “Who’s crazy now?”
“I think both of us are,” I mumble, leaning against the bar.
She pulls her honey-coloured hair away from her face as she searches my gaze. “Tell me what’s going on.”
“Six months is a long time, and I can’t exactly just quit my job and follow Saxon around on a tour bus,” I tell her in a quiet voice, averting my gaze.
She bobs her head in agreement. “You can make it work. I’m sure he could fly back here every chance he gets.”
Maybe.
Maybe not.
“I guess we shall see,” I say to myself, then turn my body towards my best friend. “Want to play some pool? We could make a bet.”
“I should know better than to challenge you,” she smirks. “But you’re on.”
I laugh and turn to Anna. “What time are you off?”
“Whenever Ryan gets here,” she says, wiping her hands on a tea towel.
“Want to come play some pool with us when he gets here?” I ask her.
She grins. “Count me in.”
Chapter Eighteen
Saxon
Two weeks pass and Tee doesn’t approach the subject of the tour. We pretend as if I’m not leaving in another two weeks. It’s worked thus far, but soon I need to know what she has planned. I leave the studio early and drop by her office, hoping to take her out for lunch. As I walk in the door, the sour-faced receptionist bats her eyelashes at me. I look down at her name tag. So this is Taryn.
“Hello,” I say. “I’m here to see Tenielle.”
Her eyes flare and she swallows. “Right, of course.”
She picks up a phone and tells Tee that I’m here. She doesn’t seem that evil, but Tee is sold on the fact that she is, so of course I’m going to believe my woman.
“Go right in,” she says. “She isn’t with a client. I love your new track ‘Obsessed’ by the way.”
“Thank you,” I tell her. “I wrote it about Tenielle.”
I leave her with her mouth gaping and walk towards Tenielle’s office door. I’ve only been here twice before, but her office is easily located. I knock twice then open the door, to find her sitting there with a laptop in front of her, a happy smile on her face.
“I didn’t know you were coming to see me today,” she says, standing up and giving me a quick kiss. She’s wearing a white shirt with a fitted black skirt and looks f**king edible.