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“Me too,” she admitted with a laugh, covering her mouth when her bite of pickle tried to slip off her lip. “Man, this is so good. I forgot how much I loved going to Maggie’s.”

“Breakfast, lunch, dinner… they do it all. I could eat there all the time if I didn’t have respect for my waistline.”

That got a laugh out of her. “You’re funny.”

“I try to be.” I got quiet a moment, thinking back to something she’d said earlier. “So you really haven’t written anything new in years?”

She looked at me as though I’d just slapped her. Her face paled and she looked at everything inside the room except me.

“Sorry, you don’t need to answer. I’m just trying to make conversation.” One of which didn’t go as planned.

“No, it’s okay,” she said, wiping her mouth with a napkin before finishing up her fries and drink. “I’ve written a few of them, but there’s a big difference between writing a song and wanting to sing it for someone else.”

“So they’re private,” I said, “which is totally fine, by the way.”

“My manager would beg to differ. If he knew I was withholding new material…” She shook her head, then dropped the subject altogether.

“It isn’t any of his business,” I told her, “and you should be able to sing whatever and however you want. In fact, if you need a place to sing just for yourself, you can come up here.

Folks rarely come into the shop, so you could treat it like your own personal studio.”

“Really?” she asked with disbelief, her eyes going wide when she looked at me again.

I shrugged, then said, “It isn’t like anyone else is using the space. Besides, the shop could use a pick-me-up.”

“Singing to cheer up a shop,” she said with a laugh. “I like it, and I’d be honored to sing in this room. Besides, it would mean hanging out with you some more before I have to go back on tour, so in that sense, it’s a win-win.”

There was that smile again. The same exact smile that made my entire stomach swirl with nerves.

“Then I’ll leave you to it,” I said, getting up from my spot so I finish what was left of my lunch before opening the shop downstairs.

“I’ll just be a few more minutes, then I’ll grab my gear from the car.”

“Take your time,” I said, stopping at the top of the steps and hoping I didn’t look as silly as I felt. My smile was starting to make my cheeks hurt, and as I hovered with my hand on the

railing, I knew I’d lingered longer than I should. “I’ll be downstairs if you need me.”

I didn’t wait for an answer, forcing my legs to move before I said something I might regret. Something like how pretty she was, or happy I was to have her around, and how badly I wanted to take the day off just to hang out with her. Those were things something would say to her girlfriend, not someone she just met.

It’s just because I haven’t dated in a while, I decided, excusing my childish feelings of lust as nothing more than that. It was lust, plain and simple. Once she was around for a while, things would calm down.

I was almost sure of it.

As promised, the afternoon inside the shop was slow and quiet. I still managed to find something to do, but in reality, it was just to keep my mind off of Cassidy. Things like rotating the books on the front wall yet again even though I’d just done it, or cleaning the fr

ont window and putting some books on the windowsill to try and bring in more business.

There was a time when putting new books inside the window meant a rush of foot traffic, but not anymore. Folks were so glued to their phones that even when they went out for a walk, their heads were down and their minds completely oblivious to the world around them.

Okay, so not everyone was like that, but it certainly felt that way. At least I’m not alone, I thought with a smile, turning back toward the inside of the shop once I arranged the books inside the window.

Cassidy hadn’t said more than a few words between her trips to the car and back. I wasn’t exactly sure what she planned to do up in the tower, but it didn’t involve singing.

She didn’t take up her guitar case which I’m sure she kept with her at all times. As far as I could tell, she didn’t sing, either.

Perhaps the offer of having a place to unwind was enough.

She could’ve just as easily gone up there to read whatever