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She looked him in the eye. “No.” Not even a little bit.

He seemed nervous for some reason but said, “Okay. Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” She went to her little kitchen area and pulled out another wineglass from the cupboard and took it to him. “Back in a sec.”

“Take your time.”

She stuffed her stocking feet into her boots, pulled her coat off the rack by the door and tugged it on, zipped it up, and off she went down to the bar, leaving Viper alone in her apartment.

She went in through the back and pulled the leftovers from the fridge. She was making the plate when Aria walked in. “I thought I saw someone back here. Midnight snack?”

“Yeah,” she lied to her sister because she didn’t have time to explain why Viper had come to see her and why she’d invited him to stay a while. She spooned a huge helping of garlic mashed potatoes onto the plate and spread them out. Then she scooped two big helpings of the pot roast with all the veggies on top of that.

Aria’s eyes popped. “Wow. You are hungry.”

“I worked hard tonight. We had a good crowd.”

“Yeah, including that guy who couldn’t take his eyes off you.” Aria eyed her and grinned. “Anything going on there?”

“No. He’s a singer-songwriter who wants to collaborate with me.”

Aria’s eyes softened. “Oh, that’s nice.”

“Yeah. Not really.”

Aria opened her mouth to ask more, but Lyric didn’t want to talk about it. Especially when Viper was waiting for her. “Listen, I was working on something upstairs, and I want to get back to it.”

“Sure. No problem. See you tomorrow.” Aria was used to Lyric being in songwriting mode and not wanting to lose an idea or get distracted from it before she got it worked out on her computer or with the guitar.

Lyric picked up the plate and rushed back to her place. She found Viper right where she’d left him, though he’d taken off his jacket and hung it next to the door. He sat in the same chair, a full glass of wine in his hand, his face turned to the flames as he stared at them looking lost in thought.

“You okay?” she asked, wondering about how quiet and intense he looked.

He turned and held up his phone. “You posted a song tonight.”

She went still. “You follow me?”

“You sing in the bar sometimes. Well, all the time in the kitchen. And then sometimes with the bands that come to play.” He went quiet for a moment but didn’t stop looking right at her. Then he surprised her again and said, “I like listening to you sing.”

“Thank you.”

He leaned forward with his elbows on his knees,the wineglass in one hand. “Was that song meant for me? Or is that just me, having a stupid idea?”

She held his gaze, feeling this moment, knowing it meant something. Hoping it was the start of something. “It’s not stupid at all.”

He raked his fingers through his hair. “Me being here is crazy.”

She shook her head. “I’ve hadcrazytoday. This... this is nice.”

He fell back in the seat and stared into his wineglass. “I thought maybe it was just me.”

“It’s not just you.” She needed something to do, so she popped the plate in her microwave with a cover over it and nuked it for a couple of minutes.

Viper didn’t say anything.

She watched him watching the flames dance.

“I like your place,” he said without looking at her. “It’s so you.”