Page 21 of Rise of the Witch (Witches of Keating Hollow #17)

“What do you think?” Briggs asked King. They were sitting in the studio, listening to a playback of Kassie’s new song, “Flying High.” On the way to the studio, Briggs had called Austin to get permission to try some new things.

He’d known his boss would be cool about it, so he wasn’t surprised when Austin had told him to go for it.

And then when King had called while Kassie was in the middle of working out a lyric, Briggs had asked him to come give his input.

The three of them had been in the studio for hours and had just finished the song.

King turned to Briggs. “It’s brilliant. That riff you put in just before the bridge is effing incredible. I’m jealous it’s not on my album.”

“It’s soooo good,” Kassie said from the booth. “I love it!”

Briggs felt a deep sense of accomplishment.

His job was sound mixing, and while he’d certainly helped King work out arrangements with his songs occasionally, he’d never really taken on the role of producer before.

But after years of working in the studio with Austin and King, he’d been bound to pick up some skills, right? “It was a true collaboration,” he said.

“I agree, but you’re the one who did most of the musical arrangements. I just helped smooth out the lyrics,” King said. “The magic is in the production and the passion that Kassie brings to it.”

“Thanks for that,” Kassie said softly.

Briggs knew there was still tension between the two of them, but as always, when everything was clicking in the studio, all the BS just seemed to fade into the background. There was nothing more healing than when two artists were able to come together to make something special.

“And thanks for coming in today,” Kassie told King. “You helped make a good sound great.”

“You’re just lucky Sadie was working today, otherwise, I’d have blown you both off,” King said.

Kassie walked out of the booth and stood right next to King as she looked down at him. “Can I ask you something?”

“That depends on the question,” he said warily.

Kassie rolled her eyes. “Come on, I’m not going to ask to move in or anything.”

Briggs chuckled softly and was relieved that they were in a place where they could joke about such things.

“Okay, out with it,” King said.

“Why does Sadie still work at the brewery? You two have a hit record. Surely she’s making enough so that she can just focus on music,” Kassie mused.

“She gets asked that a lot,” King said. “Sadie continues working there because she likes it, and the Townsends are like family to her. They’re flexible and let her have time off whenever she needs it. Plus, it takes the pressure off having to make a living with music.”

“It must be nice to have a place that feels like family to fall back on,” Kassie said wistfully.

Briggs thought about what she’d said earlier, about how she was struggling even though, by most standards, she’d had a successful first album. It just reinforced the fact that making money in music was a tough road to go down. King had certainly had his share of ups and downs over the years, too.

King just nodded and then stood. “I better get going. Congrats, Kassie. The song is fire.”

Kassie wrapped her arms around him in an impromptu hug.

King stiffened, giving Briggs a deer-in-the-headlights look. When she didn’t let go, he tentatively returned the hug and then stepped back awkwardly. “Okay, well… time to go. Briggs, I’ll call you later.”

Briggs nodded at him as he stifled a chuckle. Then he looked at Kassie. “Want to get something to eat?”

“Sure.” She beamed at him and then chattered happily about the song all the way to the Cozy Cave.

“I’m buying,” Kassie said as they looked over their menus.

“That’s not necessary,” Briggs said. “I invited you.”

“No, no. With everything you did today, it’s only right that I treat.”

“Forget it,” he insisted. “I’ve been where you are. I’ll pay. You can treat me when you finally get your number one hit or something.”

She gave him a grateful smile and nodded. “Okay. You’re on.”

They talked music the entire meal, and when they walked out of the restaurant, both of them were relaxed and happy.

“I can ride to Melissa’s from here,” Kassie said when they got to his truck.

“It’s no big deal to just drop you off,” he said, already climbing into the cab. “Besides, it’s dark and pretty cold out. Just get in.”

She didn’t argue.

When they got to Melissa’s house, Briggs stared up at her bedroom window, wishing she was there.

He’d missed her today. Even though he’d enjoyed his time in the studio, he still wished he could end the day wrapped in her arms. The memory of her cuddled up next to him in his sleeping bag the night before brought a smile to his face.

“Thank you for such a great day, Briggs,” Kassie said, placing her hand on his thigh.

He stared at her hand and frowned. “Sure, Kas. I enjoyed it, too.” Then he quickly jumped out of the cab and retrieved the bike from the back. “Where does Melissa keep this?”

“In the garage. This way.” She led him to the side door, opened it for him, and flicked on the light.

The garage was tidy, with plastic bins stacked on a rack on one side and a toolbox on the other. It didn’t surprise him. Melissa was the orderly type. He rolled the bike over to where a helmet was hanging on the wall and then turned to Kassie. “I’ll see you Monday.”

“You don’t have to go,” she said as she stepped in front of him, blocking him from leaving. “I can make hot cocoa and we can talk more music by the fireplace.”

“That’s not?—”

“Come on, Briggs.” She stared up at him with her big eyes and pouty lips. “We had such a good day. You don’t want that to end do you?” She reached up to brush a lock of hair out of his eyes. “Our chemistry?—”

Briggs grabbed her hand, stopping her. “There’s no chemistry,” he insisted. “We had a good day in the studio. Let’s just leave it at that.”

Undeterred, Kassie placed her other hand on his pec and lightly trailed her fingers over his well-defined muscle. “We both know how good we are together. Let’s not deny ourselves this night, Briggs. I’ve missed you.”

He stepped back, feeling that tingle of magic spark at his spine. He pictured Melissa’s smiling face and forced out, “I said no.”

“Oh, come on,” Kassie said with a sigh. “What’s wrong with having a little fun? You’re not married... yet. And the little woman isn’t even here. Don’t tell me you’re not attracted to me. You weren’t faking it back in LA.”

Briggs wondered what Melissa would say if she heard Kassie throwing herself at him.

He imagined his girlfriend throwing her out of the house and telling her not to let the door hit her on the ass on the way out.

He chuckled softly, shook his head, and then moved for the door.

When she darted in front of him again, he grabbed her by her arms, picked her up, and physically moved her.

Once he was outside, he peered back in and said, “Don’t ever do that again. Understand?”

“A girl has to take her shot,” Kassie said flippantly and then hurried into the house.

Briggs couldn’t believe that they’d had an entire day of normalcy, and he’d actually thought that they were moving past the issues Kassie had brought with her to Keating Hollow. Then she’d had to go and ruin it right at the end.

Did she have no decency? Melissa was letting her stay at her house, and Kassie couldn’t refrain from hitting on Melissa’s fiancé. Well, fake fiancé, but Kassie didn’t know that. It appeared that leopards really didn’t ever change their spots.

Briggs would do well to remember that.

Feeling frustrated with how the day ended, Briggs climbed back into his truck and headed home. He took a long hot shower, climbed into bed, and then called Melissa. “Hey, gorgeous.”

“Hey yourself,” she said, and he could hear the smile in her voice. “How was your day?”

“Pretty great, actually. Or it was right up until about an hour ago,” he said.

“What happened?”

He explained that Kassie had come over to apologize and how that led to working in the studio and going to dinner afterward.

“That sounds pretty amazing so far,” Melissa said, seeming perfectly fine with him spending the day with his ex-situationship. “What ruined it?”

“Kassie,” he said bluntly. “I took her back to your place, and she hit on me pretty hard.”

There was silence on the other end.

“Melissa?”

“I’m here,” she said, her tone flat. “That woman is?—”

“A snake?” he offered.

She chuckled. “Yes. Just when you think she might be sincere, she turns around and does something that vile. It’s pretty pathetic, but then so is texting someone eight thousand messages when they never text you back.”

“True,” he agreed.

“How did you handle it? Did sparks fly? The kind that burns things down, I mean. Not the passionate kind.”

He laughed. “Almost, but I told you my therapist gave me some tools to use, and I was able to get myself out of there before we had to rebuild your garage.”

“That’s good,” she said, sounding relieved. “I’m really happy your therapist was able to help.”

“Same. Now tell me about your day. Are all the wine clients happy?”

“Most of them.” Melissa spent the next ten minutes telling him all about her favorite winery and how she wanted to take him down the coast once the weather warmed up.

Briggs happily listened, imagining spending a nice warm day with her, touring her favorite wineries and listening to her talk about distribution and wine pairings and all the boring things she loved about her job.

It just seemed so normal. And that sounded just about perfect to him.