Ares takes a sip of his own smoothie and swallows it without any signs of gagging or disgust. "Okay, tell me. Why are you an idiot? Other than all the reasons I'm familiar with, I mean."
"Be nice to me," I say. "Free living space, remember?"
Since Seven Percent is heading out on tour next week, he rented out his cute little Central Austin house for the next five months. But the band doesn't hit the road until Monday. Which means he's camping in my spare bedroom until then.
"Not free," he says. "Barter." He lifts the smoothie. "I'm feeding you."
I snort. "There's one reason I'm an idiot. Agreeing to put up with you for a weekend."
He flashes the same wide grin that has girls scrambling up on stage when he's performing. "Bite your tongue."
"Did that once," I say. "Left a bad taste."
He laughs. "Bitch."
"Asshole."
"But you love me," he says, and he's right. I do. I just don't love him. We did the dating thing for about a week, after doing the casual sex thing when I was still morose about my failed marriage and leaving Owen. Or, more specifically, when I thought I should be morose.
There were never relationship sparks with Ares, though, much to Celia's disappointment. But we have friendship sparks in spades.
"You're avoiding the question," Ares says. "Why are you an idiot this time?"
I leave the smoothie on the bar and move to my sofa, then stretch out, getting comfy. I'm wearing my sushi pattern pajama bottoms paired with a Texas Strong tank-top. Ares joins me, and I lift my feet only long enough to let him sit so that I can put them in his lap. "The job, of course."
His brow furrows. "I thought it was the perfect gig. Wasn't that what you said whe
n you first got the RFP? In fact, I seem to remember you waving the paper, dancing around this very room, and singing about it being a really big gig. You were off key, by the way."
"The hell I was, and the job is perfect. Or it was. Now I'm afraid I'm going to get it."
"With the way your mind works, it's a wonder you don't go through life in a perpetual state of vertigo."
I smirk. "It's just . . . Noah."
"Are you still in love with him?"
The question shocks me. It's so simple. So basic. And so very unexpected that I have to take a few moments to think about it. "No," I finally say. "How could I be after all this time? I mean, we don't even know each other anymore. Not really."
"Then what's the problem?"
I exhale, because apparently I'm the problem. "Because I am still in love with the Noah who lives in my head. The one who broke my heart. I'm in love with his memory, with the dreams that I had to let go. And I know it's going to hurt like hell to be working side by side with him."
He presses his hand lightly against my ankle, his storm-gray eyes on mine as he nods thoughtfully. "I get that. And it may not be an issue. He may be thinking the exact same thing. It may be bothering him so much that he doesn't offer you the position."
I bolt up, fueled by irritation. "Whoa," I say. "That would be totally unfair. I kicked ass on that proposal. He can't just take me out of the running. He needs to get over it."
"You think it's that easy?"
"Of course not, but--oh." I flop back against my pillow, ceding his victory. "I guess I should be able to get over it, too, huh?"
"It's worth trying to, isn't it? I know Celia will have your head on a platter if you back out of the album. And she'll have mine for not convincing you."
He's right, of course. For the last few months, Celia and I have been working toward reviving Pink Chameleon. And the more we've accomplished, the more excited I've become.
I do love my work, but I miss writing and performing. But the nature of my business is such that I can handpick my projects, and that's what I did with the Stark proposal. Get this job--get this paycheck--and I'll have enough money to live for a year in LA while Celia and I compile a new body of work, and then rehearse, record, and possibly even hit the road for a short tour depending on the reaction to the singles we'll release.
And now that the Stark money stays the same but the time period is truncated, it's an even better deal for me. Get in, get out, get financed.