“You’re making me nervous, Jeremy,” Alex said.
“I’m not going to do anything right now,” I said. “But when I do, you’ll be the first to know.”
The cat inched forward, stepping out from behind the flowers, eyes on the bowl of food.
Alex blew out an exasperated breath in my ear. “Oh, come on, Jer. You can’t dangle that little morsel out for me and not tell me what you mean.”
I laughed and the cat froze. “I’ll talk to you later.”
“Fine,” Alex said. “Let me know when you’re ready.”
He ended the call, his words hanging in the air. When you’re ready. Did he know what I was thinking? That I would need him to carry out my plan? Would it even work?
Pretending to stare down at my phone, I watched my furry friend boldly walk up to the bowl a few feet away. He checked on me more than once, but I didn’t dare move. I’d worked too hard to mess it up now.
“Someday you’ll be mine,” I whispered, almost to myself. But even I didn’t know if I was talking about the cat or Brian.
Maybe it was both.
8
Brian
I wasn’t at my desk long when Jeremy appeared in my cubicle with a huge grin on his face. “I just finished talking to Laura. You up for a fieldtrip?”
“A fieldtrip?”
“It’s time you got to see how we find our new talent before the big guys do.”
“That sounds fun,” I said cautiously. “How long are we going to be?”
He shrugged. “Probably all day. There’s a music festival at TCU.”
“That’s unexpected.”
“Sometimes the best talent is playing gigs for free.” He laughed and his face lit up, brown eyes crinkling at the corners. My heart skipped inside my chest. “I’ve found acts at the most ridiculous places. Besides, it’ll be fun.”
“What about me?” Garret said from over the partition.
Jeremy’s shoulders stiffened and he grimaced. “Garret, I believe you have a deadline that’s not going to wait.”
“What business is that of yours?” he shot back like a petulant child.
Jeremy rolled his eyes but Laura’s voice floated down the hall, chiming in and settling everything quickly.
“You’re staying here, Garret. I need that graphic.”
Garret groaned, but Jeremy was smiling at me again. He gestured toward the hallway with his head. “Let’s get out of here.”
I grabbed my things and we took the back elevator. “What is that?” I asked pointing at the paper bag he held in his hand.
“Cat food.”
“Cat food?”
“Yeah, there’s this feral cat that hangs out by the picnic benches near the koi pond.”
I chortled. “Those aren’t koi.”
Jeremy laughed. “Yeah, I know. But it sounds better than carp. Anyway, there’s a cat that lives out there. I’m feeding it.”
“I haven’t seen a cat and I eat lunch out there.”
“You won’t see him. It’s taken me weeks to get him to come out of the bushes.”
“I do remember seeing a dish and wondering if there were turtles or something.”
The look on his face was pure bafflement. “Water turtles eat while in water. I, um,” he laughed and ran a hand through his curls. “I thought everyone knew that.”
My heartrate quickened. The gesture was such a natural one and somehow brought out the simple beauty of his face. Dark features and sparkling brown eyes, long lashes dark as coal. The sight of him laughing took my breath away.
It’s too soon, a voice warned in the back of my mind. Much too soon.
The elevator bell dinged and broke the spell. Kicking the floor with the toe of his shoe, he looked up at me through those luscious lashes and smiled. “I’ll run the food over and meet you at the car. You can follow me-”
“Or I can drive and we can ride together.” When he balked, I smiled. “No sense in wasting gas on two vehicles, right? And mine’s the new hybrid model.”
“All right,” he nodded, then he was off, jogging to the quaint little shaded area to feed the mysterious cat.
When he returned I already had the top down and the engine on. I expected him to admire the car as so many had before; commenting on the fine details and running their hands over the premium leather while gently prodding me to reveal the price. But Jeremy only had one thing on his mind. “I didn’t know Audi had hybrid convertibles,” he said as he buckled himself in. “That’s impressive.”
“They started rolling out the hybrids recently. This one isn’t available to the general public yet.” He’ll ask about the price now, I thought, cringing inwardly. They always did. Better to find out he’s a gold digger now.
But he only nodded. “Do you know how to get to the university?” he asked when I didn’t put the car in gear right away.
I nodded. “I do, but it’s been a while. And I’m not sure exactly where on campus we’re going.”
“I’ll show you.”
I let him direct me to the stadium parking lot at the back of Temperance Christian University. “I’m surprised they’re having a music festival here.”
“They’re pretty liberal, at least on paper. But renting out a parking lot they only use during football season brings in the money.” He shrugged, then got out of the car before I could open my door. “This should be fun,” he said as we fell in step together. “And I have something for you.” He handed me a stack of business cards.
“Talent scout?”
“The job title is the same for everyone. When you’re out in public, you’re officially a talent scout.”
“Sounds good to me.”
“We don’t give them out to just anyone. They’re for acts we think have potential.”
“I’m surprised we leave it up to them to call us.”
Jeremy smiled, shaking his head. “You’d be surprised at how little work ethic some of these acts have. Laura says, ‘if they can’t be bothered to make a follow-up call, they’re not for us’.”
“That impression is spot on,” I teased. “You should show Laura. She’ll get a kick out of it.”
“Doubtful. But she’ll be happy I remember her saying that.”
“Hey, that’s something.”
We stopped at the first booth, where a small group of scruffy-looking twenty-somethings were sitting around playing guitar and singing. Their CDs were stacked on a nearby table with a handwritten sign declaring they were on sale for five dollars.
After listening for a few minutes, Jeremy touched my hand and started walking away. When we were out of sight, he leaned in close so I could hear him over the cacophony of music that mingled together from booth to booth. “What did you think of them?” he asked.
“Every song sounded almost identical. I didn’t realize they’d started a new one until the chorus. Their harmonies are good but not great, and I have a feeling the three chords from the first song are the only chords they know.”