Page 31 of Restless Ink
Thea would tell Shep and Adrienne her news soon, but for now, she was a little worried and a little scared that it wouldn’t all work out. Change was hard, and making plans for something crazy like what she had planned was even harder.
Adrienne gave her a look but didn’t ask any questions, and for that, Thea was grateful. Kaylee made her way around the class again, commenting on their paintings, and Thea went back to it, trying her best to get it to look like Kaylee’s. Of course, it wasn’t perfect, and she’d taken some artistic license when it came to the moon, but she loved it in the end. After the class was over, the whole group got up to take a photo with their paintings, and Thea left hers to dry with the others, knowing she’d either come back to pick it up for her house or Kaylee would find a good use for it. There were tons of people around who wanted art but couldn’t afford it, and yeah, it wasn’t the best work in the world, but she was happy to know that at least two of her paintings were in shelters for women and children. It wasn’t much, but maybe it could make someone happy.
“Are you ready to head home, or do you want to hit a bar or something?” Adrienne asked as they pulled on their coats.
“I need to head home since I promised the babysitter I’d be back by eight,” Abby answered. “Sorry.”
“You know Mace said you could bring her over to hang out with Daisy if you want,” Adrienne said as she wrapped her scarf around her neck. “He’s already at home, you know? That way, you can stay out as long as you want and not have to worry about a sitter.”
“Mace would be the sitter then, and I’d still pay him, even if he said he wouldn’t take the money,” Abby put in.
“Think about it, at least,” Adrienne said. “Or know that if you can’t get a babysitter, one of us is here.”
“Heck, our parents would love it, too. They try to get as much time with Daisy and Livvy as possible. They love babies.” Thea grinned as she said it. “I think they’re waiting for the rest of us to have more kids, but now that Mace and Daisy are in the picture, it takes the pressure off of us.”
Roxie coughed. Thea couldn’t tell what was wrong with her sister, but she noticed that the other woman had gone pale.
“Everything okay?” Thea asked.
“Oh, yeah, I’m fine. I could do with a drink. Carter is at home, but I know he had a few piles of paperwork to get through. So maybe if I’m home by nine, that’ll give him enough time, and then we can have the rest of the night together.”
“A drink sounds good to me,” Thea said. It wasn’t like she had someone waiting at home for her. She wasn’t going to call or text Dimitri, no matter how much she wanted to. Instead, she was going to talk to him tomorrow and possibly see him for a date. Nothing too scary or momentous.
And if she kept telling herself that, she’d totally believe it.
They saidtheir goodbyes to Abby and headed over to the bar next door to Kaylee’s studio. Kaylee herself couldn’t make it since she had a later event but told them all to have fun as they strolled to the other building. Soft guitar music drifted out of the open door, and Thea glanced at the sign next to it on the sidewalk claiming it was open mic night.
“This could either be amazing or horrible,” Adrienne said under her breath as Roxie laughed.
But Thea didn’t laugh, she couldn’t, not when she heard that voice.
Sheknewthat voice, dreamed of that voice. Oh, hell, that voice was one that kept her awake at night and sent delicious warmth between her thighs.
“Is that…?” Adrienne’s voice trailed off, and Roxie sucked in a breath.
Thea just blinked as they stopped right inside the door, the three of them standing stock-still, their mouths dropping open.
Dimitri sat on a stool in front of the crowded room, his fingers strumming the guitar as he crooned a song about love and loss with that deep growl of his.
And when he lifted his head, and his gaze met hers, he didn’t pause, didn’t break his concentration, but she knew he saw her, understood that he wanted her there from the glint in his eyes. Realized that this meant something.
And she knew…sheknewshe was lost.
And so damn screwed.
Chapter 13
Dimitri wasn’t sure how he kept playing when he saw her there, but he made his fingers move, made the song come from somewhere deep inside him, and justsang. When he got to the end, he closed his eyes, putting everything he could into the lyrics, then let out a breath. The room went silent.
He opened his eyes as the cheers and applause began and smiled at the crowd, thanked them for their time, then packed up his guitar. Some called out for another set, but his turn was over, and he knew damn well he wouldn’t be able to sing with Thea in the room.
He didn’t think she’d known he was there, and wasn’t sure she even knew he sang at all since it hadn’t been something he did often in recent years. Molly hadn’t been a fan of his music since she liked pop tunes and classical, and that wasn’t something he was interested in. Plus, going to dive bars for open mic night hadreallynever been her thing, so he’d quit doing it. He’d had too much on his plate with work and going to all of Molly’s functions, that playing for himself like this had gone by the wayside.
Like so many things he liked to do.
He’d willingly given them all up because he’d thought he loved Molly enough to make it all worth it. But it hadn’t been until he was on the outside looking in that he realized howmuchhe’d given up when Molly hadn’t done the same for him.
Dimitri didn’t want to think about that, however, because Molly wasn’t here. She was his past, not his present, and sure as hell wasn’t his future.