Flesh & Bone - a contemporary romance: The Minstrel Series #2 (16 page)

“Be careful with your heart,” he said as he held open the door for her. “That’s all I’m saying.”

The problem was Eva was tired of being careful. She’d been nothing but careful for the last five years.

Gabriele was hunched over her laptop when Eva made it back to her room. Eva let herself flop on her bed, suddenly exhausted.

Gabriele didn’t look up.

“Homework?” Eva asked.

“Exams.”

“You’re almost all done, Gabi. I’m proud of you.”

Gabriele looked up then and a smile drew across her face. “I know. I’m getting married in three weeks, Eva. Three weeks!”

Eva laughed with her sister. “I’m happy for you.” And she was. Her heart felt larger and warmer toward her sister. Eva really wanted her to be happy.

Eva’s phone buzzed. She pulled it out of her purse, and her insides tingled. Sebastian had texted already.

Sebastian Weiss

Is it a good time to call?

“Who is it?” Gabriele asked.

Eva ignored her and texted back.

Eva Baumann

No. Sister here.

Sebastian Weiss

Fine. We can text. I just want you to know I’m thinking about you. Your lips mainly. But you. Yes, definitely you.

“Eva? You should see your face. You’re blushing!”

Eva huffed. “Don’t you have exams to study for?”

“Is that Sebastian Weiss? Is he
texting
you?”

“Can you just chill?” Eva said through tight lips. “Everyone is treating me like I’m twelve.”

Gabriele clammed up after that, but her eyes kept darting to Eva.

Eva tucked her phone out of sight and texted Sebastian back.

Eva Baumann

You’re creating quite a stir around here.

Sebastian Weiss

That seems to be the effect I have on people. Are you okay with it???

Eva Baumann

I’m totally okay.

Sebastian Weiss

Whew. I really want to see you again.

Eva Baumann

I really want to see you again, too. Might need to wait a day or so. Let things cool down.

Sebastian didn’t text back right away and Eva wondered if she’d just killed their relationship before it had a chance to get started.

Then finally he responded.

Sebastian Weiss

I hate waiting. But you’re worth waiting for. Good night, Eva

Eva bit her lip to suppress the squeal that bubbled up. Gabriele flashed her another worried look, but Eva just turned and faced the other way allowing her lips to stretch out into a big, sappy smile.

It was like Eva’s kisses had unlocked the song vault in Sebastian’s heart. He spent most of the afternoon scribbling down lyric ideas and plucking out new melodies. He hated that he had to wait to see her again, but if he could keep this up, the time would fly by.

Dirk would be happy. Sebastian hadn’t thought about Dirk or the band in days. He’d promised Dirk he’d spend the band’s hiatus writing. At the time, he thought he was just blowing off his manager, but here he was with several great ideas and a few strong songs started.

Sebastian reached for his phone and pressed Dirk’s number.

“Hey, man,” he said when Dirk answered.

“Sebastian, how’s it going?” Dirk sounded reserved, like he was afraid Sebastian would lay on more drama.

“Actually, it’s going great. Better than great.”

“Really?” A relieved breath. “What’s up?”

“I’m writing, man. And I think I’ve got some good songs to work on. You should set up a rehearsal.”

“You realize that Karl is still in the band, right? Aren’t you still pissed at him? You know, the reason we’re on this sabbatical in the first place.”

“Yeah, but whatever. The past is past.”

“The past is past? You weren’t talking like that two weeks ago. What happened? Did you meet a new girl?”

Sebastian chuckled. “Yeah. I did. Yvonne is so yesterday.”

Dirk laughed. “Okay, great. I’ll set up a rehersal. You can’t imagine how relieved I am to hear you got your head back on straight.”

No one was more amazed than Sebastian at how quickly he’d turned around. He wondered if he’d ever really loved Yvonne. He thought he did at the time, but she never stirred him like Eva did. She never made him want to dig deeper creatively or grow as a person. She was kind of just there, which was what he needed at the time—someone to lean on when his family abandoned him. She was like a wall or a fence. She kept him from falling over, and he felt immensely grateful. But were those feelings love? They’d gotten physical quickly after getting together. Yvonne never held back, never said no. He was able to release a lot of his emotional pain with her body. And again he was grateful, but he realized now his feelings for her weren’t love. They were loyalty.

She stood by him. He would stand by her. Until she didn’t.

It was amazingly easy to get over her, and maybe this was why.

Not that he was in love with Eva. Though he could imagine falling in love with her one day. Maybe.

His phone buzzed and he assumed it was Dirk getting back with rehearsal times. Or maybe it would be Eva saying she could see him sooner after all.

The name that flashed shocked him. Then angered him. Stefan Weiss, his father.

What did he want? He hadn’t tried to contact Sebastian in years. Not a birthday greeting. Not a congratulations when his songs hit the charts.

Sebastian pressed ignore. As far as he was concerned, he didn’t have a father anymore.

Eva seriously thought she had died and gone to heaven. The last two weeks—wow, her life had changed so radically! Before she was an invisible cripple with nothing more pressing in her life than making sure to take her pain medication and watch Gabriele have the life she thought she’d never have. Today Eva felt alive and… hopeful.

Last month each wedding-related task assigned to her was like a needle in the heart, poking and taunting her with envy and pity. But now she made ribbons for the table decorations with enthusiasm. One day she would have her own wedding.

Even if it wasn’t to Sebastian (
Oh my heart, please let it be him!),
he’d shown her that she was worthy of adoration and affection. Of love and devotion.

Not that he’d declared his love to her. But he obviously really, really liked her. Every time she’d gone over to his flat (sneaking away while her parents were busy with the church, and Gabriele with Lennon) with the guise of writing a song, Sebastian struggled to keep his hands off her. She’d had a lot of practice at kissing lately (!), and more than once she had to gently move his hand when it crept too high or too low.

“Eva?”

“Huh, what?” She’d become the queen of daydreaming lately. Gabriele stared at her across the kitchen table with consternation. “You’ve made one bow in the last five minutes. We’ll be here all day at that rate.”

Gabriele’s friend Julia and Eva’s mother were seated around the table, helping as well. Her mother just tsked and kept her eyes on her own handiwork. Julia had short dark hair, and a severe side part. She raised a brow and nodded subtly, like she was signaling that she found the bow-making task boring, too.

“I’ve done three in the time that you’ve done one,” Gabriele continued.

“Okay, I’m working,” Eva said.

“Give the girl a break,” Julia said. “I’d find it hard to concentrate too, if I had the attentions of Sebastian Weiss.” She grinned wickedly at Eva. “You must be going crazy!”

A hush descended on the table. Her mother’s head shot up. “She’s not seeing that boy anymore, Julia,” she said.

Her family didn’t know she was still seeing Sebastian, but that didn’t mean they hadn’t been spotted together. The
Neustadt
was relatively small.

Julia narrowed her eyes at Eva, and Eva could tell that she knew. She’d seen them. “Oh, I’m sorry,” she said tactfully. “My mistake.”

The door chime rang, and Eva was thankful for the distraction. Gabriele sprang from her chair to let Lennon in. She stepped into the hallway and the women left behind at the table could hear Lennon’s footsteps up the stairwell and the subsequent passionate greeting.

Eva rolled her eyes. Her mother and Julia studied the ribbons in their hands like they couldn’t hear the smacking of lips coming through the open door.

Gabriele led Lennon in by the hand and waved at the mountain of bows on the table. “The big ones are to decorate the end chairs in the rows in the church,” she explained. “The little ones are to decorate the chairs at the party.”

Lennon’s eyes crinkled closed as he smiled. He dressed casually in jeans and a button-down shirt. His style was different from Sebastian’s: more clean-cut and preppy, but a perfect attractive counterpart to fashionable Gabriele.

“Nice work, ladies,” he said in German.

Eva smiled at his British accent. Lennon was a man of few words and didn’t try to talk to anyone. Maybe because his German wasn’t very strong. It was a good thing that Gabriele’s English was excellent. Eva wished she could say the same for her own English. She understood most things and liked English better for songwriting—it was just more lyrical and more commercial—but in practical, everyday conversation, she wasn’t very good.

She added another bow to the pile before checking her phone for messages. Her heart jumped at the sight of a new text from Sebastian.

Sebastian Weiss

English movie playing at the Arthouse Theatre this afternoon. Can you go?

Perfect timing. Just when she was thinking she needed to work on her English.

Eva Baumann

We must speak English only.

Sebastian Weiss

The whole time?

Eva Baumann

The whole time.

Sebastian Weiss

Good idea. Meet me there in one hour?

Eva Baumann

Yes
:)

Eva was becoming a master at hiding the fountain of joy that continued to bubble inside. She kept her hands busy, making bow after bow. They were almost done. Mama had work to do downstairs, and Julia left with Gabriele and Lennon. Such a relief to be left alone and out of scrutiny.

Eva put on a fresh sundress, combed her hair and applied a little makeup. She grabbed her cane, locked the door behind her and shuffled down the circular stairwell. Once outside, she headed in the direction of the Arthouse Theatre. Her sunglasses hid her eyes, but she could no longer hide her smile.

Sebastian had Eva Baumann on the mind: the way her hair smelled and the fresh scent of her skin, and the way her soft, petite body felt under his fingertips and how she gently kept them from roaming too far. She was intoxicating. Her conservative nature was part of her appeal. She kept her blouse buttoned up one notch more than any other girl he knew, and she blushed at the slightest amount of flirting.