Songbird (Songbird, #1) (37 page)

Heat scorched my cheeks and he chuckled as I turned away, suddenly finding the lopsided Christmas tree fascinating.

Marcus came over with a gift and handed it to me a little nervously. “This is for you. Merry Christmas, Tara.”

I gave him a warm hug and kiss before opening it excitedly. He had bought me a beautiful pair of teardrop earrings that looked like diamonds, but must have been crystals or something similar.

“I noticed you have your ears pierced, but you don’t wear earrings. I thought they would look good when you have your hair up.” His cheeks flushed as he spoke which made me laugh, and I took them out of the box and put them in straight away.

“How do they look?” I asked him, tying my hair up off my face and neck in a messy ponytail.

He smiled his sweet, dimpled smile. “You look perfect.”

Wanting to see for myself, I raced down to the back room to have a look at the earrings in the little mirror on the wall. I was just admiring them—they really were quite delicate—when Cole walked in with his hands behind his back.

“Diamonds from the boss, hey? You must be employee of the decade!”

I looked at his reflection behind me sarcastically. “They’re not diamonds, but they are pretty, aren’t they?” I said, turning to him.

He was smiling down at me, his emerald-green eyes still taking in the earrings. He reached down and ever-so-gently touched one of them, brushing my neck with his fingers and sending shivers down my spine. “I’d get these appraised, if I were you; I think you’ll be surprised.”

I dismissed his comment with a wave of my hand. “Well, I think they’re beautiful whatever they are.” Not wanting to meet his gaze, I dropped my eyes to his torso. “I like your shirt, by the way, although you did say you only sleep with pretty girls. Isn’t Mrs Claus a bit old for you?”

He laughed. “Yeah, good point. Maybe it should say
just ask your daughter
.”

His smile faded as he looked down at my top, his emerald eyes flaring. “I like your top, too. What there is of it.”

Looking down, I went to quickly adjust the neckline but he stopped my hands, instead holding both of them in one of his and lightly stroking the backs of them with his thumb.

He was still standing there, looking down at me, my breath quickening from his closeness.

“I have something for you,” he said huskily, pulling a present out from behind his back and handing it to me.

I looked at him, surprised. “I thought you didn’t do the whole gift-giving thing?”

He just shrugged. “Usually I don’t, but you’re an exception. I thought you would like it, so …”

I couldn’t quite get my head around the present when I unwrapped it; it was a bound book of original hand-written musical scores by Victor Michaels, a world-renowned composer and pianist.

“What? How did you …?”

“He’s my pops. He gave it to me a long time ago, and now I’m giving it to you. Don’t you like it?” His brow furrowed. “I just thought that you would appreciate it, but if you don’t want it that’s fine, no big deal. I know you don’t need music to play, I just thought, you know …” He ran his hand nervously through his hair, messing it up even more than it already was.

Without thinking, I threw my arms around his neck and hugged him tight. “I love it, but I can’t take it. It’s too much! Besides, I didn’t get you anything.” Now I felt really, really bad.

“I disagree,” he said quietly into my ear, as he held me tight with his huge arms wrapped all the way around my waist. “You’ve finally given me a hug … and another boner.”

I pulled away, shocked by his comment, and slapped him on the chest. He gave me one of his big husky laughs.

He looked out to the main bar where the rest of the group were talking noisily.

“I may have to rethink the whole redhead demographic, seeing as the rest of you are off limits.” Cole stared at Sami for a while, then screwed up his nose. “Nah, still couldn’t do it.”

W
E STUFFED
ourselves with the delicious selection of food, talking animatedly the entire time, until we couldn’t fit anything more in. Then Jason called for some Christmas carols to be played on the piano which I agreed to, so long as they all sang with me.

I was sitting down, trying to think of all the songs we had heard the night before, when Jay came over and stood beside me.

“I brought an old friend with me,” he said, holding up his violin. “Do you mind if I join you?”

Everyone came and gathered around the piano as Jay and I started playing. They all had their favourites and it felt like request night, as people called out different carols and we did our best to play them.

Cassie wanted to hear me sing ‘Oh Holy Night’, which I knew the words to but had never played. I told her I would do my best, and started to tinker on the keys.

“Don’t worry about trying to work it out. I know it,” Cole said, surprising everyone.

He came and sat down on the long piano stool next to me and I went to stand up, but he took hold of my hand and gently pulled me back down so we were sitting side by side.

“Ready?” he asked, smiling at me.

“Sure,” I replied, returning his smile.

He played beautifully, his fingers dancing lightly over the keys. I sang and watched Riley at the same time; he looked conflicted as he watched Cole and me sitting side by side, singing and playing this beautiful song. When we finished, everyone else praised us, but Riley just frown and dropped his eyes, his shoulders slumped. I decided it was time for a break and a drink, and some much needed Riley time.

Cole and Jay continued to play, and Cassie and Sami stayed as well, singing along when they knew the words, while the rest of us went and sat back down and poured more margaritas.

“What’s that?” Marcus asked, noticing the book from Cole.

I held it out to him and he took it, flicking through the pages but not understanding at all what the value or significance was.

I explained that Victor Michaels was a renowned composer and pianist, and as it turned out, was also Cole’s grandfather. As soon as I mentioned Cole’s name I felt Riley shift restlessly in his seat beside me, and I looked at him. His jaw was clenched, and he was picking at invisible lint on his jeans.

“Can you play any of this?” Jason asked as he leaned over Marcus’s shoulder, looking at the musical scores like they were text in a foreign language.

I nodded, trying not to make a big deal out of it. I could see Riley getting more and more stressed out the corner of my eye, but Jason wanted to hear something, and I couldn’t think of a valid reason to decline.

Reluctantly, I took the book from Marcus and headed back over to the piano. I told the others that carol time was over for a while, and waited for Cole to move from the piano stool, but he just shifted over for me. I looked up at Riley; he was still picking that pesky invisible lint from his jeans, and didn’t look up. I sighed resignedly and sat down beside Cole.

The others went to freshen up their drinks, leaving Cole and I sitting on the seat together. We sat side by side, our legs lightly touching, while I flicked through the pages of this incredible and surprisingly thoughtful gift. Then something that Jay had said the first night Kelli and I saw the band came to mind.

I looked at Cole as I put two and two together. “Your name’s Victor Michaels as well, isn’t it?”

“Yes,” he said with a little bow of his head. “Victor Michaels the Third, to be precise.”

“Is that why you changed your name to Cole?” I asked. “Because of the lineage?”

“No, I changed it because Victor is dorky.”

I laughed at his simple reasoning before turning my attention back to the music.

I chose a piece that I had heard but never played, and with excited butterflies circling in my stomach, began to play. The piece was haunting and dark, and it filled the room completely, altering the mood almost instantly. Cole put his hands on the keys down the low note end and started playing chords to complement what I was playing, which heightened the piece tenfold. It was overwhelming to be playing music that had been hand written by one of the greats, and playing it with his grandson.

When we finished, we just looked at each other. It felt as if his eyes were looking right into my soul. We had made a connection through music that I had never felt before, and it scared the crap out of me.

He leaned in with his lips parted, then licked his bottom lip. I sat frozen on the seat, my heart pounding.

“You raced the middle section a little bit,” he said, leaning in so his lips were just brushing against the hair near my neck. “You’ll need to practice a bit more.”

I turned scarlet and went to get up, but he took hold of my hand.

“Do you remember the first time we met?” he asked, still leaning in close to me. “The first time we met properly, not at the gym.”

Nodding, I shifted uncomfortably.

“You had your hair up then as well.” I could feel his breath on my neck as he spoke. “You were wearing a blue halter-neck top, and your hair was pulled back like it is now.”

I could feel my heart beating as if it were going to come out of my chest.

“I wanted to lick all the way up your neck that night.” His voice was so deep it was resonating through me. Closing my eyes, I tried to catch my breath.

“You should wear your hair down. It’s safer that way.”

I took a steadying breath before opening my eyes. He was watching me, his green eyes looking longingly at me.

“Do you remember anything about me that night?” he whispered hopefully into my ear.

Of course I did; he was a hard man to forget. But I couldn’t tell him that. Besides, his ego didn’t need stroking.

“Yes. You took countless phone numbers, kissed numerous girls, and told one girl to wait outside for you so she could say hello to your penis,” I said definitively.

He may be gorgeous and talented and charming, but he was also a womaniser, and that was something I needed to remember.

Thanking him again for the gift, I went straight back over to the table and to Riley’s lap.

“That’s a pretty big gift to give someone, isn’t it?” Riley asked suspiciously, still stewing on the gift as Cole pulled up a chair at the end of the table so he was beside us.

Cole just shrugged. “No big deal. I was going to ask Tara if she would like to come with me some time to meet my pops. I’m sure he would like it.”

I nearly jumped out of my seat. I would
love
to meet him, but I knew it wouldn’t go down well with Riley, so instead I casually asked, “Why aren’t you having lunch with your pops today?”

He shrugged uncomfortably. “My parents are visiting Pops for lunch in the nursing home, and I’ll go see him tonight for dinner.” He paused for a moment, considering how much information to reveal, before sighing. “My parents wanted me to follow in Pops’ footsteps. Seems the musical talent skipped a generation, and I was the next big hope. My mum especially doesn’t approve of the path I’ve taken.”

“What? You mean she doesn’t like you molesting girls on stage?” Riley asked sarcastically, taking the opportunity to have a dig at Cole, which I thought was unnecessary.

Cole forced a chuckle, but his eyes were steely. “They wanted me to play piano, and I do. Pops taught me, and I write most of my music on the piano, but I never had any burning ambition to play for a living.” He shrugged again, more casually this time. Then he transferred his gaze to me. “The molesting girls on stage bit is just for show; it’s not real, you know.”