Right. Who? Maybe if she mellowed it out, dropped it to a minor key… She cleared her throat, hummed an intro, and tried it out. Kendra watched, her hands clutching a praying mantis and a large stuffed spider.
It actually didn’t sound terrible. It was an old, classic song. She finished up then tipped her head to the side. “What do you think, Ken?”
A deep voice answered behind her. “I love it.”
Hailey startled, but she didn’t need to look over her shoulder to know it was Ryan behind her. Why hadn’t she heard the elevator beep? She really got lost in her own little world when she sang, and not always in a good way.
Kendra squealed and jumped up, running around the couch. “Uncle Ryan! Did you come to see me?”
“Of course I did. Woah, did you know you have a spider on your hand?”
Kendra giggled. “It’s not real.”
He flashed a handsome smile. “Oh, right. How silly of me. So, was your nanny just singing a song about a hippo?”
Kendra took him by the hand and led him toward the couch. He slipped off his coat, revealing a light blue button-down shirt tucked into navy slacks, and Hailey had to avert her eyes from the way his arms strained against his sleeves. He wasn’t super built or anything, but he clearly worked out. And his clothes fit him really, really well. Like well enough to outline his toned muscles.
“Can I get another song preview?” he asked when Kendra made her way back to her mountain of plush bugs on the rug and began lining them up.
Hailey pulled out her peppermint Chapstick and applied a layer. “I don’t have my guitar.”
His gaze dropped to her lips, then lifted to her eyes. “That didn’t stop you a second ago.”
Hailey’s heart thudded against her chest. She swallowed, hoping she sounded casual. “Were you aware that both Amber and Luis are at work right now?”
There was a glint of a challenge in his narrowed eyes. “Yeah.”
“Great. So what can Kendra and I do for you on this fine Monday afternoon?”
The house was quiet but for Kendra’s soft humming of I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas while she lined up her toys.
Ryan cleared his throat. “I needed to invite you to a soundcheck next Thursday night at the Granger Studio. It’s in the West Village and should only take about twenty minutes or so.”
“You couldn’t text me that information?”
“I was heading home anyway, so I figured I’d stop by and deliver the invite in person.” He leaned in, quieting his voice. “And this way I get to see my favorite girl.”
Her heart fluttered, breath catching in her throat. Ryan’s gaze tripped over to Kendra. Chill out, Hailey. This guy is not into you.
“What time next Thursday?” she asked, her voice sounding higher than normal.
“Nine. It’s kind of late so I’d be happy to give you a ride.”
“You don’t have to do that. It’s not that late.” Had he chosen the time so she’d be able to make it after work? He knew how late his sister stayed at the office most days.
“I don’t mind.”
“Really, it’s fine,” she said. “What’s the point of getting the monthly subway pass if I don’t use it?”
He gave her a funny look, then nodded. Clearing his throat, he leaned back on the sofa, stretching his arm out over the back. “I also wanted to say that you could bring your boyfriend to the soundcheck if you want.”
Hailey glanced up, catching his eye. He was watching her so intently, she had a moment’s temptation to take him up on his offer. But since she hadn’t had a boyfriend since high school, that would be hard to do.
“That’s thoughtful of you,” she said, tapping her pen on her leg.
Ryan’s eyebrows lifted. “So, you are going to bring someone?”
“No.” She forced herself to keep a straight face. “But it was nice of you to offer.”
His shoulders looked tense, his hand gripping the back of the couch. He opened his mouth to say something but remained silent.
Hailey capped her pen. “Of course, I don’t have a boyfriend to bring, but maybe I’ll invite my best friend.”
“Do you want to see my favorite bug?” Kendra asked, hopping toward her uncle, then leaping on the couch.
“Absolutely.” He flicked his gaze to Hailey and back at his niece.
She held two bugs behind her back. “You have to guess.”
Ryan’s arms relaxed, a smile tugging at his mouth. Hailey caught his eye and shook her head, eyes widening. She’d told him Kendra’s favorite bugs already. Hopefully, he’d guess wrong on purpose.
“Hmm. Let me think.” He tapped a finger against his chin. “Is it a butterfly?”
Kendra gasped. “Yes. Which one?”
“Monarch?”
“No! It’s a blue morpho!” She pulled a blue and black butterfly from her back and he made a dramatic show of losing, smacking his palm against his forehead. Kendra giggled. “What else?”
“Well, I’m going to have to guess dung beetles.”
“Ew, Uncle Ryan! Wrong again. It’s a praying mantis!” She showed him her large praying mantis hand puppet, and he fell back on the sofa, his hands covering his face. “What’s your favorite bug?”
He peeked at her from behind his hands and sat up slowly. “You really want to know?”
She giggled, nodding.
“Well, actually, you’ve probably heard of it. My favorite bug is a Kenny Beetle!” He took his niece in his arms, tickling her furiously as she laughed, and Ryan grinned. Hailey leaned back, laughing, the glow of humor beaming in her chest. The man had not been around Kendra much in her life, since he lived across the country and never came home to visit, but he was so good with her. He knew the right things to say to make her smile, but more importantly, his interactions with her felt authentic.
Ryan clearly cared for his niece, and that was insanely attractive.
Kendra pulled free and ran to the other side of the room, panting. “No more tickling.”
“Okay, fine.” Ryan raised his arms in submission.
Kendra knelt back by her toys, a comfortable smile lighting her face. “Are you coming to my concert tomorrow?”
Ryan nodded. “You know I wouldn’t miss it. Is your nanny coming, too?”
“Yes. She wouldn’t miss it, either,” Kendra said, with all the confidence of a girl who knew how much she was loved.
Ryan stood. “Then I look forward to seeing you both there. But now I need to get home. Sergeant is waiting for me.”
Sergeant?
Kendra bounced on her cushion. “Can I come? I want to see your Christmas tree.”
He screwed up his face into an apology. “Unfortunately, I don’t have a tree, so there’s nothing to see but my tiny apartment and my overactive dog.”
Ah, a dog.
“That’s fine with me,” Kendra said, her innocence bringing a smile to Hailey’s face.
Ryan glanced up at Hailey questioningly. Was he inviting them along with that look? First, he asks if she has a boyfriend, then he invites her over? She shook her head. She had to keep working on her song list for his event. “We can’t today, unfortunately. Maybe another time.”
“Why does Sergeant need you now?” Kendra asked, her little nose scrunching up.
“He needs to go for a walk in the middle of the day, and my neighbor who usually does it for me went out of town for the holidays, so I have to go home and take him out before I can go back to work.”
“That sounds like a fun job.”
“It probably is. For her,” Ryan agreed. “She’s a college student so I bet she appreciates the easy money.”
Kendra sat up taller. “Can I walk Sergeant next time she goes out of town? I’ve never done it before, but Hailey can help me.”
“Maybe,” Ryan said. “I’ll have to talk to your nanny about it.”
“It probably won’t work while you’re in school, Ken,” Hailey said. “You only get out early today and tomorrow becaus
e it’s the week of Christmas.”
“How long is your neighbor out of town?” Kendra asked her uncle.
He looked amused, his eyes shining. Was he only seeing now how relentless this girl could be when she wanted to be? “She doesn’t get back until January. I think she went home until the next semester begins.” Ryan tilted his head in a quick motion like he was trying to indicate to Hailey to follow him from the room. He stood. “Bye Kenny. Love you, pipsqueak.”
Kendra wrinkled her little nose. “You say weird things.” She returned her attention to her bugs.
Ryan took his coat from the back of the sofa, and Hailey set her pad of paper and pen on the side table. “I need to talk to your uncle really fast, Ken. I’ll be right back.”
Kendra shrugged, maintaining her focus on her plush insects.
Hailey’s heart hammered in her chest as she followed Ryan from the room. Attraction bit at her, making her overthink every word she said. She wasn’t blind to the fact that he’d just tried to scope out whether she was single or not. But she also knew he was a high-powered magazine exec, formerly a high-powered music exec, and he was way out of her league. Guys like this flirted for fun, and they didn’t mean anything by it.
But that didn’t make him any less hot. She watched Ryan slip his coat on and button it as she walked through the long, open dining room, kitchen, and into the entryway. “What’s up?” she asked, trying to sound breezy. She was pretty sure she’d bypassed breezy and just made her voice sound airy and brainless.
He turned, regarding her seriously, and her gut clenched. “I didn’t know if telling you this would be helpful or harmful, but I figured it was better to prepare you.”
Hailey crossed her arms over her chest and leaned her shoulder against the wall. Her pulse steadily increased while she watched Ryan layer up to go back into the winter air. Who knew putting on so many clothes could be attractive?
She tried to sound light-hearted. “I would usually prefer to be prepared, but now you’re just scaring me.”
His face broke into a broad smile. “Nothing to be scared of. I know you’re aware that when you perform for the party the room will be full of music executives, producers, agents…”
Hailey nodded, trying to swallow against a suddenly sandy throat.
“Well, I got word today that one of the executive producers of Remmy Records will be in town, who happens to be a friend of mine and accepted an invitation to the party. Remmy Records is constantly scouting for new talent. They want to be the first to discover the next big thing.”
The floor slipped out from beneath her—or that’s how it felt. It was one thing to know she was singing for a group of people who might notice her—she was meant to be, essentially, background noise—but it was entirely different knowing a man was coming with the sole purpose of hearing her.
What would happen if she impressed him?
Her entire life could change.
Ryan dipped his head to make eye contact with her. “I thought you’d be a little more excited than this.”
“You should feel my heart,” she said. “It’s racing.”
His lips turned up at the ends, and he took a step closer, holding her gaze and lowering his voice. “This could be huge, Hailey.”
“I know. That’s why I can’t feel my arms right now.” She held herself so tightly that she’d cut off the circulation to them, but excitement and anticipation swirled within her, and she couldn’t seem to calm her heart or her hold.
“Here.” Ryan took her wrists, gently prying them apart. In his hands, she felt like butter melting on toast, immediate warmth shooting up her arms and turning her to liquid. Or maybe that was the blood rushing back into her hands.
“Better?”
Hailey nodded.
“Good.” He hadn’t released her wrists, and she didn’t want him to. Her skin seared where he touched it, her heart fluttering, pattering against her chest like those butterflies Kendra was so obsessed with.
Keeping his voice down, he spoke softly. “Let me know if I can do anything to help you prepare.”
“Just stay off YouTube, and don’t critique any more of my stuff before I have to go on stage.”
Ryan’s face fell into a wry smile, but he let go of her hands and took a small step back.
Seriously, Hailey? You had to go and push him away?
“I better go,” he said.
“Yeah, thanks for letting me know about the producer.”
His lips tipped into a crooked smile. “Sure thing.”
Ryan input his code for the elevator and slipped inside, disappearing as the doors closed. Hailey leaned back against the wall, dropping her head back and puffing up her cheeks. Dating was no good while she was chasing a career. Dating was a bad idea. Dating wasn’t even possible with a man who was so far up and out of her league—he even called her your nanny when talking to Kendra. Kendra knew Hailey’s name. She was six, not stupid.
Hailey’s phone buzzed in her pocket, and she pulled it out, surprised to find Amber Martinez flashing across the screen. Sliding it to answer, she put the phone to her ear.
“Hi, Amber. What can I do for you?”
“Are you and Kendra home?” Her tone was curt, disapproving.
“Yes.”
“Was my brother just there?”
Hailey paused, glancing at the white elevator doors. She knew Amber got alerts each time the elevator was used, and everyone in their family, plus Hailey and the cleaning lady, Megan, had their own codes. “Yes, he just left.”
“Why was he there?”
Hailey pushed off from the wall, alarm bells going off in her head. “He stopped by on his way home so he could see Kendra.”
“Is that all?”
“Well, he gave me some information about the anniversary party, but—”
“Listen, it’s great that Ryan set this gig up for you. It was really nice of him, and I’m sure you’ll do great. Just trust me when I tell you that he’s bad news. I love my brother to death, but you don’t want to go there. He left a long, toxic relationship to move back home, and he’s not really into you, he’s just trying to rebound. It’s human nature.”
“I don’t think he’s—”
“It’s fine. Don’t beat yourself up over it. He looks like the perfect package, but there’s a lot going on beneath the surface that you just don’t want to touch with a ten-foot pole, okay?”
Hailey’s stomach dropped. Was she that obvious? Clearly, she had to be, or Amber wouldn’t be warning her away. “Yeah. Okay.”
Amber sighed. “I have to work extra tonight to make up for ducking out early tomorrow for the concert. And can you remind Megan to get the spare room ready? My mom’s flight was moved so she arrives in the morning tomorrow instead of the afternoon.”
“Definitely.”
“Great. Bye.”
The line went dead, and Hailey clicked her phone off, sliding it into her back pocket. She had done nothing but try to ignore the attraction she felt toward Ryan since the moment he threw a sandwich at her. She wasn’t doing a great job of it if Amber could tell from her office halfway across Manhattan that Hailey’s heart went crazy every time she saw Ryan.
The man was trouble, and it would be wise for her to keep him at a distance.
Chapter Ten
The last time Ryan saw his mother she had flown out to LA to watch the Harmony Music Awards with him—his company had scored him a couple of seats—and he had introduced her to his girlfriend. That was a year and a half ago, and now he had no girlfriend and no back-to-back music events to distract her from the pathetic turn his life had taken. Standing near the baggage claim at LaGuardia Airport, his hands in his pockets to keep off the chill, Ryan searched the crowd of incomers for his mother. If he had to guess, she was busy somewhere with a mirror making sure her red lipstick was perfect before leaving the terminal.
The crowd milled around Ryan and the baggage terminal that displayed the flight number from Orlando, and h
e stepped away when his gaze landed on a woman in a dark purple coat, her vivid red hair styled in the short, precise bob she’d worn for the last fifty years. A smile tugged at his lips when he noticed her flawless red lipstick. It was comforting to know that some things never changed.
“Mom,” he said, stepping forward to pull her into an embrace.
She gently returned the hug and looked around. “Have you gotten my bag? I want to go see my grandbaby.”
“Not yet. What color is it?”
“Black, hard-side.”
Ah. So just like every other piece of luggage coming through LaGuardia right now. “Any colored tags or anything?”
“No.”
Well, Ryan just had to hope he’d grab the right suitcase from the luggage carousel. He stood at the head of the rotating belt and was relieved to find that most people had taken their bags and left. A hard-side, black suitcase rolled his way and he leaned forward to pull it from the carousel when a woman’s voice spoke just behind him.
“That’s mine.”
“Oh, sorry—” Gripping the handle Ryan turned, words failing him when he set his eyes on the short, blonde woman with the sleek bob and tan power suit. He hadn’t seen her in a month, and while he’d expected to run into her next week at the party, it was weird seeing his ex-girlfriend in the airport. Next to his mother.
“Hey, Jo,” he said, pulling her suitcase from the carousel and setting it in front of her. “Did you come in from Florida, too?”
“Yes.” She took her suitcase, rolling it closer to her side, her pleasant smile trained on him. “My sister moved out to Orlando a few weeks ago. I went down to help her unpack.”
“I had no idea.”
“I actually ran into your mom on the flight,” Jo said, her pale blue eyes glued to him. If it was up to her, they’d still be together, but Ryan didn’t exactly know why. They had been terrible together, and the last year of single life had shown him exactly how little they were meant to be.
Jo was tactful and hadn’t made working at the same company a chore. They had stayed friends, at least, as well as could be expected.
“Where in the city are you heading?” he asked. “Can I give you a ride?”
Melodies and Mistletoe (Christmas in the City Book 3) Page 7