Virgin Seeks Bad Boy (Bliss River #3) - Lili Valente Page 0,29

adding, “All right. I’ll definitely think about it. Thanks again, Lila. Have a good night.”

She hangs up, blinking at the phone before looking up at me. “That was the bass player for Ghost Town Double Wide. The police called her to see if she had any information on Seth’s whereabouts. They told her he’d tried to attack a girl at the bar, and she called to apologize. Seth’s out of the band for good, and she plans to talk to the manager of The Horse and Rider about getting him banned from the bar, too.”

“That’s great.” I frown as an uncomfortable thought drifts through my head. “But how did she know you were the girl the police were talking about? I thought Nash was keeping that confidential.”

“She heard what Seth had done and put two and two together,” she says, slipping her phone into her purse. “Apparently, he was talking about me the other night in a way that made Lila and the others uncomfortable.”

“Asshole,” I growl, wanting to smash his face all over again.

She sighs. “Yeah. Lila said she thought he was just gross, not dangerous, or she would have called to warn me. Anyway, whatever he said was the last straw for them. Lila and the other band members kicked him out yesterday and started looking for a replacement. She said they were just waiting to make sure they had a drummer lined up before they asked me to take the job as the new lead singer.”

My brows lift. “What do you think about that? Would you be uncomfortable in the bar after what happened?”

“I don’t know… As long as Seth isn’t allowed in, I don’t think so,” she says, her expression firming with determination. “I don’t want to let what he did make me afraid. If I do, then he wins.”

I nod, proud of her. And surprised. She keeps doing that—surprising me, impressing me.

“What?” she asks.

“I knew you were tough, but this is next level.” I nudge her foot affectionately under the table. “I’m proud of you. Hope that doesn’t sound condescending.”

“It doesn’t, though you have done condescending pretty well in the past.” She narrows her eyes at me as our waitress set our plates down and promises to be back to refill our coffees as soon as she’s typed in another order.

“Sorry,” I say with a sheepish grin as the server hustles away. “Treating you like a kid helped me keep my mind off how much I wanted to kiss you.”

“But now you don’t have to keep your mind off how much you want to kiss me,” she murmurs as she leans across the table, brushing a kiss across my lips.

My eyes slide closed, and electricity skitters through me like a tattoo needle drawn along the surface of my skin, setting my nerve endings to sizzling. The kiss only lasts a few seconds, but by the time Melody sits back down, my jeans are already tighter than they were before.

The way she affects me is just…wild.

It’s going to be hell keeping my hands off her.

Still, I can’t help but wish she’d agreed to the ten-date minimum. For some reason, the more I get to know her and want her, the more I want to wait until she’s absolutely, one hundred percent sure.

“I don’t think we should count this as date one,” I say as we dig into our food—waffles and bacon for me, strawberry crepes and sausage on the side for her. “I want to take you somewhere nice for our first date.”

“This is plenty nice,” Melody says. “I’m not a high-maintenance girl, Nick. I’m just as happy at a diner as a fancy restaurant.” She shrugs and stabs another bite of crepe. “And I know neither of us has a lot of money to throw around right now.”

“I thought you just got a raise,” I say, teasing.

She rolls her eyes while she chews. “Yeah, two hundred dollars a month, right in time for my rent to go up a hundred and fifty dollars in October. My landlord is a monster.”

“My landlord is cool,” I say. “John and I rent a place above a bodega near the bowling alley. It’s not in the best part of town, and it smells like sandwiches sometimes, but it’s huge and only five hundred a month.”

“You’re kidding me.” Her eyes widen as she shakes her head. “Maybe I should look into something near downtown. I just hate to move.”

“Moving fucking blows,” I agree, pausing when I realize what I’ve said.