is out of the way, can I go back to hitting on you?”
“Is that what you were doing?” she asked, unwinding her hair from his finger.
He put his hand back on her shoulder. “Before I realized telling you what I do for a living would be a turn-off, that’s absolutely what I was going for.”
“Hmm. What other lines have you got?”
“I’m afraid to try, given how badly that one bombed. It’s usually foolproof.”
“You definitely get an ‘A’ for effort,” she assured him. “Have the rest of our drink, it might help ease the sting of failure.”
He looked at their glass, now less than half-full. “Too much more of this one and I won’t be driving anywhere. Can I keep trying to hit on you over drinks at my place?”
She chuckled. “I’m not going home with you.”
“Um, ouch.” He moved his hand off her shoulder and used it to push the glass closer to her. “The rest of this is all yours.”
“I didn’t mean for you to take it like that.” She touched his arm. “I just don’t make a habit of going home with guys I’ve known for a couple of hours.”
“Fair enough,” he said. “I really did just mean come have a drink, though, even if I am a musician.”
“Uh-huh.” She didn’t look convinced. “Try again.”
“Can I call you at least?”
She reached for her purse and rummaged through it for one of her business cards. “If you can dial a phone, you can call me,” she said, handing it to him.
He skimmed the card, his eyes stopping on her cell phone number. “If I called that number, would it go to a real phone?” He pointed at the digits printed on the card.
“As opposed to a fake phone?”
“What would happen if I called it right now?” He took his wallet out from his back pocket and put her card inside.
“My phone would ring. Phones do that, you know.”
“So if I call you to ask if you’d like to have dinner, your phone will still ring?”
A wide smile spread across her face. “I guess you’ll have to call me and see.”
He shook his head. “You’re impossible, did you know that?”
“So I’ve been told.” She beamed at him. “And yet you’re still trying to flirt with me.”
“Actually, right now I’m trying to kiss you.” His body swayed closer to her.
Not so fast, she thought. Instead of leaning in to kiss him, she put a hand on his knee. “If I kissed you before the first date, what kind of girl would that make me?”
“A girl I’d really like to kiss?” His voice sounded plaintive, and it was all she could do to keep from laughing.
“How about a hug goodbye instead?” she suggested, standing up. Grudgingly, he got to his feet.
“You’re really not coming with me?” He wrapped his arms around her. Pressed against him, she noticed the light soapy fragrance lingering on his skin.
“I’m really not.” She wondered how much his failure to persuade her bothered him. If he was the lead singer of a well-known band, this probably wasn’t how the night usually ended for him when he asked a girl to go home with him.
He grimaced, but he kept his arms around her. “I should have told you I was a vacuum cleaner salesman.”
“Probably,” she agreed, releasing herself from his arms.
“How are you getting home?”
“In a cab, the same way I got to the Viper Room.”
“Can I at least make sure you get into one safely?”
My, my, she thought. This one doesn’t give up easily. “I was going to say goodbye to my friends first, and then yes, if you’d like to wait, you can watch me take two steps out the door and flag down a cab.”
“I’ll wait,” he said.
“Now who’s the impossible one?”
“So I’ve also been told.” He winked. “See? We’re well-matched for each other.”
Shaking her head, she turned toward Jesse’s table, but saw mid-step that he was no longer sitting there. The girl he’d been talking to earlier in the night was also nowhere to be seen. Cole, Gavin, and Jamie’s attention each seemed to be captured by a flock of female fans that had converged upon their table. Judging by the row of empty shot glasses on the table, they’d come bearing drinks for the band.
“You know what?” she said, turning back around to face Cory. “They look a little busy. I can just text them later that I got home safely.”
“I’ll walk you out.” He placed his hand on her back, guiding her to