And yet, she’d still accepted Chris’s offer to audition for this composer gig. He had liked the piece she’d composed after being inspired by thoughts of him. He had praised the wild version of her—the one she kept hidden away for good reason. And still she jumped at the chance to work on his film.
She lay back on the pillows and stared at the ceiling. She needed to rein herself in, fast, before she made another mistake.
…
“How come you wanted to stay home with me tonight?” Daria and Chris were lounging in his living room. She was sitting on the couch, which had been her temporary bed the past couple of weeks. But in another few days, she’d be gone.
Living with Minh.
He blew out a breath and took a sip of his beer, trying to avoid Daria’s gaze. “What do you mean? Of course I wanted to spend some time with you before you move out.”
She snorted. “Like I believe that.”
He shrugged. Fine. Maybe he had planned to go out, earlier. Maybe he’d been thinking about going to a club, picking up a girl, and going back to her place for a few hours of fun.
But for some reason, after leaving Minh’s apartment this morning, the desire to do that—to keep doing the same thing he did every weekend—wasn’t as strong as it usually was. Nonexistent, if he were being honest.
“Maybe I just wanted to mix things up a bit. You know, surprise you.”
Daria laughed. “Now that I believe. Flouting convention is one of your strong points, after all.”
He scowled at her. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means you never like to do what’s expected. You always choose the path of most resistance, even if it’s not the best choice or the smartest.” She pointed at him. “At least, that’s how you are now. You weren’t like this before Kendra.”
Little sisters were so annoying sometimes.
“Don’t be ridiculous. I—”
“Pfft.” Daria stopped him with the sound. “I’m not being ridiculous. I’m right. Ever since Kendra screwed you over it’s like you stopped caring what anyone thought of you.”
Why had he stayed home? He should be out right now, chatting up a pretty girl instead of getting insulted by his sister.
Besides. It wasn’t that he’d stopped caring. It was that he’d stopped showing how much he cared. There was a difference. Not that he was going to tell Daria that. No one needed to know how he felt.
He leaned his head back and looked up at the ceiling. Fine. Maybe he had changed after Kendra, but it was only for the better. She’d taught him that trying to please others was a mistake. Blaze your own path and do what you want, that was the way to go. He’d invested in Kendra and tried hard to make her happy, and look where that had gotten him. After that relationship ended, he’d stopped making an effort to conform, and his life had been a lot happier.
Mostly.
Because, after all, the idea of doing what he usually did on a weekend night—living the way he usually did—didn’t have the same appeal today.
Don’t go jumping to crazy conclusions. It’s just one day. Besides, talking about Kendra would make anyone crazy.
He shrugged it off. “Whatever. Can we talk about something else?”
“Okay, sure. Way to deflect, bro.”
“Shut up, Daria.”
She laughed. “All right, fine. The fact that you’re annoyed tells me all I need to know, anyway.”
What? He looked at her and scowled.
She sipped her beer with an innocent expression, and the room was silent for a minute before she cleared her throat and asked, “Hey, so, how’s Shen?”
Her awkward change of subject threw him off, and his reply came across as more brusque than he’d intended. “Why do you want to know?”
“Dude. Seriously. What’s wrong with you?”
The teasing tone was gone, and now she just looked worried and angry. Great. Way to piss off your own sister.
Why was he having such a hard time with women this weekend?
“Sorry.” He looked down at the bottle in his hands. “I guess I’m just a little stressed about the film.”
Daria eyed him for a second, then nodded her acceptance. “Aren’t you almost finished, though? You won’t run out of money before then, will you?”
He sighed. “We are almost finished. But we’re cutting it really, really close. We have to get some investment soon, or we won’t even get this thing into theaters.”
“Well, good thing you found Minh, then.”
Yeah, right. The very thought of her was torturing him. He shook his head. “Don’t get too far ahead of this. She might not work out.”
Daria winked and lifted her bottle in a salute. “Or she just might be the answer to your prayers.”
Chapter Five
On Monday morning, Minh found herself in front of the heavy metal entry door to a dilapidated warehouse in Brisbane. She rang the buzzer on the side doorway, then pulled the strap of her laptop bag higher on her shoulder and adjusted her grip on her violin case. It wasn’t a particularly warm day, but she was sweating so much in her dark skirt and stockings that the handle kept sliding through her fingers.
Maybe you’re just nervous
Why should she be nervous? She was on time, she would be professional, and that was that. There was nothing that should make her nervous.