“Oh . . .”
“I like having you here, November; it’s nice to have someone else in this big, old house. Rae’s here, but she stays with friends a lot to avoid driving back and forth to school every day.” A blanket of loneliness swathed his eyes.
“I like it here; the house has a real family feel to it.” I grimaced at my lifelong desire to live in a single-family house.
“Hey, about earlier, when I pushed you about your parents and how you grew up - I’m sorry. It wasn’t my place. I can’t imagine what my life would be like right now if I’d never had a place to call home.” He grabbed my hips and turned me so that I was straddling him.
“Don’t worry about it. I’ve never really thought about it that way before - my parents still calling the shots.” I shrugged, “But, ever since I met you, I’ve considered another lifestyle entirely - you know, running away and all - so it’s nearly a moot point.”
I kissed him teasingly, but he grabbed my chin and pulled me in for the real deal; I could feel his grin on my lips.
“Rachel said you can still play the piano. Play something for me. I’ll sit in the recording room; I’ve always wanted to hear how things sounded in there.”
“What do you want me to play?” His reticence was poorly concealed.
“Whatever is on the stand,” I said, walking into the control room.
Bo’s brow crinkled a bit, then relaxed as he took a breath and headed to the piano. I looked around for the speaker switch in the control room and, when I flicked it on, I heard another deep breath come from Bo as he sat on the bench.
“Let’s see what you got, rock star.” I winked into the mic.
Bo didn’t look at me, and I noticed his mouth formed into a slight frown. He tilted his
head to one side, then the other, before stretching out his fingers and hitting the keys. He didn’t warm up, he just took off. I was wrapped in the blanket of the dark, bittersweet song that came from the piano. Bo’s shoulders moved in time with his hands; he was a sight to behold.
The droning repetitive tones from his left hand and the sparse, chilling high tones from
his right collided in my throat , forcing me to suppress a sob. I didn’t recognize the melody, but
my body felt it anyway; anticipating each note. The single lamp remained on in the recording
room, but I couldn’t see Bo’s face. His dark, arresting figure over the piano was unsettling. I
needed to see him.
My palms broke into a sweat as I stood and crossed slowly to the piano. I was
mesmerized at the intensity with which he played. I stood motionless behind him. This was different than his passion with the guitar, it was a different level of deep - it was haunting. Unable to resist, I carefully placed one hand on each of his shoulders. Bo slowly relaxed back into my body but continued to play.
His skin was pulsing, burning with whatever emotion was coursing through his veins. I chanced a glance at the sheet music; my mouth ran dry as all the moisture from my body huddled in my eyes. It was hand-written on staff paper and titled, ‘Goodbye’, with the initials ‘B.C’ barely visible underneath it. I muted the sharp gasp that escaped my mouth with my hand; he’d written the song for his parents.
When Bo finished the song he sat motionless facing the piano. Without turning around, he placed his left hand on mine. Expelling a labored sigh, he blindly reached his right hand behind him and pulled mine away from my mouth; bringing it back down to his shoulder. He kept his hands firmly atop mine, never turning around. I swallowed hard, begging ineffectually for moisture to return to my mouth. Soon, the last lingering chord of the piano drifted away and silenced the room. Seconds felt like minutes as we stayed frozen, unmoving, letting the funeral hymn hang in suffocating silence around us.
I leaned forward and kissed the top of his head and he kissed each one of my hands. When he turned around, I nearly buckled at the sight before me; his eyes were black holes of sorrow and grief, yet still held unmistakable beauty. The space between his eyebrows sank into a deep crevasse of hollow pain. A tear threw itself down my face at the sight of his brokenness and I wanted to look away, but couldn’t bring myself to emotionally abandon him.
Ten Days of Perfect (November Blue #1)
Andrea Randall's books
- Tender Mercies
- Written in My Own Heart's Blood (Outlander)
- Forgotten Promises (The Promises Series Book 2)
- Just Listen
- Bed of Roses
- Son Of The Morning
- Cover Of Night
- Affairs of State
- A Profiler's Case for Seduction
- Because of Rebecca
- Conflict of Interest
- Eclipse of the Heart
- Flames of Attraction
- Illusions of Love
- Keeper of the Moon
- Keeper of the Shadows
- Legacy of Love
- Love Proof (Laws of Attraction)
- Miles of Pleasure
- Of One Heart
- Off Limits
- Off Sides
- Out of the Dark (The Brethren Series)
- Out of the Depths
- Pool of Crimson
- Prince of Wolves
- Rules of Entanglement
- Shadow of My Heart
- Sins of a Ruthless Rogue
- Something of a Kind
- Son of a Preacher Man
- Taste of Desire
- Taste of Love
- Translation of Love
- Web of Deception
- Words of Love
- The Lady of Bolton Hill
- The Scars of Us(Scars Series)
- Dreams of Lilacs
- House of Ivy & Sorrow
- A Question of Honor
- The Owner of His Heart
- The Heir of the Castle
- Tower of Glass
- The Last Prince of Dahaar
- Terms of Engagement
- Secrets of a Bollywood Marriage
- David Lord of Honor
- Return of the Prodigal Gilvry
- Killing Me Softly(A Broken Souls Series)
- Starting Over(Hart of Seattle)
- The Resurrection of Aubrey Mill
- OFF SIDES
- Confessions of a Royal Bridegroom
- Stolen: Warriors of Hir, Book 3
- The CEO Buys in (Wager of Hearts #1)
- The Law of Moses
- A Pound of Flesh (A Pound of Flesh #1)
- Arouse: A Spiral of Bliss Novel (Book One)
- Awaken: A Spiral of Bliss Novel (Book Three)
- The Art of French Kissing
- Leo (A Sign of Love Novel)
- Echoes of Scotland Street
- Jesus Freaks: Sins of the Father
- Stinger (A Sign of Love Novel)
- The Song of David
- The House of the Stone
- Ashes of Honor: An October Daye Novel
- The Weight of Feathers
- Her Perfect Match
- Hollow (Perfect Little Pieces)
- Mr. Imperfect
- Perfect Fit (Serendipity's Finest)
- Picture Imperfect
- The Perfect Bride
- Twisted Perfection
- A Perfect Life: A Novel
- Present Perfect
- Blue Dahlia
- Texas Blue
- A Different Blue
- Alex (Cold Fury Hockey #1)
- Breathless In Love (The Maverick Billionaires #1)
- Consolation (Consolation Duet #1)