“I’ll take it.” I sigh and lay my forehead on my arm. “Who would have thought I’d be back here fifteen years after I left?”
“Not me, that’s for sure. But here you are.”
“Here I am.”
Chapter One
Declan
I’m performing at The Odyssey for the first time in three months tonight. It’s been closed for renovations, and I admit, I miss it.
Fuck it, I miss her.
And I barely know her.
What that’s all about, I have no idea. I don’t get hung up. There are too many women out there, in all shapes and sizes, to enjoy. I’ve never been the type to think about monogamy.
Not that I’m a prick. I just make sure women know the score before I score.
But I admit, I’m looking forward to seeing the feisty owner of The Odyssey, almost as much as I’m looking forward to seeing what she’s done with the place.
According to her bar manager, and my friend, Adam, the transformation has been incredible.
I carry my guitar through the front door, noticing the new sign and paint job on the outside of the building, and then take a deep breath as my eyes adjust to the dimmer light inside.
Holy fuck, Adam wasn’t kidding.
“Hey!” the man himself calls from behind the bar, tossing me a smile. “I’m glad you’re early. I want to show you around.”
“This is amazing,” I say, meaning every word. The floor has been refinished and polished to a honey blond, gleaming where sunlight streams through. New tables and chairs are sprinkled around the room, and new stools sit in front of the bar, which has also been polished.
“You haven’t seen anything yet,” Adam replies with a smile. “Wait until I show you the roof.”
“The roof?” I grin and set my guitar on the stage, then turn and almost swallow my tongue as Callie herself comes down the new staircase on the far side of the room. She’s in her signature killer heels, pink today. Her arms and cleavage are showcased in a simple black tank top and those mile-long legs are mostly bare, thanks to a ripped pair of cut-off denim shorts.
All I have to do is take one look at Callie and know that there’s a God.
And I hope to make her call out his name in thanks in the very near future.
“Declan,” she says.
“Callie,” I reply and feel my lips twitch into a smile as she crosses to the bar and sets a clipboard down. “Nice place you have here.”
Her blue eyes flare in happiness. “Thank you.”
“I was just telling Declan that I’ll take him up and show him the roof,” Adam says just as his phone rings. “Crap. I have to take this. Cal, will you show him?”
“She’ll show me,” I reply, still smiling.
Callie simply shrugs. “As you can see, we have new tables and chairs. I also replaced the stage area. It was so old, I’m surprised you never fell through it before.”
“It held up,” I say and follow her as she leads me toward the stairs. I’m eye-level with her ass, and I’m fucking salivating. “I didn’t know there was anything up here. I figured it was storage or something.”
“It was my dad’s apartment,” she says simply. “I tore it out, made most of it open so it’s now outside seating, and kept some of it covered for the bar."
We walk out to the best rooftop bar I’ve ever seen, and I’m no stranger to bars. She found an antique bar to match the one downstairs, and it’s indeed covered, with maybe half a dozen tables and chairs nearby. But the outdoor space is just plain kick ass.
“Wow,” I breathe and stop, hands on hips, glancing around. Couches are grouped together around gas fireplaces and covered with red, blue and yellow umbrellas to block the hot sun. But my eyes are drawn back to the woman responsible for all of it. I’d thought it was all in my head, that she couldn’t possibly be as beautiful as I thought she was.
But nope. She’s hot.