Page 77 of Tangled Up In You

Conor had an unattached studio in the back garden of his house that had once been a large gardening shed. He had remodeled and expanded it to make it into a space where he and the band could work on music. The rustic wood floors remained but were covered with tattered Oriental rugs and an old sofa. There was enough space to house a drum kit and electric, bass, and acoustic guitars, along with a set of microphones. A basic recording system allowed for rudimentary demos, but he hoped to upgrade to a full-scale soundboard and other, better, equipment in the near future.

The year was slipping into early summer, and the band didn’t have much to show for their efforts toward their second album. Gavin was so wrapped up in Sophie that it had been hard for Conor to get his attention to write music. Martin had returned from his honeymoon but still seemed absent as he settled happily into married life. Shay had been the one most eager to start working on things, but they still hadn’t been able to gather everyone other than for the odd night out.

Truth be told, Conor had enjoyed the down time. He had always shied away from being part of a big circle of friends, as much as people increasingly vied for his attention as the band made a name for itself. Gavin, Shay, and Martin were his closest friends, so if they weren’t available, he was happy to be on his own. He’d spend days hiking the lush greenery of the Wicklow Way with a backpack filled with water, protein bars, fruit, and a book. The mountain lakes, steep glacial valleys, flowing streams, and ruined buildings along the way were enough company to satisfy his loner tendencies and love of the natural landscape. Sondra would lure him out of too much extended time away, though, and they had a good time out on the town with dinners with her actor friends.

But this day was a confirmed band day as they had all agreed to meet at Conor’s place to put in serious work. He had left his front door unlocked for the others and was sitting on a stool, free-styling on a Gibson Les Paul electric guitar.

“Ooh, is that new?”

He looked up to find Sophie letting herself in. She wore jeans and a pale green short-sleeve cardigan held together at the bodice by a jeweled broach, and the color made her eyes shine a deep emerald. He saw a flash of bare skin at the lower open end of her top and fixated on the fact that she wore nothing under the sweater.

“What you were playing, I meant. Is that something new?” she asked and moved closer to him. “It sounds so different.”

“It’s the open tuning on the guitar.”

“Like Keef!”

He stared at her in surprise. How did she know Keith Richards used open tuning, let alone his nickname? Richards had created his signature sounds for “Honky Tonk Woman,” “Brown Sugar,” and “Start Me Up” by tuning his guitar the same way a banjo is tuned. The five-string open G tuning created three notes with different octaves and a “ghost” note formed by the two other notes harmonizing.

“Don’t be so shocked,” she said with a laugh. “I actually pay attention when you guys talk music, you know?”

“Oh. Yes,” he mumbled and sat up straighter. “Where’s Gav?”

“He had to run back home. Forgot his book with all his notes, if you can believe that.”

Of course he had. Gavin could either be exceptionally focused or … not. It didn’t seem to bode well for their session today. Neither did Sophie being here. Not that he wasn’t pleased to see her, but she could be a distraction.

“I won’t stay long,” she said as if reading his mind. “I’ve got summer term to sort out at uni.”

“I see.” He hadn’t seen much of her or Gavin since Martin’s wedding a couple of months ago. That’s when she had declared his relationship with Sondra hopeless. He’d thought a lot about that since then, wondering why she even cared to make such a judgment.

“Let me hear that piece again,” she said, gesturing to the guitar he held.

He did as she asked and ran through what little he had put together. Watching her as he played, he saw the notes resonating as she tilted her head just so.

“How do you do that? Play without looking at the strings?”

He could have taken the opportunity to share with her that as a child he had shown a prodigy-level talent for music, and had, in fact, taken violin and piano lessons starting at age three. It was likely he could have had a successful career in classical music had his friendship with Gavin not steered him toward rock ’n’ roll.

Instead, he said, “I’ve given the guitar more hand jobs than I’ve given myself.” Because it amused him to see her blush.

“More than I needed to know, Connie.”

“You want to give it a try?”

“Givewhata try?”

He raised his eyebrows and stared at her for a moment, feeling the heat between them and enjoying it. Then he pulled the guitar strap over his head and offered the instrument to her.

“Um, yeah, okay.”

He lowered the strap over her shoulder, holding steady to the neck of the guitar until it was in place. When he let it go, she staggered.

“Oh my god, it’s so heavy!” she said, astonished.

He laughed. It was a solid piece of equipment, one that he was accustomed to manipulating for hours on end. But seeing her surprise at the weight of it, and the look of admiration for him in her eyes, he viewed it anew.

And he saw her anew. She was beautiful and sexy and fun—andfuck, he was absolutely falling for her.

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