Page 70 of Wilde Secrets

What would that say to Logan if she did? That she was ashamed of him? That she didn’t want to be seen with him in public?

She reached out and slid her hand into his. “I’m sure,” she said with a smile and a squeeze of his hand.

A loud round of applause came from near the small stage that had been set up with an outdoor projector screen and a microphone.

“They set this up for outdoor movies on weekends, too. At least during the summer,” Cassie volunteered, waving her hand to indicate the outdoor decking area.

Harper wondered if there would be time to come back and see a movie with Logan. On an actual date.

The same woman with pink hair who had done Harper’s nails climbed onto the stage.

“You might regret staying,” Logan said under his breath as she began to sing the opening bars of Prince’s “Diamonds and Pearls”.

Harper laughed, humming along with the tune and watching the crowd. The singing was far from perfect, but everyone cheered and clapped for the performers. Nobody booed. Nobody heckled. Nobody made fun when the next performer stumbled and missed their cues or the one after who couldn’t hit a high note.

She nursed her glass of wine and sat quietly, enjoying herself and wishing she could stay forever. She closed her eyes and leaned her head back, staring up at the sky as the evening turned dark.

If I could stay here forever,

Could we make it together?

The words flowed through Harper’s mind, the melody filling her with melancholy. She jerked out of her seat and raced from the bar, gripping her phone in her fist.

She heard Logan’s booted feet on the wooden decking of the pier as she dashed away from the noise of the bar.

Ignoring his presence she hummed the tune until it crystallized and then recorded herself as she sang the accompanying lyrics. They flowed out of her like water. She was laughing when she was done, the sheer relief of being able to create music like she wanted sending her straight into Logan’s arms.

He smiled bemusedly as she rained kisses across his face. “What’s this for?”

“I did it! I have something, finally. Something good.” She laughed, throwing her head back and squealing into the night. “I might just be able to write this album after all.”

She might actually be able to get what she wanted.

But, if everything was within her grasp, why did she have a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach?

ChapterTwenty-Four

Logan

“I’m not so sure about this, Logan.”

Harper was standing next to the house, arms wrapped around herself. She eyed his truck warily, as if it was going to bite her, not take her out on a date with him.

Was it really a date though?

Logan certainly thought it was a date. He’d even ditched his ball cap for the occasion, his hair still a little damp and curling against his neck from his shower.

“We don’t have to go, if you don’t want to.” He’d be disappointed, but if that’s what she needed? He’d do that.

It had been a week since karaoke night at Brews’n’Blues, and they were due to head out to the same place again. For karaoke.

But this time, Harper was going to sing.

They’d fallen into an easy rhythm over the past week. Logan would get up early and work out in the gym he had set up in half of the garage—now that most of the wood had been cleared out—Harper sometimes coming to watch him and chat. He found himself working harder, knowing she was watching, which was all kinds of ridiculous, but he couldn’t seem to stop himself.

They’d have breakfast together and then she’d pick up her guitar, and he’d start work on the house. They’d break for lunch, and he’d ask her about her progress and listen as she described her elation or frustration.

Some days it was both.

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