This wasn’t remotely what she’d expected. “I never pictured you as the blue cottage and white picket fence type,” Jesse said, admiring the cute A-frame with the wide, covered porch.

“I didn’t either until I saw the place.”

The home before them couldn’t be more different from the single-wide trailer Ash had grown up in. The mobile home had sported a giant hole in the floor at the end of the hall, and the walls were so thin that the place was downright frigid during the winter months. Looking back now, she didn’t blame him for spending so much time with her family.

“This is my dream porch,” she said, running a hand along the white rail as they climbed the four steps to the top. “And the red door is perfect.”

“That was Mama’s idea. We put the same one on her house.” He glanced at his watch. “Speaking of, I have to help her out this afternoon, but three hours should be plenty of time to get some work done.”

Slipping a key into the lock, he pushed the front door open and stepped aside for Jesse to enter first. She walked through and stopped to wipe her boots on the black mat as her eyes were drawn to the vaulted ceiling.

“I did not see that coming.” It was like an optical illusion. “The place looks so small from the outside, but it’s huge.”

“That’s what I said when my agent showed me the house as a potential project. I was looking for a fixer upper and knew immediately that I’d be in over my head, but the place had great bones, and when you add in the location, I couldn’t turn it down.” He pointed to the room ahead. “Step into the kitchen, and we’ll grab drinks on our way to the studio.”

Jesse did as ordered, eyes still taking in every detail of his home. The place suited him. Warm but not overly fussy. Functional but charming.

“When was it built?” she asked. “Everything looks brand-new, but I know this is an older part of town.”

“The structure was built in the 1940s,” Ash replied, setting down his guitar before stepping around the island to reach the fridge. “I gutted it to the studs so now it lists as built the year of the reno.” Perusing the options, he said, “I have Coke, water, and a couple Music City Lights. Pick your poison.”

“Coke will work. So you fixed the place up by yourself?”

He handed her the drink and withdrew a bottle for himself. “Ronnie and I did, with a little help from our friends.”

“Ronnie?”

“My ex-wife.” Ash pointed to the small windows in the wall above the white cabinets. “Those were her idea, and she also picked out all the light fixtures. In addition to the door, Mama suggested the skylights here above the counter, as well as the pergola cover over the back porch. I’ll show you that later if you want to see it.”

“That would be nice.” Jesse wanted to go back to Ronnie. “How long were you married?” She knew the answer but couldn’t let him know she’d snooped into his past.

“Less than a year.”

Despite the baggage between them, Jesse couldn’t imagine why any woman would leave Ash. He was as steady as they came and didn’t have a jealous bone in his body. The ex must have been the problem.

Treading into dangerous territory, she asked, “Did you love her?” The added phrase more than me almost slipped out.

“I did, and I still do.” Before she could absorb that blow, he asked, “Do you love Ryan?”

A yes danced at the tip of her tongue, but for some reason, she couldn’t say it. Opening her Coke, Jesse glanced around. “Did you design the rest?”

To her relief, Ash didn’t push for an answer to his question. “Pretty much. It was my idea to vault the ceiling in the living room and to add the fireplace.”

They’d built a tree house once, and Jesse distinctly remembered Ash taking the lead. The structure still stood, holding memories she didn’t need to think about right now.

“It’s a beautiful house.” Head tilted, she offered a sincere smile. “You should be proud of it.”

Ash accepted the compliment with a nod and pointed down the hall. “The studio is on your right. You can’t miss it. I’ll be there in a minute.”

Happy to get to work, Jesse followed his directions and found a small room easily recognizable as a studio thanks to the combination of soundproofing and acoustic filters covering the walls. A built-in desk ran the length of one wall and held a state-of-the-art setup complete with two massive monitors and a small but impressive mixing board.

Ash had not cut corners. Jesse bent to open her guitar case and felt a nudge behind her, nearly sending her headlong into the open door.

“Hey!” she cried, turning to find an enormous black creature staring at her, pink tongue drooped over intimidatingly large teeth.

He could have mentioned that he had a dog. Unsure if the animal was friendly, Jesse rose to her full height, which wasn’t much taller than the beast staring her down. His tail was wagging, and she took that as a good sign.

“Hello, Mr. Scary Dog. I promise I have permission to be in your territory.” The canine stepped closer and nudged her hand until Jesse patted him on the head. “That’s a good boy.” She rubbed around his ears, and black eyes rolled shut in euphoria. “You aren’t scary at all, big fella.”

The tail was still wagging as Ash entered the room. “I see you’ve met Brutus.”

“He’s gorgeous.” Jesse put her nose close to the dog’s face. “You could have told me you have a giant dog, though. He scared me half to death.”

Ash picked up a guitar on his way to the desk, where he set down a plate of sandwiches and lowered into the chair. “I don’t own a dog. Brutus lives next door but uses the dog door to come visit.”

That explanation made no sense at all. “Why do you have a dog door if you don’t have a dog?”

“Because Ronnie wanted a dog, but we never got around to adopting one before the divorce.” He gave a half shrug. “I never bothered to take the door out.”

“Must be a pretty big door for this boy to fit through.” She wiped a drop of slobber off her jeans. “Were you planning to adopt a St. Bernard?”

Brutus took another step forward, and Jesse lost her balance when her heels hit the open guitar case on the floor. Afraid of crushing her Gibson, she twisted to the side, and Ash caught her less than a foot from the hardwood. She looked up to see the soft lines etched at the corners of his eyes. Eyes that dropped immediately to her lips.

“You all right?” he asked, breath warm on her cheek.

Jesse’s heart raced, but not from the tumble. “Yeah, I think so.”

He held her a moment longer, eyes like crystallized honey locked with hers. As she wrapped her fingers around his warm wrist, Jesse’s world tilted once more as Ash lifted her back to her feet.

“Sorry about that,” he said, turning away to click on the computer monitors. “Brutus doesn’t know how big he is.”

Dazed, Jesse straightened her jacket and ignored the sudden weight of disappointment. “Thanks for catching me.”

“No problem.” He pushed the plate her way. “I made us some sandwiches. Ham and swiss on wheat.”

The sandwich was Jesse’s favorite, and he’d even cut it diagonally the way she liked. “You remembered.”

“Yeah,” Ash replied, playing down the gesture. “So what other songs do you have?”

Jolted by his abrupt switch from hot to cold, she took a second to retrieve her notebooks from beneath the guitar, and then set them on the desk beside the plate. “That’s everything I have.”

While he perused her work, Jesse grabbed a sandwich and dropped into a rolling chair. Brutus plopped down at her feet and stared intently, but to his credit, refrained from openly begging. Ash flipped through the first book, which had her best stuff, and looked unimpressed. When he opened the more-tattered one, she cringed.

“Those are old.”

He slowly turned the pages, showing more interest than before. “Is this one about your grandmother?” Ash asked, flipping the book around for her to see.

“It is, but the songs in there aren’t album material.”

Ash ignored her claim. “I haven’t thought about Grandma Evie in years. How is she?”

Appetite waning, Jesse put the sandwich back on the plate. “She passed away four years ago.” Though she’d meant to speak in a matter-of-fact tone, her voice caught on the passed away part. Unlike her parents, Grandma Evie had lavished Jesse with all the love and attention a young girl could possibly want. She’d often wondered how someone so loving and sweet could have raised a woman as frigid as Enid Rheingold.

“I’m sorry,” Ash said, his voice laced with regret. “She was a special woman.”

He’d get no argument there. “Yes, she was.”

A beat of silence passed before he asked, “Will you play this for me?”

Jesse never played her truly intimate writings for anyone. Not even Taylor. “I’d rather not.”

“Come on. I’d really like to hear it.”

Caving, she lifted the guitar onto her lap and paused to recall the chords. Once she had the melody clear, Jesse closed her eyes and began to sing.

She had a smile that lit up a room

Her laughter was contagious

Blue eyes that sparkled bold and bright

Always shining when she saw us.

Lifting her eyes, she checked Ash’s reaction and caught the gentle smile on his lips. With a quick nod, he encouraged her to continue.

I wanted to be like her

So strong and yet so soft

Her love for me was a precious gift

Her time on earth not long enough.

To Jesse’s surprise, Ash began to play with her as she rolled into the chorus.

I had an angel in my life

One sent from up above

To fill the holes that others left

To fill me up with love

If she could see me here today

I wonder what she’d say

I hope that she’d be proud of me

Sweet Grandma Evie May.

She let the next chord fade and waved for Ash to stop. “That’s all I have. I never finished it.”

Ash propped his arms along the top of his guitar. “That’s really good.”

Brutus barked in agreement, and she laughed, giving the dog a quick scratch under his chin. “I had trouble sleeping in the weeks after she died. One night I heard a tune in my head, and those words poured onto the page.”

Eyes alight, Ash scooted to the edge of his chair. “Let’s finish it. This is perfect for the album.”

Jesse closed the old notebook and dropped it back into the case. “I can’t. There’s better stuff in the other book. Besides, no one wants to hear a song about my grandmother.”

Ash rolled his chair closer. “Jesse, that’s exactly what people want to hear. Think of the listeners out there who feel the same way, but don’t know how to express it like you do. That’s a gift you can give them.”

Jesse couldn’t imagine singing something so personal in front of a real audience, but she recognized the determined look in Ash’s eye. This was day one, and she was certain there would be plenty of other songs to knock this one out of the running. Letting him help her write a final verse couldn’t hurt anything.

“Okay, then,” she said. “Let’s finish it.”

“What rhymes with reminder?” Jesse asked, biting her bottom lip as her pen hovered above the notebook.

“Kinder?” Ash offered.

They’d spent thirty minutes working on the song, and Jesse had rejected all of his suggestions. He’d let her have her way, but only because her ideas were better.

“Not what I was going for,” she replied, studying the page, “but if I reword the previous line, it could work.”

The way she scrutinized every lyric made Ash wonder where the bubble gum songs had come from. They hadn’t been all bad, but this short session alone revealed what Jesse was capable of, and it wasn’t the shallow stuff she’d played earlier.

As she flipped the pencil to employ the eraser, her cell phone rang. She tugged it from her back pocket and checked the screen. “It’s Ryan. I really need to take this. He’s on tour, and I don’t know if I’ll get another chance to talk to him today.”

They’d made enough progress to earn a break. “Go for it.”

Ash expected Jesse to leave the room, but she stayed in her chair.

“Hey, baby,” she purred in greeting. “How’s it going?” There was a pause before she added, “I’m working with Ash at his house.” A second later, she visibly stiffened. “What does it matter where we work?”

Glancing up, Ash caught the confusion in her eyes.

“I didn’t like working in the label conference room, so Ash suggested we come over here. He has a studio and—”

Full lips clamped shut, and the voice on the other end grew loud enough for Ash to hear. He couldn’t make out the words, but the tone was clear. Ryan Dimitri wasn’t happy.

“You’re being stupid right now,” she said, spinning her chair to face the opposite direction. “Since when are you jealous of anyone?”

Jealous? Based on reputation alone, Dimitri had no business suggesting Jesse would be the unfaithful one. The man had cheated on every woman he’d ever dated.

“I am not giving you a reason to be jealous. He’s my producer. We’re working.”

Ash fought the urge to snatch the phone from her hands and tell the asshole where he could shove his accusations.

“I tried to come see you over the weekend so we could celebrate, and you told me not to come. That’s not on me.”

Ash’s leg bounced as his anger grew. Of course he’d told her not to come. Having his girlfriend around would only curb Dimitri’s extracurricular activities. What was she doing with this dipshit anyway? Jesse knew better. She sure as hell deserved better.

“I can’t come now, I’m working. We hit the studio next week, and I need to be prepared.”

Why hadn’t she hung up yet?

“Jesse,” Ash said, voice loud enough to be heard down the line, “we need to get back to work.”

She spun the chair and gave him a hold on one damn minute look. As if he was the problem here.

“Baby, I need to go, but I won’t be here much longer. I’ll call you back, okay?”

The placating tone infuriated him. She’d done nothing wrong, but Dimitri had her practically apologizing for his bullshit. And who said she wouldn’t be here much longer? They still had nearly two hours before Ash had to be at his mom’s place, and if Jesse thought they were cutting the day even shorter to please the insecure shit on the phone, she was sadly mistaken.

“I’m sorry,” she mumbled, and Ash ground his teeth to keep from butting in. “We’ll talk later. Love you.” Jesse pulled the phone away from her ear, and he could tell the last sentiment hadn’t been returned. Spinning back around, she dropped the phone into her guitar case. “Where were we?”

Leave it alone. Her personal life is none of your business.

Ash tapped a finger on the notebook as the muscle in his jaw twitched.

“What’s wrong with you?” she asked, giving him the attitude she should have given her boyfriend.

That was it. Jesse was his business, and she always would be.