She loved morning the most. And Santa Fe mornings were beautiful.

The air was hot and dry as Emelia leaned back in her café chair and propped her legs on the balcony railing. The view from her hotel balcony was terrific, and she wanted to soak up every moment.

Grant’s snores dwindled down from inside. She had left the door cracked so she could hear when he woke up. A moment’s disappointment went through her that he’d wake right now and put an end to her quiet moment.

This was their fourth city, and the tour was going well. She was tired. All the travel wore her down more than expected. Still, she had managed to keep up with her freelance clients and get her social media work done, as well as business management for Shark Productions so Grant could keep doing what he loved. She lent a hand when he needed help packing or moving stuff around. And for the most part, she’d stayed out of the band’s way.

Tonight’s concert center had a massive floor with a raised level near the edge of the state. The “pit” as the front was called, offered an excellent view of the band. Hadn’t Trevor said he wanted her there, looking up at him, watching him where he could see her? The memory heated her skin. Avoiding him had been hard. But she had stayed just out of sight, where she could hear them practice and watch them going through their routines without being in the way. For the most part, she sat somewhere in the empty auditorium and worked on her laptop. City after city, it was as immersed as she’d let herself be in Trevor’s day-to-day.

Anything more would just be asking for trouble.

Her phone buzzed. Glancing at it, she saw a message from her older brother Campbell.

How’s the tour going?

She smiled and responded. Great!

Her brother had an extremely successful movie studio; had popped out huge money-maker movies in the past ten years. He had offered her a job several times, but she would never let herself seriously consider it. She didn’t want a hand out from her brother; she wanted to make it on her own.

Another message came through. Found this while going through an old stack of papers yesterday.

A picture popped up. Tears hit her eyes, a small gasp escaping her lips. It was an image of their brother, Kyle. He stood in his hallmark twisted way; his shoulders slanted to the left, his hip jutted out to the right. His heavy glasses were perched halfway down his nose, and the smile on his face, oh the smile! Trevor had his arm around Kyle, a guitar in his other hand.

She’d completely forgotten this day! Trevor had played at a local park, and Kyle had begged to go see him. So she had taken him, and he had gotten a picture with the band.

I miss him so much. Thanks for sending it.

I miss him, too, sis. You’re going to stop when you’re in LA?

Absolutely. My friend Chole is going to meet us there and finish the tour with us.

See you in a week!

She lay her phone down and clenched her eyes against more tears. She missed Kyle and his crooked smile, his infectious laugh. That night they had been run off the road— had lost control. To this day, the entire incident was a massive blur.

They had walked away. Kyle hadn’t.

“Good morning.”

Emelia jerked. “Oh.” She smiled up at Grant as she tried to subtly recover from her emotions. “Good morning.”

“Did I startle you?” Grant’s brow furrowed.

“No.” Emelia shook her head fervently. “No. I was just um...relaxing out here on the balcony while I sipped my morning coffee.”

He stretched and yawned, leaning against the side of the sliding glass door. “It looks like it’s going to be another miserable day.”

Emelia frowned and made a mental note to count how many times throughout the day Grant said something grouchy. She didn’t want his sour moods to ever rot into her own core.

“I hope not,” she countered.

“I suppose.” He shrugged. “I’m going to hit the shower.” His eyes lit up with mischief, and his lips curled into a devious grin. “Care to join me?”

“No thanks. I already showered.” She pointed to her still-wet hair.

“Oh.” Grant’s expression of happiness fell as he spun to head towards the bathroom. “Suit yourself.”

Emelia sighed as she walked back into the cold hotel room, sorry her contentment was gone. She tried to re-center herself while Grant dressed and sprayed on cologne. By the time he had taken twenty minutes to put on socks and decide which shoes to wear, she was irritated and grouchy. She pulled her hair into a messy bun, dressed in joggers and a tank top, flip-flops and no makeup. Screw it. That picture of Kyle had taken the wind right out of her.

“Let’s go eat.”

They headed downstairs to the free continental breakfast. The band probably had room service ordered up, as had become a habit. Fine, it just meant she wouldn’t see Trevor until rehearsal. She didn’t want to see him right now. The image of him beside her brother had her emotional center in knots.

They helped themselves to piles of steaming eggs, sausages, potatoes and fruit and found a seat next to the production crew.

Emelia found herself tuning out the boring conversation going on around the table. Everyone was talking about the tour. Like strobe lights, or sound equipment. Nothing that interested her. She glanced around the cafeteria, and her heart flipped.

Trevor walked into the room. A few people turned their heads to stare at him subtly and whisper to their friends and family sitting at their tables. Nobody bothered him though. Either that or the hotel patrons were either too shy or too respectful to approach him.

He strode to the buffet, inspected it and then as if knowing she was behind him, glanced over his shoulder to catch her eye.

She wiped her mouth with the napkin that had been sitting in her lap.

“Excuse me,” she said and abruptly stood up.

Grant gave her a glance. “Where are you going?”

“I uh...need more orange juice.” She scratched the side of her cheek. “I’ll be right back.”

She hoped that Grant couldn’t see the little white lie etched across her face or the way her cheeks heated. She casually walked in Trevor’s direction. Why she was doing this, she had no idea. Just the sight of him compelled her out of her chair. He grinned when he saw her move to the counter next to the buffet.

“Morning,” he bid.

“Good morning. Just need some more toast.” She plucked a slice of bread from the tray and popped it in the toaster, shoving the handle down harder than necessary.

“Where’s the rest of the guys?” She inquired casually. Why was the damn toast taking so long?

He shrugged. “Still in bed, I guess. I don’t know. I had to get out of my room, into civilization.”

She smiled, not sure what to say. The picture of her brother and Trevor was forefront in her mind. Her toast popped up, and she hastily grabbed for it. It burned her fingers, so she dropped it onto the counter with a little smile.

“Oops, it’s hot.” She buttered it quickly. Too quickly, the force of the knife flipping the toast off the counter and butter-side down onto the floor.

“Shit,” she grumbled, hating herself for the scatter-brained effect that Trevor had over her.

“Don’t you hate gravity sometimes?”

Emelia glanced up and blinked. Why couldn’t she get the image out of her head?

“Huh?”

“It seems like the toast always lands butter side down.” He crouched and picked the bread off the ground, tossing it in the trash.

“Oh.” Emelia chuckled and shook her head with embarrassment. “Sorry, but I need to ask you something.”

Trevor shrugged, still grinning at her with such enigmatic glow that she trembled.

“Sure.”

“Do you... do you remember me? From high school?”

His smile fell like she had just ran over his puppy, a slightly stricken expression taking over. Immediately regretting the question, she scrambled for something to say.

“I’m sorry, it’s okay if you don’t. I just found a picture of you posing with my brother from about ten years ago, and I thought maybe—I mean, I know it’s a long shot—but I thought you might... you might remember us.”

He started at her, the corners of his eyes turned down, his forehead furrowing as a flicker of grief or something washed over his face.

“I’m sorry.” The words were thick, full as if he were apologizing for something beyond simply not remembering her. “It was, um, a long time ago.”

Emelia rubbed her hands together. It was time to change this tide. “Oh gosh, yes it was. Anyway, it was cool to see how far you’ve come since that picture was taken. You’re not playing at park festivals anymore, that’s for sure.”

“Right. Not until I’m like 70 and my career is over, anyway.”

She selected another piece of bread and made new toast. Trevor grabbed a plate and filled it up, both of them doing their thing in silence that had become comfortable. She was glad for that.

“Hey, um, Emelia. I didn’t get a chance to apologize to you for my behavior the night of our first show.”

She waved him off. “Nope. Don’t even think twice about it.”

He touched her shoulder, little warm shocks going down her arm. “I’ve thought about a hundred times about it. And I hope you’ll accept my apology.”

She faced him, lingered her gaze onto his. “Of course, Trevor. I can’t imagine you’d do anything that I couldn’t forgive you for.”

That crestfallen look was back on his face. He paused in filling his plate, suddenly turned and tossed what little he’d had on there in the trash.

“Anyway,” he said and broke the awkward silence between them. “I need to get to band practice.” He nudged his thumb in the direction of the lobby.

“Did I do something wrong?” Emelia reached for her toast, paused mid-air. His hot and cold attitude was confusing.

“Of course not. I just don’t want to keep them waiting. Colton can get kind of fussy.” He grinned, but it didn’t make her feel any better.

“No problem.” Why did she already feel an empty pang and Trevor hadn’t even left yet? “Have a good time jamming out.”

He gave her a slow once-over. Every inch of her body warmed beneath his gaze. “You’re free to come to watch us practice if you want.”

She wasn’t going to tell him that she had already been doing that, high up in the stands. Invisible. She glanced at Grant who was immersed in his cellphone. He was smiling, laughing to himself. Probably watching cat videos again.

“Or,” Trevor’s voice pulled her back. “You can be right up front in the pit tonight. Right there where I can see you all night long.”

All. Night. Long. Her lips parted, her body aching to press against his and find out what kind of invitation those words really were.

“Oh, really? Maybe I will.” Her nipples perked inside her bra. “Maybe I’ll be right there for you to see.”

“Hey, Em, you coming back over here or what?” Grant’s voice was laced with irritation.

“Coming.”

Flicking a gaze to Trevor, she grabbed her dry toast and turned to leave. “See you...” she whispered and trailed off as she walked away.

Something glimmered in her heart, lingered, revived each time she saw him. It was hard to explain. But the one thing she knew for sure is that it frightened her and thrilled her, all at the same time.