Casey
Erik and Aziz went deep-sea fishing the following day, leaving me home with Sandor. I was happy to be home because I’d picked up the guitar in the morning and now I had a chance to write a few songs as Sandor puttered around the house.
I settled at a table with an umbrella next to the pool, guitar in my lap and a notebook and pen on the table beside me. I’d had some lyrics in my head for weeks, and I got them down, doodling with words and emotions and melodies.
Take it hard
Take it fast
Just tonight
Not gonna last
I’m all for love
But not with you
Show me your body
You feel it too
I needed an electric guitar for something this hard and edgy, but I was in the groove, writing and singing under my breath, completely unaware Sandor was watching. When I finally looked up he had a smile on his face.
“I’ve never seen a musician actually writing a song in real-time,” he said. “I apologize if that’s intrusive.”
I shook my head. “Nah. When I’m in the zone, nothing else exists. What do you think?” I played what I had so far.
He nodded his head to the beat. “I like it. I can almost hear the drum part, add some pounding bass…”
“I really didn’t picture you as a rocker.” I laughed.
“Me either.” He grinned back.
I was about to play something else when my phone rang. Liz. We hadn’t talked since Monte Carlo and she didn’t call often, so I answered curiously. “Hey.”
“How are you?”
“I’m good. How about you?”
“I’m great. I just thought I’d check in.” She paused. “I saw the tabloids.”
“Oh, well, you know, par for the course when you’re a rocker dating a prince.”
She chuckled. “I suppose there’s that.”
“What about you? Are you dating anyone?”
“No. Not in a while.”
“How come?”
“Well…” She sighed. “After Ricky died, I threw myself into work. There really hasn’t been anyone interesting enough to make me want to put my heart on the line again.”
I knew her boyfriend from college had been killed in action in Iraq, but that had been several years ago now and I figured she must have moved on. “I’m sorry,” I said gently. “You never talk about him and I felt weird asking.”
“I try not to dwell, you know? He’s gone. I’m here. But other than the occasional one-nighter, I just can’t picture myself with anyone else. It’s pathetic, but it’s true.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“It’s okay. So things going good with his royal hotness?”
I laughed. “Very good. I’m crazy about him. Head over heels. It’s kind of ridiculous, but he makes me so happy.”
“That’s all that matters.”
“You could find someone too, you know. You just can’t look, you have to let it happen.”
“I have two full-time jobs—there isn’t a lot of opportunity for that.”
“Two…” I let my voice trail off because I already knew one of her jobs was the kind of thing we couldn’t talk about. “Well, you have to play sometimes, don’t you?”
“You’d think so but there isn’t much time for that. Luckily, I love my work—all of it—and I get to do some amazing things. If romance is in my future, it’ll work itself. In the meantime, I’ll live vicariously through you.”
“Oh, well, I can tell you all kinds of good stuff.”
“Ooohhh… is he good in bed?”
“Oh hell yeah.” With Sandor nearby, I got up and walked into the house and our bedroom, shutting the door behind me as we talked.
After my phone conversation with Liz, I made myself lunch and then went back to my song. By the time Erik got home around six thirty, “One Hard Night” had taken life and I played it for him.
“You just wrote that while I was gone?” he asked, shaking his head.
“Yeah. Why?”
“You just do that… like, write a song in an afternoon?”
“Sometimes. I mean, I get writer’s block, so to speak, and it doesn’t always go this smoothly, but I also haven’t been writing for months between being on the road and then traveling with you, so I was ready. I can write a song a day if I’m in the groove. They’re not all great, but I can do it.”
He leaned over to kiss me. “You’re amazing.”
“It’s a great song, right?” Sandor said. “It’s in my head now and I can’t get it out.”
I laughed. “I’ll play ‘Never on Sunday’ again and then you’ll be humming that.”
We laughed together and Sandor eventually wandered back into the house.
“It’s been nice here,” Erik said, pulling me onto his lap. “I’m really not looking forward to going home.”
“Me either, but it seems like it’s time.”
“Yeah.”
“You okay?” I asked, looking into his eyes.
“I’m wonderful. Just lazy and relaxed and wishing we could stay here forever.”
“I guess we can, but I’m thinking we’ll eventually get bored.”
“Maybe.” He got to his feet with me still in his arms. “But not likely.”
I smiled as he carried me into the bedroom and kicked the door shut with his foot. I was ready to go home, but I would miss this too. Something told me our lives were about to change drastically.