Rory felt heat building inside her as she suddenly became aware of his broad shoulders, his strong angular jaw, and his full lips. What would it be like to kiss them?
“When you love a song, you should sing it as freely as possible,” he said softly.
“Excuse me?” Rory leaned forward, trying to compose herself.
“You liked singing ‘Hey Jude,’ but you were restraining yourself, barely humming, worried about what everyone else would think.” Rory tried to maintain a straight face, but she was surprised at how easily he had read her. He smirked again as he studied her, his gaze flickering briefly to her mouth.
“Nothing like that,” she said. Arsen didn’t reply, just sat there in a strong posture. The air in the room seemed to change, and Arsen seemed much more relaxed to her.
“I mean, not many people would dare to do that in a room full of professional musicians,” she added.
“Why would you want to be many people? Why not be different than others?” His words hit home. All her life she had tried to be herself, but unknowingly she had drifted sideways to become one of the herd.
“If everyone is going one way, turn around and walk in the opposite direction,” he asserted. That is so true, Rory thought.
“Who’s that quote from?” she inquired. He just smiled slightly as if that explained it all. Even when he said nothing, his presence was enormous.
“That piano hasn’t been played in a while.” He turned to look at the instrument.
“How would you know?” she challenged.
“Musician’s intuition.” He sat back with his legs spread wide, powerful arms hanging to the sides.
“Hasn’t been played since my grandmother passed away,” she said quietly.
“Ah. Sorry about that.”
They sat silently for a minute as Rory wondered why she’d brought that up. Thankfully he broke the uncomfortable silence.
“You never play it?”
“Me? No.” She laughed. “I used to, when I was little, as I sat in my grandmother’s lap, but I guess I didn’t have it in me to pursue it.”
“Nonsense. We all have music within us. I can bet you twenty bucks that I can have you playing a song in ten minutes.” He tilted back his head with confidence.
“Oh c’mon. I am as unmusical as they come.”
“I don’t believe you.” He squinted his dark eyes mischievously.
“You don’t believe something I know about myself?” she challenged him.
“Why don’t we find out?” He got up and extended his hand to her. Talk about overconfidence. Rory suppressed her smile and just walked toward the piano instead of taking his hand. She could feel him beaming behind her back. He grabbed a candle stand from the side table and put it on top of the piano.
As she sat on the piano bench, Arsen leaned over her. She was unprepared for the potency of feeling him so close to her. The distance between them was tempting, the space between them warmed by the heat of their bodies. Arsen’s scent, a combination of cologne, leather, and something more, overpowered her senses, waking up a long-forgotten desire in her body. She was yanked back from her thoughts by the sound of his soft baritone voice.
“I’ll teach you a song that everyone knows. One of the simplest ones to play. Okay?” He looked at her and his eyes were kind, looking for affirmation. She nodded.
“I am going to hit one key at a time. Just do your best to remember which keys I hit, is all.” In the light of the candle that he had brought over, she could see the keys much more clearly. Arsen started hitting the notes slowly, and it was then that she realized that he was playing “Amazing Grace,” her grandmother’s favorite. How did he know? She stared at him with wide eyes.
“Eyes on the keys,” Arsen said, without looking away from the piano, and Rory sheepishly looked down. Arsen played it for her a few times more and Rory was surprised that after a few tries, she was able to play the first verse of the song completely, even if she did so with only one finger.
“Congrats! Now you know the main melody of the song. But if you are to play it properly, you need to learn the chords.” He smiled a warm smile.
“I can’t believe I just played that.” Rory shook her head in amazement.
“Wasn’t so difficult, now, was it?” he said, as he walked back to the sofa. Rory followed. Why did he play “Amazing Grace”? It was too coincidental to ignore.
“It wasn’t difficult at all. You were right,” Rory admitted with some difficulty, but still got no response from Arsen. He poured some more wine in their glasses.