In the meantime, she’d glommed on to jazz. It was one of the few kinds of music that had been free, probably because most of what she’d listened to then—Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, Billie Holliday—was old school music that struggled to find an audience in an increasingly digital world.
Jazz was a private thing, linked to a difficult period of her life when abandonment had been her emotional reality. Yet she’d shared her love of it with Isaiah readily, not even pausing to think about how intimate of a thing it really was. How would that come across to Cassidy, who had expressed an interest in Isaiah? Not well, surely.
“Yeah, I listen to it,” she mumbled casually. “I guess Isaiah mentioned he liked it and it happens that I do too, so we talked about it. Briefly. You should brush up on it.”
“Maybe I will. Thanks for the tip.” Cassidy sang the opening bars of the first worship song as the service started, her expression decidedly blank.
Great. So Cassidy would start listening to jazz and then she and Isaiah would have something to connect over. That’s exactly what should happen. If nothing else, Aria had helped move the dial for her friend and that was the important thing.
But the thought of Cassidy and Isaiah together on the rooftop of the hotel made her stomach hurt. He’d probably take her up there and spread out that blanket like he’d done for Aria, then stretch out his long, lean body to cover the length of it. Cassidy would definitely not be able to avoid appreciating how good-looking Isaiah was, not when he put himself on display like that. Isaiah would play some of his sultrier blues, horns wailing through the still night air, and it would be so romantic that Cassidy would fall for him instantly. If she hadn’t already.
Aria slouched down in her seat, crossing her arms over the squiggle in her stomach that had turned into more of an ache behind her ribs. How stupid was she for opening her big, fat mouth about jazz? And how selfish was she for regretting it? Cassidy deserved someone good and kind like Isaiah in her life, assuming he stuck around.
Actually, she didn’t know that he would. After they’d talked about his love of
travel, she’d made an assumption that he’d be taking off again soon. Why wouldn’t he? There was nothing holding him to this town.
The thought of him leaving knifed through her much harder than the mental image of Cassidy in her spot on the roof. One or the other was inevitable. Maybe both would happen, but either way, Aria would have to give up her secret friendship with the man. Soon. Cassidy was her friend and there were rules. You didn’t hang out with a guy that your friend was dating. That was totally not cool. Aria couldn’t get in the way of that budding relationship or she’d never forgive herself.
Except a part of her had dreamed of tagging along with him when he took off to see more of the world that she’d only heard about. It was a silly thought, born of desperation to avoid being hurt. If she left with Isaiah, then it wouldn’t matter if Havana and Ember stayed in Superstition Springs or if they’d both planned to abandon her again. Aria wouldn’t be around to care.
If Isaiah headed out into the big, bright world, he might take Cassidy with him instead. That’s what Aria should be guiding them both toward. She vowed to bring that up after church, because if nothing else, this was her chance to be a good friend. Besides, the sooner Cassidy and Isaiah became an item, the less it would ache inside for no good reason.
She hoped.
She had no business thinking about what it might be like to take her friend’s place and she definitely had no call to be suddenly imagining how she’d react if Isaiah had tried to get a whole lot closer to her up in his rooftop sanctuary. Because she wasn’t picturing herself pushing him away. That alone meant she had to swiftly backpedal before she did something irreversible and ruined her friendship with Cassidy.
Aria knew what it felt like to be hurt and betrayed by people who should love her. She refused to do the same to Cassidy by letting her thoughts stray even a little toward unseemliness with Isaiah. It was time to up her game. Once she had Tristan in the bag, she could—and surely would—forget all about secret rooftop alliances with Isaiah.
The Moons led the congregation through the last prayer, but Cassidy slipped out, pleading a headache. Aria let her go. There would be plenty of time to push her friend toward Isaiah a little harder, assuming she could figure out a way to stomach it.
The noise level inside the pre-fab building rose as folks chatted or headed for the exit, depending on what else they had going on today. As if she’d conjured Isaiah simply by thinking his name, the man himself materialized in front of her, his different color eyes sparking with something she couldn’t fathom. But it was intriguing, beautiful and compelling all at the same time.
A liquid warmth gushed through her insides and it didn’t matter how hard she tried to squelch it, she couldn’t. Fantastic. Now she had involuntary female reactions to contend with when Isaiah looked at her. Tristan had never turned her on with simply a look. What was wrong with her?
“Hey,” he said and the sound of his voice did not help things in her southern regions. “You up for another session tonight? I know you don’t usually work at the diner on Sunday so I figured the timing was good. I thought of a few more things that might get Tristan’s head out of his rear end.”
A little sigh slipped out before she could catch it. What did it mean that he’d remembered her work schedule? No one paid attention to stuff like that, just automatically assuming she’d be at Ruby’s no matter what.
“That would be great.” No. No, it wouldn’t. It would be magical and fun and she’d get hit with another wave of enormous guilt about Cassidy again. “I mean… Maybe another time.”
“Because why?” Concern evident, his expression lost a little of its sparkle. “You’re not upset about how he ignored you at the movies are you? Because I’ll talk to him—”
“No! It’s not that.” Goodness, she’d actually forgotten about the movies. “It’s that I was thinking we should try something else.”
“Like what?”
Like not being alone together. Caught in the trap of her own making, she cast about wildly for something that might plausibly work to explain why she could not spend time with him. Her gaze lit on Tristan, who stood at the south entrance to the building talking to Ruby about something that had made her boss laugh.
“Act like you’re interested in me,” she spat out as Tristan turned his pale blond head in their direction. Ugh, that was the worst idea ever and judging by the look Isaiah was giving her, he wasn’t so keen on it either. But it was already out there. Too late to do anything else but roll with it. “You know, to make him jealous. Right now. Put your arm around me or something.”
“Uh, no.” Isaiah actually stepped back a few inches, which didn’t do a lot for her ego. “That is not a good plan. At all. Moving in on another SEAL’s woman is not kosher and he’d immediately back off.”
“What, you mean he’d deliberately give me up for you, even if he was really interested? That’s ridiculous.” It wasn’t. She’d literally just had the same thoughts about how she couldn’t betray Cassidy, and yet here she was arguing with Isaiah that his friend shouldn’t worry about that. How had this gotten so complicated? Frustration grabbed her vocal cords and it was testament to her befuddled state that she blurted out, “Why can’t we all be honest about how we feel?”
Isaiah’s otherworldly eyes fastened on her with far more intensity than she’d have liked in that moment. “You want honesty? Try this on for size. I think you’re scared of Tristan.”
“What?”