B-Roll to B-Sides (PR Girls & Instalove 2)

Her bright blue eyes lit up. “Yes. And it’s perfect for both research and brunch.”

I would follow this gorgeous woman anywhere, but especially to a place that made her grin like that. “Let’s go.”

3

_____

Brynn

When we walked into Riverview Restaurant, Owen smiled widely, those big brown eyes making something inside me melt. “Brynn, this is perfect.”

I headed to my usual large booth, but he steered us to the much smaller booth in the corner. “We can watch the door and the jukebox from here,” he said, sliding in close beside me.

It was a sensible thought, but I had to wonder if he wasn’t also enjoying the close proximity. His knee bounced energetically against mine under the table, as he seemed to be studying my face.

I’d also caught him noticing my breasts several times, but that couldn’t be helped. No matter what I wore, they couldn’t be missed.

Anna brought us menus, raising her eyebrow at me. “I like the girls you usually meet here, but this is a nice surprise. A date that goes right through ‘til morning? Very sexy.”

“We’re not–” I began, but she was already gone.

“You come here with your girlfriends?” Owen asked, quickly flipping through the menu.

“Yes, pretty much every Thursday for lunch.”

“You don’t bring boyfriends here?” he asked.

I shook my head. “I’ve never...no.”

“I’m glad to be your first,” he grinned.

All of my life, I’ve gotten extremely annoyed whenever boys teased me. I didn’t understand why it was actually funny coming from Owen. His smile was so sexy that I felt my knee quivering against his.

But I had to force myself to be professional. This was an important project. “My first documentary partner? Yes,” I said, skimming the menu. I’d actually memorized it long ago, but it gave my eyes something else to do instead of look at him.

“The word ‘partner’ is in there,” he grinned. “That will do for now.”

I felt myself blushing and couldn’t help it. Once I had a great coffee in my hand and an egg sandwich on the way, I felt a bit more steady.

Owen was full of terrific ideas, and the two of us sketched out the framework of the project in just under an hour. We’d start with the invention of the forty-five in 1949, and how it took off thanks to the early fifties’ music scene.

It was cheap and cheerful, the sort of trend that takes off and quickly becomes part of everyday life. Owen suggested using a few specific examples of popular records, and seemed stunned when I had the perfect examples already. He was also surprised that I knew the song title and artist’s name on every single tune that came on the jukebox, plus the b-side.

“That’s the best part,” Owen said with a grin, dipping his last fry in ketchup. He must not eat fries very often to keep that rock hard body. “They’d have this song that they knew would be a huge hit, then they had to figure out what to pair it with. Another hit? Something very different to show off the artist’s range?”

I nodded, pushing my plate away. “Yeah. I’ve always wondered if it was the artist or the record company who decided.”

He nodded as Anna quickly cleared our plates and topped up our coffee. “So, we’re going to be spending a lot of time together while we work on this.” Owen turned toward me, slipping his arm along the back of the booth. He didn’t cage me in, but he was very close. “I think we’re going to have a great time.”

“Sure,” I nodded quickly, pushing my hair back over my ears. “It’s a great topic. Tight timeline, but it’s going to be a short documentary. I think it’ll be fun.”

“No, what I meant was, spending so much time together is going to be amazing. Brynn, you’re gorgeous. But the way you light up when you’re conjuring ideas is just...magical.”

Holding back a snort, I shook my head. “Magical? That is one thing I’m definitely not.”

His finger twirled a piece of hair just over my ear, making a ringlet, then setting it into place. How could he touch me so casually? And why did I love it so much? He was basically a total stranger, yet I needed to curl up in his arms.

“I know we just met, and I don’t mean to make you nervous, but you feel this, don’t you?” Owen picked up my hand from the table, and held it against his heart.