She sounded excited and it made him smile. “A train car restaurant in the middle of the hot Tennessee countryside? It’s right up my alley.”
He slipped his hand along her elbow, savoring the feel of her soft skin as he helped her off the bike. “Sorry it’s not a five-star restaurant like in NYC,” he teased.
“I wouldn’t know what the inside of a five-star restaurant would even look like,” she admitted. “I believe casual’s better.”
“Really? I pegged you for one of those fancy Fifth Avenue girls. Big fancy house, nights out on Broadway…” He was pushing the envelope, trying to learn more about her.
“You’ve got to be joking!” Ashley quipped. “My mother and I live in Brooklyn.”
“No accent?” Logan said with a laugh.
“It’s kind of a long story.” She glanced at the restaurant and when he didn’t move to go inside, she continued. “We lived near Princeton when my parents were together. Then my mom and I moved to Brooklyn. We’ve lived in a two-bedroom apartment since the divorce. Dad, on the other hand, does actually live on Fifth Avenue.”
Logan nodded. There’s some history there. I believe I’m stumbling into some murky territory. “Someday you’ll have to tell me about it.” Not first date material, he figured.
“Sure. Someday.” Ashley pressed her lips together, a cautious look on her face. “What about you, Logan?” she asked, quickly changing the focal point of the conversation from being directed at her and putting it right on him. “You seem to be music royalty in this town.”
Logan looked back at Ashley as they walked towards the restaurant. Laughter boomed from his mouth. “This is Nashville. Whisky Lullaby, and me, for that matter, are just a teeny tiny blip on the map.”
“But you are so popular,” she pressed.
“We do a lot of shows, on and off campus. We’re forever playing at the Cave. It’s a campus town.” He grinned, hearing the pride in his own voice.
“I heard about that place, the Cave.”
“The Cave’s awesome. I also work there part time in the stock room.”
“I should check if they’re hiring.”
He stared at her in surprise. “Actually, they probably are. They’re always looking for waitresses.”
“Cool. Maybe if we have time tonight, we’ll stop by,” Ashley said.
She was serious. She wanted to work. If she did, she’d be there when the band played. He smiled. “You’ll get to see me in action.” He led her to a booth and sat down across from her.
“I like seeing other musicians do their thing,” she said with a wink.
“Other musicians… So you are a musician. I had the feeling you were, considering you had a case big enough to be a body bag.”
“I sing, play the cello, harp, violin and flute. I’m here mainly because of the cello.” Ashley grinned sheepishly. “I also compose my own music.”
Logan stared at her in complete bewilderment. “Holy crap! You write your own music?”
“I trained at Juilliard for years under the direction of Victor Von Chaumbers.” She grabbed a chip out of a bowl that the waitress set down on the table with some menus.
Logan screwed up his face in confusion. He must not have heard her correctly. “Wait. Did you say Juilliard?”
“Yeah…” Ashley said nonchalantly, as if every musician on earth got into that school.
“Uh… As in the Juilliard School? The foremost prestigious music school in the country?”
“Yup. That’s the one. My mother teaches guitar there.” She grabbed for another chip.
“So if you were trained at Juilliard—excuse my stupidity—why the fuck are you here in Tennessee?”
Ashley laughed. “Well, I needed a change of scenery for one. I already had the New York life. I wanted to experience something else. So I started looking at other cities that were known for their music. It was either Philadelphia, Seattle or Nashville. Nashville won.”
“I’m glad it did,” Logan said, then realized he’d just admitted it out
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