Love, Chocolate, and Beer (Cactus Creek #1)(32)

Still thunderstruck silent, Quinn just stared at the now cackling duo.

“So Coop, I saw you bopping around to our music. You’ve got good taste. Since your mom is busy working, why don’t you ask her if you can check out our instruments on stage?”

“COOL!” Cooper turned his pleading blue eyes to Quinn. “Can I, mommy? Please?”

She shook off her confounded stupor and managed to nod. “Sure, munchkin. Go have fun. Don’t break anything.” A Texas-sized lump formed in her throat when she saw the rest of the band welcome her son with warm hellos and knuckle-bumps. He was given a new band cap to wear and a pair of drumsticks to bang out some beats. His squeals of delight filled the air.

Emotions all amuck now, Quinn spent the next ten minutes watching Cooper have a blast with Rylan and the band. Seeing the handsome singer really truly hang out with her son put a titanic crack in the ice blockade she had around her heart. The few men she’d dated in the past had just patted Cooper on the head and asked none too rudely when his bedtime was. Sadder still, they were all princes compared to the jackass noted as Coop’s father on his birth certificate.

But Rylan... He was genuinely enjoying spending time with her son, laughing and teaching him how to strum a guitar while wailing into the muted mic.

Maybe that’s what allowed the uncharacteristic chortle to escape her when she heard the guys ask Cooper what his favorite song was. The answer, as she knew it would be, was the song from a Disney show he watched religiously. Quinn’s humor turned to complete shock, however, when the guys nodded and began strumming out the cotton candy pop tune she’d heard far too many times over months of DVR replays. The two older members of the group, the ones wearing wedding rings, each gave Cooper a crinkly-eyed smile before starting to hum a raspy, masculine rendition of the harmony just as Rylan started singing a rocked-out version of the lyrics. It was awesome. Elated, Cooper began bouncing around and singing along. When Rylan reached over to ruffle his hair affectionately, Quinn felt irrational tears spring to her eyes.

“Oh, for Pete’s sake,” she muttered, grabbing at a nearby chair, “not another musician.”

Luke jogged up, concerned. “You okay there? You look like you just saw a ghost.”

“No, I’m fine. Just finding a seat so I could view the prelim footage Evan made for us.” She innocently busied herself with her laptop, nodding at the flash drive in his hand. “Is that it?”

“Yup. He made sure to emphasize this is still pretty rough. Hey, you sure you’re—”

She pulled out the chair beside her. “Sit. Let’s watch it together.”

Anything to get him to stop scrutinizing her flushed appearance with such curiosity.

Mercifully, the prospect of a sneak peek at the commercial diverted Luke’s attention.

And for good reason. The video was great. The production hadn’t been extravagant—their lone employee, Rissa, had been the female lead, while the male lead was played by Evan, Quinn’s friend who’d taken care of the videography for the shoot as well. Putting a few clips from her interviews at the start of the commercial gave it an artsy film school vibe with cool folks off the street giving their candid reactions to the idea of Valentine’s Day and White Chocolate Day.

Then came the scripted portion:



Four men are at a table in a casual restaurant, engaged in a merciless three-on-one rag fest hailing the tallest in the group as king of the first-year scrubs due to the volume of grunt workload he’s been getting lately in their law firm. Fittingly, the three ask their waitress to bring a double shot of Crown Royal for ‘King Evan,’ who just laughs and takes it all in stride.

A table over, a trio of women are eating and talking grad school research. As the men await their drinks, one of the women catches Evan’s eye. And vice versa. Despite her shy but inviting smile—and his obvious interest—he plays the cool card, pulling his eyes away from her to focus back on his friends who are busy solidifying their plans to go to a concert this weekend.

When Evan casually slides his gaze back to the woman a little later, sadly, she’s gone.

Outside, the camera catches her stopping outside of Desert Confections, looking thoughtfully at a flyer about their Valentine’s Day chocolate-making class.

A few nights later, Evan and his buddies are on the dance floor amongst a packed house watching Rylan’s band in concert at Ocotillos. The camera zooms in on Evan’s eyes widening when he spots the same woman he saw the other day hanging out with her friends, not twenty feet away from him. This time, he doesn’t hesitate. He heads right over to meet her.

But she gets swallowed up in the crowd. Evan searches every last corner of the deck until finally he frowns and gives up, turning around to head back to his friends.

Halfway there, however, someone taps on his shoulder.

It’s her.

The camera circles around them, slowing as the two stare at each other. The people all around slip out of focus, and the music morphs into the sound of a pair of heartbeats.

Gently, she presses something into his hand.

He looks down and sees a carefully crafted piece of chocolate in a clear candy box. Pleasantly surprised, he turns the box around to survey the intricate features of the finely detailed truffle. It’s striking. Beautiful in a masculine sort of way. Eyes soft with appreciation, he cradles the gift in his hand and looks up to thank her.