Free Playing for Love at Deep Haven by Katy Regnery Page B

about it. Forty.
Forty green, Z! Don’t let me down, wanker . Call me
back.”
    The machine
beeped again, and Violet’s eyes showed dry surprise. “Charming. Friend of
yours?”

 
 
 

Chapter
6

 
    Zach huffed
loudly, his chiseled face souring before her eyes. Whoever that was on the
answering machine, Zach was not happy to hear from him. He rubbed his neck with
his hand, then picked up his glass and downed the remainder of his Scotch.
Violet leaned forward to uncap the bottle and refilled his proffered glass. A
little bit dripped onto the leather chair where he was sitting, and he swiped
at it with the hem of his T-shirt, teasing her with a glimpse of his flat, tan
stomach.
    “Now I’ll smell
like a distillery.”
    Violet capped
the bottle and placed it on the end table between them, cuddling up into the
corner of the couch. He pulled the blanket off the top of his chair and handed
it to her. She realized she’d shifted closer to him, but she didn’t care. The
Scotch and the fireplace were making her feel warm and cozy, and she was
surprised to discover how comfortable she felt with Zach, how easy it was to
slip back into a friendship with him. She winced internally at the word friendship , then forced herself to
lighten up.
    “Whatever will
your mother say?”
    He grinned.
“You’re getting drunk, Violet.”
    “So what? I’m a
big girl.”
    “You’re not that big—”
    “You’re evading
the question, sir. Who was that charming character on the phone, and for what
is he offering forty?”
    “You always did
have a way with words.”
    “It’s my gift.
Now, spill it.”
    “ That was Malcolm Singer, lead singer of
Savage Sons.”
    “His last name
is Singer ? Well, that’s original. He
didn’t have a thesaurus around when he chose that name?”
    Zach tilted his
glass and clinked hers gently. “Spoken with the disdain of a true writer.”
    “Quit side
barring via flattery.”
    “Okay. My agent
worked out an aggressive deal with Cornerstone because my songs have been
pretty successful. I generally get a five-thousand dollar advance and then the
royalties come much later, after the song’s been tweaked, recorded and
launched. Sometimes it takes years to see a big check. Malcolm needs four songs
right now and he’s offering me double the advance upfront: forty thousand
dollars out of pocket to finish his new album.”
    “With royalties
later?”
    “Yeah.
Probably.”
    “And you are . .
.?”
    “Turning him
down. Obviously.”
    Her mouth
dropped open. “Because you’ve developed lunacy in the decade since we knew one
another?” She sat up straighter. “We’re artists, Zach! When someone offers you
forty thousand dollars, you say ‘Thank you very much’ and write a few songs!”
    He took a deep
breath. “I have to get off the hamster wheel, Violet. I’m wasting my life
writing shit songs for mediocre bands. At some point I have to say no.”
    “And you choose now ? Now, when someone’s offering you
that much money?” She tried not to think about her own dwindling bank account.
    “Since when does
money mean so much to you?” he asked.
    She thought she
saw disappointment in his eyes and in the way his body shifted subtly away from
her, and it made her feel bad, like she was falling short of his expectations
or something. Not that she owed him anything.
    “Since I became
an adult,” she snapped. And s ince I felt
the fear that comes with a drastically dwindling bank account, an unstable
income and writer’s block as far as the eye can see.
    He winced,
speaking with derision, “An adult who lives in tony Greenwich.”
    “So?” She was
playing into his suspicions but she didn’t set him straight. She didn’t owe him
explanations about the state of her finances.
    “So write
another book as good as the last one and I bet you make a million this time.”
    Her mouth
dropped open and her eyes widened. “What did you say?”
    “It was good,
Violet. Me and Then You ? It was
really