A Love Song for Lucifer: An Enemies-to-Lovers Romance (Leading Ladies) Read online

  “Yeah, well, that tracks that you have brain damage,” she says, drinking the spiced wine. She can take hits at me all she wants as long as she’s still here.

  “I haven’t been in charge of La Roche Records for very long, so perhaps there’s some hope yet. But, regardless, the study resonated with me. Because as soon as I sat in that chair in the highest office, I had to cut myself off from my emotions and, to me, that is like operating with a much smaller portion of my brain.” I observe her reaction so far. At least I’ve caught her attention.

  “So meeting you made me face what I had done. I realized that I have become so disconnected from the precise thing that I am supposed to be safeguarding… music. The most important thing to me in the entire world. And because I can’t let myself fucking feel anything, I couldn’t bring myself to face it. But I am now. And I’m trying to fix it.”

  Her face now turns from interested to skeptical. “How?”

  Fair question.

  “You might not think it’s enough, but I’ve written every person e-mails detailing exactly why I thought La Roche Records wasn’t the right fit for them and referring them to my contacts in the industry that might be,” I unlock my phone to find an example. I’m slightly embarrassed for telling her this. I wasn’t going to, but she needs to understand how significant meeting her has been for me and that if anything good comes out of this for these musicians, she did it, not me. She needs to understand that I don’t see her as worthless. In fact, she feels like the most valuable thing that has happened to my life in a long time.

  “Here, read for yourself,” I hand her over my phone.

  She takes it cautiously, but she takes it and that’s more than I could have hoped for. I sit there taking her in across from me, the fire shimmering on her pink hair is ethereal. She looks like a snow queen from the books my grandma would read to me about fairies and wood nymphs.

  Time passes like this and I’m perfectly content, sitting near the fire and just being close to Melody. Every once in a while she has me open the next e-mail, but other than that I just relax, and somehow I feel stiller than I have since before I took over De la Roche Records. I know that likely has something to do with Mel, too.

  When she reaches the last one, I already mourn that our time is likely coming to an end. She hands me back my phone with a long sigh.

  “It’s definitely not something the jerk-face that I’ve created you to be in my head would do,” she looks mournfully at the fire, as if she is sad to lose the imaginary jerk-face. I say fuck that guy. “Those e-mail were genuinely helpful and thoughtful.”

  “Aren’t you going to ask where yours is?” I say, twisting my hat in my hand.

  “No,” she shakes her head quickly. “Because I already know. What you said back in my hotel room is right. I don’t have enough original music. I have some, but I just… they’re still in progress.” She takes a deep sigh. “Fine, the actual truth is, I have trouble writing lyrics. If I could write a song about writing a song, then I would have so much material. But when it comes to writing about other parts of life, well, it’s not so easy.”

  I smile softly at her. “It will come, I have no doubt. You’re so passionate about the songs that you cover in a way that gives them their own life completely.”

  “You think so?”

  I nod yes. “But that’s not the reason I haven’t written you an e-mail. I tried. That first day when I got to my office after having met you, I wrote about a dozen drafts.”

  She looks up at me, her big blue eyes really meeting mine.

  “The only e-mails I could write were begging you to come back to our label, but I just kept feeling like I don’t even deserve that.”

  A small smirk curls on the left side of her lips. “I did fantasize about making it big just to spite you.”

  I smile openly back at her. “You making it big would never be anything but good news to me, so sorry to ruin that plan.”

  She swallows hard at this and looks at me intensely, her vibrant eyes take me in as if I am a stranger. If I wasn’t sure she still wanted to kill me, I might take the tenderness in her face as an invitation to do exactly what I’ve been dreaming of doing, taking her cheek in my palm and bringing her lips to mine.

  She opens her mouth slightly to say something, but before she does, her eyes dart up and a finger pokes me from behind on my shoulder. The older man who works here is standing over us and now pointing to his wife, who is holding a phone and beckoning me over.

  Confused, I stand and walk over, realizing that the place has completely cleared out except for Melody and I.

  I take the phone apprehensively and put it to my ear.

  “Uh, hello?”

  “Lucien?!”

  “Yeah?”

  “Oh dear god, this is Lumi. From reception. Brooke has been trying to get in touch with you for hours and I called this place as it’s the only place open on the trails. Are you guys okay? You’re still with Melody?”

  “Yeah,” I answer with confusion. I have my phone on mute, but I didn’t think that Brooke would need to reach me. “Yeah, we’re together. We just took a break. We can head back if she needs to send the van for us now.”

  “Yeah, about that…” Lumi takes a deep breath. “You guys didn’t happen to notice the huge storm outside?”

  “Now that you mention it, it’s a little empty here.”

  “Yeah, well, the van got stuck doing an aurora borealis viewing tour, which is a whole other nightmare. But the good news is, the place that you’re at now rents cabins so if you put me back on the phone with them I can arrange for them to book you both one. Brooke agreed to cover the costs already for Melody, so tell her not to worry.”

  “Wait, are you serious, Lumi? Really? There is no other van you can send out here?”

  I hear a rustling on the phone and murmuring in the background.

  “Lucien?” Brooke says on the other side of the line, seemingly having just wrestled the phone from Lumi. “Are you really going to give my receptionist a hard time right now in the middle of a snowstorm emergency? Where the hell were you for the past hour? I will not risk sending someone out there to rescue you guys and them getting stranded, so get ready to get cozy there and let Lumi book this so I can get back to the real guests.”

  Brooke is in no-bullshit mode, a scary version of her indeed, but an effective one because I agree like a scorned little boy and actually apologize to her. I hand the phone over so Lumi can work her magical, mystical Finnish on our new host and walk resigned over to Melody.

  She’s sitting on the stone lip of the fireplace, warming her hands. She looks content and I savor the image.

  On second thought, thank god for freezing snow storm weather that freezes my nostrils. As long as it means I get a little more of this.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Melody

  The same woman from behind the counter leads us outside of the cafe to a small wood cabin among other similar buildings. We step inside and are greeted with a sparse but clean room that makes up the entirety of the cabin. A wood-burning stove lights up the wood-slatted walls with an orange glow.

  One single room.

  With one single bed.

  “Uh, Lucien,” I start. “Lumi explained we need two rooms, right?”

  “Yeah, of course she must have,” he says while unlocking his phone. “Hold on, let me…” he types something into his phone and holds it out to the woman.

  Lucien holds up the number two along with whatever he’s typed out. She shakes her head no, and holds up one finger. Well, that is pretty clear, language barrier or not.

  He looks at me apologetically. “I can use our jackets and make a little bed on the floor. I’m not going to force you to share a bed with me.”

  I give him back a weak smile, because I don’t know if I’m honestly going to let him do that. The jerk Lucifer De la Roche would absolutely get that treatment and it would give me an enormous sense of satisfaction. But the fussed hair Lucie
n that has made himself appear again to me since that first time meeting him in the bar shouldn’t have to sleep on the floor. Especially because we’ve already shared a bed once.

  The woman signals for us to follow her and we do to a little structure next to the house. She opens the door and there is also a fire raging in here as well. But here, there are only wooden benches and buckets filled with water and some bars of soap sitting next to it. She begins explaining something in Finnish and we both look at her with hopelessly confused faces, but I get the gist. If we want to get clean, this is where it happens. This must be the famous Finnish sauna I’ve heard so much about. The one I was excited for until it seemingly meant that it would be my only way of cleaning myself.

  She leads us back to the cottage and points to a big stack of wood. I guess that’s our sole means of not freezing through the night. Then signals at a small structure the size of a closet. And that, I put together, is where we go to the bathroom. Well, at least there’s privacy.

  She turns to leave before lifting her hand up to signal there is one more thing. She takes Lucien’s phone, types, and points to the cafe.

  He gives her a thumbs up and then she’s off into the night, back to the cafe through the horizontally falling snow. We hurry back into the warmth of the cabin and shut the door tight behind us.

  “Well, this is certainly an immersive Finnish experience,” I offer. I’ve been good at shutting him out, but I figure I should make it clear I don’t have the energy to be at war with him for the entire night. Especially sharing this tiny space. And his peace offerings might have helped just a little. Okay, a lot. The man practically melted me with his words and his bashful little smiles. I don’t understand how he can be both people. The soulless record executive and the one who can make my heart squeeze with only his words.

  “While a little alone time with you is the only thing I’ve been wanting, I promise this isn’t all some creepy ploy to get it,” Lucien says unzipping his jacket and pulling up a stool next to the fire.

  I smirk. “I never suspected that, but now I probably would if I didn’t have dozens of worried texts from Lumi.”

  Speaking of, I check my phone to see if she has any input about this one-bed-in-a-cozy-rustic-cottage situation. If anything, I wonder if she and Brooke are the ones plotting behind the scenes.

  Sure enough, there is a message from her.

  Lumi: Glad you’re safe. Sorry I could only get you guys one cottage. It looks like you and that handsome devil are going to have to try to stand each other for one night after all.

  Mm hm, Lumi. I’m sure you are truly sorry. She’s as bad as my little sister when it comes to these things.

  I look to Lucien who is watching me with a small smile on his face. I swallow hard when my eyes meet his. How does he fit so perfectly in with this cabin already? He has stripped down to only a grey henley and athletic pants, and half of his face is glowing from the fire. His long legs look ridiculous for the large proportion of this cabin they take up while only sitting. Ugh, and that little smile. Why the hell is he being so nice to me while looking like that?

  “So what on earth are we going to do for the rest of the night?” I move my eyes to the fire. I decide it’s best not to allow for so many lingering stares like the one we just shared.

  “Definitely not touch each other,” he says with a mock stern face. “No touching in the most romantic setting I’ve probably ever been in my life.”

  I throw my knit hat at him. “No touching! Don’t forget that I hate you!”

  He stands up and slowly walks towards me. He doesn’t stop at the distance that would be appropriate for two acquaintances. Nope, he smashes right through that space. The heat from the fire emanates from his skin and that stupid cologne wafts all over me. I try to hold my breath for safety.

  “Mm,” he says in a low voice, almost a whisper. “That’s right. You hate me. Too bad.” He leans close and I keep my breath held even more aggressively now, readying myself to feel his skin touch mine. Instead, he reaches past me and grabs two towels from the pile that has been left for us. “Well,” he continues as I finally exhale. “Then we’re just going to have to get naked and not touch each other. Not my first choice, but certainly not a terrible option.”

  “I’m not taking a sauna naked with you,” I say sternly.

  “Fine, well I’ll be naked, you can wear a towel and be a stereotypical American not embracing the local customs.”

  “You think culture shaming me is going to work? Really?”

  He shrugs as he slips off his shirt. “Worth a shot.”

  I keep my eyes expertly trained away from his now naked torso.

  “I’ll go when you’re done,” I say stubbornly.

  “We’re supposed to be at the cafe in about an hour. Why? No idea. I’m hoping for dinner.” He slips off his pants now and is standing in his boxer briefs, his thick muscular thighs screaming at me to look at them. “Come on, Mel. I can wear a towel if you insist and you can wear one too, but you shouldn’t miss out on a wood-burning sauna like this. I had one when we came up to check out the hotel construction, and I still dream about it. You’ll love it.”

  I groan, because I know what I’m about to do. If it wasn’t Lucien here, it would be something I’d have done already. I have no qualms about nudity. I only have qualms about nudity in a small box with Lucien. Well, screw that.

  I strip down to nothing in a flash and run outside with nothing but my towel. The cold takes my breath away and my bare feet in the snow ache down to the bone. A few long strides later, though, I open the sauna door and am struck with the most delicious sweltering heat.

  I hear Lucien laughing behind me. He comes in with a towel wrapped around his waist and carrying a few logs, his arms bulging as he does it. How did this city business man transition into a mountain man so seamlessly?

  He opens the sauna oven door and throws wood into it, filling the room with a crackling sound. I climb up onto the lower bench and release my towel, letting the heat from the oven pulse over every bare inch of me. I refuse to be modest for him. He isn’t looking there anyway, just my face.

  “You keep surprising me, Mel.” He removes his towel and I focus my eyes on the glowing stones with rapt attention, instead of the more glaring option of his naked and glistening body right in front of me. His huge body lumbers up the small steps and settles on the bench behind and slightly above mine.

  We sit in silence, the steam crackling on the stones and the glow of the fire dancing all around us. The benches face a big window which looks out onto a white wall of snow. A strong sense of coziness overwhelms me and I take a deep breath through my nose, letting my entire body relax.

  “You okay if I throw some more water on the rocks?” Lucien asks after a bit. “It will make it a lot hotter.”

  “Sure,” I say a bit hesitantly because I can’t imagine it getting any hotter in here.

  The hiss of the water hitting the rocks unleashes in the tiny space first, followed by a burning, unbearable heat.

  “Shit.” I say panicked. But the heat doesn’t seem to listen as it only grows and grows as the rocks continue to screech with steam passing through them.

  “Shit!” I say with more urgency.

  “Go outside and come back in if it’s too hot for you,” Lucien growls. He seems to be barely handling the heat himself. “That’s how it’s done.”

  He doesn’t need to tell me twice. I open the door and book it outside expecting pain on the opposite spectrum, yet it doesn’t come. The freezing air that was torture a few minutes ago is practically refreshing now. I am buck naked in a freezing snowstorm and I feel like I could trek through the snow.

  I take a deep breath and just enjoy the…

  Oh, actually, on second thought, it is freaking cold out here. The cold air has quickly broken through my barrier of sweat. Oh my god, my hair is frozen. Well, that didn’t last long.

  I hustle back into the sauna and see Lucien jump to a weird posi
tion.

  “Ugh,” he says nervously. “Um, are you going to sit down or what?” He says avoiding eye-contact while clutching his groin.

  “What the hell is wrong with you?” I ask with my arms crossing my chest.

  “What do you think is wrong with me? There is a huge window looking straight out onto your naked body jumping around in the snow glistening like your covered in oil. Please, just sit, it’s really painful to have a hard-on in this heat.”

  I hide my smirk and lower slowly back to my bench.

  “Isn’t the most sacred rule of Finnish sauna that it’s not about sex?” I ask. This is at least what the internet told me.

  “This isn’t about sex, this is about a subconscious physical reaction that is beyond my control. Can you tell me an embarrassing story or something? Anything to get that image of you out of my mind?” He actually sounds pained.

  I don’t answer, thinking.

  “Seriously, I know you don’t like me very much right now but I’m begging you.”

  I pause a little longer before I decide to take mercy on him. “Well, I had a lisp when I was younger. Does that help?”

  “Honestly, no, which I’m not sure what that says about me. But don’t stop…”

  I laugh, but continue. “Yeah, it was one of many reasons I was bullied pretty badly.”

  “Okay, that kills my boner.” He says with audible relief. “What fucking assholes. Give me their names. I’ll get them all fired from their jobs.”

  “I have no doubt you would enjoy doing that, but don’t worry, little 11-year-old Melody took care of it herself by performing System of a Down at the talent show.”

  “No,” I can hear the smile in his voice. “Are you serious? What song?”

  “Yup, I sang ‘Aerials’.” I say proudly. “My dad thought music would be a good way to help me be confident with my voice. So there was this guy, Ted, who was a tenant in one of the apartments that my parents leased out and my dad saw he had a bunch of guitars. He knocked some rent off for him to teach me. Little did they know he was a total Metalhead. I’m sure it was a pretty ridiculous image, the two of us up on the stage going crazy.”