Dark Perception: The Corde Noire Series by Alexandrea Weis Page B

happened to Josh?”
    Melinda shrugged, hoping to appear
coy. “When he got into LSU Medical School, I decided to come to New
Orleans with him. Right after we moved here, he had to relocate to
the dorms—some kind of school requirement. I had to stay in our
apartment.” Melinda paused and lowered her eyes from his gaze. “A
short time after that, he found someone else.”
    Nathan was quiet for a moment. “How
many have there been since Josh?”
    She stopped moving in the line and
faced him. “What?”
    He motioned her along the service
counter. “Most women try to get over one man by quickly finding
another. Are you one of those women?”
    Rattled, Melinda didn’t know how to
respond. Was she like that? She didn’t want to give him the wrong
impression, but she also didn’t want to lie.
    “ No, I’m not like that … or
at least, I hope I’m not,” she eventually admitted.
    “ What about the baseball
player? Why were you with him?”
    Melinda took a moment to formulate her
answer. “I guess I hoped he could make my life better, but …” She
shrugged.
    “ You never really wanted to
be with him, did you, Melinda?” Nathan’s cocky grin made her
stomach tighten. “I think there has been a series of men in your
life who you’ve had no interest in whatsoever.”
    Melinda rallied to keep up her stoic
countenance. “What makes you say such a thing?”
    He inched closer to her, the grin
never leaving his handsome face. “Because a man you truly wanted,
you would never have given up on. And that includes Mr.
Love-of-my-life-Josh.”
    She was bowled over by his appraisal.
Was she that obvious when it came to men?
    “ What happened after Josh
left?” Nathan continued. “What did you do?”
    “ It was rough, at first. I
didn’t know anyone in the city, and I needed to pay the rent. Then
I was walking through Jackson Square one day and met my friend
Ellie.”
    “ The older woman with the
pink hair and tattoos?”
    Melinda nodded. “She got me started on
the Square. I began by just doing readings, and then I built up the
courage to play my music for the tourists. After a while, I met
some more people, and then I got some gigs playing in a few
hotels.”
    “ Why didn’t you go back to
Mississippi after Josh left?”
    “ No way.” Melinda
vehemently cut her hand through the air. “When I left my father’s
farm to go to college, I vowed never to go back. I would die before
I’d ever go back home.”
    The line ahead of them began to
thin.
    “ Did you hate your home
that much?”
    Melinda’s mouth watered when a waiter
carrying a tray of biscuits walked by. “No, I just never wanted
that life. To be a farmer’s wife, married to a man who stinks of
cattle, working from sun up to sun down. I watched it destroy my
mother. I may have just been a kid, but even I knew she wasn’t
happy. My father never saw it. He and my brothers always loved the
farm, but I couldn’t stand it.”
    “ Perhaps coming to New
Orleans was more about leaving your home and less about your
feelings for Josh. Have you ever considered that?”
    She was about to open her mouth to
refute his suggestion when a round woman sitting on a stool behind
a cash register smiled at them.
“Y’all know what ya want?” the dark-skinned woman asked.
    “ Two coffees, an order of
biscuits with scrambled eggs, and I’ll have the ham and egg
breakfast.” Nathan handed the woman a fifty-dollar bill.
    “ Coffee’s fresh in the pot
right over there.” She pointed to the serving station for drinks
next to them. “Get ya coffee, have a seat, and ya waiter will be
right over.” The woman handed Nathan his receipt and his
change.
    After filling two white mugs with
coffee, they found a table in the corner of the main dining room.
Melinda took a sip from her coffee and surveyed the people seated
around them as Nathan removed his suit jacket.
    “ When are you going to play
for me?” He settled in the chair next to her.
    Melinda turned to him and