Love Song (Rocked by Love #2) (4 page)

He held the cab door for
her and then slid in beside her. After he rattled off the restaurant address,
he leaned against the seat. "I forwarded the email you sent of the
preliminary logo designs to the other guys. They looked good to me. I think the
black box with white font is my favorite. How was the rest of your day?"

"Busy. We only have
two weeks until the show. It can get crazy up until then. I'll be putting in a
lot of hours leading up to it."

"You can't be all
work and no play. Maybe I can convince you to play hooky."

Her lips twitched.
"I have a feeling you can be pretty persuasive."

"You have no
idea." His fingers played with the ends of her hair. That rich brown
cascaded around her shoulders like waves of chocolate.

She relaxed into him,
letting her thigh brush against his leg and her arm rest along his side, and
chatted more about the fashion show. Her face was animated, eyes sparkling when
she spoke about the possibility of partnering with the domestic violence
center, and the way she kept her attention on his face, as though he were far
more interesting than anything passing by their window, enraptured him.

Damn, he was lucky.

The cab screeched to a
stop, jolting them forward. Luke flung out his arm to protect Audrey and his
elbow connected hard with her chest. Her cry echoed in his ears as his shoulder
slammed into the front seat. Muttering curses, he reeled around. "I'm
sorry. Are you okay?"

"Fine." She
held her hand on the red spot blooming on her sternum. Hopefully, it wouldn't
bruise.

Great way to start off
the evening... He paid the driver and then opened his door. "I'm happy to
help make it feel better."

Her smile eased his
guilt. "Maybe later you can show me what you have in mind."

Taking her hand, he led
her into the crowded restaurant, anticipating candlelight, quietly efficient
waiters, good wine, five-star food, and the pleasure of watching Audrey enjoy
every moment.

He smiled at the hostess.
"Reservation for Thompson."

She scanned her list and
frowned. "I'm sorry, sir. I don't see anything here under that name."

"Can you look again?
I made the reservation earlier today. When I called, the guy I spoke with said
you'd had a cancellation for seven-thirty, so he put me in that slot."

"I'm sorry. There
isn't anything here under that name. We're booked solid."

"How long is the
wait for a table?"

"Two hours."

No way. Irritation
pricked along his skin. Luke leaned in and lowered his voice, "Is there
anything you can do?"

"We don't have any
open tables."

"None?"

Audrey's soft cool hand
curled around one of his. Her perfume teased the air and cut through his
frustration. "Don't worry about it. We'll go someplace else."

"But you really
wanted to try this place." All he'd wanted was a perfect night, and so
far, he'd almost given her whiplash, and lost out on the romantic dinner he'd
planned.

She tugged him away from
the hostess. "We'll try it some other time. Come on. There's a club not
too far from here. They have a lounge with pretty good food and drinks and
decent live music. We can grab some food and dance."

In spite of everything,
he smiled. The idea of dancing with Audrey, holding her in his arms, was way
better than anything he'd dreamed. "Lead the way."

The
club pulsed with a hard rock beat. A throng of bodies writhed on the scarred
dance floor. Audrey glanced at her dress and wrinkled her nose. Under the
strobe lights, her white dress practically glowed.

In her rush to smooth out
the issue at the restaurant, the club had seemed like a good idea. But now that
they were here... she wondered if she'd made a huge mistake.

Luke, in his dark shirt
and black pants, showcasing wide shoulders and muscles that proved he spent a
solid chunk of time at the gym, blended in perfectly with the other patrons in
dark colors or band t-shirts. But they'd already received a few sideways
glances and her white dress was a beacon for more. Luke was bound to be
recognized by at least someone, or several someones. Discomfort itched in
between her shoulder blades. She wasn't big enough to block him from people's
line of vision.

They sat at a little
high-top table, a shared plate of nachos between them, legs tangling together.
Less than eight hours ago, he'd stood in her studio, out of the blue, and now, here
they were, on a date. Surreal.

He held out his beer.
"Cheers."

She clinked her mojito
against the brown bottle and then gestured at the club. "What do you
think?"

"The acoustics are
great." He leaned back in his seat and looked at the stage where three men
rocked out cover versions of metal hits. "Band's not bad either."

"I love this place.
Renee and I usually cap off the week with a stop here."

His fingers laced with
hers on the tabletop. "I wouldn't mind coming back again."

"They occasionally
get big names to play. I'm sure your band would be welcomed."

"Yeah. But I was
talking about coming with you." His thumb traced a lazy circle on her
palm. "Dancing with you. Holding you—"

"Excuse me." A
tall man with a red and black mohawk stopped at their table. "You're Luke
Thompson. Holy shit. It's really you."

"I am." Luke
broke contact with Audrey's hand and held his own out toward the fan.
"Good to meet you. What's your name, man?"

"Ed. Hold on. The
guys aren't going to believe this." Ed waved at a group huddled by the bar
and then bellowed over the music, "Luke Thompson is here!"

All eyes in the bar area
and a few on the dance floor turned in their direction. Audrey shifted closer
to Luke. A sense of dread filtered through along with memories of the countless
times this had happened when she was with Rob. She cursed herself for being so
stupid in suggesting this place. Sure enough, a mass exodus from the bar and
dance floor followed. People crowded around their table like ants at a feast.

"Luke!"

"It's really
him!"

"O-M-G. I'm The
Fury's biggest fan."

Luke's brows rose and his
smile froze on his face. His gaze connected with hers and she could see the
conflict burning there. He again laced their hands together across the table.
"Hey guys, it's good to meet you. Let me introduce you to my date,
Audrey."

The fans gave her a
cursory glance, maybe a polite nod, before they turned back to Luke with hero
worship in their eyes.

Luke shook their hands,
asking people's names, repeating them back. He was genuine, thanking them for
their support, and joking around with them like old friends. "Thanks guys.
Let me get back to my date here."

The group left, only to
be replaced by new fans crowding in. Luke's posture was rigid, his hold on her
hand tightening as he smiled at the fans, said hello, shook hands, then again
requested they let him get back to his date with her.

Bonding over music mended
gaps and broke down barriers, but the people here acted like they considered
him to be family. She could understand that—music spoke to people on so many
levels, and the way Luke crooned and growled lyrics made it seem like he knew
exactly how the listener was feeling. No wonder they loved him.

New people flowed into
the club, calling out that they'd heard about his visit through various social
media sites.

Fabulous. What had she
done? Stupid, stupid, stupid.

People asked him for
autographs and to pose for pictures. One woman about Audrey's age thrust her
phone into Audrey's hands. "You don't mind taking my picture, right?
Thanks."

Audrey failed to keep her
smile on her face when the woman wrapped her arm around Luke's neck and pulled
him down for a kiss. He turned his head so her lips glanced off his cheek and
not his mouth.

When she returned the
camera to the woman, Luke slid his arm around her. "Thanks. I'm so sorry.
I'm trying to get rid of them as fast as I can."

She let her hand rest on
his hard stomach. He pulled her in tighter. But more people kept swarming. Fans
trying to get close to Luke edged too close into her personal space. An awful,
claustrophobic feeling clawed at her skin.

Luke must have noticed.
"Guys, can we back up? My date and I need some breathing room."

A small space opened, but
soon was crowded with people again. This was ridiculous. She leaned toward his
ear. "I'm going to the bar."

His lips tightened.
"Give me five minutes to clear this out, then we'll leave."

"Okay."

Luke's hold loosened and
then fell away as he shook more hands and posed for more pictures. The
tightness in Audrey's chest eased as she retreated further and further away
from the crowd and took a seat at the bar. The high stool gave her a good
vantage point and the fresh mojito gave her time to sip and decide that saying
yes to Luke had been a mistake.

Luke did glance around a
few times, perhaps looking for her, but people kept approaching him from every
angle. He made an effort to speak to everyone. Even the band on stage joined in
when they finished their set.

Audrey glanced at her
watch. Half an hour of sitting back was enough. The spot on her chest throbbed.
Whether from its earlier contact with Luke's elbow, or disappointment, she
couldn't tell. But she'd reached a decision.

After one last sip of her
drink, she pushed her way through the crowd, but three-deep out, people
wouldn't budge and she couldn't move any further. She peered over tall
shoulders. Thankfully, her heels made her tall enough for Luke to spot her.

He motioned for her and
spoke words that were swallowed up by the crowd. They shifted and let her
through.

"Hey." Smiling,
he wrapped his arm around her. The heat of his skin felt good, tempting her to
relax into him, but she held herself stiff. "I'm sorry about this. Someone
on my fan page announced I was doing a flash meet-and-greet here."

"I'm going to take off."

"Wait." Hands
on her shoulders, he drew her closer and leaned down, searching her face.
"Please."

She shook her head.
"I've already waited. You're having a good time here, and obviously, this
is important to you."

"You're important,
too."

Was she? She wondered...
"I think it's wonderful that you take the time to talk to each person and
make them feel valued. But you're so busy with that, there isn't any time for
one-on-one for you and me. So, you stay. I'll go. I've already called a cab. It
should be outside now." She'd received the confirmation for cab pick-up
while sitting at the bar.

He grabbed hold of her
hand, preventing her retreat. "I'm sorry it got out of control."

"It's fine. Really.
I have to get up early tomorrow anyway." Watching his eyes, memorizing how
they looked up close, she fought against the stab of loss in her gut.
"I'll wait to hear back from you and the guys about the design sketches.
Maybe we can meet up the next time you're in town. Or you can meet with my
assistant. Have Irisa call me with the band's availability for meeting up to
pick out clothes before the TV show."

A frown marred his brow.
"It's only Tuesday. I'm not leaving for Nashville until Friday
night."

"I have a lot going
on with my show." She didn't want to have this conversation here, in
murmured tones in full view of over a hundred people. "And, honestly, I
need a few days to think about things."

"Audrey." His
grip tightened and he pulled her closer. "I'll give you those few days,
but I'll be back on Sunday. I'm sticking around, Sunshine."

She lifted her head until
her lips were by his ear. "This is exactly what happened when we hung out
during your last tour. You're never going to be able to put a relationship
first. I went through what happened tonight with Rob too many times, too."

He glowered at Rob's name
and then faced the crowd, raising his voice so it carried through the room,
"Guys, I'm so glad I got to meet you. Now, if you'll excuse me, I really
need to get back to my date."

The groans and complaints
and disappointment on several of the fans' faces tugged at her.
"Don't," she whispered against his cheek. "Now I feel like a
shrew. And they'll all blame me if you leave."

"I want to be with
you."

"I want to be with
you too. But sometimes, we don't get what we want, or what we want isn't what's
best for us." She brushed a kiss over his beard and pulled her hand out of
his grip. "Be happy."

Then, she turned to the
crowd. "Don't worry. You guys get to have him. I'm not pulling him
away."

"Audrey..."

With a cheery wave, she
darted into the throng. When she reached the door, she turned back. The crowd
had swallowed up her space, pressing around Luke, all talking at once. He
stared at her, face like stone.

Biting her lip, she
stepped out into the night. She couldn't let him sway her. If she did, she'd
only end up hurting them both.

***

Late
Saturday morning, Luke strolled through downtown Nashville with Ivan, one of
the band's roadies who was also filling in as his cameraman to record the
audition. They rounded a street corner and passed a man strumming a guitar and
singing a song about love gone wrong.

Luke could relate.

No contact with Audrey
for four days, except the lone email with the approved logo design, ticked him
off. His screw up at the club ticked him off even more. Irisa's early words of
advice echoed in his head,
"You can't please all of the people all of
the time."

No shit.

But he'd failed at
pleasing the one person who mattered most. Her experience with Rob had caused
scars, and her experience with Luke at the club had apparently reopened those
wounds. He had to fix what had happened there. How could he make her understand
how nervous he was about fucking up everything with the fans? How every
interaction could make or break him and how guilty he felt about everything
that had happened before. He was stuck between a rock and a hard place in
trying to please everyone. No excuse though, he'd have to try harder.

Sweat trickled down his
back. He stepped inside the cool comfort of an air-conditioned coffee shop. A
large iced coffee helped chase the cobwebs of fitful sleep. He bought Ivan the
same and then checked his messages. Nothing from Audrey. Jayne had sent him
information on the first contestant, Hugh Tremont, a recent college grad who
had been singing and playing guitar for fifteen years.

Cool. Life-long musicians
were his type of people.

"Luke." A
shaggy-haired blond guy wearing an old Fury concert t-shirt approached his
table. "I'm Hugh."

"Hey, man." He
shook hands. "Want anything to drink?"

"How cool is this,
Luke Thompson is buying me coffee." He smiled at Ivan and introduced
himself. They exchanged hellos and Luke made sure they were both fueled with
coffee.

"We're going to one
of the conference rooms at the hotel. We'll hang out and talk and then listen
to you sing. Okay?"

Hugh nearly bounced on
his toes. "Sure. Yes. Fine. Thanks."

Luke laughed and clapped
him on the back. "Relax, man. It's too early for that much energy."
He led the way into the harsh sunlight and back to the hotel. When they arrived
in the conference room, he nodded to Ivan to start rolling.

Luke stood next to Hugh
at the table and waved to the camera. "Hi, Fury fans. Luke here, with our
first singer contestant for the New Band Contest. Everyone, meet Hugh. Hugh,
say hello."

Hugh blushed deep red.
"Hey, guys."

"How long have you
been playing music?"

"Since I was a kid.
Age five for singing, and ten years old for guitar."

"Cool. And the song
you submitted in your demo was
Lights Out
. We're ready to hear you rock
it." He took a seat. "Show me what you've got."

They waited a full
minute. Hugh's hands were shaking and his cheeks flushed scarlet. He opened his
mouth but no words came out. Then, he shook himself. "Sorry, guys."

He rubbed his hands over
his face. Took another quick breath, and opened his mouth, but again no words
came out.