See You in My Dreams: Speed, Book 1 (12 page)

A song ended, the last notes from Jordan’s guitar filtering through the electric night air.

Jamie took a long sip from a bottle of water and whispered to Jordan, who grinned and nodded. The two of them then turned their backs on their audience to talk to Jonah.

Sophie’s mind worked a mile a minute. The three brothers together, working. Shit, no wonder their YouTube videos had gone viral. Their joint business venture was
Speed
.

Jonah whooped into his mike and signaled to the musicians.

And then the unthinkable happened.

For the first time ever, Jamie Speed left the stage during a concert. He walked down a short flight of steps, headed towards his audience. Six huge, burly men, each wearing an earpiece, formed a protective barrier behind him.

Sophie hardly noticed them. Hardly noticed anything apart from the path Jamie cut from the stage as he came to stand before her.

She gaped up at him.

A sheen of sweat covered his face—just like it had the first time they’d made love.

He held his hand out to her.

Jamie was close enough that the brilliance of his foreign green eyes pierced straight through to her heart. The warmth in his gaze baffled her. He stood before her, so familiar yet so completely unknown. An entity so far beyond her reality she felt sure she must be dreaming.

Only her dreams would be filled with a nut-brown gaze, not an impossibly green one. And her dreams weren’t interrupted by friends slapping her arms hard and scolding her to take his outstretched hand.

She reached for him, and the second their fingers met she knew for sure she was holding Nathan’s hand. The sharp bolts of lust in her belly told her so. As did the hot tingles of awareness that prickled through her palm and up her arm. The exact same quivers of awareness that had crept through her when he’d first grasped her hand over the table in the pastry shop.

“Nathan,” she whispered.

He dropped the arm holding the microphone behind his back. “Come with me? Please.”

At her nod, he pulled her up. A blinding smile spread across his face. A smile she knew. A smile she’d assigned to memory. A smile that blurred and vanished as he leaned forward and kissed her. A kiss so sweet and gentle it rocked her to her bones.

It was over almost before it had begun, but it was tender enough that Sophie moaned softly as every exquisite memory from the afternoon crashed down over her.

“Mmm,” Nathan murmured quietly, his voice drowned out by the thunderous roar of the crowd.

And then he was tugging her arm and leading her up the same stairs he’d just descended, onto the stage. As the platform vibrated beneath the clapping and the screams, Nathan drew Sophie over to a beautifully polished grand piano that seemed to have appeared by magic.

She followed blindly, the whole scenario surreal. No way was this actually happening. It simply wasn’t possible. How could she be standing on stage, the focal point of forty thousand screaming people, beside Jamie Speed? Beside a man she’d fallen more than the tiniest bit in love with? Beside a man who existed in one realm as one person and in another as a superstar? How on earth could it be possible?

Episodes like this just didn’t happen in real life.

He sat her down on the stool beside him with their thighs touching, placed his mike in a stand and whispered in her ear, “This one’s for you, sweetheart.” He winked then, and she stared spellbound into the unknown green eyes.

“Na—”

“No questions, Sophie Rose.” His response was so soft she wasn’t even sure she’d heard it. “Just close your eyes…and feel my voice.”

When he began to play
Loving Eyes
, chills ran down her spine.

There was no accompanying background music—it was just Nathan, his piano and his voice. The unforced, natural beauty of his voice.

Angels weren’t the only ones who stopped to listen as he sang. Silence fell across the stadium as the melody flowed through the air. Sophie’s lids fluttered and shut.

The sound on her iPod had never been like this. Never been as clear or as real. Never evoked the same sensation or emotion as this real-life version. Tears sprang to her eyes. A lump formed in her throat. Nathan’s words played over her skin. His lustrous, lyrical voice sang to her soul. There was no one else around them. It was just her and Nathan—and his song.

The same song that she’d fantasized had been written for her—and now it was being sung to her. For her. It was a part of her. And Nathan sang it.

Her chest seemed full to bursting, her heart swelling with every sweet note he sang. His leg moved in time with his playing, each rhythmic beat a caress against her own thigh. If she were lying naked on a bed, Nathan could not reach further into her soul. He’d touched her with his song before. Now he claimed her heart, and she gave it to him willingly.

All she could hear and feel were Nathan and his words. His exquisite, dulcet tones.

As the last few keys played from his piano, and his sonorous voice rang out its final notes, she kept her eyes closed. Here she could be alone with him, cut off from the thousands of other people present. Here it was just her and Nathan.

No, it wasn’t.

A deafening roar filled the stadium. The stage vibrated with the cheer. Sophie’s eyes flew open, her heart smashing into her ribs at the intrusion. For just a few seconds she’d forgotten where she was. Lost herself in the beauty and intimacy of Nathan’s song.

Jamie’s
, her head screamed.
Not Nathan’s.

For a long moment he simply looked into her eyes. And she looked back into his green ones. Lost herself in them, in the dreamy, heady gaze. The air between them shimmered and hummed.

Then Jamie rose and offered her his hand. She took it. This had to be a dream. Had to be. No way was she standing on stage at a
Speed
concert, while the world watched on and cheered. No way had she spent two afternoons with Jamie Speed.

She must have nodded off in Lizzie’s pastry shop, and her head—full of the details of Charlaine Harris’s book, of the naked man in the apartment she’d been cleaning and of the posters of
Speed
plastered all around town—had manifested the rest.

That would explain the blinding grin Jonah shot her before yelling, “Go, Sophie Rose.” It would also explain Jordan leaning over to plant a kiss on her cheek and then clapping his arm around Jamie’s shoulders. “Way to go, big brother.” Had to explain it, because things like this didn’t happen to an ordinary girl in everyday life.

Damned pity, really, but there you had it. Just a dream.

She let Jamie escort her off stage and into the wings, surprised to feel the jolt of the vibrations from the applause running up her legs. Surely details like that didn’t register in dreams?

And surely she wouldn’t be trapped once more by his lustful green gaze mere seconds before his hungry mouth descended on hers. Surely she wouldn’t feel the delicious temptation of his kiss all the way down to her bones? Or the responding heat between her legs as he smiled one more time?

Seconds before he raced back onto the stage, he whispered something completely unexpected. “My grandmother would have loved you.”

And then he was gone.

She pinched her arm, hard, and then bit back a yelp as the pain cut through her. Blood slowly suffused through the tortured bit of skin she’d just attacked, changing it from white to a pale pink.

“You’re not dreaming.” A voice sounded in her right ear. “Jamie Speed just serenaded you in front of the whole world.”

She turned to find the same man who’d led her to the front-row seats at her side. Sophie gaped at him.

He stuck out his hand. “I’m Luke Struthers,
Speed
’s
business manager.”

Luke
. Nathan’s brother’s good friend, and their business partner. “I’m dumbstruck.” She placed her hand in his bigger one.

“We all are. In a good way.” Luke’s smile did not fade at all. “That’s the first time Nathan’s ever done something like this.”

She shook her head in astonishment. Luke had called him Nathan. “So it’s true? Nathan and Jamie are the same person?”

Luke nodded. “But it’s not public knowledge. Only those closest to the brothers know their real names. The guys prefer it that way.”

Dear God. She was one of those considered closest? Her heart did a little rat-a-tat-tat.

Before she had time to glory in the knowledge, Luke spoke, shocking her back into reality.

“You realize that your picture is going to be plastered over every newspaper and television station in Australia before midnight?” he asked. “The concert’s being streamed live around the world. The press may not know your name…yet, but by tomorrow morning yours will be one of the most recognized faces on the planet.”

Chapter Eight

The concert ended after three raucous encores. Between each, Nathan hauled her into his arms for a brief kiss. He was hot and sweaty and breathless, and Sophie returned his kisses with an equal hunger—feeling just as hot, sweaty and breathless after each one.

When the final song—their biggest hit—was over, and
Speed
walked off the stage for the last time, Nathan’s kiss was not brief. It was long and intense and made Sophie’s stomach flip over at least twice.

Cheers and claps roared in her ears, but she hardly noticed them. All she knew was Nathan and his mouth. Nathan and his arms. Nathan and his erection pressing against her.

His kiss was exhilarating. As thrilling as his very presence. The energy he threw off had to be a residual of the high from the concert. She’d almost seen the adrenaline pumping through his veins as he’d performed. He’d been electrifying.

That same electricity pumped through her veins now, making her feel more animated than she ever had in her whole life. Yep, it was partly the thrill of discovering her lover was Jamie Pace, and partly the rush of having been a central part of a
Speed
concert. But most of all, it was the sheer joy of being back in Nathan’s arms, of knowing that the man she thought she’d never see again held her like he’d never let her go.

When the kiss finally ended—an eon later—Sophie was surprised to find herself suspended in Nathan’s arms. Her legs were wrapped around his waist, and he was holding her up.

The cheering continued, and it was only once Sophie had found her footing again and wasn’t lost in the magic of Nathan’s kiss, that it occurred to her the loud whooping came from the band and the back-up singers.

Sophie looked over Nathan’s shoulder to see his two brothers laughing and clapping. Luke’s smile was even bigger than before.

Nathan clasped his arm around her waist and cast a wry smile at his fellow band members. “Yeah, yeah. Laugh all you want. One day it will happen to you too. Then we’ll see who laughs loudest.”

Luke gave the band a few more minutes to rib Nathan, while Sophie stood by speechless. Because honestly, what could she possibly say under these circumstances?

Then Luke was all business again.

“Okay, people, I need your attention.
Nova FM
has its three contest winners coming backstage to meet you. Jordan, they chose you as their
Speed
of choice. There’s a bottle of champagne chilling in your dressing room. You have half an hour with them.” He looked at Jordan for a few more seconds, and Sophie felt certain he’d say something else, but he didn’t. He turned his attention to Jonah. “Your turn to talk to the press first. The
Telegraph
has a crew lined up. You good to go now?”

Jonah nodded and Luke turned to Nathan. “Free time for half an hour, then you’re up for the interview.” Unexpectedly, he turned his attention to her next. “Sophie, your friends are in good hands. I have my people getting them now. I’ll make sure they get to the after party. You can meet up with them there.”

After party?

Sophie nodded gratefully, still too starstruck to say a word. Hopefully her smile portrayed her gratitude.

She watched, fascinated, as Luke called out more instructions. Watched as he turned the chaos into order, watched as the entire band heeded his word and began to disperse. Watched as the backstage workings of a concert played itself out before her eyes.

She turned to the stage to see five or six huge men moving instruments and rearranging props.

And with that, the full reality of her circumstances blasted through her senses. She hadn’t picked just any guy to have a fling with. She hadn’t just walked in on a wealthy stranger at the apartments. She hadn’t dreamed about an arbitrary man for the last ten years. She’d thrown herself headfirst into an affair with Jamie Speed. And as a result? She’d wound up head-over-heels in love with the man.

The knowledge was overwhelming. Shocking. Stunning. She’d spent hours in bed—and out—with Jamie Speed. She’d confessed to listening to his song naked. Confessed to touching herself as he sang. She’d touched herself while he spoke to her.

And not once, through all that time, had he told her who he really was. Not once had he even hinted at it.

Her heart raced, her pulse jerked.

Nathan was Jamie Speed.

Sophie reacted in the only way she knew how, in the only way her befuddled brain told her to: instinctively.

She turned around and belted Nathan in the stomach.

The breath whooshed from his chest. He lurched forward, grabbing his stomach in the process.

Sophie shook her arm, shocked at how much the blow had hurt her. Damn it, did the man have abs of steel?

It took a good few seconds for him to catch his breath, and in that time he stared at her with stunned eyes. Stunned green eyes she hardly recognized.

“Sophie, what the fuck…?”

“You could have told me,” she stormed, furious.

“Told…you what?”

“That you’re
him
. Jamie.”

“Could have.” He nodded, his voice and expression not quite back to normal. “Didn’t…want to.” His shoulders were stooped and he still clutched his belly.

“Didn’t want to?” she gasped. “So what? You wanted to have coffee with me? Wanted to talk to me? Wanted to…fuck me? But through all that you didn’t want to be honest with me?”