“Merlot. Thank you, Lulu,” Liam replied, reading the name on the server’s tag and greeting her like an old friend.
Min bit her lip again. She really shouldn’t drink any more. Her limbs were already slightly tingly from how quickly she had downed her champagne. But before she could think too hard about it, she said, “White wine?”
“What kind, sugar?” Lulu asked kindly.
Min glanced about, hoping a wine menu would magically appear so she could remember the name ofanykind of white wine.God, I’m in over my head.
“Why don’t we try a Sauvignon Blanc?” Liam suggested. She exhaled in relief and nodded.
“Good choice,” Lulu said with a smile before sashaying off to get their drinks.
Liam slid his hand over Min’s leg, closing his fingers around the bare skin of her thigh, his thumb dragging back and forth across the inside of her knee. The man on stage continued to play and Min fought to keep from shaking. This was a bad idea. Everything about this was a bad idea. She didn’t do things like this – go off into the night with men she’d just met.
But she wanted to know what came next. She had a feeling, if she let him, Liam could make her feel things she’d never dreamed of. Never mind that he would likely break her heart in the process.
Lulu arrived with their drinks just as the man finished his performance. Min clapped so hard her palms stung.
“What will you sing?” Liam asked.
She whipped her head to look at him, noting his smirk and the glint in his eyes. She huffed out a laugh and downed an overlarge sip of her wine. Liam’s eyes only sparkled more, holding fast to the challenge as he took a slow sip of his own drink.
“Lulu is the on-staff accompanist, if you want someone on piano,” he continued. “And they have an extensive sheet music library in the back.”
She would be damned if she was going to back down from the challenge. She may be insecure about a lot of things, but singing was one thing she knew for sure she could do better than most. And she wanted to impress this man, to prove to him – and herself – that she was worthy of his attention.
“You first,” she said, flinging the challenge back at him.
Liam chuckled and squeezed her knee as he took another sip of his wine, considering. “Deal.” He stood and headed towards the stage, glancing back over his shoulder to say, “But then you owe me a song.”
Min watched him mount the stage. The perfect curve of his ass moved beneath his tailored dress pants, his sleeves sliding higher on his forearms when he placed his hands on his narrow hips and surveyed the instruments available to him. Finally, he selected the cello.
“Shit,” she breathed. A cellistanda conductor?What is this man trying to do to me?
Liam sat on the stool and settled the cello between his thighs, his hands moving over the instrument with a deftness that made her wonder what those hands would feel like moving over her. With a wink, he drew the bow across the strings and began playing from memory. It only took a few notes for her to recognize the piece – theMeditationfromThaïs, one of her favorite pieces.
He was a master of his instrument, drawing each note out lovingly, tenderly, his fingers working the strings in a way that highlighted how strong and dexterous his hands were. She could hardly breathe for fear she’d miss a note. The building could burn around her and she wouldn’t notice as long as he kept playing.
Tension built in her chest, like an invisible force drew her to him, a tugging behind her sternum that ached to be a part of the spell he was weaving with his music. Liam raised his eyes to meet hers as he played, the heat in his gaze undeniable. She pressed her thighs together in a vain attempt to ease the desire pooling there.
She had never wanted anyone as badly as she wanted him.
The music ended and Liam replaced the instrument in its case, walking back to her as if he hadn’t just made love to her with his music. He placed one hand on the table and the other on the back of her chair, caging her in as he leaned down, his lips hot against the shell of her ear. “Your turn.”
This man was dangerous.
This man could destroy her.
And she’d let him.
Min stood as Liam righted himself, but he did not step back, their bodies so close together that their toes touched. It was her turn to arch an eyebrow, and Liam stepped back to let her pass, but not enough that she could do so without her ass sliding against him in the process.
She found Lulu leaning against the bar and asked if she’d accompany her. Lulu agreed, leading her to a small room off the back with floor to ceiling bookcases overstuffed with sheet music and scores. It only took Min a few minutes to locate an anthology that she knew contained the aria she was looking for. Lulu glanced over the music, nodding in approval. “After you, sugar,” she said.
Min waited for the nerves to hit her. Performing with a pianist she’d never worked with before, without warming up properly, in front of the sexiest man she’d ever seen in real life should terrify her. Maybe it was the alcohol. Maybe it was the adrenaline. Maybe it was him. For whatever reason, she had never climbed a stage with more confidence. She knew this aria. She knew she could weave a spell all her own.
Lulu played the opening notes and Liam leaned back, an amused smile on his face and one arm draped over the back of Min’s now-empty chair. He arched an eyebrow at her, questioning her choice, challenging her to live up to it. But she knew she could do it. And she wouldn’t be a half beat behind or a quarter tone flat.
Marietta’s Liedfloated from her body, calling to Liam. By the second phrase, he had set his wine glass down. By the fourth, he was leaning forward in his chair, his elbows braced on his knees and his eyes growing darker. As she finished the B section, he scrubbed his hand over his face, scraping the scruff along his jaw. She never took her eyes from his.
