“That is awesome news. I’m so happy for you, babe.” He put her down and grinned, before lifting his hands to frame her face. “I love you, Red and I am so damn proud to call you mine.”
Reagan shivered at his possessive yet loving words. “If you keep filling my head with those seductive words, you’ll be late for your set.”
Chase smiled down at her and said, “Maybe I wouldn’t mind that.”
“Ah, but your audience might,” Reagan replied.
With an exaggerated sigh, Chase let go of her face and grasped her hand. “Fine, let’s go. But believe me, when we get back to your place tonight, I’m going to show you just how seductive I can be.”
Reagan pulled him to a stop. “Chase, believe me, I know how seductive you are. I tried to ignore your seductive ways for a year, remember?”
Chase barked out a laugh as he opened her car door. “True, babe, but no more fighting it right?”
Reagan grinned. “Nope, I’m not fighting it anymore.”
* * *
The drive to the pub was filled with laughter and easy banter. Chase marveled at how relaxed he was around Reagan, after being on edge for so long every time he even thought of her. He was anxious to hear more about her plans for the bakery, but knew he had to focus on his own job, performing tonight. Even though playing for the crowd at the pub was no big deal compared to what he was used to with Black Star, Chase still took each performance very seriously, wanting to give his audience the best show he could give. Tonight, having Reagan in the audience, would be even more special. He loved that finally he would be able to sing right to her, pour his emotion into the song and not worry about her misinterpreting it. Now that they had told each other those three little words, he didn’t have to hold back.
Thanks to some traffic snarls, by the time they arrived at the pub it was getting close to the time that Chase had to go on. All he had time for was a quick kiss to Reagan before he headed to the back room to tune his guitar and get ready. Jake came to the back office to say hi and told Chase something, that later, he would wish he had played closer attention to.
“Hey, man, there’s some dude in a suit at the bar asking about you. Well not you exactly, but asking about ‘the guy who performs here.’” Jake clapped Chase on the back, obviously excited by what he was saying. “Maybe tonight is your big break!”
Chase flashed a distracted grin at Jake, not really absorbing what his friend was saying as he was distracted by mentally reviewing his set list for the evening.
It wasn’t until later, when Chase took to the stage, that he registered what Jake had said. He glanced over at the bar and saw a man dressed way too classy for a pub, who was watching Chase intently. Filled with dread, he suddenly knew exactly who that was. Well, maybe not his name, but he knew why that man was here. He had to be from a record label. Which meant that Chase’s secret past was about to be not so secret anymore.
He looked over to where Reagan sat in a booth with Anna, watching him with a loving smile. She must have noticed his haunted look because a worried frown flashed across her beautiful face. He quickly smiled to try and reassure her. Until he knew for certain what the suit wanted, he didn’t want to raise any suspicions from his friends, especially not Reagan.
Chase managed to play his set, but knew it wasn’t his best performance. Every so often he would look to the bar, where the suit was watching him intently. At one point he saw the man looking at his cellphone and Chase just prayed he wasn’t looking up old Black Star videos online to try and compare Chase McCormick to Chase Thomas. Even with changing his appearance, he knew that anyone looking at a photo of the old Chase next to the current one, would be able to tell they were the same person.
When he finished and walked off the stage with nothing more than a brief smile and wave to the audience, Chase strode purposefully to the bar, without going to Reagan first. He had to try and stop things from unraveling somehow.
“Hey, man, great show. But are you okay? Something seemed off.” Noah greeted him when he got to the bar. Chase had been so focused on the suit he hadn’t even realized that Ryan’s brother was there, two stools down from the man Chase was certain had to be some sort of record executive or producer.
“Yeah, thanks. Ah, listen, I have to deal with something. I’ll talk to you later, okay?” Chase said distractedly, having made eye contact with the suit who was smiling at him knowingly.
Chase walked over to the man and stood in front of him, waiting for him to make the first move. He wasn’t left hanging for long. The suit stuck out his hand in greeting.
“Richie Goldburn. Does anyone in this place realize they’ve got a rock legend in their midst?”
Chase ignored the hand. “No and I’d like to keep it that way.”
Richie barked out a laugh. “You’re kidding, right? Chase Thomas doesn’t belong in a brew pub playing to people more interested in their beer than the music. Chase Thomas belongs up on stage in front of thousands.”
“Yeah, well, I’m not Chase Thomas anymore. So, whatever you are suggesting, I’m not interested.”
Richie was silent for a moment, sizing Chase up as if to see how serious he was. Whatever he saw, he simply shrugged and put one of his cards on the live-edge wooden surface of the bar.
“If you change your mind, let me know.” He tapped the card, then turned and left. Chase watched him leave, and only when the bar door closed behind him, did he let out the breath he had been holding.
“Was he telling the truth?” Jake’s low voice startled Chase. When he turned around, he saw Jake, Ryan, and Noah standing there. They all had confused expressions on their faces and Jake’s arms were crossed in front of him defensively. Chase felt his shoulders sag. He couldn’t lie to their faces like this. Not if they had heard what Richie said.
“Depends on what you heard. Is my name Chase Thomas? It was. But not anymore. That part of my life is over.”
“The part where you were a kick-ass drummer for one of the top rock bands of the last decade?” Noah asked wryly.
Chase sighed. “Yeah, that part. Look, guys, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I really did just want to move on from that shit. The band broke up, I left New York, and wanted a fresh start.”
