His boyish grin is equal parts charming, adorable, and hot. “Yeah. My drummer is buddies with the mayor of this town and set it up as a small gig for me. No one knows it’s me, though. We weren’t sure we could make it, so the organizers decided to leave it a mystery. Shhh.” He puts his index finger to his full lips and winks, and I pretty much melt. “Can I see you after?”
It takes everything in me not to let my jaw drop open at his question. Nash Parker wants to see me again, even though I ran out on him in the middle of the night. Holy. Shit.
“Yeah. I’ll stick around,” I say quietly. His answering smile is everything.
“Awesome. Why don’t you and your friend come up to the VIP section?”
My eyebrows lift in surprise. “The Dogwood Cove Summer Solstice Festival has a VIP section?”
He chuckles at that. “Nah, but I do.” He gestures to the guy wearing dress pants. “Roberto’s my manager. He can show you where to sit.”
The man in question looks up from his phone and gives me a distracted nod. “Yeah. Yeah. Come with me. Nash, buddy, you gotta go.”
Nash actually looks torn, as if staying with me is more tempting than going on stage and performing. The flicker of indecision is gone in an instant, and Nash picks up my hand and presses a kiss to it before saying “I’ll see you later.”
How can four words be so loaded with promise and anticipation…and how can four words make my entire body light up instantaneously? As I watch him walk away, escorted by two huge men who must be bodyguards, I know there’s only one answer. Because the man saying them is the man I haven’t stopped thinking about for two years.
I follow Roberto over toward the seats that are set up for the audience. This is definitely a much more intimate venue than what Nash is probably used to, and I smile to myself thinking about how surprised everyone will be when he comes on stage. Allie sees us and darts up and out of her chair.
“Emma, what the hell. You know Nash Parker? Why did you never tell me this! What is he doing here? He’s so fucking hot. Seriously, Emma, you have some major explaining to do, lady!”
“If you’ll just come with me please,” Roberto interrupts Allie’s ranting. He gestures to a small area near the front where sure enough, I see a few empty chairs.
Allie grabs my arm again and leans in close to whisper. “What is going on?”
“Nash and I…have a past. He wants to talk later, so we’re going to the VIP section to watch him perform.”
“Nash Parker is performing?” she screeches.
Roberto frowns at us as people around us start to murmur and look our way. Guess his secret performance isn’t so secret anymore.
“Ladies. Please.”
I hurry Allie over to the chairs waiting for us, and we sit down.
“I’ll tell you everything, I promise.” And, taking a gulp of my now warm beer, I lean over and in a hurried whisper I fill her in on the concert two years ago, and my night with Nash. When I tell her how I left in the middle of the night, Allie gasps and slaps my arm.
“You’re kidding me. What the hell, Emma! You walked out on Nash Parker? AnakedNash Parker?”
I wince at the memory. “Not my finest moment. But in my defense, I was lost back then. Remember? I had just discovered Jeremy was cheating, got fired from my job thanks to cutbacks, and was moving across the country to start over. I had no idea what I was doing with my life, so realizing I had a one-night stand with a freaking superstar made me panic.”
Allie huffs out a loud sigh and slumps down in her seat. “And now he’s here, and he wants to talk to you.”
I nod. “He is and he does.”
“If you end up in bed with him again, no running away. Got it?”
The very thought of being with Nash again gives me a delicious shiver. “Got it.”
Just then the stage lights dim, and a voice comes over the speaker.
“Ladies and gentlemen, Mayor Monroe here with a surprise for all of you. Headlining tonight’s Summer Solstice Festival is none other than — Mister Nash Parker!”
The small but enthusiastic crowd bursts into loud cheers as the lights go up, and there he is. Standing on the stage, a guitar strapped across his chest and his hat now on backwards. He grins at the crowd before looking down at me and winking.
“Hello, Dogwood Cove. Thanks for having me here tonight. It’s my pleasure to perform for y’all. I’m gonna do things a little differently and open with a song that isn’t one of my own. This is by my good buddy Jake Owen, and it’s for one special person out there tonight. I never expected to see her again. She’sthe one who got away.”
He starts to sing, and my heart starts racing.
