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The crowd goes wild and startles me out of my trance.
He’s not looking at me anymore.
He’s not looking at anyone.
His eyes are closed while he’s singing.
His voice is beautiful. It’s a clear, rich tenor with a rasp around its edges that fills the room and holds us all in its thrall. The crowd is transformed. There’s a hush in the room that sends chills up my spine.
My heart swells with pride and happiness.
He may be singing to a room full of people, but he might as well be on Mars — he’s as lost in the song as I am in my emotions.
Oh, Carter.
He finishes the song and without acknowledging the applause, without looking at me again, he strides off the stage and disappears behind the curtains.
The crowd’s claps die down, and the MC introduces the next act as I stare at the curtains, willing him to come back through them.
“Start talking, sister,” Dina says in a no-nonsense voice.
“What do you mean”?”
“Uh, you were eye fucking him.”
I look away, and heat suffuses my neck. “I barely looked at him.”
“Liar. And he was looking at you like he wanted to tear your clothes off.”
I shake my head in denial and throw back the second drink, wincing at the bite of alcohol but grateful for the cool rush of liquid through my overheated body.
“Sure, you can finish my drink. I didn’t want it or anything,” Dina says with feigned cheer.
I turn to her, my expression full of sincere apology. “I want him to tear them off.” I press a hand to my mouth when I realize how loud I am.
Dina snorts a laugh. “Ah, shit. I forgot you’re a lightweight. Let me get you another round. I’ll have all your secrets befor
e the sun comes up.”
I shake my head miserably. “He’s here with Etta. Of all people. It’s like he wants to twist the knife in deeper than it already is.”
Her jaw drops. “Oh my God. You do know him.”
I nod miserably. “No. I mean yes. We met…once. That’s all. “
In the same way the tip of the iceberg is all.
She shoves me. “When did you meet Carter Bosch? How could you not tell me?” She howls like she’s in pain. Her eyes are comically wide with wonder and her grin. Well, I can only describe it as hungry.
“It was so random. And unexpected.” I sigh my breath hitching around a memory, and I close my eyes briefly.
“Oh my God. Liz, you should see your face.”
My eyes pop open.
“Why? What’s wrong with it?”
“You look how I feel when I get to eat a slice of that frozen banana pie on my cheat day.”
