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Twelve
The room was packed, the band was hot and Roddy was excellent. He had loads of furious, hardcore energy, but he could be low-key and subtle when the music called for it, and he meshed with the seasoned local band as if they’d been playing together for years.
The great music and the margarita had slowly unknotted Jenna’s twisted nerves. Her heart was full to overflowing as she watched Roddy play. It was a huge personal victory for her that Roddy had regained enough dexterity and flexibility with his arm to let his musical talent flow through it. That was a kiss of grace from on high. Same with Cherise’s promising news about design school. The world was filled with sorrow and disaster and infamy, but tonight, she got to chalk up a few points for the good guys.
Roddy faded out expertly at the end of a song with a shimmery tinkle of the hi-hat, and the lead singer of the band grabbed the mic.
“Boys and girls, I have been informed by our amazing guest drummer, Roddy Hepner, that we have a pair of lovebirds in the audience, and he wants to dedicate one of his own original songs to them. You lucky folks are the first to hear the Vicious Rumors perform this song, but you won’t be the last. So here it is, folks! ‘Thirsting for You,’ written and performed by Roddy Hepner! Make space in the middle of the dance floor, everybody, and give it up for our lucky lovers... Jenna...and... Drew!”
People surged and shifted, leaving a big open space around them. They stood together, ringed by a crowd of onlookers, and the light guy trained a rose-tinted spotlight right on them. Their eyes met, as the opening chords of Roddy’s beautiful ballad began.
Drew had that look on his face. Like she was the only woman in the world, and he was desperate with longing for her and her alone. His arms encircled her, pulling her close. It felt so right. So natural and inevitable.
Roddy leaned into the mic angled over the drum set and began to sing. His singing voice was wonderful. Deep and slightly rough but beautifully resonant.
The desert dust is in my shoes.
A thread of hope to see me through.
I seek what’s good, I seek what’s true.
But now I see I thirst for you.
It was too much. She couldn’t resist the pulsing music, the intense emotions. Drew’s magnetism. The look in his beautiful eyes, deep and endless as the ocean.
She tried to remind herself that she was just a normal woman, not a glammed-up movie star beauty. No way could she hold this guy’s interest in the long run, or fit into his jet-setting lifestyle. She was miles out of her league. Cruising for disaster and heartbreak.
And yet, she clung to him. Their bodies had their own merged magnetism. They were one single swaying entity, and they were on the brink of something momentous, and unbearably sweet. Patterns of colored lights swirled and blended over the dance floor like a dreamy kaleidoscope as Roddy sang on, his voice a tender, scratchy croon.
My eyes are burning and my throat is dry.
My thirsty heart’s been seeking far and wide.
But shining from your deep and honest eyes.
I find my reason why.
Drew cupped the back of her head in his warm hand, sliding his fingers tenderly into her hair, his gaze still locked with hers. His deep and honest eyes. They made a space just for her. They saw her so clearly. Made her feel so vibrant and alive. So real.
And they were kissing again. Nothing could have stopped it. They were floating in a shining bubble, the rest of the world shut out.
Their kiss was a language in itself, passionate and direct. It spoke of hunger and longing and tenderness, it promised exquisite pleasure, it coaxed and lured and teased.
She couldn’t get enough of it. She kissed him back, saying loud and clear with the kiss everything that she’d been trying so hard not to say since the moment she met him.
Yes. God, yes. Please, yes.
She could feel his erection, hot against her belly. She dragged him closer to feel it better, aching for his heat, his strength and energy as the song slowly ended.
The applause was thunderous. Hoots and howls from the crowd finally penetrated their magic bubble as the space around them dissolved.
People flooded back onto the dance floor, crowding in around them.
Jenna stared at Drew, willing her arms to loosen from their desperate, clinging hold, but they were not obeying her commands.
She finally managed it. By force, she pushed herself back, almost stumbling into someone behind her. Drew caught her and steadied her.
Careful. I got you.She saw his lips form the words, but couldn’t hear his voice in the noise. Those beautiful lips that had just kissed her into a wanton frenzy of desire right in front of a cheering crowd.
