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Shock roots me in place.
Kiss her back, you fool.
The thought jolts the rest of me to life, pulling her flush against me. My hands take on a life of their own, running down her back to her hips, gripping her ass in two handfuls. Her mouth opens with a gasp and then my tongue brushes against hers and the world disappears. All that matters is this moment, this kiss, this woman.
Laila’s song ends, the roar of the crowd inside loud enough to break the spell her mouth has cast over me.
I pull back but I don’t go too far, resting my forehead against hers. “Mindy.”
“How do you feel?” she asks, the words brushing against my lips.
I swallow. “Horny.”
She chokes back a laugh. “Yeah, same.”
The door opens. “Luke, it’s time,” the roadie calls out.
We break apart.
Out on stage, Laila is giving the crowd the segue we practiced.
“Mindy, I—" I can’t go out therenow. I search her eyes for regret but find none.
She smiles, grabs me by the lapels of my suit coat, and presses another kiss to my lips, a quick, hard movement, uncaring of the roadie watching us from the open doorway.
“Go.”
I gape at her flushed face.
It’s like the world has exploded and reassembled differently.
“Luke, you have about ten seconds to get your ass out there. Go.” She gives me a little smack on the rear.
I toss her a surprised grin over my shoulder while hustling out to the main room.
In a daze, I climb up onto the stage and take my spot on the stool next to Laila.
The tightness in my limbs has been replaced with an incredible sense of . . . hope.
What does this mean? Did she change her mind about us?
Maybe my nerves plunged me into some kind of fever dream and none of this is real.
Laila plucks at the strings of her guitar with quick, light movements, playing the chorus notes to one of our duets. “I am so pleased to welcome my friend to the stage with me tonight. We wrote this song together, and I know you will love it as much as I do.” Laila nudges me with an elbow. “Why don’t you introduce yourself, friend?”
I glance out at the audience. The spotlight above us is bright enough to block out the crowd, rendering them a bunch of black smudges in the dark.
“Hi everyone. I’m Luke Fletcher.” The microphone emits a high-pitched whine of feedback. My anxiety rumbles underneath me, a monster ready to pounce. I shift on the stool, trying to get comfortable.
Mindy kissed me. Then she smacked my ass.
A few people clap. Someone whistles a catcall. Probably Jake.
The thought makes me smile.
“Come on now, we can do better than that.” Laila lifts her hands over her guitar and claps, the crowd joining in.
She lifts her brows at me. “Ready?”
