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“Oh, my, gosh! Do you know him?” She grins mischievously without turning toward me.
I nod. “Yes, he lives next door. He’s been kind of a nuisance, really.”
“Holy cow, girl! Go up there!” Michelle shoves me.
The patrons call out for me to go up, and Blaze milks their enthusiasm for all they are worth. “Come on Maribeth, don’t leave me up here all alone.”
I yell from my seat. “What are you singing?”
He waves his hand, gesturing for me to come. I shake my head. “You signed up for this, go ahead and sing.”
“Aw, Maribeth, come on.”
The patrons aren’t helping. They shout, clap, and whistle. I have little choice but to go up. Why didn’t Mister DJ announce his song, like he did everybody else’s so I could know what he expects me to sing with him? Did Blaze know this guy? I get beside Blaze where he can hear me. “What are we singing?”
He turns the monitor so I can see the title page. I spin around, shaking my head. I try to step off the stage. “No way.”
But the music starts and Blaze sings, “Don’t go breaking my heart.”
At the same time. he grabs my arm, pulling me back with him. He hands me the other mic. I look around. The girls are laughing so hard they are crying. I look over at the monitor at the highlighted words and join where the prompter is on my part. “I couldn’t if I tried.”
Blaze sings his part, “Oh honey if I get restless.”
I give him a look that tells him how bad I’m going to hurt him later and sing my part, “Baby you're not that kind.”
We continue to the end, repeating the last two lines of the duet, “Don’t go breaking my heart.”
“I won’t go breaking your heart.” And then together we sing, “Don’t go breaking my heart.”
As soon as the song ends, I turn to Mister DJ, whisper in his ear, and turn back to Blaze.
“Hold on!” I smirk a smile as I stare at him while waiting for Mister DJ to start the song.
What seems like a pregnant pause later, it starts.
I sing, “You walked into the party…” I grin ear to ear. “Like you were walking onto a yacht.”
Blaze covers his heart and leans back like he is shot with an arrow. My fan club of four scream and howl with laughter as I sing, “Your hat strategically dipped below one eye. Your scarf it was apricot…”
When I get to the chorus, I glare at him poignantly. “You’re so vain, I bet you think this song is about you…”
To my surprise, the girls sing the chorus with me and the others in the restaurant join in. Also, surprising, Blaze remains at my side for the entire song. When I sing the last insulting bit, he claps toward me. Then he takes my hand and gallantly kisses it.
A sizzling sensation flashes up my arm and causes my heart to gallop into a sprint across the room like a conjured Petronius from Harry Potter. I stand statue-still and stare at him. Lost in the sensations I am feeling.
Oblivious to the sensations he has created in my nervous system, he turns and bows to the restaurant patrons, and then gestures toward me. They stand to applaud. This is my second standing ovation tonight. I’m gently pulled from my fixation on him and smile at the audience.
“Thank you.” I say and run for the table where my girlfriends are laughing and talking a mile a minute.
“Gosh! You’re good.” Cindy leans toward me.
I just shake my head. “I love to sing, but that was embarrassing.”
“If you don’t want to sing with this Blaze dude, I will.” Michelle wags her eyebrows teasingly.
A spark of jealousy rips through my heart. I frown, but then I recover and smile. “Go ahead.”
But I really didn’t want her to. How ridiculous am I? I don’t care if she or anybody else sings with Blaze, or goes out with him, or—
