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“Holy manoli, have you?” Bex’s eyebrows rose excitedly, and Barrett laughed.
“He has no musical talent whatsoever,” Barrett assured her.
“So, it’s just you, hmm?” I smiled, holding onto his arm around my waist.
“Oh, I don’t know,” Mara teased. “Zale has his musical moments. He dances for me every morning while he’s getting ready for work. Sometimes I even get a strip tease at night. My favorite part is when he pulls off his socks and gives them a smell test before tossing them in the hamper!”
I laughed and looked at Zale. We all did, but his eyes were on Mara, crinkled at the corners, his mouth split in a wide grin. He truly was particularly gorgeous when he smiled. He moved his arm from her shoulders down to her waist, pulling her front flush against his side.
“Behave, Mara, or I’ll spank you when we get home.”
“Ew, Zee, just ew!” I covered my ears.
Rhys winked at Bex, and I lost track of the conversation, distracted by the feel of Barrett’s big chest rumbling with laughter at my back.
I twisted my head to look at him, whispering, “Look how happy Mara is!”
He smiled at me, his eyes soft. “Maybe I’ll spank you and see if it makes you just as happy.”
I visualized his big hand coming down on my naked rear and retreated into my head, wondering what that would be like, wondering if I’d like it. His laughter brought me back to the present, his eyes knowing. “You’re curious?”
The heat hit my cheeks and I admitted, “Um, I’m curious if I might be curious.”
He leaned down, putting his mouth to my ear. “I’ve got other plans for you, sweet Willa, that don’t include spanking...I’m not opposed to having you exposed and over my knee, I just don’t know if I could smack your ass. Bite it? Yes. Smack it? I don’t know.”
I shivered and then laughed out loud, pressing back against him. Nothing could touch me tonight. Not Sarah’s half an outfit that highlighted her fantastic legs, not the asshole client that phoned me at a quarter to eight demanding my time, not the crunch to finalize the details for the fundraiser, not my mother’s phone call yesterday full of insults, nothing. Wrapped in Barrett’s arms with his laughter vibrating against my back and his promises in my ear, I reveled in having Mara close beside me with Zale, listening to Bex and Rhys laughing and teasing one another, seeing Lenny standing with his arm draped over Junie’s shoulders, toying with the ties to her sundress. It was a good thing she was a double knotter because he was a fiddler. She looped her arms around his lean waist, and laughed up at Lucky, who was teasing Lenny mercilessly that he was going to move in on his girl. With all of that, there was nothing that could separate me from my joy in that moment.
Lucky soon gave the signal and Barrett released me momentarily before wrapping his big hand around the back of my neck and pulling me in for a brief kiss before speaking low so only I could hear.
“Make sure Junie doesn’t go anywhere. Lenny’s going to sing to her.”
I lit up. “Really?”
He smiled at me with his eyes only, then lumbered back through the crowd to go backstage. My Lord, the man could wear a pair of jeans.
“You all right there, chickie?” Bex teased.
I turned to find both her and Rhys grinning at me.
I cleared my throat. “I, uh...you know what? Shut up, both of you!”
Mara pulled me close, whispering fervently, “I’m so happy for you!”
Junie sidled up beside me asking, “Should we go to the bathroom really quick?” just as Barrett spoke into the mic.
“I bet you guys didn’t know that Lenny can sing.”
Junie whipped around and faced the stage while Barrett continued, his deep, rumbling voice reverberated over the crowd. “I’m taking backup on this one…”
Lenny leaned into his mic. “This one’s for you, Junie.”
Junie folded her hands under her chin as Barrett plucked the opening strings. Lenny joined in with drums and then vocals, his voice smoother and higher than Barrett’s, perfect for Three Doors Down’s song ‘Kryptonite’. At the chorus Junie was jumping. She called Lenny ‘Superman’ all the time and he was killing it up there! My eyes slid to Barrett focused on his strings, his curtain of hair framing his gorgeous face.
Junie and I started belting out the lyrics and I heard Lenny laugh into the mic at the end of the chorus as Junie lost her mind on the floor. Right away they launched into ‘Rockstar’, followed by ‘For You’ by Staind, then back to Nickelback, before getting into my raunchy favorites by Saving Abel and Theory of a Deadman. It was during Barrett’s song for me, Theory of a Deadman’s ‘All or Nothing’, that Sarah made her move.
Standing next to him, syncing her movements to his, she played her heart out. During the chorus she turned her back to the crowd, showcasing her spectacular body as she played to him and for him.
I heard Mara gasp and watched as the blood drained from her face to be quickly replaced by two dark red splotches.
