The Prince's Devious Proposal - Holly Rayner Page 0,7

she had even looked at one of these. She had several at home, of course, but they were all packed away in a box. It wasn’t as if she saw them every day.

She picked up the pen and scrawled—

To a Starlight Boy—Dream Big!

Naomi West

He took the album from her and read what she had written. “Dream big,” he said, smiling. “That’s appropriate. I was dreaming pretty big when I dared to ask you to have a drink with me.”

Naomi laughed. “I’m really not that big a deal,” she said. “I’m flattered that you liked the song, Petr, really, but I’m not a famous artist or anything. Most people have forgotten all about me by now.”

“Maybe so,” Petr said and leaned toward her slightly. “But that’s not how greatness is really measured, is it?”

“What do you mean?” Naomi asked.

“No musician’s career lasts forever,” he said. “The most famous bands in all of history have disbanded by now.” He listed a few names, and Naomi nodded in understanding, distracted a little by his accent that caressed her ears.

“The point isn’t how long your career lasted,” he went on. “The point isn’t that it’s over now. The point is what impact you had while you were writing and performing.”

“I doubt I made that much of an impact either,” Naomi said. “I only ever toured as an opener for a more popular band. That album you’re holding was the only one I ever released, and it only ever charted one single.”

“That single meant the world to me,” Petr said. “I felt as if the woman who had written that song had seen into my very soul, and had pulled out something that nobody else had ever been able to see about me. It was incredibly moving. ‘Starlight Boy’ has gotten me through some of the most difficult times in my life. When things were particularly tough, I would put on that song and feel a little less alone because someone out there had felt the way I was feeling.”

“Really?” Naomi asked, feeling a blush rising to her cheeks. “The song really did that for you?”

“And not just that song,” Petr said. “I liked the whole album. I bought it for the single, of course, but there are so many great tracks. Like ‘Perihelion.’ That’s my favorite song on the album. Maybe even my favorite song of all time.”

“You’re kidding,” Naomi said. The song “Perihelion” had always held a very special place in her heart. But it was a very short song, too short for radio airplay, so it had never become well known.

“The melody is gorgeous,” Petr said and looked deep into her eyes. “There’s nothing quite like it.”

Naomi was touched. “Thank you,” she said. “I’m used to people wanting to talk about ‘Starlight Boy’—at least, I was used to it back in the old days when I used to greet fans all the time—but nobody ever wants to talk about the other songs on the album.”

“A grievous mistake on their part, in my opinion,” Petr said.

“I never even played ‘Perihelion’ live,” Naomi said.

“I noticed that,” he said, smiling.

“You came to my concerts?”

“No, I didn’t live in the States back when you were touring,” he said. “I was still in Europe at the time. But I’ve watched recordings of them online. I had hoped that perhaps I was just missing one, that there was a show where you played ‘Perihelion’ and I just hadn’t found it.”

“I did try it once,” Naomi said. “But it’s such a quiet song, it’s just not a good fit for a big concert venue. The Desert Flowers—that’s the band I toured with back in the day—asked me not to play it again. They said it was a buzzkill.”

“That’s tragic,” Petr said, shaking his head. “I can’t believe they would stifle you that way!”

“Their intentions were good,” Naomi said. “We were all friends. They wanted to see me do well. They just didn’t think I could hold an audience’s attention with a song like that.”

“Well, it always held my attention,” Petr said, giving her a wink.

The bartender came over at that moment with an uncorked bottle of champagne and two flutes. “As you requested, sir,” he said to Petr. “The finest champagne in the house.”

Naomi was floored. “You didn’t have to do that!”

“Of course I did,” Petr said. “I’m fulfilling a dream today. I want to mark the occasion with something special.”

The bartender carefully poured out two glasses of the champagne and left the bottle at the table with them.

Petr