I watched the space where I’d last seen Buzz.
I knew what the hug was for – Linnie and “La Grange”.
I pressed my lips together so I wouldn’t cry.
Duke, Vance and Lee melted into the shadows leaving me with Mace.
I took a swig of my beer. I was too emotional y charged to deal with Mace at that moment.
No, strike that, I was too emotional y charged to deal with Mace at al , ever.
“I need some alone time,” I told him even though I should have been thanking him. Yet again, he was taking care of me and my band.
To avoid looking at Mace, I was looking at the crowd.
Duke, Lee and, I noticed, now Hank and Wil ie, were holding back some people who wanted to get to me. They were creating a little pocket of solitude in the crowded club.
I could have kissed them.
“You had a year of alone time. That time’s up,” Mace replied and my eyes shifted to his then they narrowed.
Erm, pardonnez moi?
“Excuse me?” I asked.
He got close.
I retreated.
My back slammed against the wal . His hand came up to rest on the wal by the side of my head and his body curled around, fencing me in.
“Mace, please…” I asked softly, hoping he’d give in as he often did when I went soft.
“You’re magic up there,” Mace clearly wasn’t in the mood to give in and I knew then that he wasn’t newly arrived either. He’d likely been there al night, in the shadows, watching.
This made me shiver.
In the dim light of the club, I saw he’d gone soft too and his soft was a heckuva lot more powerful than mine.
Oh dear.
“Stop it,” I said.
“You think you’re good but you’re not good, you’re f**kin’
magnetic.”
“Stop.”
“You could light up arenas.”
I closed my eyes tight.
“Stop,” I whispered.
I felt him get even closer, the heat from his body hitting mine.
It felt good. It felt safe. It felt right.