her but leave her alone. At worst, she’d have another scene like the one she’d had at the coffee shop with Shelby on her hands.
The tiny stage in the middle of the room was empty except for a microphone stand, a stool, and a vintage Gibson acoustic guitar that stood upright in a stand. She’d been in Cory’s living room the last time she’d seen that guitar, snuggling with him on his sofa.
She looked around for a place where she could hide out. The prospects in such an open room weren’t promising. The small tables close to the soundboard at the back of the room were already occupied, as was the space in a darkened corner of the room. That left the bar near the entrance, where she could try to blend in with the people who leaned against it.
She approached the bar and stood at the counter, waiting for the bartender to become free. He finished with the customer he was serving and nodded at her. “What can I get for you?” he asked.
“Just water, please.” He filled a glass with ice and water and set it in front of her.
She picked up the glass, then looked for an empty barstool to sit on. She couldn’t see one, so she settled for leaning back against the counter until a few people came to buy drinks.
“Excuse me,” a young girl said, then did a double take. Her eyes narrowed. “Hey wait, aren’t you—”
“Leaving,” Emily finished. She quickly got out of the girl’s way. The last thing she needed was an altercation with a devoted Cory Sampson fan. Unfortunately, the only free spot she could see in the room that was far enough away from the bar to escape the girl and her friends would place her almost directly in front of the stage. She weighed her options, knowing that close to the stage was the better choice. She was careful to avoid making eye contact with anyone else in the room as she made her way there.
The loud chatter in the bar suddenly stopped and was replaced by applause. She looked up to see Cory walk onto the stage. A smile spread across his face while he waved at the crowd and lifted his guitar out of its stand.
“Hi everyone,” he said, sitting down on a stool in front of the microphone. “Thanks for making it out tonight. One of my good friends runs this place, and we thought it would be fun if I came and did an acoustic show—just something relaxed and fun. It will be a bit of a change from some of the hard-rocking stadium shows.”
His words were met with more applause, along with a few cheers. He grinned at the crowd. “Maybe we’ll even have a singalong tonight, who knows? Anyone up for that?”
He looked out into the audience. It only took a few seconds before his eyes landed on Emily. He smiled when he saw her and began strumming a chord on his guitar. “This song is for a very special girl who’s in the audience tonight. She calls it ‘the one with the tongue-twister chorus.’ I call it ‘Vibrational.’ Sing along if you know it.”
A few of the people around Emily hollered in appreciation, while others turned to stare at her. She tried to ignore the eyes that seemed to be on her from every direction and looked straight ahead at the stage.
Cory locked eyes with her as he began to sing the first verse to the song he’d introduced. She was sure he’d left very little doubt in anyone’s mind as to whom the “very special girl” he’d dedicated the song to was.
When he got to the chorus, he finally turned his eyes away from her and looked around at the rest of the people in the room. He asked them to sing the chorus to him, and the voices around Emily shouted the words they clearly knew well. Cory nodded his approval, then continued with the next verse.
He came to stand at the edge of the stage for the final verse, his eyes only on Emily as he sang. The heads of everyone standing near her turned to watch him watching her. She fought against a powerful urge to turn away and walk out the door and instead stood still, pretending to enjoy Cory’s attention.
Closing her eyes, she tried to stay calm, knowing she had to play the part while she had the spotlight. She opened her eyes again when Cory