Rockstar Romeo - Abbie Zanders Page 0,75

T-shirt—the one I’d secretly swiped from Jace’s hamper—and curled up in bed with a book.

The room grew darker as night settled. I didn’t bother turning on a light, content to wrap myself in the shadows. Through the open window, I could hear the festival still going strong. The sounds of happy voices and live music drifted in, and I closed my eyes, enjoying it from afar ... until the strains of “Fallen Angel” reached my ears.

Why did they have to pick that song?

I felt the tears welling up again. Whoever was covering Dark Wing was good. I could almost imagine that it was Jace’s voice filling the air, so pure and powerful that it felt like a blade slicing through my chest. I inhaled deeply and tried to breathe through it, surrendering myself to the pain as it wrapped around my soul.

More voices joined the lead, singing in a haunting harmony that wasn’t part of the original track. These guys weren’t just good; they were really good. Not only had they learned to mimic Jace’s voice, but they’d also somehow managed Kurt’s, Dave’s, and Chaz’s as well.

The song grew louder as if it was getting closer. Maybe, at some point, they’d added a parade to the festivities?

I held my breath, waiting for the music to fade away, but it didn’t. In fact, it sounded as if the parade had stopped right in front of my parents’ house.

My entire body started tingling. Certain that I’d gone completely over the edge, I rose and looked out the window, having to blink repeatedly at what I thought I saw but knew was impossible.

There, in the street and on the sidewalk, were hundreds of lit cell phones raised in tribute. At the base of one of the old apple trees stood Kurt, Dave, and Chaz, faces raised. And on the branch nearly level with my window was Jace.

I gasped. He smiled and kept right on singing.

When the song ended, there was a moment of heavy silence.

Then, Jace stepped gracefully from the branch to the porch roof, got down on one knee, and held out his hand. In a clear voice, he said, “Evangelica D’Agolino, will you make me the happiest man on earth and become my wife?”

My hands flew up to my mouth, and those tears that had been building spilled over. I had to be dreaming. Right? Maybe I’d inhaled too many industrial-strength cleaning fumes earlier, and this was the result.

Except it seemed so real.

I looked down at the sea of expectant faces. My mother and father were there, arms around each other, smiling. So were Kurt and Dave and Chaz, who gave me enthusiastic thumbs-up. And, oh my God, Brian and Tommy were there too!

With a shaking hand, I reached out. When Jace’s warm, strong hand closed around mine, I no longer cared if it was real or not. Sparks shot through my fingers and radiated up and out, filling me with a sense of rightness and blocking out everything else. There was only this man. This man who had come for me. Who was currently on bended knee on a porch roof outside my childhood bedroom window while my family and an entire town held their breath, waiting to hear my response.

There was only one possible answer. Jace Logan owned me, heart and soul, and I didn’t want to go another minute without him. We’d make it work, no matter what. Even if I had to quit my job and follow him around the world, I’d do it, and I’d never let him forget that I was his biggest fan.

“Yes.”

The crowd below went wild. Jace’s face broke out into a wide grin. He leaned forward and kissed me, even as I felt the cool slide of the ring on my finger.

“Nice shirt,” he whispered.

“It is,” I agreed, equally quiet. “But I’d rather be wearing you.”

He groaned. “Angel, don’t tempt me. I’m a man on the edge. Literally.”

I laughed, aware that he was balanced on the sloped porch roof. “Get in here, my rock star Romeo.”

He somehow managed to squeeze his broad shoulders through the window. The moment his feet were on the floor, mine left it as he lifted me up and pulled me against him in a fierce embrace.

“I missed you,” he whispered.

“I missed you too.”

“Don’t ever leave me again, Eva. I won’t survive it.”

My heart squeezed. “Don’t ever give me a reason to.”

“Never.”

He sealed that promise with a kiss that curled my toes ... and made me wet between