croinut after we’re done here?”
Everyone cheers, and I see Norah making her way through the parted crowd, her face still the picture of confusion.
“We had a request for some of our power ballads, so I hope you all enjoy a little song we call, ‘I Want To Know What Love Is’.”
By the time the band hits the chorus, Norah is front and center, gaping at the band with tears in her eyes while everyone swarms around her to cheer the band on. I move to the edge of the stage and can’t help but fixate on Norah as the passion she has for this music falls freely down her cheeks. She’s mesmerized. Rachael begins jumping and dancing as the music picks up, and Norah laughs and half-heartedly joins her, still shaking her head in bewilderment.
Then it’s as if she senses me watching because suddenly, she turns and finds me through the small crowd, standing down below the left side of the stage back behind the speakers. She wipes away her tears as she weaves through the crowd, passing by Kate and Lynsey. By the time she reaches me, my heart is in my chest.
She points beside her as colorful stage lights illuminate her silhouette. “That’s Foreigner.”
“I know,” I reply with a laugh.
She blinks back and shakes her head. “They want a croinut.”
“I know.” My belly shakes with laughter. God, she’s beautiful.
She runs a hand through her hair and glances back to them as they shift over to “Feels Like The First Time” next. “Do you know how this happened?”
I jam my hands into my slacks and step closer to her so she can hear me over the speakers. “They were supposed to have a show with Kansas tonight in Denver, but the lead singer of Kansas got sick so the concert was rescheduled. And Foreigner was just…I don’t know…chilling at a bar somewhere? Max knows a guy who knows them.”
“Max does?” she asks, her jaw dropped.
“Yeah, it’s all kind of serendipitous how it came together, and I had to jump through a million hoops to block the road off and get a live music permit at the last minute. Plus, the band likes Fresca, which is not easy to find, but I found it.” Norah blinks back at me, clearly still too stunned to fully comprehend everything I’m saying so I keep rambling to fill the silence. “And hey, they didn’t have any bandanas, but they have T-shirts, and I bought you a bunch, so I figured maybe you can cut one that’s the size of a bandana so you can wear it at the bakery if—”
“Dean,” she cuts me off, blinking her wide, tear-streaked eyes at me. “I thought you were more of a yacht rock guy.”
“What?”
“Nothing,” she shakes her head quickly, visibly clearing her thoughts as she refocuses on me. “Why did you do all this?”
I swallow my pride and say the words I came here to say, “Because I want you back.”
Norah’s lips part, and she presses her hand to her chest like she might actually be gasping for air. “But you said—”
I cut her off, not wanting to hear her repeat the horrible things I said. She deserves the truth. “I said nothing because I was too scared to tell you I’m terrified I could hurt you the way my dad hurt my mother.”
She bites her lip, her eyes bending with sympathy. “Dean, you’re not your father.”
“I know,” I reply and take a step closer, my hand itching to touch hers but holding back because I still don’t know what she’s thinking. “But I have a dark passenger inside me, you know? That asshole can flare up sometimes and really fuck shit up. I know apologies are fucking bullshit, and the things I said to you can never be erased, but you have to know the truth, Norah, because I’ve been lying to myself for way too long.”
“Lying about what exactly?” she asks, tilting her head like she’s trying to read my mind.
“About my feelings for you. Even before you and I started fake dating…all that stupid flirting I did, the reason I invested in your franchise and came to work in your bakery all the time. Norah, my gut knew you were worth taking a risk on in more ways than just business. I’m so sorry it took my head this long to figure out I’m in love with you.”
She inhales a sharp breath and steps back like she’s going to bolt. “You don’t mean