She had just hugged a young girl goodbye when Katie came up to her with a frown. “Jimmy needs to talk to you.”
That prickling feeling came back as her bodyguard approached. “The man from San Francisco is back, isn’t he?”
“Yes. The cops are on their way to come pick him up.”
The cops? She almost laughed out loud at how absurd the whole thing had become. “He isn’t a stalker,” she said to Jimmy.
Her bodyguard looked seriously confused. “He isn’t?”
“No, he isn’t.” She took a deep breath. “Where is he? Can you bring him here?”
Jimmy frowned. “If he’s some guy who’s been forcing you to—”
She put her hand on his arm. “Please, I need to see him.”
Not looking at all happy about it, Jimmy nodded. “I’ll go get him.”
Thirty seconds later, when Marcus walked in, closely followed by Jimmy, Nicola had the crazy thought that she’d been fantasizing about him so much, she’d conjured him out of thin air.
She needed to try and think straight, needed to give herself time to take a few deep breaths and forcefully slow her heartbeat down. She tried to prepare herself for the urge to leap into his arms, but nothing could have prepared her for the look in his eyes.
Pure love.
And something else that looked like…patience.
She knew he still wanted her—that much was blatantly clear, judging by the sparks that were flying around in the two feet of open air between them—but at the same time she felt as if he was silently saying, I will wait for you to come around. However long it takes.
Instead of playing it cool, her hands moved over her heart and she completely forgot that Katie and Jimmy stood close by to make sure she was okay as she all but gasped out the words, “What are you doing here, Marcus?”
He didn’t answer for several long moments as his eyes roved over her face. She was glad for the chance to do the same thing, to drink in the lines the sun had made around his eyes and mouth, to note that while he was still the most beautiful man she’d ever set eyes on, he looked as if he’d lost some weight since she’d last seen him.
Finally, he said, “There’s a label designer in town that I’ve been thinking about using. This was a good chance for me to meet with them."
None of this felt real and she half-wondered if she was so tired she was dreaming it.
“It was a great show, Nicola. Really incredible. I can’t wait for the next one.”
The next one?
And then, before she could get her brain or limbs to start working again, he was gone. All three of them watched him turn and leave.
A beat later, Katie turned to her and said, “You look really pale. Here, sit down.”
Nicola was no fading flower and had never fainted in her life.
But tonight, she knew she’d better take the seat Katie was pushing against the backs of her knees. Either that or she was going to go running out of the venue, calling Marcus’s name like a desperate woman.
She knew by heart the reasons a relationship with him would never work. Good reasons. So instead of running after him on shaky limbs, she forced herself to take a deep breath—and then another dozen when that didn’t work—and tick through those reasons again.
Lord knew, if he was coming back to do this another night, she’d need every one of her walls up and in place to stay strong.
Still, she couldn’t get it all to add up. Her lover had flown all the way up to Idaho to see her show and he hadn’t just grabbed her in front of everyone and kissed her like he had at his mother’s house?
Why hadn’t he kissed her?
* * *
Salt Lake City, UT
Nicola walked offstage after her concert in Salt Lake City the next night and knew she’d killed it. She’d taken each song and yanked every ounce of passion and guts and fun and joy from it. And it had all been for Marcus. She’d sung every love song for him, had moved her body across the stage for his eyes only.
Just like the previous night, as she greeted her fans she could feel him backstage even without seeing where he was. It took every ounce of concentration to give her all to her fans who had donated so generously to literacy when she knew she’d soon be talking to Marcus again, but she refused to give anything less than her best to everyone in the room.
And then, there he was again and Jimmy and Katie were looking between the two of them.
“Should I call Security, Nico?"
“No, Jimmy. I’m fine.”
Better than fine, with Marcus standing in front of her again.
Katie asked, “Should we leave you alone for a few minutes?”
Oh God, no. Alone was a bad idea.
Scratch that. It was a terrible idea.
Of course, all Nicola could do was nod. And say, “Please.”
Marcus didn’t wait for her to ask about how he’d spent his day in Salt Lake City. He simply said, “There’s a great bottling factory near here. I think I’m going to use them for our next champagne release.”
She’d given all of this some thought the night before—all day today, too—and made herself say, “You can’t keep doing this.”
He reached out to brush his hand across her forehead, where her hair was falling over one eye. “I’m having a good time doing this.”
Her body instantly recognized her sweetly dominant lover as his hand lingered on her skin in a possessive way that had it heating up, top to bottom and everywhere in between. She couldn’t resist turning her face into his palm for a split second, but then, knowing there were any number of eyes on her—and that each of them was wondering just what in hell was going on between her and the good-looking stranger in the expensive suit—she made herself draw back when all she really wanted to do was curl up against him as she once had.