Page 63 of Courageous Yearnings

“You are smokin’ hot, wife.”

“You are not helping things.”

“I’m kidding, Boop,” he laughed, hugging her. “And I promise to be on my best behavior tonight.”

An hour later, the large group was finally seated at the table, and Lance made a beeline to sit in front of Duane, turning to wag his eyebrows at her playfully so no one saw it. Her husband was a complete mess – and she loved it. He held out her chair, ordered two bourbons, and kept this knowing smile plastered on his face as people chatted around them.

It was a peaceful evening.

Almost perfect.

When she felt Lance freeze, put down his napkin, and shoot to his feet, every irrational thought ran through her mind in that moment. There was such surprise written on his face along with a reckless, driven look that she’d only seen a few other times.

Was she about to come face-to-face with an ex-girlfriend?

Was the kitchen on fire?

Was he choking?

“Uh, Killer… what’s with your man?” Jack asked bluntly from the end of the table as Lance nearly knocked over his chair and started weaving his way through the dining room like a crazed man.

“I have no idea,” she began – and was getting to her feet when she saw her husband stop, talking to a man in the distance, and suddenly knew what he was up to. Boneless, she plopped back down and stared as the scene before her unfolded.

She loved this steakhouse. It was warm and inviting, with an expensive atmosphere that bordered on pretentiousness. Velvet curtains, leather seats, dim sconces along the walls with brick facia peeking through the plasterwork, almost giving the look of a speakeasy from the Twenties, but there was also live music.

And her husband was on the stage with zero hesitation.

“Is he for real?”

“Your husband better not get us kicked outta here, Blythe…”

“It doesn’t come out of our gross then…”

“What is that man doing?”

“Is he drunk?”

“I saw him order the two bourbons…”

“Jack, why do you let people drink at these things?”

Blythe heard the comments – and ignored them. She only had eyes for the breathtakingly beautiful man who was looking directly at her. His eyes were glowing with warmth; he looked so blissfully happy, and she knew that this was a moment she would never forget.

“Oh shoot…” she began, grabbing her phone and hitting ‘Record’ immediately – only to see Lance’s smile widen as he nodded in approval.

“This is for my beautiful wife…”

Lance didn’t hesitate as he looked at the other musician holding a bass guitar. The man was strumming rhythmically, and Lance was nodding, getting the ‘feel’ of the song. At that moment, she knew exactly what her husband was about to do.

Blythe had once quoted one of her favorite songs to him – and they had discovered they both shared a love for the same kind of music. For the longest time, she had no idea how much he loved getting carried away by the sound of it because he didn’t look the part of a ‘rockstar.’ No, her husband was clean-cut and looked like he could be modeling for a magazine – not slamming his head, playing his heart out, or singing at the top of his lungs to rock music.

She saw him take a deep breath – and held hers, ignoring the comments around her once more as her entire focus zeroed in on her soulmate.

And he winked.

The tidal wave took over, and she watched, mesmerized, as a different being seemed to snap into his gorgeous frame. He began playing the electric guitar, strumming it violently as his foot tapped. All you could see for a brief moment was the top of his head as he hung it, focusing on what he was doing… and then he stepped forward, looking at her, singing.

She stared, completely starstruck.

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