Page 91 of For Eva

I quickly averted my eyes, pretending to look at my phone while a flurry of thoughts blew through my mind.

Maybe it isn’t her.

Why would she be in Nashville?

They say everyone has a doppelgänger…right?

I peered up from my BlackBerry, and she pulled her own phone from her purse, checked it quickly, then snapped it shut. She ran her hand through her hair and glanced over at the bar before turning her attention to the menu. If she’d seen me, shedidn’t recognize me. Why the hell would she? The way I’d treated her, she’d probably completely erased me from her memory.

“You doing okay over here?”

The sound of Rain’s voice startled me, and I dropped my phone on the bar top.

“Huh? Sorry. Work email.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Seems serious. You might need something stronger than a beer.”

“Yeah, probably,” I muttered, taking a long swallow of my drink. I set the nearly empty pint glass back on the napkin with a long sigh.

She smiled and turned to the shelves behind her, grabbing a bottle of bourbon and pouring two fingers into a rocks glass, which she slid over to me. “On the house.”

I tipped my glass toward her before taking a sip. “Thanks.”

She nodded and headed to the other end of the bar.

My hand shook as I set the glass back down, and my pulse pounded below my jaw as I snuck another glance across the room. Her hair was a little darker, a more natural shade of blond, and the hard angles of her body had softened. She wore faded jeans and a plain white T-shirt under a long black cardigan with the sleeves pushed up. A large silver and turquoise medallion hung below her chest, and several bangles dangled from her wrist.

She looked beautiful.

And I was a fucking idiot.

I’d tried to rationalize walking off that stage a hundred times, but it always came back to the fact that if I was honest with myself, I couldn’t. Yes, I’d become fed up with Eric’s shit, but that was no excuse. I just didn’t want to deal with it, simple as that.

What I’d done hit me in the car on the way back to the hotel that night in Denver. Not just leaving Eric while he was neardeath, which was bad enough in itself. I’d left Eva there with him. The girl I’d sworn was the love of my life, the girl I should’ve gone to any length to protect, who trusted and believed in me more than anyone.

After that, I almost decided to quit the music business altogether but fell into an A&R job and somehow worked my way up to head of the department. I’d seen Will and Keith in passing a few times over the years, but we’d never spoken, only exchanged awkward looks of recognition. I heard Matt had moved back to San Francisco. And Eric…Everyone knew about Eric Stratton. Somehow our paths hadn’t managed to cross—I tried to make sure of that—but I never knew when they might. And that honestly scared the fuck out of me.

Now, here I was in the same damn restaurant as Eva. I sucked in a deep breath as I considered my options. Sit at the bar like the idiot I was and stare at her until maybe she noticed me? Pretend like I was walking to the bathroom and I just happened to see her?

Fuck it.

I swallowed the last of my bourbon and was about to stand when a man with dark hair entered the restaurant and walked toward the table. He was followed by two boys, one with the same brown hair, one blond, who were exchanging shoves. My stomach dropped as I watched the man place his hand on Eva’s shoulder while the boys flopped into the chairs across from her.

I slowly sank back into my seat and scrubbed my hands along my face.

Of course, I thought to myself.Of fucking course.

“You all right?”

I slid my hands down to see Rain standing in front of me.

“Yeah,” I lied. “Just tired, I guess.”

She smiled and turned to grab the bottle of bourbon behind her.

“Hey, can I ask you a question?”

She rested a hand on her hip as she refilled my glass. “Go for it.”

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