Page 54 of Rush

Pinching her chin between his thumb and forefinger, he gently nudged her head up. “I do know because you have the voice of an angel. You’re going to blow every act that performs on that stage today out of the water.”

His earnest amber eyes coated her in a wave of tranquility, going a long way to settle the nerves in her stomach.

At least to the point she didn’t feel like throwing up any more.

“Promise?”

His thumb brushed along her jaw. “Baby, I would not lie to you.”

Body deflating, she plastered herself to his front, squeezing him with her arms. “How are you so calm?” she mumbled against his chest.

“I didn’t used to be.” She raised her head at his admission. “It’s embarrassing to confess this but my rookie year, I threw up before every game. That’s how nervous I got, worried I was gonna miss a pass that would cost the team yardage or worse a touchdown.”

“But it got better after your rookie year?”

“Yeah.”

“How?” She would really love to fast-track that knowledge right now.

“When I realized it’s impossible to be perfect. I was gonna miss passes even if the throw was dead on target. And I learned that was okay. The team wouldn’t be mad at me and the fans wouldn’t hate me and do you know why?”

She shook her head.

“Because for every perfect pass I missed, I did the impossible. Catching an overthrown ball with my fingertips or throwing myself to the side to catch a wayward ball and still land on my feet. Or, the best, plucking that Hail Mary out of thin air in the endzone.” He tenderly swiped her cheek with his thumb. “So, tell me why you’re so nervous and I’ll try to fix it.”

She thought about what’s been worrying her most. “What if I forget the words to the song?”

“We’ll bring the karaoke machine and you can read them from the teleprompter.”

Okay, that helped her nerves a little but… “What if I fall while walking to the microphone or hit a bad note or, hell, sneeze in the middle of the song!”

“I’ll pick you up, sing over you so the audience doesn’t hear, or I’ll say bless you and hand you a fucking tissue.”

An unexpected laugh burst from her, so powerful it brought tears to her eyes and washed away the last of her anxiety.

When she had herself back under control, she wiped the moisture from her cheeks and said, “I feel better, thanks.”

“You got this.” Then he cracked a grin. “In fact, you got the eye of the tiger, you’re a fighter, and I want to hear you roar.”

Thatjust made her laugh all the harder.

***

The venue Colt acquired for the talent show was massive. And that was intimidating because the place was packed. Even with thirty minutes still left before the show was to start, most of the seats were already filled. Groups of people were standing in the aisles and even more were milling outside the open front doors. Nora pulled her head back in from the curtain and made her way to the wing of the stage where Emerson sat with Sophie. Linc was off signing autographs somewhere, most likely out front.

“No offense, but you’re not looking so hot. Your skin is a pale shade of chartreuse,” Emerson said when Nora sat in the metal folding chair beside her.

“My stomachisa bit queasy. Have you seen how many people are out there?” All of Linc’s encouraging words of that morning had vanished somewhere in the sea of spectators.

“Let’s get you something to drink. Maybe take a walk outside so you can get a bit of fresh air.” The look of concern on her sister-in-law’s face was so evident it had Nora worrying her face really was chartreuse and that Emerson’s comment hadn’t just been a metaphor.

They used a back door to stay clear of the crowd, stopping to grab a couple of bottled waters from a cooler on the way out.

“How did you get out of performing, anyway?” Nora cracked her water open and took a long drink before twisting the cap back on.

“Oh, it was easy. I told Oz I’d ban him from the pub for a month if he even thought about making me participate.”

Nora chuckled. “What’s his act?”

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