Page 8 of Falling for the Guy Next Door

I laughed. “What kind of plan? You’re not thinking of jumping on stage and throwing yourself at him?”

Emily rolled her eyes. “I’m not a lunatic. I’ll just catch his attention as often as I can and send him brainwaves that tell him I’m crazy about him and that we belong together.”

“Yes, clearly you’re not a lunatic.”

Emily shot a cursory glance around the tightly packed room. “Speaking of lunatic—where is Dustin?”

“I saw his car leave the parking lot. Thank goodness. I tried to sneak outside, but he spotted me and followed.” Then the last few minutes came back to me. I’d been so distraught about running into Dustin that I nearly forgot the handsome stranger in the parking lot. I laughed.

Emily looked over. “What’s so funny?”

“It’s nothing really. When I spotted Dustin coming out of the bar, I improvised. This guy was standing at the corner of the building, so I pulled him around to hide me.”

Emily raised a brow. “And what if that guy you used as a human shield was even crazier than Dustin?”

I shrugged. “I hadn’t thought of that. I was so freaked out about seeing Dustin, most of my sense and reason, something Aria says I lack naturally, flew out of my head. All I knew was that I didn’t want Dustin to see me. Besides, the guy had a nice smile. He was good-looking, actually, in that rugged, intense sort of way.” I got up on tiptoes and looked around the room for the short black hair. He was at least six feet tall and would be easy to spot, but I couldn’t find him.

“Do you see him?” Emily asked.

I shook my head. “Maybe he decided it was too crowded to bother. I’ve never seen this place so packed. It’s positively vibrating with enthusiasm.”

“I told you; Moonstone has a big following.”

“Well, I’m going to order a glass of wine. Do you want one?”

“Sure. I can’t leave the spot. There are all sorts of vultures waiting to move in.”

I glanced around, and she wasn’t wrong. We were getting dirty looks and conspiratorial whispers were taking place between friends. It seemed they were all waiting for Emily to break her determination and step away from her spot at the stage.

“Maybe you shouldn’t drink anything,” I said. “I don’t think you’ll be able to use the restroom tonight.”

“I don’t plan on leaving this spot at all, so I’ll sip slowly. Go fast. I plan on widening my stance, so I can take up enough room on the floor to hold your spot. Don’t be long though. Not sure how long I’ll be able to hold people off.”

“Right.” I saluted her. “Permission to leave my post.”

Emily waved her hand at me. “Stop making fun. This is serious stuff. I’m not messing around here.”

“Right. Serious stuff. Off I go and wish me luck.” I elbowed my way up to the bar. Betty Comstock’s older brother, Tommy, was behind the bar filling glasses with foamy beer. “What can I get you, Miss Lovely?”

“Hey, Tommy, I see she has you working tonight. Never seen it so crowded.”

Tommy shook his head. “Just hope we don’t run out of beer.”

“Well then, to help with that, I’ll take two glasses of white wine.”

“Coming right up.” I turned to look at the barroom as I waited for the drinks. I held my breath as I surveyed the room. No sign of Dustin. I relaxed. It seemed seeing me had made the prospect of a night out so unpleasant, he took off. It would certainly make my evening more pleasant knowing he wasn’t standing somewhere in the room watching me. I convinced myself that him leaving instead of pursuing a conversation with me was a good sign that this was really over and done.

“Here you go, two white wines.”

I paid for the drinks and then with some strategic planning and movements, I got back to Emily without spilling more than a few drops. Getting to her exact location took some fortitude. It seemed that a few of the earlier vultures had moved into my section of floor.

Emily looked sharply at the woman standing next to her. “Excuse me but you’re standing in my friend’s spot.” She motioned toward me.

The woman turned around, snorted in disgust and inched out of the way. She moved behind us, and I was sure she wasn’t smiling politely at our backs.

“Well, now I’m extra curious about this band and their lead singer. The crush of people in here is almost too much.”

“Yep, we don’t get bands like this coming through here often. I knew it was going to be a packed house.”

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