Page 41 of So That Happened
She’d tied her hair back from her face today, and he watched her slim neck and shoulders glide from side to side as her fingers danced over the keys. The anxiousness in her body was gone, leaving only grace and elegance. It was a beautiful thing to watch.
Glancing back, she gave him a cheeky smile before segueing into a composition by Philip Glass –Metamorphosis One, a fitting choice. It was a haunting melody, heavy with longing. Mesmerised, he stared at her as she moved with the music, seemingly oblivious to anyone or anything else. He envied her that total absorption.
As he listened, the music affected him in strange ways. Memories of them together in the farmhouse ran through his head: her delight at beating him at chess; the way she’d looked in just her underwear after he’d brought her in from the heat; how she’d felt in his arms when she’d finally started to trust him. His body stiffened at the memory and his throat grew tight.
Out of the corner of his eye he noticed a small crowd of people begin to drift in from the terrace outside to listen to her play.
Jealousy hit him like a punch to the gut.
He didn’t want anyone else to be here. It was as if they were invading something private that was taking place between him and Josie. This performance should be just for him.
Unnerved again by the strange possessiveness he felt about her, Connor mentally shook himself and took another swig of his drink. What the hell was happening to him?
His pulse raced in his veins and his body temperature had risen to the point where he was drenched with perspiration. A heavy dread pulled at his head, like a lead weight dragging him down. Was this a panic attack? He hadn’t had one for years, but he recognised the symptoms. His heart beat wildly in his chest and his breath caught painfully in his throat. He needed to get out of there – get some air and put some distance between them before she noticed what was happening to him.
* * *
Josie only became aware of her audience as she neared the end of the piece. She blushed fiercely at the attention, but managed to keep her concentration. Now was not the time to get the notes wrong. Searching around surreptitiously, she noticed Connor sneaking off towards the terrace, with a hard, uncomfortable look on his face.
Mortification hit her stomach with a thump. He obviously wasn’t impressed with her amateur attempt at a difficult piece of modern classical music. She’d pushed things too far, tried to be too clever, and she’d embarrassed herself – and him too, by the looks of it.
Even so, it was pretty rude to walk out before the end.
She clenched her arms hard to her sides, fighting an urge to slam the piano lid shut in her anger. It shouldn’t matter if he didn’t rate her playing, she reminded herself, but she realised with a slow, sinking sensation that she did care. She cared very much.
11
‘Okay, let’s go.’
Connor watched in surprise as Josie swept past him on the terrace, throwing the comment behind her without even a backward glance. Confusion and light-headedness from the attack made his reactions slow and it was a full five seconds before he realised she wasn’t waiting for him.
She was striding towards thePalais des Festivals, her body tense and upright and her head held high.
Pulling himself together, he jogged after her, catching her up at one of the entrances to the beach.
‘Hey! Hey! Slow down. Where the hell are you going?’ He had to walk fast to keep up with her.
Josie didn’t even turn to look at him. ‘For a walk.’ She powered on, trying to outrun him, her neck and shoulders once again rigid and her face set in an angry frown.
‘Josie, for God’s sake, stop!’ He managed to get ahead of her and block her path, forcing her to slow down.
She glared at him. ‘Why did you make me do that?’
‘What? Play?’
‘Yes.’
‘It was good. It was… very accomplished.’
‘Sure – that’s why you left before the end of the piece.’
‘What? No… It wasn’t because… Ah hell.’ He rubbed a hand over his eyes in frustration.
He’d just made everything so much worse. Now he owed her an explanation about why he’d walked out. How was he going to explain when he didn’t even know why he’d reacted like that himself?
She held up her hand as if to bat away any excuse he gave her. ‘Never mind. It doesn’t matter.’
Her cool disdain made him feel even worse.
