Page 52 of Dear Rockstar (Dear Rockstar 1)

“Hm.” He made a little noise in his throat, turning my hand over in his, tracing the lines in my palm with his fingertip like he was following a road map. “How do I make you feel?”

“Like I would follow you anywhere,” I whispered.

He lifted my hand and pressed his lips to my palm, closing his eyes briefly, and I noticed how long and dark his lashes were before he looked at me with that intense, blue gaze, telling me more with one look than either of us could ever say in words.

“When I saw you in the audience today, I don’t even know how to tell you what it did to me.” He shook his head, twining his fingers with mine.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were performing?”

“Because I didn’t want that to happen.” He gave a short laugh. “I didn’t want to be distracted. I wasn’t supposed to let myself get distracted…”

“That’s it!” I snapped my fingers. Now all the dirty looks made sense. “Your band thinks I’m your Yoko Ono, don’t they?”

“You kind of are.” He met my eyes, the emotion in them so strong I felt it before he even said the words. “Sara, I don’t think you understand what you do to me.”

“What do you mean?” Now it was my turn to ask him.

“I couldn’t think,” he confessed. “Thank God the song was over, because the minute I saw you… I was done for.”

“Oh please.” I smiled, teasing him. “All those screaming girls. I’m surprised they weren’t throwing panties at you.”

“Sometimes they do.” He grinned. “But that never mattered to me.”

I blinked in surprise. “What does matter to you?”

“Now? You.” He squeezed my hand in his, that was all, but the sensation shot up my arm with a jolt that nearly knocked me off my chair.

“Dale, do you realize how crazy that sounds?” I whispered, glancing around like someone might overhear us. “We’ve only known each other for a week.”

“Sometimes the best things in life are crazy.”

I laughed. “I can’t argue with that.”

It was crazy.

It was all crazy.

Me and Tyler Vincent.

Me and Dale Diamond.

But somehow the latter had fully eclipsed the former in my mind—and my heart—at least in the moment. There wasn’t even a ring left around that sun.

CHAPTER TEN

I didn’t see Aimee and Matt while we were standing in line buying tickets and popcorn, but I spotted them once we were in the theater. Dale wanted to sit near the back and he picked our seats, letting me in first and sitting on the aisle himself, but Aimee and Matt were up near the front—where she and I usually sat, so we could see Tyler Vincent up close and personal. For some reason, with Dale next to me, I didn’t regret not being any closer.

Aimee saw me and waved. So did Matt. But when he turned back to the front, she mouthed, “Call me!” with her thumb and finger up to her ear like a telephone. I had a feeling she didn’t want to talk about the movie we were about to see, and strangely enough, neither did I. Dale smiled, tipping her a wave and she waved back, turning around and talking to Matt again.

“Popcorn?” He tilted the tub toward me and I took some, although I was still full from Panda Express. “I can’t see a movie without popcorn. It’s like listening to a Walkman with only one headphone.”

“I always have to finish it before the movie. Too much noise and distraction otherwise.”

“No problem there.” Dale tossed a piece of popcorn up and caught it in his teeth.

“Show off.”

“So tell me something…” Dale tried his popcorn trick again and missed this time. “How long have you been a Tyler Vincent fan?”

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