“Wow,” she breathed, her heart stumbling in her chest.
“She looks great,” Colton agreed. He lifted his hand up high in the air, waving at Juliet from across the room. “Hey! Juliet!”
If Colton – at six foot four, broad shouldered – waving his arm in the air as he shouted her name wasn’t enough to grab her attention, Juliet would have had to be wearing a blindfold and earplugs.
Shedidglance over, first looking at Colton, before flitting her gaze to Darcy.
Then back to Colton.
She didn’t return his wave, merely offering the slightest nod of acknowledgement before she turned to talk to Robbie, with whom – Darcy realized only after staring at Juliet for several long moments – she’d walked in arm-in-arm.
She’d known they were going to be attending together, via Juliet’s texts, but it was differentseeingthem.
Colton dropped his arm heavily down to his side. “Huh. I really thought we bonded when we danced together.” He tilted his head, frowning. “So, her and Robbie–”
Darcy snapped her attention away from Juliet, cutting him off with a sharp glare. “Colton.”
Blythe hit his elbow.
His eyes widened, before he gave Darcy an apologetic wince. “Sorry,” he whispered.
“It’s fine,” she assured, after glancing around to make sure no one heard anything.
For the first time since they’d arrived, no one was focused on them. The label’s execs and several producers had all dropped inand chatted them up, and she was sure more of that was on the way.
But right now…
She couldn’t stop herself from turning back toward Juliet, raking her eyes down the back of her dress, which revealed her toned shoulders and upper back. She was still in that same spot, next to Robbie, over by the bar.
“I’m just going to grab another drink,” she stated, before tossing back the remainder of the old fashioned she’d been nursing for a while. Look at that – empty glass.
“Sureyou are,” Blythe hummed, knowingly.
Emerson snorted.
“Just because I might happen to speak to other people near the bar doesn’t make what I said not true,” she shot back, over her shoulder.
But she couldn’t give a damn. Honestly, Blythe’s teasing felt kind of freeing. Having everything out in the open between them felt much better than she’d imagined it would. It had been easy to push it away, to tell herself that since she wasn’t coming out in a big way, it didn’t matter what Blythe knew.
Now, though, she knew otherwise. Now, she knew howgoodit felt.
She approached Juliet – ahem, the bar – shaking out her hands, then tapping her fingers lightly against her thighs. She really did feel wholly incapable of holding still tonight; it was simply toomuch.
Jukebox Calamitywould be available to the masses in only a couple of hours, and all of the critics and journalists that had gotten access would be dropping their reviews. Darcy felt like everything this past year – everything, maybe, in her life – had been building to this moment.
Maybe it was silly, given the acclaim they’d already reached, but doing it this way, picked up by a huge label and able to replicate that success and reallyprove themselveswas different.
And on a smaller scale, but one she couldn’t deny to herself, she’d been missing Juliet since the day before Christmas Eve. Since she’d driven Juliet back to Nashville early in the morning to prepare for her final show, and then she’d stayed to see it.
She’d seen Juliet’s performances in videos many, many times over the years. She’d seen her sing live last year at an award show. And she’d literally performed “Porchlight” with her at the Country and Folk Awards. All of which had lived up to all of the hype.
But… watching Juliet perform the final show for theWhiskey and White Lacetour had been special. The way she commanded the stage, the way she worked the audience. The way shesounded.
Darcy had been entirely enamored with it. Even with Juliet’s cutesy, Country Sweetheart smiles and comments – the ones that Darcy now disliked because she much preferredrealJuliet – she’d been so taken.
They’d spoken several times over the last few weeks; checking in, finalizing the plan for Darcy to go to Juliet’s place the week after next to work on their soundtrack song.
More than anything, though, they’d solidified their plans for tonight.