I hesitated only a moment before stepping fully into the light beside her, accepting the microphone with a steady hand when I quaked on the inside.
When the next verse began, I let my voice join hers, the rich baritone I’d once been proud of merging with her clear, powerful alto.The sound of our voices blending together sent a shock through me, a perfect harmonic chemistry I hadn’t experienced in years.Eliza’s eyes widened slightly, her lips curving into a genuine smile as she recognized the same thing I did.We sounded good together.Damn good.
The crowd felt it too.A roar of approval rose from the packed floor, bodies pressing closer to the stage as brothers and their women whistled and cheered.Someone cranked the volume higher.
I’d forgotten this feeling, the pure adrenaline rush of performance, the way music could transform a room full of strangers into a unified whole.The sheer power of holding a crowd in the palm on your hand was the greatest fucking feeling in the world.I’d forgotten how it felt to connect with another person through song, to find a rare, perfect blend where two voices became something greater than either alone.
As we powered into the final chorus together, Eliza’s face flushed with exertion and excitement, her eyes never leaving mine.I knew we’d crossed some invisible boundary neither of us had acknowledged existed.Whatever came next, we couldn’t go back to the careful distance we’d maintained before tonight.
The noise of the crowd faded until all I could hear was the music and Eliza’s voice twining with mine.The red lights cast shadows across her face, highlighting the curve of her cheek, the fullness of her lips as they shaped each word with precision.The rest of the room disappeared into a hazy blur, faces merging into an indistinct mass beyond the stage lights.Nothing existed except this song, this moment, this woman whose voice called to something long buried inside me.
The heat from her body reached me across the diminishing space between us, the scent of her shampoo more intoxicating to me than the strongest moonshine.I could see the fine droplets of sweat forming at her hairline, the flutter of her pulse at the base of her throat.Every detail of her burned into my memory with extraordinary clarity, as if part of me knew this moment mattered.
Our hands brushed against each other on the microphone stand, and electricity shot up my arm with such force I nearly missed my entrance to the next verse.Her fingers were cool despite the heat of her performance, slender and strong where they pressed momentarily against my tattooed knuckles.Eliza’s eyes widened slightly at the contact, her voice catching almost imperceptibly before she recovered and pushed into the chorus with renewed intensity.
The harmony we created surpassed anything I’d experienced even in my professional days.Her voice complemented mine perfectly, filling the spaces where mine fell away, creating texture and depth where I provided foundation.
I watched color bloom across Eliza’s cheeks, the flush spreading down her neck to disappear beneath the neckline of her blue shirt.Her eyes never left mine, pupils dilated until only a thin ring of blue remained.I saw my own intensity reflected back at me, the intimate bond cemented by the music.
As we powered through the final chorus, our voices building to a powerful finish, the world beyond the stage ceased to exist entirely.There was only Eliza, her voice, her eyes, and the almost painfully beautiful connection forming between us through a stupid karaoke machine.Whatever walls she normally kept around herself had fallen completely, revealing the passionate, vibrant woman beneath.
The final notes rang out, leaving us both breathing hard, our faces inches apart as we shared the microphone.The song ended but we remained frozen, staring at each other as our chests rose and fell, while the crowd roared their approval.I felt an overwhelming urge to close the remaining distance between us, to discover if her lips tasted as sweet as her voice sounded against mine.
I actually took a step forward.I have no idea what I intended to do but the burning need to kiss her, claim her, make her mine overrode my good sense.Someone in front of us splashed a bit of beer on the stage when he slammed his glass down to cheer and clap, breaking the spell, the outside world rushing back in a wave of sound and movement.Eliza blinked rapidly, as if waking from a dream, her eyes refocusing as she became aware of the crowd again.The vulnerability I’d witnessed moments before began to recede, her natural guardedness sliding back into place, though not completely.
I stepped back first, running a hand through my hair as I tried to steady my breathing.My body hummed with adrenaline and something deeper, more primal.The cool air between us felt wrong somehow after the closeness we’d shared, but I knew we needed the distance to regain our equilibrium.
Eliza smiled nervously at the crowd, lifting a hand in awkward acknowledgment of their continued applause.She looked suddenly uncertain again, the confident performer retreating as the mother, the survivor, remembered herself.Yet the woman I’d witnessed during our song remained visible around the edges, a glimpse of who she might have been without the weight of struggle she carried.
“We should, um…” She gestured vaguely toward the steps, her voice slightly hoarse from singing.
“Yeah,” I agreed, grateful for the prompt to move, to do something with the energy still crackling between us.
I caught her hand as she started down the steps, not wanting to risk her falling in the dim light.Her fingers curled automatically around mine, warm and small against my palm.Our gazes clashed again at the contact, both of us visibly shaken by the simple touch after the intensity we’d just shared.I steadied her as she descended, reluctantly releasing her hand when we reached the floor.
Hannah and Ada waited nearby, exchanging knowing glances which made me want to disappear into the crowd.Hannah’s smirk was particularly insufferable, her satisfaction at having engineered our performance together plainly visible.Ada placed a gentle hand on Eliza’s shoulder as she rejoined them, leaning close to whisper something that made Eliza’s blush deepen.
I retreated to the bar, needing space to process what had just happened.The familiar sanctuary of the countertop and the smell of stale beer grounded me as I signaled Mike for another coffee.My hands weren’t completely steady, which hadn’t happened to me since my first performances in a Nashville bar.
“On the house,” Mike said, sliding the mug toward me with a rare grin.“You guys were something else, Cash.Didn’t know you still had it in you.”
I grunted a response, wrapping my fingers around the hot ceramic, grateful for the burning sensation to focus on rather than the lingering memory of Eliza’s voice blending with mine, her fingers brushing against my skin.
Despite my determination to regain control of my emotions, my eyes continually drifted back to her across the room.She sat between Hannah and Ada, clutching a fresh beer bottle, her laugh coming more easily now as something Ada said made her throw her head back with genuine amusement.Even from a distance, I could see the change in her, a loosening of the perpetual tension she carried, a brightness I hadn’t seen before.
I knew I should stay away, should maintain the careful distance I’d established with every woman since prison.Eliza had Lily to think about, a custody battle with the state still unfolding, medical challenges I couldn’t begin to understand.She needed support and stability, not the complications getting involved with an ex-con biker still figuring out his own path to redemption would bring.
But as she looked up and caught my eye across the crowded bar, a small smile curved her lips sent a jolt of heat through my chest no amount of rational thinking could extinguish.Whatever had started between us tonight couldn’t be undone, couldn’t be ignored.The only question was where we would go from here, and whether either of us was brave enough to find out.
Chapter Nine
Eliza
The heavy manila envelope of medical reports sat in my lap, each page filled with terminology I barely understood, blurring together after two weeks of endless appointments.I held the last report in my hand, not having looked at it.I hadn’t put it in the envelope along with everything else.I rubbed my eyes, the lighting in the doctor’s office waiting room burning patterns into my vision whenever I blinked.Beside me, Lily leaned against my shoulder.She’d been able to lose the sling but I could tell she still moved gingerly sometimes.Either it still hurt her or she was afraid it would hurt.I thought it was the latter since when she didn’t think about it, she moved normally.She clutched Mr.Flopsy with a grip she’d barely loosened all day.
“Mommy, can we go home soon?”Lily whispered, her voice small and tired.She looked up at me with big eyes.My my heart clenched to see the dark circles beneath them, a testament to the exhaustion she tried so hard to hide.
“Soon, baby,” I promised, running my fingers through her hair.“Dr.Brennan wants to talk to us about your pictures, remember?”I forced brightness into my voice I didn’t feel.