Jace glanced at Aggie, who was wiping tears of mirth from her eyes, and then headed across the stage. The crowd cheered as he approached center stage. Sed wrapped an arm around Jace’s shoulders and spoke into his microphone. “He looks pretty good for a dead man, don’t you think?” He paused while the crowd responded with excited screams and yells. “Say hello to the fans.” Sed held the microphone to Jace’s mouth.
His heart thudded, and heat flooded his face. “Hello to the fans.”
Sed chuckled. “Do you think you can muster the strength to play something later in the show?”
“I think that can be arranged.”
Jace was stunned by the crowd’s enthusiasm.
“Did you really get shot, Jace?” an excessively loud fan yelled from behind the barrier fence in front of the stage.
Sed promptly spun Jace around and pulled his shirt up to reveal the large bandage on his right shoulder. “He got shot f**kin’ twice, dude. Brutal, huh? He doesn’t look it, but he’s a tough little shit. If it were me, I’d be flat on my back.”
“Kinda like that time you took a whole week off after you burst a blood vessel in your throat?” Trey asked.
Sed scratched his head and grinned sheepishly. “Uh, yeah, just like that.” Sed flattened his palm over the side of Jace’s head and kissed him on the opposite temple. Jace was too stunned to respond. He’d seen Sed do that to Brian more than once. It was his mark of friendship, but why had he extended it to Jace?
Jace took a deep breath. Sed’s attention was probably just a show for the fans. Jace didn’t mean anything to him. He knew he didn’t.
“Are we going to rub our noses in Jace’s ass**le all night, or are we going to play some music for these people?” Jon’s annoyed voice came over the sound system.
“Go get some rest, buddy. We’ll see you near the end of the show.”
Jace lifted a hand at the crowd as he returned to the side stage area. Aggie hugged him as soon as he was within reach.
“They loved you out there,” she said.
“Nah.”
“You honestly don’t see how people feel about you, do you?”
He met her eyes. “What do you mean?”
“There’s so much love in your life, but you don’t recognize it. You won’t let it in. That’s why you feel so lonely, baby. Don’t you get it? It’s not them. They care about you. It’s you. You don’t see it.”
He scowled and watched the band play the next song while he contemplated Aggie’s words. What did love look like anyway? What did it feel like? He’d thought he’d experienced it a few times. His parents. The first girl he’d ever fallen for. His band. And his more recent feelings for Aggie. Was any of it really love? Was all of it love in different forms? He didn’t know. He had nothing to judge by. But he was lonely—always lonely. Even in a crowd. But not when Aggie was near.
He turned to look at her and found her dancing to the music. He grinned. “Having a good time?”
“Yeah, this song is great. I have to get a copy of your CD.”
“I could probably get you one for free.”
“Will you autograph it for me?”
“Maybe.”
He watched her sensual movements as she danced with her arms extended over her head. She was definitely a professional dancer. She used her body like a piece of moving art. He wondered if she missed her job. Her home. Her life. Was her mother really that horrible? He supposed he wasn’t the only one with family issues. And yes, his father had been cruel, but at least he’d known him. Aggie had never met her father.
Aggie shrieked in surprise when Jace wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her into his lap.
“You’re distracting the roadies from their work,” he said close to her ear.
She glanced around. “I don’t think anyone is watching.”
“Maybe I wanted an excuse to hold you.”
Her smile melted the cold lump in his chest that he was starting to recognize as his heart. She wrapped both arms around his neck and hugged him.
“Are you worried about leaving your mother in charge of your house?” he asked.
“She’s probably burned it to the ground by now. I try not to think about it. No sense in worrying myself sick over things I have no control over.”
He really wished he could live life by her model. “True.”
“And I have great insurance, so I can just build a new house.”
“But we have great memories in that dungeon.”
She slid her fingers into his hair and kissed him. “We can make some new memories in this chair.”
“You do owe me a lap dance.”
He hadn’t expected her to take him seriously. The band had just begun to play their one and only ballad, “Good-bye Is Not Forever.” It had a deep, sultry beat. He loved playing this song live. Jon didn’t do it justice, but Jace was trying very hard to ignore every lost opportunity to enrich the bass line, add body to it, subtly support the guitars and the drums without drawing attention to the fill. Truth be told, Jace was trying very f**king hard to ignore Jon entirely. The lighting was always kept dim for this song, so the side of the stage was bathed in darkness. Jace wished he could see Aggie better as she used his body for her prop throughout her sensual dance. Her hands and body brushed over him as she moved around him, behind him, over him, on him. His eyes drifted closed, and he concentrated on the sensation. The woman. He knew he had to get his shit together, or she’d get tired of him shutting her out. He hadn’t been afraid of being alone for a long time—not since he’d been a kid. But now? He couldn’t imagine a day spent without Aggie. He didn’t want to.
When she slid into his lap backwards, he wrapped both arms around her waist and held her close. She tried to get up, but he tightened his hold.
She hesitated briefly and then relaxed. He pressed his face against her shoulder and inhaled her scent.
“You okay?” she asked after a moment.
He knew he was trembling, but he couldn’t stop. “Yeah,” he whispered.
She covered his hand with hers and squeezed reassuringly.
“Why are you so good to me?” he asked. “All I do is push you away.”
“You’re not pushing me away now.”
That was true. Even though he knew he should, he couldn’t let go. And though her body was pressed against his from shoulder to shin, he wanted her closer. Physically. And emotionally. Did that mean he loved her? His heart rate picked up. “Are you going to leave me after you fix me?”