She said that now but she'd been freaking out as much as I had when Razer hadn't turned up. There’d been no talk of Razer not letting us down then. It’d been all let’s run away and get fancy cocktails.
"So why aren't you up there, working?" I asked her.
"Shit." She put down the beer she was pouring. "I guess we should all get upstairs. Although, it’s been much more interesting down here."
While the support band finished up, I found Sally to see what the numbers were like.
"It's close," she said. "Razer is about twenty people behind. We'll just have to wait and see if anyone else turns up. There are always some stragglers. Hey, if Razer wins this, can I go after Alex? He's totally hot."
I winked. "Even if Razer loses, Alex is all yours."
Chapter 39 VIOLET
I PUSHED MY WAY TO the front. While Razer set up, the buzz in the crowd grew louder and stronger. Anticipation filled the air, so strong and thick you could almost touch it, slice it up and hand it out on a platter. There was no fancy lighting, no special effects. This wasn't a show, it was rock. Pure rock with no pretensions.
Within minutes, Razer thundered onto the stage, his guitar screaming like a woman in the throes of passion. The sound mixed with the screams from the crowd, everything melding into one.
Bodies crushed against mine, sweat ran down my body. I laughed, loving being part of it all.
I watched Razer, the way he moved and the expression on his face. I'd been so wrong about this man. I'd thought he didn't take his music seriously but he took it more seriously than anyone I knew. It was just the business he didn't do well.
Then his eyes met mine and that feeling flooded through me to the soles of my feet. I couldn't breathe. I couldn’t think, I could only float on the amazing music he made. His voice growled out, rough and raw, thrilling every nerve in my body. His fingers caressed the guitar with promises to come.
It was magic and the magic was mine.
All too soon, it was finishing. As the second last song faded out, Carlie popped up beside me.
"Hey, you're supposed to be working the bar," I said to her.
"No one's drinking, not while Razer’s playing. I'll go back soon enough." She laughed, then our attention went back to the stage.
"I wrote this song to win the love of a special woman," Razer said. "But it's too late for that."
"Awww," said the crowd in unison.
Razer held up his hand. “No, wait. It’s too late because I don’t need the song. I won her over with my own awesomeness.”
I ducked my head. That was a bit much but I couldn’t help grinning. He wasn’t wrong.
"It's called Violet Eyes," Razer yelled.
Oh my God. No. I shuddered. Having a song written about me should be thrilling but, if I hated it, what would I say? I couldn't lie but you
can’t tell someone you hated your song either. I’d have to be as tactful as hell and being tactful wasn’t one of my skills. Seriously, Violet Eyes. If the song was only a fraction as cheesy as the title, this would take every bit of tact I had.
While I stressed, deep down inside, I soared. Even if the title was cheesy, he’d written this song about me.
Then he started singing.
The emotion in the words, the simple yet beautiful melody. The restrained power. That song was a winner. It stirred something inside me like no song ever had before.
He felt like that? He’d told me he was crazy about me so many times but that could mean a million things. The song, the melody, they pinned down the exact type of crazy and it was a beautiful thing.
"You're crying," Carlie yelled in my ear.
"Am not," I said but I did have a few tears in my eyes.
Even if it hadn’t been about me, that song would make me cry. I wasn't the only one in the crowd crying either.