I know very little about the music industry, but she deserves an audience of millions, not a few hundred people gathered in a stuffy bar on a rainy Friday night.
I skim a hand over the front of my button-down shirt as she places her guitar back in its case.
A part of me wanted to rush the stage along with the hordes of people who are now seeking an autograph or a photo with her.
I hung back because I’ll get my chance to tell her how incredible she is once I get her out of this place.
“Fancy meeting you here.”
That familiar voice sends my gaze shooting to the left.
I huff out a laugh when I catch sight of Gaines with a bottle of beer in his hand.
“What the hell are you doing here?” I quiz him, glancing beyond his shoulder to see if there’s a woman behind him.
“I’m not on a date,” he clarifies. “Sometimes, when I have a Friday night free, I come here and check out the talent.”
Seeing how this bar is only two blocks from my home, I’m surprised. Gaines usually ends up on my doorstep if he’s in this part of town.
“I stopped by your house, but you weren’t there.” He chuckles. “Obviously.”
“Obviously,” I repeat.
“You’re here for Astrid.”
Hearing her name come out of him sets me back a step. “You know Astrid?”
“I know Astrid has you running around the block or ten blocks.” He pitches me a wink. “Or something like that. Keats was all over the place when he told me you started dating again.”
Damn Keats and his big mouth.
Gaines glances around the room. His gaze stalls when he catches sight of Eloise sitting at the bar.
“I can introduce you,” I say, partially to shift the subject away from Astrid and me. I also think Gaines could use a little fun in his life that doesn’t involve a scalpel and an open chest cavity.
He shifts his attention back to me. “To who?”
“To the woman at the bar you can’t take your eyes off of.”
“My eyes are on you,” he punctuates that with a stab of his finger into the middle of my chest. “Besides, I’m out of here. I’ve got the next twenty-four hours off, so I’m heading home to bed.”
“Alone?”
“Alone,” he stresses. “Astrid’s an amazing singer, Berk.”
“The best I’ve ever heard.” I smile.
He glances toward the stage. “Something tells me that she’s also an incredible woman.”
“I can’t argue with that.”
When he turns back to me, he’s grinning from ear-to-ear. “Good. You deserve that and more.”
“So do you,” I say.
His gaze flits back to Eloise for a second. “I’ll find it one day. For now, I’m shutting off from the world for at least the next eight hours. If you have an emergency, you know where to find me.”
I pat his shoulder. “I know it.”
“Ugh!” Eloise screams in an exasperated tone. “The weatherman from channel five needs to be fired.”
It’s raining hard, and apparently, Eloise didn’t have the foresight to bring an umbrella. I didn’t either, but I have a talent for waving down taxis in record time.
I showcase that by stepping off the curb and into the downpour.
“What are you doing?” Astrid laughs. “Berk, you’re going to get drenched.”
I’m also going to get some time alone with Astrid. I don’t care if it’s at the café half a block from here or her apartment, but I want her undivided attention.
The taxi I’m about to flag down is for Eloise.
Once she’s on her way, I’ll grab one for Astrid and me.
I work my magic and catch the eye of a taxi driver barreling his car through a puddle. I step out of the way just in time to avoid being drenched.
Yanking open the back door, I wave a hand in the air toward Eloise. “Your chariot awaits.”
She lets out a giggle. “You’re a prince, Berk. Thank you.”
With a quick hug for Astrid and a bright smile for me, she slides onto the car’s back seat.
I slam the door shut and turn to the woman I’ve been waiting to kiss all night.
Reaching for her hand, I tug her into the pouring rain.
“Berk! What are you doing?”
With laughter bubbling out of her, I scoop a hand around the back of her neck and kiss her senseless.
When we break apart, I stare into her eyes and make a decision that feels more right than anything has in a very long time.
“Come home with me, Astrid,” I whisper. “It’s two blocks from here. We can run if you’re up for it.”
She hauls her guitar case over her head as a makeshift umbrella. “I’m game. Point me in the right direction.”
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Astrid
Laughing, I stumble into the foyer of Berk’s home.
My guitar case is now in his hands. He took it from me as we raced across the street in front of the bar.