Noah (The Mitchell/Healy Family #1)(23)
Author: Jennifer Foor

The whole restaurant stood up and applauded. I could feel my body shaking, but only felt absolute satisfaction.

Then I did something without thinking about the message it was sending. “I’d like to sing another song, if that’s okay?”

The crowd got loud.

“Take another little piece of my heart now baby…”

By the time the song ended I felt high. I found my seat and noticed that our food had been brought out. Noah hadn’t started eating. He was too busy staring at me, shocked and in awe.

I grabbed a fry and popped it in my mouth. “How’d I do?” I already knew the answer, but I wanted him to admit it.

“This taggin’ along shit ain’t goin’ to work.”

“What do you mean?” My buzz was fading.

“It’s takin’ all of my willpower not to take you upstairs right now and f**k the shit out of you, woman. I ain’t even goin’ to lie about it. That right there just made my dick hard.”

I took a drink of a new beer, but never stopped looking at him. This was bazaar. It wasn’t possible for me to be so attracted to this man. I’d never had a one-night stand before. I wasn’t that kind of girl.

I couldn’t be feeling this way about a stranger, yet it was happening and I couldn’t stop it. The heat between my legs increased and although we were in a very public place, all I could do was imagine what it would be like to be naked with him.

I thought of a million things I could say to him. I even imagined turning him down and singing some more songs.

“Do they have to-go bags?”

Noah

We were traveling together, staying in the same room. Was it so wrong for two people that had chemistry to go for it? I mean, this girl was stacked in all the right places. It was only natural to be completely attracted to her, especially when I saw her come out of that bathroom in a towel. Then to top that her little outfit had me going crazy. The jeans fit her plump ass like a glove. It almost made my mouth water when I walked behind her. Her shirt was short, and I kept getting glimpses of the creamy skin on her waist.

I’d had a couple one-night stands, but couldn’t remember either of them having this kind of impact on me. Those words she sang, they were for me. I had to get out of that restaurant, whether she came with me or not. My adrenaline was wired and it wasn’t because I was mad. I was so damn turned on that I couldn’t control myself. If there was a corner I could see myself taking her in it.

We waited for the waitress to come back and get the check. I watched her fidgeting with her fingers. “What’s taking her so long?”

“Havin’ second thoughts?”

“Are you?” She cocked her brow. “Honestly, I’m trying not think about it.”

I could tell from the way she wouldn’t look at me that she was full of shit. She was nervous. “How about we grab a couple more shots?” I waved and signaled to the waitress for another round. She obliged and brought the final bill at the same time.

We shoved everything into one box and down the shots at the same time.

I watched her watching me. The food wasn’t going to get eaten as long as my hunger was for something completely different.

I’d be given the go-ahead and nothing could stop me.

So I thought.

Before we could make it out of the restaurant the waitress came running toward us, with a man who looked to be her boss. The man held out his hand. “I’m Jerrod Adkins, manager here. Listen, I don’t normally do this, but my band for tomorrow night is in a bind, on account of the singer getting his tonsils out. I’ve made calls all day and nobody can do it on such short notice. We all heard how amazing the two of you were tonight. I don’t know how long you’re staying, or if you’ve ever sang together, but we could use someone to fill in, if you’re interested.”

I looked at Shalan, knowing she had stage fright before her performance earlier. “Can you give us a minute to talk about it?” I was trying to not ruin my chances of getting laid. If I said yes without discussing it, all of my efforts would have been for nothing.

“We don’t need to talk about it. We’ll be honored to do it?”

“The band we use leaves their stuff here. It’s my brother-in-law’s group. They usually perform here three nights a week,” he explained. “He went to the doctor this morning for a sore throat and ended up having surgery. It’s crazy. But anyway, I can see if one of the guys can provide you with a song list. They mostly do covers, and all are popular songs, both new and old.”

“Sounds good to me,” she announced.

I raised my brow, still wondering where her courage was coming from. “Yeah, sounds easy enough.”

“Just leave me your information, so I can get you that playlist. You can pick and choose whatever songs you want. I’m sure they’ll play just about anything.”

We shook hands and he handed me his card. I gave him my number and let him know the room we were staying in, before we walked out of the restaurant.

Shalan made it to the elevator before she started jumping up and down, talking like a crazy person. To say she was excited was an understatement. “Oh my god. Do you have any idea how long I’ve dreamed of something like this happening to me? This is terrific, Noah. I can’t believe it. Am I dreaming? Is this really happening?”

I smiled and looked down at the floor realizing that she’d forgotten all about our plans to end up in bed. “It’s real. We’re performin’ tomorrow night in front of a shit ton of people. I think we might even get paid.”

She put her hands in the air and screamed loudly, causing my ears to hurt. Then she walked up and hugged me before realizing she’d done it. I watched her back away from me but never take those blue eyes off of mine. “Do you know that this is all I’ve ever wanted to do? This is my dream, Noah.”

I laughed. “Really? I hadn’t noticed.”

“Seriously, isn’t this an opportunity of a lifetime?”

I couldn’t tell her how I’d been against the music industry for a long time. My uncle Zeke, the leader of a very popular rock band had used me for a publicity scam and never talked to me again. I had hard feelings when it came to him and other singers in the business. It was wrong to judge them all, but it was all I’d ever known. The man had humiliated my family and caused me to lose the last link I had to ever knowing more about my birth mother.

I’d read somewhere that he owned a record label . I had a feeling if Shalan found out about it, she’d use me as her ticket to fame.