Chapter 27
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Maisie couldn’t tear her gaze away from Finn’s. He looked astounded. Truth be told, she was astounded herself.
Still, he didn’t miss a beat as the intro to the song ended, and his singing began.
This performance was different than the last. While he still sang upbeat with quick lyrics, Finn no longer focused on the crowd in front of him. Instead, his eyes reached out to hers as constantly as they had on Bob.
She’d been na?ve, thinking this weekend would be just the detox she needed to forget Finn for good. She’d thought she’d made it through the worst after an entire day without him.
But now, she was back to square one. No, not square one. She was back at ground zero, her will a scattered mess around her white Kiziks.
And she found it very difficult right then to care even the smallest amount.
Over the next hour, with Finn’s attention continually drifting toward her, Maisie was in heaven, listening to him sing, hearing the audience laugh aloud at his jokes, cheering with them as he sang out his talent with the band behind him .
She wished it would go on forever, but sure enough, the hour wound down, and after another energetic tune, Finn pulled away from the mic. He took a drink from the water bottle that had been at his feet, then chatted with his band so the rest of the pub couldn’t hear. The men nodded, and Finn grinned as he returned to the mic with a laser focus on Maisie.
“Alright, ladies and gents,” he began, “it’s been good craic. We hope you think so, too.”
A group of girls at the base of the stage whooped and hollered in delight, and a few of the band members grinned down at them.
But Finn kept his eyes on Maisie. “If you liked what you saw,” he continued, “feel free to follow us on all social media platforms. We’ve five followers right now, and if you think it’s a coincidence that there are five of us up here, too, it’s not.” The crowd echoed with laughter. “Not even our own ma’s follow us, so do with that what you will.”
More laughter, and Finn winked in her direction, a wink that was so powerful, she felt as if she could float on the wind of the euphoria it had produced.
“You’ve got another grand group comin’ up after us, so make sure to stick around,” he continued, “but for now, you still get two more songs from us. The first, we’ll be settlin’ into somethin’ a wee different. ’Stead of me singin’ alone, we thought we might invite someone up here from the audience.”
The girls in the front cupped their hands around their mouths, screaming to be chosen.
“I appreciate the enthusiasm,” he said, “but I’ve already got someone in mind.”
His eyes found Maisie’s, and the blood drained from her face.
Nope. Nope, nope, nope. There was no chance.
“Maisie King,” he said, that ridiculously attractive grin stretching wide across his lips, “come on up here, why don’t you?”
She shook her head at once, her heart stopping altogether.
This was not happening. There was no way he was calling her up—and there was no way she was going up. She shrank lower in her seat, even though Finn’s eyes had focused on her like a bird of prey.
“Looks like she’s bein’ a bit shy,” Finn continued, still grinning happily away. “Maisie’s from the States, see, so let’s give her a warm Norn Irish welcome.”
The crowd cheered, and people began to look around the pub, trying to find who Finn was speaking of.
“That’s you, love, isn’t it?” the bartender asked her, tossing his head toward Finn.
“Maybe,” she said.
“You know he’s not gonna let it go,” the man continued, smiling through his thick beard.
Sure enough, Finn continued. “Are you goin’ to deny me in front of all these people, Maisie?”
“Yes!” she shouted out above the noise of the pub.
Laughs scattered here and there, and despite it all, she couldn’t stop her own smiles.
“Maybe I ought to get you, then,” Finn said.
His eyes flashed, sending nervous anticipation through her limbs as he secured the mic in the stand and made his way off the stage.
The crowd cheered with whoops and whistles, and Maisie shook her head. She was going crazy at the sight of him, his eyes homed in on her like a tiger on the hunt, focused and daring, alluring and attractive until he finally reached her.
But she wasn’t about to give up that easily. “I don’t know any of the songs,” she said at once, shaking her head with a smile.
“It’s the same song as the one on Bob. The one ’bout Rathlin Island.”
Oh. Oh, that was a good song.
He held out his hand. “How ’bout it?” he asked with another wink.
With anyone else, Maisie would never have been convinced. But just like on the bridge, the trust she held for Finn beckoned her forward, and she placed her hand in his.
Sparks exploded around them like fireworks on the Fourth of July, and the crowd grew louder. His fingers gripped hers tightly as he turned around and led her through the pub, weaving through the individuals who smiled at them both in delight.
This had to be against the rules, but she was in no state to decide, feeling like she was in a trance, holding Finn’s hand, walking up to a stage where she was about to sing with a Northern Irish heartthrob.
Her head was spinning, but not in a dizzy way. In a delirious, dream-like manner that made her feel like she was flying.
When they reached the stage, Finn led her up the small steps that elevated them just slightly above the rest of the pub. She glanced at the bandmates, who exchanged looks before greeting her with waves and nods of their own.
Finn held her hand still as he pulled her toward the mic, his fingers warm, protective—even possessive.
He reached down to a case nearby, pulling out the same binder of music she’d read on the bus and extending it toward her. With her free hand, she accepted it as Finn shifted the mic closer to his lips.
“In’t she class?” he said into the mic.
The crowd cheered, a few people whistling, and Maisie’s face, though burning before, was a veritable furnace that could’ve heated Bob and all of his passengers, beside.
“She’ll not forgive me for this,” he said next, glancing down at her with a daring smile.
She shook her head. “Nope, I won’t.”
He laughed, glancing back at his mates with a nod to signal for them to begin. He released Maisie’s hand for only a moment to adjust the mic to sit between them, then he draped his arm around Maisie’s shoulder and pulled her in, holding her closely against him.
“So the mic can pick up us both,” he explained, whispering in her ear. But when he pulled back, the look in his eyes told her that was as much of an excuse as it sounded.
Her breathing halted completely. If she’d had any hope of singing before this, it was now completely gone.
The tin whistle, played by an auburn-haired, burly man, began first, and Maisie and Finn turned slightly to watch him as the music rang out smooth and stirring, just like the track on the bus. Eventually, the guitar chimed in, then the violin and the soft beating of the drums.
Maisie directed her attention to the music sheet in her hands, a single page front and back with the lyrics clear as day for her to sing. She kept her focus solely on the words, knowing if she looked up at the audience watching them, she may very well pass out.
She’d thought walking across a bridge was scary, but this was a whole other beast entirely. And yet, when the song began, and Finn’s arm tightened around her, the fear she felt was soon swallowed up in his tight hold of her.
Her first note was a bit pitchy, though she quickly corrected herself as Finn’s voice rang out beside her, rich and raw. She’d loved listening to him through the bus’s intercom, but here, standing right beside him, she thought she might explode from the attraction she felt for him.
As the song progressed, Finn swayed back and forth, and she followed his lead, her voice picking up as her confidence increased. For a brief moment, she took courage, glancing out at the audience to find a few of them singing along as well.
During the chorus, Finn changed keys, singing the part in harmony with her, and though Maisie’s singing wasn’t flawless, each squeeze from Finn’s hand, each stroke from his thumb against her shoulder, caused a pleasant humming to thrive in her stomach, and she was encouraged to keep going,
When the song finally drew to a close, the pub erupted in cheers, and Maisie drew a deep breath.
For the first time, Finn released his hold of her, stepping off to the side and holding out two arms fully outstretched toward Maisie, as if he were presenting the crowd with a marvelous creation.
“Maisie King!” he shouted.
More whistles occurred, and Maisie awkwardly waved at the crowd after a little bobbed bow, then she turned to Finn with a look of pleading.
Understanding his assignment, he took her hand again and led her off the stage. At the bottom, she thought he’d give her a departing wave goodbye, but he paused, leaning in close to her and whispering in her ear, “Stick ’round, will you?”
His breath on her ear made her nod instantly, and the smile across his features as he pulled back made her realize again that she would do anything this man asked her to.
His eyes lingered on her a moment before he returned to the stage, and Maisie watched him with a smile that couldn’t be wiped away.
Planning to wait for Finn at the bar, Maisie turned around, making it halfway through the crowd before a group of people—three men and a woman with brown hair past her shoulders—circled around her.
Maisie’s feet planted to the floor.
“Hi,” the woman began, her voice slightly raised to be heard above the music.
Maisie glanced between the four of them. “Hi,” she returned awkwardly, though she was still unable to stop her smiles.
The man with blond hair pulled back in a bun spoke next. “Are you the one from the bus tour?”
She was taken aback slightly at his English accent, having expected Northern Irish instead.
“Yeah, I am,” she said, hesitantly.
“I knew she was the one he was talking about,” he said as an aside to the others, though Maisie could clearly hear his words.
She was the one who was talking about? Finn? Had he spoken about her to them ?
“We all knew it was her, Matthew,” the woman said.
Maisie was even more shocked at the American accent that slipped from the woman’s mouth.
She looked back at Maisie with a warm smile. “I’m Winnie Knox,” she said. “And this is Cedric, Matthew, and Graham. We’re Finn’s friends.”