Chapter Eight #3
The harmony we created surpassed anything I’d experienced even in my professional days. Her voice complemented mine perfectly, filling the spaces where mine fell away, creating texture and depth where I provided foundation.
I watched color bloom across Eliza’s cheeks, the flush spreading down her neck to disappear beneath the neckline of her blue shirt. Her eyes never left mine, pupils dilated until only a thin ring of blue remained. I saw my own intensity reflected back at me, the intimate bond cemented by the music.
As we powered through the final chorus, our voices building to a powerful finish, the world beyond the stage ceased to exist entirely.
There was only Eliza, her voice, her eyes, and the almost painfully beautiful connection forming between us through a stupid karaoke machine.
Whatever walls she normally kept around herself had fallen completely, revealing the passionate, vibrant woman beneath.
The final notes rang out, leaving us both breathing hard, our faces inches apart as we shared the microphone.
The song ended but we remained frozen, staring at each other as our chests rose and fell, while the crowd roared their approval.
I felt an overwhelming urge to close the remaining distance between us, to discover if her lips tasted as sweet as her voice sounded against mine.
I actually took a step forward. I have no idea what I intended to do but the burning need to kiss her, claim her, make her mine overrode my good sense.
Someone in front of us splashed a bit of beer on the stage when he slammed his glass down to cheer and clap, breaking the spell, the outside world rushing back in a wave of sound and movement.
Eliza blinked rapidly, as if waking from a dream, her eyes refocusing as she became aware of the crowd again.
The vulnerability I’d witnessed moments before began to recede, her natural guardedness sliding back into place, though not completely.
I stepped back first, running a hand through my hair as I tried to steady my breathing. My body hummed with adrenaline and something deeper, more primal. The cool air between us felt wrong somehow after the closeness we’d shared, but I knew we needed the distance to regain our equilibrium.
Eliza smiled nervously at the crowd, lifting a hand in awkward acknowledgment of their continued applause.
She looked suddenly uncertain again, the confident performer retreating as the mother, the survivor, remembered herself.
Yet the woman I’d witnessed during our song remained visible around the edges, a glimpse of who she might have been without the weight of struggle she carried.
“We should, um…” She gestured vaguely toward the steps, her voice slightly hoarse from singing.
“Yeah,” I agreed, grateful for the prompt to move, to do something with the energy still crackling between us.
I caught her hand as she started down the steps, not wanting to risk her falling in the dim light.
Her fingers curled automatically around mine, warm and small against my palm.
Our gazes clashed again at the contact, both of us visibly shaken by the simple touch after the intensity we’d just shared.
I steadied her as she descended, reluctantly releasing her hand when we reached the floor.
Hannah and Ada waited nearby, exchanging knowing glances which made me want to disappear into the crowd.
Hannah’s smirk was particularly insufferable, her satisfaction at having engineered our performance together plainly visible.
Ada placed a gentle hand on Eliza’s shoulder as she rejoined them, leaning close to whisper something that made Eliza’s blush deepen.
I retreated to the bar, needing space to process what had just happened.
The familiar sanctuary of the countertop and the smell of stale beer grounded me as I signaled Mike for another coffee.
My hands weren’t completely steady, which hadn’t happened to me since my first performances in a Nashville bar.
“On the house,” Mike said, sliding the mug toward me with a rare grin. “You guys were something else, Cash. Didn’t know you still had it in you.”
I grunted a response, wrapping my fingers around the hot ceramic, grateful for the burning sensation to focus on rather than the lingering memory of Eliza’s voice blending with mine, her fingers brushing against my skin.
Despite my determination to regain control of my emotions, my eyes continually drifted back to her across the room.
She sat between Hannah and Ada, clutching a fresh beer bottle, her laugh coming more easily now as something Ada said made her throw her head back with genuine amusement.
Even from a distance, I could see the change in her, a loosening of the perpetual tension she carried, a brightness I hadn’t seen before.
I knew I should stay away, should maintain the careful distance I’d established with every woman since prison.
Eliza had Lily to think about, a custody battle with the state still unfolding, medical challenges I couldn’t begin to understand.
She needed support and stability, not the complications getting involved with an ex-con biker still figuring out his own path to redemption would bring.
But as she looked up and caught my eye across the crowded bar, a small smile curved her lips sent a jolt of heat through my chest no amount of rational thinking could extinguish.
Whatever had started between us tonight couldn’t be undone, couldn’t be ignored.
The only question was where we would go from here, and whether either of us was brave enough to find out.