The connection between them—platonic or not—was too important to lose.
She and Anna danced around each other as the crowd cheered and sang along, as#EDANNAposters were thrust in the air and cell phones snapped photos that would be all over the internet in minutes. If they only knew she and Anna had actually kissed ...
Anna left, and Eden finished the show, feeling more like herself with each song. When she left the stage that night, her spirits were high. As usual, Anna greeted her in the hallway backstage with a hug and excited ramblings about her favorite parts of the night. This was familiar, comfortable, good.
“You were on fire tonight, Eden,” Paris told her as they rode back to the hotel. “I can’t remember the last time I saw you pour so much of yourself into a show.”
“Really?” Eden asked, hyperaware that Anna was sitting behind her, hearing every word and knowing exactly where Eden’s energy had come from.
Paris nodded. “You lost a bit of your spark last year, with the divorce and everything, but ever since your Grammy performance, it’s like I’ve been watching you come alive a little bit more each night.”
The Grammy performance. The first night she’d performed with Anna. Eden’s skin prickled uncomfortably at Paris’s observation, but she forced a gracious smile. “Thank you.”
Eden slept fitfully that night. Her dreams were frantic, a repetitive sequence where she was trying to get to the arena and just couldn’t make it. She was rushing through a mazelike building, unable to find the stage. She woke, heart racing, anxiety prickling through her system.
She’d had this dream before. When she’d googled what it meant, she’d found that this kind of dream generally meant you were feeling, well ... lost. As she blinked into her darkened bedroom, hands fisted in the sheet beneath her, that had never felt more true.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Anna tugged Eden’s hand, urging her down the sidewalk. For a week, Eden had declined Anna’s attempts to hang out, obviously doing her best to put some distance between them, but Anna had finally won her over. They were in Chicago. It was Anna’s first time in the Windy City, and she was determined to do some sightseeing.
So here they were, strolling through Millennium Park like a couple of tourists. Neither of them had mentioned the kiss since right after it happened. Eden seemed to still be processing her feelings—orignoringher feelings—and maybe that was for the best.
Dating a mentor? Anna had been there, done that, and had the emotional scars to prove it. She needed to protect her heart. If only she could convince her body not to react every time she was near Eden, every time she thought about her or remembered the all-consuming heat of that kiss. God, an ill-advised kiss had no right to be sohot.
“It’s so hot today,” Eden said.
Anna startled, because it felt like Eden had read her mind, but of course she meant the weather. And yeah, she had a point. Chicago in June was a lot hotter than Anna had expected. “Feels like we brought San Antonio’s weather with us.”
“Less humid,” Eden commented.
“Have you been here before?” Anna asked. “And by ‘been here,’ I mean, have you left your hotel room and explored the city?”
Eden smirked. “Yes, I’ve been hereandexplored the city. I’m not a total hermit.”
“Only a partial hermit, then?”
Eden cocked her head, looking down the path ahead, where the infamous “bean” sculpture had come into view, gleaming a shiny silver beneath the midday sun. “I stayed here for a month while Zach was filming a movie, and we went out together a lot.”
“Oh.” Anna bristled. The last thing she wanted to talk about right now was Eden’s ex-husband. “So you don’t mind going out in public with a big, strong man to protect you?”
“You know that’s not true.” Eden sounded faintly offended. “My protection detail is headed by a woman, after all.”
“Right. Sorry.” Anna wasn’t sure why she’d said that in the first place. Misplaced jealousy, if she had to guess.
“Anyway, Zach gets a thrill out of being recognized, so he loved the attention we got when we went out together.”
“And it didn’t bother him that that kind of attention bothered you?”
Eden sighed. “It wasn’t like that. He didn’t drag me against my will. That was just how we lived. I didn’t mind it at first, but somewhere along the way, I got tired of being photographed everywhere I went. I started to dread it, and so, after the divorce, I did what I could to lower my public profile. I’m fine being photographed at events or anywhere I’m putting in an official appearance, but I don’t like it anymore when I’m just trying to go about my life.”
“I think that’s totally fair, and I’m glad you’ve set boundaries for yourself that way.”
“And I’m glad you’ve shown me a way to have my cake and eat it, too, so to speak,” Eden said. “With Zach, we were almost trying to create a scene when we went out. I hadn’t really tried to be incognito.I guess I just assumed I couldn’t. To be honest, I’m still a little anxious being in a big park full of people like this. What if someone recognized me and everyone mobbed us? We’re so outnumbered.”
Anna glanced around them, seeing the park with new eyes. It was true that they could create a mob scene if Eden was recognized. Anna had never really experienced that. She still got a thrill from being recognized, but she wanted Eden to feel comfortable. “Let’s take our picture with the bean and then find a less crowded part of the park.”
Eden nodded. “It’s called Cloud Gate, you know.”
