Chapter 7
“Thank you, Denver!”
The roar of the crowd followed Luke as he left the stage. He glanced at the front row seats he’d made note of before the concert had started—the seats where Rowan should be but wasn’t. He’d tried to search every face in the front of the crowd looking for her but hadn’t had any luck.
Maybe Marla had been wrong about the seats that she’d been sent.
“Thanks.” He took the bottle of water from the stagehand and guzzled half of it before Brett reached him.
“Great show. We’ve got about fifty VIPs for the meet and greet. You wanna change shirts?”
“Yeah. Real quick. I don’t want to be here all night.” He closed the door to the ready room and rummaged through his bag, pulling out a clean t-shirt. Pulling his soaked shirt over his head, he used a towel to wipe off the sweat, applied more deodorant, and put on the new shirt. A quick sniff test to make sure he didn’t reek too badly and he was ready.
Ten minutes into the after-show, his cheeks hurt from forcing a smile for all the selfies. It’d gotten to the point where he didn’t even flinch when a woman grabbed his butt or slipped something into his back pocket. He’d pull a dozen or more names and numbers out of his pockets at the end of the show. At least they weren’t trying to grope his tonsils with their tongues anymore.
The two women who were in the seats Marla said had been sent to Rowan were next and he forced his smile even more.
“I love your music,” the Hispanic woman said. “I know you hear that from everyone, but I would feel bad if I didn’t tell you.”
Her excitement was palpable whereas her companion seemed less than thrilled. She reminded him of the tolerant boyfriends who glared at him when their girlfriends gushed over him.
“Thanks. I always like to hear fans love the music.” He picked up one of the headshots he signed during the VIP sessions. “Who should I make it out to?”
“Maria.”
He wrote his standard statement and signed it. Handing it to her, he punished himself just a little bit more. “I noticed you two in the front row. You got engaged tonight, right?”
She beamed even more. “You saw? I was planning on doing it next week, something low-key, but when our friend gave us these tickets it seemed like the perfect moment.”
“That’s a really good friend—I don’t think those seats are cheap.”
“I didn’t even think about that.” She turned to her girlfriend. “Claudia, how much did Rowan pay for the tickets?”
The blonde socked her on the arm.
“Ow! What? If she paid a lot of money for the tickets, I want to pay her back.”
He stepped closer and asked in a low voice, “Rowan gave you the tickets?”
The girlfriend glowered at him and pulled on Maria’s arm. “Come on, we’re holding up the line.”
“Wait.” Luke held out his arm. He didn’t give a damn about the line. “How is she?”
“You know Rowan?” Maria asked.
“We were high school sweethearts.” That was the easiest, least complicated explanation.
“Really?” She looked at her girlfriend. “How do I not know that?”
“I’ll explain later. Let’s go.”
They walked away, heads close together. There was nothing he could do to keep them from leaving, short of siccing one of the security guys on them.
That was the closest he’d been to Rowan in years and he wasn’t any closer to her than he’d been before. Frustrated, he turned back to the fans in line.
A few autographs and selfies later, he felt a tap on his arm.
“Excuse me, I’m sorry.” Maria looked at the family next in line. “I’m so sorry. My friend wasn’t feeling well and I wasn’t able to get a picture. Do you mind? Real quick, I promise.”
