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“I don’t think the English have ever been accused of being too loud,” Matthew retorted.

As they argued, Winnie caught Maisie’s attention and mouthed out, “Wales.”

Maisie beamed. “Oh, I’ve got it! Wales!”

Cedric looked properly impressed. “Well done, you.”

Winnie looked away with innocence when Matthew stared at her, then she smiled conspiratorially at Maisie, who grinned in response.

Finn waited anxiously for the song to end as he watched his friends circle around Maisie like the vultures they were. He had to admit, he deserved this. He was always the one to ask uncomfortable questions to his mates’ girls—which was no doubt what they were doing to Maisie right now. Luckily Winnie would be there to ease a bit of the burden.

Still, the second the song wrapped up, he whipped around the stage to help his bandmates clean up their gear, had a quick bant about their next gig in a few weeks, then said goodbye before running toward Maisie and his friends.

To his relief, she was smiling and laughing as he approached, though her eyes brightened—and shone with a little relief—when she spotted him.

“There he is,” Cedric called out when he saw him next. “The man of the hour!”

“Alright, alright,” Finn said, pushing him aside to stand next to Maisie. “Give the poor woman room to breathe.” He looked at Maisie. “I hope they haven’t been treatin’ you poorly.”

She shook her head. “Not at all.”

Their eyes fixed on each other for a moment, unspoken words filling the air between them. Singing with her had been a dream. One that he was still in—one that he was unwilling to wake up from.

“Good singin’ tonight,” Graham said to Finn, ripping his attention away.

“Thanks, mate.”

“I preferred Maisie’s,” Matthew inserted. “Less screechy.”

“How very English of you to say,” Finn retorted.

They shared a smile before the mic rang out around them, signaling the beginning of another band.

“Dart board’s free,” Cedric said, pointing to the other end of the bar. “Should we have a round?”

Finn looked down at Maisie. “You in?”

Maisie smiled, though hesitation clouded her eyes. He looked at his friends. “You all claim our spot there. I’ll be there in a second.”

The four of them nodded, walking away with a few smiles at Maisie before leaving them.

“Don’t feel any pressure,” he said the minute they were alone. “But I’d love for you to stay.”

She looked over his shoulder to where his friends had reached the dart board. “I dunno. It’s getting kinda late.”

“Ach, aye. You probably have to get back to your hotel to knit some doilies or some other granny activity.”

She let out a laugh. “Fine. I guess I can stay for a little bit. But…” Once again, she hesitated. “I don’t want to get you into trouble with your work. You know better than I do what the rules are.”

Finn had figured that had been her reason for hesitating, but honestly, there wasn’t a single rule he could remember that specified him not being allowed to talk with a member of his tour while he chatted with friends at the same time in a public space.

Anyway, as he said before, he wasn’t ready to wake up from this dream yet.

“Chattin’ with a group of friends isn’t breakin’ any rules,” he reassured her. “Anyway, I’m not workin’ now. What I do on me own time is me own business—no one else’s.”

Maisie tipped her head to the side, her gaze focused on him. “What about when I asked you out? What’s the difference now?”

Finn didn’t have to think long about that one. After their time on the bridge, their chat at the causeway, and the moments he’d just spent with her on stage, he’d come to the realization that he’d be away in the head if he let this woman go without at least trying to see what could become of them.