I gasped and stumbled as Faith dragged me forward—she was dragging me because the rest of my body refused to move. I felt my cheeks flare with a sudden, embarrassing heat. Mortified, I dropped my gaze.

“Faith,” I hissed.

“What? He’s still looking at you, in case you’re wondering.”

What I was wondering was how I could escape with my dignity intact. One look from the man—and he was a man, not an innocent young thing like me—and I was toast. Maybe we could just do a round of polite introductions and then I could disappear. I didn’t need to look at him again, surely?

“Hi gentlemen. I’m Faith and this is the birthday girl.”

“I know who you are.” Johnnie stared at Faith, not me.

Uh oh. He was making no secret of the way his dark gaze scanned the glittering curves of her dress.

“I’m too old for you, Rock Boy,” Faith retorted, but she didn’t seem remotely bothered by his hungry look.

Johnnie smirked. “We’ll see about that.” He turned to me. “Hey, sweetheart. That’s quite a birthday dress.”

“Hi.” Oh God. My whole body felt like it was on fire now. I was an actress and this was ridiculous. I should be used to everyone looking at me, but the plunging neckline suddenly felt way too low.

“Ignore Johnnie. He’s an attention seeker.” Levi stepped forward and offered me his hand. “It’s great to meet you. My younger sister says she loves you by the way, and if I didn’t tell you that she’d make me pay.”

Faith smirked. “You’re scared of your little sister?”

Levi gave her a lopsided grin. “Hell, I’m scared of all women. I’m not stupid.”

That earned him a twitch of the lips from Faith. Charmed, I let him take my hand. He shook it firmly but respectfully and I realized I liked him, simple as that. He grinned at me. “Actually, I’ll pay for admitting this later, but I’m a fan too. I got dragged to see Les Mis when you were in it. Scared of my sister, like I said. Anyway, I’ve been impressed ever since.” He dropped my hand and nodded at the others. “The girl’s got talent.”

“Thank you.” Oh wow. Those were the first words I’d spoken and all I felt capable of, but if Hollywood had taught me anything it was that I could act on cue. I gave them all a bright smile. “I can say something similar. My brother took me to one of your very first LA stadium concerts when you hit the big time, and I was hooked. Thanks so much for agreeing to play tonight, it’s made my birthday.”

“You haven’t heard us play yet.” Emilio stepped forward and offered his hand.

His grip was relaxed and, like Levi, I immediately felt comfortable in his presence.

“I don’t need to,” I replied confidently. “I know you’ll be brilliant.”

“She’s also a brilliant actress,” Faith interrupted. “Chloe’s having a total fan-girl moment right now.”

“Faith.”

The guys laughed but I sensed it wasn’t unkind, and I realized all of us were feeling a little awkward about the situation.

Emilio smacked Gabe’s shoulder with the back of his hand. “Where’s your manners, man?”

“Just waiting my turn.”

Gabe hopped up from the sofa—and I do mean hopped. He executed the maneuver the same way a gymnast might complete a routine: measured, confident and with impressive agility.

I stared at his hand because I was pathetic and too scared to look at his face again.

“Hi, Chloe.”

He said it so softly that the sound of my name was almost lost to the background noise. It was so unexpected it made me look up and my hand gravitated toward his.

“Yeah, he’s surprisingly quiet for a drummer,” Levi said, reading my surprise as my hand slipped into Gabe’s.

I wasn’t sure if it was the shock of his touch or being in such close proximity to a man I’d secretly admired for so long, but all I could do was stare. Stare into those cool gray eyes that observed me with genuine interest—not with the sexual innuendo that accompanied Johnnie’s earlier introduction.

I’d once heard Gabe described as unusually good-looking, and now I was this close I knew what it meant. It was unusual the way his disparate features complemented each other like separate pieces of a puzzle coming together. The strong Roman nose, the wide mouth that was a touch too big for his face, and dark eyebrows that were like carefully considered brushstrokes. And those eyes. It would have made perfect sense if his eyes were golden brown. Then they would match his olive complexion or the hair that curled beneath his ears like it hadn’t been cut properly in months. No, instead his eyes were that distracting gray color that was ever-changing depending on the light.

He didn’t shake my hand. He just gave it a gentle squeeze then let it slip away so our fingers brushed as he released his grip.

“Hi.”

Yep, that was the extent of my conversational abilities. So much for being a seasoned acting professional.

I blinked as an arm—Johnnie’s arm—came around to sit on my shoulders. “So April tells us her little girl is going to make a grand entrance tonight.”

Faith’s slow smile matched Johnnie’s. “And what April wants, April gets.”

I closed my eyes, embarrassment about my mother making my heart sink. “Oh no. Don’t tell me she’s already been down here?”

“Been down here?” Levi said. “She spent half an hour instructing the crew, then gave us a pep talk.”

“Shit.”

Johnnie squeezed my shoulder sympathetically. “I can spot a show-business mother a mile away. Don’t you worry, I knew how to handle her.”

“Yeah. Same way he handles everything,” Emilio told us. “By flirting.”

I twisted beneath Johnnie’s arm so I could see him better and he waggled his eyebrows suggestively at me.

My eyes widened in horror. “No, you did not flirt with my mother!”

His grin reminded me of that Cheshire cat from the cartoons. “And she enjoyed it.”

I shoved him away, but not with any real force. “I’ll bet she did. If you must know, you’re playing with fire. She’d eat you alive.” April Allen was not known for worrying about age when it came to men. Old, young, she’d have any man that took her fancy. I’d learned years ago to cover my ears and run for cover or else she’d share the details of her conquests with me.

“I’m up for that,” Johnnie said.

“Maybe I’m not too old for you after all,” mused Faith, which was enough to make Johnnie’s satisfied smile slip momentarily as he caught Faith’s contemplative expression.

“Come on, tonight’s all about the birthday girl,” Levi interrupted. “And she still has to pick the opening song.”

I immediately forgot my horror at my mother’s behavior and clapped my hands together in excitement. “I get to pick?” OK, so perhaps there was some horror left over for behaving like a child.

“Yes, pretty lady, you certainly do,” Levi replied, politely ignoring my reaction. “Although we do have some suggestions, if you’re willing to hear them.”

“I’d love to.” Wow, they’d thought about a song for me? For my party? If they kept this up, my fan girl was going to escape big time and I would make a complete fool of myself.

“Well, my pick was Pacific Sun,” Johnnie told us, and I got the feeling he always liked to run the show.

“Nice. What about you Levi?”

“Last Night,” Levi said, referring to one of their older songs that reminisced about good times and was particularly upbeat.

“One of my favorites,” I agreed. “Emilio?”

“Never Too Young.”

“Oh, good choice. They’re all really great suggestions.” The idea was the band was going to open with a song and then I’d walk out onstage at the end to greet everyone. (Mama had insisted a spotlight would follow me and I’d given up arguing). “To be honest, I’d be happy with any of those.”

“What about me?”

Levi laughed and slapped Gabe on the back. “What about you? You’re just the drummer, man.”

The others all joined in laughing while I stared in wide-eyed shock at Gabe. Oh my goodness. Had I just deliberately ignored him? What had I been thinking? That was just it—I hadn’t been thinking. I’d been so thrown by his presence that subconsciously a part of me was avoiding talking to him. Probably because he made me feel so, so . . . actually I had no idea how to define how he made me feel.

“So, you want to hear my suggestion?” Gabe wasn’t laughing like the others. He was staring at me with an intensity to rival Johnnie’s, but this was far, far worse. When Johnnie focused on you, you knew what was on his mind because everything he did was laced with sexual innuendo. With Gabe, I had absolutely no idea what was going on behind those stormy gray eyes.

“Of course,” I told him. “What song are you suggesting?”

“It’s not one of ours. It would be a cover. You might know it. Don’t Stop Me Now.”

“You know Queen, right?” said Levi. “I know you’re only twenty-one—”

“I know Queen.” I was still looking at Gabe but now it was with surprise.

Emilio nodded. “Everybody knows Queen.”

“Good song,” admitted Faith. “And appropriate. The lyrics are all about having a good time. For a big party like this one, it will get everyone pumped, even the oldies.”

“Like you, hey Faith?” Johnnie sidled up next to her.

She narrowed her eyes at him. “You’re in dangerous territory, Rock Boy.”

“I like to face danger head on.”

Levi guffawed and I couldn’t help myself and giggled. Yep, giggled. No low seductive laughter for me, just embarrassing cuteness. I brought my hand to my mouth to cover the sound of it.

Gabe’s eyes hovered on my fingers and I self-consciously dropped my hand.

“What’s it going to be?” he said.

“Um . . . ” Oh crap. “Well,” I stalled. “They’re all fantastic.”

He raised an eyebrow and I wondered how it was he made the movement appear elegant. “But?”

“But . . . ” Oh shit. The truth was I loved the idea of Don’t Stop Me Now. For more reasons than I was willing to admit. My personal feelings aside, it was perfect to start the night, but . . . This was Gypsy Hour, one of my favorite bands. Asking them to play a cover for their first song felt wrong and kind of rude.

“Ah, dude,” moaned Levi when he saw my expression. “You were right, dammit.”

Johnnie held up a hand. “Hang on a minute. She hasn’t said anything yet.”

Faith’s brown eyes were watching the men like a protective tigress. “No shit. You bet on this?”

Levi took a step back. “What? No! I didn’t bet on anything.”

“You.” Faith pointed her index finger at Johnnie and her painted red nail glinted like a blade under the light.

A slow smile spread across Johnnie’s face. “So what if I did?”

Faith stepped in so she was almost chest-to-chest with him. “Why?”

“Why not?” His reply was cocky but even he wasn’t immune to the proximity of Faith’s cleavage and I saw him swallow.

“Hang on a minute,” I said, stepping toward them. My head was spinning. It was surprising enough that this amazing band had brainstormed song ideas for my grand entrance, but to bet on it? I could no longer ignore the creeping suspicion I’d felt when Gabe had first suggested the unexpected Queen song. Like Faith, I wanted to know why. “What was the bet?”

Emilio shrugged. “It wasn’t really a bet . . . ”

“Yeah,” Levi agreed, looking a bit like a schoolboy who just got caught by the teacher. “It’s nothing to get upset about, trust me.”

“Why would I trust you?”

Everyone stilled, all their eyes on me. My words had come out lightly but no one had mistaken the meaning: it was a challenge. Damn right. I might look super sweet but I could be a big girl when the situation called for it.

Levi blinked. “Well, yeah, good point.”

I bit back a smile and crossed my arms, turning to Emilio. He just shrugged again as if to say it wasn’t him. Meanwhile, Johnnie was studying his shoes. I may have only known him for five minutes but even I knew his behavior was out of character.

Which left one person.

My gaze settled on Gabe and this time I wasn’t looking away.