Chapter Five
The dull roar of the crowd outside their tent pounded out an anxious tempo and his pulse met the beat. Derrick was surprised that Ash and the guys had gone to such lengths to make this work and keep it from him at the same time. Their stage had been erected in the center of the courtyard with a rented tent as their waiting area. They literally thought of everything, including guards to monitor the fenced courtyard and their body guards were right outside waiting to usher in the small group of people for a meet and greet. If Keaton had anything to do with it, they would all be girls.
Ash got a signal from the door and called all the guys out to the table in the middle of the tent where they were serving soft drinks and snacks.
“How many are we expecting anyway?” Derrick directed his question to Ash who wasn’t paying any attention.
“I don’t care how many there are as long as they’re cute.” Keaton was such a hound dog.
“Dang man, can you try not to hump anyone in public at least?” Ollie was laughing but they should all probably watch Keaton closely just in case. The boy had nothing but drums and sex on the brain.
The group filtered in one at a time until they were all standing in a mass in front of the guys. Brit, their bodyguard went over the rules with the women, and they were all women, not that Derrick was surprised. Keaton must have been part of that decision.
They organized a few small clusters in a greet line so they got to meet everyone and spend a few minutes talking personally with them. They had stock photos for everyone that each band member could sign as well. Felt good to know they hadn’t lost their appeal in the time they’d been gone. As they finished talking with a small group, Brit would escort them out so another could move up.
When the last group of women approached, there was one hiding behind the rest but Derrick caught a glimpse of her hair and his breathe seized. He didn’t know how but he just knew, it was her. The one that got away. And she was hiding, which meant she was afraid to see him. In a way, this all seemed so familiar, like the first time they’d met. It was in the exact same kind of situation where they’d done a meet the band before the concert and her friends and roped her in to going along. She was here again, maybe it was a sign.
He watched closely as her friends tried to push her closer to the front where Ash was standing. When he realized who she was he grabbed her up in a big bear hug, twirling Regan around in circles because that had always been their thing. He hadn’t heard her laugh in a long while and it was music to his ears. She moved on to Ollie and then Keaton after him but stopped short of coming in front of Derrick. She tried not to make eye contact but he couldn’t take his eyes off her.
“Ahh DJ Anderson, oh my god I can’t believe it’s you.” The girl screamed and launched herself into his arms and started kissing him all over. Brit moved into action the same time Regan’s friend Marci did, and between the two of them, they escorted the frantic woman out of the tent before she could make a bigger fool out of herself.
That left Regan standing alone in front of the band.
“Uh Regan, it was fantastic to see you again.” Ash was ever the diplomat. “Don’t be a stranger will ya?” He smacked Ollie and Keaton, motioning them to the back of the tent.
“We’ll just leave you two alone then.” They disappeared somewhere back behind, but Derrick really didn’t care. He’d waited a while for this moment and all he could do was look at her. He was making her nervous. He wasn’t really a good icebreaker but they’d probably stand staring at each other all night otherwise.
“Hi Regan, you look great.”
***
“Five minutes’ guys.” Regan and Derrick both looked at Brit as he yelled at the guys.
At that very moment Regan felt like an idiot. There was no focus all day because of the anticipation of this very minute and now she had no clue what to say to him and time was quickly running out. It was simple, he looked amazing.
“I’m really sorry about my friend, she gets a little fan girl crazy.”
“It’s okay, they get like that sometimes. I’m glad to see you here.”
“Thanks Derrick. I’m glad to see you too.” But she couldn’t help the frown that appeared on her face.
“Are you sure about that? I kind of wish it were under different circumstances. I had no clue til yesterday we were even doing a concert or I would have gotten ahold of you.”
“Oh, it’s fine. I didn’t find out either and then Marci wouldn’t give me any details so this whole meet and greet was a surprise to me. I figured she’d have arranged backstage passes or something.”
“I’m guessing that Ash must have worked it out with Marci and didn’t tell either of us.”
“That sounds about right. They’re both evil like that.” She let a slight smile slip when they nodded in agreement.
“Hey, I guess we have to get out there pretty quick but will you be around after? Maybe we can talk?”
That’s what she wanted right? To talk? That’s exactly what she wanted so she would definitely stick around.
“Sure, I’ll stay.”
“Okay great, make sure you get a spot in front.” He brushed a finger along her cheek, bent toward her and left a soft kiss in the same spot. “Thanks for coming Regan.” He smiled and disappeared behind the curtain.
She walked out of the empty tent to find her friends waiting with the bodyguard.
“Brit, it’s great to see you.” She hugged him and apologized for the outburst from her friend. She’d gotten to know the man fairly well when she traveled with them. While the band was on stage, she would stick close to Brit because girls at rock concerts or any concerts probably, are nuts. They didn’t often let it show she was with one of the guys because women were also vindictive when they wanted something they knew belonged to someone else.
“Great to see you again Regan, don’t be a stranger. Those guys could stand to have you around a lot more. They ate better.”
Regan laughed. “Thanks Brit. See you later.” Regan, Marci, and Suzy pushed their way to a spot in front of the stage.
“Okay girlfriend, spill. Did you get to talk to him?” The crowd was so loud she could barely hear Marci talking.
“Oh, you mean after Suzy’s spaz attack?” She gave the evil eye to her new friend.
“I’m sorry, I couldn’t help myself. He’s just…well you know, he’s DJ Anderson. He’s adorable and I just wanted my hands all over him.”
“It definitely was an ice breaker for sure.” She turned back to Marci and Suzy flittered off to flirt with some unsuspecting sucker.
“So…” Marci prompted.
“We didn’t get a lot of time together and I didn’t say much other than it was nice to see him and that I was sorry for Suzy. Before he had to go though, he asked me to stay after so maybe we could talk.”
“And…”
“No and, not really. Okay, he touched my cheek then kissed me and disappeared so I came to find you. That’s it.”
“Well wasn’t that mostly uneventful.” She thought the same but then again, what had she expected? By the time all the others had their meet time with the guys, that left hardly any for her. It wasn’t like they would jump into bed and pick back up right where they’d left off. Jesus, where did that come from?
The lights on stage started flashing then the crowd got wickedly loud. Regan and Marci looked at each other and shrugged.