Do I know how to play? Of course I know how to play!! I wanted to yell, laughing at how absurd the question was.

But instead I just nodded, suddenly unable to speak for some reason.

Niall gently handed me the bass guitar, still warm from his body. I adjusted the strap so that it hung higher on my chest, the way my Dad taught me to play. None of this low-slung hunchback pose for me.

I nervously plucked out a few notes, getting my fingers used to the heavy strings. Niall leaned in, watching my hand with a curious, professorial look in his face, like I was a particularly confusing piece of sheet music.

Stepping back helped a little. Without his nearness to distract me, I was able to pluck out a low, walking blues progression, something easy with a little bit of funk. Nodding along, I added to it, tapping my toes in a simple rhythm before breaking out into a quick fingered solo that I finished with a flourish.

The last note hung in the air, seeming to reverberate forever. I slapped my hand down on the strings to stop the ringing, and a echoing clunk made the speakers squeal with feedback.

I winced, but Niall's lip curved upward, one side of his face lifting at a time like he was afraid to let himself smile all at once. I didn't realize I was holding my breath until he exhaled too. "You've got soul, don't you darling?" The soft awe in his voice made me shiver a little.

"I guess," I said slowly. "I don't know. It's in my blood."

"Blue-eyed soul," he said, and his eyes darted quickly to mine, and then held me there.

I felt pinned, like the moths my friend Laurel's mom had displayed in those creepy cases on her front porch. His eyes had these bits of gold around the centers, making his pupils look like an eclipse of the sun.

Swallowing hard, I shifted the bass and lifted it back over my neck to hand to him. With the instrument out of my hands, some of the spell was broken. "Good show tonight," I said, formally, stiffly.

"Aye," he agreed taking the bass back with some reluctance. "Having you there made it better."

"Course it did," I teased, tossing my hair like I did with the rest of the crew. "I'm your angel. Right?"

I only meant to be teasing, to be light. But my own words echoed in the space between us and his body stiffened a little, like he heard meaning there in that word I hadn't meant to give it. Or had I?

Suddenly his green eyes were too much for to look at, like staring right into the eclipse of the sun. There was something dancing between us, a spark I didn't want to ignite. Falling for the rockstar, how cliched could I be? It was hard enough being a woman and having my job without making it worse by going all googly-eyed for the boss-man.

Pathetic.

"Right, so, I'm going go help with breakdown," I said, suddenly desperate to get away from him.

He just stood there. I wondered if he had even heard me.

"See you later - " I started to say.

"I want you to replace Nails," he said suddenly.

The words hit me like a punch to the gut. I wanted to double over gasping to catch my breath, but instead I just stared at him, blinking slowly, stupidly. "Wha-?"

"He was only going to be on with us until we could find a viable replacement anyway," Niall explained, his voice warming. He was nodding at me, like we'd already come to an agreement. "I'd say I found someone pretty fucking viable."

"I'm not a tech," I protested.

"You pulled off an admirable job of faking it then."

"Well I mean, I know what I'm doing to a point..."

"Isn't that true of all of us?" he laughed. "Come on. It'd be such a relief to know I was in such capable hands night after night."

I swallowed and tried not to think of him literally being in my hands. Instead I lifted my gaze, finally forcing myself to look him full in the eye.

He had dark lashes that curtained his lids, making him look sleepy, but the green that sparkled underneath was alert and alive. As I watched him, he grinned, his tongue darting out to lick his lips before he smiled again. He seemed...nervous.

One more thing to add to the Surprising Things about Niall Penrose list I was carrying around in my head.

"I don't think I should," I said.

"Well you already did it though, so..."

I shook my head. "That was only for tonight," I told him. "Nails should be back at it tomorrow. I'm not a tech."

"You can be," he said with a grin. "I have that power."

Charity. I shook my head. "I'm not interested."

"The day you saved my life you told me you wanted a raise," he pointed out. "So now I'm offering one."

This time it was my turn to lick my lips. "More money for less work?"

He laughed and some of that cocky British charm seemed to flow back into his face. "Oh believe me, angel, it's way more work."

Being a tech on a major tour. Running the kit for a band as big as Wreckage. It was a fucking huge deal and the culmination of three years of hard fucking work. I needed this. I wanted this. If this was how I had to get it..."Fine. The guys are going to give me so much shit though." I couldn't help my smile.

Niall leaned back on his heels and for a second I saw relief flood his face. And a little bit of triumph too. "Nah darling. They're just jealous they can't play like you, is all."

I lifted my chin. Give as good as you get, that's the rule of being a woman on the road with the band. "They'll think I traded sexual favors for the privilege."

I'd caught him off guard, I could tell, but he recovered quickly. "Ah, well. Would that bother you?" There was a definite twinkle in his eye.

No not a twinkle. A glint.

"I have to go," I blurted.

I was his tech now. I'd be working side by side, hand in hand with Niall Penrose, night after night. I was rushing away from him now but tomorrow we'd be right next to each other again.

I wondered if that thought occurred to him at the same time it did me, because when I turned to glance over my shoulder, he lifted his hand and waved. "See you tomorrow, angel!"