Chapter Thirty-Two

Harper

“Well, it looks like you got to take me out for a super swanky night out after all,” I say.

“Not every night can be hot dogs off a food truck,” he replies.

The waitress comes over and drops off the bottle of wine Rob ordered – and thankfully, didn't bother to check my ID. I'm not that far off my twenty-first birthday, but I'm far enough that I'm not legally allowed to drink just yet. I guess when you're dressed to the nines and are with a billionaire, people are more willing to let things slide.

Miguel and Jack, Rob's two bodyguards are a table over from us. And even though they look like they're relaxed and at ease, I can tell that they're ready to spring into action at a moment's notice. They're both very nice men, but I would never want to be on the wrong side of them. I'm still not used to having bodyguards shadowing us around everywhere we go, but they're both pretty good at making me forget that they're there. They do a good job of just blending in.

Rob pours us both a glass of wine and sets the bottle down. He picks up his glass and holds it up. I follow suit and we touch our glasses together lightly.

“To us,” he says. “To – whatever this amazing, crazy, insane thing between us is.”

“What you said,” I reply with a laugh. “It's all of those things and more.”

We take a sip of our wine and set our glasses back down, staring into one another's eyes, the candlelight glinting off of his eyes, making them sparkle. I really don't know what this thing between us is. I haven't had time to stop and analyze it, really. I know at some point, I'll probably need to, but for now, I'm happy to just sit back and enjoy the ride – and I get the impression that he's happy to do that as well.

That's not to say that whatever this is between us is fleeting. Or something I think can just be discarded at a moment's notice. Far from it. What I feel for him is taking root, deep within me. When I look at him, I feel that swarm of butterflies in my belly and feel my heart pounding so hard, I'm sure it's leaving bruises on the inside of my chest.

I've never been in love, so I can't say I know exactly what it feels like. But as I look into his eyes from across the table, my heart swells with a feeling so intense and powerful, I feel like I want to cry – in a good way, of course. And I know, without a moment's doubt or hesitation that I'm falling in love with his man.

“You really look beautiful tonight,” he says.

I look down at the dress and scoff. “What, this old thing?”

He laughs of course, because it's one of the dresses Sabrina and I had picked up the other day. It's actually a very similar dress to the blue one I'd worn the other night on the pier – this one is green though.

“You're not looking too bad yourself tonight, you know,” I say.

“I pale in comparison to you,” he says. “As does every other woman in this restaurant. Hell, in this whole city tonight.”

I feel the heat rush to my cheeks and I have to look down at the table. Rob reaches across and puts his fingers under my chin and raises my head, forcing me to look into his eyes.

“You're going to have to get used to me telling you just how beautiful you are, you know,” he says. “Because I plan on telling you at least once a day for however long you'll have me.”

My heart, which had been swelling to cartoonish proportions, suddenly melted all over my insides as I listen to him speak. He always seems to know the right thing to say. Always knows how to make me feel special. Not to mention the way he looks at me – he looks at me like I'm the only woman in the room. Maybe even the only woman in the world. At least, to him.

“You have quite the way with words, Mr. Rossi,” I say.

“Remember, I minored in Comparative Literature,” he says. “I specialized in the romantics.”

I laugh and shake my head. “Well, you are certainly putting that education to good use right about now.”

The waitress comes and we place our orders. I sample foods that I've never heard of, let alone tasted before. And each thing I try is even more amazing than the last. Everything is just so good, I want to keep eating and eating. Eventually though, I'm stuffed to the point I feel like I'm going to burst and have to stop just so I don't die.

We sit back and let our food settle as we talk for a while and finish our bottle of wine. Rob keeps checking his watch, and it's making me curious.

“Do you have another date?” I tease.

He shrugs. “Yeah, would you mind going back to the room with Miguel and Jack and I'll meet up with you later?”

I toss my napkin at him. “You're a monster.”

“That's not the first time I've heard that,” he says and grins. “Actually, we have an appointment and I just need to make sure we're not late.”

“Oh, this mysterious surprise you keep talking about.”

“Indeed.”

“Color me curious.”

He checks his watch one more time. “Well, let's go satisfy that curiosity then, shall we?”

“Yes, please.”

We get up from the table and he drapes my wrap around my shoulders. With Miguel and Jack following behind us, we leave the restaurant and head out onto the bustling streets of Las Vegas.

~ooo000ooo~

We stop at the door of a swanky, hipster looking lounge called Nova's. It actually reminds me a lot of The Grind back in New York – only about three times the size. People are coming and going and the place is packed. It really doesn't strike me as the kind of place Rob would frequent, which only piques my curiosity even more.

“What are we doing here?” I ask.

He gives me a casual shrug. “Just enjoying a nice evening out with the most beautiful woman in the world.”

I cast a skeptical eye at him. “Uh huh,” I say. “What aren't you telling me?”

“Honestly, a lot of things,” he says.

“Oh, that's comforting.”

He laughs. “Would I ever steer you wrong or put you in harm's way?”

I look at him and smile. “Of course not,” I say. “At least, you better not or I'll kick your butt.”

“Trust me,” he says. “We're just here to see a show.”

I look at him, arching an eyebrow. “That's all you had to tell me.”

“That would have ruined the surprise.”

He takes my hand and leads me into the club. The man at the door nods and Rob leans over, whispering something in his ear. The man nods again, this time a little more emphatically and leads us through the maze of tables inside Club Nova. My curiosity is growing by leaps and bounds when we get to a table at the very front of the club. The man takes a small sign marked “reserved” off and seats us.

The interior of the club is dim, but the atmosphere is buzzing and electric. The sound of a hundred hushed conversations hangs over us and when I look at Rob, he's smiling. Our table sits before a stage that's decked out with dozens of candles and is very moody. A microphone sits in front of a chair and sitting beside the chair is a guitar.

But as I look closer, my eyes widen and my heart starts to pound furiously. I shoot a look at Rob who's looking back at me, the smile on his face widening.

“What did you do?” I ask.

He shrugs. “I told you, we're here to see a show.”

“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Club Nova,” the emcee's voice booms over the speakers.

I whip my head up and see the man who'd led us to the table standing onstage, leaning over and speaking into the microphone. The club grows hushed and the air is suddenly filled with anticipation.

“We're lucky enough to have a very special guest with us tonight,” the emcee says. “And she's somebody you should probably get pretty familiar with because I have a feeling we're going to be hearing a lot about and from her very, very soon.”

“Rob,” I hiss. “I can't –”

“So, let's give a very warm Club Nova welcome to Miss Harper Wilkins,” the emcee almost shouts and leads the audience in a round of applause.

The spotlight swings from the emcee to me and when the light hits me, I feel like my skin is on fire. My cheeks are burning and I'm positive my heart is going to burst out of my chest any minute. Rob is applauding and smiling at me, his eyes sparkling.

But beyond that, what I see on his face is pure love. Belief. He believes in me. He must, to have gone to the lengths he did to set this up. And that makes my heart swell with pride. Swell with love. I lean over and kiss him, which draws even louder applause from the audience.

“You're going to knock them dead,” he says when I pull back. “You've got the voice of an angel, Harper Wilkins. They deserve to hear you. You deserve to be heard.”

“I – I don't even know what to say,” I whisper in his ear.

“You don't have to say anything,” he says. “Just sing for me.”

“Thank you,” I say.

He pats me on the butt and gives me another smile. “Go on, get your butt up there,” he says. “Your adoring fans are waiting.”

I climb up onto the stage and feel the swarm of butterflies in my stomach. Only, this time they seem larger, batter me harder. My heart is racing and my hands are trembling – and for the first time in my life, I realize I'm in the grips of actual stage fright.

I sit down on the chair – mostly so I don't pass out or fall over. Picking up my guitar, I look at it for a moment, still not believing what's happening. The crowd goes silent as everybody waits for me to start and I look out into the darkened room, the people little more than shadows and silhouettes. I clear my throat and adjust the microphones to my height. And when I have that task complete – really just a stalling tactic to give myself time to gather my wits about me – I lean forward.

“You'll have to forgive me,” I say. “This is all a bit of a surprise to me. I mean, look at me. I'm not exactly dressed to be up on a stage tonight, right? There I was enjoying a lovely dinner and now – well – here I am.”

There's some laughter and applause of encouragement from the crowd. I shift my gaze from the audience to the table in front – to Rob. And as I focus on him, everything else seems to just melt away. I'm no longer playing to a packed room – a room far larger than anything I've ever played in before – I'm playing for just one man. It's just me and Rob in that room. My heart slows and the trembling subsides. As our eyes lock onto one another's, a sense of peace and calm settles down over me and I begin to play.

And as I play my guitar and sing, the magic of what I do takes hold of me. It's not long before I'm completely lost in the music, caught up in the lyrics, and feel the energy of my songs and the crowd flowing through me. I put every ounce of my emotion – everything I feel for Rob – into my performance. I channel my growing love for this man into my voice and belt out my songs – playing maybe better than I ever have before.

And when I strum the last chord and that song ends, the crowd erupts into cheers. The applause is thunderous and I can feel the vibration ripple through my body. I feel my energy rising like a tide and my heart swell like it's never done before. Rob is looking at me with an expression of absolute awe on his face and I can't help myself – tears of joy leak from my eyes and roll down my cheeks.

The crowd is chanting for more and when I look to the side of the stage, the man who'd introduced me is smiling. He points to his watch and flashes me ten fingers – I have ten more minutes to fill. Gone is the uncertainty that gripped me when I stepped onto the stage and in its place is a confidence I've never felt before. The applause is heady. It's intoxicating. And in that moment, ten minutes doesn't feel like enough – I feel like I want to keep singing all night.

Leaning forward, I speak into the microphone. “Thank you so much,” I say. “Since you're not tired of me yet, I'd like to play you another song –”

Another burst of cheers and applause accompanies that announcement and I smile as I wait for it to fade.

“I wrote this one a while ago, back when I was growing up in Blackburn, Georgia,” I say. “And I'd like to dedicate this one to that very special man in my life.”

I see Miguel nudge Rob and give him a look. Rob just smiles and when he looks up at me, the expression on his face is one I want to remember for the rest of my life – it's an expression of the purest love and adoration I've ever seen one person give another. Riding on the wave of emotion and the buzz of the crowd, I start to play the next song.

~ooo000ooo~

“Thank you just seems completely insufficient,” I say.

“Watching you play your heart out like you did is thanks enough,” he says.

We're laying in bed later that night, our naked bodies intertwined and pressed together. I lay my head on his chest and trace circles across his skin with the tip of my fingernail. The buzz of tonight's performance is still running through me. The electricity firing through my veins hasn't abated in the least – and the smile I've worn since that first burst of applause hasn't seemed to diminish either.

I've never felt more amazing than I do in that moment. And I owe it all to this most amazing man.

“They really loved you up there,” he says.

“I don't even have the words,” I say. “I've never felt anything like that before. I've never played in front of a crowd that large.”

“No?”

I shake my head. “Not unless you count playing on a subway platform.”

Rob laughs. “I'm really proud of you, Harper,” he says. “You were beyond amazing tonight.”

I plant a soft kiss on his stomach. “I can't believe you did all that. For me.”

He strokes my hair and even in the darkness of the room, I know he's smiling. “Why wouldn't I?” he asks. “You're amazing. The world should get to see just how amazing you are.”

“It seems like maybe this little spontaneous trip to Vegas wasn't all that spontaneous after all,” I say. “Seems pretty well coordinated.”

He shrugs. “Maybe not entirely spontaneous,” he says. “But, it was very last minute.”

“How did you get my guitar here?” I ask. “I didn't see it with the bags when we were getting on the plane.”

“I have my ways,” he says in a dramatic voice.

“I don't know how you got it on the plane without me seeing it,” I say.

He laughs softly. “That would have ruined the surprise,” he says.

“I still can't believe you didn't even give me a little bit of a heads up,” I say. “You totally sandbagged me.”

“You're really not very good at surprises, are you?”

“Clearly not,” I say and smile.

He places a soft kiss on the top of my head and strokes my hair.

“I wanted to surprise you,” he says. “I wanted it to be spontaneous. I wanted to hear you sing right from your heart.”

“Well, you succeeded,” he says.

“And it was absolutely magical.”

I sigh and melt against him. “It really was,” I say. “That's the perfect word for it. Magical.”

“Oh, I forgot to tell you. Ken, the owner of Nova, said you're welcome back to play anytime you want,” he says.

It all feels so surreal. Like I'm walking through a dream and none of this is reality. But the warm body beneath me is very real. Even still, I almost have to pinch myself.

Slowly, the buzz of the evening begins to wear off and I feel exhaustion starting to creep in. I'd ended up playing for almost an hour, and given the emotional energy I'd expended up on stage, I'm starting to feel the drain of it.

But, it's a good exhaustion. The best exhaustion I've ever felt in my life.

“You make me feel amazing,” I say softly. “You make me feel so incredible and so loved.”

“And you make me feel the same way, Harper.”

I place another soft kiss on his stomach and feel my eyes fluttering closed. I struggle against it, but the darkness creeps in at the edges of my vision and before I know it, the dark grip of sleep seizes me and pulls me under.