“WE NEED TO TALK,” HE said.

“I’m just about to go,” I said. “I’ll give the two of you some time alone.” I stood up and grabbed my bag.

“No. Stay,” he said.

This just got awkward. The three of us sat at the table, no one saying a word. The clink of china and the conversations carried on around us, but at this table, it was like life had stopped. I wanted to say something to break that tension, but what could I say?

The waiter came back to take Crow’s order.

“Nothing for me,” he said.

That seemed to break the spell over us. I needed to force things into motion.

“You have something to say,” I said to Crow when the waiter had moved off. “You came here to say it, so say it.”

He stared at his hands. The noise around us seemed to get louder. Finally, he looked up.

“I’m sorry,” he said to Cindy. “I’m sorry for everything.”

“I’m sorry, too,” she said. “They were hard times. Everything was so confused. I didn’t understand things then, but I know now that everything you did, you did to protect me.”

He nodded. “Still, I did wrong.”

I wanted to reach out and hold him, but he needed to work through this himself. I wasn’t even sure I had the right to touch him any longer.

“You didn’t do wrong,” Cindy said. “We’d been abandoned. There seemed to be no way out, then you saw a way, and you took it. That wasn’t wrong. It was an incredibly tough decision.”

Cindy took a gulp of her tea. I picked up my glass of water. I wasn’t sure where to go from here.

Crow asked Cindy about her life. I relaxed a little, feeling like we were on steadier ground, but they really needed to be alone.

“I’m working as a personal assistant. It’s a great job. Not nearly as exciting as the rock star life, but I like it.”

Crow smiled. “Boyfriend?”

She shook her head, but in a way that suggested there was someone in her life. Maybe not officially yet.

“And you?” she asked.

“Drummer. Rock star.”

“Girlfriend?” she asked, giving me a quick grin.

My heart froze up. How would he answer? Was I still his girlfriend? Or was I an ex now? Did he even want to salvage things?

He looked up. “I had the most amazing woman in the world, but I’m not sure if I’ve screwed things up beyond redemption with her.”

I blinked away the tears that came to my eyes and reached out for his hand. That was all I wanted, an opening, a chance to make this work.

“You’re not beyond redemption,” I said. “Never.”

Crow didn’t look at me, but he squeezed my hand tight. My heart soared. Maybe things could be right between us. The gap that had grown between us could be bridged. Crow had taken the first step.

I let go of his hand. “I’m going to go back to the hotel,” I said. “You two really do need some time alone to sort things out, but after you’ve finished talking, if you want to see me, I’ll be in my room.”

Crow smiled at me. “I’ll come with you.”

“Nope. You’ve only got a short time with Cindy. We have all the time we need.”

I walked out and went back to the hotel with hope growing in my heart. He’d said I was the most amazing woman in the world. All my doubts had been for nothing. We’d work this out. Now that he’d made the first move, every move we made from here on out would be together.

I ran into Elijah on the way back to my room.

“You look happier than you have in a long time, Firecracker,” he said. “Anything I should know about?”

“Yes, I do look happy, and no, it isn’t something you should know about.”

“Oh, I’ll find out. You can’t keep quiet.”

He might be right about that, but this thing was way too new and tender to discuss with Elijah. I didn’t want to discuss it with anyone. I wanted to hold it, examine it.

I got to my room and paced around. I tidied things that didn’t need tidying. I fussed with my hair and my face. Even though I’d wanted to give Cindy and Crow time alone, I wished that he had come back with me. This waiting drove me insane. We didn’t have long until we had to go to the arena. I wanted things clear and certain, and we needed to talk for that to happen.

Then he knocked at my door. I knew his knock without even answering it. Polly bashed and the others banged, but Crow had a quiet knock. Like he didn’t want to intrude but was sure I’d answer anyway.

I opened the door ready to ask him how things had gone with Cindy, but before I could speak, he’d grabbed me in his arms. He squeezed me so tight, I couldn’t speak.

Finally, he let go. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m so sorry.”

I sat down on the bed, and he sat beside me.

“I’m sorry, too,” I said. “I shouldn’t have interfered like that in your life. It was none of my business.”

He put his arm around me. “My life is your business, if you want it to be,” he said.

I rested my head on his shoulder. “Still, I should think before I do things. I just cause trouble.”

He laughed. “I don’t think that will ever change,” he said. “It’s not a bad thing. I thought I could walk away from you, but my life without you isn’t worth a bag of shit. It’s dark and empty and forlorn. The things you do, the crazy, impulsive things, are what make you so special. No one should ever change that.”

We stood for a long time, not talking, just holding each other. I could hear his heartbeat, and it seemed like mine beat in time with his. This was not going to be an easy relationship; I’d known that from the start. But I needed him so much, and he needed me.

He’d broken down that barrier to his heart, and I knew how hard that had been for him. The biggest obstacle to our lives together, even bigger than Polly’s fury, had been defeated.

“How did it go after I left?” I asked him.

“We talked. We’re going to catch up when the tour finishes. I’d have never spoken to her again if it weren’t for you, but I should’ve made the effort.”

I really wanted him to stop talking now and kiss me. As though he’d read my mind, he pulled me tighter to him. His lips brushed against mine as though he was scared of breaking me.

“You don’t have to be so gentle,” I said when he broke away.

I pushed him back on the bed and kissed him again, our bodies grinding against each other. We kept on kissing. He kissed my lips and my neck and my shoulders. I kissed him back just as much. Every kiss was like a fresh surprise, something new to discover.

I’d never have stopped kissing him if Polly hadn’t knocked on my door.

“Ready, kiddo?” she called.

I groaned. “I guess,” I called back.

Damn, I’d have to fix my hair and makeup before I headed out. I wasn’t going to face the rest of the team looking kiss-crushed.

“There’s no way we can get out of this, right?” I asked Crow. “We have to go onstage tonight?”

Even being onstage tonight paled beside the need to be touching him and kissing him and working my way around his body.

“Not unless we want to deal with Damo and Polly and thousands of angry fans.”

“Yeah, Damo and the angry fans I could deal with. If you take on Polly, it’s a deal.”

Crow shook his head. “When we get back, we can pick up right where we left off.” He marked an “X” on my neck with his finger. “That’s the exact spot where I left off.”

I quickly combed my hair.

“Meet me at the elevator before we go down,” he said.

I straightened myself up and threw some things in a bag. When I got to the elevator, Crow walked toward me. He held out his hand.

“I’d love for you to wear this tonight,” he said. It was the firecracker necklace. “I might not be good with words, but, Fay, I love you. Never, ever doubt that.”