A big sign covered the front door, ‘Closed for a private event, will re-open tomorrow at 11 am.’ Pushing through the doors of the bar, she stopped short, the door slamming into her, nearly knocking her over. And who was it? In all his ginger glory, right in front of her, sitting at the bar having a drink – Eric Newcastle. Her anxiety spiked through the roof at seeing him there, hanging out so casually at the bar, talking to Charlie, Mark’s long time bartender.

Taking deep breaths, she attempted to act natural. With each step closer to him, her heart rate increased and her palms got clammier. Every time her foot landed, the floor turned to putty beneath her. She managed to make it to the bar without face planting and cautiously sat on one of the bar stools next to Eric. A trickle of sweat rolled down the center of her back. Charlie’s familiar face popped up from behind the bar. Spiked blonde hair and a killer smile, Charlie cleaned up around here with tips from guys and girls.

“Hey Charlie, can I get a Bombshell?” It was the bar’s signature drink. Gin, lemon, sugar, raspberry liqueur and a blackberry, all served over crushed ice. It went down way too easy.

“Coming right up, Keira,” he said, turning to grab a glass and making a drink for her. As he mixed it he turned back to her. It took every bit of self-control she possessed not to sneak a peek at Eric sitting beside her. “When are we going to go on that date?” Charlie said, leaning on the bar, smiling.

“I think your boyfriend might have a problem with that,” she stage-whispered to him.

“What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him.” He winked at her and went back to finishing up the drink. “But I’m sure there are plenty of other eligible bachelors out there who would knock me out of the running pretty quickly.” He tilted his head toward Eric. Her eyes widened and she hoped that Eric hadn’t noticed Charlie’s ridiculously over the top exchange. She couldn’t figure out where to put her hands or her feet. She folded and unfolded her arms. What was she supposed to do with her feet again? Should she talk to him and make a fool of herself or not talk to him and make a fool of herself? He took the choice out of her hands.

A hand extended out in front of her face. That hand belonged to Eric Newcastle, her heart pounded and she worked to keep her breathing natural. The patchwork of tattoos up and down his arms didn’t make any sense as far as she could tell, but that made him even more mysterious. There were tarot cards, cartoon characters, symbols and more, all varying degrees of artistry. She glanced over at him.

“Eric,” he said, turning on his stool toward her.

“Keira,” she said, extending her own hand and shaking his. She continued to pump it up and down.

“You’re a friend of Mark’s?” Eric said, giving her the once over.

“Yeah, and you?” She realized their handshake hadn’t stopped and her hand’s clamminess had to feel like he was shaking a dead fish. A flush crept up her neck and across her cheeks. The shaking continued, she couldn’t stop herself. Just stop shaking his hand. Any time now. Charlie slid her drink to her and she took that distraction to finally let go of his hand. Picking it up, she pushed the tiny straw out of the way and gulped the drink down.

“I guess so, he gives me free booze, and that’s always a friend in my book.” He tilted his glass toward hers. “A woman after my own heart,” he said, downing his own drink and slamming the glass down on the bar. He smiled at her and his bright smile took her breath away.

“Another round?” he said, giving her some serious bedroom eyes and holding out his glass to Charlie. My god this man set her ablaze, she squeezed her thighs together and swiveled back to the front. Her stomach summersaulted and churned, but she couldn’t tell if that was one hundred percent because of Eric or her culinary adventure earlier that night.

“I think that would be a bit too fast for me. I’ll be nursing the next one.” She tipped her glass toward Charlie. “Another round, Charlie?” He placed the new drink down in front of Eric and went to make hers.

“Coming right up.”

“How do you know Mark, Keira?”

“He’s my favorite nude model.”

Eric spat his drink out across the bar, Charlie barely managed to dodge the spray and shot them an annoyed look.

“Sorry! Sorry, Charlie,” he said, coughing. He grabbed some napkins and wiped his mouth and nose. She thumped him on the back. He finally composed himself, getting his coughing under control.

“What?” he choked out. Keira let out another belly laugh, that gave her a small twinge in her side.

“Just kidding. Well, not entirely kidding. He has posed nude for me before.” She’d been short a model, he stepped in to pick up some extra cash and Keira loved to bring it up. Mark would never live it down.

“Seriously?” Eric’s eyes were so wide, she thought he might pull a muscle.

“I mean, I do run a figure drawing class where we use nude models and he has modeled for the class before.”

“Wow, I wouldn’t have thought Mark would go for something like that.” His eyes sparkled, even under the dim bar lights and she fought the urge to let out a sigh.

“I’ll admit it was a moment of temporary insanity on his part that I took advantage of, but he did a great job,” she said, laughing.

“I’m sure he did. More power to him,” he said, raising his glass in the air in a salute.

“You made it!” They both turned and looked over their shoulders as the man of the hour entered the bar from the back. Mark gave Eric a hug and gave Keira a hug and kiss on the cheek. She tried not to get misty at the thought of Mark leaving so soon.

“I wouldn’t miss your going away party. Can’t believe you’re moving to NYC to start up a new bar.”

“Neither can I. It’s more following Jen for her art fellowship. We will see how well I do with starting a new place in New York. I can’t say it’s not scary.”

“Can’t be as scary as when you modeled for my class,” she said, taking a small sip from her glass. Mark rolled his eyes.

“True, but I have to say that without that, I wouldn’t have met Jen. It seems that once she saw me au naturel she couldn’t resist.” Mark flexed his muscles. Eric chuckled and it was Keira’s turn to roll her eyes. Taking another sip, it hit her in the gut like a punch. Maybe water would be a better choice for the rest of the night.

* * *

Eric sat stranded in a sea of people after Mark headed back to his office to sort out a few last-minute things. He’d grabbed Jen’s hand and pulled her up to his office like there was fire nipping at their heels the second she walked into the bar. Not that he could blame Mark, his girlfriend would turn most guy’s heads. Her take no prisoners attitude did it for Mark. Jen was pretty, not as hot as the bohemian woman with the flowing light brown curls who sat down next to him, but still, he could appreciate a good-looking woman.

Keira caught him off guard from the minute she walked into the bar. When she paused in the doorway and took his breath away. She reminded him of that girl in high school that everyone loved, who always had a smile for anyone. Her big cloud of curly hair flowed down around her shoulders and the lights behind her lit it up giving her an ethereal glow. A song came to mind the moment he’d laid eyes on her. The lyrics played on the tip of his tongue and his fingers itched for his notepad the whole time he sat next to her. He drummed his fingers along his legs.

He couldn’t believe how quickly it hit him. His music and love life had all but shut down since the Talia debacle, not really interested in writing or getting involved with anyone. Looking at her out of the corner of his eye as she hopped up on the stool, he couldn’t help but smile. An energy shot through him when they were only inches apart on the stools. In her flowy skirt and top that hinted at what it covered up, she was the kind of girl he’d never had the balls to go up to in high school. She was definitely the girl guys were tripping over themselves to get a chance to speak to and she had no idea what she did to them.

He introduced himself and couldn’t help but get distracted by her full pink lips as she sipped her drink, laughed with Mark or talked to him. So much so, that there were a few times, she had to repeat herself because he was entranced. Her light green eyes and the chestnut waves around her shoulders pulled him in so deep that he’d forgotten how to speak. She stared at him expectantly and he hadn’t heard a word. He shook his head to clear the distracted fog that clouded his mind.

“Sorry, could you repeat that?” He knew the flush was working its way up his neck.

“What’s it like traveling all over the country on tour?” She asked, her eyes sparkling.

“It’s hectic and boring all at the same time.” A frown creased her mouth and her brow furrowed.

“Really? I would have thought it would be exciting.”

“Touring with Uncharted is much different than when I was on my own. With Uncharted it’s going to be a whole new level. I was driving an old beat up van, driving all night to get from one place to another for a show that might have ten people there to see me and fifty who were pissed I wasn’t the usual house band.” He held up his finger for another beer from Charlie.

“It kept me on my toes because I was always on the move. On the big tour, it’s a lot of hurry up and wait. We’re packed into the bus every night after the show. You crash in a bunk, wake up in the morning and have ten hours to kill before the show. We do sound and lighting checks, then wait some more.”

“Do you get to sightsee?” She said, taking a small sip of her water. Her lips glistened in the light of the bar and he couldn’t help but want to run his finger over them or even better, lick that water off. Shaking his head, he tried not to drift off to his own little dream world, where a reel starring Keira currently played.

“No, not really. The venues where we play aren’t always central and getting around can be tricky. And I’m the opener, I do not want to screw something up and be late. I need to be there at all times in case they need me for something.”

“That sucks,” she said, her eyes straying from his. His riveting storytelling skills lacking, she looked distractedly behind him. He needed to get things back on track.

“The payoff is the show. Getting up in front of a crowd gives me a high like nothing else can, but when I’m opening the reception isn’t always the best…” He drifted off, not wanting to turn into a poor me sob story. She laid her soft warm hand over his on the bar and gave it a small squeeze.

“I guess I never thought about all the other stuff that goes on with the tour. We only ever see the on-stage part of it. I hadn’t thought about how that would be going from place to place and how it might be if you’re not the main attraction.”

“Don’t worry about me. I get to do what I love and get paid for it. You can’t really get any better than that,” he said, turning his hand over in hers, so he held her hand in his. Her pulse raced under his fingers and relief washed over him to know he wasn’t the only one affected by their talk. She cleared her throat and gingerly pulled her hand out of his and put it up on the bar, resting her other hand on the side of her face.

“Enough about me. What do you do?”

“I’m a teacher.”

“That’s cool. Little kids?”

“Mainly adults. Community courses over at the university.”

A large group of people came pouring into the bar right then. Checking his phone, a punctual bunch, they were right on time for the party to start. Friends stopped by to say hi to Keira and drew her attention. She smiled at him over their shoulders.

“I’m looking forward to seeing you perform. I’ll be front and center,” she said, hopping off the stool to greet the new arrivals. Hugs, kisses and excited chatter flowed from all the groups around him.

There he was back at the bar on his own, surrounded by people he didn’t know and the one person he’d really wanted to talk to had been snatched away by other party goers. Nursing his drink, he waited for his cue from Mark that it was time for him to hop up on stage. There wasn’t a backstage or he would have gone back there to hang. He was itching to start playing. That was a guaranteed way to get comfortable in a crowd of people. Start playing up on stage and every doubt he ever had dissolved away and it was nothing but him, his guitar and the music they made together.