It’s like a dream coming true. One minute, I was sitting here, trying to lull myself to sleep by watching a brainless movie. The next, she came to the door.

And that was it.

Everything changed.

Everything.

I can’t stop touching her. It’s like I still can’t quite believe she’s real. She’s never going back. If I touch her, she’s really here. Finally. She must feel the same way, since she’s doing the same thing.

“I guess you must’ve talked to my mother,” I say.

“Hey! If I hadn’t, would I be here? She was only being a mom. It took guts to come to me the way she did—she was sure you would kill her.”

“I’m not sure I won’t,” I growl.

“Aren’t you glad I’m here?” she smiles.

“Of course. It’s my stupid ego getting in the way.” I roll my eyes with a shrug. “I’m just a stupid man. What can I say?”

“Yeah, well, I’ve been a foolish woman.” She shakes her head with a frown. “I should’ve known you wouldn’t hurt me the way I thought you did.”

“You’re not a mind reader,” I remind her. “You couldn’t have known.”

“You were stubborn.”

“I thought I was doing the right thing. I’ll stand by that til the day I die.”

She squeezes my hand. “I know. I’m not sure if I should thank you or slap you.”

“As long as you slap me the right way,” I suggest, raising an eyebrow, and she giggles. I’ve missed that giggle. It’s like balm for my soul.

“I mean it, though. I know you did it for the right reasons, and I love you for it, but you knew that was what stood between us—that day, the audition. Why didn’t you tell me at the airport?”

“I wanted to,” I admit, “but would you have believed me? Be honest. Would you have accused me of making up stories?”

She grimaced. “Yeah. I guess I would have. I wasn’t in my right mind that day.”

“Who would be? You were attacked.” I wrap my arms around her the way I wanted to that day and she rests her head on my shoulder. “I’m so sorry about that.”

“It’s an occupational hazard,” she murmurs, snuggling up against me. She smells like a funny mixture of hairspray, makeup, and sweat.

“Did you have a show tonight?” I ask.

“Yeah. Were you following along with me?”

“No. I can just tell you were performing.”

She straightens up, gasping. “Oh, my God! I probably stink!”

“You don’t stink,” I laugh, “but you don’t smell the way I’m used to smelling you, is all. God, you must be exhausted. Performing, flying here …”

“It’s no worse than moving on to a new city right after a show,” she points out.

That gets me thinking. “You’re not missing a new stop on the tour for me, are you?”

She shakes her head. “I have two days off, then it’s on to Philadelphia. As far as I’m concerned, I’ll never go back out there again.”

“Philadelphia?”

“Tour.” Her voice is firm, and her face is stony.

“Are you sure you mean that? Didn’t you just get started?”

“I’m not as happy doing anything as I am when I sit here with you right now. We have each other, finally. Why would I want to go back on tour and ruin that?”

“You could never ruin that, no matter how hard you tried.” I cup her chin in my palm. “You don’t have to worry about me. You only have to worry about whether or not you’re really happy.”

“You know I’m not.” She sighs. “But I did make a commitment, and I have twenty cities left to go.”

“Wow. Twenty. I don’t know how you do it.”

She grins. “I could do it standing on my head. I’m not concerned with the length or the number of cities.”

“What are you concerned with?”

“Not having you. You’re what I’ve been missing all this time. I was too shy to tell you that before, when we were together. It’s all you.” She shrugs as tears fill her eyes. “When we performed together at Artie’s, it was like all the old feelings came back. I remembered why I used to love doing this. I got back what I was missing all along.”

“So what are you saying? I should get up there on stage with you?”

“No. You know that’s not what I mean.”

“Oh, so you’re trying to hog the spotlight?”

“Shut up!” She gives me a playful shove, then gets serious again. “I don’t know what I’m saying. I just want to be with you, is all. Knowing you’re in my life and that at the end of the tour, I’ll be coming back to you, will go a long way.”

“What if I meet you whenever I can, wherever you happen to be? I can’t guarantee that I can follow you around everywhere, but …”

“You mean, you can’t be my groupie?” she smirks.

“I’ve always wanted to be a groupie, too. Damn. But I’ll do the best I can.”

Her smile is radiant. “That would be amazing.”

“Then, it’ll happen. Whatever you need. After this tour—well, we’ll talk about what happens next. I’ll stand by whatever you want to do.”

“Thank you.” She winds her arms around my neck and squeezes tight, then chuckles. “I guess I’d better take a shower if I want to keep climbing all over you like this.”

“Mm, climbing all over me. That sounds good. Maybe I’ll join you?”

She stands and takes me by the hand, then giggles. “Here I am, trying to be seductive, but I don’t know where the bathroom is.”

“I’ll lead the way,” I chuckle, and we go upstairs together. While I’m turning on the shower, she takes off her clothes. Hallelujah. I didn’t think I would ever get to see or touch her again, but here she is. In my bathroom, about to get into the shower with me. If I’m dreaming, I don’t want to wake up.

Minutes later, we’re soaping each other up and making a huge mess, laughing through it all. Our laughter fades as we start touching more interesting places, and before I know it we’re wrapped in each other’s arms, leaning against the shower wall. I don’t know what’s hotter—her or the water.

“I love you,” she whispers into my mouth before covering it with hers, kissing me until it hurts. I give it right back to her, while one of my hands slides over her slick skin until it finds its place between her legs.

“I love you, too,” I groan, then set about the job of making her come like she never has before. It’s a tough job, but somebody’s got to do it.

From now on, it’ll only be me.