As Long As You Love Me ✓

27. Give Your Heart a Break

Hear I'm an uncle again.

Miss you.

She blinked back tears. What a stupid, silly girl she was. He missed her. He loved her, and if he wasn't ready to say it yet, then she needed to wait until he was. God, she wanted to call him. Hear him breathe. Gasp. Moan. The phone sex had that effect and knowing it did, caused heat to spread from her head to her toes, which curled at the thought of his naked body.

She understood sex didn't mean commitment, but she also knew commitment couldn't survive without it. Besides, they'd not had sex—yet. Unless she counted hand jobs and phone sex. She giggled. That sounded like a song title for sure. She needed to get her mind out of the gutter. If not, she'd have to get herself off, and somehow it wasn't as much fun without Gabriel watching.

Switching off the bedside lamp, she snuggled deep into the comforter. One more day and he'd be home. She couldn't wait.

*

The next morning when Zari woke and squinted at her phone screen, she bolted upright. Eleven o'clock! She never slept that late. But then again, she rarely stayed up past midnight. If she kept this up, she really would be living like a musician. Well, tonight, she'd do it all over again. But first, she wanted to go to the hospital and play for the young patients if the weather permitted.

There were no windows in the room so she'd have to rely on her radar phone app or go to the bar. After washing her face, she pulled on her pants, threaded her arms through her sweater, and stuck her feet into her boots.

Since Grillenium Falcon served lunch, they would already be open, but probably not busy. And that was a good thing because she didn't have any makeup. She finger combed her hair, threw her purse and jacket over her arm, and opened the bedroom door. The aroma of grilled onions and peppers assaulted her senses. Ah, chicken fajitas. Grillenium Falcon's top menu item. Taking a few steps, she paused and scanned the place. No more than a dozen customers sprinkled throughout the dining area.

Dale glanced up. "Hey, rock star."

That made her laugh. If there was one thing she was sure of, it was that she'd never been considered a star of any kind. Not now or in her past life. "That's funny."

"No, it isn't. Jerry put a video of last night's performance online, and the damn thing has gone viral."

"What do you mean, viral?"

"Like someone shared it on YouTube and as of an hour ago, it already had thirty thousand views. It's all over Facebook and Twitter now, too."

"Are you kidding?"

"Nope. I have a feeling tonight we'll have standing room only. Hell, you may have to do three sets because I don't plan to turn anyone away. I've already ordered extra beer. The truck should be here this afternoon."

Zari staggered to a stool and slid onto it, staring incredulously. Her heart pattered - excitedly or anxiously, she didn't know. "I can't believe it. I never dreamed that many people would like silly songs."

"Well, they do, and I think we need to negotiate a contract because I don't want you going anywhere else. Hell, if this keeps up, you'll draw crowds as big as the Festival and it's been going on for over fifty years."

"Could be just my fifteen minutes of fame and in a few days, it'll be over."

"Maybe. But in case I'm right, I've already got my lawyer drawing up the agreement. I'm thinking you'll be exclusive to Grillenium Falcon for say—six months. Does that sound okay?"

Zari massaged her temples to stop the pounding in her head. Surely she was dreaming, and any minute she'd wake and find herself standing in the middle of her backyard staring at the clouds making them into animals, objects or faces. As a child, that had been her escape from reality.