Eli came up behind Rachel and she suddenly gasped and jumped as if he’d goosed her. Rachel introduced him to the newcomers and then said. “Eric, Aaron, you look familiar to me. Have we met before?”
Eric grinned and said, “We get that a lot. We must have those kinds of faces. They say everyone has a doppelganger.”
The others laughed and “Aaron” frowned at him before turning to give his attention to the band that was playing what she had recently discovered was one of their number one hits. “They’re good.”
Grace chuckled and said, “They sound pretty close to the original, especially considering that they’re playing such a popular song. I swear if True and Noble Strong ever showed up in this place, the single women would probably swoon.”
Presley Ann bit her lip, wondering if Grace had caught on but nothing else was said.
“Eric” got Jared’s attention and said something to him quietly, while “Dick” stood by shaking to his head, nixing whatever “Eric” was saying. Jared gave a quick nod, his face not betraying his mood. “Dick” didn’t like whatever was being said but “Eric” clearly didn’t care as he came around to Presley Ann and held out a hand to her.
“May I have this dance?”
Jared and Kendry both nodded to her, reassurance in their eyes as she looked to them to judge their reaction. “Have fun, angel,” Jared murmured and kissed her.
She felt eyes on her as she followed True through the crowd, his hand warm around hers. Bizarre didn’t begin to describe how she felt as he turned to her, a tender look in his eyes.
“You look starstruck, gorgeous,” he murmured as she placed her hand in his and put her hand on his shoulder.
“I think I am. Are they all watching?”
True grinned and nodded. “Of course they are. They’re staring at the beautiful woman and the lucky guy she’s dancing with. That’s all. Congratulations on getting engaged.”
“Thank you. I wish I’d known you were coming. Where are you staying at?”
“We were able to get a room at the Hourglass Inn when they had a cancellation. The bus is in Morehead, where it draws less attention. How’s Whit?”
“He’s fine. He’s spending the night with his grandfather and his great-uncle.”
“That’s cool. I’d like to meet your dad sometime, too.”
“He said the same thing.” She smiled, thinking of the manner in which her dad had made the request. She’d reminded him that True hadn’t known about Whit or he would’ve been there sooner.
“You okay?” he asked as he guided her in the two-step.
“I’m still processing the surprise. How are you doing? Did you have a nice Christmas?”
“It was okay. The tour kept us from spending much time at home but we were able to see our parents at least. We’ll be here until day after tomorrow and I wondered if it might be possible to spend some time with you and Whit.”
Presley Ann looked down at her hand in his and then looked up at him.
“Honey, if you were single, I wouldn’t be asking, I’d be begging to spend time with you, trust me. I talked to your men and it sounds like they care about Whit—and you—just as much as I do. They were crystal clear about you being engaged now but they understand that there’s a connection between us as well. You and I need to catch up, and I would expect that if I spent time with Whit that you’d want to be there, too. After all, you don’t know me well. I could be an uncaring bastard who’s just efficient at hiding it.”
Presley Ann shook her head. “No way. I can see what kind of man you are. It’s in your eyes. Now, your brother? He’s another story. He’s scary.”
True threw back his head and laughed. “I’m telling him you said that.”
“Fine, I know he doesn’t like me.”
True shook his head. “You have him all wrong. He gets billed as the dark twin, and he pulls off that intimidating persona pretty well but he’s not really like that. He’s loyal as hell, and what you saw last week was him protecting me. He’s good at hiding his feelings. After he had a chance to cool down and I talked to him, he felt bad for the things he said to you. You have no way of knowing it but when we’re on the road, there are all kinds of security measures that have to be taken because some people are crazy. We have awesome fans but there are those who take it to a whole new level of obsession. He saw the resemblance with Whit and thought you were planning to extort money from us.”
Presley Ann shook her head and let her eyes close for a moment. “I barely have time for the basics without hatching some crazy plot.”