Music of the Heart(82)

A ripple of pleasure ran through me at his words. Pulling my shoulders back, I finally nodded in agreement. It was a good thing because a technician appeared out of nowhere with an exact replica of my guitar.

“But how—” I began as other technicians raced around placing stools on the stage and adjusting the microphones.

With a wicked grin, Jake’s only reply was a wink. He handed off his headset and then turned back to the crowd. We both eased down onto the stools and adjusted our guitars on our laps. I made sure to smooth out my dress to ensure I wasn’t flashing half of Atlanta.

“All right, this is a very special song, and it’s called I’ll Take You with Me.”

Jake began strumming the introduction, and then I joined in. Instead of singing to the audience, he swiveled on his stool to where he could look at me as he sang. Once again, his performance was so heartfelt and strained with emotion that I found tears stinging my eyes. We sang the chorus together, and then it was time for my solo. I didn’t take my eyes off of Jake the entire time. A shadow of a smile played on his lips as he strummed his guitar.

When we finished, I leaned over to kiss him. “I love you, Jake,” I murmured against his lips.

“I love you too, Angel.”

He rose off the stool before taking the microphone off the stand. “Thank you Atlanta! My hometown crowd, you’ve been amazing as always. See ya next year!” Taking my hand, he then led me off the stage. As soon as we were in the wings, he swept me into his arms. Sliding his hands under my butt, he hoisted me up, and I wrapped my legs around him.

Our lips raged against each other until Brayden cleared his throat behind us. After I reluctantly pulled away, I glanced over my shoulder at him. With a smile, he asked, “I guess this means you two are good now?”

Kneading my butt cheeks with his hands, Jake gave me a wicked grin. “I’d say we were more than great.”

I tugged the strands of hair at the nape of his neck hard. “Stop manhandling me in public, Mr. Slater.”

“Angel, you’re going about getting me to stop the wrong way. Pulling my hair is a hell of a turn-on for me,” he whispered in my ear. I shivered at both his words and the warmth of his breath.

“Hmm, so if I let you take me back to the bus and fool around a bit, will you bail on me again?”

A determined gleam burned in his eyes. “Never. You’re mine, and you’re not getting rid of me.”

I grinned. “Good, I’m glad to hear it.”

Frank, along with LL, came up to us. “We’ve got a pretty large crowd outside waiting for you guys. Lots of stuff with them to sign.”

“Okay,” Jake replied. Reluctantly, he eased me back down onto my feet. He still kept an arm around my waist as we started out the backdoor of the arena while the guys followed behind us. At the sight of Jake, a ripple of screams and shouts erupted in the throng of mainly girls and women.

As the fans swarmed at Jake and the guys, I grinned at him. “I’m going on to the bus.”

He smiled and then kissed the crown of my head. “Frank,” he called.

Frank nodded and put a protective arm around my shoulder. “Come on, Angel.”

The fans barely acknowledged us as we weaved past them. They only cared about seeing Runaway Train—but most importantly it’s lead singer.

Unable to keep the goofy expression off my face, I glanced up at Frank. “Did you see what Jake did?”

He chuckled. “Oh yes. I saw and heard.” He winked at me. “And I couldn’t be happier that he’s finally wised up and fallen in love with an amazing girl.”

I giggled deliriously like I could only imagine someone with a few shots of liquor in them would, except I was stone cold sober. Well, extremely high off life at the moment. Twirling out of Frank’s embrace, I walked backwards for a few moments to face him. “I cannot believe he took me out there and sang to me in front of all those people—that I’m really his angel.” I swallowed the lump in my throat. “And that he loves me.”

“I gotta admit that even for a gruff old fart like me, it was downright touching and so damn romantic.”

The piercing squeals of girls screaming interrupted us, causing both of us to glance over Frank’s shoulder. The boys seemed cornered by all the fans, and Jake’s wide-eyes swept over to us. Frank pulled his phone out of his pocket and called for more of the security detail.

“I can make it from here. Go on and help Jake out.”

“Okay, Angel.”

I twirled the hem of my dress back and forth while I felt like I was walking on air. I’m sure if anyone saw me they would swear I was tripping on some elicit substance. I had to bite on my lip to keep from grinning. Jake really and truly loved me. It was an amazing feeling.