"A bracelet maybe. She wears bracelets."
Trey chuckled. "You're in over your head, buddy."
Eric scanned the row of cheap leather jewelry on the far wall. There was nothing there that he felt compelled to give her.
"Just give her a hug, and tell her she looks pretty," Trey suggested.
Eric's shoulders slumped. The need to buy her something was almost overwhelming, but he didn't want to give her something that had no meaning behind it.
They left the store, Mitch keeping a watchful eye for potential confrontations. As they walked past a jewelry store, a necklace caught Eric's eye. He stopped abruptly, and Trey slammed into his back.
Trey followed his line of vision to the display case. "Eric, don't even think about it."
"I have to get it. It's perfect."
"Butterflies?"
"It reminds me of things she keeps in her panties on occasion." Eric dashed into the store.
Trey grabbed Eric's arm before he could locate a salesperson. "Eric, it's much too expensive. You're going to make her feel uncomfortable. Like she owes you something."
"The cost doesn't matter. It reminds me of her. I need to get it."
"Eric, this is a bad idea. Think about how it will make her feel if you drape forty thousand dollars worth of diamonds around her neck."
"Beautiful?" That's all he wanted for her. A constant reminder that he thought she was beautiful.
"She doesn't need a necklace to feel beautiful."
Eric took a steadying breath. Maybe Trey was right.
"Can I help you?" a saleslady asked, looking as if she thought he, Trey, and Mitch were about to rob the place.
"Maybe."
***
Rebekah glanced up from her video monitor to find Marcus leaning against her soundboard with his arms crossed over his chest.
"Mind sharing that 'Sever' program with me?" He didn't look at her when he asked. She was tempted to tell him no, but knew refusing would hurt Sinners and their fans, not Marcus.
"Do you have a thumb drive?" she asked.
He handed it to her and waited while she replaced her drive with his and saved her file to his device.
"You'll probably want to turn up rhythm and bass for the playback," she suggested. "Eric needs to hear it over the drums when he sings the chorus. He gets his cues fr-"
"Don't fuckin' tell me how to do my job," Marcus grumbled.
She handed him the drive, and he stalked away. He offered her no "thank you." No "kiss my ass." Nothing. She understood why Marcus was angry, but taking it out on her wasn't benefiting him, unless his goal was to look like an asshole. She wasn't sure how to get him to understand that. The tension between them was affecting the entire crew as Marcus prodded them into picking sides. Because she rode on the bus with the band instead of the roadies, Marcus had plenty of opportunity to badmouth her.
"Sound check," Rebekah announced to the sound crew.
When they had Sinners' equipment sounding perfect, she assisted with the opening bands' sound checks as well. The three bands played in succession. The first band's equipment was at the front of the stage, with the second's setup behind theirs, and Kickstart's equipment behind theirs. Sinners' equipment was at the far back. By setting up the stage this way, after each band played, their equipment could be removed from the stage to reveal the next band's setup. It saved a lot of time in switching between bands during the concert, but there was a lot of prep work before a show.
Near the end of the final sound check someone moved behind her and slid something cool around her throat. She started and jerked to the side. Eric grinned at her, fastening a clasp at the back of her neck. Her hand flew to the cool, slender object around her throat. It felt suspiciously like a necklace. She strained her neck to look at the strand of sapphires in butterfly-shaped settings. Each sapphire butterfly was spaced from the next with large, round, clear stones-she hoped they were cubic zirconium, not real diamonds.
"What's this?" she asked, her heart hammering.
"A present for you," Eric said. "The blue stones reminded me of your hair, so I had to get it. The jewelry lady said they were sapphires. And the butterflies … well, you can probably guess why butterflies remind me of you. Do you like it?"
"It's beautiful, baby, but I can't accept this. It must have cost you a fortune."
She reached for the clasp to remove it, but hesitated when she saw the devastated look on his face. He looked like a little kid who had just been told his crayon-drawn stick figures sucked. How was she supposed to refuse his thoughtful gift when he looked at her like that?