Crazy in Love (Blue Lake #3)(66)

Outside of the spotlight, Cole took her hand in his. “You ready for this?”

“For what?” She shook her head and looked up into his gorgeous face. “What are you doing? I thought you didn’t want anyone to know about us?”

He raised her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles. “Took me awhile to realize that meeting you was probably the best thing that’s happened to me. I’d be a moron to hide that.”

Did she hear him right? Please, please, please say she did!

“Lake Tahoe!” Cole hollered into the microphone, quickly donning the rock star persona. “I’d like you to give a warm welcome to Rachael McCoy!”

Cheeks hot, Rachael smiled tightly and waved to the crowd.

This wasn’t like him. The Cole Turner she knew didn’t want anyone to know about his past or the women in his present. He didn’t want pictures taken on dates and certainly didn’t want to be heckled with questions about his love life. He was the guy who’d sleep in her bed through the night and bolt before dawn.

Asking her to come on stage and expose their relationship wasn’t like him. Well, she corrected, they didn’t have a relationship, not really….what did they have? What was bringing her onstage going to accomplish? He’d be cemented into her memory as the greatest man she’d never have again. Could her heart take it?

“Would you mind taking a seat?” He motioned to the lone barstool on stage.

Did he expect her to sit front and center? Before she could protest, one of his crewmembers brought out a second barstool and slid it behind her.

“Sit, baby,” he said with that damn sexy smirk. “You’ll like this. Trust me.”

As she perched on the edge, she folded her hands in her lap and tried to calm the racing of her heart. She was probably sweating through her clothes. Was her face glossy? Did she—

All thoughts evaporated as Cole put his hands on either side of her hips and spun her around so that she faced center stage rather than the crowd. Even through her jeans, his touch sparked desire across her skin like lightning in the mountain sky. He adjusted his own barstool across from her and rested on the edge. They were close, three feet away maybe, yet she could smell the musk of his cologne and his naturally spicy scent. She ached to breathe him in, to lean against his chest and nuzzle into his neck.

God, she’d only been away from him a day and she already missed him so much.

He cocked his foot on the bottom rung. Tweaked the strap on his shoulder. Smiled from the corner of his kissable mouth and started playing.

The crowd quieted as the song began, a teasingly slow rhythm that lulled her into a trance. A few plucks of the strings and the rest of the noise in the showroom blacked out.

He thrummed through the first part of the song, and Rachael got the feeling she was about to witness something epic. Something just for her…in front of everyone.

Did he really want to do this?

“This one’s called Crazy in Love,” he said, and began to sing.

“From the first moment I saw you,

when you caught me in my towel,

all blush and blonde hair,

sincere in your apology,

I knew you were mine.

I knew…you were mine.”

Rachael swallowed down tears burning a hole in the back of her throat. She wanted Cole with every fiber of her being. She wanted him the first moment she saw him, yesterday and today. Every moment grew stronger.

God, she loved this man. Her chest ached with desire as she listened…

“I’ll give you all I am,