Page 2 of Star Rucked Lovers

As it turned out, he didn’t have to do anything. One of the fixers turned up to breakfast waving a sheaf of tickets, with a broad smile and an announcement that Myst had invited the entire team to the concert that evening. Amidst the general enthusiasm from the squad, the coach just shrugged his shoulders and said of course they could go… as long as they all remembered to stick to the two-beer limit and were in bed by midnight.

“Shall I sort out a bus?” the fixer asked, and was treated to a withering look from the coach.

“This isn’t a school outing. They’re all grown-ups. They can find their own damn way there and back again. I’m going out to dinner with a friend.”

George waited for the coach to leave the room before sidling up to the fixer.

“Hey, I’d really like to meet Myst, thank her personally for doing such an awesome job singing the anthem yesterday. Any chance you could arrange that?”

The fixer, a perky and extremely competent young woman named Zoe, apparently saw nothing suspicious in his request, because she immediately looked down at the phone which was never out of her hand and began tapping on the screen. “Leave it with me, George!”

If anyone could make it happen, Zoe could, so he left the matter in her capable hands and went sightseeing with some of the others. She was waiting for him on his return, slipping a lanyard into his hand with a conspiratorial grin.

“Don’t tell the others, they’ll all want one!”

“You’re a magician, Zoe, thank you.”

She winked before scurrying off to deal with one of the other players who’d somehow managed to lose his room key, and George pocketed the lanyard surreptitiously. It was a full backstage pass, he saw when he got up to his room and was able to check; he’d be able to go before the show and maybe meet Myst. If it finished late, he might not get back to the hotel on time, so he’d just have to hope she didn’t hole up in her dressing room right up until she had to go on stage. Now he just had to plan out how to evade his team-mates and get to the arena on his own…

“That special guest you were hoping for has turned up.”

Myst’s eyes popped wide open, causing the makeup artist working on her face to tut in frustration, and she spun in her chair to look at her assistant Jessie, leaning on the doorframe of the dressing-room with a smirk on her face.

“For real?”

“Uh-huh.” Jessie pretended to examine her nails.

Myst tried to peer past Jessie. “Where? Don’t keep him waiting for me!”

“Why not? Don’t let him think you’re over-eager. Men like that have women throwing themselves at him all the time. Keep him hungry. Besides, you’ve only got one false eyelash on.” Jessie grinned. “Let Kaya put the other one on, and I’ll bring him in.”

She did look a bit stupid with only one false eyelash on, Myst conceded as she glanced in the mirror. With an apologetic glance at Kaya, she closed her eyes and sat as still as she could manage.

“I’ll just tidy up the seam and put mascara on,” Kaya said, obviously sensing Myst’s sudden jitters, “and then you’re good to go.”

“Thank you.”

“You like this guy, huh?”

“I don’t even know him,” Myst admitted, “but… have you ever had that thing where your eyes just meet with a complete stranger’s across a crowded space, and everything else just falls away?”

There was an uncomfortable silence before Kaya said quietly “I’ve never been that lucky, no. You can open your eyes now.”

Gentle hands whisked away the cape protecting her outfit, and Myst sighed and opened her eyes, already knowing from that awkward silence what she’d see. George was standing just inside the door, shoulders nearly as wide as the opening, face slightly flushed as he stared at the floor.

“Ten minutes ’til you’re on,” Jessie said, and then she and Kaya were ducking past George and scurrying out, leaving Myst alone with the man she’d just admitted to developing a completely ridiculous crush on despite never having spoken a single word to.

All she could think was, it was a good thing her stage makeup was so thick. It was covering up the burning blush she could feel scorching her entire face.

“Hi,” she said awkwardly.

“Hi,” he said back, looking just as uncomfortable as she felt, and then his eyes flicked up to meet hers.

It was a good thing she was still sitting down, because otherwise she thought she might have fallen. Meeting his gaze was almost like a physical blow, a gut punch of sensation which expanded the flush of heat in her face throughout her entire body. She gasped, a soft little intake of breath, and he took a step forward, closer to her, his hands lifting as though to embrace her before he lowered them quickly and stilled.

“I felt it too,” he said, his voice a deliciously deep rumble Myst felt all the way down to her toes. “That… whatever it was yesterday. I haven’t stopped thinking about you since. Asked an assistant to get me this so I could meet you for real.” He flicked at the lanyard hanging around his neck, never looking away from her face.

“I invited the team because I wanted to see you again. I was trying to work out how I could invite you backstage when the request came in to get you a pass,” Myst confessed, and George smiled, the expression transforming his battered, rough-hewn face. He’d never be handsome, but when he smiled… ah, when he smiled he wasbeautiful.

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