Page 64 of My UnTrue Love
That settled, Clementine refocused on helping the boy. “You could be a star, too. Just like Bill. I hear it in your music.”
Those extraordinary eyes swung back to meet hers in astonishment.
“You love playing.” It wasn’t a question, because she knew the answer. “If you have the passion and energy to pursue music as a career, you have the talent to get you to the very top.”
He gave his head a quick shake. Clementine wasn’t surprised. It took a lot of faith to dream. If Luke didn’t have that kind of belief in himself yet, she’d have it for him.
The house lights dimmed, and Bill came on stage, and Clem forgot everything else.
He looked amazing in blue.
Clementine would’ve said it was the only color he should ever wear, except he looked amazing in everyothercolor, too. The man was like a chameleon of hotness. Every color of the rainbow was his perfect shade.
Then, he started to play and she was swept up in the music. Her eyes stayed riveted to the stage, where Bill and an acoustic guitar owned the spotlight.Wild Horses Runfit hisstyle, and he seemed to like it well enough, but she could tell his whole heart wasn’t in the tune.
And still the entire room went quiet.
Something about the way he performed captured everyone. There had been a dozen other musicians tonight. Bigger names. Flashier songs. But none of them had seized the unruly crowd like Bill did. None of them had hiska-pow!That extra sparkle that differentiated regular people from stars.
He was magic.
She dragged her attention to Luke and saw the kid gaping at the stage. Yeah. He sensed it, too. Any other artist hearing Bill --reallyhearing him-- would understand how special he was.
“Shit.” Luke murmured, his tone awed and the word barely audible.
“I told you.” Clem’s eyes drank in Pecos Bill.
She was in love with this man. Not because he was a brilliant musician, but because his soul was so gentle. So true and caring and pure. It was Bill’s innate nobility thatmadehis music incredible.
Clem didn’t care that some stupid tests said that he was Bad. What did labels matter? She could hear Bill’s Goodness whenever he played. If he’d chosen to paint houses for a living, she would have spotted it there, too. Everything he did was art. She could sense his perfect, unique spirit in all of it.
She was in love with Bill.
Maybe Clementine had been in love with him for a while, but this was the moment that she admitted it. So much light came from inside of him that it was impossiblenotto love him.
For Clem, emotions and sex were linked. She suddenly got that about herself. Bill was the only man she’d ever chased, because he was the only one she’d ever loved. Clem had been too overwhelmed with the unfamiliar stirrings of desire to consider their deeper significance. Now it was clear that Bill had awakened her passions, because he’d won her heart.
For her, it was Pecos Bill and no one else.
At the end of the song, people clapped much more enthusiastically than they’d applauded for any of the other performers. That was only fair, since Bill was the best of them. He seemed ambivalent about the cheers. His eyes restlessly scanned the darkness and she knew he was trying to see her through the glare of the spotlight.
“Beautiful, honey.” She called, loud enough for him to hear.
His mouth finally curved, and he inclined his head in her direction. Her praise was the recognition he wanted, it seemed. Nobody else’s cheers were enough to satisfy him. He liked being the center of her attention, the same way she liked being the center of his.
They really were a perfect match.
“What did you think?” She asked Luke, as the house lights came up again.
“He was okay.” Luke grumbled.
“He’s a star. I’m never wrong about my magic. I don’t thinkeverybodyhas musical talent. I just know it when I hear it. I know thatyou’vegot it.”
He looked her way again.
“That’s why I’m being a little pushy with you.” She shrugged. “I’m ambitious. I should probably warn you about that. I want big things for the people around me. I see the potential for big, big things with you.”
He frowned, his gaze still searching her face.
