She was such an incredible, diverse woman and just his kind. She was full figured, with long, sexy legs, and her breasts—damn—both a gift and a thrill for any man lucky enough to have access.
Asa still reeled over her voice, her stage presence. When she sang, she was like a completely different person, without an ounce of shyness in her. She came across confident, sexy, and utterly mesmerizing. Last night he’d watched people around him smiling and staring at her, appearing truly entertained. Her voice was a gift. He wondered if she realized how beautifully she really sang.
“Glad you decided to come out with us again to support Chelsie, Asa,” Christian said.
“I was happy to.”
“So is there a little something-something going on with you two?” Christian asked then flashed a big grin.
“Maybe.”
Tiffany gave him a hard look. “She’d kill me if she found out I told you this, but she likes you. A lot. But if you go and mess with her, break her heart, even if you merely make her sad, I’ll beat the shit out of you so hard and fast it’ll make your head spin.”
She was just the kind of raw, rough, and rowdy woman to attempt such a thing. “Duly noted. I have no intentions of hurting your sister. I like her a great deal too.”
“Yeah, well, you just remember what I said.”
Christian started snickering. “You know she’ll do it, too, buddy.”
“I have no doubt.” He glanced at the stage again. “Shouldn’t she be here by now?”
The edges of Tiffany’s mouth pulled down into a frown. “Yeah. Chelsie is the most punctual person I’ve ever met in my life. Something’s up.” She reached behind her and extracted a cell from the pocket of her jeans and started scrolling.
Just then, Asa scented her and began to scan the room. She possessed a sweet, disarming essence that would forever be seared upon his soul. He was so beguiled by her. If she wasn’t his life mate, he was going to be crushed.
Moments later, she came from the back of the house onto the stage with a guitar. She slipped the strap over her shoulder and began strumming it, her concentration completely on the instrument.
“She’s here,” he announced, his gaze still locked on her.
She looked lovely. Again, she wore her hair down and no glasses. He didn’t mind them at all. They made her look like a sexy school teacher. Her dress tonight was a pretty silver and blue thing that hugged her lush curves with perfection, revealing those long, sexy legs. As he imagined how all that feminine softness would feel beneath his hands, his incisors began to tingle, warning him of the impending release of his fangs. He gritted his teeth and crossed his eyes, then began counting backward from one hundred.
“Oh boy,” he heard Tiffany say.
Asa looked at her, noticing her troubled expression as she stared at her sister on stage. “What’s wrong?”
She glanced at Christian and shook her head. “We’ve texted back and forth a few times today, and she told me she had a bunch of stuff going on but gave me no details. I can tell by the way her attention is married to that guitar, she’s majorly upset. I suspect it has to do with this Nashville guy and whatever Chad has in the works with him.”
Christian snorted. “What an asshole that guy is. I can’t believe Chad didn’t tell her about that producer until last night.”
Asa said, “I can’t believe Chelsie would have ever had anything to do with him if he’s always been this big of a jerk.”
Tiffany looked at him, silent a few moments, her expression contemplative. “He wasn’t always this way. Back in high school he was a decent guy. He even attended our church. The band changed him. It gained him a lot of female attention, which became like a drug to him. He really went south when that recording contract got pulled on the brink of Chelsie going to medical school. I was still in Missouri at that time and ran into him now and again. One night at a club the band played, he was drunk and tried to come onto me. It got ugly. Let’s just say he wasn’t walking too straight for about the next week.”
Christian laughed and so did Asa.
A server came by to take their drink order moments later. After she left, Asa turned his attention back to the stage, surprised to see it void of the band. He looked about the room while scenting for her, which helped him find her. All of the band members were gathered around a man at a bar on the left side of the room, conversing. He was human, late fifties or early sixties, sitting on a stool, and wearing a very expensive-looking black suit, matching cowboy boots, and a hat.
The recording producer, Asa deduced.
As usual, the bar sound system pumped music too loud for him to overhear the conversation, which didn’t last long. Chad and the other human males headed for the stage, Chelsie, straight for their table.
He could tell she was troubled because the smile she gave him was forced when she joined them and seated herself in the vacant chair beside him. He reached below the table and took her hand, a gesture to comfort and protect.
It seemed to have helped. She smiled sweetly at him and said, “I’m so glad you’re here, Asa.” To Tiffany and Christian, she said, “All of you. Thanks for coming out to support me.”
She sounded so sad. Asa squeezed her hand, wanting to lend that support, wanting to know if that man was who had her so distraught.
Tiffany asked the question he’d been dying to. “What’s going on? Was that the guy?”
She nodded. “I don’t have any idea whether he’ll offer the band a contract or not. Of course, he has to hear us first. However, I’ve made a decision. If he offers us a contract, I’m going to sign it.”
Tiffany gasped. “What the hell are you smoking? This isn’t what you want!”
Chelsie shook her head, her expression rife with grief. “No, it’s not, but it’s what I have to do, T.J. It’s so insanely complicated, and I don’t have time to talk about it now.” She pulled her hand from Asa’s, offered him a half-hearted smile then frowned at the producer.
Asa didn’t know what to think. Why would she agree to this? He knew where her heart lay—with the V clinic. She was willing to swap species in order to better her practice.
Whatever was happening between them was too fresh for him to offer advice. All he could offer her was his support. There was so much he wanted to say but couldn’t with an audience and all the bar noise pummeling his senses. He decided to take a big risk and prayed to God it didn’t destroy what was happening between them.
Asa probed her mind to speak privately with her, just a small push to let her know he was there. He had no intention of reading her thoughts, but as soon as he made that mental connection, her thoughts and feelings came flooding into his mind like a tidal wave.
He saw her heart exposed, full of a mountain of tumultuous emotions, including deep concern for her friends in this band. But the last thing he saw sliced through his heart like a machete. Chelsie sported a monstrous headache, and the source of it was a glioblastoma tumor.
Chapter 6
He knew instantly by her surprised expression that she’d felt his presence in her mind. He’d only meant to speak with her privately, not uncover her personal secrets. She was in such a high emotional state, her thoughts inadvertently tumbled into his at the point of contact.
My God, she had a brain tumor! A malignant one. It all made sense now. She didn’t want to turn merely to have a stellar lifespan and a better practice. She just wanted to live.
“Asa?” she whispered.
I’m so sorry, Chelsie. I just wanted to speak privately with you. All the noise and people—I couldn’t talk to you out loud. Please don’t be offended.
To his complete astonishment, she smiled, her expression pleased. Since he’d created that psychic channel allowing them to speak mind to mind, even as a human she could think back at him, and of course she knew it.
Mentally she said to him, I’m so glad you did. There are so many things I’ve wanted to say to you, yet couldn’t. We’ve had not a moment of privacy since�
�well whatever happened between us last night.
Shit! She had no idea he’d channeled her thoughts. Asa was tongue-tied and had no idea how to proceed. If he told her what he’d witnessed, she was bound to feel affronted, furious even. If he said nothing, he was starting out a relationship with this beautiful woman on a big fat lie. What the hell should he do?
Wait. He should wait. She had to go on stage in a few minutes, and she was already upset and in physical pain. He just couldn’t bring himself to exacerbate her misery. So he pretended he hadn’t witnessed a thing and said to her what he’d intended to in the beginning.
I wanted you to know I think you look beautiful tonight. As far as last night, it made a mark on me. A huge one. Once this night is over, what do you say we create some real privacy? I know you’re troubled about this guy here tonight. You can share what you want or nothing at all. Just know I’ll listen if you’re inclined to talk.
Her pretty brown eyes glanced upward, and she gave a brief shake of her head. When her gaze once again met his, she said, My God, you’re amazing.
The compliment delighted him, but the reality of her condition had him in a funk as deep as hers. He didn’t know what to do, so he let instinct have its way. Asa leaned forward and captured her lips, oblivious to onlookers. Still connected to her mind, he felt everything she felt. Joy. Desire. Worry. Fear. She was a cauldron of emotions, and what he’d just done, pressing into her mind like that, had only stirred the pot. He felt shitty and guilty. He broke the kiss and forced a strained smile.
She pressed her fingers to her lips and blinked at him. Is something wrong?
He shook his head. I’m just worried about you because I know you’re worried about this record producer, but don’t let that guy steal your thunder tonight. Go sing your heart out. I’ll be sitting right here cheering you on.
You really are an amazing man, Asa.
Yeah, I’m amazingly something, I reckon. Amazingly stupid.
“I have to go,” she said aloud.
“Later then,” he replied in kind.
She gave him a parting sultry smile then headed for the stage.
He was still mentally flogging himself when he heard Christian say, “Well, that was downright interesting.”
Asa glanced at his friend, who wore an intrigued, knowing grin that matched his wife’s.
Asa ignored them, turning his attention back to Chelsie, who was now on stage. Of course, they knew what had transpired, and he didn’t just mean the mind speak, which would have been apparent to any vampire by the way they had stared into one another’s eyes. He and Chelsie were in the tentative stages of courtship, but he might have just blown their chances sky high. Chelsie was hiding the truth about her cancer, most likely from everyone in her life. Christian and Tiffany wouldn’t be sitting here right now smiling and teasing him about Chelsie if they knew she was dying.
The realization made him physically ill, which caused him to wonder how in the hell she’d borne this burden alone. Did anyone in her family know? He suspected not. Glioblastomas were generally terminal. Few humans survived them unless they were caught early on. Surgery was usually advised in early cases, but Chelsie would have to take a leave of absence for something like that, and she hadn’t applied for one. The fact that she wanted to turn told Asa she was in the mid to later stages of the disease. She was smart, that one. Turning was her only option for a clean cure.
He had to help her. He’d do everything in his power to sway Noah and Christian’s stance about her need to use the V clinic facilities for her turning. If that didn’t work, he’d tell them the truth. Whether she was his or not, he refused to allow such a beautiful, vibrant woman to die. He wanted to know though. Desperately. Especially now that he’d learned this secret she’d been keeping.
Discovering the truth was as close as a vampire bite away. However, that wasn’t an act he could rush. Chelsie had to be ready and willing. With the stress this Chad character had heaped upon her and this death sentence hanging over her head, Asa knew better than to push the envelope. Right now, he needed to be her friend first and foremost. God, he’d give anything to know how much time she had. One thing was for certain, she needed to get this procedure scheduled—and quickly.
The server arrived with their drinks. Asa pulled out his wallet and handed her a credit card before Christian managed to wrangle one from his pocket. “I’ll get this one.”
Christian didn’t argue but went back to mind speaking with his wife. Both of their expressions were tense as they stared into each other’s eyes. He had a good idea what the gist of the conversation was, and he was eager to be in on it. “Excuse me.”
They both gave him their attention. He asked Tiffany, “Why do you think she would suddenly agree to sign this contract when she was so adamantly opposed last night?”
Tiffany snorted and curled her lips in an expression of disgust. “My guess would be Chad’s blackmailed her emotionally in some fashion. I know my sister well. She’d lay down her life for anyone she loved. I may be wrong, be it appears that’s exactly what she’s fixing to do for the guys in the band.”
Asa ventured a glance toward Chelsie. She and Chad were holding fiddles, apparently to be used in the first number, which was about to commence, it appeared, since they both wore headsets and stood at the front of the stage.
He glanced back at his friends, certain his expression mirrored their very pensive ones. He said what they all were thinking. “Then should she do that, she’ll be giving up her practice.”
Tiffany nodded once, her expression now grave. “If that happens, it will kill her. She’ll do what she has to do, but she’ll be a shell of herself while she does it.”
Grief and anger speared through him, making him want to yank the slimy human off the stage and land a near fatal bite to his neck. But the notion was just a fleeting fancy. If Chelsie made this choice, all he could do was stand by her and offer her whatever comfort and encouragement she’d allow.
***
The band was into their fourth song, which was a Chad number. Chelsie was backup and banjo for this one and didn’t have to concentrate as much as she had during the last two songs, when she had been the lead vocalist. Thank God. Her head felt as if it were going to explode, and her stomach was in knots thanks to Chad’s guest here tonight.
Mr. Hammold, the record producer, still sat at the bar, but he wasn’t paying any attention to them presently. He texted on his phone, seemingly engrossed in the activity while intermittently taking pulls off a longneck bottle. During their first three numbers, he’d stared at them raptly, but his face had been a mask. Chelsie hadn’t a clue if he’d liked what he’d heard. A small part of her hoped he had for the sake of the guys, but in her heart of hearts, she truly hoped he hadn’t.
She noticed him wave at a bartender then tap a credit card against the counter. He was tabbing out! Was he leaving? Dual emotions of relief and dread swamped her, and she was a beat off entering the next chorus. Chad must have seen the exchange, too, because his voice came across a bit off-key—very uncharacteristic. She glanced at him. His eyes were wild with distress. As soon as the song ended, he called for a break, shed his guitar, and took off like a shot to the bar.
Chelsie rested her banjo against the nearest speaker. She glanced at the boys who had converged around her, all of their expressions rife with tense interest as they watched Chad speak with the man. Mr. Hammold’s face lent no clues to the conversation, and since Chad’s back faced them all, Chelsie could only wait out the exchange, which ended up being very brief.
All at once the man stood, extended his hand to Chad and they shook briefly, then he took off toward the front entrance.
Chad watched Mr. Hammold for several moments then turned, a huge grin on his face. He gave them a thumbs-up.
Oh God, no!
A despair so deep swept Chelsie. Bile rose in her throat. She fled the stage and ran out the back door into the alley. Her heart pumped so hard, it felt on the verge
of exploding. She stumbled her way across the parking lot to her Lexus and braced her hands on the silver hood, sucking in air, trying to settle her pounding heart. It did no good. Tears began to stream down her cheeks, followed by wracking sobs. There was no holding either back.
She was on the verge of the biggest sacrifice of her life. Her practice would be history. That was a given. It could take months, maybe years, for the boys to find someone to replace her with who Mr. Hammold and his company would accept. She would have to start from scratch when she went back to the V clinic. And she would. Her heart was completely there, especially now that things had heated up between her and Asa.
How was she to have any sort of relationship with Asa if she was out touring all over the country? “God, help me,” she muttered. Her life was a train wreck, and she was about to make it worse by sacrificing the thing dearest to her heart: medicine.
Further thinking was cut short when the back door of the club opened and male voices and laughter followed. She swiped her cheeks and turned. The guys were hooting with glee, sharing high fives and chattering with excitement. Chad spotted her first. He gapped the distance in a run, swept her off the ground, and swung her around.
“We did it! You did it, baby.” He sat her down and beamed at her. “Mr. Hammold was blown away. His exact words were, ‘How the hell has someone not signed you by now?’ He had very high praise for you, girl. Next week he’s going to call me to set up a date for us to come to Nashville. I already sent him a CD of our originals. Tonight was just about him viewing us perform. He said we still needed a little work there, but he didn’t go into details. Whatever the case, we have a contract!”
Deadly Secrets (Forever and a Night Book 3) Page 7