Read Online Once More With Feeling by Nora Roberts - Free Book Online

finished. “On the other side.”
    It was typical of her fans to treat her informally. They thought of her as Raven. Her spontaneous warmth made it difficult for anyone to approach her with the awe normally reserved for superstars. Raven wrote on her side of the napkin when Brand offered his back. When she had finished, she noted that Debbie’s eyes were wide and fixed on Brand. The pulse in her throat was jumping like a jackhammer. Raven knew what fantasies were dancing in the girl’s mind.
    â€œHere you are, Debbie.” She touched her hand to bring the girl back to reality.
    â€œOh.” Debbie took the napkin, looked at it blankly a moment, then smiled up at Brand. “Thanks.” She looked at Raven, then ran a hand through her hair as if she had just realized what she had done. “Thanks a lot.”
    â€œYou’re welcome.” Brand smiled but began to edge Raven toward the door.
    It was too much to expect that the incident had gone unnoticed or that no one else would recognize them. For the next fifteen minutes they were wedged between the crowd and the door, signing autographs and dealing with a barrage of questions. Brand made certain they weren’t separated from each other as he slowly maneuvered a path through the crowd.
    They were jostled and shoved a bit but he judged the crowd to be fairly civilized. It was still early by L.A. standards, and there hadn’t been too much drinking yet. Still he wanted her out. This type of situation was notoriously explosive; the mood could change abruptly. One overenthusiastic fan and it could all be different. And ugly. Raven signed and signed some more while an occasional hand reached out to touch her hair. Brand felt a small wave of relief as he finally drew her out into the fresh air. Only a few followed them out of the club, and they were able to make their way to Brand’s car with just a smattering of extra autographs.
    â€œDamn it. I’m sorry.” He leaned across her to lock her door. “I should have known better than to have taken you there.”
    Raven took a long breath, combing her hair back from her face with her fingers as she turned to him. “Don’t be silly; I wanted to go. Besides, the people were nice.”
    â€œThey aren’t always,” he muttered as the car merged with Los Angeles traffic.
    â€œNo.” She leaned back, letting her body relax. “But I’ve been pretty lucky. Things have only gotten out of hand once or twice. It’s the hype, I suppose, and it’s to be expected that fans sometimes forget we’re flesh and blood.”
    â€œSo they try to take little chunks of us home with them.”
    â€œThat,” Raven said dryly, “can be a problem. I remember seeing a film clip of a concert you gave, oh, seven or eight years ago.” She leaned her elbow on the back of the seat now and cupped her cheek in her palm. “A London concert where the fans broke through the security. They seemed to swallow you whole. It must have been dreadful.”
    â€œThey loved me enough to give me a couple of broken ribs.”
    â€œOh, Brandon.” She sat up straight now, shocked. “That’s terrible. I never knew that.”
    He smiled and moved his shoulders. “We played it down. It did rather spoil my taste for live concerts for a while. I got over it.” He turned, heading toward the hills. “Security’s tighter these days.”
    â€œI don’t know if I’d be able to face an audience after something like that.”
    â€œWhere else would you get the adrenaline?” he countered. “We need it, don’t we? That instant gratification of applause.” He laughed and pulled her over beside him. “Why else do we do it, Raven? Why else are there countless others out there scrambling to make it? Why did you start up the road, Raven?”
    â€œTo escape,” she answered before she had time to think. She