Read Online Rock Her (Crimson Romance) by Rachel Cross - Free Book Online

asked, her face registering concern.
    “Not a problem.” He leaned back in the chair. Bars didn’t bother him, not anymore. He took a lot of meetings in bars and restaurants. Being around a bunch of idiots using? That was a different story. He still went out of his way to avoid situations like that.
    The drunken joker on stage tortured them with a rendition of ‘New York, New York’ — then finished the song and wobbled off stage.
    Kate rose and held out her hand. “Sing with me.”
    “Hell, no.”
    “Suit yourself.” With a grin she backed away, moving toward the stage.
    “Are you going to?”
    Her grin widened. “This is my new leaf, Alec. Our little adventure knocked some sense into me. I’m going to do the things I’ve always wanted to do.”
    “Don’t you think you’re kinda young for a bucket list, Kate?”
    She laughed but backed up another step, arm extended again, fear mingling with hope in her eyes.
    He pointed at the stage. “Does that scare you?”
    She stopped, wide-eyed and nodding. “Of course it does. No sane person sings in public.”
    He pretended to take offense, raising his eyebrows and ducking his chin.
    “C’mon. Show me the ropes.” Her eyes sparkled with excitement.
    He glanced around. There were no more than two-dozen people in the place, and only a handful in the back near the karaoke machine and stage.
    “Really? I haven’t sung publicly in ten years and this is where I’m staging my comeback?” he grumbled, rising.
    She waited, head cocked, hand extended.
    He took her hand and helped her onto the tiny stage.
    They flipped through the songs. He couldn’t help teasing her about her musical tastes. They were atrocious. She insulted his right back and settled on a Gloria Gaynor song. He picked a recent Spade song which nicely encapsulated the life of a rock star.
    “Perfect,” she said when he pointed to it. “I programmed my cell to play that when you call,” she blurted out, smiling when his jaw dropped. He was ridiculously pleased to hear that. His own ringtone.
    “Ladies first.”
    “No! Please. Age before beauty.” Her eyes pleaded with him.
    “You sure you want to follow this act?” he purred, gesturing to himself while he stripped off his jacket.
    He couldn’t believe he had butterflies. In a karaoke bar. He shook his head then picked up the microphone. He didn’t need the words on the screen. By the second verse, he was transported back to that familiar place. Excitement and adrenaline surging through him. The sheer joy of belting out the song.
    God, how he had missed this.
    He was only performing for one person, but it could have been a stadium full of people and he would have felt the same way. He grinned at Kate as she danced, her arms linked above her head, swaying, lost in the music. Turning round, her hips teased him as her lithe body twisted sinuously and her lush mouth shaped the words. Others in the bar had joined in, shouting out the infectious chorus. Typical Spade song.
    He put down the microphone, energized, excited and happy. More than that. It had always been this way. How could he have forgotten?
    Kate’s expression reflected his mood. The shouts, cheers and catcalls from the other patrons finally sank in. One guy in the back held up the image of a lit lighter on his cell phone. Alec bowed, laughing.
    Stepping down in front of Kate he gestured to the stage indicating her turn, grinning hugely. The noise in the bar had risen exponentially.
    She pulled his head down and said, sobering, “There is no way I can follow that performance.”
    She leaned back, wide-eyed.
    “How ’bout I sing it with you?”
    “You’d do that?” Her eyebrows arched. “Really?
That
song?”
    They each picked up a microphone. Once the audience heard the opening bars, there was a collective groan from the patrons. Alec started singing. Kate followed his lead. This time, they were nearly booed off stage. Before they were halfway through the song she was bent in