The Seduction Vow (4 page)

His hands flew over the keys, playing some
intricate little melody. He stopped and adjusted something on
another board, then ran through the riff again. The bass player
came over and said something to him. They laughed and talked
together.

Corinne tugged on her coat sleeve. “Hey,
what’s up? Are you going to sit down?”

Graci dropped her coat over the back of a
chair but her knees wouldn’t bend and she couldn’t tear her gaze
away from the keyboard player’s lean form.

The bassist wandered off, playing some
chords, while her hero refocused on his sound test. His stage
attire was pretty much the same as the other night, jeans and a
worn vintage T, something Graci might have labeled a rag. The stage
lights bleached his pale skin, making the tats pop, and gave his
brown hair a reddish cast. Just as she wondered if she’d imagined
such extraordinary eyes, he looked up, and a beam of light
reflected neon blue.

She swallowed. Her body thrummed with a low
vibration like the sound of that bass. She dropped into her chair
with a thud.

“
What is it? You know one
of those guys?” Tara asked. “I’m friends with the lead guitarist,
Tom. That’s why we’re here. I’ll introduce you to the band when
they’re on break.”

Her words were drowned in the opening chords
of the first song. The music ended any attempt at conversation, so
Graci leaned back in her seat and simply watched. Though stuck
behind two banks of electronics, the keyboardist managed to remain
a magnetic and sexy presence, at least to her. He danced within the
framework of his keyboards and sang harmony into a mic. Graci was
hardly musically gifted, but she could pick out which voice was his
when they all blended together.

Corinne leaned close and yelled in her ear,
“You got a crush on that keyboard player? You haven’t taken your
eyes off him.”

“
No. I, uh, just think I
recognize him from somewhere. I’m trying to figure out where,”
Graci shouted back.

No way in hell was she going to tell these
two about the other night’s incident, which would only lead to
explaining why she’d been there and her vague plan to chuck her
virginity to the first randy stranger who caught her fancy. Corinne
would caution her to think about what she was considering. Tara
would egg her on. Graci didn’t want the pressure of either
reaction. Whether she went through with this crazy item on her
checklist or not must be her decision.

By the time several fast-paced, beat-driven
songs were over, Graci realized she couldn’t meet the band or her
secret night of shame would come out. Besides, she couldn’t face
her handsome stranger again, even though she badly wanted to know
his name and look into those sapphire eyes again. She’d hide in the
restroom or go to the bar when they took their break.

The next song was a ballad, the tune mournful
and lyrics about an empty house and broken windows where the wind
blew in. If she’d heard such a song last week, Graci would’ve
broken down crying, but tonight she was so fascinated by the
keyboard player’s lips forming the words and the way his voice
hitched with emotion on the refrain that melancholy was the last
thing on her mind. Heavy, languid limbs melted into her seat and
her skin tingled feverishly while her heart pulsed along with the
beat. Longing, desire, and lust suffused her in a heady
cocktail.

When the song was over, she
felt positively dazed. She
yearned
for a touch. For
his
touch. What would those clever
musical fingers feel like moving over her body? Her immediate
powerful reaction shocked her. Graciela Ramirez wasn’t the sort of
woman to tumble headfirst into an impossible crush. But maybe New
Graci was.

“
Come on, bitches. Time to
dance.” Tara leaped to her feet as the tempo picked up
again.

Corinne bounded after her, arms waving
already, happy to join in. Graci followed, shuffling back and forth
in her usual awkward way. Weren’t Latinas supposed to have natural
rhythm? What had happened to hers? Even her mama could dance
better.

But New Graci wasn’t bound
by inhibitions, she reminded herself.
Just
DANCE!
She forced her hips to sway, her
feet to move, her arms to weave through the air creating sexy
patterns—not semaphore signs like Corinne’s—and soon her body was
grooving like everyone else’s.

After a couple more songs, the lead singer
thanked everyone for coming, and the band took a break. Hot and
sweaty from dancing, Graci excused herself and dashed for the
restroom.

The line to the ladies’ was long so she went
to the bar instead and waited in line, studying a poster on the
wall for the Horseheads. Such a dumb name, but they were really
good, her crush on the keyboard player aside.

“
Hey. It’s you. I thought I
saw you on the dance floor.”

Shit! Graci froze in place
as if a cop had called
stop or I’ll
shoot
. She hadn’t been too drunk the other
night not to recognize the low, rough rumble that made the hairs on
her neck rise. For a split second, she considered pretending not to
hear him. But that was an Old Graci sort of weak-assed move—sort of
like running away to hide in the restroom.

She turned and faced a chest. A T-shirt damp
with sweat clung to the muscles beneath. Heat lanced through her at
the sight and at the faint smell of his body, which teased her nose
enticingly.

She lifted her chin and looked up into The
Eyes. “Oh. Hi. I thought it was you too, but I wasn’t sure.”

He smiled, showing even white teeth. No, one
of them was slightly crooked, which, for some reason, made his
smile even sexier. “Yeah, it’s me.” He stuck out his hand. “Neal
Murray.”

Graci hadn’t caught the name when the lead
singer introduced the band. Neal. Murray.

He was still standing there offering his
hand. She quickly took it.

“
Graciela Ramirez. But just
call me Graci.”

No electric spark crackle when their hands
touched, but she did feel heat building down between her legs as
his hot palm slid against hers.

He let go and wiped his hand on the side of
his jeans. “Sorry. I’m kind of sweaty.”

She waved it off. “Forget it. After the state
you saw me in, a little sweat is nothing. I want to apologize again
for plowing into you, then almost throwing up on you.”

Great recap, Graciela. Keep on reminding him
what a doofus you were.

“
Naw. You didn’t do
anything. You just had a bad night. You looked so sad, I wanted to
wrap you up in a blanket and feed you cookies or something.” He
winced, his nose cutely crinkling. “Wow. That was weird.
Sorry.”

Weird maybe, but also very charming. He was
clearly the kind of person who thought things and let them tumble
right out of his mouth. A little like Tara. Maybe it was a
creative-person thing.

“
No. It’s sweet,” she said.
“I probably could’ve used a few cookies to cut the alcohol. And
you’re right. I was sad. But I’m getting better.”

“
Bad breakup?” he
guessed.

She nodded. “Is there a good one?”

He laughed, flashing her that adorable
crooked canine again. She liked how his facial hair outlined his
mouth in a fringe of light brown, and wondered if his face would
feel soft or scratchy to the touch. Joey’s skin had been as smooth
as the back of her hand. For a heartbeat, she ached at the memory
of his kisses, but the twinge quickly faded.

“
I’m sorry. It’s a rough
time,” Neal said. “I went around with a deer-in-the-headlights
stare for months after my breakup. Felt like I’d been run over by a
truck and never saw it coming.”

“
Recent?” Graci
asked.

“
No. A long while back. But
it was the big one, you know? The one that mattered.” He glanced at
the bar. “Looks like we’re up. Can I buy you a drink?”

“
Oh.” She was suddenly
flustered. Couldn’t remember what she’d been drinking at the table
or if she’d even touched it. “Just a diet Coke. Thanks. But I
should be the one buying you something. You must be really
thirsty.”

He gestured toward the stage where the band
was camped at a nearby table. “They bring us a round on the house.
I’m set.”

Which meant that he hadn’t joined the line at
the bar to get a drink. He’d spotted her and come to talk to her. A
little sparkle of delight shimmered through her.

“
Your friends are over
there too. I saw you dancing with Tara and that other girl. Will
you come and sit with us?” he asked.

“
Then you know
Tara?”

“
Not really. She’s a friend
of Tom’s. I’ve seen her around.”

Graci bit her lip. “Would you please not
mention the other night? It’s embarrassing.”

“
Absolutely not.” He
crossed his heart. “We can pretend we just met tonight.”

“
When I came up to you to
tell you how great your playing is,” she added. “You guys are
really good. I love your music.”
And your
voice, which is kind of like the love child of sandpaper and
velvet.

“
Thanks. We have fun.” Neal
stepped up to the bar and ordered her pop.

Graci watched him from behind this time. His
jeans rode low on his hips, and his T-shirt hiked up in back so she
had a really good view of how the denim molded his ass.

She dragged her gaze up quickly when he
turned around with her drink, but he still caught her looking. She
could tell by the flicker of amusement in his eyes.

“
So, Graci Ramirez, it was
a pleasure meeting you just tonight,” he said with mock
formality.

“
Nice to meet you, Neal
Murray.” The glass of pop was cold and damp in her hand. She wanted
to rub it against her steaming face to cool her down. It certainly
wasn’t the dancing that had her so hot and bothered.

Neal was the polar opposite of everything
Joey. Laid-back, cool, and funny, the musician showed up all the
flaws in her anal-retentive, hyperorganized ex. No wonder she and
Joey had failed as a match. They were too similar, both too
controlled and orderly. Joey had gone seeking someone to shake him
up. Now she was doing the same.

Maybe Neal was exactly the sort of man who
could help her with her little virginity problem. All she had to do
was surrender to panting lust for a change, and the deed should be
accomplished long before her deadline.

Chapter Four

“
So you forgive me and
you’ll come to my wedding?” Bree sounded as breathless and
distracted as always. The years since the last time Graci had heard
that voice fell away, and she might have been in college again,
listening to Bree tell one of her always amusing
adventures.

Graci spoke into her
headset as she swung slowly back and forth in her office chair.
“Will you forgive
me
for shutting you out? I know you guys were just being honest,
but at the time, I couldn’t hear anything negative about Joey. And
I don’t believe he was always so horrible. There
was
good in him too.
It’s just that you guys saw the way things could go. You called
it.”

“
I totally get now why you
felt you had to choose between him and us. You know why? Because
I’m in love, Graci. For the first time I’m
really
in love.” Bree’s joy erupted
in a happiness geyser. “And if you guys meet Tony and don’t like
him, I don’t even wanna know.”

Graci remembered the long, long, very looong
string of boyfriends and occasional girlfriends Bree had been with
over the years.

“
Ha! I can hear you
thinking it’s impossible. That’s pretty much everybody’s reaction,
but Tony is different. I can’t explain it. In theory, we don’t seem
like much of a match, but he’s perfect for me. He’s
just…
Tony
, you
know? And I love him. In all the years you’ve known me, have you
ever heard me say that about someone before?”

“
No,” Graci had to admit.
“You’ve said you really liked various people you dated, but I’ve
never heard you use the word love.”

“
That’s because this time
is different. I trust Tony with all of me, you know? This is for
real.”

Bree had never sounded so passionately
sincere. But complete trust in any man sounded pretty scary to
Graci just now after what she’d been through.

Still, she wouldn’t withhold the support Bree
needed from her. “That’s wonderful. I’m so happy for you,” she
replied enthusiastically.

She leaned back in her office chair and gazed
at the wall of her cubicle decorated with photos of her mom, dad,
and brothers, Hugo and Luis. She’d stripped all Joey pictures and
recently added one of herself and her friends, taken the summer
after graduation, before they scattered to different colleges and
different lives.

“
How’s Adya?” Graci asked.
“Tara and Corinne haven’t heard from her in a while, but I figured
you two always stayed pretty close.”

“
I don’t know,” Bree
replied. “Honestly, I’m worried about her. Adya’s always been a bit
closed off, but over the past year, it’s as if she’s fallen off the
face of the earth. When she stopped answering my calls and texts, I
even tried calling her mom, but the number wasn’t in service. My
wedding invitation hasn’t been returned, so I guess she still
checks that post office box. I don’t know what else I can do. Call
the Seattle police and have them check on her? Is that too
extreme?”