Lady Catherine, owner of De Bourgh Records, had been made aware of the situation and if it was not resolved very soon, she would become
Muffled music throbbed through the walls of the small lobby. A short man pushed himself off the wall he had been leaning on and approached Anne. He was balding, overweight, and wearing a tan turtleneck sweater that emphasized the olive in his complexion.
“Ms. de Bourgh,” he enthused, taking Anne’s hand and pumping it. “What a delight it is to see you again!”
“Yes, of course, Mr. Collins,” Anne replied without returning his excitement. She stood silently, waiting until the lack of conversation had gotten distinctly uncomfortable. Then with a look at her companions, she sighed and addressed him again. “Mr. Collins, this is Caroline Bingley, Slurry’s tour manager,” she indicated the tall woman who was wearing her professional smile. “Mr. Collins is the A and R for Long Borne Suffering.”
Collins laughed at Anne’s words. “Yes, I’m her counterpart, as it were. She is the executive for Slurry, and I, well, have my own little flock to tend.”
Caroline fought off the discomfort she felt as his clammy hand clasped hers and he waited expectantly. Caroline looked at Anne, who glanced at the men and spoke up. “You do understand, I really can’t introduce you in this setting, Mr. Collins. Security and all that.”
Collins’s eyes flared. “Oh, of course!” he assured her anxiously. “Certainly. I completely understand. Please let me escort your
Caroline shared a quick smile with Anne as she passed by. Security was not really a problem. The lobby was empty and the boys were “incognito,” as Charles liked to say. That meant that Charles’s long blond hair was in a ponytail and tucked into the collar of his shirt. Richard was dressed in a button-down shirt and gray slacks, which covered all of his tattoos. Darcy was actually wearing a shirt and did not have his sunglasses on, sufficiently altering his appearance from his onstage persona. The three tall and attractive men would stand out anywhere, but it was unlikely anyone would recognize them for the rock stars they were.
The music became clear as they entered the nightclub. It was large, and the group was careful to skirt the sides of the room, getting close enough to watch the band and yet remain in the shadows.
“Of course, I’m sure you have listened to the girls’ CD. We’re very proud,” Collins fluttered at Anne.
She shook her head once. “We don’t care about the CD, Mr. Collins. We just want to know if they can play.”
Darcy turned his attention away, glad that for once Anne was doing her job and keeping that buffoon from him. He turned to his right to comment on the full house to his closest companion and stopped.
His expression immediately darkened as he beheld Charles Bingley’s face. He knew that look. Charles’s attention was locked on the stage, although Darcy doubted he was listening to the music. “Charles!” he said loudly into his ear.
Bingley broke away from his stare to focus on his friend.
“What do you think?” Darcy demanded.
Charles’s face broke into a huge grin. “She’s an angel.”
Darcy looked up to the stage to see who the object of worship was this time. For once he was not disappointed. The subject of Charles’s rapt attention was the singer. Of course, Darcy generally didn’t think of angels as wearing white leather corsets, but she was quite beautiful. Tall and slender, she moved with an easy grace as she sang. Under the corset, she wore a pink filmy skirt that exposed her shapely long legs. Her hair was elegantly arranged into an almost ’40s-style arrangement and in a most intriguing shade of pink. Her features were stunning, with large blue eyes and high cheekbones. Her expression was pleasant, and Darcy was impressed by her ability to interact with the crowd watching her.
Her voice sailed easily over the energetic crowd as she played the keyboards to accompany herself.
The guitarist moved closer to stand beside her and sing along with the chorus. Darcy saw them share a matching smile and knew that these were the two sisters.
“Well, at least they can play,” he sighed to himself. It was a clear improvement over the last two bands. The guitarist, he noticed, could actually play quite well. She was not anywhere as attractive as her sister, but she was not bad looking by any means. If she were standing alone, he reasoned, he would consider her pretty. She was not as tall as her companion; Darcy guessed she would be about average height. Her arms were exposed by the black silk tank top she wore, and he could see she had the unique muscling there of a committed guitarist. She wore low-riding jeans that hugged the curves of her hips. Her face was turned down to her instrument, hiding her features, except for her long brown hair, which was captured in a ponytail.
Of the drummer, he could see nothing more than a pair of flailing arms and the top of a head.
He looked over at Caroline and indicated Bingley. She took in her twin’s expression, understanding it as well as Darcy did, and rolled her eyes in response.
“Well at least they can play,” Richard echoed Darcy’s own thoughts in his ear. “You want to talk to them?”
Darcy nodded once, and Richard gave Anne the sign. They would meet with the band after the show. As he leaned against the vibrating walls, Darcy hoped they weren’t making a mistake.
Elizabeth smiled joyfully at the crowd. She waved and blew kisses as she exited the stage with her sister and friend. The Public House was their “home base,” where they had played more times than anywhere else. The crowd there was their devoted following and had supported the band for years.
As they reached the backstage area, Alex was waiting and kissed them each in turn. It was a ritual. Alex always saw them out onto the stage and received them when they got off.
Elizabeth noticed the gleam in his eyes as he looked at them.
“What?”
“You had some special guests tonight,” he replied mysteriously. “A band is here to make a very interesting offer to you. Go get cleaned up and then there are some people you should meet.”
The women looked at their manager questioningly until he motioned them away with his hands. Then they broke into wide grins and separated.
Elizabeth shrugged and went to do what she always did after a show: take care of her guitars. Her younger sisters teased her that she was in love with them, and she was. The shining instruments, one electric, one acoustic, were her constant companions. She was cleaning the electric when she sensed someone behind her.
“What brand is that?” a deep voice asked her.
She finished wiping the black body down and laid it in the case before answering. “It’s a Guild Guitar Bluebird.” She turned around to look into the deepest pair of dark eyes she had ever seen.
The eyes held her captive, completely unaware of anything else until the voice asked, “May I try it?”
That jolted her out of her daze. She looked down and then back up again, a refusal on her lips, when recognition, quickly followed by surprise, blessed her fine features. “You’re Fitzwilliam Darcy,” she said in a soft, puzzled tone.
“Yes I am,” he acknowledged with a matter-of-fact tone. “May I try your guitar?” His long arm reached toward the instrument.
“Yes, certainly,” she replied.
He picked it up and carefully positioned the strap. Hefting it, he looked at her. “It’s very light,” he observed.
“That’s because it’s chambered,” Elizabeth explained.
She watched as Darcy’s long fingers moved gracefully up and down the neck of the guitar, a classical scale left softly in his wake. Slowly he moved away from her, listening intently to the instrument, his face blank with concentration until she believed he had forgotten her presence. He was tall, maybe six foot, three inches or so, Elizabeth guessed. His eyes, which she had always seen hidden behind sunglasses, were large, dark, and intense—eyes that were like a weapon, dangerous. He had short black hair that curled tightly around his head. His nose was long and straight and he had full lips that were pressed together as he played.
Finally he stopped and looked up at her. She had large, intelligent eyes that were watching him, filled with
