Austentatious

“What else?” I finally prompted.

“South by Southwest.”

Okaaay.

“Pretty serious music fan, huh?”

“You could say that.”

I felt like I was missing something, so I crinkled my forehead in confusion and stared back at him, waiting.

“I’m with one of the festival’s showcased bands,” he confided, eyebrows raised, waiting for a reaction.

“Oh wow! Really? That’s awesome. I understand there’s some pretty stiff competition.” I shot him a shy smile. “I’ve never actually met someone in a band.” So much for the moratorium on flirting.

“Well, now ye have.”

“What’s the name of your band?”

“Loch’d In, with an ‘h’ instead of a ‘k,’ playing on the whole Scottish thing.” He was adorably disarming.

“Ah, clever. How many band members?”

“Four, including me. Ian on drums, Simon on keyboards, and Connor on bass guitar. They all do backup vocals as well.”

“What, no Scottish beauty with a killer voice?” I teased.

“Well, there is me, luv.” How was it that he was always one step ahead of me, and I was always stumbling to catch up?

“So the band doesn’t interfere with any of your jobs, or lives, or anything?”

“Not so much interfere as dominate.”

And then, like a flash, I got it, and my body began to cringe, curling in on itself, shirking the incompatibility. No wonder I’d felt so utterly out of my element.

“Sorry. I’m slow—you guys are professional musicians, right?” Sean was smiling, clearly amused to see me floundering.

“Pub players,” he finally answered. “And what about you, Ms. James?”

“I’m a product engineer at Integrated Micro.”

“Ah, so you’re one of those geeky girls.” I could tell by his smile that this was good-natured payback. “I suppose I should have pegged you from the start.”

“How could you not, given the circumstances?”

“I saw that mushroom go in, and my mind was wrapped around search and rescue. It’s the curse of the superhero, I’m afraid.”

Breathing deep, relaxing a little despite the dizzying frenzy of emotions ping-ponging inside me, I realized we were engaged in the cliched wedding chitchat. Which made me wonder ...

“Hold on. You’re not a wedding crasher, are you?”

“Why? Are you?” After all the playfulness, his deadpan response took me a little off guard.

My eyebrow lifted all on its own. “You haven’t picked up on the higher concentration of geekiness in the vicinity? Most of the guys here are engineers at Micro.”

“So I’m sort of the odd man out.”

“Ya think?” I muttered.

“I’m actually backup for the band tonight. One of the guys—an old friend—has a wife who’s ready to have her baby. It’s down to the wire now, and he’s ready to bolt. He’s wearing a pager and two cell phones.”

“You can just step in and take over, just like that?”

“Pretty much.”

This didn’t seem like a big deal to him, but I was very impressed. I had no musical skills whatsoever, hence my “no karaoke” rule.

“What else can you do?” I asked, suddenly fascinated.

He blinked but took the high road. “I play the guitar, I’m decent on keyboards, and I’m told my singing voice is not too shabby.”

“My next-door neighbors could really use you at their Friday night karaoke parties,” I joked.

“So invite me,” he flirted, sliding his thumb over the back of my hand.

With no clue how to respond to that, the suggestion ended up dangling awkwardly between us.

“Allow me to demonstrate,” Sean said, clearly amused. “My band is playing Maggie Mae’s Thursday night. Will you come for a listen? I can leave passes for you with the manager.”

With the sconces above us flickering with candlelight, I opened my mouth to decline, but then glanced up at his face, letting that boyish grin melt me just a little. “Sure,” I finally answered, a resigned smile curving my lips. I knew that seeing him again and letting my mind get all tangled up in him was probably not a good idea. And yet, it’d be a shame to miss the chance, because I suspected he had a very talented mouth.

The sound of silver ringing against crystal kept that image from pulling me under, and as conversation gently died down, the announcement followed:

“The bride and groom will now be cutting the cake, if everyone would like to make their way into the foyer.”

My eyes met Sean’s, the question clear: Shall we?

Rather than answer, he settled his hand possessively at the base of my spine, gesturing gallantly for me to proceed him, and we abandoned our alcove to follow the crowd.

Even surrounded by wedding guests, I was aware of only Sean. Standing behind me, he was out of sight, and his hand, tracing shivery circles mere inches away from racy behavior, was driving me out of my mind. My breathing was erratic to say the least, and then he leaned in, his breath skimming my cheek.

“If he knows what he’s doing, he’ll muck it up, miss her mouth completely.”

His lip glided casually across my cheek, and my heart started to pound out a rhythm: Oh. My. God. Oh. My. God ... I didn’t even attempt a response.

“Real men lick the icing,” he teased, his voice as velvety as his lips. “I’ll snag you a piece.”

Then he was pulling away, taking all his warmth and innuendo with him. And cathartic relief was vying with pervasive disappointment. I was just barely recovering when he was back, with one single sliver, which he handed to me.

I awkwardly offered him the first bite. He grinned wolfishly and leaned down to take it. I forked up the second bite and closed my eyes in pleasure as the feather-light cake and decadent cream filling melded on my tongue. Finally ... cake.

Awareness snapped at me like a live wire. I’m having my cake.

Sean, who a moment ago had been intently watching me savor my first bite, was now looking at me curiously, probably wondering if my cake had gone down the wrong way. Sean, whom I’d just met.

Have your cake ... but meet him too.

Oh my God! How did I miss this? I was just about to follow Brett upstairs, thinking he was him, and then there was that damn mushroom ... and Sean. Oh my God! Is it possible the magic—or voodoo—or whatever it is—isn’t confined to the journal? Did Fairy Jane somehow flick a mushroom down my dress and finagle this whole thing merely to make me forget about Brett and ... Shit—Brett! I totally left him hanging—I never went up—Oh. My. God. I did go upstairs—I went up with Sean, danced with him, drooled over him ...

“Nicola, are you all right?” The concern was clear in Sean’s voice. But I couldn’t handle this right now—I didn’t want to think or explain. I just needed to go.

“I need to go.” This time I said it out loud, my voice watery. I looked for a place to dump my plate. Even the cake no longer appealed, almost as if it was tainted.

Sean stepped forward, took the plate, and set it in a niche beside a beautiful bouquet of wedding flowers. And then his hands came around me, moving me off, away from the crowd.

“What is it?” His eyes had sharpened their focus and darkened with concern.

Forcing a smile, I made myself look into his eyes as long as I could before letting my own dart away again. “It’s nothing. It’s just that I’m cold and my feet are nearly numb.”

As soon as the words were out of my mouth, Sean was generously shrugging off his jacket.

“Daft! Just distracted, I guess. I assumed you were warm enough wrapped up in your scarf. That’s not to say