Taking a deep, steadying breath, Jaime turned back
towards the girl on the stage. She wore the same little
black dress she'd worn when he'd met her ten years before,
he noted. It fit a little more snugly now that the slender
curves had matured. Her chestnut mane shone under the
lights as she slowed the pace again. He remembered the
glittering green eyes which had once seared his soul, the
dusting of freckles on the pert nose he used to kiss, and
the smooth, almost translucent skin on the cheeks he used
to touch. Slowly he moved forward to get a closer look at
the woman who had filled his dreams and thoughts constantly
for as long as he could remember. He'd put it down to
guilty conscience that she'd haunted him for so long
because he didn't dare consider the other option.
She sang with her soul. The song was meant for someone
special. Her ex–husband perhaps, he thought with all
too familiar feelings of jealousy. From this close he could
see the dampness at the corners of her beautiful green eyes
as she sang, pouring her heart into the performance. It was
this ability to engage emotion that had kept her steady in
the top ten charts.
Dear God, he'd never thought it possible she could be
more beautiful than he remembered. Tightness gripped his
heart painfully. He swallowed around the lump in his
throat.
As he stood at the base of the stage staring up at her,
she looked down at him and their eyes met and held. He
heard her voice falter slightly as shock registered on her
face. She tore her eyes from his and moved away across the
stage. Jaime felt his heart plummet from his chest down
into his stomach. He didn't want to feel this way! He
should've stopped feeling this way about her after all this
time. His lips tightened as he took one last look at her
and strode from the hall.