Excerpt of Fly Away Peta by Juanita Kees

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.