Killian and I had ended up on the front of a couple of tabloids at first, but we agreed to ignore it entirely and get on with our lives. In fact, there was a positive to Killian’s sudden exposure as my boyfriend. It opened doors for the label and although the unfairness of that frustrated me, in the end it was a good thing for him. And I had to accept that it was the way the world worked.
That morning in April I’d returned home from LA to listen in on Tellurian’s recording sessions for the new album. When Brandon invited me to come over, I wanted to turn him down because I didn’t think it was fair to Macy to have me there. However, Macy called me. It was awkward, and weird, but in the end, it was okay. I could honestly tell them that I loved the new direction they’d taken with this album and I was happy to see Macy had gotten rid of the rainbow hair in favor of the fire-engine red of her own choosing.
I flew home thinking things with the guys were in a great place. Except maybe for Micah. I didn’t know if we’d ever be truly okay. He threw around a couple of caustic remarks about Killian that I had to ignore. It was either that or punch him in the gut. I decided to let it go. I was happy. One day, I hoped, Micah would find a way to be happy too.
“So, I have something to tell you,” Killian had said that April morning, pushing his empty breakfast plate away. “And I’m not sure how you’re going to react.”
“Okay.”
Although still Mr. Aloof-and-Intimidating with almost everyone else, Killian was rarely expressionless or grim with me. Autumn called me his happy pill, which he hated and I found hilariously adorable.
“I . . . Now you don’t have to do this, but I wanted you to have the option.”
“Spit it out, Killian.”
“I booked you to play an intimate gig at King Tut’s this summer.”
Completely not expecting that, I could only gape at him.
“Skylar?”
King Tut’s? King Freaking Tut’s?
“I know you don’t want to perform anymore, but I know this is a bucket-list thing. If the opportunity is—”
“Yes!” I’d shouted in excitement. “Hell yes! Oh my God!”
He’d grinned. “Yeah?”
I’d laughed. “It’s King Tut’s. I’m not saying no to that. But keeping it small, right?”
“It only has a three hundred-person capacity.”
“One hundred,” I’d stated. “Let’s cap it at one hundred.”
“We can do that.”
So that’s how I found myself getting ready to perform for an intimate crowd of a hundred when I never thought I’d be doing this again.
Autumn hugged me tight. “We’ll be out there cheering you on. Remember that.”
I smiled gratefully at her and watched her leave before locking gazes with Killian.
“I’m proud of you,” he said.
“I’m proud of you.”
“Mutual appreciation society,” he murmured, strolling toward me.
My love for him was a deep ache in my chest. Would the sharp sweetness of it ever fade? Right now, it didn’t feel like it ever would.
Killian blocked my path and I raised an eyebrow. “In order to go out there, I kind of need your sexy ass to move out of my way.”
“Marry me,” he blurted out.
And just like that, all the air went out of the room.
“Your work visa will come to an end,” he continued, studying my face for reaction. “And there’s no way in hell I’m putting you on a plane.”
The amazed shock I’d been feeling was not so slowly turning to indignation. “What?”
“You’re not leaving me for the States, so we need to get married,” he said in staccato, as if I was a moron who didn’t understand him the first time.
I smacked his chest. “That’s not how you ask someone to marry them!”
Killian looked confused enough to enrage me.
“You don’t marry someone to get them a visa!”
Understanding dawned and he had the audacity to glare at me. At me! “Did you not hear the part where I can’t live without you?”
“Not really.”
“Fuck,” he muttered, reaching into his pocket. “I’m doing this all wrong.”
“Oh, you think?”
He cut me a dark look and then yanked whatever it was he was searching for out of his pocket.
I stared at the black velvet ring box in his hand.
“I meant for this to be romantic. That you’d walk out there with my ring on your finger. Whole big thing . . .” he trailed off, shrugging.
Despite the awfulness of his proposal, my anger died under the weight of my affection for him. “How can you be so good at the romantic thing but always wreck the big moments?”
He rubbed a hand over his face in distress.
I reached for him, feeling bad now about reacting so negatively. “Hey, hey, it’s okay.”
“It’s not okay.” Killian opened the box and my heart stopped at the sight of the engagement ring. It was a rectangular cushion-cut diamond on a simple platinum band.
Simple and elegant, but a little different.
It was perfect.
“Killian,” I whispered, my fingers itching to touch it.
“Even if we didn’t have the impending visa hanging over us, I would ask you to marry me, Skylar. I’m not a man who sits around and waits for what he wants. I tried and failed spectacularly with you when I was attempting to keep it just business between us.”
I grinned, remembering that night after we left King Tut’s. “Yeah, you did.”
“When I decide on something, I am absolute and steadfast in that decision. And I decided last year that you were the only woman I needed and would ever need. Marry me, Skylar. Marry me because I love you and I will do anything to make you happy.”
I hit him again. “You bastard!”
“What now?” He threw his hands up in agitation.
“You’re going to ruin my makeup!” I blinked back the tears burning in my eyes. “I’m all ready to perform, nervous as hell, and then you turn me into a pile of mush before I go out there. Good going!”
Killian scratched his eyebrow while he gestured with the ring. “Was that a yes?”
I knocked him back on his feet, I threw my body at him so hard. But he had fast reflexes. His chest shook against mine with laughter as I kissed him hungrily. I pulled back, hanging onto him to him breathlessly, “That was a yes. Guess I’m not so good at these things either.”
“That’s okay.” He flashed me a wicked smile. “Your talents lie elsewhere.”
“That’s right, make it dirty.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I was talking about your music.”
Not fooled, I made a face and then kissed him again, pouring my second “yes” into it.
Killian pulled away only to rest his forehead against mine. “They’re waiting for you.” He said it like he didn’t want to let me go and I knew he didn’t when he continued, “I should have proposed after. Near a bed.”
I pulled back, my eyes lit with anticipation. “After my set, let’s do it in here.”
In answer, he gently extricated himself from me. “This is a sacred space, Skylar.”
Snorting, thinking he was being funny, it didn’t take me long to realize he wasn’t.
Which only made me laugh harder.
In fact, I was laughing as he slid the engagement ring on my finger, which made him laugh. Maybe it wasn’t the most romantic response, but I thought it a good sign. If we entered marriage laughing, maybe it meant our lives together would be filled with it.
Killian kissed the ring on my finger, gave me one last hard kiss, and then handed my Taylor to me. “Now, go get them.”
He followed me out, disappearing through the door that would take him into the crowd offstage. Hearing the loud murmurs of talk as they waited for me, I took a deep breath.
I couldn’t hear the floorboards creak under my feet since the conversation of a hundred people was so loud, but I felt them solid beneath me, holding my shaking legs upright.
Feeling a hundred stares beyond the stage lights, I didn’t look at them as a hush fell over the room. I plugged my Taylor into the amp, slid onto the stool, and adjusted my mic.
Finally, I looked up.
Everyone was a dark shadow against the lights and it was a familiar and yet unfamiliar sight. It had been a long time since I was so physically close to my audience, and I’d never been on stage alone before.
The silence seemed to boom around the room as I stared out at them, wondering what they were thinking. I knew they wanted to be here because the tickets sold out in the first ten minutes, but I was still nervous. I didn’t want to let them down.