but then you waltzed into town,
turned my whole world upside down.
You showed me love, you showed me grace,
now every day I want to chase
the love I never knew that I was after.
All I want is this beautiful disaster
that has me acting like a fool
because I’m so in love with you.
I want to be your happy ever after.
My beautiful disaster.”
Her eyes widened, and I held onto her, hoping she understood what I was trying to say. I sang the rest of the song, never breaking eye contact with her until the last note had finished.
“Please, give me another chance,” I said softly, holding my hand over the mic. “Just one more chance, that's all I'm asking for. If you’ll give me that, I’ll give you anything.”
“Oh, Owen,” she murmured, reaching her hands up to rest on each side of my face. “This is the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me.”
I beamed, leaning down to press my lips to hers. It was a sweet kiss that shook every cell in my body. I pulled back, still smiling at her, then turned to the crowd, uncovering the mic. “Well, what did ya think?”
The crowd erupted into a frenzy, and I laughed, mainly because I was so damn happy. Nalia laughed, as well, and I hugged her before releasing her, kissing her on the cheek. “How about another round of applause for Nalia everyone? Oh, and by the way, she's an amazing piano player. Would you like to hear her?”
They cheered as I looked over at Jeremiah, who was already moving the keyboard in place. The guys and I had already talked about it earlier, about giving Nalia her first real chance to wow the crowd. We all knew she could do it, she just had to take that first step—and what better time than the present?
She looked shocked as the guys placed the keyboard a few feet from her. I pushed her toward it. “This is your chance,” I whispered into her ear. “Knock 'em out cold.”
“I-I can’t,” she protested as I sat her down on the stool.
I kissed her forehead, which elicited another cheer from the crowd. “You can, I promise. I know you can. Just do what you do best, and they won’t know what hit them. You're going to be awesome, babe.”
She swallowed, flexing her fingers, and I stepped back, swelling with pride as I waited for her to blow them away.
The first few notes filled the crowded venue, and the crowd immediately fell silent, Nalia’s concentration on the keys as her hands began to fly over them was mesmerizing. I closed my eyes and allowed the notes to wash over me, thinking of how damn lucky I was to have found her when I did.
She didn’t know it, but she’d saved me. She’d saved me from myself. Saved me from a lifetime of searching for something to fill a void that I now understood only she could fill.
This woman was my beautiful disaster. She’d come into my life like a whirlwind and completely rearranged everything, shown me that what I thought was a perfect life needed to a little calamity. And, it was indeed beautiful. I didn’t plan on letting her go, ever.
I watched from the edge of the stage where I had moved to so that she was front and center. She finished the last notes, and for a moment, the crowd remained silent. But then they erupted into wild cheers, and I knew exactly what they were feeling. It was the awe I’d felt the first time I heard her play.
Looking stunned, she rose from the stool and bowed, her cheeks blooming with excitement. They loved her, but not even close to as much as I did.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Nalia
I couldn’t believe the crowd was clapping and cheering for me. Just one little song had gotten them worked up into a frenzy. After bowing once more, I hurried off of the stage, meeting Owen on the fringe of it.
“You were amazing,” he exclaimed, wrapping me up in a big hug. “God, you astonish me. You just blow me away every time I see you perform.”
“Thank you,” I said, a little dazed at what had just happened. Had he really told me he loved me? I could feel it in his voice, and I could see it in his eyes. It had been there all along; I had just been trying to ignore it to keep myself from opening up. But there really was no denying it.