I left his money lay next to his glass and walked away; I had to wait on another customer and I had no intentions of accepting his money. I was wondering where Marie disappeared to when I noticed that she was over by the stage talking to Frank.

I watched as Ryan and his bodyguard walked back to the table to join his friends; a flock of women trailed behind him. I had to suppress my anger.

When the band finished their song, Frank started talking in the microphone. “Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a very talented lady here with us tonight, and if you give her some encouragement, maybe we can convince her to come up here and play for you.”

I looked up and scanned the crowd for the person he was talking about. I started to clap with everyone else.

“Taryn,” Frank called out as he looked at me. “Why don’t you come up here and play for these nice folks?”

My clapping hands stopped clapping. It felt like my hands were glued together.

“Oh, no.” My head spun as the shock set in. “No!”

“Come on, Taryn! One song!” Frank jeered. “Come on everyone, let’s give her a warm welcome!”

“No.” I was shaking my head so hard I was making myself dizzy. “No, I can’t.”

Marie grabbed my arm and forcefully pulled me out from behind the bar. “Go show ‘em how special you are,” she whispered in my ear then gave me a shove towards the stage.

My heart was beating so hard in my chest I felt like I could pass out. “Remind me to fire you after this,” I griped at her.

The crowd clapped as I made my way to my piano. I was so embarrassed.

“What am I supposed to play?” I asked Frank.

“Whatever you want,” he answered. “We’ll try to back you.”

I took a deep breath and adjusted my piano bench. It had been quite a while since I played in front of people and now was not the best time for a panic attack.

I ran through the songs that I knew by heart. My eyes glanced across the crowded pub and I saw Ryan standing and watching me. As I thought of him, one particular song came to mind.

“Mmm, thank you.” I adjusted the microphone to my lips and blew out a heavy sigh to get my nerves in check.

“This song is one of my all time favorites and I hope you like it. Ahm, it’s called ‘You’ve got a friend.’ ”

I placed my fingers on the keys, took a deep breath, and started to play.

The music flowed and I miraculously remembered the lyrics and notes. I felt the strength and courage surge into me as my fingers danced over the keys.

As I played, I felt that every word, every note was meant for Ryan and Ryan alone. I hoped that when he closed his eyes he did think of me, and if he needed me all he had to do was call out my name. There was no explanation for my overwhelming feelings - I was drawn to him like a moth to a flame.

For a brief moment, our eyes met from across the room. Ryan was the only one I wanted to look at. He had the most glorious smile on his face as he stood to watch me play. I pushed the keys with extra force, wishing that he could realize that this song was for him.

To my amazement, I received a standing ovation when I finished. I felt the heat rise to my cheeks as the embarrassment washed over me. I briefly covered my face with my hands. I looked over at Ryan again; he was still standing and clapping with a huge smile on his face, his head slowly shaking back and forth.

I politely thanked everyone and quickly turned the microphone off. There was no way I’d do another song. Pete was standing by the front door, clapping frantically. His cheers were definitely the loudest.

“Miss Taryn Mitchell everyone!” Frank yelled into the microphone. I took a brief bow and quickly stepped off the stage.

It was hard to walk back to the bar through the thick crowd. Hands I didn’t know touched me and patted me on the back and people were in my face complimenting me. It was a very uncomfortable feeling and for a moment I wondered if this was how Ryan felt all the time.

I walked right past Ryan, even though he was smiling from ear to ear. I tried to return the smile but I was too flustered to even look at him. He reached for me but I didn’t stop. I was almost at a run when I ducked into my stairwell; I just needed a moment to calm down and get my nerves in check.

I only made it up four steps before crashing down to put my head in my hands. My heart was about to burst out of my chest and it was hard to breathe.

My eyes shot up when I heard my stairwell door open. Ryan slipped around the corner and shut the door quickly behind him. He was smiling and laughing lightly to himself as he stood there staring at me.

“Is this what it’s like for you?” I asked, covering my heart with my hand to slow the pounding.

“Well, that depends,” he said. “Are you referring to the extreme embarrassment or the full out panic attacks?”

I just nodded and gasped in a few deep breaths of air.

“Either way… yeah!” He nodded.

“Hey, come here.” Ryan reached out to me, taking my hands in his. He pulled me into a nice hug, wrapping his strong arms gently around my shoulders.

“You were absolutely breathtaking up there,” he whispered, reassuring me. “You have nothing to be embarrassed about.”

His hand held my head to his chest and he softly kissed my hair; it felt confusingly natural to hold him. I clasped my hands together around his waist and pressed my face deeper into his chest. The soft scent of his skin was like an aphrodisiac, making me crave him even more.

I closed my eyes and felt my heart rate slowly coming down while he ran his hand over my back to sooth me.

“It’s okay, sweetheart. Just breathe with me,” he said softly.

Chapter 6 - Respite

“I have off on Sunday and Monday and I’d really like to see you… that is if you don’t already have plans with one of your admirers,” Ryan teased.

I noted the tone of sarcasm in his voice.

I smirked at him. Apparently I wasn’t the only one slightly jealous. “Don’t be ridiculous.”

“Me?” he sounded shocked.

“Yeah, you! Like you have any room to talk!”

He frowned at me.

“Well anyway…” He leaned up on the stairwell wall. “I was wondering if you and I can go do something together.”

I sat back down on the steps. As much as I wanted to refuse him and protect myself I no longer had the will to do so. I couldn’t deny this powerful attraction to him any longer. “What did you have in mind?”

“Anything,” he breathed out desperately. “I just need to get away.” He lightly tapped his head back into the wall.