Medea's Curse

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Book: Read Medea's Curse for Free Online
Authors: Anne Buist
you Nat?’
    Natalie glared at him. She knew what he was trying to do.
    ‘I can take your drums in the van,’ Shaun continued, looking at Tom now.
    Tom hesitated, looked at Natalie and shrugged. She knew she’d lost, but wasn’t sure
that at the end of the day she hadn’t wanted to.
    The first bracket was always a warm-up but it took longer than usual to settle in.
Groups of people hovered around the bar, leaving the dance floor empty. By the end
of the set, though, the crowd was having as much fun as the band and Natalie recognised
a few of the regulars. Beer slopping from glasses had hit the floor and the air was
sweet and hot.
    Vince brought her a Corona in the break. ‘You in any trouble?’ Vince had a strong
fatherly streak.
    ‘What sort of trouble?’
    ‘The sort that’s in the bar asking after you.’
    Natalie looked at Vince sharply. He was the other side of sixty and, if the scar
on his neck was anything to go by, knew trouble when he saw it. She thought about
Tom seeing a man outside her warehouse and wondered if it was a patient stalking
her. She didn’t work with men anymore. Maybe a patient’s partner?
    ‘Describe him,’ she said, wiping her brow. It was hot out on the stage.
    ‘Benny told me some jerk’s been asking about your band but seemed more interested
in you; said he backed down as soon as Benny pressed him. Same bloke I guess. A smart
arse, know what I’m saying?’
    Liam. Shit. ‘Where is he?’
    Natalie considered going out front and telling him to bugger off. He’d probably laugh.
Pubs were, after all public, and she didn’t own the Halfpenny. Vince did, though,
and he’d be more than happy to throw Liam out on his ear. Maybe she’d keep that favour
for when she really needed it. Right now there was a definite upside to Liam’s presence.
Her need to expend some sexual energy was escalating and she’d rather not fall back
into bad habits with Tom. Not that Liam was a good habit to start, and she had promised
herself she wouldn’t get involved. ‘No more than the usual man trouble,’ she assured
Vince and turned to the band.
    ‘Guys, can we change a number in the next bracket?’
    They started with a few of their own songs. It was hard to see from the stage with
the lights on her, but she picked out Liam on a bar stool along the wall, watching.
    Fancy this? Shaun sketched out the opening riff of ‘Because the Night’ on his Roland.
It was one of Natalie’s favourite covers and she’d practised enough to lend it her
own style; Tom called it the sex-on-a-stick mix.
    She sang the opening line, voice low and husky, and imagined Liam taking her as the
words left her lips. She was fairly certain it would be what he was thinking. She
sang about being touched and she could all but feel his hands on her as the lights
were burning on her skin. In the second she finished the song their eyes locked and
it was clear he knew she’d been singing it for him.
    She had the audience calling for more. Natalie was acutely aware that the song had
the same effect on her she had hoped it would have on Liam; desperate had now moved
into almost uncontrollable. She reminded herself that it was a really, really bad
idea to get involved with this man. He was married, problem enough. But she sensed
he was bad news in other ways she couldn’t put her finger on. The self-warning, the
sense of danger, only accentuated her desire.
    She took her time coming out front, more to get control of herself than to make him
wait. He was back at the bar, a spare stool next to him and a Corona ready.
    ‘How touching, you remembered.’ Natalie handed it back to Vince who was watching
closely from the other side of the bar. He exchanged it for bourbon. Neat. Liam raised
an eyebrow.
    ‘Your after-performance preference?’
    ‘Something like that.’
    ‘You were great, incidentally,’ said Liam, his expression revealing little. The blue
eyes were more used to reading others than giving anything away. ‘But you

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