Steal My Heart

1. Ash (Ashley)

Chapter One

Ash (Ashley)

I swung my guitar over my shoulder and stepped onto the wooden stage, casting a quick smile at the smattering of applause and whistles. “Hey y’all, I’m only here for an hour, so let’s not wait.”

I never waited. I launched into my first song and got lost in the music. An hour later, I walked off the stage with the cheers from the audience reverberating through me. For that hour, I’d dropped into the one place where I could forget the mess of my life.

“Great set,” a voice called, just as someone else’s hand slapped my a*s, much harder than I preferred from anyone, much less a stranger. I cast a sharp glare over my shoulder and kept on walking. I hoped I had enough tips from filling in at the bar earlier to pad the measly paycheck I would get for playing that set.

“Ash,” a voice said, slicing through the din of noise and bodies crowding around me as I tried to get to the back of the bar.

I knew that voice, but for the life of me, I couldn’t place it. I did a quick scan around me. The crowd parted as a tall form became visible. The man practically swatted people out of his way as if they were nothing more than flies.

Mack Blair, all six feet and five inches of him, came into my line of sight. My body did a startling thing with my belly flipping quickly and my pulse doing a little hop, skip, and jump.

Okay, that was weird. Giving myself a mental shake, I smiled up at Mack when he stopped in front of me. “Well, hey there, Mack. What are you doing here?”

Mack’s dark blue eyes swept up and down my body before searching my face. “I could ask you the same. Let’s—”

I was cut off when someone bumped into me from behind, sending me colliding against Mack. Mack, with his bear-like presence, swiftly slid his arm around my back, shielding me from everyone jostling around us. “f**k, this place is busy,” he muttered.

I’d known Mack for pretty much forever. Since elementary school, at least. I was startled at the little shiver that chased over my skin at the sound of his gruff words in my ear.

“It is,” I murmured in reply. “Come on, my stuff is in the back.”

Mack kept his arm around my waist, basically clearing a path for us until we reached the door where I pointed. Once we pushed through the door and it swung shut behind us, his arm fell away, and I sagged against the wall.

“Wow, it went from kind of busy to a little nuts while I was playing.”

I’d hugged my guitar to my chest while we walked through the crowd, so I lowered it now, holding it loosely in one hand.

Mack gave me a long look. “Good to see you, Ash.”

One side of his mouth kicked up into a familiar grin, and my belly did another flip. I wondered just what in the world was going on with this reaction to Mack. I’d never responded to him like this.

“You too. I’d say let’s grab a drink here, but it’s pretty crowded.”

“I drove past a diner down the road. Grab your stuff, and let’s go get coffee or food or whatever,” Mack commented.

“Sounds good. I’m actually starving,” I replied as I pushed off the wall. “Follow me.”

Mack and I had grown up in Stolen Hearts Valley, North Carolina, and he was one of my brother’s best friends. Awareness prickled down my spine as he followed me down the hallway. I chose to ignore it, convinced my body’s weird reaction to him was probably just because I was so startled to see him.

Stepping into the room where the bar owner had told me I could leave my stuff, I grabbed my purse and my bag before I looked up at him. “Jesus. I forgot how tall you were.”

Mack arched a brow. “I’ve been this tall since my senior year in high school. Speaking of forgetting, I forgot how good you were.”

“At what?” I countered as I looked at the envelope sitting on top of my purse. I ripped it open to see the check for tonight, a whopping one hundred and fifty bucks, and the cash from my tips.

“Singing and playing,” Mack replied.

I held his eyes for a few beats, feeling heat on my cheeks. “Thanks,” I finally managed.

I quickly counted out the tips, relieved to discover an additional one hundred bucks.

“You ready?” he asked as I stuffed the envelope in my purse.

“Yup. Let’s roll.”

Moments later when we stepped out into the parking lot, his gaze slid to mine as he stopped outside the door. “Do you want to follow me to the diner?”

Aaannnnd, here came the first awkward moment. “If you don’t mind, I’ll hitch a ride with you.”

I saw the questions swirling in his eyes and held my breath. “Of course. Come on.” Mack gestured with his chin in a general direction.

Relieved he didn’t ask anything else yet, I walked beside him as we crossed the parking lot to where he’d parked an all-black truck in the far corner.

Because he was Mack and a gentleman, even if a bit rough around the edges, he insisted on taking my guitar and bag from me and setting it carefully in the back. He even made sure my guitar case was properly situated so it wouldn’t bounce around too much. He also insisted on getting the door for me and wouldn’t even close it until I buckled my seat belt.

“I forgot how stubborn you were,” I said when he climbed into the driver’s seat beside me.

“Ditto. Why the hell don’t you have a car, Ash?”

Oh, f**k.

I silently groaned. So much for no questions.

“Can we go to the diner first? I’d like to get some food in me before we get into all that.”

“Absolutely.”

It might’ve been a few years since I’d actually seen Mack, but I was relieved he had the same steady, easygoing manner. Not much got to Mack, and he wasn’t particularly nosy either. That said, I knew I couldn’t keep the truth from him.

* * *

“No. You’re coming with me, Ash,” Mack said firmly as if he expected me to simply do what he said.

Actually, there was no as if here. He fully expected me to do what he said. God, I just freaking loved getting bossed around by a man. Not.

I felt myself beginning to clench my teeth and consciously relaxed them as I glared right back at him. “You don’t get to tell me what to do.”

Mack took a sip of his coffee, never once breaking his gaze from mine. He was used to people doing what he said. For one, he was usually bigger than anyone else, including most men. The other was he carried himself with this authoritative manner, and people generally did his bidding. He also had this whole rescue complex vibe and never did have enough sense to leave well enough alone.

“Mack, I’m not somebody you need to rescue. I’m fine, and I’ll figure it out.”

“You’re not fine. You’re broke, and you don’t have a car. Apparently, you’re planning to try to get back to Stolen Hearts Valley by hitchhiking with your freaking beloved guitar. Have you lost your goddamn mind?”

A flush raced up my neck and into my cheeks. I tried to beat back the defensiveness choking me. “I made it all the way from Colorado to Wyoming with no trouble.”

“In case you haven’t looked at a map lately, sugar, Wyoming is north of Colorado, so now you’re farther away. Stolen Hearts is east of Colorado, not north. Does Jackson know about this grand plan?”

The moment he said my older brother’s name out loud, I thought the top of my head might fly off.