Finding Trust (Centre Games) Read Free

unusual hazel eyes. Her rosebud mouth with a sensually full bottom lip drew his attention and turned his thoughts to a subtly more male orientation.
    When he moved slightly forward to the microphone and joined in the chorus with “Taaake me baaabyyyyyy , maaaake me yours tooonight,” her eyes moved up to meet his and he knew he had her attention. Bingo! She held his gaze momentarily before becoming self-conscious. Her eyes slipped from his and began to look out into the endless gyrating waves of revellers around her. So she was a little unnerved by the directness of his gaze .
    Her eyes returned to his and again he held the connection. Minky, as he thought of her now, broke the connection again. So she wasn’t sure if he was looking at her. Well, he thought, let’s make sure you’re not confused any longer, Minky. The next time her eyes returned to his face, he raised his eyebrows and openly smiled at her. Yep, it’s you I’m interested in tonight, sweetheart .
    ***
    “Rihanna.” Her friend Jasmine was shaking her arm. All the time, her eyes never left her new man.
    “What?” Rihanna screamed over her right shoulder to her friend. The music and crowd were so loud even her scream was lost.
    “The lead guitarist—he’s staring right at you,” Jazz screamed right back.
    “I just realised that myself.”
    “Do you know him? He’s not the regular Steel lead guitar. He seems to be filling in for Reece and doing an awesome job of it.” Jazz was a huge Steel fan; she had dragged Rihanna to many concerts over the years and Steel was her current favourite band. Rihanna’s music knowledge and interest tended to only extend to what was currently being played on the radio but she usually agreed to go along with Jazz, often just as an excuse to get out and enjoy herself.
    “No, I don’t know him,” Rihanna yelled again, her throat beginning to smart at having to yell to communicate with her friend next to her.
    “Well, he sure looks like he would like to know you better,” she yelled. “Hey look, over there, coming down across the road, there’s Andy and Mitch.” Jazz started to move past her and deeper into the crowd, heading towards the road. Rihanna could see Andy’s blonde head moving swiftly toward the beach and the edge of the group enjoying the band.
    Andy was Jazz’s on-again, off-again boyfriend. He worked as a chef at a local seafood restaurant. The hours he worked didn’t help with keeping the relationship together. But at least Jazz had a relationship, which was more than Rihanna could say about her own life. She had been going through one hell of a relationship drought of late. It had been months—no, make that nearly two years—since she had had a man in her life, and even then he’d been nothing more than a casual date. Her life revolved primarily around her work and her father. They’d both become quite obsessed with the Hendra vaccine project.
    Rihanna looked back to the stage as the song ended to an enthusiastic round of applause and a whole heap of whistling. The butterflies started to rise in her stomach. He was still looking right at her. Her skin was tingling from his almost visual caress. She decided to settle back and play the “gaze game” with him for a while. What could a bit of harmless flirting hurt?
    ***
    Ahhh, Minky, he thought. So you realise the connection and now you’re coyly flirting with me from afar. Their gazes connected, sharing some sort of silent conversation with the overtones of the music.
    He played on song after song in the set, as midnight steadily approached. He realised he was actually having a really good time. There was nothing much better than playing a gig with his mates. Bray just didn’t get to do it all that often, much to his and their disappointment.
    Jace began the countdown to midnight: “Ten, nine, eight.” He saw Minky moving off farther to his right. From his height advantage on the stage, he could see her tracking across to join the slim