Unbreakable (30 page)

I put the TV remote down and focused on him. “Do you mind if I come? I understand if you’d rather keep one portion of your meal from touching the other parts, but I’d love to hear you play with Ken and the boys. Besides, this is the first time I’ve felt well since becoming pregnant.”

Drake shook his head, his eyes meeting mine. “Baby, I’m in so deep, I don’t mind at all. I want a stew. A nice mélange of flavors all blending together. Come tonight.”

“Okay,” I said, nervous and excited to be going.

So it was that I sat at home alone in the 8
^th
Avenue apartment, waiting for my ride to arrive. My father had graciously allowed me to use his limo service and so at around ten forty-five, I got a call from the driver that he was waiting downstairs. I finished brushing my hair and checked myself in the mirror, then I went out into the night, my stomach all butterflies, but in a good way.

The small stage was set up in the back of the bar, in the corner. There were a dozen small round tables on the floor as well as a lot of seating space at the bar itself. Behind the bar, a mirrored wall had shelves of glasses and bottles of liquor, as well as several kinds of beer on tap. The polished wood counter top looked ancient and the corners and edge were worn from years of use, although it had been recently revarnished and was smooth. Brass fixtures and railing lined the bar top.

Cocktail waitresses in black dresses with white aprons moved between the restaurant that was still busy, and the lounge. Canned music played in the background during the break between sets. About thirty patrons were in the pub itself.

Even though I had been there before for Sunday dinner, I stood in the entrance to the bar and took it in, feeling somewhat shy. One of the cocktail waitresses came up to me, her tray in hand filled with pints of beer.

“Can I help you?”

I hesitated, shrugging my shoulders. “I’m here to listen to Mersey.”

“Go into the bar and have a seat,” she said. “Colin’s bartending tonight.”

I thanked her and walked into the bar.

“Kate!” Colin waved me over when he saw me. He leaned over the bar and kissed my cheek. “I’m so glad you came tonight. What can I get you?” Colin asked, resting his hands on the bar. “Given your delicate condition, I have a selection of sodas and bar lime plus I can make you a mean virgin margarita or piña colada, if you want something fancy.”

“I’ll have a soda and lime,” I said. Then Sarah showed up and came over to give me a hug.

“So good to see you again,” she said. “How are you feeling? Drake told Ken you’d been really sick for the past few weeks.”

“Much better. Today was really the first day I didn’t throw up, so it’s time to celebrate.” I smiled at her and held up my glass of soda and bar lime.

Drake came out of the back room, with Ken following. He smiled when he saw me.

“Don’t crowd the poor girl,” he said and pushed past Ken in a playfully competitive manner. He leaned in and kissed me on the mouth, lingering there a tad longer than necessary, as if he wanted to claim me in front of everyone. He was grinning widely when he pulled away. “You’re just in time for the second set. All Rolling Stones and Beatles.”

“Will you be playing And I Love Her?” I asked softly, not wanting anyone else to hear.

“Count on it,” he replied and then kissed me again.

Mrs. O’Riley showed up as well, and said hello, planting a huge kiss on my cheek.

“So good to see you again, dear,” she said. “And congratulations on the great news! A little girl? Sophia Marie, or so Drake told us.”

“Thank you,” I said, feeling awkward as the center of attention. “Yes,” I said. “Sophia, after my mother and great aunt.”

Soon, I had Ken, Sarah and Mrs. O standing in a semi circle asking me about how I was feeling, when I was due and a dozen other questions.

“I hear your due date is in August,” Mrs. O’Riley said.

“Yes,” I said and smiled. “August 27th or thereabouts.”

Drake stepped in between us and turned to them. “Don’t pester the poor girl. Now, let her be or she won’t be coming back again, for fear of getting ambushed.”

Drake gathered them all up and pushed Ken towards the stage.

Before she left, Mrs. O’Riley winked at me. “Come for Sunday dinner, Kate. I promise we won’t ambush you – too much – but you have to know that a baby on the way is irresistible and we’ll want to hear all about it.”

“I would love to come,” I replied and smiled back. “I felt like a prisoner for the past twelve weeks. I’ll be glad to get out and see people.”

“Good. We’ll have a nice roast with all the trimmings.”

By the time they all left me alone at the bar, and Colin began pouring drinks once more, my cheeks hurt from smiling so much. It was a relief to turn and listen while the band warmed up, playing their various instruments before the lights focused on them and the crowed became quiet.

The first song was by the Rolling Stones. “Ruby Tuesday.” Drake sang and played his bass, while Ken sang background vocals. The band was pretty tight and while Drake’s voice wasn’t as tart as Mick Jagger’s, he did a good job and it surprised me how much he got into character. I saw a whole different side of him up there on the stage. Drake always seemed reserved in public, so completely in control, although in private he had a really great sense of humor and loved to tease, but this was a different Drake than I had ever seen before.

While I was sitting listening, a tall, dark haired woman entered the bar and stood in the shadows by the washrooms. I don’t know why I noticed her, but it was strange that she didn’t come inside and take a seat, for there were a few tables open. A waitress went up to her and spoke with her, but the woman shook her head.

I turned back and continued listening to the band play, and she slipped my mind until a while later, when I felt her eyes on me. I turned and she was staring intently in my direction. I glanced around to see if she was looking at someone else, but there was only an empty table beside me. When I looked back, she was gone. I glanced around but she was nowhere to be seen.

Whoever she was, her expression sent a shiver down my spine. I turned back and watched Drake, pushing the image of the dark haired woman out of my mind. If I had come to O’Riley’s before I met him, I could have easily had a crush on Drake, seeing him up there on the stage, singing and playing his guitar. He was so handsome and well-built, his nicely developed physique apparent, even under his clothes. He looked like he belonged on the stage or on some catwalk at a DKNY show in Milan. Sometimes, it was hard for me to remember that instead, he was a very serious neurosurgeon who used robotic instruments to stop seizures and movement disorders in his patients.

His outward appearance was so different from the man inside.

I loved him so much at that moment, for letting me in this close to see this other side of him. The side he showed me that night was a side he usually kept from the women he had been involved with since his divorce, and him showing himself to me like this meant so much. It was the last wall he kept up between us, and it meant I was fully in his life.

I turned and watched the crowd and saw that most of the patrons were couples or small groups of men and women. I wondered what the women were thinking of Drake. They would see only the gorgeous hunk of man playing a guitar and know nothing of the slightly kinky man who liked to take control in the bedroom and was specializing in pediatric neurosurgery.

Now, with me at O’Riley’s for a performance, I felt as if the very last piece of food on Drake’s plate was touching all the rest.

As he’d said, he broke all his rules for me. I hoped he was happy and from the way he looked on stage, playing his guitar and singing, completely at ease and in character to play a song by the Stones, he was.

Drake announced the next song, with an intro that mentioned me.

“This next song goes out to the one I love, Kate, the love of my life and the mother of my child.”

When the song started, I had to cover my mouth from emotion. “And I Love Her” by the Beatles.

Ever since that first night I heard him play it, it had been on my iTunes playlist. I felt as if it was ‘our song’, even if that sounded corny. He said it reminded him of us, and so now, that is what it meant to me. It was Drake admitting he loved me.

It was Drake letting me into his life and his heart completely.

I knew at that moment how lucky I was to have met him. Who would have ever thought that going to my father’s fundraiser that October night would lead to the happiest time in my life?

The night I went to my father’s fundraiser seemed so far off in the past, even though it wasn’t quite a year and a half earlier. Back then, I still thought of my father as a controlling bastard who I could never please, who expected me to do a degree in journalism covering politics. I felt as if he didn’t really know me, his own daughter, having some wrong idea about who I was and what I really loved.

Instead, he only wanted me to be happy and fulfilled, and agreed with everything I ever suggested. It was
me
who didn’t know
him
.

I looked over the crowd, wondering what they were thinking about the music and what they’d think if they knew
I
was the one mentioned in the dedication for that song . It was then I saw her again – the dark haired woman – and for a moment, I thought about Drake’s stalker and I actually shivered. Was that her? Lisa?

On the stage, Drake was focused on playing his guitar. I’d speak with him about her later. I checked back to where she had been standing but she was gone again, as if she was popping in and out, and I wondered if she was in the dining room and just peeking in to see the band playing. I tried to brush my fears out of my mind. It was probably nothing.

The band seemed to really enjoy themselves as did the audience. They were pretty silent, considering it was a Saturday night. I guess they really did like the band. Mersey was a cover band and played no original music, but O’Riley’s was an Irish pub and people wanted British music.

While I liked the music, I enjoyed watching Drake on stage most of all, seeing this whole different side of him. Drake the public man, the musician, the band member who sang in front of an audience without any self-consciousness. No wonder he didn’t feel awkward performing in front of an audience during a dungeon scene.

Watching Drake singing, I was so glad that he wasn’t a sadist or into anything truly painful, because at that moment he was just so damn desirable that I would probably find it really hard to say no to him. If he had been a sadist , I hope I would have run away from him when
I
first met him, despite how good looking he was. In fact, I’m sure I would have run away if he had been a real sadist. But now? How far would I be willing to go with him?

Lara had promised me Drake wasn’t a sadist. I never felt any anger from him, or that our scenes could have ever edged over into something more frightening, but even Drake admitted he hadn’t really done much with me in terms of bondage and dominance. I felt pretty secure at that moment that he would never do anything I couldn’t enjoy or at least tolerate. Drake had always said he wasn’t a really strict Dom. He just liked control. Then I put all the thoughts about Drake out of my mind, took another sip of my soda and lime and turned off my mind, letting the music fill me, enjoying my first full day without nausea.

I watched the crowd enjoy the song, many of them nodding to the music, singing along. When the song was finished, Drake and the other band members bowed and acknowledged the applause.

At that moment, Sarah came up to stand beside me, smiling when our eyes met.

“They’re good, right?” she said, nodding to the stage.

“Very good,” I said and smiled, my mind distracted from the dark haired woman so that I became lost in the music.

When the set was over, after a round of applause from the audience, it was past midnight and I had to cover my yawn with a hand, not wanting Colin or Sarah to think I was bored. I wasn’t, but I was tired. Despite having gone to bed after two in the morning the previous night, I’d woken early and never fell back to sleep.

The guys went downstairs with their instruments, and I sat at the bar and talked with Colin for a while until Drake was done. Colin told me that the pub would stay open for another couple of hours, and instead of live music, there was canned music. Colin popped in a CD and something vaguely Irish floated up on the sound system.

Drake finally arrived at the bar in about ten minutes and sat on the stool beside me. He leaned over and kissed my cheek and brushed a lock of hair from my face.

“Well?” he said with a glint in his eye. “What did you think? Bored to tears with our modern music?”

I laughed. “Not at all,” I said and then leaned closer. “I felt privileged to even be here.”

He smiled softly and leaned in once more, this time kissing me on the mouth, his kiss warm and lingering, his fingers tangling in my hair.

“The privilege is all mine,” he said when he pulled away. “The privilege of being in your life.”

He said it so seriously, his eyes burning into mine. His expression made my heart squeeze, for it was so earnest, as if he were baring his soul to me. Maybe he felt that way – music was something personal for him that he didn’t share with the women in his life. I was the one who was being treated.

I reached up and cupped his face with my hand. “I love you,” I whispered, my throat choked with emotion. I glanced quickly to check if Colin could overhear me, but he was busy pouring drinks a few feet away and seemed focused on his work. “If I had seen you playing your guitar and singing before I met you, I would have had a huge crush on you.”

Drake laughed out loud at that, his eyes twinkling. He leaned in and nibbled my neck, and I could feel him chuckling as he kissed my ear. “Only a crush?” he said and pulled back. “Not love at first sight?”

I grinned. “Lust at first sight, maybe.”

“I’ll take it.” Then he turned to Colin. “Put it on my tab,” he said and stood up. “See you tomorrow night.”