Sean Stirling isn’t having a good day. Hearing snide comments on a photoshoot, he storms off, not caring that he looks every inch a celebrity throwing a tantrum. Things get worse when he falls on the ice-covered street. As a car comes barreling toward him, there’s nothing he can do to prevent his fate. Luckily, Emerson Willis is there to save the day. Emerson pushes the man from the street, then gets bamboozled into accompanying the stranger to the hospital. After Emerson sees himself on television, he realizes the man he saved is a pop star. Now, Sean is smitten and eager to thank his rescuer. Emerson, whose mind is still spinning, can’t tell what to think about the sudden attention. Can the musician convince Emerson they’re made for each other? Or will Emerson dismiss it all as the passing fancy of a rich and famous man?

Double Act

Just like a bike, Sean had told him. Emerson doubted it. Though the instrument felt familiar in his grasp, it also seemed so foreign. His hand hurt from the way it wrapped around the neck, and the weight of it dug into his thigh.


He tried again. A C-chord, then a D, an F, an A. Each sounded better than the one before. A song suddenlyflared in his memory. One he played the most through his college days. His fingers flexed as he played the E-minor chord that opened Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down.”


Instincts kicked in and he played the whole first verse without a mistake, his voice softly carrying the lyrics throughout the room.


His fingers stilled. He couldn’t remember the chorus. But it probably wouldn’t take him long to familiarize himself with it again.


After looking up tabs and a couple YouTube videos, he could play the whole thing. Of course, it had been an easy song.


Chapter 16