CHAPTER 14
LUCKY
He’s trying so hard to be professional.
If it wasn’t so fucking frustrating, it would almost be funny. Instead, it was quickly beginning to piss me off. He’d gone from being warm and affectionate, in a way that was so addicting, to completely hands-off. Hell, he’d barely smiled at me in the last three hours.
As if that stoic expression was some kind of armor. Didn’t he realize I could see right through him?
I didn’t even have to glance at his crotch to see he still wanted me.
It was written all over that devilishly handsome face, no matter how much he tried to hide it. He thought he could put a buffer between us by bringing Blade with him, but that didn’t keep him from trailing me around the tour bus with those stormy, brooding eyes.
The ride was long, bumpy and exhausting. By the time we arrived at the Moda Center in Portland, it was only a few hours away from showtime and soon, twenty-thousand screaming fans would be waiting for me to walk onstage. The production crew had already left after our show last night and had everything set up and ready to go hours before I’d even crossed the state line.
The Gods were just as prepared, it seemed.
As soon as we all streamed out of the tour bus, they surrounded me, shielding me from the group of screaming fans that had gathered near the underground parking garage. Ziggy stood at my side, vigilantly scanning the crowd. Riot led the way, obviously well versed in the layout of the place, because he swept us into the arena, down a maze of hallways and right to a cluster of dressing rooms deep in the basement of the place.
Their efficiency comforted me, despite my continued frustration with Ziggy. I knew I’d eventually have to let that go, but for now, I wasn’t done with this beautiful man and I wasn’t used to being told no.
That fact alone was getting to me.
I’d had a problem with authority figures ever since I’d endured such horrendous abuse at my mother’s hands. Since then, when someone told me I couldn’t do something, I took it as a challenge.
Watching as Ziggy insisted I stay just inside the door of the dressing room while he looked around first, I knew my biggest challenge was going to be keeping myself from teasing him relentlessly until he gave in. He checked all the corners of the suite and looked in the attached bathroom before giving me a thumbs up.
“Very thorough of you,” I said.
“Just doing my job, ma’am,” he said.
“If you call me ma’am again, I’m going to kick you in the balls.”
He laughed and winked at me. “Duly noted.”
We stood staring at each other, neither of us knowing quite what to do with our hands. Balling my fingers into tiny fists at my side, I willed myself to do the right thing. Teasing him was an asshole thing to do. The poor guy was only trying to do his job and he didn’t need me torturing him.
But, still. It sure was fun to see him squirm.
Which is what he was doing right now. His eyes lingered on my lips and I glanced down, the ever present bulge twitching behind his jeans.
“You can go,” I said. “I need to get ready. It’ll take me a while. I do my hair and makeup myself.”
“Oh, right,” he said, nodding, looking a little too grateful for an escape. “Of course. We’ll be right outside the door.”
“Thanks, Ziggy,” I said, flashing him a smile, when all I really wanted to do was flash him every thing else I had.
He left and I walked over to the bar, pouring myself a drink and sinking into a leather sofa lining the wall. Munching on carrot sticks and sipping my whiskey, I sighed a huge sigh of relief.
With a smile, I realized I felt safe for the first time in a very, very long time.