trouble.
Come on, Lee. Get your act together. I tried giving myself a pep talk. I saw naked women on a regular basis.
But for some reason, seeing sweet, innocent, shy Kate standing there like that? It was doing things to me. Things that my body should not have been doing in response to my employee who had gone through enough emotional trauma to last a goddamn lifetime. Who I couldn’t be with anyway. Not now.
And besides, the last thing she needed was a quick screw, someone like me using her up, too.
“So … this is a revenge …” swallow “… strip?”
“This is me trying to get you to pay attention and listen when I ask you to do something.” Kate’s voice was honey as it melted into me.
I raised my hand to the back of my neck and rubbed at the muscles there that had suddenly become tight with tension. “Oh, I’m paying attention, all right.” I widened my eyes. There was absolutely no doubt about that right now.
“Get back-stage, Lee. Seriously. This is your last warning.”
I swallowed again, and the clamminess of perspiration beaded against my brow. Was it hot in here? It sure felt hot .
She stepped closer to me, till her chest was almost touching my chest. Shit, she smelt like soap and hairspray and … apples. How the hell did she smell like apples when Sam told me she’d been helping the sound guys lug some of our gear into the venue, despite me telling her not to? By all accounts, she should smell like ass.
But no. Apples.
“I …” My gaze flicked to her lips, and I wondered if it would really be that bad if I kissed her. After all, that was hardly promising her marriage, and no one had to know. Just one taste. And her lips—they were so red, and plump, and—oh God, she just licked them with that sweet-as-hell little tongue, and—
The palm of her hand made contact with my face before I even registered her arm moving. Five elegant fingers stung my cheek and I jerked backward, cupping my jaw in pain. “What the hell?”
Kate walked over to where her shirt lay on the floor and picked it up, casually shrugging it on. She had the biggest shit-eating grin on her face, and I couldn’t help but give a little smile myself. I’d not seen her look so animated since she first boarded the bus.
“I told you it was your final warning,” she said, doing up her buttons, then turned to the door, wrenched it open and made a sweeping gesture with her arm, allowing me passage through. “Now, Mr Collins, if you please.”
I turned my head so I could see my cheek more clearly in the mirror. The side she’d hit was definitely pinker than the other. I shook my head. I guess I should be thankful she wasn’t wearing rings.
“Thanks,” I mumbled, walking past her and out into the corridor. I passed Xander’s door, and a thought flashed through my mind. What if she stripped for all the guys to get them on stage? I couldn’t have her just—
“Lee?” The voice halted me in my tracks. I spun to face her.
She threw my black shirt at me, the one I’d had hanging over the chair by the mirror. “Put some clothes on.”
I shrugged the shirt over my head, but as I walked out on stage to the thousands of screaming fans, my mind wasn’t on the notes I was about to play, the lyrics I was about to sing.
My mind was fixed firmly on Kate. Who stood up to me like that?
There was something about that girl …
We played a one-hour set, and it was another successful gig. At the end, the crowd was on its feet, cheering. It seemed even the dancing girls that I was once so unsure of were actually worth their weight in gold, as we left to the shouts of “one more song” and the chicks ran back out to shake what their mamma gave them one last time. It was a 50/50 split crowd of guys to women, and having the girls with us seemed to get the blokes on side, especially during some of the slower numbers. They’d dance and sway their hips seductively in a manner that would have made my parents blush.
Come on, Lee. Get your act together. I tried giving myself a pep talk. I saw naked women on a regular basis.
But for some reason, seeing sweet, innocent, shy Kate standing there like that? It was doing things to me. Things that my body should not have been doing in response to my employee who had gone through enough emotional trauma to last a goddamn lifetime. Who I couldn’t be with anyway. Not now.
And besides, the last thing she needed was a quick screw, someone like me using her up, too.
“So … this is a revenge …” swallow “… strip?”
“This is me trying to get you to pay attention and listen when I ask you to do something.” Kate’s voice was honey as it melted into me.
I raised my hand to the back of my neck and rubbed at the muscles there that had suddenly become tight with tension. “Oh, I’m paying attention, all right.” I widened my eyes. There was absolutely no doubt about that right now.
“Get back-stage, Lee. Seriously. This is your last warning.”
I swallowed again, and the clamminess of perspiration beaded against my brow. Was it hot in here? It sure felt hot .
She stepped closer to me, till her chest was almost touching my chest. Shit, she smelt like soap and hairspray and … apples. How the hell did she smell like apples when Sam told me she’d been helping the sound guys lug some of our gear into the venue, despite me telling her not to? By all accounts, she should smell like ass.
But no. Apples.
“I …” My gaze flicked to her lips, and I wondered if it would really be that bad if I kissed her. After all, that was hardly promising her marriage, and no one had to know. Just one taste. And her lips—they were so red, and plump, and—oh God, she just licked them with that sweet-as-hell little tongue, and—
The palm of her hand made contact with my face before I even registered her arm moving. Five elegant fingers stung my cheek and I jerked backward, cupping my jaw in pain. “What the hell?”
Kate walked over to where her shirt lay on the floor and picked it up, casually shrugging it on. She had the biggest shit-eating grin on her face, and I couldn’t help but give a little smile myself. I’d not seen her look so animated since she first boarded the bus.
“I told you it was your final warning,” she said, doing up her buttons, then turned to the door, wrenched it open and made a sweeping gesture with her arm, allowing me passage through. “Now, Mr Collins, if you please.”
I turned my head so I could see my cheek more clearly in the mirror. The side she’d hit was definitely pinker than the other. I shook my head. I guess I should be thankful she wasn’t wearing rings.
“Thanks,” I mumbled, walking past her and out into the corridor. I passed Xander’s door, and a thought flashed through my mind. What if she stripped for all the guys to get them on stage? I couldn’t have her just—
“Lee?” The voice halted me in my tracks. I spun to face her.
She threw my black shirt at me, the one I’d had hanging over the chair by the mirror. “Put some clothes on.”
I shrugged the shirt over my head, but as I walked out on stage to the thousands of screaming fans, my mind wasn’t on the notes I was about to play, the lyrics I was about to sing.
My mind was fixed firmly on Kate. Who stood up to me like that?
There was something about that girl …
We played a one-hour set, and it was another successful gig. At the end, the crowd was on its feet, cheering. It seemed even the dancing girls that I was once so unsure of were actually worth their weight in gold, as we left to the shouts of “one more song” and the chicks ran back out to shake what their mamma gave them one last time. It was a 50/50 split crowd of guys to women, and having the girls with us seemed to get the blokes on side, especially during some of the slower numbers. They’d dance and sway their hips seductively in a manner that would have made my parents blush.
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