Page 5 of Backstage with a Billionaire Rockstar

Carmen sighs. “Yes, Evan, I do. I’ve seen the threats being made to you, and it’s only a matter of time before they get worse.”

“And Mia is the best person for the job?”

“If you would’ve looked at the file I gave you, which details her experience and qualifications, you wouldn’t have to ask me that question,” she mumbles.

“Yeah, yeah,” I mutter, then look down the hallway where Mia’s room is located. “She going to come out of there anytime soon? I’m getting impatient.”

Carmen rolls her eyes, then backs away slowly. “I still think you going out tonight is a terrible idea.”

“You and me both,” Brent states from his place on the couch.

I look at Julia, waiting for her to chime in like she loves to do, but she stays awkwardly quiet from her place next to him.

Having two women here was bad enough, especially when one of them is as sweet and bubbly – that would be Julia – and adding a third one into the mix was not what I’d had in mind.

Carmen disappears into her office, located on the first level of our home – she insisted she get a room here, that way she could get to know us better and pick up where Mack left off – and that’s when Mia finally chooses to make her own appearance.

I’m not sure what I expected when I had Brent go and let her know that we would be going out tonight, but it wasn’t this. She’s got a pair of black slacks on, hanging loosely over her legs and looking more out of place than I’d like. Even looking out of place, there’s this aura surrounding her that has me taking a couple of steps closer to her form.

She looks at me, blinks a couple of times, and then squares her shoulders. “Are you ready?”

There’s no sign of emotion in her gaze, which I guess is a good thing if she’s going to be following me around a lot, but it unnerves me that she can be so unaffected when I can’t seem to stop staring at her.

Her t-shirt is also black, clinging to her sculpted biceps, and there’s a small gold chain hanging from her neck that has an image I can’t see dangling from it. I try to squint, hoping it will make the image clearer, but it doesn’t help in the slightest. As if sensing where my stare is, Mia carefully pulls on the chain and tucks it beneath the fabric of her shirt.

“Yep,” I say, finally answering the question she asked a few moments ago. “Lookin’ good, babe.”

A smile fills my features when her cheeks heat up, a flush skating down the length of her neck and stopping at the neckline of her shirt.

Good, I need her to be riled up.

Her blank stare falters for a moment, revealing a set of white teeth that adds to her perfection, and she says, “You wish I was your babe.”

Is she flirting with me?

I shake my head and frown. “Let’s roll out.”

Brent and Julia go to follow behind me, but Mia throws an arm out and glares at them before taking up the space at my back.

Before I can open the door and walk out, she’s reaching out and pressing her hand against my chest. “Wait until I check things out.”

I roll my eyes at her. “No one would make it onto the property.”

She cuts her gaze to me, once again emotionless, and says, “You’d be surprised.”

Even though she’s already stepped out of the house, there’s still an imprint of her touch left on my chest that confuses the hell out of me. My skin is on fire, burning with a desire I have no business having and that I know should be tamped down immediately.

While she spends the next couple minutes making sure everything looks good surrounding the house, I tap my foot impatiently on the floor with Brent’s stare boring a hole into my side.

I narrow my eyes at him. “Should I have invited Jace instead?”

Jace is the new lead guitarist for the band, something that happened when Ryker made his exit after being the subject of Mack’s abuse of power.

Instead of touring the country with us, Ryker’s creating a happy life with Wren in Arizona, and I couldn’t be happier for him. I’ve always believed in love but never openly went for it because I believe it will land in front of me when the time is right.

The time was right for Ryker, and there’s nothing that could make me mad about that.

It’s been tough getting used to Jace’s presence, especially since he’s the type who doesn’t like to talk too much – he’s a killer on the guitar, though, so I can’t complain.

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