Page 2 of Snared

As the drummer and newest member of the band, she was completely off-limits. Thinking about her in any capacity that wasn’t professional was a recipe for disaster. Also, I had a rule: no hooking up with musicians.

Ever.

Not that it mattered in this instance anyway—Charlie was not a fan. Guess I rubbed her the wrong way.

Maybe she just needed to be rubbed the right way.

Fucking hell. I bit back a groan.

Off. Limits.

As soon as I’d heard her audition tape, I knew she was the perfect fit for Steelwolf. At the time, I had no idea about her gender, only that she kicked ass on her kit, and that was all that mattered.

And sure, a woman drummer was rare, especially in the rock world. Charlie was the real deal, but if it boosted sales to see a woman on the drums, I sure as hell was going to promote it that way. I was looking out for the best interest of the band.

Which was why I’d also warned the guys to stay out of her pants—Steelwolf had gone through enough turmoil without bandmates hooking up on top of it—but I still needed to convince myself that the edict also applied to me. And some days were harder than others.

“Cool it with the Ellie shit, Spidey,” Jax said.

“Spidey?” Charlie asked, eyes narrowed at the lead singer.

Jax’s antics were both notorious and annoying, making him the perfect front man.

“You know,Charlotte’s Web. What can I say? Your nickname’s still a work in progress. Sticks is too generic,” Jax said with a shrug.

Tristan and Bash started laughing.

“Beyond pathetic,” Bash said.

“Listen, Wolfie, these things take time. I mean, except yours. You can thank your mother for that one,” Jax said. “Hell, I should send her flowers for saving me the trouble.”

Sebastian Wolfgang Clark’s mother always called him Wolfie, so that had stuck from day one, especially since he was the Wolf portion of Steelwolf.

“I’m surprised you even know that book,” Tristan said.

“There was a movie,” Jax said.

Tristan rolled his eyes. “Of course there was.”

“Try harder, Ellie,” Charlie taunted as she took a seat next to Bash. She grabbed a water bottle from the table in front of her and took a long drink.

The woman was stunning with her I-don’t-give-a-fuck attitude, and I’d wanted her from the day I’d walked into the studio to meet her.

I refocused on the damn candies.

Not that she’d shown me any interest, only thinly veiled animosity. She’d had a bad run with her last band manager and was wary of me because of it, which was another reason that I shoved aside my attraction. The last thing I wanted to do was disrupt the band’s balance yet again.

I had to get through the next two months until the leg of this tour ended. Then I could get back to my perfectly feng-shuied office and my thousand-dollar suits. Not that I hadn’t brought a couple for business meetings and appearances while we were on tour, but I definitely didn’t need them as acting tour manager.

If I’d had any brains, I would have found someone else to fuck by now, so I could get Charlie out of my mind. Screw the porno daydreams right out of my head. But for some stupid reason, that didn’t hold the appeal it should. All I could think about was how freaking frustrated I was about my unwanted attraction to Charlie.

“Hey, CH. You done yet?” Jax asked.

“Again, such a dick. Don’t you think CH has better things to do than sort fucking candy for you? I mean, they all taste the same anyway.” As if to prove his point, Bash grabbed a handful of the perfectly sorted candies and popped them into his mouth.

“After years of being tortured by his demands and schedules, you all are wasting the perfect opportunity to drive him crazy,” Jax said.

“Like you haven’t been driving him crazy since day one,” Tristan said.

---