Page 39 of Under the Ink

Sage shifted his gaze from her body to her hands, witnessing her precision—how quickly she tested every part of his kit. After making sure nothing would fall apart, she quietly tested the sound of each drum, each cymbal, and then made sure he had a good stock of sticks for the evening.

Why the fuck was his blood rushing at the thought of sitting in the seat where he’d sat hundreds of times before? Maybe because now he would picture her ass sitting there, her warmth seeping through to the leather.

And then he imagined her straddling him as he sat there, gently moving up and down, bringing them both to climax. How many tattoos would beunderher t-shirt? Would they peek out from under her bra?

Jesus H. Christ.

He had to stop this shit right now or he was going to be sporting a boner. And no matter how excited he got about playing drums, he wouldn’t be able to explain away a hard-on.

Biting down hard on his lower lip, he forced himself to look away. The rest of the crew was taking care of getting amps and mic stands and other gear set up—and, when Naomi was satisfied with the drums, she actually started helping the guys, taping down cords and whatever else they asked her to do.

Holy shit. This woman, one who’d seemed so distant and icy at first, had warmed up enough to work well with the crew. In fact, Sippi even seemed to appreciate her assistance—and if she’d passedhismuster, she would do just fine.

It wasn’t long before the stage was ready for them. The sound tech gave the guys a thumbs up and all the pyrotechnics appeared to be in place for later in the show.

As the roadies began filtering off the stage, Naomi in the middle, they walked past Sage. Naomi, though, actually paused and spoke to him. “Seeing these venues fill up night after night…really impresses upon a person just how big the world is.”

“You got that right. Thousands of people every night…it’s mind-boggling when you think about it.”

“Yeah.”

Thousands of people…and for one damned second, he was focused on this one. But he got the feeling that she wouldn’t be interested inanyguy, much less him. Could he convince her otherwise?

“You’ve gotten really good at this in a short amount of time.”

“I guess.” Screwing up her mouth in the cutest way, she added, “There’s really not much to it.”

“Yeah…but I saw the TLC you gave my drums.”

She half shrugged, but it looked like she wanted to slink away. Had his compliment made her uncomfortable?

“I just want you to know I appreciate the care and attention you give my equipment.”

“Thanks.” Giving him a quick nod, she walked off, right behind the band.

And he couldn’t help it. His eyes rested on her ass as he thought about all his damn equipment. As if she could feel the heat of his gaze, she turned her head—and Sage quickly averted his eyes toward Johnny, Kiefer, and Mickey as they headed his way, ready to rock the crowd.

It was showtime. Nothing else mattered…not even a luscious woman who wouldn’t give him the time of day. Still, what would it hurt to dream?

SOMEWHERE NEAR THE PENNSYLVANIA-NEW YORK BORDER

JUNE 16

For a few moments, Naomi felt completely disoriented, and she gasped shallow breaths as she tried to get her bearings.

Immediately, she forgot the dream she’d been in the grips of as a familiar rhythm took hold.

Yeah…she was on the tour bus, and that rhythm was the road.

Rolling over, trying to get more comfortable, she realized she needed to pee…but she knew if she lay quietlyandif she could fall right back asleep, it could wait till morning.

Unfortunately, her bladder had other ideas.

Fine.

There was no way she’d be able to sleep without taking care of business. So she tumbled out of the bunk and headed toward the bathroom. She knew, having been on this bus for over a week, that this was indeed a “luxurious” one. With two decks and lots of space, it was pretty nice—way nicer than the crappy apartment she’d left behind in Winchester—but that didn’t mean she could sleep well.

The bathroom itself felt upscale with its vessel sink, ornate tile, and platinum fixtures. The entire bus, though, was quite lavish, nothing she was used to. Leather seats, a kitchen equipped with more appliances than she’d ever used, flatscreen TVs, videogame systems, and nonstop AC.

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