Page 42 of Under the Ink

Naomi felt a huge wave of relief—and gratitude—wash over her like a waterfall. This man’s line of questioning was something she wasn’t used to.

He seemed to actuallycare.

What made her feel like maybe she could trust him was that she knew he was telling the truth—he most certainlyhadpulled the bus over.

“Thank you. I, uh, I took care of it.”

“Okay. Can I make a suggestion?”

“Um…sure.”

“I think you need to say something to your employers to let them know if he got out of hand. Maybe he needs to find a different job.”

Naomi didnotwant to cause someone to lose their job—especially because she wondered if maybe Andy hadn’t been toldnovery often. That and the man had been three sheets to the wind. And hewasa man and she was the sole woman on this tour. What chance did she have? “Thanks, um…”

“Pat.”

“Pat. Thank you, Pat. I’m Naomi.” When he nodded, she added, “I appreciate your help. But I think everything will be all right now.” Maybe it wouldn’t, though. But she’d discovered over her short life that she didn’t have the power to make things right. Going through proper channels just didn’t work.

Still…it comforted her to have an ally.

“All right. But you tell me if I can help you with anything, okay?”

“Yeah. Thanks. I appreciate that.”

It felt good to know the driver had her back while she was on tour, but it merely emphasized the main reason she’d taken this job in the first place—to escape the hell she had been living in her whole life. If she could do that, if she could break free, she could begin a fresh new life, one where she could make sure she was always safe.

For now, she just had to stick it out.

HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT

JUNE 16, AFTERNOON

Holy shit. In all his life, Sage never would have expected to have night after night of crowds consisting of tens of thousands of people to be worshipping his skills.

So it wasn’t all for him—but he was part of it.

Standing in that huge arena—sold out, he was told—nearly took his breath away, imagining a person in every single seat, all there for the same reason. To experience Shock Treatment.

It boggled the mind.

While the crew checked everything out, Sage made his way outdoors. Because they had a little extra time before they had to get ready, his fellow band members were all chatting with their respective love interests over the phone and FaceTime.

Which led him to thinking about Naomi. But what a stupid idea. She obviously wasn’t interested—and he’d only break her heart anyway. Their relationship had to be business only.

And it was working fine that way.

But he had a sensitive subject he had to speak with her about and she was nowhere to be found.

He knew, though. She’d be back. She always was. Although she was protective of her private time, she was as reliable as the sun rising in the east.

When his stomach started growling, he sent her a text.Have you eaten lunch yet?

And then he decided if she hadn’t responded in five minutes, he’d either grab a bite by himself or see if any of the roadies wanted to tag along.

Less than a minute later, he got a response.Not yet. Just exploring.

She didn’t say no to his implied offer, so he was going to keep up the conversation.There’s a Mexican restaurant across the street from here calling my name. Want to join me?

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