Page 23 of Undeniable Temptation

Felicity sighed. “It’s a clean, comfortable bed after weeks of a wafer-thin mattress on a noisy bus with Trent and Carl snoring. You would’ve taken up the offer, too.”

“Would I?” Hannah looked back at him and cocked her head in scrutiny. “He’s not my type.”

“You’re being ridiculous.” Felicity met his gaze and winced. “Ryan, do you mind if she crashes, too? The two of us could share your bed.”

Instantly, two pleading stares were on him. A million hell-yeah thoughts could’ve gone through his mind but he only had one—how the heck was he going to explain to Mason that two beautiful women had slept in his bed and left the next day untouched? Or did he bite the bullet and dive back into the dating pool with a threesome under his belt?

“Sure.” He cleared his throat. “It doesn’t bother me.”

Hannah frowned. “Really? This wasn’t a booty call?”

He stepped forward, summoning enthusiasm he didn’t have, and leaned into her. “If I had plans to sleep with Flick, they would’ve been fulfilled hours ago.” It was a bluff. A shield to hide his lacking skills of seduction and an inability to stop thinking about someone else.

“Aww, you’re such a gentleman.” She patted him on the chest, her eyes turning seductive.

“That’s the consensus,” he muttered. “Now let’s get out of here.”

Chapter Five

There werenumerous defining moments in Leah’s life. She was the manager for one of the hottest bands on the planet, for Christ’s sake. Sheowneddefining moments. She had a long list of phenomenal days that shaped her into the professional, hard working woman she was today, and she wouldn’t change a thing. Not a week went by without reminiscing on one of her achievements. At least that was the case until her recently acquired defining moments came with negative effects.

First there was the kiss. A delicious, fantasy-filled brush of lips that sent her spiraling. She’d always known her dreams couldn’t turn into reality. It wasn’t plausible to have Ryanandher career. So the choice to commit to Reckless hadn’t been something she could regret. The band members were all she had, and there was no regret over the decision she made. She wasn’t whimsical or unrealistic. A relationship with Ryan simply wasn’t an option. End of story.

But the kiss had shaken her nonetheless. She’d had to work hard to suppress the remembered taste of scotch on her tongue and the feel of his hard chest against hers. That glimpse in time had changed everything, no matter how hard she tried to believe otherwise.

Then came the images of Ryan and Felicity together. Although somewhat less devastating, she’d had to swallow down an uncomfortable tightening in her throat over the dreamy way they looked at each other.

Even worse was the story behind the pictures.

“These were staged,” Alana had pointed out, tilting the camera viewer in Leah’s direction. “But these…” Her friend’s fingers had scrolled across the screen, increasing the discomfort, making Leah awkward in her own skin. “These ones were captured after I told them I’d taken the final shot.”

Those images were still burned into her retinas. His hands had been on Felicity’s body, his lips so close to her ear. The tightness in her throat had sunk to her chest, then her stomach, squeezing everything inside her until there was no way to deny the reason for her discomfort. Yep, she’d been jealous. But that reckless emotion had quickly been snuffed by her determination to move on from her pathetic infatuation.

Until now.

Turns out, she didn’t snuff much of anything, and the discomfort from those images was merely a taste of displeasure in comparison to the all-encompassing pain currently pushing its way through her bones.

Staying in the lobby, replying to emails and analyzing sales while Ryan had his first official fake date had been a mistake. She’d stupidly told herself she was on standby in case they needed her assistance. If he drank too much, or stalker types slipped through the hotel doors, she’d have to intervene. But as time ticked by without drama, she had to try harder to convince herself of why she remained in place.

Fuck.This had nothing to do with being on standby and everything to do with stalking his new relationship. Years of suppressed emotions were unraveling inside her. Jealousy fought with spite and desire. She should be the one in the bar enjoying his company. She should be the one making him smile and breathing in his familiar aftershave.

Damn it. The tour was messing with her head. Insomnia was turning her into a train wreck.Grow a set and get out of here.

She stood, grabbed her laptop and notepad, then froze at the sight of him at the bar doors. On instinct, her body reacted like it always did—hunger and anticipation mingling in her blood to create a lethal combination she always ignored. His hair was tangled, the shoulder-length waves brushed back from a face that housed a wickedly sexy grin.

It took a moment to realize what created his happiness. The briefest pause in time to grasp that his mirth wasn’t for her and instead came from the women at his sides. Not one, but two sickeningly seductive females who seemed intent on a plan she couldn’t determine.

With naïve relief, she began counting down the seconds until the end of the charade when the threesome would part ways. She even moved forward, focused on meeting him at the elevator doors to get the inside scoop on what they’d been doing for the past two hours.

But their charade didn’t end.

They didn’t part ways.

In sadistic fascination, she watched them walk toward the elevator, the unmistakable promise of sex following along behind them.

“No.” The plea whispered from her mouth as she shook her head. “Don’t do it, Ryan.”

With each progressive step, her heart clenched a little harder, pumped a little faster. She tried clinging to her band manager role, attempting to disguise her heartache as professional intuition, and failed miserably.

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