Page 9 of Undeniable Temptation

The insomnia had allowed her to spend the last two nights online stalking Felicity ‘Flick’ Knight and prepare how to tackle the latest Reckless disaster. The woman was drama-free according to the Internet. She was also too scarily stunning, too talented, and too fucking flawless to not have more than a few skeletons hanging in her perfect closet. But there was no getting around the relationship charade. Grander had agreed to stop riding their asses if this stunt went to plan, and the termination of said ass riding was on the top of her to-do list.

Ryan was due to arrive at her suite any minute now. A discussion about his responsibilities would be had. She’d then formally introduce him to the squeaky-clean singer and they could be on their merry way to fake Fucksville.

Yippee for a job well done.

Only it didn’t feel like she’d succeeded this time. Her insides churned as if she was approaching failure. Failure of what, she had no clue, and no matter what she did, she couldn’t shake the sensation.

If anything, she should be relieved. Since their kiss, and the subsequent escape to Vegas, she’d been on the edge of anxiety, wondering if her professionalism would slip again, shoving her into another fantastically inappropriate embrace in his profoundly muscular arms.

This situation should be her saving grace. Her buffer. Ryan’s occupation with another woman would give him less time to obsess over their fractured friendship, and maybe give him someone else to rely on, seeing as though she’d successfully kept her distance from him for months.

Yep. It was a win-win. Any minute now gratefulness would kick in. Any. Damn. Minute.

Fortunately, the knock at the door saved her from trying to awaken an emotion she wasn’t prepared to welcome.

“I’m coming.” She stood, sucked in a breath, and straightened her calf-length skirt. Sweat coated her palm as she pulled open the suite door and found a handsome face she hadn’t been expecting. “Blake? What are you doing here?”

“Ryan said he was meeting with you and Scott. Do you mind if I sit in?”

“Is that a good idea?” He was still temperamental from the first showdown. Being away from the woman he loved was far harder for him than Mason and Sean. Not that the others were dealing. They just had a thick layer of pride that didn’t allow for pining in public.

“This is a meeting about Ryan and Felicity. At the moment, the additional tour dates are on hold, and you know I’ll keep you informed if that changes.”

“Yeah, I know, but I still want to be here.”

He wiped a hand down his face and his fatigue pulled at her heavily guarded heartstrings. She rarely let the Reckless men lead her to make emotional decisions. Apart from Ryan, Blake was the only one near capable of manipulating her rarely seen non-professional side.

“Come in.” She released a defeated huff and side-stepped to open the door wider. “Ryan should be here any minute.”

She glanced down the hotel hall, double-checking the man of the moment wasn’t already on the way before she closed the door and walked to Blake. “Spill.” She rounded the small glass dining table and sank into a seat opposite him, the manila folder full of her research placed between them. “Why do you need to be here?”

“I guess I feel guilty. I won’t agree to more tour dates because I can’t go for months without seeing Gabi. But it also doesn’t sit right to let Ryan slut himself out for me.”

“It isn’t specifically for you.” She ignored the slut comment, because frankly, it fit. Anyone with a brain and a healthy libido would realize this type of arrangement would end with the fake relationship turning into real sex. “We all want to be finished with the tour when the baby comes.”

“I know.” His knee began to pulse—up down, up down—as he tapped his foot on the carpeted floor. “And I’m well aware that Ryan needs to get laid, but not like this. Not when it’s staged and under a microscope.”

She bit the inside of her cheek, unprepared for the brutal truth.

“What he needs is a woman who will unapologetically screw Julie out of his system,” he continued. “A cheap and nasty groupie who will—”

Leah held up her hand. “I get the picture.” The visual was like a machete to her sex-drive. “Ryan needs to get laid.”

“Speaking of getting laid, when was the last time you got busy?”

She screwed up her face in the most unladylike way. “Unless you’re offering your services, that’s none of your damn business.”

He grinned, his bad-boy charm surpassing the everyday male and moving into god-like territory. Thankfully, she was immune. “I’m only asking because you were determined to take more time for yourself after you returned from Vegas, yet you’re still the work-obsessed woman you’ve always been.”

Another knock sounded at the door, a welcomed reprieve from the unwanted conversation.

“Gabi’s pregnancy changed my priorities,” she lied, pushing to her feet. “I need to work harder now to make sure everything syncs with the birth.”

In reality, she’d come home from Vegas and taken an additional two nights off from the usual Reckless mania to try to regain some of the social life she’d once had. All she’d scored were rejection texts from old friends who were now too busy to catch up, and innumerable hours spent obsessing over her mistake with Ryan. So she slid straight back into the breakneck pace of working twenty-four-seven and became addicted to the distraction.

“I’m sure you can cut back on a few things to make more time for yourself.”

She headed for the hall, not looking back. “Are you offering to take some of my duties?”

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