Page 96 of Undeniable Temptation

This was where he belonged, with Leah by his side and his friends at his back. He strode for her shadowed form, shoving past Mason and Blake to grab her around the waist and steal a gasp from her mouth.

She pushed at him. “Stop.”

He didn’t. He took her fear and killed it with a kiss, molding his mouth against hers, parting her lips with a harsh swipe of tongue.

She shoved at him. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“I’m saying fuck-you to the world.” He stared down at her without remorse. “Once I get off that stage things are going to change. I don’t care about Felicity or Julie or Grander. I won’t even give a shit about your god damn boss. I’m done, Leah. After this show, it’s all about us.”

“No.” Her gaze darted around at the witnesses standing in the shadows.

His friends glanced back and forth between them, and followed him as he walked backward onto the darkened stage, the technicians encroaching with guitars. As he stared at her, he mimicked a smirk he’d seen Mason pull too many times to remember. “Fight it all you like.” He kissed his fingertips and blew the love her way. “In a few hours, you’re mine.”

Chapter Twenty-Five

Leah stood side-stage, taking in the crowd participation. She’d successfully batted away hysteria for the last two hours, scurrying away to different hiding places during their short set breaks.

“How many of you have downloaded Slicker’s album?” Mason’s shout resounded through the stadium, soon smothered by a wave of screams. “And how many of you fuckers haven’t?”

“Maybe we should take off our shirts to encourage more sales?” Blake crooned into the microphone.

“I don’t know about them—” Ryan leaned into Blake’s side, “—but I’d one-click to ensure you kept yours on.”

Mason glanced to the wings and met her gaze as he continued to chat up the crowd. She gave him a thumbs up, the simple gesture letting him know they’d reached their target, even if it was in an obscure way.

Scott had updated her with half-hourly sales reports, and the number of downloads was impressive but not enough to hit the mark. At least she hadn’t thought so, until she checked the retail sites and found Slicker featured under a bestselling header. They’d succeeded. They’d won. And the relief was merely a drop in an ocean of turmoil.

She didn’t know what had happened between Ryan and Julie. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to know. All she could think about was the ticking time bomb and how Ryan’s kiss in front of the crew had made the avalanche of destruction all the harder to bear.

Mason gave a jerk of his head and led Reckless into another song. She was beyond proud of her men. They were an unstoppable team—emotionally and successfully. Each of them had stolen a piece of her heart in a different way. Sean was the brick wall, the man who hid his soft heart behind a gruff exterior. Blake was the fighter, the strength who could endure hell and teach her the sun would always rise tomorrow. Mitch was the stoic soldier, holding his head high no matter what challenge came their way. And Mason was like a brother. She hated him at times and couldn’t help loving him in the same breath. Even though nobody else noticed, he was the glue keeping the band together. He just did it in the most abrasive way possible to keep his asshole reputation intact.

Then there was Ryan, the love and heart of Reckless. He was everything she wasn’t—sweet, kind, selfless. Too much perfection. He didn’t even have to speak, his unwavering compassion shone bright in his eyes. She’d never met a more generous man, and being with him, no matter how short the duration, would forever be a memory she would cherish.

But it was time to clean the mess she’d made.

She took in the sight of them on stage for one last time and tried to smile as her gaze skipped from one brilliant man to the next. Then she pivoted on her toes and made her way to the backstage hall, the weight of judgmental stares following her into the dressing room.

The next fifteen minutes were spent alone, strengthening her resilience and bolstering her resolve. When they barreled through the door, hyped with enthusiasm and covered in sweat, she stood from her seated position on the sofa and grinned like her world wasn’t ending.

“Congratulations.” She walked to the refreshments table and handed them all a bottle of water.

“How’d we do?” Mitch’s cheeks were flushed, the adrenaline making his breathing heavy.

“Slicker reached bestseller status on Amazon MP3 downloadsandiTunes. Not only that, they also reached number one on their chart.”

“Number one?” Blake balked. “Bullshit.”

“Crazy, huh?” Her chuckle was half-hearted. “I think the rest of the world will have the same reaction when they see Slicker in the Classical genre.”

“Their shit isn’t classical by any stretch.” Mitch snorted.

“No, it definitely isn’t.” She turned her attention to Mason’s smirk, knowing he was the culprit. “What did you do?”

“I told you I had a few tricks up my sleeve. One of those was a man on the inside who agreed to tweak Slicker’s metadata.”

Mitch grinned. “Scott is going to be pissed.”

“Like I give a shit.” Mason drove an arm around Ryan’s neck and ruffled his hair. “You’re off the hook, motherfucker.”

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