Page 98 of Undeniable Temptation

“Mitch?” Ryan focused on the lead guitarist. “What about you?”

“Come on.” Mitch glared. “Do you really need to ask? I’ll do whatever it takes because I know you guys would do the same for me.”

“A simple yes would’ve sufficed,” Blake muttered. “This isn’t the Davies’ show.”

“What are you talking about?” Her voice was meek, barely audible over the sense of impending doom. They were all immersed in a conversation she didn’t understand, and wasn’t sure she wanted to. “What’s plan A?”

They ignored her, all five of them muttering among themselves, one over the top of the other, the noise coalescing—What was the plan again? Do you need us to do anything else? Are we doing this in the bus or a hotel?

“I’ll go with Ryan.” Mason spoke the loudest. “The three of you will have to deal with Leah.”

Have to deal with her? Was he striving for a blunt-force trauma to the balls?

“Ahem.” She cleared her throat, and still they ignored her. Time for the big guns. She circled her thumb and pointer finger, placed them over the curl of her tongue and whistled loud enough to make them flinch. “Explain.”

Mitch, Blake, and Sean still had the respect to act apologetic. Mason, on the other hand, was smirking in defiance. But, as always, her interest came back to Ryan. Once she left, this could be the last time she was around him for months. There’d be no wavy, chin-length hair to fantasize about running through her fingers. There’d be no kissable lips to dream of, or hugs to strengthen her.

He was grinning now, his mouth curved in a delicious show of excitement that scared the hell out of her. She frowned at him, not knowing why or how he could be happy at a time like this, and released the grip on her suitcase as he approached.

“What aren’t you telling me?” she whispered. She could smell him, the mingled scent of sweat and aftershave. The deep breaths tattooed her lungs, warming the icy chill inside her as he ran one hand around her waist and pulled them together.

“Do you trust me?”

“Do I need to?”

He winced, the slightest fracture to his confidence. “I have a plan to solve our problems.”

“If it were that easy, I would’ve thought of it myself.”

His wince didn’t waiver. It still hung between them, increasing her heartbeat as the rest of the band listened on in silence. “It’s not easy. And it might not work. But I have faith it will. I wouldn’t risk everything if I wasn’t ninety-percent sure.”

“Everything? You meanmycareer,mylife, andmyfuture.” He wasn’t risking those things. His risk had nothing to do with him and everything to do with her.

He leaned in close, his breath brushing her ear. “You are my everything. You are all that matters and all I want. So yes, I’m risking everything, because nothing else is as important to me as you.”

She closed her eyes and battled to keep her head high. “Tell me the plan.”

“I can’t.”

She snapped her eyes open and met his gaze. “You want me to risk everything without even knowing what you’re doing?”

“I want you to trust me… And Mason, Sean, Mitch, and Blake. We all came up with the idea yesterday.”

She read those soulful eyes, trying to measure the risk. The only thing she could see was hope mixed with pleading.

“Are you going to do something stupid?”

“Probably. Will you forgive me if I do?”

She stared over his shoulder, at the men who were her family. At Mitch who had devastation written all over his face. At Blake who was guarded and resolute. At Sean who was smiling through his concern. And finally Mason, his superior brow taunting her like the tormenting brother he’d always been.

“I trust you, but—”

“That’s good enough for me.” Mason jerked his head at Sean. “Grab her suitcase. Take her to a hotel and do what we discussed.”

“Ahh.” She reached for the trolley handle and gripped tight. “Hotel? No.” The guys should be boarding the tour bus for Houston, and she’d already arranged for the jet to fly her out of here. “If I’m not in the air in two hours, I’ll lose my job before your plan is underway.”

“Our plan is already underway.” Ryan placed a sweet kiss on her forehead. A sweet, destroying kiss that had her toes curling in innumerable directions. Damn that mouth. Damn his appeal. “Just give me some time.”

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