Page 92 of Undeniable Temptation

She pretended he wasn’t addressing her.

“Leah,” he murmured, his voice barely heard over the flushing toilet from the bathroom.

She played with her ear-piece and ignored her panic as Blake and Mitch walked into the hall.

“Leah,” he repeated, this time louder.

Reluctantly, she met his gaze and held her breath through the pain of it. Every time their eyes met her entire body reacted—heart, mind—even her soul.

“Can you come over here for a minute?”

She remained in place, unwilling to move. “What’s up?”

His lips quirked. “Come here.” There was a demand in his voice now, the subtlest insistence she couldn’t deny.

She sighed, trying to simulate frustration when her throat was closing from yearning, and strode toward him. “Is something wrong?”

From the corner of her eye, she watched Sean leave the room. Then Mason was heading for the door, about to leave them in dangerous solitude.

“Good luck, Ry.”

Good luck? She shot a frantic glance to Mason as he reached for the door handle. All he did was laugh before escaping.Shit. They were definitely up to something.

She paused a few feet from Ryan’s position against the counter and met her reflection in the mirror behind him. She looked calm. Almost in control. Until he lunged for her, one arm weaving around her waist to pull her into his position against the counter.

She froze, every muscle tight.

“Ryan.” She poised to push away from him, her palms on his muscled chest, her heart gagging her throat.

“I need to tell you something.”

“Can you tell me while we’re not touching?” She tried to laugh off the situation and failed when it came out as a whimper.

“No. I need your full focus.”

“Well, you’ve certainly got it.”

That grin continued to beam back at her, a tiny glimmer of wickedness shining around the rough appeal of his short beard. “I wanted to tell you I’m calling Julie after the show.”

“OK…” She swallowed.

“I’m letting her know there’s no chance I’m moving back in with her.”

“OK…” She swallowed again.

“What I’m not going to tell her, is that from now on, I’ll be with you.” Those eyes gleamed at her, honest and true. Their depths filled with unwarranted confidence.

“Ryan…” Her ear-piece crackled and one of the security guards spoke her name. She pressed the talk-back button and tilted her face from Ryan’s. “What is it?”

“I’m still having problems with a woman demanding to get backstage. I’m not sure if I should have her removed from the premises.”

“I’ll be there in a minute.” She yanked the ear-piece out and let it hang over her shoulder. “I need to go.”

“Wait.” Ryan wiped a stray strand of hair from her cheek, his fingertips inspiring tingles all the way down her neck. “I love you, Leah. There’s no point wasting more of our time trying to find excuses. We need to make this work, no matter what it takes.” He edged closer, their noses a mere inch apart, their breath mingling. “We snuck around before. We can do it again.”

There was a loud knock on the door followed by a hollered, “Two-minute call.”

She stiffened and tried to pull away, her attempt failing due to the strong arm wrapped around her. “We’ll discuss this later.” In weeks. After the tour ended.

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