Page 39 of Follow the Rhythm
“And if you can’t… You should pick the rockstar. I bet he’s loaded,” they said with a wicked smile.
I didn’t dignify that with an answer.
We found a giant suitcase large enough for me to curl up inside of, along with a four-pack of descenter sprays that were so strong they had a warning label that read:Caution: Not recommended for daily use, may cause serious skin irritation or rash.In other words, it was the good stuff.
After a sleepless night of panic-packing, I woke too early and took a cab back to the venue. At least I’d finally been paid for my work so far, and I had the promise of another fat paycheck for traveling with the production. Silver linings.
I found Stevie backstage, and she wasn’t exactly thrilled to see me.
“Stay out of the way and we won’t have any problems,” she said, which immediately got my hackles up.
“I’m going to do my job. If that requires me getting in the way, tough luck,” I said, crossing my arms. I hated that I had to look up at her. She wasn’t an Alpha, but she had the attitude and height of one.
“Have fun with that,” she said dismissively and stalked away. I realized I had no idea where to go or what to do.
I dragged my suitcase behind me as I wandered around backstage, trying to look like someone with a purpose. The few crew members that I passed gave me strange looks, but no one said anything.
Luckily, or unluckily, I found Charlie.
“Hey, there you are,” he said. “Give me your stuff. We’ll take it to the bus.”
“I’ll take it.” I didn’t need him doing his “I’m a good provider” routine again.
He grinned at me. “Suit yourself.”
We walked out the back door into a parking lot where three massive buses were parked. Charlie led me to the fanciest one, painted a metallic ruby red, and opened the luggage hatch. I struggled to haul the massive suitcase inside until he grinned again and easily hefted it into place. His muscles flexed, and I shut down the part of my brain that remembered vividly what he looked like naked.
“Grace made me promise she could give you the grand bus tour. Excited?” he asked, still smiling. I was suddenly very aware that this was our first time being truly alone since the disastrous night in my apartment. I tore my gaze from the triangle of tanned chest visible above the top button of his shirt.
“Um, sure,” I said. I was terrified, but I wasn’t going to tell him that.
“You’ll be great. Want to come talk to the lighting engineers? They’re doing final tests.”
The rest of the day passed in a blur of watching professionals do their jobs competently while I stood by, nodding like I had any idea what was going on.
I met with the wardrobe, hair and makeup team - three women named Cailin, Julianne, and Frances, respectively. They were on board with Ursula’s vision and promised to run looks by me before each show.
Soundcheck was pretty quick since they’d done a full run-through the previous day. The band sounded great. And the lighting and video directors were accommodating and explained what they were doing as they rehearsed the cues. I tried my best to be gracious instead of feeling like a burden.
“Jess! Come back to the greenroom!” Grace yelled from the stage when soundcheck finished.
I made my way backstage, silently gathering my courage to face Kieran and Ellis. Before I could chicken out, I pushed through the door.
Grace immediately gave me an aggressive hug. “I’m so stoked you’re coming, you have no idea.”
I laughed weakly. “I think I have some idea.”
Kieran was watching us with an expression that I was starting to interpret as amusement, even if he rarely cracked a smile.
“Are you sure you’re okay with me riding with you guys?” I asked him.
“Of course,” he said, lifting one eyebrow. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Right. And you?” I called to Ellis. He was along the back wall, examining the snacks and drinks they’d stocked for the show.
“Oh, it’s going to be great. We always said we wanted to do a cross-country road trip, remember?” he said with a brilliant smile. “And now look at us, getting paid for it and everything. Sorry, it won’t be in a convertible, though. Maybe next time.”
I glared at him. How dare he bring up our old daydreams? Before I could retort, Grace pulled me out to the parking lot for the bus tour.
