Page 54 of I Need You Tonight
She nodded, the jerky movement reminding me of a grinning bobblehead. “I definitely will.” From the way she said it, I wouldn’t be surprised if she did, even though I’d been joking.
The parade of fans continued. Some were excited to meet us and tell us how much they loved our music. Some wanted selfies with us. A couple of girls tried to kiss my cheek when I posed with them; by the third time, I had to preface the photo with a no-kissing rule—something I’d never felt the need to do before. Others required only a quick autograph. A couple of individuals tried to give us their demo CDs to pass on to our record label. Those were always filed away in the trash can after the meet-and-greet—as were the bras and panties flung at us while we were onstage.
The guy who had just handed me his demo moved on to Kirk…revealing Nicole. My heart did a rapid four-beat pattern. That was new. My heart had never responded that way to a woman before, clothed or unclothed.
For a second I cursed my no-kissing rule. At least then I could’ve persuaded Nicole to give me one, even if it was a quick peck on the cheek.
“Can’t wait to see you in concert,” she said with a smile.
I shifted closer, my mouth an inch from her ear. “Can’t wait for you to see what I can do with my hands,” I murmured.
She laughed, and not for the first time I wished we were back at her house, alone. Having fun. Being ourselves. “I already know how good you are with your hands,” she said before stepping away. She winked at me and moved on to Kirk.
I didn’t hear what he was saying to her, because in that moment, while I was no longer paying attention to anything other than Nicole, the next person in line swooped in and planted a kiss on my cheek. “Hey, babe,” she purred. “Do you remember me?”
The worst question you could ever ask a touring musician was if he remembered you, especially if he saw thousands of people a night. Chances were great the answer was no. And how was he supposed to respond when he was at risk of hurting your feelings? Because no girleverasked “Do you remember me?” and wanted the answer to be no.
“How’re you doing?” I asked, nimbly avoiding the question. Which of course she took to mean that I did remember her.
“I’m going commando like last time.” Too bad she had to announce it loud enough for Kirk and Nicole to overhear, and both turned to look at us. Judging from the hurt on Nicole’s face for a fleeting moment, she no doubt assumed I would be disappearing with the fan right after this, for a little pre-concert stress release.
I was so busy paying attention to Nicole, I didn’t notice the woman lean into me. “Are you free after this? I’ve got some new moves I wanna show ya.” Her tongue forged a trail along my jaw.
My head jerked away from her as if a killer bee had stung me. “Thanks, but I’m gonna be busy after this.”
“What about after the concert?”
“Then too…that’s when we leave.”
She pouted, much the way Logan did whenever he was disappointed—a definite mood killer, if I’d been in the mood. “Even though Endless Motion hasn’t gone onstage yet?”
“Our bus driver likes to get an early start.” Maybe that would have been true if the driver had had a choice, but it didn’t matter—the buses all left at the same time, once the venue was packed up.
“That’s too bad. Maybe next time.”
“Yes, maybe next time,” I said, without really meaning it.
She moved on to talk to Kirk. I glanced at him to see how much Nicole had overheard, but she wasn’t with him or any of the other guys.
