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“I’m Lily Tanner,” she spoke clearly into the microphone, completely ignoring his questions about white.
“I hear you’re married to someone our listeners might be familiar with.”
“Yes, I’ve been married to Jack for a while now. Well, not you, Jack.” She twirled a hand in Jack Bryant’s direction. “I mean Jack Tanner.”
“Drummer for . . .” Bryant inclined his head in her direction and waited for her to fill in the blank.
“The Fallen.”
“He’s a lucky man. And I promised I’d ask,” Bryant said, “so forgive me. When are we going to get a new album from the Fallen?”
Lily pressed her lips together. Roux knew how much she hated being put on the spot about her husband’s currently defunct band. “I couldn’t say. Jack doesn’t tell me jack shit about his band.”
Bryant’s scowl turned to surprise when the observation booth door swung open.
“Shut the fuck up!” Steve shouted. “You’re married to Jack Tanner? The Jack Tanner?”
Bryant laughed. “I take it Steve Aimes is familiar with the Fallen’s iconic drummer.”
“You have to introduce me to him,” Steve said. “He’s my hero.”
Max grabbed the collar of Steve’s shirt, hauled him back into the observation booth, and shut the door.
“I think he’s every drummer’s hero,” Bryant mused. “Yours too, I take it?” he asked Lily.
“Of course,” she said, with a tender smile, “but not because he’s a renowned drummer. He’s the love of my life.”
Roux’s heart fluttered with happiness for her friend. Lily and Jack were meant to be together. Roux could only hope that one day she’d find someone as perfect for her as those two were for each other. For some reason she glanced back at Steve at that thought. She caught him watching her, but he didn’t look away and try to hide it. Nope. He winked. With uncharacteristic brazenness, she winked back.
She knew she shouldn’t encourage him, but even when he was in the next room making a complete ass of himself, he made her happy. It was not a feeling she’d experienced with many men.
The host waxed poetic about Jack Tanner and the possibility of the Fallen releasing a new album for the remainder of their segment, which was only a minute or two, but long enough to make Iona’s eye twitch. As they were exiting the studio, she caught Lily’s arm and hissed, “Why did you have to mention that you were married to Jack?”
“I didn’t. Bryant already knew. He’s the one who brought it up.” Lily grinned, not the least bit ashamed of her supposed slip. “And if you for one minute think I’m not going to claim Jack as mine, you’ve lost your mind.”
Iona took a deep breath. “Sorry. Not your fault. I know that. We just agreed that we wouldn’t mention our significant others while on tour. We want to make it on our own.”
“Just be glad he didn’t recognize you as Kayla Clark, the favorite of American Voice three years ago,” Sage said.
“I am glad.”
Iona’s stint on the show was one of the many reasons the band had decided to play up their costumes. They didn’t go quite to the extremes that KISS had gone to disguise their identities in the 70s, but the more the members of Baroquen could keep their personal lives out of the limelight, the better. While Lily and Iona wanted to keep their love lives behind closed doors, Sage and Azura were concerned about people from their dark pasts finding them. Roux liked her privacy, and as her gaze landed on Steve, who had already drawn Lily to one side to arrange a meeting with her husband, Roux knew she could never pursue anything serious with Exodus End’s gorgeous drummer because A, the man probably didn’t even know how to do serious and B, her privacy would be a thing of the past.
As Roux brushed past him, he slid his hand around her wrist. There was no pressure there—she could have easily slipped out of his grasp if she’d wanted to—but she drew to a halt, her heart hammering with anticipation and excitement. She couldn’t figure out why he made her feel this way. Was it because he was so famous, so gorgeous, so electrifying, and paid her attention? Or was her heart far smarter than her head, which kept telling her to keep away from him?
“I’ll hold you to that,” Steve said to Lily.
“He’s a fan of yours as well,” she said. “He’ll be delighted.” She patted Steve’s arm and followed the crowd through the observation booth and into the studio’s large outer office.
“We have a date with the Tanners,” he said, his gaze shifting to meet Roux’s.
“We?”
“Yep. I won’t take no for an answer.”
“Won’t it be obvious that we’re involved if we double-date with the Tanners?”
“So we are involved,” he said. “I wasn’t sure we were on the same page.”
He shifted her slightly so that the partially open door blocked them from the direct view of anyone in the office, and bent his head in her direction. Her eyelashes fluttered, lids covering her eyes as she leaned into his kiss. His lips brushed hers for only a few seconds, but the gentle touch set her ablaze with instant need.
They were involved, just like that?
Involved.
With him so near, she couldn’t begin to process what that meant. Did he mean they should find the nearest mattress and explore the unmistakable lust between them? Or did it mean he was interested in something deeper than a sexual fling? Her head was spinning almost as fast as her heart was pounding.
“You have an amazing voice,” he said, his own voice deep, soothing, and sexy. “Why didn’t you tell me you could sing?”
“Keyboardist,” she reminded him. “I sing backup vocals only.”
“But you could sing lead if you wanted to.”
His voice so close to her ear sent shivers down the side of her neck. God, she wanted his mouth against her throat. Kissing. Sucking. Licking.
“Thanks,” she said huskily. “But I don’t want to sing lead. My heart belongs to the piano.”
“At least I know who my competition is.”
What did he mean by that? Surely not what she thought—wanted—it to mean.
God, he smelled good. She tilted her face toward his neck, wondering if his skin tasted as delicious as it smelled. The heat of her breath rebounded on her parted lips as they moved closer to his throat. Maybe she should offer his neck the kind of attention hers craved.
“Don’t forget I have something for you in my pocket.”
The spell he’d cast over her broke, and she stepped back. She was grateful for the high heels of her boots so she didn’t have to crane her neck to meet his gaze.
“I’m not sticking my hand down your pants.”
“If you don’t, I’m going to kiss you again.”
She placed a hand on his chest, her fingers curling slightly to urge him close again. She shouldn’t want him closer—not here where they could be discovered at any moment. But she did. She missed his heat already. “Is that supposed to be some sort of threat?”
He didn’t bother responding, just made good on his promise. She’d never been kissed in such a way that her nipples ached so bad that she had to rub them against a man’s chest, but the tug of his mouth on hers had her pressing her body against his, and when his tongue traced her upper lip, she moaned and slid her arms around his back to pull him even closer. She probably should have slept with him last night so that they could be out of each other’s system. Surely one quickie would be enough to cool this heat between them. And she really needed to get her personal inferno under control.
“Fish your surprise out of my pocket,” he said, “or I’m going to do that again, but this time I’ll do it with the door all the way open.”
He inclined his head toward the door that was blocking them from view, and she didn’t bother challenging his intention. She knew he’d do exactly what he’d threatened.
“Fine,” she said. “Just don’t get cum on my hand.”
He laughed. “No promises.”
She leaned back and asses
sed the front of his pants, trying not to focus on the magnificent bulge in the center. She didn’t think he was even hard. How many pairs of socks did he have rammed in there? “Which pocket?”
“Figuring that out is half the fun.”
She rolled her eyes—though, honestly, this was fun—and shoved a hand into each pocket. The man’s jeans had apparently been painted on his body, so she had to wriggle her fingers to delve deeper. His breath came out in a shuddering huff and he grabbed her wrists, tugging her hands free.
“We’ll have to pick up that game later,” he said. “When I don’t have to face a room full of people.”
