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Gentry’s heart thumped painfully in her chest. She could see the glassy sheen of their eyes, their flushed cheeks and noses, their stringy hair, their looks of unfiltered chaos. She could hardly believe this was happening.
What did they want? Were they going to hurt her?
And then one of them took a swipe—at the mic stand or at her, Gentry didn’t know, but shedidknow that this was quickly turning into a nightmare. She wished with all her heart somebody would intervene. That someone would assist her.
A flash of bright movement streaked toward the stage from the very back of the blues lounge. The two drunken revelers turned around to gape along with Gentry as two other men rushed up, looking deadly serious. Both of them were tall, well-built, and startlingly handsome. One of them had blond hair, and the other had a dark, brooding look to him. The blond one made eye contact with Gentry and a jolt went through her body, riveting her to the spot. She could only watch in awe as he gracefully jumped onto the stage. In a few steps, he managed to position himself between Gentry and the two offenders. He held his muscular arms out, shielding her with his whole body.
“Stay back, boys. You don’t want to turn a little mistake into a big one,” the man warned them. “We can do this the hard way or the easy way.”
“Come on down from there,” commanded the man with the dark hair. He was still standing on the floor looking up at the scene onstage. “Nobody needs to get hurt tonight.”
The bleary-eyed drunken guys looked back and forth between Gentry and the two heroes, then at each other. Their shoulders slumped and they looked sheepish, suddenly ashamed of the big scene they were making. It was like they’d been in a trance, and nothing but the sharp, authoritative tone of the dark-haired man could bring them back to reality.
“Uh-oh,” grunted one of the drunks.
“Sorry, miss,” mumbled the other, looking at Gentry sadly.
She forced a weak smile and shook her head. “N-No worries. No harm done.”
“That’s right. Apologize. Very good. Now, let’s get you boys down off this stage before somebody really does break a leg,” said the blond man.
Gentry was impressed at the way he maintained his affable nature even while confronting two potentially dangerous, reckless strangers. When the dark-haired man easily grasped the strangers by the jackets, swung them down offstage, and began to firmly lead them away, she found that pretty damn impressive, too.
“You got it, Linc?” the blond man called out.
The dark-haired guy looked back over his shoulder, still gripping the revelers, and said, “Yeah. Let me get these guys some fresh air and I’ll be right back.”
The spotlights dimmed down, giving Gentry a clear view of the entire lounge. She watched the one named Linc leave to gently take the troublemakers outside. Moments later, the heavy red curtains started to fall back across the stage, and the blond man led Gentry back several steps so she could disappear behind it. At the same time, as the curtain was closing, Gentry saw Ricky run up the side stairs and onto the stage, holding up his hands and trying not to look panicked.
“Hey everybody! Sorry about that interruption—guess those guys enjoyed the show a little too much, but hey, can you blame ‘em?” Ricky was laughing nervously into the mic. “But man, can we give a round of applause to Miss Gentry Hays?”
From behind the curtain, Gentry heard the muffled cheers and applause of the audience, and even though she was feeling a little shaky, she smiled. Knowing she did a good job made the rocky ending less painful. At least she had done what she’d set out to do: perform.
“Sounds like the audience loves you,” the blond man said warmly.
Gentry blushed, finally alone with the guy and realizing once again just how handsome he was. He towered over her, clearly a couple inches over six feet. He was lean and wiry, built like a runner or a swimmer, some kind of well-toned athlete. She had no doubt in her mind that there were flawless, chiseled abs underneath his shirt. She looked up into his green eyes and got lost for a moment, her lips falling open.
The guy smiled down at her and held out a hand for her to shake.
“I’m Seth,” he said.
“Gentry Hays,” she replied, taking his hand.
She almost gasped at the sensation of his palm against hers; it was an electric jolt so powerful it seemed unreal. A handshake seemed so harmless, so neutral. But something about his skin on hers made Gentry feel warm and tingly all over. Her heart hammered away, her stomach twisting with butterflies. And just when she thought she couldn’t be more overwhelmed, the dark-haired hero came walking in through the side door.
Again, Gentry was struck with just how gorgeous he was. Slightly shorter than Seth, the dark-haired guy made up for that with his broad, powerful body. He was built like a fighter, like a brick wall. Like someone you absolutely would not want to face in a confrontation. Gentry saw his biceps straining beneath his sport coat, and she could only imagine how strong he was. He could pick her up and throw her around like a feather pillow. And damn, she wanted him to.
She wantedbothof them.
They stood shoulder-to-shoulder, and Gentry was stunned by the amount of eye candy in front of her. She could positively smell the pheromones coming off of them. The masculine musky scent, the heat, the barely restrained raw power held in their strong bodies. Gentry’s mind went wild imagining all the dirty, delicious things they could do to her.
“How are you doing? Are you okay?” the dark-haired guy asked in a baritone voice.
Gentry jolted back to the moment and nodded. “Oh, yeah, I’m fine.”
“They didn’t touch her, Linc,” Seth assured him.
“Good. I took the guys outside and called them a cab. I don’t think they meant any harm, just enough booze in their veins to do something stupid,” the one called Linc said.
