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"Thanks for the ride, by the way. You didn't have to." I watched the city sights flash away through the window.
"I know. I figured after all the mess, it was the least one of us could do. And since the other guys are busy with their girlfriends, I designated myself."
"Had nothing better to do, huh?" I glanced over at him. I wondered if being attractive was a prerequisite of being a Rock Dragon. He had dark hair that was tied back in a short ponytail at the nape of his neck. Tattoos, as you would expect of a rock star, and an easy smile. And he played a mean bass guitar. Women, and men, all over the world probably had photos of him on their phones, or on their walls.
He snorted a laugh. "Can't a guy do something nice for a pretty girl once in a while?"
Now I snorted, but I found my face heating." Couldn't find a pretty girl, so you decided to give me a ride?"
He glanced over at me. "Hey, you are pretty. And smart. And kind. And you don't yell at us when we do dumb things."
"Oh, I see," I said. "You like me because I don't yell." Some days, trying to keep the guys on track was like herding cats, but yelling would never get me anywhere with them anyway. Except maybe fired. When you got as big as the Rock Dragons, you tended to have a lot of influence over the people around you. If you didn't like someone, they were gone. End of story.
Honestly, I wouldn't want to work with guys who threw their weight around like that. Life was too short.
"Are you fishing for compliments, because I could give you a few," he said teasingly.
"No, I'm good," I said. This whole conversation was uncomfortable already. I was much better at talking about other people than I was talking about myself. Other people, especially Axel, were much more interesting than me.
"I bet you are," he said.
I looked over at him, my eyebrows raised. "Are you flirting with me?" He must really be feeling that, 'last single guy in the band,' thing today. Or maybe it was because I was the only woman in the vicinity.
"I'm sorry, didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable," he said. "The last few days have just been… Hectic."
"It's okay," I said quickly. "I'm not that easily offended." I've dealt with far worse guys than him in the past. And probably in the future too. I've lost track of how many times they suggested I bend over a piece of furniture. I've only ever been tempted once. Okay, twice but he was married and I wasn't going to go there. Guys who cheated were not my jam.
"That's a good thing, because you'd be offended by Strike on an hourly basis otherwise," he joked. "And Cord on a two hourly basis. And Jude on a daily basis."
"But never you or Jett?" I teased.
"Definitely not Jett," he agreed. "He might be the least offensive guy I've ever met."
"He is pretty sweet," I agreed. For a guy whose anxiety got the better of him more often than not. He hated upsetting anyone, or making waves, even more than I did.
"He has his moments," Axel agreed. He glanced over at me again and sighed. "Did I mention sorry you had to fly all the way back here? I'm sure Jude will tell you the same thing when he sees you."
"I'm sure he will, but don't worry about it. There will probably be something or someone in the office I need to catch up with tomorrow anyway." There was no way the label was going to have me fly all the way here and not put me to work, even if they had to find something for me to do. That was fine, I liked being busy.
There was always something. If there wasn't, we could have handled this over the telephone. Or via email. There was probably a bunch of journalists who wouldn't leave it alone until they spoke to someone face-to-face. I would deal with that and then get back to the tour.
"Besides, what's a little bit of inconvenience when it comes to true love? The timing could be better and all that, but it is what it is. We all want Jude and your sister to be happy, and by the sound of it she's better off with him than that other guy."
"She really is," he agreed. "I didn't realize you were such a romantic."
"Yeah, well, I guess I keep it hidden." Also, this was the longest time we spent alone together, and I was usually the one doing the listening, not the talking. He probably didn't know me very well at all. And vice versa, because it was usually Strike doing all the talking when the band was together. Him and Jude. Or Strike and Cord were teasing each other.
It was kinda nice to talk Axel one-on-one for a little while.
"I've always thought you were a bit mysterious," he admitted. "Now I'm wondering if I just didn't take the time. I mean, we all spend so much time together how well do we actually know each other?"
It was strange to him echo my thoughts.
"Not very well, I guess," I said. "The tour is very busy though and we always have a lot to do and a lot of people to talk to." And a lot of time in cars with nothing to do but talk to each other, but I tended to travel in different vehicles to the band. I was more likely to be with Roman than any of them. Part of the executive team, I guess you could say.
"Since I had a part in making you fly all the way back here and since we don't know each other very well, how about I take you out to dinner. To make up for being a pain in your ass." He pulled the SUV up a traffic light and looked over at me.
I looked back at him. Mysterious, me? I wouldn't have thought that, but for some reason I liked it. On the other hand, it might be nice to spend time getting to know him without all the other guys around.
