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Zac winced internally. “Cassie’s my guitar tech, and she needed somewhere to stay. I’m just telling you so you know there’s someone else here who can hear you.” Time to move things along. “Now, I was thinking we could—”
“Hold the fuck on,” Devon interrupted him. “You don’t get to drop that kind of information and not introduce us to the lady in question.”
He clenched his jaw. Why the hell had he said anything? He should have known they wouldn’t let it go until he introduced them to Cassie.
Zac looked over at her. She’d pulled her knees up to her chin and was hiding her smile behind them. He raised a brow. Understanding his silent question, she rolled her eyes with a huff of laughter. She stood, placed her notepad and pen down carefully, and came over to him. When she got close enough, he turned the screen toward her.
“Well, hello there, Cassie.”
Zac could almost hear the flirtatious grin in Beau’s voice.
Cassie gave a little smile and a wave. “Hi.”
“No wonder Zac wanted to hide you away.” That was Caleb.
Zac turned the phone back toward himself, giving her an apologetic look. But she just laughed quietly again and walked back to where she’d left her notebook.
He dragged his gaze away from her tight ass in those little shorts. Three faces smirked at him from his phone screen.
He ignored their gleeful expressions. “So, as I was saying, I think we should start with—”
“Why do my guitar techs never look like that?” said Caleb.
He kept talking as if Caleb hadn’t spoken. “Tearing it Down. I think it’s missing something in the transition to the second verse.”
“You realize this conversation isn’t over, don’t you?” Beau had a grin the size of Texas on his face.
Zac pinned him with a stare, and Beau sighed. “Okay, fine. Let’s write some music.”
An hour and a half later, they’d finally wrapped it up for the night. Zac rubbed his gritty eyes and looked over at Cassie.
She’d fallen asleep, her head resting against the corner of the couch, long, dark lashes lying against her cheeks, her hands lax on the notebook in her lap.
Zac slid his guitar into its case and latched it. His eyes shifted back over to Cassie.
She looked so peaceful.
His legs moved of their own accord, and he found himself next to her. He stood there, his gaze roaming along the curve of her breasts, the smooth skin of her arms, her slender fingers resting against the lined pages of her notebook.
A part of him was a little too curious about the thoughts she spilled onto those pages. Would her words reveal all her dreams and fears? Would they explain why she’d tied herself so closely to Bryan? A man who obviously hadn’t deserved that level of dedication.
Then again, why did anyone commit themselves to someone when love was so easy to abuse?
Not wanting to invade her privacy, and strangely reluctant to learn the answers to those questions, anyway, Zac didn’t look too closely as he eased the book out from under her hands. He closed it and tucked it into the back of his jeans beneath his shirt.
Stooping, he slid his arms under her and lifted her gently. She curled into him, her hand resting against his chest. The sweet scent of apples and vanilla teased his senses. He closed his eyes and stood there for a second, holding her against him, breathing her in. Did she taste as sweet as she smelled?
He forced his eyes open. What the hell was he doing? Yeah, she smelled good; most women he met did. Most women hadn’t just had their lives implode around them. Most women didn’t work for him. And most women definitely wouldn’t be living on a bus with him for the next couple of months. Connor might not have resisted Lexie’s pull when she was staying with them, but this wasn’t the same situation. Zac knew better than to complicate his life by giving into something that was just a fleeting temptation. Or worse, something that wasn’t as fleeting as it should be.
At the corridor leading to the bunks, Zac turned sideways to keep her legs from hitting the doorway. Her bunk was on the bottom, opposite his. The curtain was open, so he bent down and laid her gently on top of the covers. He didn’t want to disturb her by trying to get the blanket over her, and it was warm enough on the bus that she shouldn’t get too cold.
Zac straightened, not letting his gaze linger on her this time. He pulled her notebook out from his jeans and tucked it down by her side, then drew the curtain shut and went to wash up in the small bathroom. He looked at his reflection, at his bloodshot eyes. There were a lot more late nights stretching ahead of him.
Maybe Cassie would stay up with him again.
He grimaced, turning away from the mirror and going to his bunk. He slid under the covers, but before he closed his curtain, he glanced over at her bunk, remembering how her slender body had curled against his chest.
After snapping his curtain shut, he flung his arm over his eyes and concentrated hard on filling his head with music, the way he always did when he was trying not to overthink.
