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“Talk to Billy.” Jones started playing his guitar then, gesturing to the sound engineer to turn the volume up so it would drown out whatever I said next.
I spun around and hurried towards the exit. I was feeling the overwhelming sense that I was in over my head and that accepting the job was a giant mistake. No matter how professional I pretended I could stay, feelings were involved. Seeing Jones mad at me made me want to fix it, but I couldn’t. I just had to let them stay upset with me so they got over the urge to screw me. I doubted it would take them long.
Before I could leave, I heard Mack’s voice over the sound system. “Nick goes everywhere you go, sweetheart. Don’t try to make his job any harder than it already is.”
I lifted my hand in silent acknowledgment and hurried out the front door. Nick was right there, waiting on me. He saw my face and his eyebrows climbed his forehead until they were almost in his hairline. I shook my head and looked around. “Where are my bags?”
“You’re not leaving already, are you?”
I shook my head. “No. I probably should be, but I’m not.”
“Okay, well, your bags are on the bus.” His smile was easy even as his eyes constantly moved around to check out the area. “I was considering holding your bags hostage there for a moment. You have no idea how cranky they’ve been since you left.”
“You make them sound like toddlers.”
“You said it. They lost their new favorite thing and they haven’t been taking it very well. I’d hoped that you being back meant less of their wrath, but I guess not.”
I sighed. “I’m just here to do a job. Speaking of which, I need to see Billy. I have an arena show to look into.”
“I can take you to him.” He motioned me towards a large black SUV waiting at the curb. “Also, if you hear me telling my wife that you’re their girlfriend, you’re just going to have to forgive me. She’s got a jealous streak and I’ve never done private security for a woman before for that exact reason. She was okay with me watching out for you when I told her you and the guys are together. I’m not changing my story now.”
I shrugged. “Tell your wife that she’s safe from me. Even if I’m not their girlfriend.”
“If they had their way, I’m pretty sure you would be.”
I didn’t want to get into it so I pretended to not hear him. “Why are they having you guard me?”
“They’re big on safety. I think you’ll be surprised by them when you get to know them better. They don’t actually need us for real attacks, but more like crowd control typically. You know, they were all three in the army and are highly trained to kick ass and take names. Any attack that came their way, they wouldn’t struggle to handle it.”
I thought of the muscles and graceful way they each moved their large bodies. Yeah, it didn’t surprise me that they would know how to use their bodies to protect themselves and others. I wanted to scream as it was just another thing that made them attractive to me.
“They’re protective over you, especially, it seems. I got a two hour long debriefing from them about how to protect you and what I could or couldn’t do. They won’t let anything happen to you.”
I growled. “Nick?”
He grinned. “Yeah?”
“Stop talking.”
He just laughed easily. “They’re not even paying me extra to talk them up. They probably wouldn’t want me talking to you more than necessary, but if I have the chance to play cupid, maybe I will.”
“Great.”
20
Xavier
Isatintheoversized camping chair I kept in the bus storage for nights we didn’t have a show and watched Layla navigate her way across the gravel in her heels. She almost fell over more than once and each time I gripped my beer bottle so tight that I almost shattered it. I didn’t want to waste a drop of the alcohol that night so I went ahead and finished the rest of the bottle while waiting on Layla to get closer finally.
God, what a fucking day.I stretched out my legs in front of me and groaned. It would’ve been nice to take a shower, sink into Layla for a quick fuck, and then fall asleep holding her. I’d been hoping maybe that was something that would happen, but she’d crashed and burned my plans. It would be another night of a cold shower and restless sleep.
When she was standing in front of me, Layla put her hands on her hips and frowned. If she thought her little business attire hid her sexiness, she was wrong. I’d always had a thing for the librarian trope and in that skirt, she was ticking all of my buttons. Her ass looked edible in it. She didn’t seem to know that, though.
I put my bottle down beside me and rested my hands on my stomach. “You seem upset.”
She took a deep breath and motioned towards the bus. “Imagine my surprise when I tried to get on the other bus, the bus for the rest of the crew, and I wasn’t allowed to step a foot on it. I was outright informed that if I climbed onto that bus, their ass was grass and since they all like their asses, I needed to fuck off.”
“They told you to fuck off?” Anger wasn’t a common emotion for me, but when it came to Layla, I was quick to it. The idea of anyone hurting her made me want to break things.
