Chapter Twenty-Two
Summer
My band and I were hanging out at an event. Another VIP listening party, for yet another album release that wasn’t ours.
I was getting envious of this shit.
But I showed up, like Brody asked me to do. I made my rounds, made sure I was seen, and I took note of who was here. Because they all better be at the album release party for my band next year.
This party was for the latest album from another Vancouver-based band, Breakneck. They’d been recording in Toronto this year, and while there was a hell of a lot of gossip that the band was on the verge of imploding, they’d managed to finish the album; those rumors had been circulating steady for the last couple of years, but so far, still no breakup for Breakneck.
The first two singles off the album were releasing to the public at midnight, and we got to hear them first at the exclusive party at the Artemis Club. The album was damn good. And other than their lead guitarist Johnny O’Reilly’s general reputation as an egotistical asshole, the rest of the guys in Breakneck were cool.
I spent some time chatting with them, then made my way through the party, saying hello to everyone I knew.
The whole time, Ronan stayed close to me—definitely closer than Ash or Xander’s bodyguards stayed to them. But he didn’t touch me or join in the conversation, and I didn’t introduce him to anyone.
We’d been sleeping together for almost two weeks now, and to say neither of us could get enough would be an understatement.
The man was basically ruining me for any other lover.
I already knew that by the time we got back to the bed and breakfast after our first fuck in that car, and he took me on the bed—after making out with me as he undressed me and kissing me all over, for like an hour. Whatever professional reservations he’d had about touching me before that night had obviously been abandoned in favor of unleashing his alpha self all over me.
And I was totally there for it.
I’d been there for it daily ever since.
I couldn’t imagine ever getting bored with this man. Which was… thrilling. And, honestly, ever-so-slightly terrifying.
It put me in a position of fearing having to lose him. But that was the way it went, right? The men I’d loved the most were always the ones I feared losing the most. And of course, I’d lost them all.
For the better, in the end.
Since we were in the early days of this relationship and I was feeling totally smitten with this man, though, I couldn’t even fathom the possibility of ever losing him.
I really didn’t see any reason why I’d ever have to lose him. There were no warning signs of impending disaster. There was no drama and no real conflict between us.
Other than the whole secret thing.
I didn’t love that out relationship, so far, was a secret. But Ronan had asked that we keep it one. For now.
He seemed more comfortable with playing bodyguard when we were in public than being my man, so I’d play along for a while. I knew he was still concerned about my safety, so it was hard to be annoyed about it.
Especially when I looked at that face… and found him watching me the way he did.
I looked at him now, as we reached the table where my band was sitting. I’d already greeted them earlier, and they’d saved a seat for me. I took a sip of my drink, and Ronan held my gaze. He was standing just a few feet away, between me and the crowd, and his eyes said it all.
Sex.
I wasn’t sure exactly what he had in mind, but it definitely involved a whole lot of nakedness. His gaze dragged down my body in my slinky, emerald-green jumper. I looked him over, in his black dress shirt and jeans, and hell, yes. I had naked plans for him, too.
I knew the man’s body in detail by now, but it still needed further study, of course. The scattering of tattoos up his arms, the soft hair sprinkled across his chest, the pinkish-brown color of his nipples… the veins in his cock.
I was already considering the where and when of our next heated countdown-to-bliss, and the various ways I was gonna make him lose his shit.
I would’ve loved to blow this whole party off, but I’d promised Brody I’d be here, and he and Elle hadn’t even arrived yet.
And anyway, I really needed to put in some face time with my band. I hadn’t exactly been accessible lately.
More like locked away naked with my bodyguard, working our way through every position in the Kama Sutra.
I plunked my ass down with Ashley, Xander, and their girlfriends. Ronan leaned on the half-wall next to our table, which separated it from the dance floor. Close enough to overhear some of our conversation, maybe.
He could’ve reached out and touched me.
He didn’t, of course.
“Please tell me Matt has quit Dirty,” I said dramatically.
Everyone at the table looked at me.
“What?” Ash said.
“He’s flying home from tour as we speak,” I fantasized aloud, “and Jesse changed his mind about coming home. Jesse’s staying on the road with Dirty, you’re staying here, and the Players are going into the studio next week to start writing and recording our album.”
Ash smirked. “Sorry. Not what I’ve heard.”
“Damn. I was really hoping.”
“Anxious to get our band off the ground?” Xander inquired.
“Hell, yes. I’m fucking bored already.” I was. Musically and professionally. Sexually, not so much… “Aren’t you guys bored?”
“Yup,” Xander said.
Ash slipped his arm around Danica, who was sitting on his lap. “Nope.”
Danica grinned and kissed him, her soft butterscotch-colored hair falling over them like a curtain for a moment. They were always going at in public. But it wasn’t exhibitionism; when the two of them kissed, I was pretty sure
