But I had to say I kind of liked this exhibitionistic thing. It made me hot. Then again, what didn’t right now? I was sweating through my damn top, and I’d just taken a quickie shower in the dressing room after the concert.
And I wasn’t even going to think about the state of my panties.
“It’s a good night when one of you rocker types doesn’t play wet T-shirt contest on the bar,” Larue muttered.
“None of that here.” Cooper slung his arm around my shoulders. To his credit, he didn’t take the opportunity to ogle my breasts. Not to my credit though, since I wanted him ogling all of me as fast as humanly possible. “We’re on our way out.”
“Glad to hear it. Since I saw a pack of paps lingering outside, you might want to keep the tongue waggling to a minimum unless you want to be front page tabloid news tomorrow.”
As soon as he disappeared back into the crowd, I gripped Coop’s hand on my shoulder and bit my lip. “If lots of people noticed us…”
“Then the band probably did too.” He let out a long breath but he didn’t let go of me, and I didn’t let go of him. At this point, our bodies might as well have been Velcroed together.
“I don’t have a purse,” I reminded him. “I left nothing at the table but my drink.”
He smirked. “And I obviously don’t have a purse, so sneak out?”
“Sure. Delay the inevitable. Fuck til dawn. Works for me.”
“Christ, where have you been all my life?”
“Before I was a few bunks away from you on the bus?”
“Dark ages. Let’s not think about them. Damn, you have a hot ass. Can you walk in front of me forever?”
I giggled and squeezed his fingers over my shoulder as I headed toward the side exit of the club. I felt a little bad about abandoning the band without saying goodbye—and for making it obvious that Cooper and I weren’t leaving to bake cookies, if they’d seen our dance floor shenanigans.
I kept my head down and tried to be unobtrusive, although I was still clutching Cooper’s hand as if he was my lifeline.
And he was, if the previews were a good indicator of the main event. He was my ticket to bed-rocking sex, and maybe a soul-rejuvenating naked watch of The Fast and the Furious.
I couldn’t help grinning at the glowing red Exit sign just ahead. Even with all the insanity in my life and surrounding the band, it felt really good to be me right now.
Then Lila Crandall stepped into our path. It was as if a signal had gone off in her brain that two of her clients were about to make a possible mistake, so she had to swoop down and stop them.
What about the band?
What if something goes wrong?
What if you lose your best friend and then you have to play music with him and live with him on the bus to boot?
All those questions I glimpsed in Lila’s narrowed eyes at the same moment her gaze landed on our linked fingers. The same questions that were trying to drill through my brain now that the lust haze had partially receded.
But I didn’t release Cooper’s hand. He definitely didn’t release mine. If anything, he moved closer to me, a human shield against a managerial bucket of ice water.
“Lila.” His voice was as steady as could be. “We’re headed out. Have a good night.”
She lifted her gaze to Cooper’s. “I see that. You two have a good night too.” Her expression warmed as she focused on me. “We’ll call when we have news.”
“Um, thanks?”
I was still staring after her as she walked away, likely toward the band table. As she went, a number of male heads turned in her direction. She didn’t acknowledge them. They could have been flies for all the attention she offered.
“She doesn’t even see them,” I said, half under my breath.
She was in the business. So was her husband. They were both surrounded by a flesh buffet daily, and they’d been married for a while now. Maybe a couple could make it work, even in these circumstances. Mixing sex and music and feelings didn’t have to mean an immediate crash-and-burn.
Whoa there, haven’t even had the dude inside you yet, and you’re planning the wedding?
“Who?”
“The men lusting after her.”
“Just like you don’t. C’mon.” Cooper led us down the hall to the side exit. Luckily, the other side exit, on the opposite side of the club from where I’d caused my destruction last night.
I hurried to keep up with his long-legged stride. “Wait a second. What do you mean? I mean, yeah, some guys hit on me.”
He pushed open the outside door, and we exited on a sidewalk still roped off for the obviously very long line from earlier. We left the cordoned off area and rushed down the block toward the parking lot before coming to an abrupt halt.
Cooper pushed me up the brick wall, and the air left me in a whoosh as I caught the raw need on his face. I was sure he was going to flip up my skirt right here, passersby be damned.
I didn’t mind one bit.
But he didn’t whip up my skirt or undo his zipper. He braced his muscled forearms on the wall on either side of my head and spoke close to my mouth, making his words into a hot caress against my swollen lips.
“I see them all the time, looking at you. Wanting you. During the shows. Before. After. You never pay them any mind. It’s a good thing too. I’m not sure I could control myself if one of them touched you.”
His low, urgent tone set off something primal in my blood, a drumbeat that echoed between my thighs. I shouldn’t even be listening to talk like this. Not with my past. My ex used to be jealous too.
But this seemed different. Cooper
