All the spit in his mouth dried at the sight of her once she cleared the crowd. She wore a very short dress that was bright pink and orange and he wasn’t sure it was supposed to work, but on her it did. Her shoulders and part of her neck and chest were exposed and the material seemed to wrap around her neck.
He held out a hand her way and she took it. Damn, every single time he touched her it was like a shot of adrenaline. Flipping his hold so he could place a kiss on the heart of her palm and then over her wrist.
“You smell good,” he murmured. God help him, she did. Spicy and sexy and just a little dark. It called to him, like to like.
She stood close enough to hear and her mouth tipped up into another smile.
There was so much chemistry between them it made him a little dizzy. Dizzy enough that he knew the risks and he stood there anyway, planning on kissing every part of her as soon as he could.
Tuesday was his brother’s girlfriend’s best friend. So close they may as well have been sisters. She lived not only in Hood River but she also lived with Natalie. If something went wrong it could be uncomfortable forever.
And yet he couldn’t stop himself when she was in his view. Or his thoughts. Which were pretty frequent. Especially after that kiss in December and the follow-up just the week before.
But if he was totally honest with himself, ever since the first time he’d met her back in the fall.
Tuesday Eastwood was vibrant and sensual and she wore her confidence and intelligence boldly. He found that so attractive he went half-hard just at the sight of her.
“Thank you. I’m excited to see you play tonight.”
He looked down to the glittery heels, the pretty painted toes, and then up shapely ankles and calves to toned thighs. Another thing about Tuesday that he dug so much was her love of the outdoors. He worked with his body and it enabled him to burn off all that excess energy...most of it. But he loved to horseback ride and ATV and had been pleased to discover she did, too, when they’d all gone out for rides. She was gorgeous and strong and he wanted some of what she had.
Ezra stood so they were face-to-face. Her sky-high heels brought her level to him, nose-to-nose.
His inner voice screamed caution but he ignored it because it felt so good to want her.
“Thanks. You look fantastic.”
“I figured you’d be bringing all this—” she paused to wave a hand his way “—hotness rock star business. Had to up my game.”
“Consider it upped. By the way, I’ll be escorting you home this evening. I hope you don’t mind.”
“Paddy asked you to take me so he could sweep Nat off?” Her smile told Ezra she wasn’t bothered in the least. “I’ll skip the part where I pretend I’m not totally all right with that plan.”
“He hasn’t asked yet. But he will. I saw the way he looked at her just now. Which is fine with me, as I’d like to have you all to myself.”
Techs came through to talk with each brother. With the fame came more money and they could afford to hire people to help keep the instruments they played in working order. And then they’d been able to afford a tech for each member of the band. The tech currently making no attempt to hide the way he looked Ezra over was Ira and he’d been with Sweet Hollow Ranch for a decade.
Having someone who knew his schedule and preferences made it less stressful to be returning to an arena stage for the first time since rehab.
The room got louder and louder as more and more people arrived backstage. The chaos of it jangled his nerves and fucked with his head.
He slid his thumb over her bottom lip. “I need to head to my dressing room for a while.”
She reached out, her fingertips brushing against the bone at his wrist as she kissed his thumb. “Go on. You’re going to kick ass.”
Ezra stepped close again, sliding his arm around her waist. It didn’t matter that there were a dozen reasons why pursuing her would be a bad idea. He wanted her, she wanted him, they were both adults and damn it, he didn’t want to stop.
He certainly was powerless against it when she moved even closer to him, tipping her head a little, exposing her neck.
He bent his head, breathing her in, brushing his lips over her skin.
“I’ll be here when you’re done.”
“I’m holding you to that.” He stepped back and caught up with Ira to talk about his guitars, but her scent lived in him.
Ira gave him a once-over and Ezra pretended not to see it. Ira had been giving him the once-over before shows for years. At least now Ezra wasn’t so high he couldn’t even stay conscious onstage.
Ezra had his head on straight now. He could be trusted and relied on. No one looked at him with pity-laden expressions tinged with varying shades of disgust. It had been a fight that he wasn’t sure he’d win at times, but there he stood, with all that devastation in his past, with great hope for his future.
Satisfied Ezra was all right, Ira relaxed and gave him the rundown before leaving him alone in his dressing room. Even though Paddy was the leader of Sweet Hollow Ranch, it was Ezra who was the founder. The true leader everyone, including Paddy, turned to.
That trust never ceased to amaze Ezra. They shouldn’t trust him. Not after heroin. But they did and he would white-knuckle it through every damned day to never disappoint the people counting on him again.
Once he’d finished his shot of wheatgrass juice, he sat back on the couch and put his feet up. With a long, slow exhalation, he leaned back, closing his eyes.
The last time Ezra’d been on a stage this big he’d had a public meltdown that had led him to a stint in rehab. The small club dates they’d played at the start of their tour had been thrilling. It had fed that thirst in him that only playing live could seem to quench.
He’d worried back then that he’d lost his performing mojo. But when he’d walked onstage it had leaped into him as easily as it had the last time he was on stage. Easy, like it had never gone. He’d been the Ezra Hurley once more and it had reawakened something inside.
He had something to prove. Not just to his brothers and the fans, but to himself.
* * *
TUESDAY’S SKIN STILL tingled where he’d brushed his lips against her neck. It had been so...wow.
She watched his retreating back. Took in the stretch of the soft fabric of his T-shirt at the width of his powerful shoulders. Down to the narrower waist. His brothers were in denim but Ezra chose worn brown leather pants. And cowboy boots with superpointy toes.
His hair was a little more tousled than usual and she noted the tattoos she could see on his arms. Once she saw him all sweaty after they’d gone out ATVing and that was a memory she’d cherish forever. But this? Well now. Rock star Ezra just earned a place next to sweaty, muddy Ezra in her fantasy bank.
Also, he had a fantastic ass.
And he walked like a man who had a big dick.
Natalie sidled up next to her as they both watched him until he was out of sight. “He really works a pair of leather pants,” Natalie said in an undertone.
“Indeed. He has big-cock walk, too, don’t you think?”
Natalie snorted a laugh. “I can never unhear that!”
“Am I lying?”
“Hell no. What’s true is true.”
They turned to face one another, grinning. “So things are okay with Paddy?”
Her friend had a huge heart and she was deeply in love with Ezra’s