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“After you,” he said pointedly.
“I… Thank you. Umm… yes. Please, follow me.” She walked backward, gawping some more at Noah until the outside wall stopped her progress. Stumbling, she finally pried her eyes away and cleared her throat. Then she took off down the long circular hallway.
“Did you enjoy that?” Leia had meant to keep her voice even, her tone modulated in a way Warren would’ve been proud of. Instead, it emerged rough and edgy.
“Enjoy what?” He raised innocent eyebrows at her.
“Reducing her to a puddle of stupid?” she snapped.
His smile disappeared. “I’m not responsible for the way I look or feel when you have your hands on me. That’s what she was reacting to.”
“Sure, keep believing that.” A part of her was drowning in mortification. The rest couldn’t step out of the quagmire of jealousy swallowing her up.
“Hey.” He pulled her to a stop, drew their clasped hands behind her back and used it to propel her forward. His free fingers drifted up her cheek to caress the swathe above her ear, a gesture that immediately soothed her. “If I can lose my shit over the way your valet looked at you, then you’re allowed to lose your shit every now and then, too. Within reason. And hell, you’re going up on stage in a place that will have over ten thousand people watching you in that getup. Have you stopped to think how I feel about that?”
She frowned. “When you put it like that…”
He lowered his hand to trace her lips with his thumb. “Knowing you’re a little possessive over me helps a bit. But you don’t need to be jealous. Okay?”
“That’s easy for you to say.”
“It’s not, but I’m hoping you’ll make me a better person.”
A tiny frown marred his brow after he said that, his face contemplative.
They turned the corner to see the usher waiting by a back elevator. Her eyes grew huge when her gaze landed on Noah, and Leia fought the urge to snap again.
In the lift, Noah tucked Leia in front of him and clamped his arms around her waist. Ignoring the girl, he proceeded to kiss his way down her neck.
Despite knowing he was proving a point, by the time they exited the lift, Leia felt bad for the girl, especially when she caught a look of mingled embarrassment and envy in her eyes.
She delivered them to a large green room and left them there, hurrying away when a loud voice called her name.
“Hopefully, she’ll be too busy to find somewhere dark to rub herself off with an image of you in her mind. Otherwise I’d have to hunt her down and make her feel my claws.” Thankfully her tone was light enough to make the joke passable.
Noah laughed, raised her fingers to his lips, and trailed his mouth over her long nails. “That would be such a waste. The only skin these claws are allowed to mutilate is mine.”
A loud cough broke them apart for the second time in less than ten minutes.
They turned. The lead singer of Fused Realms, Kendal Spikes, stood behind them in full leathers and long spiky hair.
“Which one of you is Michaels?” He looked between them, one carefully plucked eyebrow quirked.
Leia raised her hand, a different excitement scything through her. “That would be me.” She stepped forward, and his gaze drifted down her body, widening a touch as it went. “Please call me Leia… and thank you for the opportunity. I’ve been a huge fan of yours since my dad bought me your first record. I won a high school talent contest when I sang ‘Blue Noise’.”
He gave a lopsided smile. “Ouch. Thanks for making me feel every minute of my forty-five years, darling,” he drawled in a distinct British accent.
Leia gasped and furiously backpedalled. “Oh no, I didn’t mean?—”
“It’s okay. We adore all our fans, especially if they come as gorgeous as y?—”
“Noah King.” Noah stepped forward and held out his hand.
They shook hands and locked eyes for a long moment. Kendal nodded as if he’d received a subliminal message. Or a warning.
“Come and meet the rest of the band.” He turned and walked out of the room.
She glanced at Noah, noted the gathering storm in his eyes. “Losing your shit is allowed. Within reason,” she said, paraphrasing his words back to him.