Page 13 of Guarding the Shadows (Pulsetunes Rock Gods #5)
B eth
Tingles rippled down my spine when I heard a stern muffled voice through the bathroom door.
I had just stopped the shower, so I quickly dried myself off, slipped on my panties, threw the pale pink sundress I’d chosen to wear, over my head and opened the bathroom door.
Through a plume of steam that escaped from the bathroom, my eyes widened in shock the second my gaze caught sight of the man who had been hard to forget, and the last person I’d wanted to be there.
Kylie Minogue’s song, “Can’t Get You Out of My Head” had played on the car radio the night we’d arrived home. And since the day I’d met Raff, I’d known exactly what she meant.
After the tour, I’d thrown myself into work, and did my best to forget him.
But the moment I’d heard what Gwen had done to him, I’d wanted to let him know I was there for him.
Bernadette thought It was a bad idea because I had the hots for Raff, which might have been true, but I was still a compassionate person.
Although there had been a budding chemistry between us, comfort and a listening ear had been all I was offering back then, because no matter how I felt about him, I was no one’s rebound.
Not hearing from Raff fueled my determination to move on with my life.
I even agreed to a date in Miami with a cute guy I’d known back in high school.
Sadly, as nice as the evening had been, there wasn’t even a hint of the spark like the ones Raff ignited when he’d soothed my temple after bumping my head with his elbow.
My cheeks burned from the way Raff’s stunning blue eyes bounced between me and my roadie. And when I saw the muscle in his jaw tick, I loved that reaction from my hand on Benny’s chest.
Bodhi left the room to take a call from someone, and Raff immediately took over.
“Sit,” he said, gesturing to one of the two seats in the room for Benny to sit down. The moment I sat in the other one, Raff sat on the bed, facing me.
“Take it from the top, frame by frame if you can from when you first noticed him, Beth.”
Raff’s lips were fixed in a stern line as he listened to me relay what had gone down the night before. When I was done, Raff huffed out a breath of frustration and shook his head. “So, he looked intimidating? But he didn’t try to approach you?” Raff asked for clarification.
“That’s right. But I swear, I had no idea that he’d tried to gain access to Beth’s room until she told me this morning,” Benny interjected.
“You’re not sharing this room?” Raff asked, jabbing a finger to the floor. His blue gaze met mine for confirmation of this.
“What? No,” I blurted because the last thing I wanted was for Raff to think Benny and I were an item. I then cringed at the disbelief in my tone. It made me sound like I’d never date a guy like Benny. “Sorry, Benny, I didn’t mean it like that,” I said, pleading with my eyes.
“I know,” he replied, chuckling. Benny turned and addressed Raff again. “We usually try to get rooms with connecting doors … you know, just in case Beth needs my help with something.”
“Like?” Raff asked in that menacing tone of his while his penetrating gaze flicked to me then straight back at Benny.
Raff began chewing the inside of his cheek like I’d seen him do more than once when he was managing his aggression, and butterflies swarmed in my belly when I suspected he might have been jealous about the arrangement between me and Benny.
“I don’t know … dress zippers mainly,” Benny casually remarked.
The muscle in his jaw ticked again and I bit back a grin. “Zippers,” he repeated like Benny had told him we watched pornography together. He smacked his lips, then continued, “So, this is purely a work arrangement between you?” Raff asked as if further confirmation of this were necessary.
Benny bent his arm up, his hand in the air like he was making a pledge and shook his head. “I swear, your honor, this thing we’ve got going on between us is purely platonic,” he joked.
Benny’s face fell when Raff continued to give him a dark stare and when Raff didn’t crack a smile, I couldn’t contain my laughter and decided then and there to pour a thick dose of adoration on Benny.
“I know Levi sent you, but Benny saved me last night. I was lucky I was with someone I trust completely. Benny’s probably my closest and oldest friend.
” Giving him an affectionate smile, I reached forward, grabbed Benny’s hand and held it to my chest. “I never did thank you for what you did for me last night.”
“Is that right?” Raff asked, sounding condescending and abrupt.
My questioning eyes flicked to his, and I loved how jealousy darkened his usually sky-blue eyes.
But my cock-sure attitude quickly dropped when we became locked in a stare so deep, it stole my breath until I almost forgot to breathe.
I gasped when his pointed eye contact slid from mine back to Benny.
“Well, thanks for whatever you did, dude. But you can get back to carting her shit around because if there’s any saving to do, I’ll be taking care of that for Beth now. ”
Hearing Raff’s unmistakably possessive remark, delivered in his gruff, gravelly tone, sent a shiver of ecstasy down my spine. When Raff’s gaze returned to mine, the air in the room grew thicker, until the weight of it became too much for me, and I shifted uncomfortably in my chair.
“Thanks for coming, Raff, I know you’ve probably got better things to do—” I began as I tried to recover from the arc that had formed between us, but before I could finish my sentence, Raff cut me off.
“At this minute, there is nothing more important to me, than taking care of you, Beth.”