Page 4 of Hard Rock Temptation

I’m pretty busy right now, Kay.

I don’t know, Kay, it’s really not a good time.

“Tell me the truth.” Time to go in for the kill. I took a steadying breath, not wanting my voice to shake. “Are you avoiding me?”

Micah visibly swallowed then let out a weak chuckle.

“Why would you think that?” he said. “You’re my best friend.”

“Right. Best friends.” My breath hitched, but I forced my voice to stay strong. “If we’re best friends, then why haven’t we had a conversation alone together intwo months? The longest we’ve talked in the last few months was about this performance we’re putting on tonight.”

“That’s not true,” Micah said in disbelief. “We talk about everything. Literally everything, Kay. I tell you more than I tell almost anyone else. I think you know me better than I know myself, sometimes.”

“Exactly,” I nodded, walking toward him. “I know you. I know when you’re upset, even when you hide it.”

I approached him slowly. His eyes tracked my every step.

“I know when you’re overjoyed, even when you try to play it cool.”

I stopped only when I was right in front of him. He lowered his chin to look down at me, his gaze mesmerized and still locked on my movements.

“I know when you’re worried, excited, or angry.” I tipped my head back so we were face to face. “And…” I continued.

Micah’s eyes stared into mine, wide with blown out pupils. His breathing turned shallow. We would have been nose to nose, if I wasn’t so damnably short.

“And I know when you’re afraid,” I finished.

Those wide eyes shuttered, face going blank. His gaze slid to the side.

“If you’re talking about the interview tonight, I got over my nerves a long time ago,” he said, his voice rougher than it should have been.

I refused to let him deflect. I stood on my tiptoes, trying to meet his eyes without straining my neck. “You know that’s not what I mean.” My mouth inched closer and closer to his with every inch of height I gained.

His eyes flickered to my lips, his chest expanding with a sharp inhale. A hungry, simmering spark was now in that dark gaze.

I held my breath.

“Kay, I… You—” He started to say something, then stopped to press his lips together, seeming to change his mind.

“What is it?” I asked, my voice a bare whisper. “Come on. Use your words. Tell me what’s going on inside that head of yours.”

He turned his face to the side, breaking our gaze.

“I’m not avoiding you.” A pained look overtook the simmering heat. ”You’re reading too much into it.”

I stayed exactly where I was, mere inches between us.

“Am I?” I asked. Then I waited.

The pained look didn’t fade. Micah also didn’t answer. His expression flashed with a dozen emotions. It was like watching the gears in his mind go round and round, thinking and overthinking.

Still, he didn’t say a word.

“Fifteen minutes to go time!” a staff member said as she rushed by.

I lowered myself down from my tiptoes, heels hitting the floor.

I could have called him out on it. I could have continued to push. But we were going on stage in minutes.