Page 53

But with Kylie?
He was livid.
Why couldn’t she accept that they were married? Sure, it had happened when they were drunk, but he was starting to think that these drunken interludes were some of the best things that had happened to him. The first night had brought him Kylie. The second had given him Kylie in marriage. Neither one he saw as a problem. He didn’t understand Kylie’s panic, either. Was she worried that Daphne would fire her? He’d handle Daphne. Was she worried that he would be upset with her? She couldn’t be, not the way she’d touched him and devoured him with soft, needy eyes that morning.
So he didn’t fucking get her. And when she’d run away like a coward? He really fucking didn’t get her. Running out midsex with both of them aching with need? Her taste still on his lips? Just so she could avoid having to lose an argument with him?
It was beyond frustrating.
He’d called Jerome again that afternoon. “I need more tickets to Daphne’s Vegas show tonight. Backstage passes, too.”
“Uh, everything okay, boss?” Jerome had asked. “You need to talk about it?”
Even though he and Jerome were more friends than employer-and-employee, he didn’t want to talk about it, no. “Just get the tickets for me. I’ll explain when I’m in a better mood.”
“All right, but I’m probably going to have to butter up some scalpers with some huge money. That concert’s been sold out for weeks.”
“I don’t care how much it takes,” Cade told him. “Just call me back when you’ve got the will-call details.”
“Got it.”
Jerome had called back a half hour later, told him the exorbitant amount the tickets had cost, and given him the details. And Cade showered, tried to get rid of his anger doing some remote work, failed, dressed for the show, found Kylie’s phone, got pissed all over again, and then eventually headed to the enormous music hall that was housing Daphne Petty’s big concert. Fans were everywhere, and the limo had to crawl its way to the entrance, which only irritated Cade even more. By the time he got his tickets and slung his backstage pass around his neck, he was in a foul mood, which was pretty unusual for him as he was considered the level-headed peacemaker of his group of friends.
But Kylie had pushed him past the limits of his patience. If she wouldn’t listen to what he wanted, then he was going to make her listen, damn it.
He stalked his way backstage, his hands shoved into the pockets of his dark blue sports jacket. His own ring was still on his finger, and it was going to stay there, damn it. Kylie would see that it could be a good thing to be married to him, damn it. He was already enjoying the thought of being married to her. Waking up next to her every morning? Getting to fuck that sweet, gorgeous body of hers every night? Hearing her laugh whenever and wherever? He liked the thought of that more than he should.
When he got to the greenroom, he scanned it for two faces in particular—Daphne, so he could avoid her, and Kylie, so he could pounce on her. Music reverberated in the room and when he heard the strains of Daphne’s voice, he realized it wouldn’t be necessary to avoid her just yet. Well, there was one obstacle down. His gaze moved to the cosmetics table normally set up in a corner of the room, and then he saw her.
Kylie.
She looked good, her makeup perfection on her face. Her buxom figure was shown off in a tight striped white-and-navy shirt that seemed to accentuate her generous breasts and the taper of her waist, and her skirt was a full blue circle that went to her knees. She wore bright sandals and a lot of jewelry and looked stunning and not nearly as wrecked as he felt . . . which made him just as frustrated and angry as before.
Wasn’t she affected the way he was? Or was she somehow able to just shake off this insane need they felt for each other and go on about her day? He sure as shit couldn’t.
Her eyes widened at the sight of him and she grabbed one of her shabby makeup cases and clutched it to her chest, then put her head down and began to walk away, through one of the doors marked STAFF ONLY.
Oh no, she was not about to get away from him.
He hurried after her, grabbing her arm just as she opened the door to slip away.
“Leave me alone,” she hissed, shooting him a furious look. “Seriously, Cade!”
Leave her alone? She was his goddamn wife, whether she wanted to be or not. And he was not about to leave her alone. He released her arm, but when she pushed through the door, he followed her. A pair of security guards were guarding a door nearby, obviously to Daphne’s private room apart from the lounge area. They eyed him as he followed Kylie.