Page 68 of Resist

“Yeah, you.”

I moved his head out from between my thighs and held it firm while I listened, intently, footsteps growing louder as they approached.

“Fuck! Somebodyiscoming.” My finger slipped, and I poked him in the eye as I hopped off the box and pulled my skirt down.

Lucas covered his face with his hand and silent-yelled just as Brad rounded the corner.

“You comin’ or what?” he said to Lucas, narrowing his eyes when he took in our positions.

Lucas groaned and glared at him. “Yeah, cockhead, I was about to.”

Word had spread fast aboutBrad finding Lucas and I backstage, rumours circulating like a hawk over road kill. I did my best to quash them, but there was only so many times you could say, ‘he was helping me find my clutch’ to which the response was always ‘riiiiight, clutch’ in fingered quotations. Still, in the final days of our stop on the Sunshine Coast and then while we were in Bundaberg, I’d successfully avoided being alone with him much to his escalating displeasure.

Together,we’d all toured the Bundaberg Rum Distillery, Cori ecstatic when she’d realized there was a gigantic bottle and barrel on the premises. And,as a group,we’d worked on Lucas’s new routine and often dined for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. What had been hard to avoid during those times, though, were the moments in the elevator when he’d press himself against me until the doors opened and I could escape, or when he’d sit next to me on the bus and tease his finger on my thigh, or when he’d hang back while I’d limped along so that he could whisper all the indecent things he wanted to do to me.

Thankfully, I was no longer limping, so those moments were few and far between. But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy his pursuit, his determination, and the level at which he craved every part of me, because it wasn’t something I was used to. I mean his stare alone over the breakfast table on our final day in Mackay nearly set me on fire.

Water, I need water.

“Can you please pass me the water jug?” I asked Cori.

Lucas snatched it up, poured water into his glass, and then stood up and walked to where I was seated, extending his muscle-laden arm to offer me the drink.

I drooled for a second then wanted to tip the glass over his head.

“Thank you,” I huffed, and gulped it down.

My phone rang so I snatched it up, smiling as I answered because I’d been expecting the call.

“Hello?”

“Helena, it’s Vince.”

“Hi, Vince. How are you?” I stood up and slinked past Lucas, his eyes narrowed as he glared at the device held to my ear.

“I’m great,” Vince replied, “because I call with good news.”

“You do?” I bit down on my thumbnail, hoping he was about to say what I wanted him to say.

“Yep. She’s out front. Scott is waiting to do changeover.”

“Here? At the hotel?” I craned my neck to try and see past the patrons in the restaurant to the glass windows of the lobby.

“Yep.”

“Oh my God!”

“Enjoy. She’s a beauty.”

“Honestly, Vince, you’re amazing.”

“I’m just glad I was able to wrangle it in time for you.”

“Thank you so much. I mean that from the bottom of my heart.”

“Not a problem at all, Helena.”

Something hot and hard pressed against my back, the feel and smellveryfamiliar. I disconnected the call and turned sharply to find Lucas, his jaw clenched, his hand gripping his hair.