“Tell me more about the last time We Wear Crowns performed at this venue,” he asked Kate, grabbing his phone from where it had ended up on the coffee table. Yeah, playtime was definitely over if he was ready to take notes.
“Should I start with the crowd surfing or the parking lot fight?” Kate laughed, but I tensed. All I needed was Duncan back on red alert.
“Kate.”
“What?” She made a dismissive gesture, nails that matched her shirt catching the light. “He needs to be prepared. And Ilene left. You don’t have to worry about Duncan tattling to the label.”
“True.” I kept my voice light even as my insides churned. I didn’t think Duncan was out to undermine me or the tour, but I had a whole new set of worries now. His real risk wasn’t to the band but to my heart. Damn it.
Chapter Thirteen
Duncan
“All right, you beautiful people. One more.” Even from where I stood backstage, Ezra’s voice sounded a little croaky. He’d already done two encores, the raucous crowd egging him and the band on. The venue was packed, and I’d had to keep my wits about me, not get distracted by the show.
On one of the large monitors, Ezra gave a tired smile, and my stomach fluttered.
Fine. I supposed I could admit privately, alone here in the wings, that the music wasn’t the real distraction. Or the band with their witty banter and antics, which made the crowd roar with approval. No, any distraction was all Ezra, the memory of what we’d done, the absolute certainty that I both couldn’t wait to do the sex and the hanging out again but couldn’t ever let it happen.
But it had, and every note, hip gyration, and hooded wink seemed meant for me and me alone. I loved watching him perform, but I also had a job to do and had kept busy the whole show, coordinating with the venue’s security team, following up on reports of a fan who had overheated, and making sure everything was in place for the mass exodus when the show finally ended.
“I’m calling it.” Kate came up beside me, holding a walkie-talkie. “We’ve got a VIP meet-and-greet waiting, the food is ready, and there’s an after-party still. No more encores.”
“Agreed.” I nodded, but my concern was more for Ezra and how exhausted he had to be, not Kate’s schedule. She murmured instructions into the radio, and the show finally came to an end amid thunderous applause and pleas for more.
Ezra went straight from the stage to the VIP meet-and-greet. Kate herded him along as she muttered about how behind they were, and it was good that she was handling the meet-and-greet as I got called away to deal with a question from one of the venue’s security personnel. Then I had to stop and warn Carl, yet again, that visitors needed badges before checking an unmonitored backstage door.
By the time I made it back to Ezra, he was slumped in a chair in his dressing room, sweat rolling down his face, open shirt sticking to his chest, and a hole in his jeans that hadn’t been there at the start of the show.
“What happened?” I demanded, crouching in front of him to inspect his knee.
“Eh.” He rolled his neck from side to side. “My jeans ripped when I did that slide in the middle of the second set.”
“Did you break the skin?” I looked closer, using my fingers to open the rip for a better look, but there was no cut, only a nasty-looking bruise already blooming.
“You gonna get on your knees and fiddle with my pants, I have some ideas for you…” He offered me a suggestive grin.
“I’m serious.” I quickly straightened before the rush of want his words inspired could take over my good sense.
“And so am I. I’m okay.” The way he stretched his arms with a wince said we had different definitions of okay. “I’ll be feeling this tomorrow, that’s for sure, but what’s a few bumps and bruises?”
“A lot. You need to be more careful.” I kept my tone stern, trying to keep the focus on yet another close call of his and not on how much I wanted to be back kneeling in front of him. Damn my libido. All that truly mattered was keeping Ezra safe, so I continued my lecture. “You could really hurt yourself.”
“Aw. Lieutenant, I think you care.” He reached for my hand, playfully swinging it back and forth. His touch felt so good that I didn’t immediately pull away like I should have.
“Of course, I care. It’s—”
“Your job.” He dropped my hand with a groan. “I know.”
Actually, I’d been about to say it was easy to care about him, but if he wanted to make this about the job, that was probably for the best, as was him breaking the contact. Especially when Kate bustled in a few seconds later.