The current song ended, and the crowd cheered loudly, almost as if they were cheering for Roux’s fortunate change of circumstance.
Steve grinned in the near darkness. “Is it wrong of me to hope that the mood is striking you at this very moment?”
She shook her head and cupped his face between her palms, leaning in to kiss him. The taste of beer on his lips was too much for her, though, and she had to break away. “The mood will strike a lot more forcefully after you’ve showered and brushed your teeth. You reek of beer.”
“Fair enough,” he said.
When a golf cart pulled to a stop before them, Steve was vividly describing his crowd-surfing adventure. Roux doubted she’d enjoy it as much as he had. Having the hands of strangers all over her was not her idea of a good time. But she loved listening to him talk, and he was much more vocal when he’d been drinking.
“Did someone order a limo?” Butch asked.
Roux was surprised he’d come himself instead of sending some junior lackey to do Steve’s bidding.
“Yeah,” Steve said, “but I guess this piece of junk will suffice.”
“Watch it, smartass, or I’ll make sure there’s only room for Roux to sit and make you take laps behind us.”
Steve stuck his tongue at him like a spoiled child and set Roux on her feet before standing and brushing off the seat of his pants.
“Thanks for saving us, Butch,” Roux said, squeezing his shoulder as she climbed into the back of the cart.
“The cape is part of my uniform,” he said, winking at her.
Steve slid into the cart next to Roux. “And so is his clipboard of torturous hell.”
“What clipboard? You pretty much had the whole evening to make an ass of yourself on your own,” Butch said. “Tomorrow is booked solid, however.”
“I figured as much.”
“So I won’t get to see much of you tomorrow?” She’d probably suffer severe withdrawal symptoms.
“I don’t care if you hang out for our interviews, meet and greets, and whatever else management has in store for us, but it will be incredibly boring.”
“Not if I get to stare at you.”
Butch made a gagging noise, but he was grinning ear to ear as he directed the cart into a U-turn and drove back the way he’d come. In the distance, the main stage flashed and flickered.
“Maybe we should stay for the rest of Sinners’ show,” Roux said. She hadn’t gotten to see much of it while stuck in that signing tent.
“It’ll be over soon,” Steve said. “You’ll get to see them in London and Glasgow and wherever we go after that.”
“Madrid,” Butch said.
Wow. This was really her life, and nothing could take her happiness away.
Twenty-Nine
Steve tried to ignore the knocking on his hotel room door as he enjoyed his morning breakfast with the gorgeous woman sitting across from him. She was still slightly flushed from the hot shower they’d shared—or maybe the quickie that had necessitated the shower—and only a bastard from hell would ask him to leave her now.
“I remember why we don’t allow women on the tour,” Butch complained loudly from the hallway. “If it isn’t you fucking up the schedule, it’s Logan.”
Steve exchanged a grin with Roux, who reached across the table and squeezed his hand. “As much as I hate to say it, you really should go.”
“I won’t be able to see you until late tonight.”
“That’s okay, I’ll be able to see you. I plan on watching you from afar all day.”
“Stalker.”
He lifted her hand and kissed her wrist several times, then forced himself to rise. He drew her to her feet and pulled her close, his hand slipping beneath her robe to squeeze her delightful ass. He kissed her until Butch’s knocking became a pounding that would likely injure his hand.
“If you don’t come out in the next twenty seconds,” Butch said, “I’m coming in!”
“He sounds desperate,” Roux said, patting Steve’s ass and giving him a little shove.
“I love you,” he said, kissing her once more before forcing his feet toward the door.
“I love you too.”
When she released a dreamy sigh, he grinned. He needed to put a ring on her finger so she had something to stare at when he wasn’t around.
The second he opened the door, Butch grabbed him by the ear.
“Ow!”
“Do you see this schedule?” Butch shoved a mint-green paper so close to Steve’s face that he couldn’t have read it if he tried.
“If you had that woman in your life, you wouldn’t want to . . .” He pulled the clipboard away from his face so he could pretend to read the first item on their agenda. “Have tea with the queen? I didn’t know she was a fan.”
“Not funny,” Butch said. “Get your ass downstairs before I lose track of Logan again. You’d better hope there’s no traffic.”
“I love it when you boss me around,” Steve said, offering him an overtly sexual look, biting his lip suggestively.
“Knock it off. I’m not in the mood.” But Butch’s mustache twitched as he tried not to smile.
When Steve arrived in the lobby, the guys looked happy to see him, even Max, who normally bitched him out when he made them late.
“We heard you made quite an ass of yourself over a woman on Sinners’ stage last night,” Max said, punching him in the shoulder.
He shrugged but couldn’t deny it. “Yeah, well, I was pretty drunk.”
“Was she mad?” Logan asked. “You were supposed to keep her identity a secret, weren’t you?”
“I think she was relieved, actually.” Steve smiled, glad she wasn’t angry at him. Not even for drinking. He’d assumed she’d try to change him to make him fit her ideal man, but she accepted him as he was. Loved him despite his faults. He would try to be a better person for her because she deserved the best, and he was acutely aware of his faults.
“Why are you all standing around grinning like a bunch of idiots?” Butch smacked Steve on the back with his clipboard. “Get in the car.”
“Is Sam joining us?” Max asked. Usually he’d want Sam to be in attendance, but from the I-just-swallowed-bleach expression on his face, Steve could tell he’d rather not have to put up with their soon-to-be-fired manager.
“No. I think he’s sleeping off his jet lag,” Butch said.
Even more good news to brighten Steve’s day. He could get used to this. The band still hadn’t told Butch that they were getting rid of Sam after the tour; Butch didn’t need the stress of trying to keep that gem of a secret under wraps for the next three months. Besides, where would he get his beloved schedules without Sam’s publicity machine to back the band?
They didn’t have to travel far for their radio station interviews. All the local stations, and a few not so local ones, were broadcasting live from the Download festival grounds. They were on TV a few times as well, then made their way to a lunch with fans who had paid a shit-ton of money for the opportunity. Steve remembered a time when they would do this sort of thing for free, and when Sam was out of their lives, he vowed they’d go back to their old ways of letting people win these special interactions in raffles rather than having them fork over a pile of cash. While waiting for everyone to be seated so they could make their entrance, he mentioned his concerns to Dare. He didn’t get the response he’d been expecting.
“Some of the people who won those raffles would sell their prize for way more than these people paid. Then they’d be the ones profiting, not us, who are footing the bill.”
Max must have been eavesdropping, because he leaned in to say, “And scalpers buy up these packages and sell them for a substantial profit as well.”
“I’d rather raffle winners profit than scalpers,” Logan said.
“I don’t think anyone should profit,” Steve said. “These are our guests. You don’t charge guests.”