Vegas, Baby - Volume 3

She kept her eye on me as I paced back and forth while muttering under my breath and gesturing with my hands. A few minutes later, she made a call and told me it would only be another fifteen minutes before Knox returned. I practically wore a hole in the carpet in front of Knox’s desk waiting for him. I was beyond worked up again when Knox finally walked into his office.

Spotting Addilyn, his wife, with him, I realized what had taken him so long. The blues singer was glowing with happiness, and I had a feeling from her puffy lips and mussed hair that it wasn’t just because she was eight months pregnant. I wasn’t surprised since I’d learned early on in the friendship we’d been building since I’d started working at the Lennox that her husband couldn’t keep his hands off her.

Offering her a small smile in greeting, I not-so-patiently waited while Knox got her settled on the couch across from his desk. After sitting down in his chair, he asked, “What’s the problem, Anna?”

“Julian Storm!” I paused in front of his desk and planted my hands against my hips as I glared at Knox. “You need to do something about that, that…jerk face!”

“Calm down, Anna,” Knox said patiently. “What did he do that has you so worked up?”

I started pacing again, the frustration bubbling up again. “I’m not worked up,” I insisted, feeling my cheeks heat as I thought about how I’d reacted to Julian’s kiss. “He doesn’t have any effect on me.”

“Okay,” Knox agreed. “What did he do to upset you?”

The tone he was using irritated me even more. It made me feel as though he was placating me when he should be hunting Julian down after the stunt he pulled. “He kidnapped me! He was supposed to make me disappear for the show, but then the box was moving, and when it opened up, I was locked with him in his dressing room!”

My blush intensified as I thought about how much further Julian could’ve taken our encounter. My cheeks felt as though they were on fire, so I fanned my face with one hand.

“While I can understand why you’re upset, I’m afraid this isn’t a security issue,” he drawled as he leaned back in his chair and tapped the fingers of one hand on his desk. “Therefore, not my problem.”

I couldn’t believe he just said that. Stomping my foot on the ground, I argued, “Of course, it’s a security issue! He can’t just go kidnapping women from the audience. Someone is going to call the police…and…and…” I knew there were a ton of reasons what he’d done was wrong, but I was having a difficult time coming up with them. “It’s a publicity nightmare!”

Addilyn snorted, and I swung my head in her direction. “I disagree,” she chirped happily. “I think it’s marketing gold.”

The pregnancy hormones must’ve gotten to her brain because she wasn’t making any sense. “Pardon?”

She nodded and grinned. “If word got out that the incredibly sexy and talented Julian Storm was kidnapping women and locking them in with himself, the audience would be sold out every freaking night.”

I should’ve been jotting down notes because improving attendance at the Lennox’s shows was my job, but I was too busy being horrified by the idea of Julian kidnapping someone else.

“What?” Addilyn gave her husband an innocent look after he growled. “Seriously, he’s gorgeous, and women fall all over him. We should capitalize on that.”

What.

The.

Heck.

“Women...um...throw themselves at him?” I didn’t know why I was so surprised, considering my reaction to him, but I was horrified by the possibility of not being the only woman he’d kidnapped from his stage. “Does that mean this isn’t the first time he’s done something like this?”

She shook her head and frowned. “Not to my knowledge. I don’t think I’ve ever even seen him with a date.”

Her answer was more than I could’ve hoped for, and I barely refrained from heaving a deep sigh of relief. But when I caught Addilyn smiling at me, I twisted my lips into a grimace and threw my arms up in the air. “This is crazy! You’re crazy! It doesn't matter how hot he is; he can’t just go around snatching women and making out with them in his dressing room!”

And the next time I saw Julian, I was going to make sure he knew it...before he decided to pull the same stunt with another woman.

3

Julian

I ran a frustrated hand through my hair and stared at the door where Anna had just disappeared out of. Trapping her in the box and ambushing her in my dressing room probably hadn’t been the best idea, but I was having a hard time feeling guilty about it. I’d finally been able to get my hands and mouth on her. She tasted sweeter than I imagined, and one kiss would never be enough.