Rock-a-Bye, Baby

“I’ve always thought Knox was pretty damn observant,” Griffith drawled with a smirk. “And it’s actually a relief to know that he’s been watching after you all these years.”

“Um, you’re going to have to be a little more direct with me. I feel like maybe you’re saying you’re hitting on me, but I’m not sure and I don’t want to make a complete fool of myself here.” I reached out to trace the zipper on the sleeve of his jacket. “Or at least not more of one than I already have.”

Griffith moved in close and tipped my head back by pressing one of his long fingers under my chin. With his eyes locked on mine, he confessed, “Will it make you feel better to know that I almost didn’t make it to the meet and greet because I raced off the stage to search for you?”

“Me?” I echoed softly, my eyes going wide in surprise. “I don’t understand. We don’t even know each other; why would you go searching for me?”

He brushed his thumb across my lips and groaned when my tongue flicked out and swept across his skin. I was shocked at myself for doing it, but it had seemed like a natural instinct. “I saw you when I was doing the last song with Levi and Brooklyn.”

“I know. I caught you looking at me, but I figured it was just a thing that you do when you’re on stage.” I took a step back and dropped my gaze. “Like maybe you find a girl to sing to at every concert or something?”

“Fuck no,” he growled, pulling me close and bending low to whisper in my ear. “After I spotted you in the audience, I couldn’t tear my eyes away. My reaction wasn’t part of the act. It was genuine.”

I nodded jerkily but still didn’t look up. With the intensity of my attraction to him, Griffith could easily talk me into things I wouldn’t normally do. I was trying hard not to just suggest we go up to his room, but he must’ve taken it as me being reluctant to believe him because he asked, “Does the whole rock star thing scare you?”

“A little,” I admitted softly. “Your life is so glamorous, and I’m just a normal girl who spends her days surrounded by flowers.”

A couple in their mid-twenties with VIP badges hanging around their necks tapped Griffith on his shoulder to ask for a picture. They interrupted my story about I was in charge of the flower shop at The Lennox’s on-site wedding chapel. After I snapped it for them and handed the phone back, Griffith tugged me over to a darkened corner of the room where it would be harder to spot us. He positioned me with my back against the wall and caged me in with his arms on either side of my body. “Now that we have a little privacy, I wanted to talk about us more.”

“Us?” I beamed a smile up at him because of how much I liked the sound of that.

“Fuck yeah.” He grinned back at me and pointed between our bodies. “I hope you don’t have a problem with that because you and I are definitely going to be an us.”

“Look at you tossing around words that make us sound like a couple when we only met like five minutes ago.” If it’d been any other man besides Griffith, I’d probably have already run away screaming for my brother to kick his butt. But Griffith was the guy I’d drooled over ever since the first poster of him went up before he started his gig at The Lennox. I was finally right where I wanted to be, so I brushed off my non-existent flirting skills and tilted my head to the side. “Do rock stars always move this fast?”

A lock of his hair fell against his forehead when he leaned closer. “I wouldn’t know. I’ve never acted like this with anyone before.”

“Never?” Griffith was a super-hot rock god. I found it difficult to believe that he hadn’t moved fast with women when they threw themselves at him on a daily basis. Or at least that’s what I’d heard when I did some low-grade stalking of him online to feed my new obsession.

He eased back a little and offered me an apologetic smile. “I did a lot of stupid shit when I was first starting out, but I was young and dumb back then. I learned my lesson early on, and I’m a fuck of a lot more careful nowadays.”

Considering my lack of experience with men, his response wasn’t super comforting. My tone was much less enthusiastic when I said, “Okay.”

“Fuck, that didn’t come out the way I wanted it to,” he groaned. “What I meant was it’s been a long damn time since I’ve been interested in a woman. I got tired of the shit people expect with a rock star and decided to focus on what’s important—the music. It’s part of what helped to catapult Rising Phoenix to where we are today. But as thankful for that as I am, it’s not what I was thinking about when I saw you standing there in the audience.”