Sultry Groove (Reckless Beat #4) (23 page)

“You’ve nailed it.”
Melody smiled up at Sean, enjoying the warmth taking residence in her chest, overpowering the constant ache in her leg. Her tightly compacted insecurities started to unfurl during the last week of rehearsals. He barely left her side. He slept at her house, showered in her bathroom, and even bought groceries to fill her kitchen cupboards. They shared every meal together—breakfast, lunch, dinner, and those midnight after-sex feasts she enjoyed so much. He only disappeared when she had dance classes, and once they were over, he was back at her side, driving her to distraction with his insatiable desire.

He’d been honest in his promise to give her time. He hadn’t pushed for more information on her body issues. And with the sex they’d shared, there hadn’t been one accidental brush of his hand over her scar. It was as if his soul knew hers—the pain, the heartache, all without being told.

She loved that about him. She loved
a lot
about him.

With every new day, she grew more attached, needing to wake up to his possessive kisses to keep her vulnerabilities in check. The old Melody was no longer a charade she had to maintain. She was rapidly regaining the woman she once was. At least while they were alone.

“I hope so.” He brushed his lips over hers. “Being our last rehearsal and all, I’m kinda glad you finally have confidence in me.”

She rolled her eyes and pushed from his chest. “Stop groping for compliments—”

“I’d grope for much more, but being in a public place, I didn’t think you’d approve.”

“And you’d be right.” She smirked, walking backward to start the routine all over again.

Although Melody was already sensing the heartbreak at handing over the reins to Sasha tomorrow, she’d agreed with Sean that tonight was special. Their last night dancing side by side, body to body, skin to skin. She’d miss their time together, where she could dance again and feel beautiful.

“And I was right about taking you to the park tonight too, wasn’t I?”

“Yes,” she murmured, turning away to break the connection of his delicious stare. “It was a great idea.”

At first, his suggestion to hold their last rehearsal in William Byrd Park had daunted her. Yes, she’d become stronger around Sean, but prying eyes weren’t something she wanted to deal with. The only factor to change her mind was the craving for fresh air after being stuck inside the studio walls for three weeks.

She had driven here from her last dance lesson of the day, Sean following behind her in his pickup as she found a secluded spot of grass. And here they’d stayed, until the sun was almost setting, making Sean’s darkening features all the more masculine as the light faded.

As it was, there was barely anyone around. A small group here, a lone woman or two over there. They weren’t close enough to daunt her, although now that she paid attention, they were more focused with intent on where Sean stood than she originally thought.

The crunch of grass sounded behind her, then his arms, strong and firm, encircled her waist. “I’m proud of you.”

He always praised her, like she was the one learning the routine instead of him. He knew too much—about her body, about her issues, yet she wasn’t entirely sure what he knew at all. She hadn’t been able to lower her defenses and paint the vivid picture of her insecurities. Strength would come with time…she hoped.

Someone cleared their throat nearby, and she spun in his arms, glancing over Sean’s shoulder as he did the same.

“Cameron?” Sean dropped his arms from her waist and turned to face the newcomer, greeting him with a handshake. “What are you doing here?”

The broad man, dressed in black polo shirt and pants, jerked his head toward the man beside him. “Leah called and told Jed and me to turn up tonight.” He glanced at his watch. “We’re a little late. It took longer than I thought to find you.”

“Leah called?”

“Yeah. She said there was some sort of promo gig tonight. She wasn’t sure if you’d score a crowd.”

“Nope.” Sean frowned, and spread his arms to indicate their surroundings. “We’ve been here for over an hour. There’s nobody here. We’re fine.”

Cameron shrugged. “Doesn’t bother me. I still get paid. We’ll split up and get out of your way.”

“Right…” Sean turned to her as the men strode in different directions, making their presence known to the few people hovering in the distance.

“What’s going on?” She stepped into his line of sight, reading the tight expression on his face.

“I don’t know.” He pulled his cell from his back pocket. “I’ll give Leah a call.” He unlocked his screen and frowned.

“Sean? What’s wrong?”

He shot her a glance before focusing back on his screen. “I have a shitload of Twitter notifications.”

“And…”

“
And
that’s unusual for me.” He tapped his screen, flicking over and over before stopping dead. “
Shit.
”

“What’s going on?” Her heel tapped against the ground of its own accord. She was too nervous to stop it.

“It looks like Leah shared part of our rehearsal video on the band website.” He ran his hand through his hair. “
Fuck.
She also announced on the Reckless Twitter account that we’d be here tonight for our final practice.”

“Right…” She had no more words. Her chest pounded in rapid beats while her throat restricted. And like usual, the ache in her leg made itself known. The likelihood that parts of the rehearsal video would be shared had always been a possibility. Sean had done right by her in asking her permission to forward it to Leah in the first place. This project was about promoting him, after all. She just wished she’d had time to prepare herself.

“What are we going to do?” He pinned her with his disconcerted stare.

“I’m sorry you didn’t gain the attention you would’ve liked. We can still rehearse if you want.” She was torn between disappointment because Sean hadn’t drawn a crowd and relief that their last night hadn’t been ruined. There was no way she could dance in front of a live group of Reckless fans. No way at all.

His face fell, the hardness in his eyes morphing into concern. “Red, she shared the video fifteen minutes ago, and the Twitter status has already been shared nine hundred and eighty seven times. I’m freaking out that we’re going to get mobbed.”

Oh, shit.
Her stomach sailed out from underneath her. She did another scan of their surroundings, noting the cars pulling up to the curb in the distance to her right, and the groups of women approaching along the path to her left, in both directions. It was like the zombie apocalypse, only the threat approaching them were women, and their hunger was concentrated on a different part of Sean’s anatomy other than his brain.

“Fucking Leah,” he growled.

“It’s OK.” She bridged the short distance to her handbag nestled in the grass and yanked it onto her shoulder. She was talking to herself, hoping to calm her nerves, but Christ, more cars were pulling up, and the new arrivals were running, trying to get in front of the people already drawing closer. Chatter filled her ears, cat calls, snide comments, too, which were clearly directed at her. “And here you were thinking you weren’t popular.”

Sean shot her a sheepish grin. “You must be my good luck charm.” He reached for her hand, entwining their fingers. “You’re not going to dance with me again tonight, are you?”

She shook her head, diverting her gaze from his hopeful blue eyes. “I’m sorry. I can’t.” Not here, in front of all these people. All she wanted to do was hide, to shield her leg from the strangers vying for a piece of Sean, even though her scars were completely covered. The closer the group swarmed, now calling out questions to Sean, and numerous females confessing their love, the more she noticed the scorn directed her way.

If they weren’t completely focused on the famous Reckless Beat drummer at her side, they were looking down their nose at her, judging, making their displeasure known. She’d dealt with bad critiques before. There were always poisonous comments about your form when dancing in the public eye, but this was her first taste of undiluted contempt. These women hated her on sight.

“I need to leave.” Her voice barely registered over the excitement of the crowd.

Sean stepped into her, brushing his lips over her ear. “Are you OK?”

She shrugged, unsure what to say that wouldn’t ruin his monumental moment in the limelight. “I’m…” Humiliated. Annoyed. Maybe a little heartbroken.

“Back off,” Cameron yelled as he spread his arms to create more distance between Sean and the rest of the crowd.

“I’m sorry.” He leaned in, kissed her cheek.

“It’s OK. This was what you wanted.” Melody smiled up at him, ignoring the attention of way too many eyes on their private moment. “I’m going to bail and let you deal with your admirers.”

Something twinkled in his eyes—pride? Hope? The realization he’d achieved what he’d been looking for, even though it sent her running in the opposite direction? The look in his ocean-blue depths stung. She wanted to be happy for him, to congratulate him on achieving one of the milestones he considered a mark of success. Only she couldn’t. Not when reaching his goal made her more insecure.

“This was meant to be our special moment.” He stroked the loose hair at her cheek, completely focused on her, as if they weren’t being scrutinized by over sixty women and a lot less men.

She swallowed over the discomfort in her throat and grinned. “I know.” He was still a thug. A soft thug with a romantic heart. “We can’t really do anything about it.”

The mob began to shove, encroaching, getting closer and closer until their proximity turned suffocating. “You better speak to them.”

He glanced over his shoulder, the gleam in his eye revealing he wasn’t entirely disappointed to have a group of women salivating at the sight of him.

“Go on. Enjoy the moment.”

His eyes narrowed. “Are we still going to have dinner?”

She shook her head. The night was meant to include take out from Stanterio’s and a relaxed movie with Ryan back at Sean’s penthouse. But she no longer felt like sticking around. “No. I think I’ll go to my sister’s instead and pick up something on the way. This will be one of my first nights off in a while. I don’t want to waste it.”

“Then I’ll meet you there.”

Panic unfurled in her chest. “At my sister’s?”

He grinned. “Yeah. It’ll be nice to see you out of your comfort zone again.”

Already there, bucko.

“Text me her address. This will only take ten minutes. Twenty tops.”

She nibbled her bottom lip. Introducing Sean to her sister was the next step. A shove closer to a full-blown relationship, and she had to admit it almost scared the crap right out of her.

“Go on, pixie.” He brushed his lips against hers, provoking a few squeals and scoffs from the crowd. “I won’t be long.”

She nodded, still uncertain as she stepped back, entering a washing machine on spin cycle as women nudged and blatantly shoved her to the back of the gathering.

***

Sean glared at
the women who elbowed Red out of the way. He waited, making sure his pixie made it safely away from the crowd before he turned his back to the crazy folk and paid his attention to the people behind him. This was insane. This type of gathering had never shown up for him before. Not him solely, anyway. There was always Mitch or Mason to draw the fans.

“Good evening, ladies.”

Women screamed. For him?

He shot a bemused look toward Cameron, then focused on the people before him, wondering what the hell he was meant to do now.

“Can you sign my shirt?” A woman in front stepped forward and held out a permanent marker.

“Sure.” He couldn’t wipe the grin from his face…well, not until the woman tightened the pink T-shirt over her chest and directed him to sign the patch of material over her breasts.

He’d done this type of thing before—signing tits, bras, anything that was meant to draw his attention to their sexuality. Only now, the heightened euphoria he’d gained from those moments of fame didn’t pack as much punch. In fact, he felt dirty. Sleazy. Like he was cheating on Red for even paying these women attention.

“You sure you want me to sign here?” He raised a brow and bit the lid off her marker.