Hard Rocked by Clara Bayard Read Free Book Online

meant. Dex pulled me in, wrapping his arms around my waist and pressing his lips against mine in a kiss. It was closed-mouth and soft, but firm. I could taste a hint of the alcohol on his breath. The hard, wide length of his body against mine. The contrast was almost as erotic and dizzying as the kiss itself.
    I let myself succumb for just a moment, parting my lips and sinking against him. But a tiny sound of pleasure broke the spell, and I wasn’t sure which one of us made it.
    Jumping away like he was a fire, I yelped. “No.”
    Dex dragged a hand through his hair. “Shit, I’m sorry. Shit, shit, shit.”
    My heart was pounding and it took me a moment to be able to speak. “Why did you do that?”
    “I don’t know. I swear, I didn’t plan to. I just went with the moment.”
    “There was no moment. There can’t ever be a moment.”
    His wide, chiseled jaw set in a line. “I know.”
    I had to curl my hands into fists to keep from caressing his face, smoothing away the tension. Fear and arousal and something else warred within me.
    “I need to go. Right now.”
    He stared at me for a long time, chest heaving. “I know.”
    “I’ll go around the front and get a cab.” I struggled to keep my voice from trembling, from revealing how much I wanted to be back in his arms again, forgetting everything but how it felt to be close to him “Goodnight, Dex.”
    “See you tomorrow,” he replied.
    “Yeah.” I turned and walked away. As I rounded the corner to the entrance of the bar I saw he was still standing there watching me.

Chapter Six
    I harbored no delusions that the lack of sleep I got that night had anything to do with nerves about the upcoming show. Just days into my new job and my new life and I’d gone completely off course. None of the hundred things I had to do that day were able to distract me from what had happened with Dex.
    Stupid. So stupid . I’d been so flattered by the attention that I’d let it go too far. Let him see what I’d meant to hide. And now things would be awkward. And for no good reason. Even if it wouldn’t lose me the job there was no future for us. If Dex knew the truth he’d want nothing to do with me and my emotional baggage.
    Resolved to just avoid him as much as possible, I went back to my work, counting down the hours until I’d be at the venue and have to see him again. At least Ryan was handling transportation for the band so I wouldn’t have to worry about seeing any of them at the hotel.
    By that evening I had somewhat successfully pushed thoughts of Dex into the back of my mind. Clad in all black, I was getting a walkthrough of the backstage area from the venue’s manager. He showed me the dressing rooms and green room where the band could hang out after soundcheck and during the opening act. I made sure all the food and beverage items we’d requested were there and was pleasantly pleased to see everything was in order.
    After a quick phone check-in with Ryan I ran through my list of crew tasks to make sure everyone was on schedule and picked my headset up from the sound guys.
    Once I was fully decked out like that I felt different. More powerful and composed. Like all the equipment and lists could protect me from the roiling emotions inside me.
    But, of course, when the band arrived for the soundcheck and I saw Dex, all of that composure disintegrated. Just watching him chat with the local staff and crew made me ache. As he spoke all I could think about was how his mouth had felt against mine. How he’d tasted.
    Suddenly hoping for some mishap or oversight that needed my attention I made some excuse and fled backstage. I managed to find enough busywork to get through the quick rehearsal and figured the guys would all be resting or starting to party in the green room.
    So I went back out front and spent some time pretending to be interested in the adjustments Steve had made to equipment and his excitement about some calibration tool.
    Eventually I managed to