Lauren Dane - Broken Open

Inside his coat, the heat of him burned her. But she wasn’t sweating from that.

Her heart thundered in her head.

Finally he pulled back a little, sucking in a breath. His gaze was on hers, open. There was pain there with desire and appreciation. Vulnerability.

Please don’t apologize or say I should forget it.

After long moments of silence, no apologies or panicked expectation management issued from him and she breathed a little easier even as his taste still lived on her mouth.

Those deep brown eyes shifted his attention to her lips and then back to her gaze.

A smile hinted at the corners of his mouth. “Was that my bounty for saving you from a fall?”

She pursed her lips a moment, enjoying the flirting, and then smiled back. “Maybe.”

“I’m always willing to take payment for services or goods via your mouth.”

She swallowed. Excited and nervous. Flattered. Turned on. “So I guess I’m rooting for a long, icy winter then, huh?”

He snorted a laugh, letting go and stepping back. The cold reasserted itself with a slap, which made it a little easier to think again.

“Thanks for making my day a hell of a lot better, Tuesday Eastwood.” He opened her door.

“Yes. What you said.”

He kissed her again quickly. “I’ll be seeing you around. You coming to the shows next week?”

Sweet Hollow Ranch, the band Ezra and his brothers created, was set to drop an album and do a short winter and spring tour.

Ezra still wrote, recorded and produced the band’s material, but he’d left touring behind once he’d got out of rehab and taken stock of his life.

And now, for the first time in years, Ezra was set to be back onstage with them at a few small fan club secret shows to try out new material before they left for the full tour.

She imagined he was probably excited and nervous about it at the same time. He seemed so capable, though; she bet he wasn’t too worried about it.

“We’ll definitely be at the shows. Nat and I are driving in together so I’ll see you then.” She got in her car and he closed the door. Two knuckle raps on the roof and he moved away so she could pull the car out and head home.

He watched her until she turned the corner but she felt his mouth on her skin for hours.

CHAPTER TWO

Now: May

EZRA KNEW WHEN Tuesday had arrived backstage. Every time she was near, an arc of electricity shot up his spine as his hyperawareness seemed to draw them closer to one another. He turned to watch her move through the crowd, that fucking magnificent head of curls setting her apart.

Natalie, Tuesday’s best friend and Ezra’s brother Paddy’s girlfriend, was at her side. The two of them made a picture. Both beautiful in totally different ways. Both fierce and a little wounded.

Maybe a lot wounded. The closer he got with his brother’s girlfriend, the more he admired just what she’d overcome. He was uniquely positioned to understand wounded and to not judge it, either.

Natalie squeezed Tuesday’s hand before she came over to Ezra. “Ezra, you’re looking very handsome tonight.” She kissed his cheek and gave him a hug.

“Thank you, sweetheart. I’m glad to see you here. Glad you and Paddy patched things up.”

Behind Natalie, his sister-in-law, Mary, had waylaid Tuesday so he forced himself to be patient.

“I hear you were a pretty big part of that finally happening. He probably won’t admit it, but Paddy was so lost without your guidance.”

Paddy hadn’t just said a bunch of stupid, hurtful stuff to Natalie, he’d said a lot to Ezra as well and then didn’t contact either one of them as he spiraled closer to the edge.

Luckily, his brother wasn’t as dumb as he was pretty and he’d got his shit straight and made up with Ezra and Natalie both.

“Sometimes you just need to hear someone tell you what you already know.”

“You’re very wise. It must be why you look at my best friend the way you do.”

He scoffed and then made a shooing motion at her. “Go on. Paddy is killing himself not rushing over here.”

She gave him one last quick kiss on the cheek and glided over to where Paddy waited—his smile was one all for Natalie.

Finally his patience was rewarded when Tuesday freed herself and resumed her trip over to where he stood, her lips curved up into a sexy smile.

All the spit in his mouth dried at the sight of her once she cleared the crowd. She wore a very short dress that was bright pink and orange and he wasn’t sure it was supposed to work, but on her it did. Her shoulders and part of her neck and chest were exposed and the material seemed to wrap around her neck.

He held out a hand her way and she took it. Damn, every single time he touched her it was like a shot of adrenaline. Flipping his hold so he could place a kiss on the heart of her palm and then over her wrist.

“You smell good,” he murmured. God help him, she did. Spicy and sexy and just a little dark. It called to him, like to like.

She stood close enough to hear and her mouth tipped up into another smile.

There was so much chemistry between them it made him a little dizzy. Dizzy enough that he knew the risks and he stood there anyway, planning on kissing every part of her as soon as he could.

Tuesday was his brother’s girlfriend’s best friend. So close they may as well have been sisters. She lived not only in Hood River but she also lived with Natalie. If something went wrong it could be uncomfortable forever.

And yet he couldn’t stop himself when she was in his view. Or his thoughts. Which were pretty frequent. Especially after that kiss in December and the follow-up just the week before.

But if he was totally honest with himself, ever since the first time he’d met her back in the fall.

Tuesday Eastwood was vibrant and sensual and she wore her confidence and intelligence boldly. He found that so attractive he went half-hard just at the sight of her.

“Thank you. I’m excited to see you play tonight.”

He looked down to the glittery heels, the pretty painted toes, and then up shapely ankles and calves to toned thighs. Another thing about Tuesday that he dug so much was her love of the outdoors. He worked with his body and it enabled him to burn off all that excess energy...most of it. But he loved to horseback ride and ATV and had been pleased to discover she did, too, when they’d all gone out for rides. She was gorgeous and strong and he wanted some of what she had.

Ezra stood so they were face-to-face. Her sky-high heels brought her level to him, nose-to-nose.

His inner voice screamed caution but he ignored it because it felt so good to want her.

“Thanks. You look fantastic.”

“I figured you’d be bringing all this—” she paused to wave a hand his way “—hotness rock star business. Had to up my game.”

“Consider it upped. By the way, I’ll be escorting you home this evening. I hope you don’t mind.”

“Paddy asked you to take me so he could sweep Nat off?” Her smile told Ezra she wasn’t bothered in the least. “I’ll skip the part where I pretend I’m not totally all right with that plan.”

“He hasn’t asked yet. But he will. I saw the way he looked at her just now. Which is fine with me, as I’d like to have you all to myself.”

Techs came through to talk with each brother. With the fame came more money and they could afford to hire people to help keep the instruments they played in working order. And then they’d been able to afford a tech for each member of the band. The tech currently making no attempt to hide the way he looked Ezra over was Ira and he’d been with Sweet Hollow Ranch for a decade.

Having someone who knew his schedule and preferences made it less stressful to be returning to an arena stage for the first time since rehab.