Toni wondered why Reagan had been conspicuously absent for the entire meet and greet. The guitarist didn’t seem the reclusive type. Maybe because she was a temporary band member, she didn’t feel part of the group. She hadn’t ridden on the bus with the guys the night before and had only been with them when required by obligation. Was it because she wasn’t welcome? Or because she didn’t want to be with them? Toni’s journalistic senses were tingling. Something seemed off about the newest member of the band.
Steve stepped out into the corridor and nearly careened into her. He grabbed her shoulders to steady her, and she smiled up at him in gratitude.
“Where’s your Siamese twin?” he asked.
“Huh?”
“Logan. The man who’s been bodily attached to you since you boarded his bus.”
The two of them weren’t that bad, were they? “I think he’s at the meet and greet.” Toni glanced behind her. She couldn’t see the area where everyone had congregated, but the din of conversation and laughter traveled the length of the corridor.
“Without you?”
She turned back toward him and lifted her eyebrows. “Is that a problem?”
Steve shook his head. “Nope. Just surprised he trusts Dare not to scoop you up when he’s not paying attention. Catch you later.”
Dare? Before she could ask what he meant, Steve and his long legs had already traversed half the hallway. He even managed to twirl a drumstick in one hand while walking.
Shrugging to herself, Toni bypassed the dressing room that Steve had just exited and paused outside Reagan’s door. She knocked and waited.
“Occupied!” Reagan called from within the confines of the room.
“Very occupied,” a deeper voice said. Toni was pretty sure the voice wasn’t Trey’s. Was Reagan’s sexy bodyguard inside with her? Toni leaned closer to the door, listening, trying to let the sounds of the milling crowd down the hall fade into the background.
Someone touched her back, and she jerked away from the door, her face flushed with embarrassment. She’d been caught snooping.
She turned slowly, one eye closed as she forced her gaze up a pair of long legs encased in leather, up a stark white T-shirt and a strong neck to a familiar handsome face surrounding a pair of striking emerald-green eyes. Dare. Did he know his brother’s woman was cheating with another man? And how had Steve known Dare would show up when she was alone? She wondered if she should be worried or intrigued.
“Oh, hey, Dare,” she gushed. She pushed her glasses up her nose with the back of her wrist. “I was just hoping to interview Reagan for the book, but I think she’s busy.”
He grinned crookedly. “She’s always busy with Trey.”
Trey. Yeah, we’ll go with that. Reagan is busy with Trey. And maybe it was Trey in the room with Reagan. He had been with her the last time Toni had seen her, but she definitely didn’t remember his voice sounding so baritone.
“You don’t like crowds either, do you?” Dare asked. His green eyes softened when he smiled. “Now that Steve’s out of the dressing room, I think it’s empty. Would you like to get away for a few moments?”
He stepped over to the band’s dressing room and opened the door. “Anyone in here?”
“I’m almost dressed,” a woman said from inside.
“Why don’t you like crowds?” Toni asked Dare as they waited for the woman to put on her shoes and leave.
“Don’t know,” he said with a shrug. “I just like my interactions with others to be more intimate.”
Even with the swollen nose, he was still easily the best- looking man she’d ever stood in a hallway with. Which reminded her . . . “I’m really sorry that Logan hit you on account of me. I guess I shouldn’t have hugged you like that.”
He grinned. “He’s being a complete ass. Guess you bring that out in him. But I’ll get him straightened out for you.”
“What’s that mean?”
Green-eyed gaze boring into hers, he licked the corner of his mouth, and she felt suddenly light-headed and dizzy. Holy father of hot men.
“Nothing,” he said. “How about that interview? I seem to be currently unoccupied.”
“Now?” she blurted. She didn’t have the mental capacity of a gnat at the moment, and her list of questions was on the bus, so she wouldn’t even be able to fake her intelligence.
“If you’d rather wait . . .” He waved a hand. “I just thought we could both get away from the crowd for a moment and get to know each other better.”