Trials and Tiaras (Untouchable #7) - Heather Long Page 0,120

I thought the drive to the venue had been fun—I was in love with my car and making no pretenses about it—our arrival had me bouncing excitedly. It was comfortable outside, the guys were laughing, and even Rachel wore a smile. She hooked arms with me after I gave each of my guys a solid kiss in thank you for the car.

“Hey, I’ll take the kiss,” Ian teased. “But Coop and I weren’t in on this.”

“Yeah you were,” Jake told him. “Course, you also write songs for her. So we have to be able to compete.”

“What about me?” Coop protested.

“Cradle to grave, dude.” Jake gave him a light punch in the arm. “You’re the only one who gets to claim that.”

Rachel rolled her eyes, but winked at me as Archie broke between us and slid an arm around each of us. “Come along, ladies, let the boys argue, we’re going to go merchandise shopping. Please, give my credit card a workout.”

“What am I going to do with you?” I scolded and then slowed, forcing both him and Rachel to stop. “And don’t we have to lock the car?”

“It’s automatic. If you don’t have the key on you, it won’t open.”

I gaped then looked back at the car again.

“Trust me, babe, it’s going to be fine, and I will make sure you have all the handbooks on it to review after this weekend.”

Rachel snickered. “After the weekend. You don’t want her distracted.”

“No, I do not.”

Coop caught up on my free side and caught my hand in his, while Jake flanked Rachel and Ian was on our far side. I wanted to bounce my way across the parking lot, but decorum and the heels on my boots, short as they were, said no.

Then again, as soon as we were in sight of the main doors and the long lines of fans, I couldn’t resist the bouncing. The guys and Rachel laughed at me, and I really didn’t care. This was going to be so amazing. Even more amazing, we had VIP tickets, which meant we didn’t have to stand in the long line.

“I bet you’re not scolding me in your head right now for spoiling you,” Archie said as he wrapped himself against my back while we waited for our turn to go through the far shorter access point for VIP ticket holders. He walked us forward the two steps, and I giggled. “You’re totally indulging me right now.”

“I love you,” I said, as if it was the answer to everything. “You make me happy. You all make me happy. And that car is way too much and so is the necklace, and you know what, probably wanting all of you is too much.”

Ian glanced over to me on the last and brushed a finger down my nose before pressing it to my lips. I kissed the tip of his finger and he carried it back to his mouth, and I grinned.

“So if you can have us, why not everything else?” Archie mused. “That’s solid logic and very practical.”

I giggled. “It also makes you happy.”

“That it does, babe.”

“It’s the perfect birthday.”

“We’re far from done, Angel,” Ian said with a wink, and then it was our turn to go through. Archie showed his phone with the tickets, and one by one, we went through the scanner. I didn’t have my wallet or anything else on me tonight. Coop had my driver’s license if I needed it and Jake had my phone, but I hadn’t even brought a bankcard.

Nope, I was totally in their hands. Rachel had a small purse she’d brought. We cleared security and received our special, holograph style cards with the band on one side and the name of their most recent album on the other. Even the lanyard it hung from glittered and gleamed.

Ian had his hands on my hips as we followed the roped off area away from the crowds toward the kiosks of merchandise. “We have about thirty minutes before they bring out the opening act,” he said over the noise. “So if we want food or drinks, we should do it now.”

“Water,” I said, and the others agreed with me. I didn’t think I could stomach food at the moment, I was way too excited. Jake peeled off from us to get the water while we went to look at the merch.

There were new shirts. I had two of the concert tees they had on display. But I didn’t need everything they owned. Well, not to say