he hadn’t embarrassed her. He nudged her with his shoulder until she started walking with him.
“Darren has been filling in for the last few weeks with the graphics since Morgan had to leave unexpectedly.”
Tanner kept her focus on Jacks, even though she still felt that girl’s gaze on her. “I’m not taking anyone’s job, am I?” She really didn’t want to take this position out from under someone else.
Jacks shook his head. “No, Darren doesn’t have the training Morgan or you have. He was just making sure everything ran smoothly. He is more of the tech guy than the graphic guy.” He turned and flashed her a mega-watt grin, and she didn’t doubt panties had dropped faster than if they were on fire from that smile alone.
That thought had Tanner looking at the girl still standing by the rear of the bus. Had she dropped her panties for Jacks? Ugh, stop it, Tanner. You haven’t even gotten on the bus and you’re already going to torture yourself?
“So he just wants to run everything by you, get you used to the programs and all that, and then he can get back to the tech stuff.”
They reached the bus, and he handed her bags over to one of the guys in a black t-shirt that read “STAFF” on the back. Before Tanner could look at that woman once more, because she just had to be a masochist, he took her hand and led her toward the doors. And then she was climbing the stairs behind him.
The sound of the other band members was loud. Matty was laughing at something Five was saying, and the sound of Beats banging out a tune on a tabletop was layered over the voices. They reached the landing, and she stood there, probably looking like an idiot, as she stared at the luxury that was their tour bus.
There was a massive table to her right, a plush looking seating area to her left with every kind of electronic she could think of, and straight ahead was a hallway that she assumed led to an equally lavish bathroom and the bedrooms.
“You look like a fish out of water, Tanner.”
She looked over at Matty, who was sitting on the couch. “I feel like one.” That had them all laughing. She started laughing, too, but the sound that came from her was this awkward and weird noise, and that just had the guys laughing harder.
“Come on, I’ll show you where you’ll be sleeping.”
She followed Jacks down the hallway. She still had her messenger bag with her that held her essential things and a spare change of clothes. There were two bedrooms that she could see through the open doorways, a large bathroom, and then a set of bunk-bed type sleeping areas notched out on one side of the bus.
“You can have either of these rooms. Two of the guys will take the bunk beds, and the other two will take the other room with one sleeping on an air mattress.”
“Jacks, you’re sure this is okay?”
He didn’t respond right away, just took her hand and led her into one of the bedrooms. He shut the door, and before she knew what was happening he had her messenger bag tossed on the bed, and had her pressed against the door. “This is your room now, I guess.” He said low, slowly, and had his focus on her mouth. “And this is more than okay. This is five years too late okay.”
She wasn’t sure what that last part meant, but she got the gist of it. “I just don’t want our feelings getting in the way, and don’t want the guys thinking I’ve come in to mess things up. I don’t want to be Yoko.” She grinned, only teasing, and was pleased when he started chuckling.
She might be totally jumping the gun here and assuming things that weren’t really issues, but it was something she had thought about. Her feelings were amplified when she stepped on the tour bus and the surreal situation became her reality.
“You are like family to them.” He leaned back so he could look in her eyes. “And you’re a lot more to me than just that.” He took her mouth with his before she could say anything. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pressed her chest to his, and moaned against him.
“Couldn’t you just stay in the room with me?” She murmured against his mouth, and loved that he couldn’t stop himself from groaning.
“I was really hoping