a little faster. Most of the time it was music-related, but this time it was a tall, dark-haired bass player with tattoos and leather pants and an abdominal V that made parts of me come alive that I’d thought were permanently atrophied. How had the sex appeal of Tyler Thompson never been on my radar before?
And those blue eyes. Each time I’d looked into them, my heart started to race and my whole body came alive. It was a visceral reaction to his sexuality, but also an emotional one. When he looked at me, it was like we’d known each other before. The questions in his eyes burned with familiarity, though I was sure we’d never met.
“Does he always talk for you like that?” Lexi was asking me as we washed our hands and touched up our makeup.
I sighed. “You know he does.”
“How do you stand it? I would be contemplating all the ways I could murder him in his sleep.”
“I wouldn’t do well in prison,” I replied, opting for a little levity since I thought about that on a regular basis.
She shook her head. “Well, I’ve missed you. We have so much to catch up on.”
“Tell me about the band,” I said.
“Oh, god, it’s been a whirlwind. I left Special Kay, got back together with Zaan, got married, and then formed Nobody’s Fool.”
I laughed. “Definitely sounds like a whirlwind. I read about you marrying Zaan. I’m so happy for you. You’ve loved him for a long time.”
“Marriage is the best,” Lexi said with a grin.
“I wouldn’t know,” I murmured, though I couldn’t help but smile.
“No one in your life?” Lexi asked quietly. “Still?”
I sighed. I didn’t have anyone I would call a best friend, but I trusted Lexi. We probably would have been something like best friends had I been able to let anyone in my life, so it felt like I could talk to her. “My dad’s been trying to get me to go out with Darren Randall for over a year.”
Lexi gaped at me. “Seriously?! He’s…old enough…” She let her voice trail off.
“He’s almost sixty, and Dad’s only fifty-one, so he’s actually older than my father.”
“Do you, I mean…” Lexi looked almost as flabbergasted as I’d felt the first time Dad had mentioned it.
“No, I don’t want to, and I’m not attracted to him, but I’m not sure I have any power to stop it.”
“Jesus, Ariel. Can I help?”
“Probably not, but thanks for asking.” I sighed. “Well, you better hurry and tell me about this deal you’re negotiating with Whiplash before Dad comes down announcing our time is up.”
“They’ve offered us a lot of money to sign with them,” Lexi said, “but we’re in a bit of a debate about the music. They want us to do more pop than rock, and of course, that’s not who we are or what we want to do. However, the contract is a stupid amount of money, like millions and millions.”
“Which is what I thought I heard Darren and Tyler talking about,” I said. “And Darren is throwing me into the mix as an incentive.”
“I think anything with you involved will be an incentive for Tyler,” she said, chuckling.
I flushed. There had definitely been some magic in the room when we looked at each other, but my father would never allow me to date someone like him, so I was trying not to think about it.
“You’re into him, huh?” Lexi appeared to be studying my face.
“I don’t even know him,” I protested, fumbling for an excuse. “He’s good-looking, though.”
“Good-looking doesn’t even begin to cover the hotness that is Tyler Thompson,” Lexi said, shaking her head. “Women lose their minds over him. Well, to be fair, all four of the guys get a lot of attention, but there’s something about Tyler.”
“It’s the bass player thing,” I said solemnly. “It’s definitely a chick magnet.”
“I’m partial to drummers myself,” she said, laughing.
“Does your hubby know you and Bash used to get naked?” I asked curiously.
“Of course. I don’t have any secrets from Zaan. That’s the only way to make it work with jobs like ours, where we’re both in the public eye, even though we’re in different industries. As a pro hockey player, the puck bunnies are everywhere; we try to be open and honest about everything so there are no misunderstandings.”
“I’ll bet.” I glanced around. “We should probably get going.” There was no way I was having any kind of personal conversation in front of strangers, and two women had just come