Joy Ride by Desiree Holt (bill gates best books TXT) 📗

“She’s just trying to stir up trouble,” Marc whispered in Emma’s ear. “I told you, Lacey was never anything to me.” He put his arm around her and cradled her closer. “Everyone, this is ML. Don’t scare her away, okay?”

“You think she’s afraid of me?” The redhead ran hungry eyes over Marc, a sly look on her face. “Geez, sweetie. You know how dangerous I can be, right?” Her laugh carried the sound of envy and a hint of anger.

“I’ll be sure to warn her, Lacey.” Marc chuckled then murmured, “Ignore her. Pay no attention to her. I’ll tell you again, she’s not important to me, no matter what she says.”

But Emma wondered uneasily if Lacey really did have history with her Guitar Man. Had she been important to him at one time, despite what Marc said? Was she just waiting to finesse Emma out of the picture? She had to beat back her clawing insecurities. The other women in the room were watching her, obviously waiting to see what would happen next. It was apparent they all knew each other well. Emma sensed a gauntlet had been thrown down and, for a fleeting moment, she regretted coming here tonight.

There were also a couple of men, laughing and joking with the women. Emma wondered if she had a sign on her forehead that read “Alien”. Talk about being a fish out of water. She leaned a little closer to Marc.

A tall man standing at a table, covered with food and drink, put down the bottle of water he was holding, walked over to them, and extended his hand, a cordial look on his face.

“Hi. I’m Rick. Thanks for coming tonight and keeping Marc together.” His smile was warm and Emma relaxed fractionally.

“Rick’s the leader of our group. The one who got us this gig.”

Emma shook his hand. “Nice to meet you.”

Rick pointed at two of the men, one sitting on the couch, the other standing by a chair chugging form a bottle of water. “Garrett, our drummer. Danny, the lead singer.” He indicated the other two men. “Jado, standing there with Danny did our video and Scotty, hanging out by the food, cut our tape. I’m guessing Marc told you about that. We figured they deserved to be here tonight, too.”

The men acknowledged the introduction with a chorus of greetings.

She gave them a tiny grin but still clung to Marc.

“They don’t bite.” He led her over to the table. ”Let’s get you something to drink.”

“Just water is fine.” She didn’t even want that but it would give her something to do with her hands.

Then, as if someone released a pause button all conversation suddenly resumed, filling the room with noise. The same buzz of excitement Emma sensed the moment she walked into the facility saturated the air in this room. Marc and the other members of Lightnin’ looked calm on the surface but there was an unmistakable jitteriness to them.

“We go on at eight.” Marc walked her over to an unoccupied corner. “So in a little bit we have to head for the stage. Make sure the instruments are still in tune and do a last minute check to make sure the roadies set everything up the way they’re supposed to.”

“Roadies?” She lifted an eyebrow.

“You’re cute, babe. I like being the one to teach you all this stuff.” His eyes were hot. “All kinds of stuff.” Then he brushed a kiss over her forehead. “I keep forgetting you’re still learning the lingo. Road crew. The guys who haul the equipment, especially the sound system, and set everything up for the band.”

Embarrassment rushed through her. Had he explained about this before? He must really think she was a dunce. “I’m sorry, but if you mentioned them before I don’t remember.”

“Don’t worry, and I didn’t. Playing at clubs, we usually do it ourselves. Save the bucks. But tonight we’ll be using Deep Blue River’s sound equipment, and their crew helped us with our instruments and stuff. They’re pros. These guys have been doing it for a long time so they know what they’re doing.”

“And you made sure it was okay when you did your sound check, right?” She remembered him telling her about that.

“Yes, but we’ll do one final look-see.”

“Where will I be when you’re on stage?” she asked.

“I’ll show you.” Looking at the other members of the band, he said, “See you guys on stage.”

He took Emma’s hand and led her out of the room and back the way they’d come. There was still activity everywhere, people moving in all direction, the hum of conversation like the counterpoint of a melody.

“Where’s the other band?” she asked as they navigated the snake bed of cables stretching everywhere.

“Did you see the big fancy bus in the parking lot?” Marc asked.

“How could I not? It’s huge.”

“It belongs to them. They’ll hang out in it until it’s time to come inside to get ready.”

“Oh.” Something else for her to learn. They should provide guidebooks for people who don’t know anything about this business.

“Here. This will be a good place for you.” He lifted her up onto a large black box that held sound equipment during travel. “Sit here and you can see the whole thing.”

He pointed toward the stage and Emma realized she had a full view of everything, albeit from the side. And she’d be out of everyone’s way. Excitement sizzled over her at the thought of seeing Marc in action on a big stage like this. She hoped none of the women from the dressing room would come to stand near her. Especially Lacey. It was bad enough she knew plenty of women in the audience would be licking their lips over the sight of Marc on stage.

“I’ll just wait here for you until you’re finished, right?”

“I’ll have to take care of my guitar and amp, but it won’t take long.” He stroked a finger down her cheek in a familiar gesture that always gave her hot shivers. “You go on ahead to