The Reluctant Beauty by Laurie LeClair

her lips, gentle and with a tenderness she’d never experienced before. “So sweet,” he whispered, his breath tickling her mouth.
    “You…don’t have to do this. There’s no one around to see. No pretending.” Geez Louise, she sounded lame.
    “When it comes to kissing you, there’s never been a moment I did pretend.” He captured her gaze and held it. “It was all real.”
    She gulped hard. “Me, neither, music man. No pretense here.”
    He stared long and hard. Heat whooshed through her body and pooled somewhere near her solar plexus.
    “For criminy’s sake,” she muttered, breaking the spell.
    Moving away, Austin snatched up his black duffel bag. Pulling out his cell phone, he showed her the screen. “Twenty-seven frantic messages. The band.” He sighed; weariness seemed to surround him now. “I have to put out some fires. And maybe start some more.”
    “No vaca for you?”
    “Not this time, it looks like.” He rubbed the back of his neck.
    “Well, whattaya waiting for? Go. Skeedaddle.” Peg hoped she masked the hurt in her voice.
    Nodding curtly, he brushed past her and headed toward the escalator.
    She watched his broad back as he walked away. They forgot to break up in public.
    He stopped in his tracks.
    Her heart stilled.
     
    ***
     
    Austin couldn’t deny the tug that shot through him, or the way his breathing changed when he was around her, or how his heartbeat jumped to his throat whenever she was near.
    She gave him a rush. A rush that only music had given him until now .
    He couldn’t explain it, either. Turning around, he faced her again. Her eyes were wide and questioning. He dropped his bag. It landed with a dull thud.
    Going to her, he swept her up in his arms and kissed her, fully, deeply, and for so long his head spun.
    “Holy all that is good and pure,” Peg whispered, trembling in his arms, when they finally parted.
    “Now, that’s a goodbye kiss,” he said, gently putting her back on her feet. He looked one last time, taking in everything about her. “From the sexiest, sassiest lady I’ve ever met.”
    “Holy hotness, you don’t have to lay on the sugarcoating. Not for me.”
    “Not my style, if you haven’t figured that out yet.”
    He left her speechless.

 
     
     
Chapter 10
     
     
    The band, or if he could call it now, faced him. His best friend from growing up and the new guy—The Kid, he called himself—stared back at him huddled on the seats in the touring bus. They’d snagged it and hightailed it down to him the minute they found out where he was.
    “Come on, guys, we’re on a break. Relax, will you?” Austin asked for what seemed like the tenth time in as many seconds.
    “They quit. Want to sue for the right to keep the band’s name.”
    Something fierce tugged at Austin. “No. That’s not going to happen. We started it, Rodney—you and me. My last name. No way.”
    “They got lawyers up the wahzoo.”
    He sighed. “So we get more lawyers.” Something shifted in him at what he’d said. He wanted to fight: fight for what was his, and fight for what he’d created.
    “They stole ours. And our manager.” Rodney winced. “I…man, Austin, I let the cat out of the bag and told them you’ve been, you know, undecided about keeping the band.” His friend couldn’t look at him in the eye.
    That was like a punch in the gut. Everyone had jumped ship, except these two. “Defectors.” They’d found out. He blew out a hot breath, forgiving his longtime friend for spilling the beans. In all honesty, he couldn’t blame them. But, stealing his band away from him wasn’t cool. Not by a long shot.
    His friend snorted. The Kid had his head in his hands.
    “We strike back.” His mind raced with his contacts over the years. He had numbers for a couple of the hard hitters. He’d never had to use them before, but it seemed like he had no other choice now. “Look, for five minutes, put that aside, all right? No BS, guys. I’m fried right now.