“Kylie, can I have a minute?” Pauly asked, pulling her aside as she passed.
Trace didn’t listen to what was said as he made his way to his own soundcheck. But the fact that Pauly had distracted her from Steven kept a smile on his face through rehearsal.
THE CROWD screamed his name as he wrapped up his show. It felt good. Damn good. Trace handed off his guitar in preparation for his final song before his duet with Kylie.
He wasn’t sure what Pauly had said to her earlier and he hadn’t seen her since. Her show had gone well as far as he knew. He’d missed it because he’d been warming up for his own performance and taking pictures with some fans. He hoped whatever his manager had said had gotten through to her and that she would at least look at him when they sang together tonight.
The two girls who had been hired to dance on the “tailgate” the stage had been made into during Rock It On My Tailgate were conspicuously absent as he sang the opening lyrics. Alexis and Camilla were twenty-two-year-old twins and professional dancers. Mike had taken to calling them the Tailgate Twins.
He hit the first chorus and the audience went wild. Even wilder than usual. That was unexpected. Everyone in the first few rows held up camera phones and people were shouting and pointing behind him. He turned as he sang but the sight behind him nearly stopped his ability to breathe, much less sing.
It wasn’t the Tailgate Twins rocking it on the tailgate behind him. It was Kylie Ryans.
Seeing her up there with a tiny shirt that left little to the imagination and a jean skirt that barely covered her perfect ass nearly killed him. Right in front of a live audience.
He shook his head and grinned when she pulled a microphone from God knows where and began singing his song along with him.
With the regular dancers, he was supposed to jump up on the tailgate and let them grind all over him. But he had no clue if that would be the plan now.
He knew his voice was probably shaking as he hopped up on the tailgate to stand next to her. He kept his eyes on her to see if she’d give him any clue as to what the hell was going on. And also, because she looked really fucking good up there.
Her sweet voice took over, and he decided to switch places with her. She could sing and he’d do the ass shaking.
She smiled when she realized what he was doing and he smiled back.
It felt like he could breathe, really breathe, for the first time since he’d walked out on her at The Rum Room over a year ago.
After they finished his song, they sat on the tailgate and sang their duet.
Looking into her eyes as they sang the lyrics they’d written together did something to him he couldn’t explain. Or understand. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to understand.
But one thing was for sure. Mike was right. He’d never been one to back down or walk away from what he wanted. And what he wanted was her.
So when the song ended and the stage lights began to dim, he placed his mouth on hers to the sound of thousands of screaming fans.
“WHAT THE hell was that?” Kylie whirled on him once they were backstage and their mics had been removed.
“What?” Trace looked genuinely shocked and slightly amused by her outburst.
“Are you kidding me? What do you mean, what? You can’t just go around kissing people in front of the whole damn world!”
Her heart pounded so hard she could barely hear herself yelling over the sound of it pumping blood into her ears.
Trace stepped into her personal space. “I’m going to have to disagree with you there, darlin’. I don’t know what you’re so mad about. You were the one shaking your ass in the middle of my show. What did you think was going to happen?”
A small crowd had gathered around them. Lulu tugged at Kylie’s arm, but she jerked free. Pauly stood off to the side with Hannah and the guys in Trace’s band. She might have imagined it, but it looked like Danny and Mike were smiling.
“I thought,” she said, trying her best to lower her voice, “that maybe, just maybe, you’d grown up and were going to be true to your word about not crossing lines. But I can see that I thought wrong.”
“Relax, Kylie Lou. It was fun for the crowd. Do you hear that? That’s the sound of all those satisfied people feeling like they got their money’s worth.”
“You’re an asshole.” She folded her arms and glared at him. She couldn’t figure out how in the world he could act like such a selfish jerk and still somehow make her feel like the childish idiot in the scenario. It was like he had a super power. And to make matters worse, her lips—well, her entire body, really—were still tingling from his kiss.
“Call me whatever you want, baby. But you kissed me back out there.”