"I suppose you don't have an unpredictable bone in your body."
She reached up and ran a finger down the side of his neck. His pulse leapt against her fingertip. "I wouldn't say that."
"Are you coming on to me, Melanie?"
Oh yes, yes, yes. "Maybe," she said. No sense in Nikki having all the fun tonight. Melanie was suddenly up for a little fun of her own.
"I hate to bother you," someone said from the other side of Gabe.
A stud piercing spanned the bridge of the guy's nose and a palm-sized black skull tattoo covered the side of his spindly neck. At the sight of the tattoo, Melanie's heart rate kicked up. Most tattoos made her feel uneasy, but skull and barbed-wire designs always freaked her out. Melanie took a huge gulp of water and returned her gaze to Gabe, wondering how he'd deal with a confrontation.
"I'm a huge fan of yours, Force," the fashion-nightmare gushed. "You're hands down the best drummer on the planet. Can I have your autograph?"
Perhaps Nikki hadn't thrown up all over Sole Regret's lead vocalist, but Melanie managed to spit water all over their drummer.
Chapter 4
Melanie jumped to her feet and searched for something to wipe the water from the side of Gabe's face. Chuckling, he lifted the hem of his T-shirt and rubbed the droplets from his skin. She couldn't help but gape at his washboard abs. It was bad enough that she'd spewed water all over a famous drummer; spitting all over a hot famous drummer with dreamy green eyes and a gorgeous smile was a tabloid-worthy disaster. Her gaze fixed on the hint of a tattoo peeking out above his wide, leather belt near one hipbone. She couldn't make out what it was before he dropped his shirt to cover his belly. She expected that feeling of unease to settle over her now that she knew he had a tattoo, but she only felt undeniable attraction when she looked at him.
Gabe took the CD from his excited fan and signed it before turning his attention back to Melanie.
"I am so sorry," she said. "I had no idea who you were. "And how much of an ass I was making of myself as I criticized your band.
His eyes flipped skyward. "Yeah, I kinda figured that much."
"I recognized the other guys in the band because I saw them on stage, but you . . . "
"Were the blur behind the huge drum kit."
"Yeah." And he looked like a regular gorgeous guy, not a rock star. She touched her cheeks with her fingertips and found them hot. "I really am sorry I spit water on you. You must think I'm a psycho."
"Actually, I think you're charming," he said. "I've never met a woman with the balls to turn Shade down and call him a freak in the same breath."
Melanie groaned. "I can't believe I did that." She plopped down on the sofa beside Gabe again and buried her head in her hands. "I don't really think he's a freak. He's just so . . . "
"Arrogant?"
"Yeah." She turned her head to look at him. "But you don't seem to be."
"I'm just the drummer." He touched the center of her back, engulfing her in his body heat and the clean fragrance of soap and hot-blooded male as he moved closer. "Do you have a boyfriend?" He stroked her left ring finger just above her first knuckle. "I know if you had a husband or a fiancé, he wouldn't let you out of his sight without a ring on your finger."
Her heart skipped a beat. Was he hitting on her? She was pretty sure he was. Did she mind? Hell no. Even though he was a musician and had a tattoo, she loved what she saw. And she wanted to do so much more than look.
"I'm currently single," she said. Yay! she added silently.
"I thought maybe that's why you rejected Shade, that you were madly in love with some lucky jackass. You honestly aren't attracted to him?"
She shook her head.
"Not even to his notoriety?"
"It doesn't make him any more special than any of us. So he's famous. Big whoop. It doesn't give him the right to behave like an ass. You're famous and you don't act like that."
"Are you sure about that?"
She nodded resolutely.
Gabe leaned closer still, his gaze so intense she felt frozen to the spot. He lifted a hand to brush his fingers across her cheek. Melanie's heart thundered in her chest.
"I'm going to kiss you," he said.
She couldn't drag her gaze from his. She'd never seen such green eyes. The contrast of those bright irises against his dark lashes was mesmerizing.
"You are?"
"Yes."
"But I'm not attracted to guys like you."
"Guys like me?"
"Guys with tattoos."
"Hmm," he murmured close to her ear.
Her eyelids drifted closed.
"What about guys with mohawks?"
She gasped and her eyes flew open. "Never."