He immediately looked out over the crowd, toward Elle.
“Focus, Flynn. Elle’s fine. Just act like you actually like me, for once.”
He swiveled his head back my way and stared at me. And stood there, rigid.
“God.” I rolled my eyes. “Is that all you’ve got? Forget it. I’ll find someone else.”
I let him go, but he grabbed my arm. He leaned into my ear. “What do you need?”
“I need you to be my man for five minutes and get me backstage. Don’t worry. It’s just pretendsies. I’m trying to avoid an undesirable.”
“What undesirable?” He glanced around, his already sharp features sharpening, like a dog on the hunt. His nostrils practically flared, like he could smell the kill.
“Relax. Do you know how?”
I reached up and wrapped my hand around the back of his neck, pushing my fingers into his short, soft hair… and he stiffened.
He looked down at me again, and I tugged his face a little closer to mine. “Just put your arm around me and gaze into my eyes for a bit,” I said, my lips almost brushing his as I spoke. “Or whatever you can stomach. Then walk me to the door.” I pressed up against him—and he went even more rigid.
A cold trickle ran down my side.
The martini.
He’d just spilled it on me.
I jumped a bit. He looked down and his eyes flared. I was wearing a red jumpsuit with big cutouts at my waist, and he’d poured the drink on my bare skin.
“Shit. Sorry.” He reached to set the glass on a nearby high table, elbowing some girl out of the way. She snarked at him and turned her back to us. “Summer,” he said, in a low voice, as he wiped his wet fingers on his jeans. “I’m working…”
I rolled my eyes and pushed in close again. “Elle’s not gonna fire you for being human and actually looking at a woman for once.” My lips were a breath away from his, again. I could feel his heat all over me. He still wasn’t touching me, though.
I was touching him.
I’d pressed my hand flat to his chest… and wow. He was… firm.
He glanced down, at my mouth, maybe. He studied my face like he was actually seeing me for the first time or something. Then he looked straight into my eyes at point-blank range, and he didn’t look away.
Well, that was new.
I curled my fingers into his shirt.
And the heat between us…?
Scorching.
I mean, maybe it was just me… but I felt it way down low when his eyes held mine like that.
Ooh, I liked it when he looked at me.
But I downplayed it. “And if you could look at me like you’re actually happy to see me, that might help.”
“I don’t like being distracted,” he said, still holding my gaze.
“Oh, good. I’m distracting you?”
“It’s not a joke, Summer. What if something happened to Elle while my back was turned?”
I took a step back and let my hand drop away. “Then you better go over there.”
He didn’t. But he did glance over at Elle—who was busy talking to some girls. Totally fine.
Then he looked at me again.
He took my by the hand. He laced his strong fingers through mine and walked me through the crowd, over to the door that led backstage, where a bouncer stood guard. He started to let my hand go, but I tugged him over to the wall with me.
“Now, if it wouldn’t kill you,” I said, wrapping my arms around his neck, “find some reason to get that guy kicked out.” I discretely pointed out Blair. “Guy with the light-brown hair and the ugly tats. Ten o’clock. But kiss me first? He’s looking.”
Flynn stared at me for a long moment.
I was pretty sure he wasn’t gonna do it…
But then he leaned in and kissed me. Just barely, though. On the fucking cheek.
“Wow,” I said. “You really put your back into that one. I think I came a little bit.”
The slightest frown flicked over his features.
Then I leaned in and kissed him—on the lips. Softly and slowly. His lips were sharply carved, but they felt soft as hell. He smelled like mint and man, and my pussy definitely approved of the direction this was heading…
But then I pulled away.
He showed no reaction on his face.
He never really did.
Elle said he was ex-military, and two seconds in the man’s presence made that clear. It was obvious he was ultra-reserved, always in control. And he wouldn’t be easily swayed—in any direction.
But did the man not have a cock?
Hmm. Yeah, maybe he did. Because he swallowed, and I watched his Adam’s apple bob. I wasn’t even touching him anymore, but I could feel the tension in his body.
“Better?” he said flatly.
“Much.”
He broke eye contact and I took a breath. He glanced over at Blair. “Ten o’clock?”
“His name is Blair. He’s been known to offer meth to my girls, so it shouldn’t be hard to find a reason to get rid of him.”
Flynn looked in my eyes again. “You want him gone, that’s reason enough.”
Well, I liked that.
“I want him gone,” I said.
He nodded. He glanced at the bouncer by the door and lifted his chin, and the bouncer opened the door for me. But I wasn’t going anywhere just yet.
I watched Flynn, as he made his way over to a couple of bouncers on the other side of the VIP area, where several of them stood along the rope barricade, keeping the riffraff out. And while I watched, I caught Elle looking over at me.
I blew her a kiss.
She shook her head at me and smiled. Then she started heading over to me.
A couple of guys started talking to me—friends of the owners or something?—and I smiled and thanked them for coming, but I wasn’t really listening.
I watched as Flynn and one of the bouncers went to talk to Blair, then escorted him out of the VIP area. I knew Flynn would be thorough; they’d bounce him right out of the venue.
Flynn definitely took his job—which was Elle’s security—seriously. And as one of Elle’s closest friends, he took mine just as seriously. Even if he wasn’t being paid to do it.
I’d always liked that about the man.
I didn’t have a bodyguard of my own—didn’t want one—but it was definitely handy having men around who could kick ass in a situation like this.
If only this particular one was just a little more fun.
Elle approached and hugged me, and I tugged her into the doorway, away from everyone. “Fantastic show, hottie,” she said. “I figured I’d wait my turn while your adoring fans swarmed you.”
“So thoughtful.”
“So what happened? I just saw Flynn kiss you.”
“Did you?”
“Actually, I saw you kiss Flynn.”
“Did I?”
She grinned at me. “What did you do.”
“Nothing.”
“I repeat, I just saw Flynn kiss you.”
“Maybe he just wanted to kiss me.”
She narrowed her steely gray eyes at me. “You did something.”
I shrugged. “I just borrowed your bodyguard for a few minutes.” I watched him making his way back toward the VIP area, through the crowd. No sign of Blair. “It was kinda fun.”
Elle snickered. “Well, if you want, you can borrow him for the whole night.”
I watched him moving through the VIP area toward us. “We’ll see. Do you think he’s that stiff in bed?”
“I don’t think about it,” she said.
I knew that was probably true.
However. Didn’t mean I couldn’t think about it.
He wasn’t my bodyguard, now was he?
“Hmm. You’re coming home with me, right?” I asked her. Her baby was at home with the nanny, and her man was away… She really had no excuse to rush home. “I’m having an after party…”
“Of course you are.”
> “We can do shots backstage first…”
“You can do shots. I’m breastfeeding.”
“I know. Sweetie, I’d be happy to drink for the both of us.”
“And would this situation call for security?” she asked me.
“Of course,” I said, with mock innocence, and she gave Flynn a little nod as he drew near. “Safety first, babe.”
Then I tugged her with me, through the door to backstage, and Flynn followed.
* * *
Don’t miss Summer’s book, Sweet Temptation (Players #3), the next book in the Players series!
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* * *
PLAYERS SERIES
Hot Mess (Players #1)
Filthy Beautiful (Players #2)
* * *
DIRTY SERIES
Dirty Like Me (Dirty #1)
Dirty Like Us (Dirty #0.5)
Dirty Like Brody (Dirty #2)
A Dirty Wedding Night (Dirty #2.5)
Dirty Like Seth (Dirty #3)
Dirty Like Dylan (Dirty #4)
Dirty Like Jude (Dirty #5)
Dirty Like Zane (Dirty #6)
* * *
DEEP SERIES
DEEP (DEEP #1)
DEEPER (DEEP #2)
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With enormous gratitude,
Jaine
Playlists
As always, some of the songs on the Filthy Beautiful playlists are mentioned in this book; others are songs that captured the feel of a certain scene or that I listened to while writing the book.
These playlists feature rock music, of course—from classic rock to alternative to hard rock and everything in-between—but they also include other genres that I, and the characters in the book, enjoy as well.
I hope you enjoy these 2 playlists—the Filthy Beautiful playlist and Xander’s vortex playlist—as much as I’ve loved putting them together! And I hope Xander’s vortex playlist gives you a deeper glimpse into his “blood, guts and soul.”
Jaine
You’ll find the links to the full playlists on Spotify and Apple Music here.
About the Author
Jaine Diamond is a contemporary romance author, fond of writing the love stories of built and badass men endowed with massive hearts, and strong, complex women she’d love to have a cocktail with.
She lives in beautiful Vancouver, Canada with her real-life romantic hero (Mr. Diamond) and their daughter, where she reads, writes, and drinks copious amounts of tea.
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Filthy Beautiful: A Players Rockstar Romance (Players #2) Page 39