Page 15 of The Wiener Across the Way

That was sus.

All except for Jules. “Even me, your adoring little sister, to whom you can tell anything?”

“Don’t you have homework?” I pointed toward the door again.

She didn’t budge. “Yeah. My assignment is finding out what secrets my older brother is keeping from the rest of us.”

Shit. She’d probably get an A plus on that.

LIVE AT RUST ROCKS

KELSEY

The opening band finished their set, and I was definitely inviting them back. I liked their sound and their attitude. It was so easy to get jaded in this business, especially when you’d been putting in the work and just hadn’t yet been blessed by the fates or Loki, or whoever it was that doled out the good luck in the world.

The backstage area buzzed with energy, and I tried to absorb some of it, giving the ladies each a smile and a wave or a thumbs-up as they came off the stage. But my mind and body felt like I was wading through molasses. I stretched my arms, trying to shake off the fatigue clinging to me like a second skin.

I was blaming the altitude. Which was only going to get worse when we headed into the mountains for the music festival. At least the show in Aspen wasn’t just me, but a whole line up of different artists. I needed that little break. Although, I’d never admit that out loud to anyone.

Penelope nudged me and nodded toward the VIP section in the front, stage right. It was filled with the small group of people I’d do a meet and greet with after the show.

“Look who’s here,” she whispered.

She didn’t have to be any more specific. Declan Kingman was hard to miss, towering over the other people. And his focus was fixed on me. No, silly. I was hidden off stage where the fans couldn’t see me yet, but I could see them. But it sure felt like he was looking right at me. A flutter of nervous butterflies danced in my stomach.

It wasn’t stage nerves. My days onThe Choicest Voicehad ground those out of me. Not to mention ten years of constant touring since then. This was just another concert and another night of work for me.

“He still hasn’t given his answer about the showmance.” Penelope sounded a little irritated about that.

“Who is that with him?” A bright-eyed and excited young woman was with him. She kept grabbing his arm and bouncing, clearly trying to get a look backstage. She wasn’t quite as tall as I was, but she was soft and curvy. At least he wasn’t here with some stick-thin cheerleader type. I’d been worried he was going to say he didn’t want to do this fake dating thing because I wasn’t his type.

That little sparkle in his eyes, and the massive hard-on that nobody missed in his gray sweatpants the other day, even though he’d tried his best to hide it from us, said otherwise. “Maybe she’s the reason he doesn’t want to agree to our proposal.”

I gave a little jerk of my chin to indicate the girl. She seemed young for him to me. He probably had all kinds of women knocking down his door. A guy like that didn’t need his agent to set him up on a date.

“Oh. No.” Penelope shook her head and tapped on her tablet. “I already did some Google Fu. That’s Jules Kingman, his little sister.”

Okay. It was cute as all get out that he brought his younger sister to the concert. Those tingly nerves in my belly went a bit tinglier.

Pen pulled up a picture filled with a whole army of handsome giants, including Declan and the girl. That’s their family? Who hit them with the supermodel stick? Every single one of the men in that picture was ridiculously good-looking. And built, and had those same sparkling eyes. Like... swoon.

But there was something special about Declan. His smile wasn’t as big as the rest of them, and he somehow looked as though he was everyone else’s bodyguard or something. I’d let him guard my body.

Oh god. That thought needed to go straight back to the naughty corner of my mind where it had popped out of.

I pitied the man who ever tried to date their sister. All those brothers would be quite the gauntlet to get through to what I’m sure was the family princess. But she was already quite the knockout herself. She had a look that was oddly familiar to me. I wondered if maybe she’d done some modeling.

“Maybe give him a little wave, blow a kiss during the show?” Penelope demonstrated said wave and kiss followed by an eyebrow waggle and a wink. “Start the rumor mill?”

Too contrived, even for showbiz, and the idea unsettled me. Plus, if he didn’t want to do this thing, I didn’t want to force his hand because of the media making assumptions about us. That’s what always got me into trouble.

“Hmm. I’ll think about it.” I already knew I wouldn’t. I tapped my lip and then shook my head. “Okay, I thought about it. Nope. Don’t like it. Let’s just see what happens, huh?”

No more time for Pen’s machinations, or my fantasies about seeing what I could do to put a smile on Declan’s face. It was showtime.

The lights dimmed, and I stepped onto the stage, the crowd’s roar filling my ears. I let the magic of this amazing outdoor amphitheater setting seep into me, and then I launched into my first set, my voice hitting every note of this kick-off upbeat song. I always started off with something fun and boppy to get the crowd going to the same happy place the music took me.

The band, my dancers, the backup singers, and I rolled through the songs from the latest album, really getting the crowd going. This was the fun and easy part, when we were all hyped and raring to go.

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