Finding Her Rhythm (Backstage Pass Series) (6 page)

Michael hissed, his hands tightening in her hair almost to the point of pain.
She could explode so easily—

Suddenly his weight disappeared and she found herself lifted up a few stairs. But
he didn’t follow, didn’t pursue. Instead he retreated, tucking his hands behind his back and holding himself very still.

“
Michael?”

Her body felt even emptier than it had before he ever touched her, aching for more of the unique fire roaring through her blood. He started this. Why wouldn’t he finish it?

“I can only control myself for so long, Taylor,” he said, that beautiful voice on lockdown. He continued to withdraw, step by deliberate step. His chest and shoulders stiffened even more, as if the clench of his hands wasn’t enough to keep him in check. “When I stop holding back, you might not like where it leads.”

That’s when the memories rushed in, and Taylor knew nothing except darkness and fear.

Chapter Six

In the week since that midnight meeting, Michael developed a
simple, unspoken code that he strictly abided by. He kept his hands off the help. As if she knew, Taylor kept him focused on rebuilding his family.

It was working—except during long, lonely nights where he remembered the eagerness of her mouth and the lush press of her body. She’d responded to his touch like a wet dream come to life. But, while she might enjoy it
in the moment, something about the experience had scared her. It had shown clearly in her eyes the minute he set her away from him.

Had it been her unexpected reaction to
a situation she wasn’t sure she wanted? Her fear of what him controlling her might mean? Or something completely different? Something to do with the phone calls she took but never spoke about.

The master in
him wanted to dig deep, find the answers and fix it until her arousal was open, not tainted with fear, worry, or self-consciousness. He knew he could do it.

He also knew he shouldn’t.

He’d thought his own memories of that night were under control. But then there were moments, like now, when he had to suppress the urge to kill his own brother because he was flirting with Taylor, and Michael knew he was fooling himself.

His only saving grace? Even though she blushed and smiled, Taylor always brushed Daniel off and never responded overtly—at least, not in front of Michael. It was the moments when he couldn’t see her, couldn’t know the truth with his own eyes, that kept him far, far away.

His dark thoughts, mingled with memories of his dead wife, had him snapping at Daniel as Taylor followed the kids around a corner to the next display in the aquarium.

“
How’d you get invited on this trip?” he asked his brother.

Taylor had
suggested the trip a few nights ago when the kids were talking about the fish tank they used to have, how much they enjoyed watching the fish swim, and the soothing sound of the water. The aquarium in nearby Atlanta was well on its way to becoming the kids’ new favorite place. Between this and the daily swims, they were definitely turning into a semiaquatic kind of family.

Daniel raised his brows at Michael’s surly tone.
“Um, it’s a family outing, and McKayla invited me because I’m family. And I live here in the city. Remember?”

“
We used to only see you on holidays,” he groused, giving in to his petty irritation.

“
That’s before there was more to see.” Daniel glanced in the direction of Taylor’s disappearance like a hunting dog on the scent of a trail. “Though surely there’s a holiday soon? Maybe Easter? God, she’d make a great bunny. Fluffy tail, some tiny ears, satin with fur trim…”

Michael
barely managed to pull his punch enough to turn it into a hard tap. He doubted the families surrounding them would appreciate an all-out brawl—even between brothers. “Easter’s in the spring.” He let his primitive urges peek above the surface. “And stay away from my nanny,” he said, a warning rumble deepening his tone.

To his surprise, Daniel leaned over, resting his hands on his knees. Guilt rushed in, thinking he’d hit Daniel too hard, until he realized his brother was laughing.

“What’s so funny?” He left the
dipshit
implied to protect little ears.

“
Man, I’ve never seen you this bad. Ever.”

“
What?”

Daniel managed to straighten up, barely.
“I just can’t help hanging around. It’s so fun to tease you and guesstimate how long before you jump off the deep end.”

“
Into what?”

“
Dude,” Daniel said, glancing around, “even I wouldn’t say that around all these kids.”

Michael narrowed his eyes, contemplating another punch. Without holding back.
“It’s no big deal.”

“
Really?” Daniel lowered his voice. “So you’re not irritable, sleepless, and one hundred percent horny every time you check out that curvy ass?”

“
I don’t check—”

“
Temper, temper,” Daniel said, mimicking their mother’s voice and one of her favorite phrases.

A deep breath helped Michael see exactly what Daniel was doing.
“Just stop. Nothing’s gonna happen.” He tried another tactic. “Haven't you ever heard of sexual harassment?”

Daniel shrugged.
“Hey, you saw it too, right? I doubt she’d be pressing any charges. She wants it—sub all the way.”

“
But I don't.” And he didn't. Even if memories of her response had been keeping him up long into the night.

Daniel simply raised his brows in a way that would have had women swooning, but simply irritated
Michael.

He
ground his teeth together. “Daniel, this is my house, my kids. It's too complicated.
Capeesh
?”

They came around the corner in time to see Taylor bend forward over a railing next to Matthew, causing Daniel to mumble under his breath,
“Bet it'd be worth it though.”

“
I’m not playing with my nanny.”
Anymore.
Even if the fear he’d seen tempted him to uncover the mystery.

“
Why not? She’s hot, great with the kids, and nothing like Claudie…”

“
How do I know that?” Michael murmured as he moved to follow the rest of his family.

But Daniel heard anyway. He reached out, forcing Michael to pause. His brighter blue eyes met his brother’s dead on.
“Man. Don’t let that bitch tie you up in knots forever.”

Michael
didn’t want that—for himself or the kids. But the longer he was around Taylor, the more he realized how deep the damage reached. He didn’t want it to be there, lodged in his gut like a double-edged blade, but hell if he knew how to pull it out.

He distract
ed himself by looking around the big, open room filled with waist-high displays. From what he could see, they were hands-on exhibits that the kids were taking full advantage of—their advanced ages didn’t stop them from acting like little kids every once in a while.

Just then Taylor moved, migrating to the side of the room with her p
hone to her ear. Her face was tight, and clearly agitated as she talked. One arm tucked across her torso while the other held her phone.

This happened too often. She’d
take phone calls, then step out of the room for. She never talked about the caller, never explained. Daniel wondered why Michael worried he didn’t really know her? This was a big part of it. What was with all the sneaking around and secrets? Too many doubts, no matter how great she was with the kids…or how luscious she tasted in the middle of the night.

He
wouldn’t demand she explain. Part of him wanted her to tell him on her own—like his wife never had. Claudie simply hadn’t cared enough to tell Michael to his face that she was cheating on him. She wanted the security of their marriage but also the excitement, the rush of the chase. At the expense of her family…and eventually her life.

Taylor
definitely had secrets she wasn’t sharing with them. Him or the kids. Was this just be a job? A paycheck. Or a payoff? Remembering her long, strained moans had him conflicted.

He forced his feet back into motion.
“How can I be sure?” he asked.

Daniel thought for a minute as they walked toward the kids.
“You wanna make sure she isn’t just a groupie? Even though her behavior has in no way indicated that she is?”

Not even that one night, the one he hadn’t breathed a word of to Daniel. Her touch hadn’t been
needy and focused on giving him what he wanted because of who he was. Instead she had surrendered to the pleasure, connecting with him in the darkness and heat until he thought he’d explode without even being inside of her. Memories of that little bite had remained long after the tiny mark faded from his skin.

Still, he couldn’t trust her enough to act.

“I guess so.” Stupid as it was. “I mean, this is a woman who lives in our home. Not some casual lay I can forget about the next morning.” Why was he even contemplating this? He must be crazy with lust.

A perpetual hard-on would do that to a man.

Daniel’s mind seemed to be on the same track. “Man, you haven’t had nearly enough sex in the last five years, in my opinion. But okay, you want to test her mettle? Why not expose her to a whole slew of rock stars? She’ll have her pick, and you can see if she’s fishing for deeper waters.”

The thought slowly trickled through
Michael’s uncertainty, making sense. Was he ready to go further with Taylor? Before he did, he needed to see her in a true “rock star” situation, something outside of the “hearth and home” thing they had going on right now.

“
Sounds good.” He nodded as they came level with the kids, watching Taylor’s approach with the thrill of a challenge racing through his blood. “Speaking of holidays, I think this might be the year to resurrect the ol’ Fourth of July barbeque.” He turned to Daniel. “What do you say?”

“
Bikinis and beer? I say, hell yeah!”

* * *

Taylor lifted her hand to wave to the security guard at the front gate, then sighed in relief as she drove away from the estate. Fear, frustration, and a good dose of anger had mingled in her brain for the last two days.

Ever since S
tephen had called to say someone had broken into his office.

He had no conclusive proof that it was Bradley, though he could guess after his run-in with the burglar himself. The silent alarm in the office had rung his
cell phone, and he’d made it there before the police. Wanting to protect the personal information of his clients and cases, he’d charged right in.

Taylor had been quietly derogatory of that choice, but men would be men.

His cavalier attitude said it all.

“
Was anything broken?” she asked.

“
Other than my nose?”

Her gasp was cut short by his manly chuckle.
“Don’t worry, honey. When they wrap up this investigation, I’ll have him on bodily harm charges, too. Not just breaking and entering. That should keep him out of our hair for a while.”

The fact that Stephen was so sure of the thief’s identity had her even more concerned. She’d been right to hide from Bradley, but she couldn’t hide everyone in her life. Michael and his family lived behind some pretty hefty bars, but her grandmother didn’t. Realizing how exposed she might be, even under an assumed name, created an urgency to be there with her, to double-check the environment for herself. So she’d taken a personal day to spend at the new nursing home.

Michael hadn’t been happy about that. Or anything else since Stephen’s first call. By the time he and Daniel had caught up with them at the aquarium, his eyes had turned even cooler than normal, reminding her of icy clouds floating over the gray-blue irises.

She’d
schooled herself to act like everything was normal after they’d kissed. After all, she had no other safe place to go. She needed her job, and she’d truly come to care for McKayla and Matthew. The constant reminders had worked pretty well, if she didn’t count the gut-churning embarrassment and need she felt almost every time he turned those smoky blue eyes her way.

But he’d been positively glacial when she’d mentioned taking a personal d
ay. She didn’t elaborate on why and he didn’t ask, but long silences tempted her to fill in details she wasn’t willing to share.

Now the house was in a tizzy over t
he upcoming Fourth of July bash, and Taylor was happy for a few hours away.

Even so, she sat for long moments in her car before f
orcing herself out into the midsummer heat. She loved her grandmother, but Taylor missed her almost as much as her parents. These visits reminded her just how much she’d lost in her lifetime.

At the nurses’ station,
she gave her name and was greeted with a warm smile.

“
Oh, it’s so nice to meet you,” the nurse said, motioning her in the direction of a long hallway. “We are so enjoying having Miss Maddie here with us as a patient.”

Taylor had to s
mile at the unfamiliar name Stephen had registered her granny under. It was the name of Gran’s imaginary friend when she was a kid. The bit of whimsy took the sting out of the antiseptic smell of the hallway.

When they reached a closed doorway, the nurse paused.
“Now, Miss Maddie has been running a little fever today, so she’s pretty much stayed in bed.”

Taylor’s pulse started to pound in her chest, panic setting up shop in her mind.
“What’s wrong with her?”

The nurse patted Taylor’s arm.
“Oh, don’t you worry. We’ve given her a good check over, but she doesn’t really have any other symptoms. It’s probably just a fever virus.”

“
But—”