“I see,” she said in a clipped tone. “I might as well go back to Vegas.”

“No, I didn’t mean…”

She tossed shampoo and conditioner in the cart.

“It’s gonna suck for you to be trapped on a bus with five…” And Jon made six. “Uh, six guys for a month. I think you’d be better off—”

“This has nothing to do with my mother. Don’t you get it? I’m worried about you. I feel responsible for you getting hurt.”

He understood what that guilt felt like. He shouldn’t have been so worried about what the guys would think. He wrapped his good arm around her, his injured one trapped in a newly acquired sling, and held her close, stroking her silky hair with one hand.

“Okay. If it makes you feel better to go on tour with us—”

She stiffened and pulled away with a frustrated sigh. While he tried to figure out what was wrong with what he’d said, she tossed toothpaste, mouthwash, and a toothbrush in the cart, yanked the cart from his grasp, and zoomed off to a different aisle.

Jace struggled to catch up, a stitch in his side. He needed to lie down again. He found her several aisles over selecting cosmetics. He smiled when she added a tube of glossy, cherry-red lipstick to the cart. She looked incredibly hot in red. And leather. He missed her leather.

“I don’t want to force myself into your life, Jace,” she said. “If you don’t want me around, then just say it.”

Why would she think that? He thought the world of her. He just didn’t want any of his bandmates to know it. “I do want you in my life, Aggie. I’m not used to… the hovering. I… my mother died when I was nine, and my father never remarried, so women… confuse me. Why are you mad at me?” And why did asking that question make his heart thud so hard?

“I’m not mad at you,” she said.

She wasn’t?

“I’m sorry about your mom.” She slid her hand into his hair and kissed his forehead. “Why don’t you tell me about her?”

“No. I didn’t bring her up to make you feel sorry for me. I want to know what I said that made you mad.”

She smiled and hugged him. “You’re f**king adorable. Do you know that?” She kissed the tip of his nose.

Scowling, he wiped at the wet spot with the back of his hand.

“The reason I’m mad—though I’m not exactly mad, just a little hurt—is that you make me feel like you don’t want me on tour with you.”

Well, he kind of didn’t. He wanted to see her, yes, but having her on tour? No, thanks.

“I was hoping that you’d be happy to spend time with me, Jace. Show some enthusiasm. Not look at me like, oh f**k, now I’m going to be stuck with this stupid bitch for a month.”

“I never said that. Never even thought it.”

“It’s the vibe you’re giving off.”

He was supposed to keep track of his vibes now too? Fuck, he couldn’t win. At least he understood what she wanted.

“I can’t wait to be stuck with you for a month,” he said earnestly.

She laughed and hugged his arm. “Oh, you. What am I going to do with you?”

He kissed her deeply, lust flooding his loins. “I can think of a few things.”

Chapter 26

Jace carried a few of Aggie’s lighter shopping bags up the tour bus steps. He paused when he noticed Eric and Jon sitting on the sofa laughing hysterically. Eric was wearing what Jace suspected was a Kevlar vest. He didn’t bother asking why. The seven horseshoes nailed to the wall above the sofa were new—undoubtedly Mr. We R. Cursed’s idea.

“Ah, here’s little man now,” Eric said, wiping tears from his eyes with the back of his wrists. “Need help carrying that stuff? I wouldn’t want you to hurt yourself.”

“I’ve got it,” he said, hurrying toward the bedroom.

He’d thought he and Eric were starting to get along. Now, with the return of Jon the Magnificent, they were back to square one.

“Baby, slow down,” Aggie called after him. “You’ve got to take it easy.”

Great. Just what he needed. Aggie in smother mode in front of Eric. And worse. Jon.

Jace tossed the bags into the back bedroom, brushed past Aggie on his way back down the hall, and opened the fridge. “Now that Myrna’s out of here, we need to get some f**kin’ alcohol on this bus,” he growled. He grabbed a bottle of orange juice from the refrigerator and slammed the door shut. He gripped the bottle with his wounded arm and attempted to unscrew the top with no success.

“Yeah, we finally get rid of Myrna and Jessica, and someone brings another chick on tour with us,” Eric said.

“She can tour me any time she wants,” Jon said. “What a babe.”

Eric laughed. “She’s too hot for little man, that’s for sure.”

Jace didn’t have the patience to deal with their bullshit right now. He tossed the unopened juice bottle into the kitchen sink and returned to the bedroom to find Aggie sorting through her purchases. She smiled, and his pissy attitude lightened. “Where do I put my stuff? I don’t want to infringe on anyone’s territory,” she said.

“We sort of throw all our shit together wherever it fits.”

She lifted her hand to touch his face. “Sweetie, you look pale. You should lie down for a while.”

“I’m fine.”

“The faster you get better, the faster you can get that jackass, Jon, out of here,” she whispered and turned those pretty blue eyes of hers in the direction of the common area.

She had a point. He kissed her tenderly. “I could use a nap.”

“And I could use a shower and a change of clothes.” She kissed the tip of his nose. “Get into bed.”

“Are you going to join me?” he murmured, his hands moving to slide over her luscious ass.

“After my shower.”

“Hurry.”

“Are you planning to get me all sweaty again?”

“Yeah. You’ll have to do all the work. I’m just going to lie there and take it.”

She smiled. “I think we’d be better off cuddling. You really do need your rest.”

Geez, woman, I’m feeling inadequate enough here. He shrugged his arm out of his sling and peeled his shirt over his head. She traced the stark white tape holding his bandages in place. He needed to heal quickly for more than one reason. This new pity attitude of Aggie’s grated on his last nerve. He removed the rest of his clothes and moved out of reach.