“I thought the whole point was to work kinks in,” she said.

It took him a second to realize she was joking. He chuckled. “I guess kinks in sex toys are pretty much a given.”

She ran her fingers over the piece of tape holding the package closed. “Am I supposed to open this here?”

He grinned sheepishly. “Well, if you’re prepared to loosen up.”

“I might be,” she said. “Kiss me again while I think it over.”

She needed to be seduced, he realized. He’d expected them to be past that with all the things they’d showed each other through video chat, but he supposed every woman liked to feel as if a man had to work a little to gain her cooperation and attention. Even women who’d been with the same man for a lot longer than a week needed to feel a little hard to get. So perhaps he should have saved his present until after he had her in that disoriented, I-need-your-body-now state. She was always so eager to be open with him on the phone but here in his arms, she seemed almost shy. She turned her head to study the dark glass that separated them from the driver and Nikki. Was that what had her hesitating? Because Nikki was just up front? Perhaps if Nikki had been the sweet, innocent type, Gabe would have understood Melanie’s hesitation to engage in lascivious acts in her proximity, but he didn’t get that impression about Nikki at all. Heck, of the pair, Melanie was the sweet innocent. Maybe she didn’t want Nikki to know she was a whole lot naughtier than she appeared.

“So why did she decide to come with you?” he asked.

“Huh?” Melanie said, turning her attention back to him.

“Nikki.”

“Oh, she wants to hook up with Shade again. Or at least talk to him about why he didn’t call her this week.”

Gabe grunted. “Uh, bad idea. Shade is with someone special now. He’s not going to be interested in Nikki. He’ll undoubtedly hurt her feelings to get his point across.”

“I tried to tell her that. Hell if she’ll listen to me.”

“Maybe I should drop you and Nikki off at the hotel. You can find her a room,” he said, pausing to make sure it was clear that Nikki would not be following them to Austin. Best friend in tow or not, Melanie was his this weekend. He wasn’t going to bow to the impulses of one of Shade’s past lays. “I can meet up with you—just you—after the show and we’ll head to Austin. Our chartered flight leaves at midnight, so we won’t have time to deal with Nikki after the show.”

“You don’t want me at the concert?” she asked, and he couldn’t tell if she was pissed or hurt or just asking a question.

“I do want you there. I want you to be the last person I see before I climb behind my drum kit and the first one I see when I stumble out sweaty and exhausted an hour later. But it’s a bad idea for Nikki to be there. I don’t mean to be rude, but she wasn’t invited, and I doubt that Shade led her to believe she could hope for some sort of relationship with him.”

“I know that, Gabe,” she said, “but what would you have me do? Desert her at the airport? She needs me to look out for her or she winds up in trouble. She’s one of those people who don’t even have to go looking for disaster, it finds her. It always finds her.”

She placed a hand on his thigh to steady herself as the limo turned a corner and accelerated up an incline. The car stopped and the glass behind the driver slid down.

Nikki turned around in her seat and stared at them. Gabe shoved the package containing his little invention behind his hip again.

“We decided to stop for sandwiches,” Nikki said. “Quick and easy so we can get to the concert on time. Parker still has to go to the hotel and pick up the rest of the band after he drops us off. I figured I could run in and get the sandwiches to go while you two continue to make out.” She looked from one of them to the other and offered a disapproving stare to the space between them. “Are you two even copping a feel?”

“We’re talking,” Melanie said.

“About?”

Melanie glanced at Gabe.

“What’s for dinner,” he said, not sure if Melanie wanted him to be the one to break the news to Nikki that Shade was currently seeing someone important to him. Gabe had to assume that Melanie didn’t want him to make her friend cry, so unless Melanie instructed him otherwise, he was going to keep his mouth shut.

“What do you like?” Nikki asked Gabe.

“I’ll eat just about anything, but hold the onions. I have some making out to do.” He winked at Nikki and she giggled.

“I’m sure Mel will appreciate that.” Nikki glanced at Melanie with an expectant look on her face.

“You know what I like,” Melanie said.

“Um, yeah, should I just use the emergency credit card or…” She glanced at Melanie’s purse.

Damn, where were his manners? Gabe dug his wallet out of his back pocket and pulled out several twenties. Nikki didn’t hesitate to accept the money, not that he wanted her to refuse it. He had just expected her to at least try to turn down his cash since they didn’t really know each other.

“You don’t have to do that,” Melanie said, snatching the bills out of Nikki’s hand and trying to stuff them back into his.

“I want to,” he said.

“She’s always a cheap date,” Nikki said, which earned her a scathing look from Melanie. “Has a really hard time taking money from anyone. Miss Financially Independent.” She made finger quotes.

“She says that like it’s a bad thing,” Melanie said.

Nikki took the money again and smiled at Gabe. “Thanks! Maybe I’ll buy you lunch sometime when I get back on my feet.”

To get back on her feet, she’d have to learn to stay off her back and her knees. Gabe lowered his eyes, feeling guilty for even thinking that way about Nikki. There obviously had to be something terrific about her. She was Melanie’s closest friend.

Nikki opened the front door and slipped out of the car. The driver, Parker, watched her stride to the sub shop with drool practically dripping off his chin.

“She’s used to getting whatever her heart desires because she’s so pretty,” Melanie said. “If I don’t give it to her, some guy will. Some guy who expects something in return. At least if it comes from me, I don’t have to worry about her repaying their kindness with sexual favors.”

Gabe noticed that Parker was eavesdropping. The guy tried to pretend he wasn’t taking mental notes on how to get into Nikki’s pants, but Gabe was a guy himself. He knew how they thought. Gabe pressed the button that raised the window between them again, glad it was soundproof.

“Maybe she should sit back here with us,” Gabe said. “I don’t like the way the driver is looking at her.”

“Just about everyone looks at her that way.”

“Well, I won’t,” Gabe said. “Not when I have you.”

He leaned in to steal a kiss, meaning to offer a chaste brushing of his lips against hers, but something primal sizzled between them and he instantly had her crushed against his chest, his hands buried in her hair and his mouth seeking to devour hers. Her fingers curled into his back, drawing him closer. Her soft breasts felt like heaven pressed against his chest. His tongue brushed her upper lip, and she shuddered before tentatively touching his tongue with hers.

She pulled away slowly and then rested her forehead against his shoulder, breathing heavily. “You were right earlier,” she said. “All the sexy video chats are not the same as being here with you. You’re a distraction at a distance but in person…” She drew in a deep breath. “In person, you’re utterly devastating to a woman’s wits.”

He grinned and reached for the package he’d hidden behind his hip. “I have something in here to make sure you don’t regain your wits anytime soon.”

Hands shaking, Melanie opened the package as if she expected something to jump out and bite her. And he had a few items in his arsenal that would have done just that, but not this one. This one was all about pleasure. He liked giving her pleasure. Some women liked a little pain on the side, and he could cater to that need, but he was pretty sure—and actually hoped—that Melanie liked to receive only pleasure. She unrolled the thick brown paper and the three-fingered glove fell out on her lap.