Oh shit.

I didn’t have a chance to speak or move before Mace, not taking his eyes off Eric, said to me, “Stel a, don’t go near that f**kin’ Blazer.”

“For f**k’s sake, get in the goddamned Blazer!” Eric yel ed, also now talking to me while glaring at Mace and also losing patience.

Hmm.

Conundrum.

See, Eric was a Fed and I figured the federal government had the resources to make it unlikely that I would be riddled with bul ets. And this was something which was looking uncomfortably more and more like it might happen in my near future.

But Eric also had a thing for me that I didn’t have the emotional capacity to explore at the present moment, considering my life was in danger, not to mention a complete mess. One thing I knew, I didn’t need to owe him.

Unh-unh.

No way.

On the other hand, Mace was a badass, hot guy. He and the Nightingale Team knew what they were doing. What happened tonight wasn’t his fault, it was Monk’s and it was mine. First, the boys wanted to give in and I didn’t let them with what I now considered my immensely idiotic “I want a vote” speech. Second, we played the gig knowing the danger and the security chal enge it represented. I knew Mace felt it was his fault which I found upsetting. I didn’t want to find it upsetting but I couldn’t help myself. I was over Mace (kind of, or at least I was stil going with that thought) but I wasn’t that over Mace.

However, I was trying to steer clear of Mace and Eric was giving me a golden opportunity.

Shit.

What to do?

When I hesitated, Mace, his eyes stil locked on Eric, spoke low. “Stel a.”

“My luck sucks,” I declared because I hadn’t made a decision and I was stal ing for time, and, of course, it was the truth.

“Stel a, sweetheart, get in the Blazer,” Eric coaxed, eyes stil on Mace.

“You cal her ‘sweetheart’ one more f**kin’ time, I’l shove your teeth down your throat,” Mace growled.

Oh no. It appeared the impossible was happening and things were degenerating.

Eric grinned a humorless grin and jerked his chin at Mace.

“Let’s go,” he invited.

Yikes!

Mace took a step forward. Eric stood his ground but brought up his fists.

“Oh for goodness sake, stop it!” I shouted, getting between them again and putting a palm on each of their chests. I made a split-second, scary-as-shit decision and turned to Eric. “What happened tonight wasn’t his fault, Eric. They had tons of men there. Monk’s an ass**le, you know that. He was worried about the money. He didn’t do thorough searches so he could get people in the door.” Eric looked down at me. “You shouldn’t have been up there in the first f**kin’ place.”

He had a point.

“No, maybe not,” I al owed. “But we don’t play, Buzz and Leo don’t eat. We had no choice.”

“You’re dead, so are The Gypsies, then they really don’t eat,” Eric returned.

Another excel ent point.

I pressed on, “Eric, I have people who count on me. The band… my dog.” I petered out because that was kind of it and it sounded lame. Stil , I kept going. “I have responsibilities. I can’t disappear. The other Rock Chicks are on the line and I’m the one who put them there.” Eric took a step back. I felt a moment of relief that he was backing down and I dropped my hands. Mace took a step forward so we were close. Eric’s eyes narrowed on us and my relief was swept away but, unusual y luckily, Eric let it pass.

“How in the f**k did you put them there?” Eric asked me.

“Don’t answer that, Stel a,” Mace broke into our conversation and Eric’s brows snapped together in annoyance but before he could say anything, Mace continued. “You need to get inside.”

Mace was right. I’d been shot at twice in less than a week and hit once. It was a graze but stil . I felt exposed and I didn’t like it.

I moved away from Mace and got in Eric’s space, attempting some form of damage control.

“Thank you for coming tonight and wanting to help but I’l be okay,” I told him quietly.

He looked down at me and his face went soft, his eyes went warm and I realized, unfortunately belatedly in our relationship, that he wasn’t just good-looking, he was really good-looking.

And maybe he was a nice guy.

Sheesh.

My f**king luck.

“Yeah, you wil because I’l be keepin’ an eye on you,” Eric replied, his voice as soft and warm as his eyes. Then he leaned toward me and went on, “You need anything, Stel a, you know how to get me. Anytime, you cal .”

“Thank you for that too,” I whispered.

“We’re done,” Mace announced on a growl and my mini-moment with Eric ended when Eric’s eyes sliced angrily toward Mace. “Inside,” Mace continued.

“I’l be keepin’ an eye on you too,” Eric warned Mace, al softness and warmth out of his voice.

Mace put his hand in the smal of my back and pushed me toward the door.

What he didn’t do was respond.

* * * * *

I woke up to Mace’s mouth at my neck, his hand trailing whisper-soft along my bel y. Against my sleepy volition, my body shivered.

Effing hel .

“Mace,” I breathed, my voice throatier than normal with sleep and other things besides.

He didn’t respond. Instead, his other hand slid under my body, going up to cup my breast, the trailing fingers of his hand at my bel y starting to move downward.

Both felt nice.

Real y nice.

Shitsofuckit!

Last night, after the Eric Fiasco, Mace had taken Juno out for a bathroom break while I got ready for bed. When he returned, he got on the phone and Juno and I hit the hay. To my surprise, even after al the drama, I crashed almost immediately, fal ing asleep listening to what I suspected was Mace debriefing with who I assumed was Lee.

Now, I was laying partial y on my bel y, partial y on my side, my leg crooked deep, Mace’s body pressed tight to me, his leg crooked into mine.

“Mace,” I repeated, my sleepy-weak resistance already flagging.

We needed to talk about a lot of things and I needed not to have sex with him again. I was beginning to think I was giving him the wrong impression.

Hel , who was I kidding? How could he not have the wrong impression?

“Quiet, Kitten, I wanna listen to you come,” Mace murmured into my neck as his hand pushed into my panties.

His words made my body shiver again.