Heart of Stone (Rock Star Fairy Tales #1)

Chapter 35

C h apte r 35

Stone Dragons at the Akk oy EcoDome

Evening, Saturday, Febr uary 21 st at the EcoDome in A kkoy, Genc

M argot didn’t ask Tobin if he wanted to watch the show from backstage, but he came with her to the back door when it was time to go to work, and she had the guard add him to the list, tossing him a backstage pass he tugged over his neck. He had finally put his shirt back on, even adding a hoodie in deference to the chill of the Gencian winter, and Margot decided it made him even more sexy than he had been lying bare-chested in her bed.

She forced herself to stop staring at him, showing him the back rooms for the staff and stagehands, then abandoned him to begin her duties. Part of her worried he might be carried away by the groupies who frequented backstage, but she stopped that line of thought immediately. She already had one rock star to wor ry about.

She found the guys in the green room, Ash and Nik strumming their guitars and running through the set list, Timothy sitting on the couch banging his drumsticks on his thighs. “All good?” she asked, trying to sound like her normal perky self before a show. “Need anything?”

“All good,” Nik chirped, his face clearly trying not to explode as he glanced back and forth between her and Ash. “You need anything, Ash?” he prompted, tapping Ash with the neck of his guitar. “Margot,” he emphasized her full name, “is here for you.”

“I’m fine, Go,” Ash said, his voice the distant rock star she knew. And though she had fully expected it, had given him her normal employee greeting, it still hurt to be treated as the same Margot who had known him forever.

Timothy opened his mouth as if to say something, to contradict Ash, but Margot spoke over him. “Great!” she said with forced cheer, trying not to recall Ash’s face as he said he loved her, the taste of his lips on hers as he moved in her. “I’ll see to the cr ew then.”

As she turned to leave, she nearly bumped into three women as they came in, each one striding purposefully toward a band member. The tall blonde sat on the couch next to Timothy, a drink in one hand and the other settling comfortably on his knee as she began talking, clearly continuing a previous conversation. The brunette settled near Nik, hand possessively on his shoulder as she eye d Margot.

But Margot only cared about the redhead, the one who casually perched on the couch beside Ash, handing him a drink with a casual, “Here, babe.” Ash accepted the drink with a nodded thanks, and the woman ran her arm over his shoulder and down his arm, moving just a little bit closer. Ash took a sip, eyes glancing up to where Margot stood near the door, but he didn’t move away from the groupie, allowing her to touch him. Margot stared at the stranger Ash had become for a second longer than necessary, but he said nothing, simply staring back at her. The redhead, sensing that Ash’s attention had wandered, leaned close, wrapping her manicured fingers around Ash’s chin, and pulled his face close to hers. Ash’s eyes skipped to Margot for a split second, but then the redhead was kissing him, and instead of pushing her away as Margot expected, he put his drink down and put both hands on her instead, deepening the kiss. Timothy cut his eyes to Margot, like he wanted to say something, but the atmosphere clearly told her it was time to leave.

Margot ducked out of the room quickly, eyes burning, and hurried to a nearby bathroom, shutting herself in a stall and sitting down, her hands over her face as the tears came—hot and angry.

What did you expect? Ash was only acting the way he said he would. She shouldn’t feel so hurt. She’d known what she was gett ing into.

“I’m such an idiot,” she whispered to the em pty room.

The bathroom door opened, and she froze, scrubbing her face, trying to wipe away the evidence of her brok en heart.

“Margot?”

She recognized Tobin’s voice, and she stood up, flinging the stall door open and staring at him. “What are you doing in here?” she demanded.

“You’re upset,” he said, standing in front of her like it was perfectl y normal.

“Of course I’m upset!” she snapped. “But that doesn’t answer my question! What are you doing in here? This is the ladi es’ room.”

“You were upset,” he repeated. “I didn’t want you to be alone.”

“But I am alone, Tobin,” she said bitterly. “And I’m an absolute moron because I knew better, yet I did this to myself anyway.”

“Love makes morons out of us all,” Tobin sai d softly.

She leaned in the stall doorway, sniffing loudly. “Have you been in love?” she asked him, wanting something else to focus on but the pain in h er chest.

“Ask me another time,” he said, reaching for her hand. He led her to the sink and turned on the water, wetting a paper towel and handing it to her so she could wipe her face. She took a deep breath, then redid her hair and straightened her s houlders.

“I’m okay,” she told Tobin. “And I have wo rk to do.”

“That’s my Margot,” Tobin declared. “Go get ’em.”

She nodded, rallying, and grabbed Tobin’s hand as they exited the bathroom. “Have you tried the chicken wings? Akkoy has the be st wings.”

“I’ve heard of them,” Tobin said. “Apparently, it’s something about t he sauce.”

“They have some in the breakroom,” she told him. “Eat them while you ’re here.”

“I will,” he promised. “Anything I can do to help you ge t set up?”

“Nah,” she assured him, running through her list in her head. “I’ll find you when they go on. We can watch the show from the back.”

Tobin nodded, and Margot headed off to the stage to see how far the crew had gotten in the setup process. Everything went without a hitch, and Margot found her flow, Ash slowly leaving the forefront of her mind as she focused on her job. Even Travis’s long smoke break didn’t annoy her as the crew seemed to have everything in hand.

The opening band arrived at 6pm, and Margot got them situated, trying to ignore the sexual innuendos the lead singer of Das Leprechauns made as she walked them through the stage a nd setup.

“Show me again how you hold that microphone, little girl,” Alby said, accent thick as he guffawed and looked at his bandmates for encouragement. “Das good,” the sing er moaned.

“Oh, wait,” Margot told him, smiling sweetly. She plucked the normal microphone from the stand and headed over to the table where a pile of other equipment still waited to be hooked up. Grabbing the smallest microphone they had, one normally used for communication backstage, she handed it to him. “This probably feels more comfortable in your hand,” she told him with a meaningful glance at his pants. “Das good, yes?” Before the singer could reply, she walked away, shaking her head.

She never enjoyed the Bacolian band, but many fans of Stone Dragons also liked Das Leprechauns, so they often hooked up for this part of the tour. This was not the first time Alby had given her crap while setting up, and normally she could just roll with it to keep the peace, but she wasn’t in the mood tonight. She glanced back at the other three members of the band, gesturing to the left side of the stage. “Your guitars go there,” she pointed at the racks, “and get your pedals set up. Sound check i n thirty.”

Without another word, she left the stage area with Alby still holding the ridiculously tiny mic and headed back to check on her boys.