Rio.
I swallow hard and hoist Snorty a little higher in my arms. This will be one weekend I won’t forget.
CHAPTER 5
MADDIE
Priscilla opens the door to the meeting room with a flourish and slips out, leaving me alone with four men who all turn toward me at once.
I tighten my hold on Snorty and step inside.
My outfit suddenly feels too plain. Cargo pants. A white blouse buttoned to my neck. Navy blazer. Hair piled up into a butterfly clip.
“Hey, Maddie!” Steven springs up from his chair and crushes me in a bear hug, nearly flattening Snorty between us.
He’s in his standard all-black ensemble.
When he lets go, Steven steers me across the room towards their manager, Prince Michael. He stands by a floor-to-ceiling window like he’s posing for his own portrait, Las Vegas glittering behind him.
Like the times I've seen him before, he wears a purple velvet jacket with gold embroidery. Rings stacked on every finger.
His sharp, calculating eyes look me over, already deciding if I'll be help or hinderance.
He takes my hand with a firm shake. “Welcome, Madison.”
Before I can reply, Steven gestures to the blonde guy in the corner. “This is Keith, our drummer.”
Keith nods with a cover-ready smile.
Then my gaze shifts to the only person who hadn’t stood when I walked in.
Rio rises slowly, pushing lustrous black hair out of his eyes.
Around his neck he wears his signature bandana.
From a distance, it appears solid black. But if you look closely, you can see a faint pattern of skulls.
Janie figures he thinks it reinforces his ‘bad boy” image.
As if that image needs reinforcing.
Rio Wilder radiates sex. And it’s not just his drop dead gorgeous looks.
Whether he’s looking at you from an album cover or in person, his eyes suggest he can’t wait to do naughty, forbidden things to you when you’re alone.
“Well, well. The schoolmarm returns,” he says, his tone carrying that familiar amused edge.
My eyes betray me, dropping to where his black T-shirt stretches tight across his broad shoulders. Then down to his black jeans that hug his muscular thighs in all the right places.
Rio steps into my space, close enough that I can smell his natural clean male scent.
I hold out my hand to shake, but he gently moves it down by my side. “Snce you’re my fiancée now, how about a kiss?”
My mouth goes dry. I hate myself a little for still being affected by him after all this time.
“No thanks,” I blurt. Then I catch Steven’s surprised expression and remember what I agreed to.
“I mean, a kiss is fine.”
