He wanted an excuse to see more of her. If he could gaze at her in the audience every time he played, it would be the best holiday season imaginable. He noticed the way Caspian had checked her out. Of course, Caspian checked out anything with breasts over an A cup, but he was justified in giving Alexis the once-over. She was breathtaking.
"Are you sure you're not trying to recruit me into your groupie set?" she eyed him suspiciously.
"I don't have groupies," he insisted.
"What about them?" asked Alexis, gesturing toward a trio of young women in the far corner of the room. She'd noticed them during the show, singing along to the lyrics.
One of the women had her gaze fixed on them now. She quickly glanced away when
Alexis caught her eye.
"Oh, you noticed them, huh?" Tyler said sheepishly. "They may turn up for a gig or two."
"Have you dated any of them?" Alexis asked out of curiosity. She hoped he didn't take it the wrong way. She didn't want him to think she was interested.
"Nope," Tyler replied firmly. "Too young for me."
Alexis coughed. "Too young? I didn't realize that was an option for men."
Tyler took her reaction in stride. "I like a woman with a mind of her own. Girls like that don't have enough experience and I'm not interested in having a lapdog." "Well, now I know why you never became a rock star," she quipped.
"Isn't it past your curfew?" Tyler teased. "Wouldn't want your parents to send out a search party."
Alexis tried to ignore the push and pull of her emotions. Although she felt drawn to Ty, she didn't want to admit it, not to herself and certainly not to him. She wanted to use this trip to focus on mending fences as well as herself. Forge a new path. She did not want her new path to lead to a new man. She wasn't ready. Eighteen months wasn't enough time.
"Now that you mention it," Alexis said, "it probably is time to go."
Tyler fervently wished he could take back his last comment. "No, I'm kidding.
It's early still."
"Is that why the bar is slowly hemorrhaging customers?"
He glanced around and realized that she was right. It was later than he thought. Only Caspian remained at the bar, charming the skirts off two dark-haired women while a few other people lingered over tables in the seating area. Even the groupies were heading out. One of them, Natasha, waved to Tyler as they left. He nodded politely but didn't return the gesture. He didn't want Alexis to think that he'd lied. Although he never actually dated any of them, he'd had a few sexual encounters with Natasha in the past. He wasn't interested in dating her, though, and that seemed fine with Natasha. Although she was pretty, she wasn't his type. His type was seated across from him and she was one-of-a-kind.