Music of the Heart

“Aw, that’s so sweet of you.” I nudged him playfully. “Who knew there was a good guy buried deep, deep down inside.”

AJ closed the closet door. “Okay, done.”

“Finally,” Jake muttered as he got off the bed.

Gesturing to his jeans and polo shirt, AJ said, “Hey, give me some credit. It’s not easy changing behind a closet door to protect Miss Innocent Eyes over there.”

I laughed as I rose up to a sitting position. “One minute you’re trying to get me to see you na**d and the next you’re protecting me.”

AJ winked at me. “Just know I would do anything, and I do mean anything for you, mi amor.”

I grabbed my dress and cowboy boots off the dresser. “Thanks so much.”

***

Chapter Four

As soon as Abby disappeared into the bathroom, AJ arched his dark brows questioningly at me. “You better be damn glad it was me and not Brayden who came back here.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked as I slid on a clean pair of jeans.

“You said you were coming in here to get your shit and wake Abby up, and instead you’re back in bed with her. Hell, she was riding you.”

“That was your fault, not mine, opening the closet door like you did.”

“Mmm, hmm,” he replied, raising his brows suggestively.

I shrugged. “Trust me, she wasn’t happy about me being in bed with her.”

“But were you?”

I froze half-way in pulling a fresher smelling shirt over my head. Peeking through the neck of the shirt, I shot AJ a look. “Get real, dude. I’m so not interested in Abby.”

He grinned. “Keep telling yourself that.” He started for the door, but then turned back to me. “So if you’re not interested, you mind me making a play for her?”

For reasons I couldn’t possibly understand, my jaw clenched at the thought of Abby and AJ. At the same time, my fists tightened at my sides. “She’s not stupid. She knows exactly what dogs the three of us are when it comes to women.”

“I could try to change her mind.”

“Yeah, good luck with that one,” I grumbled as I brushed past him.

Using my fist that was still clenched from AJ’s comment, I pounded on the bathroom door. “You through in there, Angel? Some of the rest of us would like some mirror time.”

“I’m coming, I’m coming,” she mumbled as she undid the lock. When she threw open the door, my breath caught at the sight of her. Somehow in the few short minutes Abby had been in the bathroom she’d managed not only to get dressed, but also freshened up as well. Her long, blonde hair fell in waves down her back while she’d also reapplied some makeup. Her full lips glistening with gloss just begged me to reach over and lay one on her.

“What?” she questioned as she swept her hands to her hips.

Trying to cover up for my lustful thoughts, I smirked at her. “Nothing. You just clean up fast.”

A giggle escaped those succulent lips of hers. “Yeah, it comes from growing up with one bathroom, six people, and most of the time not a lot of hot water. You should see some of the conditions I’ve had to get ready in before.”

She squeezed past me and then started over to AJ who was messing with the entertainment system. While my gaze instantly honed in on the soft sashay of her h*ps as she walked down the bus aisle, Rhys sidestepped me into the bathroom. “Oh hell no, dude! I was here first!”

He shot me a wicked grin. “You were too busy ogling Abby’s ass to care about the bathroom.”

“I was not ogling her ass,” I hissed under my breath as I pushed him out of the way.

We began elbowing each other for mirror time when music suddenly blared throughout the bus’s speaker system. He and I exchanged a glance before both groaning in unison. “AJ, not that Mexican shit again!” I shouted.

From time to time, AJ insisted on torturing us with the Banda and Cumbia type music he grew up on until we gave him enough hell to turn it off. I poked my head out of the bathroom door. “Dude, seriously, I can’t take—”

Before I could give him anymore grief about the music, the sight of AJ dancing with Abby stunned me silent. Well, it wasn’t your traditional dancing or the dry humping kind I was used to at clubs or concerts. It was the kind I used to see when I went to AJ’s family parties.

AJ could have seriously put the dudes on Dancing with the Stars to shame. He’d been born with a natural rhythm that enhanced his drum playing. Not to mention that when he danced, he had that whole effortless Latin hip swishing and swaying thing that made women’s panties melt. But at the moment, I wasn’t so concerned with AJ’s moves as I was with Abby’s. Leaning against the doorway, I watched as Abby danced as effortlessly as AJ. Even with the trickier steps, she kept up, matching his fluid movements. I was treated to quite a floor show considering the hem of her dress twirled provocatively back and forth.

Scratching the stubble along on my jaw, I couldn’t help wondering if she could do all that with her h*ps when she was standing up, what she could do flat on her back.

AJ caught my eye and winked. “She’s a natural, isn’t she?”

“Oh yeah, she can move.”

Forgetting about potentially shaving, least of all fixing my hair, I stepped closer to them. “Where did you learn to do that, Angel?”

Without missing a step, Abby replied, “Over the years, we lived in several places in Mexico—Guadalajara, Mexico City. I was just a kid then, but I went to lots of parties. Everyone wanted to teach the little blonde Gringa how to dance.” She giggled. “And since my brothers were older than me and wanted to impress the chicks, they recruited me as a partner. So in the end, you pick up on things.”

I crossed my arms over my chest. “I’m seriously impressed. You’re a true triple threat—you sing, you play guitar, and you dance.”

AJ shimmied Abby across the grungy bus floor. “She’s a quadruple threat because she’s fine as hell too!”

Abby rolled her eyes, but she still let AJ spin her around and then dip her low as the song came to a close.

As she lay reclined in his arms, I asked, “Tell me, is there anything you can’t do, Angel?”

“Hmm, maybe pass my nursing exams or find a decent guy?”

AJ groaned. “You got one right here, mi amor! Say the word, and we can reenact this entire scene later…in the bedroom.”