My arms were looped around his waist, my thumbs tucked in his belt loops. My hands drifted down to the top of his butt, taking my own liberties.
“I don’t do rockers,” I said.
Amusement lit his brown eyes. “You’re the one touching my butt.”
Embarrassed at being called out, I started to move my hands, but Mo reached behind his back and caught me by the wrist. “Stay. I like it.” He heaved out a shuddering sigh. “Tonight, a woman touched my dick on stage, then she snuck into my dressing room and dove at me. I was thrown off by how much it upset me. I’m touched by strangers all the time. Sometimes it feels like my body’s not even mine anymore.”
My heart swelled, crack, splintered. Too many women I knew had had their choice taken from them, their lack of consent ignored, but I hadn’t thought of it happening to men.
“God, Moses, I’m so sorry. Here I am feeling you up when you’ve been assaulted. I hope that bitch is going to jail.” I tried to move my hands, but he held them in place.
He gripped my chin. “What I’m saying is, I like you touching me. I consent to your roving hands, Michaela. I asked you to dance because I wanted your hands on me.”
Following his lead, I let my hands settle back on the top of his butt, and he grinned. “That’s better.” He leaned down, his face closer to mine. “Now, tell me why you don’t do rockers?”
“I wasted my one marriage on one who didn’t take his vows very seriously.”
He tensed in my arms. “You were married?”
“Yep. I’m thirty-four, Mo. I’ve lived a lot of life. I was married for two whole years what seems like a lifetime ago. I’ve been divorced for ten years now.”
“And in ten years, you’ve never had a relationship with a musician?” he asked.
“No, I haven’t. I loved and adored my ex, and I think he loved and adored me. That didn’t stop him from having sex with multiple groupies when he was on the road. I forgave him and forgave him because our vowshadmeant something to me.”
“What made you walk away?”
“This is so damn humiliating.”
He cupped my cheek in his warm palm. “I won’t laugh. I’m feeling pretty homicidal at the moment. You might want to avoid telling me this guy’s name.”
I let out a short laugh. “I’m sure you’ve met him before and will meet him again, so yeah, I won’t be telling you. But to answer your question, I left when he forgot I was on tour with him and brought a girl back to our hotel room. That wasn’t something I could come back from. My husband getting his dick wet on tour hurt like nothing else, but him actuallyforgettingme…it was clear we didn’t have a marriage worth trying to save.”
“Jesus, Michaela, that’s awful. I can’t fathom someone forgetting you, especially someone you say loved and adored you. I kinda think you get to scratch that marriage from the record.”
I bit my bottom lip to suppress a smile. His cheeks and the tips of his ears had gone red from how pissed he was on my behalf.
“I get a do-over?” I asked.
“Yeah, I think you do.” His hand on my back pulled me closer. “Your ex sounds like he was barely a man. Don’t lump me in the same category as that jackass.”
“I’ve seen a lot on the tours I’ve managed, including yours.” My palm slid up his back, soaking in his warmth. “It would take a lot to convince me I’m wrong.”
“Your Body is a Wonderland” started playing, and Mo froze, eyes wide. “This is the song you chose?”
I snorted and grinned. “It’s a classic.”
“Is it? It’s a song about fucking.”
“Is it?” I echoed.
Mo gripped my ass and jerked my hips against him. “You’re sending me all kinds of mixed messages.”
One of his legs slid between mine, and we rocked our hips in a steady rhythm. His hands were on my ass and in my hair, while I held onto his neck, letting him move me. The boy could dance, which made me wonder what else he could do.
“I know. You’re not like I thought you were, and you’re making my brain go haywire,” I said.
“Nah, I’m like you thought I was. I’ll admit to enjoying the fruits of my success, maybe too much. But I’m not only one thing, you know?”