Insider (Exodus End #1)(72)
Author: Olivia Cunning

“He—”

“You’d never forgive yourself, now would you?”

Logan sniggered at the astonished look on Steve’s face as he failed to get more than a word in.

“The two of you are going to apologize to each other and I’m going to apologize to both of you for being an inexperienced idiot who can’t—” She took a deep shuddering breath. “Who can’t even—” Her shoulders shook as her emotions finally got the better of her. “Even conduct a decent interview.”

She burst into tears and raced back to the lounge area, sliding the door closed behind her with a loud bang.

“What just happened?” Steve said, rubbing the red spot in the center of his chest.

“Seems she told you off for acting like a child,” Max said calmly. “Logan didn’t say anything to her about Meredith.”

“It was you?” Steve’s eyes narrowed.

“I panicked when she started asking me personal questions and it slipped out.”

“Poor Toni is obviously upset,” Dare said with a devious smirk. “I guess it’s time for my interview.” He rose from his recliner and headed toward the back of the bus.

Oh shit. Logan knew how Dare comforted women. As soon as he could find the strength to climb to his feet, he’d do something about it.

with Darren Mills

When the door slid open, Toni turned and looked up from her tissue. She’d expected Logan to come reprimand her for being ridiculously unprofessional—she didn’t deserve to be comforted after the foolish way she’d acted—but the man standing in the doorway was dark-haired and green-eyed, not golden-haired and blue-eyed. He was also the last person she’d expected to cuss her out and tell her to pack her bags immediately.

Dare Mills strode into the room and slid the door shut behind him. She supposed at least they’d have a little privacy when he fired her.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

She nodded, and his handsome face blurred out of focus as fresh tears flooded her eyes. On second thought, no, she was decidedly not okay. She shook her head, pursing her lips together to stifle the sob creeping up her throat.

“I must say, I never thought you had it in you.” He chuckled and approached her slowly. “You don’t get angry very often, do you?”

Actually, she rarely got mad. And whenever she did, she reacted to her own tirade by crying, which was flipping ridiculous.

She blew her nose and yanked another tissue out of the box to wipe at her eyes. “I’m so embarrassed.” Mortified was a better word, but she’d truly be showing her geekiness if she started using that kind of vocabulary. She’d actually put her hands on another human being and then she’d started spouting words that under normal circumstances she’d think but never say aloud.

“Why? Steve deserved to be told off. And I think after you give what happened a little thought, you’ll give Max the tongue-lashing he deserves as well. He should have never told you Steve’s personal affairs.”

She blinked at him, completely baffled. He’d come back here to praise her for behaving like a raving lunatic?

“Do you need a hug?” He opened his arms wide and flicked his wrists, directing her to the hard chest at his center.

She shook her head. Sniffed her nose and dabbed at her eyes. On second thought, yes, she definitely needed a hug. She nodded and took several steps in his direction. Closing the distance, he wrapped both arms around her and squeezed tightly. She relaxed against him, astonished by how quickly her cares melted away. She would have preferred Logan to be the one comforting her, but whenever she ended up in his embrace, sexual urges consumed her. Being hugged by Dare was different. It was almost like when she was a girl and her father had comforted her when the world had treated her unfairly. Except her father hadn’t had such a firm muscular chest and didn’t smell like a little slice of heaven. Being hugged by Dare was like being hugged by the gorgeous big brother she’d never had but had so longed for when the responsibility of taking care of the family had fallen on her after her father had passed away.

Dare rubbed her back, turning her muscles to butter. Toni appreciated that he kept his touch platonic and his embrace comforting. She’d done enough yelling for the day and if he tried anything, she’d be obligated to tell him off. She’d made a promise to Logan, and she didn’t take such things lightly.

“Feel better?” Dare asked, leaning back to look at what must be a tear-streaked disaster, aka her face.

She nodded.

“You’d better not be touching her, Mills,” Logan called hoarsely from somewhere in the bus.

“I don’t think we need two fights in one day,” Dare said. He released her and stepped away. “Guys like Logan don’t understand how it’s possible to touch a woman without trying to initiate sex.”

“According to him, we’re justfriends,” Toni grumbled.

Dare laughed. “Right. The two of you are much more than friends. Anyone can see that.”

The corner of Toni’s mouth curved upward. She thought so too, but she wasn’t going to press the issue with Logan just yet. She didn’t want to send him running for the Canadian border to escape her.

Dare took a seat on the sectional and made himself comfortable. “I’m ready when you are.”

“Ready for what?”

“My interview.”

She scratched her jaw. Her confidence had been completely shattered by the fiasco of Steve’s interview and the lack of cooperation during Max’s. She doubted she was capable of attempting Dare’s session today.

“I’m not sure I know what I’m doing,” she admitted.

“I’m sure that you do. Sit down. Take a deep breath. And get to work.”

If she hadn’t just been wrapped in his comforting embrace, she would have hugged him for the vote of confidence.

She sat beside him on the sofa, pushed her glasses up her nose, and took a deep breath. She released it slowly and then reached for her legal pad, flipping to the second sheet of questions so that she wouldn’t be distracted by her margin notes about Dare’s deceased fiancée. Nope. She was not asking him that. There’d be only nice, safe questions asked in this interview.

“Okay,” she said, taking another deep breath, hoping it would steady her shaking hands. “Every member of the band is listed in the songwriting credits for all of Exodus End’s songs. Do you participate equally in writing music or do certain members contribute more than others?”