Rock Stars Don't Like Big Knickers

by Nikki Ashton

  “Okay, sweetheart now the top.”

  He repeated the same process again, and as he pulled the top over Martha’s head he was thankful that there were no buttons that needed fastening – imagine the embarrassment of his knuckles brushing against those luscious breasts; that was the problem though, he could imagine it, in glorious Technicolor.

  “Put your arms in,” he said, listening as she slipped into the top and imagining the fabric brushing against her soft skin. He sighed, and for one ridiculous moment felt jealous of her pyjamas. “That’s right,” he groaned, “good girl.”

  Finally, when he was sure that she was no longer naked, Luke allowed his eyes to open, squinting as they adjusted to the light. Martha was swaying in front of him, her eyes half closed and a sleepy, sexy grin on her face.

  “Thank you Lukey Boss.” She kissed her finger and placed it against Luke’s lips.

  Luke felt his heart lurch in his chest as he took in a shuddering breath.

  “Let’s get you into bed.”

  He moved around Martha and pulled the duvet back, before gently pulling her towards him and guiding her to the bed. As she climbed in Luke inhaled her scent, a heady blend of perfume and wine.

  “Right, get onto your side, we don’t want you choking if you’re sick do we?”

  Martha shook her head, and then rubbed her eyes before turning onto her side.

  Luke went downstairs and after a few minutes managed to find some glasses. He took a pint glass and filled it with cold water before going back upstairs to the bathroom. He opened the cabinet and pushed around a couple of bottles of vitamins and some shampoo before finding a packet of paracetamol. He took it out of the cabinet and went back to Martha.

  As he went back into her room he could hear soft snores coming from the bed. She was fast asleep, still on her side, and looking beautiful and peaceful. “Night, sweetheart,” he said. “Sleep well. You’ll have a hell of a hangover in the morning.”

  He leaned down and kissed her softly on her head and left the room. As he turned off the light he wondered what he’d done to deserve Martha coming into his life.

  Chapter 7

  “Oh you’re up are you?” Betty looked up from her books, which she had strewn across the kitchen table. “I take it your date with Mr Mahoney went well, seeing as its lunchtime and you’re only just surfacing.”

  “It wasn’t a date, as my boss he just wanted to get to know me.” She didn’t want to admit it was an apology for showing off his magnificent, toned, sexy, naked body. Martha fanned herself as she suddenly felt quite hot. “Anyway, what are you doing here; I thought you were going over to Ruby’s to study?” Martha shuffled to the sink and put the empty pint glass into it.

  “Their heating has packed in, so we’re going to meet at Em’s instead, once she gets back from visiting her Gran.”

  “It’s March, how cold can it be?” Martha leaned down and kissed Betty on the top of her head. “They could’ve come here.”

  “They wanted to,” Betty replied. “I think they were hoping that you’d bake some banana bread while we studied, but I told them you were probably still too pissed from last night.”

  “God, please tell me you didn’t say that?” Martha groaned.

  “No, I didn’t.” Betty flashed a grin at Martha. “Em has to look after her little brother tonight, so we just thought we’d study there and then sleep over.”

  “Oh okay,” Martha replied. “Thanks for getting me into my pyjamas last night sweet pea. I had far too much to drink.”

  Betty looked at her mother quizzically and scratched her head with her pen.

  “I didn’t, you were already snoring away when I got home. Luke had left a note on the stairs to check on you and make sure you weren’t sleeping on your back.” Betty shook her head and went back to her books.

  Martha flopped down onto a kitchen chair as a cold sweat enveloped her. If it wasn’t Betty who had put her into her pyjamas then who had? She could remember Luke carrying her up the stairs, but after that Martha’s memory was a little jagged. She certainly didn’t remember putting her pjs on, she wasn’t capable for a start, which meant Luke must have done it – and she had been naked underneath them. Martha groaned with pain and humiliation. She would surely be sacked now. Her behaviour had been wrong on all levels. Getting drunk with your boss and calling him Lukey was not appropriate whatsoever.

  “What’s wrong with you, apart from a terrible hangover?” Betty asked looking up again.

  Martha shook her head. “Nothing, like you said it’s a terrible hangover.”

  “Ah, poor Mummy. Anyway, I’m off to Em’s now so you can have some peace and quiet for the rest of the afternoon.” Betty stood up, gathered her books together and bent down to kiss Martha’s cheek. “See you later.”

  “Okay, see you later.” Martha dropped her head to the table, wincing as the door slammed behind Betty. “I am never drinking again, ever.”

  As the day wore on, Martha started to feel a little better. Her headache and the constant feeling of nausea had disappeared at least, but there was still the lingering anxiety that Luke, her boss, had undressed her. Trying to put it to the back of her mind and hoping that she was wrong, Martha settled down to watch the early evening news. Just as the headlines were announced her mobile rang next to her, she reached across and picked it up – the name Sexy Lukey flashed up on the screen; shit, had she put his number in as that, or had he?

  Despite her better judgement, Martha pressed the accept call button.

  “Hello.” It was more of a groan than a greeting.

  “Good evening sunshine. I’m guessing from that noise you feel a little rough.” Luke’s voice was even sexier over the phone and immediately her heart started to pump faster.

  “I feel better than I did earlier.”

  “Ah well at least you are the undefeated darts champion of the pub.”

  A memory flashed through Martha’s mind.

  “Oh God.” She shielded her eyes with her hand and slid down the sofa.

  “Not to worry, you had a good time that’s the main thing.” Luke laughed loudly on the other end.

  “Please don’t laugh.”

  “But it was funny.”

  “It was humiliating.”

  “No, I promise it you it was funny and a little adorable too.”

  Martha’s heart did a little flip at this. “Thanks anyway for a good evening, and I’m sorry you had to put me to bed. I’m mortified; it was totally inappropriate behaving like that.”

  “Don’t worry about it.”

  “But I do,” Martha groaned. “I totally understand if you want to terminate my contract.”

  Luke laughed. “God no; anyway you work for Mamma not me. We’re friends.”

  “Even so, I’m sorry.”

  “Honestly Martha, it was fine, we had a good time.”

  Martha’s heart stopped.

  “What do you mean we had a good time? You mean we had a good time in the pub, right? Tell me you mean in the pub.”

  Luke laughed. “Of course in the pub, I told you last night that will only happen when you’re sober.”

  Martha squirmed at the low sexy tone of his voice. He wasn’t even in the room and he was turning her on, and friends or not, she figured he was the one who paid her wages and shouldn’t be saying such things.

  “Well thanks anyway,” there was an awkward pause, “but as we’re on the subject, Luke how did I get into my pyjamas?”

  Luke chuckled quietly.

  “I put you in them, of course.”

  Martha gulped. “Oh okay.”

  “I must say, you looked pretty hot in that red lace underwear.”

  “You saw my underwear?” Martha coughed nervously.

  “Yep, and a whole lot more.” Luke replied with a heavy hint of sex in his tone.

  Martha groaned and mouthed “Oh fuck” silently.

  “You are joking aren’t you? You didn’t really undress me did you?” Martha winced
.

  Luke laughed again and sighed. “No, I’m not joking, but don’t worry, I only caught a glimpse of your underwear. The rest of the time I had my eyes closed.”

  Martha felt her stomach lurch. “Seriously,” she groaned. “Please tell me if there is anything at all that I need to be embarrassed about. Did…did I say anything that I shouldn’t have, do I need to resign?” she stammered.

  “Seriously, there’s nothing to be embarrassed about and no you don’t need to resign. It didn’t make things easy, but I either had my hands over my eyes or kept them tight shut. I wouldn’t lie to you, I promise. And, as for what you said, well…”

  Martha felt a lump rise in her throat. “What? What did I say?”

  “Chill, you didn’t do or say anything embarrassing.”

  Martha breathed a sigh of relief, worried that she might have overstepped the mark.

  “Phew, thank you, and thanks for getting me home safely. And, I apologise profusely for getting so drunk.”

  “It’s not a problem; you made me laugh, a lot.”

  “Well, I tell you something else, I’m never drinking again.”

  “Give it a couple of days and you’ll forget that awful headache and sickly feeling.”

  “I’m not so sure, but thanks anyway.”

  “No problem, I just wanted to check that you were okay. I left you a pint of water and some Paracetamol by the bed, did you see them?”

  “I did, it was very considerate of you,” Martha replied with a smile.

  “Good. Maybe we can have a rematch of the darts one night.”

  “Yes, maybe.”

  “Well I’ll see you tomorrow when you come into work then,” Luke replied.

  “Okay see you tomorrow.” Martha smiled widely as she felt a shiver of excitement at the thought.

  In the big house, Luke put his mobile back into his jeans pocket and grinned as he entered the dining room for dinner. Noah and Lucia were waiting as Luke sat down to Lucia’s famous gnocchi and olive bread. As his Mother dished out their meal and passed them their plates, he leaned back in his chair and looked out of the dining room window, up towards Martha’s cottage at the end of the drive. All he could see from here was the roof, poking out from behind the trees that lined their borders, but for some reason just knowing that she was there made his mood lighter.

  “You seem rather pleased with yourself today.” Lucia leaned across the table to retrieve the water jug.

  “Here let me,” Luke said. He picked up the jug and poured water into Lucia’s glass. “I’m just happy the weather is getting warmer, Mamma.”

  Luke turned to his nephew and offered him the jug.

  “Noah?”

  Noah was also staring out of the window and ignored Luke.

  “Noah, do you want water, or would you prefer wine?” Luke asked waving his free hand in Noah’s face.

  “What?” said Noah, suddenly back in the room. “Oh sorry, neither thanks. I was just thinking about what I need to sort out for your trip to Italy.”

  Luke sighed and put the jug back in the middle of the table alongside a bottle of wine.

  “I don’t know why I have to go. I could just stay here. Uncle Gio won’t be bothered if I’m not there. Gabriella and Dom have managed to get out of it.” Luke couldn’t believe that his sister and her husband had managed to avoid going, but he had to.

  Lucia placed her knife and fork carefully on her plate. “Luciano, we have discussed this before. Your uncle, my brother, is to be seventy years of age and I want us to be there to celebrate with him. As for Gabriella and Dom not going, well I can’t really expect Dom not to go to his best friend’s wedding, can I?” She continued eating, which announced to everyone that the discussion was over.

  Luke shook his head and started to eat. The thought of going to his uncle’s birthday party filled him with dread. It wasn’t as bad as holding his own party had been, as he wasn’t going to be the centre of attention; but at every family get together he’d always been expected to perform – well not this time, the famous English cousin wasn’t playing ball, or his guitar.

  The other thing that annoyed Luke was that after spending last night in the pub with her, he wanted to spend more time getting to know Martha and a week in Italy would certainly hinder his progress – he would just have to try and fit in more time with her this week.

  He smiled as he recalled the previous night. He hadn’t had as much fun in a long time, not since the band had first started, before it started getting serious and people relied on them for a living. When he’d asked Martha out for a drink, he couldn’t lie, in the back of his mind he had thought about using it as prelude to having sex with her – another lay to add to his list - even though his mother would kill him if she found out that he ‘d bedded the best cook they’d ever had. But, after getting to know her, and recalling their conversation after the party, Luke realised that he didn’t want to do that. Plus there was his on off girlfriend Rachel to consider, as he wasn’t really sure whether they were off or on at the moment. Oh God yes, he really wanted to get Martha into his bed, she was cute with a hot body after all, but for the first time since, well...ever, he wanted to do things properly. Luke wanted her to trust him, to like him; he wanted to be her best friend. She made him laugh and certainly wasn’t fazed by who he was, perhaps because they were at school together. The fact that he couldn’t remember someone as funny, feisty and enchanting as Martha made him a little sad, and made him realise what a prat he must have been back then.

  “Oh no,” Noah groaned, looking at his mobile.

  “What’s wrong?” Lucia asked, looking up from her dinner.

  “Maria has broken her leg, which means she won’t be at the house when you go to Italy next month.”

  When anyone stayed at Luke’s house in Florence, Maria would always cook and keep house for them, making sure everyone had a pleasant stay.

  “So?” Luke shrugged. “It’s not like we don’t know our way around a kitchen, we have to cook for ourselves when Martha isn’t here at weekends, so surely we can manage one week in Italy.” Sometimes he hated how his fame and money had made him and his family so precious.

  “I agree, Luciano, but I promised the family that we would have them over for dinner. I’m not sure that you and I could manage a meal for twenty people.”

  “Mamma, just put them off. Tell them we can’t do it, or I’ll pay for us all to go out for a meal. You and I can manage the rest of the week; that is unless you’ve changed your mind Noah, you’re pretty good in the kitchen.” Luke grinned at Noah and threw a napkin at him.

  Noah screwed up his handsome features and narrowed his eyes at Luke. It had taken him almost a week to persuade Nonna that he needed to stay behind and look after Luke’s affairs.

  Luke owned a small record label that had recently signed a couple of up and coming acts, as well as a wine importing business, and although he had top class people in place running both businesses on a day to day basis, he liked to know exactly what was happening in each of them, which was how Noah earned his salary until he decided what he actually wanted to do with his life. Along with that, Luke was an extremely accomplished song writer and was in constant demand from bands and artists to write for them, so Noah had to organise his workload from that point of view too.

  “No, I would be ashamed,” Lucia replied. “I can’t offer a home cooked meal and then take them out to a restaurant, so no that is not possible Luciano.”

  “But Mamma…”

  “Hey I know,” Noah cried. “What about Martha? It would just be like a normal working week for her, except in Italy instead.”

  The water that Luke had just taken a sip of dribbled down his chin as he opened his mouth to shout “Fuck yes!” He wiped his chin and smiled at Noah.

  “Great idea Noah,” he said, deciding on a more restrained approached since his mother was present.

  “Oh yes, that is a good idea sweetheart. I’ll give her a call shall I? What do you think Lucia
no, ask her to come for the week, or just for a couple of days around the date of the family meal?”

  “Oh well, I’m not sure Mamma.” Luke shrugged feigning uncertainty when all along he knew exactly how long he’d like Martha to be there.

  Noah came to the rescue. “I think all week Nonna, like I said, a normal working week but in the sun, and I’m sure she’d appreciate doing some sunbathing and sightseeing too.”

  Luke looked at Noah and frowned. Since when had he become so considerate? Noah was a good kid, a nice kid, but like most twenty year olds the most important thing in his life was himself, and who he was going to lay next. .

  Light dawned on Luke. He grinned. “There wouldn’t be a reason you want to get Martha away for a whole week, would there Noah?”

  Noah looked Luke straight in the eye, with just a hint of a twinkle in his own.

  “No.”

  “Well I think she’s made it pretty clear she doesn’t want Betty distracted this year, she has her A-Levels to think of, so hands off.” Luke stopped to look up and smile at his mother who had stood up from the table.

  “I’m going to call Martha now,” she said excitedly.

  “Okay Nonna.” Noah watched his grandmother leave the room and then leaned closer to Luke. “You’re not cock-blocking me are you Uncle Luke?”

  Luke pointed his finger at Noah. “You stay away, she’s a nice girl and I don’t want you breaking her heart.”

  Noah was a handsome young man, and even though he never meant to, had left a string of heartbroken young women in his wake.

  “I can’t help it if she chased me, what’s a guy to do?” He smiled at Luke and tipped his glass at him, as if proposing a toast.

  “Noah, I mean it. I know I wouldn’t normally come down on you about your love life, but Martha and Betty are our neighbours, as well as Martha working here. Don’t shit on your own doorstep as the saying goes.”