Rock Stars Don't Like Big Knickers

by Nikki Ashton

  “Well, I’d miss you obviously, but you’re a grown man Luciano. I didn’t expect you to live with me forever. It’s not very rock and roll is it, living with your mamma?” Lucia smiled weakly.

  Despite the smile, Martha, who was making lunch, could sense that Lucia was sad at the thought of Luke staying in London. And, if she was truthful to herself, so was she. The house wouldn’t be the same without him there laughing and joking, although there hadn’t been a lot of that since the band had been to stay. Things had changed. Luke had changed.

  “You’ll have Noah…and Martha,” he added throwing a glance in Martha’s direction.

  “Well does Noah need to be here? Surely as your assistant he needs to be with you.” Lucia’s eyes filled with tears. “And then what’s the point of living here, it’s far too big for me alone.”

  Suddenly Luke felt mean. He didn’t really want to live in the cramped, grey city, he loved it here, but this was where Martha was and he wasn’t sure he could be around her. He thought about her all the time, but he wasn’t any good for her. He’d take what he wanted and then spit her out when he’d had enough. That’s what he did with women, what he’d always done. That’s what he’d done with Rachel for the last year.

  “It was only a thought,” he said as he rubbed Lucia’s arm. “I doubt that I will.” He hadn’t thought about the house being too big for Lucia, and the idea of selling it filled him with dread. It would mean that he would never see Martha.

  “Well whatever you wish,” Lucia said, cupping Luke’s face in her hands. “It’s your life.”

  “So I don’t need to look for a new job just yet?” Martha asked trying to lighten the atmosphere.

  “No,” Luke said, giving her a small smile. “Not just yet.”

  On the day that they left for Italy, Martha felt nervous and distracted. Luke had barely said two words to her over the last week, and so the thought of spending a whole week with him in Italy filled her with trepidation.

  “Are you sure you’ll be okay?” she asked Betty.

  “Yes, I’m sure. Uncle Graham is only ten minutes away, and I’ve got the best guard dog in the world, haven’t I Ernie?” Betty stooped to pick Ernie up and scratched his belly.

  “Maybe I shouldn’t go.”

  Just at that moment there was a knock at the door.

  “Too late, Luke’s here,” Betty said. “Now go and enjoy some sun as well as working.”

  When Martha opened the front door, she only just managed to hold back a groan. Luke really wasn’t making it easy for her to keep her crush on him at bay. He was dressed casually, as usual, but he looked amazing leaning against the wall, with a wide smile on his face. It wasn’t only how great he looked that caught Martha’s breath, but also that, for the first time in what felt like months, he was actually smiling at her.

  “All set?” he asked reaching down for her suitcase.

  “Yes, thanks,” she said, surprised at his suddenly amenable nature. She turned to Betty. “Okay, now don’t forget to put the alarm on when you go out, and at night. And if Ruby and Em stay over, please try and keep the place tidy.”

  Betty pulled Martha into a hug. “Yes Mother. Now go, and I’ll see you in a week.”

  “Come on,” Luke said as he gently placed a hand on Martha’s elbow. “She’ll be fine.”

  Luke drove the three of them to a small private airport in his four by four, pretty much in silence, but it was comfortable and Martha started to relax. Luke definitely seemed in a better mood – perhaps a trip away was all he’d needed. When they arrived at the airport, waiting for them was the band’s private jet and its pilot and co-pilot welcomed them on board.

  The interior of the plane was a very pale grey and cream, with two large leather sofas, a couple of leather recliners and at the rear, in front of a small bar and kitchen area, were a small table and four leather chairs. It was more like an apartment than a plane. Off the main room was a short corridor with two doors in it, one led into an opulent grey marble wet room, the second, at the end, opened into a bedroom with a king sized bed covered in pure white, Egyptian cotton bedding, a mustard coloured throw and at least ten pillows. There were so many that Martha imagined that by the time you had taken them off to get into bed, it would be time to get up again.

  “Wow,” Martha said to Luke as he joined her on the sofa half an hour into the flight. “This is better than most hotels that I’ve stayed in.”

  Luke smiled. “We don’t use it an awful lot these days, it was in use more when we were touring world-wide. Queuing up at airports got to be a pain, especially when it was a different flight every couple of days.”

  “Was there much arguing about who got the bedroom?” Martha grinned, imagining four grumpy rock stars all needing sleep.

  “No not really, we took turns, although when Skins met Stace we tended to let them have it for privacy. All the seats and sofas recline so we were all pretty comfy.”

  Martha eyed Luke warily, wondering whether his good mood would break any time soon. Luke smiled and blew out a long breath.

  “Martha, I want to apologise for being such an arse this last couple of weeks.”

  “Okay,” Martha said, nodding her head.

  “Hah, you’re not denying it then,” he laughed.

  Martha shook her head. “Nope.”

  “Well I’m sorry. I don’t know what was wrong with me.” He did know, he was falling for her and didn’t want to in case it ruined the friendship that they had forged. But when he woke up this morning he realised that by being the way he was, he wasn’t enjoying a relationship with her on any level. So, Luke decided that friendship was better than nothing, and had tried to improve his mood around Martha.

  “That’s okay, let’s forget about it.” There was so much more she wanted to say, but he was her boss and telling him that he was a rude, obnoxious idiot wasn’t really appropriate. “Lucia looks very cosy,” she said instead.

  Luke smiled warmly in his mother’s direction.

  “You’re very close aren’t you?” Martha said wistfully, wishing she had better parents.

  Luke nodded. “She’s amazing, in fact both her and my papa were brilliant parents. They always encouraged us both and gave us loads of love.”

  “So why did you act like such a dick at school then?” Martha threw a hand to her mouth and gasped. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry that’s really rude of me. I didn’t mean to say it like that.”

  Luke frowned for a second, and then burst out laughing.

  “It’s not a problem,” he said. “You’re right, I did act like a dick.”

  “It’s not for me to say though. I mean, you’re my boss, so it’s not very professional of me.” Martha closed her eyes and groaned. She’d just stopped herself from calling him obnoxious and then in the next breath called him a dick – now she was surely going to be sacked.

  Luke took her hand and squeezed her fingers gently.

  “Please, don’t worry about it, and we’re friends too, and friends should tell each other the truth.” Feeling a shock of excitement at her touch, Luke dropped Martha’s hand quickly

  Martha’s smile faltered as she nodded. His touch had sent her stomach tumbling, but Luke couldn’t wait to let go. “Okay, but I am so, so sorry.”

  “Well just so you know, I acted like a dick because I was one; probably because I was a mummy’s boy. My sister calls me Mamma’s bambino and she’s right.” Luke leaned closer and lowered his voice. “She never, ever told me no, not to anything important anyway. I get into more trouble with her now than I ever did then.”

  “Really? How come?”

  “She saw what nearly losing Skins did to us all, and she knew that we were all heading the same way, so she started to put her foot down.”

  Martha sat back against the soft leather and pulled her legs under her.

  “Do you miss the band?” she asked, turning to Luke after a few minutes silence.

  Luke contemplated her question. He wanted to tell
her about his ‘stage fright’, and knew she wouldn’t judge him, and purely because watching her had helped him to sing, he knew it was the right thing to do. “Yep,” he said. “I miss them real bad, we’re like brothers.”

  “So, why don’t you get back together, or does Skins really not want to go back to that life? He always seems so strong and together in interviews. I imagine that he could handle anything, but then I don’t know him.”

  Luke smiled and nodded.

  “Yeah, you pretty much figured Skins out.” Luke crossed his legs and ran a hand thought his hair.

  Martha felt her belly twitch with a ball of heat at the way his hair flopped sexily into his eyes. Her senses were reeling and she hadn’t realised how much she’d missed him over the last week.

  “The thing is,” he said finally. “We don’t perform anymore because of me, not Skins.”

  “What do you mean? I thought you said you missed them?”

  “I do, I miss them and performing, but I can’t do it anymore.” His voice was quiet. He looked nervously toward his sleeping mother.

  Martha shifted in her seat to face him.

  “You see, after Skins collapsed on stage I kinda got stage fright.” Luke dipped his head to avoid Martha’s gaze. “I just can’t hit a note and I get as sick as a dog, cold sweats the lot. That’s why I acted like such a ‘dick’ at my party. You see, I have to sink quite a bit of Dutch courage before anything where I’m centre of attention. That’s why I was a bit pissed when I was rude to you that night, and I’m really sorry - again. That’s why I avoid all the celebrity crap; I don’t want to end up relying on the booze anymore than I do now. I shouldn’t have organised a party really, but I thought I could handle it.”

  “Oh my god Luke, that’s awful. Look, forget about the party, I did think you were being an arrogant prat, but the drying of the dishes saved you.” Martha smiled and nudged his shoulder.

  “I must remember that – drying dishes restores your rep’.” Luke sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. It was kind of Martha to forget about his behaviour, but he knew he still had a major problem.

  “Have you tried to get help for it?” Martha asked.

  “I tried, but no one could really help,” he said. “I spent thousands on therapy, but if I’m honest I was closed off to it. I think part of me didn’t want to get better. It was all getting a bit boring and monotonous, so being ‘ill’ was a good excuse not to have to go back without letting the guys down unnecessarily.”

  “But I watched you, that day in the studio and you were okay then.”

  “Believe me the sound coming out of my mouth that day was nothing but crap. You’re lucky you couldn’t hear it.” Luke looked up at Martha, and wondered whether to tell her that he only sounded good when he could see her. “Anyway, that time in the studio proved that I need help. I just don’t think I tried hard enough with therapy last time. But, now, well now I’m ready. I want to perform again, so I’m booked to start seeing a therapist next week when we get back from Italy.”

  Martha smiled and reached for his hand, ignoring the fireworks going off in her stomach at his touch. “Well that’s progress, so hopefully we will get to see Dirty Riches back on stage where they belong.”

  “Maybe,” Luke said. “Thanks Martha, I’ve never told anyone about it before, other than the band, anyway. In fact they don’t even know that I didn’t put much effort into the counselling thing, so I’d appreciate it if that stays between just me and you, I don’t want them thinking bad of me. Actually,” he dropped his voice again, this time to a whisper, “my family don’t even know about the stage fright, they think it was Skins’ decision to quit, and I want it to stay that way, for now at least.”

  Martha nodded. “Of course, but I think you’ll find that they love and support you whatever you do.”

  Luke looked at her and felt the urge to kiss her overwhelming him. Using his free hand, he pulled Martha gently towards him.

  Martha tugged her hand away and, placed it against his chest.

  “Luke, no. It’s not right, I work for you and you have Rachel. And yesterday you could barely speak to me.”

  “There is no Rachel anymore,” Luke whispered. “I’m sorry for being a prick to you and as for working for me well…fuck the consequences. We’ll sort something out.”

  Martha opened her mouth to protest, but then closed it again as Luke’s eyes narrowed, daring her to object.

  The sight of Martha’s full lips, slightly parted as she dropped her hand, sent a thudding message to Luke’s heart, which in turn sent a message to his groin. He leaned forward to close the space between them and very gently he kissed her, a slow, soft kiss that made Martha moan. He moved his hand to her face and traced his fingers down her cheek, while her hand gently smoothed back his hair. Luke shifted closer in his seat and moved his hand to the back of her neck, pulling her into his kiss. As Martha parted her lips more, Luke also let out a soft moan. He’d never experienced such a soft, intimate kiss before and it was like heaven.

  “Ooh dear, did I drop off?”

  Luke and Martha sprang apart, moving to opposite ends of the sofa as Lucia stretched and opened her eyes.

  “Yes Mamma, you must have been tired.”

  Luke shifted and rearranged his jeans. The last thing his mother needed to see was the bulge in his pants.

  “Can I get you anything?” he asked, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees.

  “Oh a cup of tea would be lovely. What about you Martha, is there anything you would like?”

  Martha coughed and lowered her head.

  “I’m fine,” she heard herself say aloud, when mentally she was saying “I’d love a bloody good seeing to by your son.”

  “One cup of tea coming up,” Luke said. “Are you sure you’re okay, Martha?”

  Martha looked up at him and nodded. A smile crept onto her lips.

  “Yeah,” she said. “I’m great.”

  “Good,” Luke said, mirroring her smile. “Me too.” He gave her the tiniest of winks and went to make his mother a drink.

  After leaving the autostrada, the car taking them to the house made its way through the busy, narrow streets of countless Tuscan towns. Martha was entranced as she watched the locals weaving their way around hordes of tourists stopped in huddles, taking photographs of the white stone churches, while old men sat in groups, chatting outside cafes on the tree lined pavements. Eventually the towns were left behind and the car started to climb up into the hills, where the roads were dappled with shadows of the trees, as the sun gently pushed through their canopy.

  Martha opened the car’s window and breathed deeply, allowing the warm, fresh breeze to waft over her face like the calming, soft touch of a delicate hand. After a few minutes, she turned to look at Luke who had directed most of his conversation to his mother for the entire journey, and had pointed out various tourist spots, or places of interest to Martha, but that was all. She began to wonder whether he regretted kissing her, after all she was still just their housekeeper and cook. Then she began to have doubts herself. Was she being foolish and irresponsible getting involved with Luke? He always had and always would play with women, and when he was tired of her he’d surely dump her and probably sack her too. It was a dangerous game she was playing, he was a rock star and would surely want just a quick fling with no strings attached - lots of sex in a short space of time. While she was happy with the lots of sex part – after all it had been a long, long, time - she didn’t think she could handle just being a quick fling to Luke, but then she wasn’t sure she should risk getting close to him either. Her emotions were in turmoil, and the only thing she knew for sure was that he made her feel hot, horny and fifteen again.

  “Here we are,” Lucia cried as the car pulled up the drive to the stone farmhouse. “Home.”

  Martha gazed out of the window at the farmhouse that was set amidst fruit trees and olive groves, and it took her breath away; it was so pretty and quiet. It was high in th
e hills and the only sounds were those of the birds and the gentle breeze blowing out over the cliffs to Florence in the distance. The Tall sunflowers that lined the walls like a welcoming committee, bowed a greeting in the wind, while white butterflies danced with each other over the small stream that ran through the garden. It was all so beautiful.

  Luke watched Martha as she took in her surroundings, and smiled at the wonderment in her eyes.

  “I’ll show Martha her room, Mamma,” he said. “You get settled in and I’ll take your bag up in a few minutes.”

  Luke put all the cases on the porch and, picking up Martha’s red and white spotted case, indicated for her to follow him.

  She followed him up the stairs and along a corridor that was brightly lit from the bright orange sun which slanted in through the skylights. Trailing behind and looking at his perfect backside, and his t-shirt stretched across his well-defined back muscles, Martha felt a hunger grow in her stomach, and it definitely wasn’t for pasta. Since their kiss on the plane, her determination to maintain a professional relationship with him was fading fast, and she now had a desire for Luke Mahoney that was building with each passing minute.

  “Mamma’s room is that end of the corridor, the one right at the end,” Luke said as he walked past a series of doors. “This is my room, and then this,” he said pushing open the door next door but one to his own, “is yours.”

  “Thank you,” Martha said as she walked in behind him. “Oh, it’s beautiful.”

  The room was light and airy, all painted in white with white cotton sheets on a huge, white, cast iron bed, and at the windows were white blinds and white lace curtains. The only colour in the room came in the form of a floral jug and bowl on top of the mahogany dressing table, and a floral rug on the floor.

  “Good, I’m glad you like it.” Luke placed Martha’s case on top of a chest at the end of the bed. “Get yourself settled and then when you’re ready I’ll fire the barbeque up, it’s still a little chilly at night, so put a jumper on.”