Rock Star Romance Ultimate Volume 2

by Mankin, Michelle

Flipping on his back, Jake slid his hands under his head and grinned. “Yeah, she does. I mean, she’s always thought I was pretty cool, but even more since I hit it big.” His expression slowly darkened. “Some shitheads give her grief about it—like trying to be her friend just to see what they can get from her. I hate that.”

  “Poor thing. It must be hard sometimes having a famous brother.”

  Jake frowned at me. “I try making it up to her all the time by giving her shit.”

  I laughed. “Thus why she’s the spoiled baby sister?”

  “I guess. Hell, the guys and I are even playing her Sweet Sixteen in a few weeks.”

  “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 naked 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

  * * *

  Jake

  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 hips 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 hips 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.”

  Abby swatted his chest playfully. “You promised to stop with the sex stuff. A gentleman, remember?!”

  “Yeah, yeah,” he muttered glumly as he pulled her up.

  She laughed as she smoothed down her hair and fixed the straps of her sundress. “Honestly, AJ, nothing stops you, does it? I mean, I even pick Los Caminos De La Vida out of your Spanish collection for us to dance to because I know it’s the least sexy song in the world. It’s about a dude worrying about his mother dying for goodness sake.”

  My chest tightened at the mention of a mother’s death, and my hand immediately went to my pocket where my phone rested. “Hey, um, I’ll meet you guys outside, okay?”

  Abby nodded while AJ said, “I’ll round up Bray and Rhys.”

  “Sounds good.” As soon as I stepped off the bus steps, I dialed my mom. She answered on the second ring. “Hey sweetie.”

  Even though she couldn’t see me, a broad smile spread across my face. �
��Hey, Mama. I just wanted to call and see how your doctor’s appointment went.” Although I’d never admit it to her, I’d been worried to death about her. Three years ago, we’d faced a crisis when a routine breast exam found a tumor. She had been through the gamut of chemo and radiation, along with a mastectomy. Fortunately though, she had been strong and healthy since then. She just had to go back for routine exams and blood work.

  “Oh, just fine. Everything’s fine. No need to worry.”

  “Are you sure? You sound tired.”

  She laughed. “It’s just because some of the girls convinced me to dance again. I overdid it thinking I was twenty, not fifty.”

  Back in the day, my mom had been a classically trained ballet dancer. Although her dream was to make it into Julliard, she did well traveling and touring with local companies. Once she got too old to dance, she opened a dance studio. It was financially successful for her and successful for me since I met and charmed the tutus off quite a few of the dancers.

  I shook my head. Even though she was trying to play it off, I could tell there was more. “I could come home if you needed me.”

  “Jacob, I’m fine. What I need you to do right now is keep up with your band’s obligations. There are a lot of people depending on you.”

  My mama was one of the few people I allowed to call me by my birth name. “Okay, okay. But you know I’d be there in an instant if you needed me.”

  I could hear the pleasure in her voice when she replied, “Of course I do. But you know Papa’s just down the road and the rest of the family. You just take care of you.”

  It was then that the bus doors opened up. Missing the last step, Abby came tumbling off the bus, and I had to rush forward to catch her before she fell. She gripped my biceps to steady herself. “Oops, what a blonde moment,” she murmured, her face flushing with embarrassment. “Thank you, Jake.”

  I grinned at her and then winked. “Just glad I could save you from face planting.”

  Abby gave a small smile before hurrying away from me and disappearing into the passenger seat of the Tahoe waiting to take us to dinner. Rhys and Brayden came out followed by AJ.

  “Jacob?” My mother’s voice finally brought me back out of my thoughts of how good Abby’s hands felt on me and how delicious she smelled.

  “Sorry, Mama. Small female crisis.”

  “Was that Bree?” From just those few words, my mother’s tone indicated her disdain for any involvement I had with the dark-haired goddess who traveled from time to time with her dad who was a roadie with the band. Mama hated the fact that Bree showed up all over the country just to be with me.

  “No, it wasn’t. Her name is Abby. And before you can even ask, she’s not a groupie.” I then gave my mom a quick explanation.

  “She sounds lovely.”

  I rolled my eyes, but I couldn’t help laughing. “Yeah, I’m sure to you she does. To me it’s a freakin’ nightmare—an alleged virgin who isn’t going to let me in her pants without the Jaws of Life. She’s not intimidated by me at all. Not to mention she has drive and ambition not just in the music world, but with nursing. And to top it all off, she comes from an insanely religious background.”

  “Jacob Ethan Slater! I can’t believe you just talked about getting into a girl’s pants in front of me!” Mama chided.

  “Sorry,” I replied, sheepishly. “I guess I’ve been with the guys too long.”

  She laughed. “Please tell me you’re not acting like a total animal and that you show some of the respect I instilled in you—especially to this Abby.”

  “I try…and I’ll try with her too.”

  “Is she pretty?”

  Without missing a beat, I replied, “She’s beautiful—just like an angel.” I winced the moment the pansy words escaped my lips. What the hell was happening to me?

  “Mmm-hmm,” Mama murmured knowingly into the phone. “She could be good for you if you would give her a chance.”

  “Come on, Jake!” AJ shouted.

  “Mama, I gotta go. We’re catching an early dinner.”

  “Okay sweetheart. I’ll talk to you soon.”

  “I love you,” I proclaimed.

  “I love you, too,” she replied. Just before I could hang-up, she said, “Jacob?”

  “Yeah?”

  “I’m serious about giving Abby a chance. Fate has a funny way of intervening in people’s lives.”

  I knew what she wasn’t saying when she mentioned fate. She meant God. She and Abby would get along really well with their faith—something I had never picked up on, much to my mama’s disappointment. “Yeah, whatever.”

  She laughed. “There’s that stubbornness—the worst trait you inherited from me.”

  “I got a lot of good ones from you too.”

  “Yes, as well as from your father.”

  I growled into the phone at the mention of him. Because my mom was an absolute saint, she had been able to forgive the bastard for leaving her for his bimbo of a secretary when I was ten. Me, on the other hand, I still had issues with him and my step-mother.

  Our head roadie, Frank, honked the horn, causing me to jump. “Sorry Mama, I really gotta go.” After another round of “I love you’s”, I disconnected and hustled over to hop into the SUV. Leaning forward, I tapped Frank. “So where are we eating?”

  He turned back to me and grinned. “The team wanted that pizza place we saw down the road a bit.”

  I glanced over at the other guys who made faces and wrinkled their noses. We’d been living off pizza and Subway the last few days we were at Rock Nation. Since we’d been out in the desert, there hadn’t been shit around for miles, which meant very limited food choices.

  “GPS says there’s a sports bar/diner about five minutes up the road. A hot spot for tourists and truckers.”

  I laughed. “If it’s a favorite of truckers, then it must be good, huh?”

  “I just want a cheeseburger the size of my head,” Rhys declared.

  AJ licked his lips. “Nah, a big, juicy steak with a baked potato slathered in butter and sour cream.”

  Catching Abby’s eye, I tilted my head at her. “Trucker stop okay for you, Angel?”

  Although she tried to hide it, I could tell she was extremely uncomfortable at the thought. At the smirk curving on my lips, she rolled her eyes. “It sounds lovely.”

  “I’m sure it’s not the quality you’re used to.”

  Twisting around in her seat, she glared at me. “You still don’t get it, do you? I’ve eaten just about every animal imaginable, and the quality had certainly not been USDA approved. Once again, the missionary lifestyle is harsh. You don’t reach people while staying at the Hilton. It’s jungles, backwoods, and slums.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, yeah, you’ve lived a hard knock missionary life. You wanna medal or something?”

  “No, I was just making a point that I’m not the prima donna you think I am!”

  “Well, you’ve been stateside since you were twelve. Not to mention, your dad is pastor of one of the five largest churches in Texas—I’m sure he makes a pretty good salary with that many members tithing.”

  Abby’s blonde brows shot up. “How did you know that?”

  I grinned at her. “I did a little research on my iPad while we were resting.”

  “I’m not denying that we have a nice house and nice things now. But most everything goes right back into the ministry—even the boys give a lot of their salary. It’s how we were raised. But even if my dad had a BMW and my mom was draped in bling, no matter how hard you try, I’m still going to win, Jake. You can bet your sweet ass on it!”

  Rhy and AJ dissolved into hearty laughter while Frank tore his gaze from the road to stare at Abby in surprise. Taking one hand from the wheel, he held it out to her. “Can I shake the hand of the only girl I’ve ever seen put Jake Slater in his place?”

  Abby giggled and shook Frank’s hand. “I have three older brothers, so I’m used to it.”

  “We haven’t been
formerly introduced because these knuckleheads seem to have forgotten their manners. I’m Frank Patterson.”

  “Abby Renard. I’m very pleased to meet you.”

  “Likewise.” He jerked his head back in my direction. “That little wiseass is like a son to me, but he needs taken down every once in a while.”

  “Keep talking, Frank,” I muttered.

  He chuckled as he flicked on the blinker to turn into the diner. As I surmised from the teaming parking lot, it was probably nicer than most of the places we stopped along the road. With all the eighteen wheelers parked in the side-lot along with the gleaming chrome of some motorcycles up front, it also had a seedy flair to it as well. Most of the time, the shittier places were top on our list because we wouldn’t necessarily get recognized. There was a lot to appreciate about being able to eat dinner in peace without fans shoving items in front of you to sign or snapping your picture.

  Frank pulled into a parking spot but kept the engine idling. “I’m going to head back down the road and check on the boys. Text me when you’re ready to leave, and I’ll come pick you up.”

  “Thanks man. Make sure the guys get whatever they want, but watch the alcohol,” I instructed.

  Frank glanced back and winked at me. “Don’t worry. I always do.”

  I patted him on the shoulder before hopping out of the SUV.

  Without even thinking, I opened Abby’s door. She tore her gaze from Frank to stare at me in surprise. I held out my hand to her. “I figured after your last little tumble, I should make sure you got out all right. I don’t want to be sending you back to your brothers all bruised up.” Under my breath, I murmured, “Well, at least not without enjoying it.”

  She cocked her head at me while the corners of her lips turned up in a half smile. “I heard your insinuation about me getting bruised up through…well, you know.”

  I laughed. “Now this is me being a pure gentleman like you requested. Wherever your devious little mind goes with my comments is your business.”

  Taking my hand in hers, she giggled. “Okay then.” Once her cowboy boots were firmly set on the pavement, she let go of my hand. “Thank you, Jake.”