Aria (Duet Series Book 1)

by Jennifer Hartmann

  Still, he wasn’t immune to her appeal. His eyes fixated on her backside as she breezed through the bar's double doors, then traveled down her long, milky legs.

  Appeal was something she certainly had.

  Chelsie turned around at that moment, and Noah quickly averted his eyes.

  Caught.

  "Don't worry, I'll just be a minute,” Noah said. He exhaled a puff of smoke out through his nostrils.

  "I wasn't worrying."

  Noah pursed his lips together and gave her a tight smile. Her appeal was fading fast.

  Noah took a final drag and joined the group inside on the second floor. He collapsed onto the plush couch and threw his arms behind his head. Noah glanced around the room and his eyes settled on his friend. Devon was deep in conversation with the pesky blonde. They were cozied up on an obnoxious, neon orange loveseat with Lisa sitting quietly beside them. Lisa was a pretty young woman, with a mop of red curls and doe-like features. She was shy and reserved, but Noah decided he'd probably sleep with her.

  Julia was headed down to the bar, her gold, sequin minidress traveling dangerously high up on her bronzed thighs. Julia was also a gorgeous woman with sultry lips, raven hair and eyes, and a rack that could make any head turn. Noah was looking forward to some fun between the sheets, but nothing more. He didn't do relationships – not anymore.

  Noah returned his attention to Devon and Chelsie. What exactly were the lovebirds discussing? He decided to do what he did best: interrupt their conversation with a tasteless comment and piss Chelsie off. He couldn't risk the band being compromised with talk of marriage and children or whatever ‘white picket fence’ garbage they were yapping about.

  Before he could speak, Chelsie noticed him eyeing her and got the barb in first. "Seriously, Noah, is there something you want to say to me?"

  Challenge accepted.

  "Easy there, killer," Noah said. He threw his hands up in surrender. "I didn't say a damn thing."

  Thinking about saying something didn't count.

  Her gaze was icy. “All you've done since we got here is eye me down. I know the insult is just waiting on the tip of your tongue."

  "You say 'insult' as if I only had one," Noah shot back. Adrenaline was coursing through him at the prospect of a fight. "You underestimate me."

  "You disgust me."

  "Guys," Devon interrupted. "Can't you try to get along? Call a truce or something? I wanted this to be a chill night."

  Noah stood up from the couch and stepped over to her. He plucked her empty glass from off the table. "Captain and Coke, right?"

  The look on her face was priceless. Noah figured their sparring match was only going to dampen the mood, so he needed to find a new tactic to get Water Girl out of the picture. Maybe getting her so hammered she pukes all over herself by midnight would do the trick. Bonus points for puking on Devon.

  Chelsie narrowed her eyes at him. "Why would you buy me a drink?"

  Noah decided the honest version wouldn't be in his best interest, so he tried to be as charming as possible. "Look, Devon is right. Let’s make a truce."

  "Why the change of heart?"

  "Why question it? Do you want your drink or not?"

  She bit her lip, as if physically holding back a fiery retort. "Fine. With lime, please."

  "Perfect. I'll be right back." Noah couldn't hide the knowing smile on his lips. Nothing was a bigger turn-off than a girl who couldn't hold her liquor. She'd be back to waiting tables in no time. And it wasn't that he hated the girl – in fact, he was enjoying their heated banter. But Chelsie was a threat and the threat needed to be eliminated.

  Noah headed down the V.I.P. steps and waved over a waitress. She came by with his drink order a few minutes later.

  "One Captain and Coke and one shot of whiskey coming right up," Noah declared, waving the alcohol in front of Chelsie's face.

  Julia glared at him. "Where's my drink?" She crossed her arms over her chest with a pout. "I thought I was your date for the night."

  "It's a white flag drink," Lisa explained.

  Chelsie took her drinks with hesitant hands and turned her nose up at the shot. "What is this?"

  There was revulsion in her tone, as if Noah had handed her a severed limb on a plate. "It's my good friend, Jack. Drink up – you'll like it."

  Chelsie sat there for a moment in silence. Her weary expression faded into casual acceptance and she tipped her head back, chugging down the shot in one swallow. She gagged.

  "'Yuck' does not do justice for what I’m feeling right now," Chelsie balked. She covered her mouth with her hand in an effort to keep the liquor down.

  Noah laughed and downed his shot with ease. A devious smile lingered on his lips. "You'll get used to it.”

  "As if I'm going to have more?"

  "Damn right you are." Noah spotted the waitress coming up the staircase and he waved her over. "Five Jägerbombs,” he told her. “And keep the liquor coming."

  ***

  Chelsie eyed the peculiar cocktail. It resembled liquified tar that had been placed in a larger glass of pee water. She had served these drinks as a waitress, but never dared try them. She looked around the room and noticed everyone had already chugged down their pee water. "Here goes nothing."

  "'Atta girl," Noah said.

  The beverage tasted like licorice and seltzer water. It was not as heinous as the shot of whiskey, but Chelsie would die happy if she never had to drink it again. It wasn't long before a solid buzz had settled in.

  "You're holding your own over there," Devon said with a smile quirking at his lips. He patted her knee with a wink.

  Chelsie flashed him a radiant grin. "Are you impressed?"

  "Maybe a little."

  She squeezed in closer to Devon, the aroma of his bourbon cologne making her head feel dizzy. Or was that the actual bourbon?

  "Ready for another?" Noah had set his sights on her again after putting equal effort into flirting with both Julia and their blue-haired waitress.

  Chelsie's already dizzy head started to spin at the thought of another drink. "No, thanks… I'm already starting to feel those last few.”

  "So, why stop now?" Noah ordered another round of bombs.

  Chelsie could see the mischievous glint in his eyes – he was up to something.

  "Shit, man," Devon said as he slipped his arm around Chelsie’s shoulders. "Take it easy on the girl. She's not an alcoholic like you are."

  Chelsie could sense there was something earnest lingering just beneath the repartee. The look in Noah's eyes said it all.

  Lisa tapped Chelsie on the shoulder and leaned into her ear. "Bathroom break," she said, standing up and throwing her purse over her shoulder. Julia followed suit.

  "I'll join you," Chelsie replied. When she stood from the loveseat, stars began to flash behind her eyes. It took a few seconds for her to regain her balance. She narrowed her eyes at Noah. "You totally spiked my drinks, didn't you?"

  Noah snorted. "Yeah, with a little ingredient called low alcohol tolerance."

  Chelsie frowned. She was certain she must have consumed twice the amount of alcohol she thought she had. Lisa and Julia appeared on both sides of her, linking their arms with hers. "Thanks," she said. Chelsie carefully made her way down the squeaky steps, petrified of tripping on her own feet and breaking her neck.

  Then again, if she tripped down a flight of stairs in front of Devon Sawyer, breaking her neck would be a welcome alternative to the abject humiliation of it all.

  "What do you think they're talking about?" Lisa wondered. The three friends glanced up to the second-floor balcony. Devon and Noah were engaged in a man-to-man conversation.

  Julia shrugged. "Probably band stuff. Or sex."

  "Speaking of sex…" Lisa nudged Chelsie playfully in the ribcage. "You and Devon?"

  "Oh, no," Chelsie said with a shake of her head. "It's going to be a while before I go there with any guy. If he's truly interested in me, he can wait."

  "Good f
or you," Julia said. "I wish I had that kind of willpower."

  "Does that mean you and Noah will be at it like rabbits tonight?" Chelsie teased.

  Julia’s smile faded from her perfectly lined lips. "Honestly, Noah seems more interested in you than me.”

  Chelsie twisted her face in objection. She knew Noah was only trying to make amends for the sake of Devon. Or he was trying to kill her by way of alcohol poisoning.

  The latter seemed more logical.

  "Personally, I think Noah is a cad and you can do better, Julia," Lisa chimed in. "I know he's famous and all, but you're just going to get your heart broken."

  Julia snickered. "Sweetie, this heart is immune to pain. I'm all about having fun and moving on to the next sucker. Besides, there's no way in hell I'm passing on a Freeze Frame member. You really can't do better than that. Except for maybe raising John Lennon from the dead."

  Chelsie pushed through the bathroom door and stumbled inside. She apologized when she accidentally slammed the door into an annoyed patron.

  The woman sneered. "Drink some water.”

  "You okay there, Chelsie?" Lisa asked.

  "I'm fine. Where's the bathroom?"

  Julia shot her a concerned glance. "We're in the bathroom, babe. The stall is to your right."

  "I knew that." Chelsie wobbled over to the stall and took a moment to gather her composure. There was no way she could go back out there stumbling over her own two feet in front of Devon. He would never speak to her again.

  Chelsie took a deep breath and tried to stop her head from spiraling. She joined Julia and Lisa outside the doors. "Sorry, I just needed a minute. I'm okay now."

  "Are you sure?" Lisa put a gentle hand on her shoulder. "We can take you home, you know."

  "No, absolutely not. I’ll just... suck it up. Let's go." Chelsie gathered her crumbling wits and hobbled over to the private staircase. It resembled Mount Olympus, and it looked to be swaying back and forth. She headed up, her hand gripping the railing.

  "Sorry about that," Chelsie apologized when she noticed Devon staring at her.

  "Here, sit down. You're going to fall and hurt yourself," Devon told her.

  Chelsie went to sit down, but she missed the couch and toppled to the floor. She couldn't help but find the situation incredibly funny and burst into a fit of giggles. Her friends were by her side, helping her to her feet.

  "God, Chels, are you okay?" Julia asked.

  Chelsie couldn't stop laughing. "I fell. It's... so funny." She collapsed onto the couch. This only made her laugh harder.

  "I think it's going to be a long night," Lisa sighed. She sat down next to Chelsie and rubbed her back.

  Noah watched with an amused grin from the other side of the room. "Or an incredibly short one."

  ***

  "Let's dance!" Chelsie rose to her feet with dramatic enthusiasm and almost lost her balance. "Wait, no. Let's drink. More drinks, please!"

  Noah snickered and Devon shot him a death glare.

  "You're an asshole," Devon said as he tried to stop Chelsie from waving down the waitress. "This is your fault."

  Noah shrugged. He was willing to accept full credit for his participation. "Looks like you're going to have your hands full tonight," he acknowledged. He took a sip of his beer, enjoying the entertainment for the evening. Drunk girls always put on a good show.

  "Hey… hey now, mister," Chelsie stammered. She pushed at Devon’s chest as he tried to sit her back down. "Jus' lemme go. We need more drinks."

  "We definitely don't need more drinks," Devon said.

  Chelsie pushed him away and stumbled over to Noah.

  "You.” She pointed an unsteady finger in his direction. "Get me beer."

  Devon gave Noah a look that clearly stated, 'I will kill you if you get her beer.' Noah figured he'd done enough damage for the night. "The beer is gone," Noah explained. He chuckled at the horrified look on her face.

  "Gone?" she whimpered. "Why would they do that?"

  "Don't worry about it. I think you just need to sit down."

  "No… no.” She dodged him and crossed her arms. "I'm perfectly good."

  Noah cast a glance over at Lisa and Julia, who looked like they'd gone into shock from humiliation.

  "Right," Lisa piped up, springing into action. "Come on, Chelsie. Let's take you home."

  "But I wanna dance!" she exclaimed. Chelsie bolted towards the staircase. "Dancing is a fun and exiblerating experience." She frowned. "Ex-hil-her-ate-ing…"

  Julia caught her just in time. "Dancing is for sober people, babe."

  Devon cleared his throat. "You know, I don't mind taking her home. You guys can stay."

  "Nonsense." Julia waved her hand in dismissal. "We've got her back. You guys try to enjoy the rest of your night."

  When the girls approached Chelsie, she had already managed to sneak down the staircase and was halfway onto the dance floor.

  "Shit," Julia cursed.

  Noah and Devon leaned over the balcony, watching as the two friends went in search of Chelsie.

  Devon narrowed his eyes at Noah. "I knew you were up to something.”

  Noah felt mildly guilty for putting a damper on what could have been a fun night. He had screwed himself over in the process because now Julia was leaving, and he was out of a perfectly good lay. "Yeah, well," Noah said. "It's not like you were going to marry the girl."

  Devon leaned in dangerously close. "Fuck you, Hayes. I like her. But what would you know about that? It's all about the chase for you."

  "It's all about the music," Noah corrected him. He chose to ignore the barb. "I thought we were on the same page. The band comes first."

  "I say what comes first. I make the rules. And if you fuck with my personal life again, you're out."

  Noah clenched his jaw as Devon stormed off down the stairs with his cell phone to his ear. He gripped the balcony rail, his knuckles turning white. Arguments with Devon were nothing new – he knew he was playing with fire tonight. But he also knew Devon's threats were always empty. They had been through far worse together and had still managed to maintain a cordial working relationship and friendship.

  Noah made his way down to the dance floor to find the girls. He spotted them dancing their hearts out to an upbeat song. Chelsie looked drunk, but she was keeping her balance as she jumped up and down to the beat. It was obvious what Devon saw in the woman. She had a perfect mix of sweetness and sass. Noah decided the sass only came out when he was around, and he was okay with that. As far as looks went, Chelsie was hard to beat with her slender physique, ivory skin, and emerald eyes.

  Noah shook his head. He didn’t like where his train of thought was going. He eyed the room for any sign of Devon, but didn’t see him anywhere. He sighed in defeat and pulled up a bar stool, signaling the bartender for another drink.

  An hour went by and not much had changed.

  "I'm not going anywhere!"

  Noah turned to see Chelsie putting up a fight with Julia. Lisa approached him and sighed in dismay. "She's been doing this all night. We can't seem to get her off the dance floor."

  "Yeah, I sure as hell thought she'd be passed out by now,” Noah said. “The girl's got spunk – I'll give her that."

  Lisa’s features were contorted with worry. "I'm not sure what to do. I don't want to make a scene."

  Noah thought for a moment and glanced up at Devon, who was now sitting alone on the balcony, texting furiously. "You know, Devon and I can take her home. I was the one who got you guys into this mess." He could see Lisa looked apprehensive. "Seriously, she'll be okay. We'll get you and Julia a limo and take Chelsie home when she's ready."

  Lisa gave a nervous nibble to her lip. "Are you sure? I don't want to inconvenience you guys. You've been so good to us already."

  "It's not a problem," Noah shrugged.

  He had planned on giving full ‘Chelsie Duty’ to Devon.

  "Okay," she relented. "I'll go get Julia."

  Noah watched as the f
riends discussed the plan and then made their way in his direction.

  Julia stormed at him with her hands on her hips. "If I turn on the news tomorrow morning and find that Chelsie's been left for dead in a ditch somewhere, I'm hunting you down. I'm only trusting you because you're rich and famous."

  "I appreciate the sentiment," he chuckled. "The limo is outside." Noah watched his evening of sin walk out the door. He sighed in regret, knowing he only had himself to blame. "All right, Water Girl, let's get you to your babysitter for the night," he said miserably. When he turned to Chelsie, she had disappeared back into the crowd. "Damn it."

  Noah’s eyes perused the dance floor, trying to pick her out from the rest of the petite blondes packed into the room. He couldn't find her. Panic crept up inside him, knowing he was a dead man if he didn’t find her. Noah pushed his way through the dancing bodies with his eyes on high alert. The music was loud. Fog and bright lights were making him dizzy, and the beers he had just downed were creeping up on him. "I am so fucked," he muttered to himself. Five minutes later, he was right back where he started – only without the girl he'd agreed to take responsibility for.

  "Sir?"

  Noah turned around to find a bouncer standing in front of him. "Yeah?"

  "Sir, I think your friend is in the bathroom. We really need her to leave. She's passed out in a stall."

  Noah grit his teeth together. "Blonde hair, white dress? About yay high?" He gestured just over five feet.

  "That's the one."

  Noah let out a bitter chuckle and headed towards the bathrooms. All eyes were on him as he entered. He pushed open each stall door until he found Chelsie laying sprawled out over the toilet seat.

  "Jesus, woman, you're really making my life a living hell." Chelsie was motionless. Noah was running out of options, so he picked her up and carried her out of the bathroom. He had every intention on handing her off to Devon. Noah tried to ignore the giggles and pitiful looks he received as he traipsed through the club. The unconscious blonde in his arms was catching everyone’s attention. Had they never witnessed a passed-out drunk before?