I wanted to kiss her. Now and for the rest of the night. “I’m sorry,” I said instead. “But you have to change it. Seth has a lot of great tunes that would work well. Like maybe ‘Blue Eyes.’” I wrapped my other arm around her waist. She felt too good to let go. “’Love Tonight’ is too painful for me right now after the break-up and—”
She sucked in a breath. “The song is about Nicole.” Her face tightened as she jerked back out of my arms. “I’ll change it. No problem.”
She turned and hurried away. I thought about going after her. But everyone was now staring and she’d already chased me across the club. Besides, what could I say? My songs were kind of a relationship graveyard, which Mel probably already guessed, and most likely why she’d asked me whom “My Someday Girl” was about.
Instead of chasing Mel, I jumped back on stage and started plucking at my guitar. As I pulled at the strings, everyone else stayed quiet. I looked up to see Mel filming me. Somehow, that only irritated me more. She wouldn’t talk to me but she’d use me for marketing fodder.
I gave her my fiercest glare. The camera dropped for a second and she swiped at her eye. Crap. I’d made her cry. Abruptly, I stopped playing. I should apologize. But then Seth tapped the mic with the palm of his hand. “Quick band meeting. Club opens in fifteen.”
I looked back at her. I saw the back of her hand swabbing her other eye and I rubbed the back of my neck. I’d apologize after the show.
The next forty-five minutes were a complete blur like they often were before we performed. We ran sound checks, went through the lineup, rehearsed a few sticky parts. Mel was always there, in the background. Camera running, she didn’t say a word, didn’t interfere.
I had thought a marketing person might try to stage us, and I’d guess a lot did that. But not Mel. She let us be us…without interruption. It was funny. None of my girlfriends would have remained that quiet and they were supposed to be there to support me. Usually, I’d end up supporting them.
They’d start crying about something or be mad I wasn’t paying enough attention to them. Soon it would escalate into a scene that pulled me away from the band. After a while, I caught on to the fact that it was why they did it. To focus my attention on them. But not Mel. She had her own gig to attend to and didn’t need my constant attention. Hanging out with Mel was a nice change. And I was doing my best to mess it up.
We headed back to the dressing room, to wait to be introduced and I could hear the club filling with people.
When we came out, the club was packed and I’ve got to be honest, it was awesome. We started playing “Blue Eyes,” and I could see Mel up on some rigging, filming. My chest tightened as I watched her. Not only was she gorgeous and talented but she was kind and sweet. I knew that I needed to ask her out. If I didn’t, some other guy was going to come along and snatch her up.
Thinking of starting another relationship filled me with apprehension. But the idea of Mel, being with her all the time made me…excited.
The song ended and she started to climb down. Two hands reached up and I watched as some random guy lifted her down. She disappeared into the crush of the crowd but not before I caught a look at him in his white polo and his perfectly gelled hair.
I could barely concentrate as I scanned the crowd, searching for her. It took three songs, but I finally caught sight of her talking to him by the bar. It was less crowded than by the stage and I could see he was wearing khakis. Frickin’ khakis at a rock concert.
Then it hit me. They might be perfect together. My chest tightened in a way that physically hurt. Man, this was awful.
He was leaning in the way a guy does when he’s really interested. Like he was trying to smell her. His body was way too close and I’d bet money he had his hand on her waist. I was the only guy who should be touching her like that. I didn’t think through what that meant and when he pointed toward the door, she nodded. Was she leaving with him?
That couldn’t be.
But then I remembered how I’d made her cry. I’d kissed her without asking her out. I’d demanded she change her wardrobe. I’d messed with her video that she was putting a ton of work into for free and I hadn’t bothered to apologize for any of it.
I was in trouble.
Chapter Eight
Melissa
I stared at the guy in front of me, Trent, I think he said his name was. He was good-looking, from Harvard, a business major.
And he was smiling at me in that way. You know what I’m talking about. Even though I hadn’t dated much, I could tell when a guy was interested.
“I like your jeans.” He brushed his hand on my hip. On paper this guy should be perfect, but his touch didn’t do a thing. In fact, I wanted to take a step back and put some distance between us. He made me feel slightly icky.
Weirdly, he was my plan personified. How had I never realized that chemistry couldn’t be planned? This guy didn’t make me feel one-tenth of what Derek did.
“Thanks.” I shrugged. “They’re part of the band promotion uniform. I never would have picked them before I started working for Echo Stream but I like them.”
“They’re hot.” His grin widened, showing a lot more teeth. He went from classically handsome to looking like the big bad wolf. Yuck.
That made my head snap up to the stage. Most everyone would think Derek was the big bad wolf and Trent here was Prince Charming. But there was something not right with that. Derek always made me feel safe, even when he had on his grumpy face.
Trent here was working too hard to look like the good guy, like he was covering himself in sheep’s clothing.
“If marketing is your gig, you should check out this poster I saw a couple doors down. It’s amazing.” Trent gave me another wolfy smile.
But he had said the magic words. I loved looking at other designs, especially when I knew they appealed to others. “Where was it? I’ll have to go check it out after the show.”
His hand came to my waist as another pointed toward the door. “It’s just outside, I can show you.”
I started to shake my head. I wasn’t sure I wanted to be alone with the guy.
“Come on,” he whined. “It’s almost intermission. It’ll only take a minute.”
“Okay,” I answered but I felt a little icky about it. Like I shouldn’t leave. But that was ridiculous, right? Because we were just stepping outside and there would be bouncers and people waiting to come in.
We headed to the door, and the bouncer checked our stamps so we could get back into the club.
Heading down a dark hall, we exited onto the nearly empty street. This wasn’t what I had expected. “I changed my mind.” I started. “I should head back in and get some more film.” I’d told him I was making a video of the band, so it was a pretty reasonable excuse.
“It’ll only take a minute.” He gave me that smile again. Then he pointed to a poster just down the street.
Even from here I could see he was right. It was professionally done and it was amazing. Psychedelic colors filled in the band members’ profiles.
I couldn’t do something like this, but as I approached the poster I had another idea. I would do an outline drawing like this with soundwaves going through it. I could do black and white. It would go perfectly with the band’s name.
“Cool right?” Trent said just behind me. He was too close.
Just as I was about to step away, his hand came to my shoulder. “I saw the ad you made on Facebook, that was you right?”
“Yeah,” I answered leaning away from him, trying to slip out of his grasp. He tightened his hand.
“It was pretty cool. Think you’ll ever be able to do something like this?”
I did appreciate that he was asking about my work. But his hand felt intrusive instead of nice. He slid his fingers under my tank top strap and that was when I’d had enough. I meant to jerk away. Unfortunately, it was just as he grabbed the thin fabric and it totally gave. I heard the material rip and I gave an indignant cry.
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“What was that about?” He curled his lip as he looked at the fabric.
My mouth dropped open and I grabbed my strap. “What was that about?”
“Hey, I’m not the one wearing practically nothing. Judging from the outfit, I thought you were cool with a little—”
Crack. From out of nowhere a large hand came up and smacked Trent across the face.
“What the—” Trent yelled.
I looked to my right to see Derek next to me and he was making his grumpy face. I’d never been happier to see anyone’s grumpy face in my life.
“I’d have punched you but I honestly don’t think you’re man enough to take it.” Derek growled. “Real men don’t go around ripping women’s clothing. Real men treat ladies with respect.”
Trent sneered. “How do you know she’s a lady—”
Crack. Derek slapped him again. “You’re done talking. In fact, you’re done being here. I don’t want to see your face at another one of our shows.”
Holding his cheek with his hand, Trent skulked away. I swallowed as I watched him go. How could I have been so dumb?
Derek circled his hands around my waist as he all but carried me back to the club. “Mel,” he rasped out as we entered the dark hall between the entrance and the bar.
“I know,” my voice caught as I said the words. “I shouldn’t have gone out with there with him. He said he wanted to show me that poster, which was really cool, and I didn’t think he’d do that.” I stopped the last word catching in my throat. He squeezed my waist and pulled me up against his chest.
“Are you all right, sweetheart?” he asked, dropping his forehead to mine.
I caught my breath. “I’m okay. Thanks for coming to get me, though.”
“I’m sorry,” he whispered.
“For what?” I asked. He couldn’t be apologizing for saving me from a total jerk?
“For earlier. I shouldn’t have been so rude. I can be really opinionated so just tell me to stuff it. I swear I will. I’ll line item all the things I should apologize for later but for now, please say you’ll consider forgiving me.”
I couldn’t help it, I giggled. “That guy ripped my clothes and you’re apologizing for telling me to use a different song?”
“I should have asked…nicely. And I should have explained better.” He brushed his nose against mine and my insides fluttered, a longing for more forming inside.
“That’s all right. I understand that you were crazy about her and she broke up with you.” Those last words hurt. Why did I say them? Why didn’t I just say the first part?
“I was crazy about her,” he said and my fluttering abdomen sank like a brick. “In the beginning. But it’s always the same. It starts off good and then crashes and burns when the passion turns to crazy.”
Was that supposed to make me feel better? I mean it only highlighted everything I wasn’t. “Sure, I get it.” I should get out of here. I was just torturing myself. I started to pull away…
But then his lips pressed to mine and all thought of leaving vanished. We kissed over and over until he deepened the kiss, his tongue touching mine and I was totally lost. I forgot to be worried about anything as he gathered me close, kissing me senseless.
I threaded my arms around his neck, then twined my hands in his hair as I pressed him closer.
Slowly, he broke the kiss. “We’re not done,” he whispered.
I hoped not. He started to pull me back toward the club, but I resisted giving his hand a little tug. “I can’t go back in there. My shirt is coming off.”
He stopped and his fingers reached for my broken strap, brushing my shoulder as he did. My heart nearly leapt from my chest. Then, without a word, he shrugged off his flannel shirt so he was just in a tank top and slung it around my shoulders. It smelled like him and the scent enveloped me. “Better?” he whispered, in a low guttural voice that made me shiver, it was so intimate.
“Yeah,” I answered.
“Let’s get back in there. Everyone will be wondering where we are.”
I nodded, but the brick was back in my stomach. The kiss had been amazing but I couldn’t help but wonder. If it had been Nicole or some other super-hot and exciting girl, would we be headed back into the club? Or was it because it was just boring old me?
Chapter Nine
Derek
There is a moment, when a woman is in a man’s shirt, that he just knows. This is the girl for him. It’s either right or it’s wrong and Mel looked so perfect wearing my clothes.
I had her up against my side before she’d even finished knotting the fabric. “I can drive you home tonight,” I murmured close to her ear.
“You don’t have to.” I saw her head dip. “I can take the T or…”
“There is not a chance I am letting you take public transportation this late all by yourself.” I slid my hand down her hip, which was clearly a mistake. I was taking this slow but it was so much harder when I touched her like that. “Besides, I have more apologizing to do.”
She stopped and looked up at me. “What?”
I took a deep breath because I was struggling to keep my lips to myself. Instead, I leaned down and told her how sorry I was about my comments on her clothes. I told her that I’d been really mad and lashing out because I’d been trying to push her away. When she brought her hands up to rest on my chest, I leaned against the wall, pulling her into me. I did kiss her then. Somehow taking things more slowly was actually making me hotter. Like anticipation was building between us. At the same time, it also felt right and nice instead of like speeding when you know you’re about to crash.
I don’t know how long this kiss lasted but I heard feet thundering down the hall.
“Derek,” Seth yelled. Then his feet skidded to a stop “Oh, sorry,” he huffed sounding out of breath. “It’s time to go back on, dude. Crowd is getting restless.”
Reluctantly, I let Mel go. She nibbled her lower lip as she slowly stepped back. Her gaze searched mine and I cupped her cheek with my hand. “No going off with any other guys. I’ll see you after the show.”
Her smile lit her face. “Got it. No other guys.”
I took another breath. I wanted to make out again. Actually, I never wanted to stop. Grabbing her hand I pulled her back into the club and parked her at the bar between Chloe and Millie. “Stay,” I rumbled as I kissed her lips one last time.
“You’re so bossy.” she gave me a wink.
I laughed. “You shouldn’t listen to me.” Then I kissed her one more time. Either Chloe or Millie cleared her throat. “Except for this. Stay with Millie and Chloe. That guy was no good.”
Melissa
I watched Derek’s back as he walked away and I tried to figure out what was happening between us. My perfect Harvard guy had just tried to rip my clothes off while the hardcore rocker walked me home, protected me from jerks, and, apparently, volunteered with kids.
My carefully crafted plan was officially crappy. I was tossing it out the window. And my pencil skirts? Good for business interviews but I was finding more and more that I liked dressing the way I was tonight. More than that, I liked hanging with Chloe and with the band. Most of all, being with Derek was amazing.
I was glad Derek had apologized. He’d had a point, but he still shouldn’t have said it and I was glad he knew he’d been wrong.
What was more, I was glad I knew him. We were having fun. Which technically had been part of my plan all along. But the truth was, if Derek said he wanted me to be his girlfriend, I’d take the offer in a heartbeat. And if he only wanted to make out, well, I’d worry about the consequences later. Being with him was too good to pass up.
Chloe pulled at my flannel sleeve. Well, technically Derek’s flannel sleeve. “What is going on between the two of you?”
I stuck a loose strand of hair behind my ear. “Honestly, I’m not sure yet.”
Millie leaned in on the other side. “Whatever it is, it’s super-hot.”
“And sweet,”
Chloe pushed my arm. “He was never like that with Nicole.”
That got my attention. “How so?”
“I don’t know.” Chloe waved her hand. “She was usually complaining and he was always avoiding her, mostly. I never saw them kiss.”
I looked back at the stage to find Derek looking at me. Staring. Intensely. It made my breath catch. Was Chloe right? Did he pay more attention to me than he had to Nicole? I couldn’t believe it. I mean, he’d written a smoldering song about her. And for me? Well, he’d let me borrow his flannel shirt.
That took a bunch of wind out of my inflating ego. Which only left one thing to do. Finish my video.
So, I didn’t stay at the bar. Instead, I weaved through the crowd and headed back up the scaffolding. Hoisting the camera up to my eye, I turned it on just as Derek stepped up to the mic. As he strummed at the guitar, the opening chord of “Someday Girl” filtered through the club.
I wanted to close my eyes and just listen to him. But instead, I watched him through the camera. And he watched me as he sang. In that moment I could believe that he was singing to me. That I was his Someday Girl.
I already knew I’d be watching this clip of video over and over. Man, when had I fallen this hard?
Gingerly, I picked my way back down the scaffolding. Derek watched me the entire time.
Filming a few more songs from different angles, I returned to the bar and ordered another seltzer water. Derek’s flannel was awesome, but now I was hot.
The bartender gave me the drink along with a wink. I had to smile. When had men started paying attention to me?
But I didn’t enjoy it for very long. Another girl a few stools down ordered a vodka tonic. The drink and the voice caught my attention. Turning, I saw Nicole.
My stomach dropped. When had she arrived?
I spun around so she couldn’t see my face and took a giant swig of my water. Crap. I was wearing Derek’s shirt. What was she going to think after he’d kissed me? For some reason, I didn’t want her to think we were a couple. We weren’t. And I was pretty sure I’d gotten lucky at the club the other night. Nicole didn’t see me as a threat. If at some point she did, I was going to be in big trouble. I had no experience with this stuff, but I knew deep down I wasn’t a fighter. She’d crush me.
Love Notes (Accidental Kisses #3) Page 5