Reckless Rock Star (Cocky Hero Club)

by Victoria Ashley

  “Holy. Shit. It is you.”

  Natalie and I turn away from each other at the sound of phone girl’s voice.

  A cute short-haired brunette pushes her breasts up and quickly fixes her hair to get my attention. “Can we just get married so we can do this thing?”

  “See what I mean?” I point out.

  “Really, Kayla?” Natalie rolls her eyes and turns her attention back to me. “Okay, I get your point. But I’m sorry. I can’t just leave. I have a lot of work to do around here, and besides that… I’m dating your brother. I can’t just show up where all your old mutual friends are and act as your girlfriend. It would cause a mess later.”

  Her co-worker’s eyes widen as she shakes her head in confusion. “Say what?”

  I move in closer to Natalie, wishing I could do something to change her mind, but I know that I need to be careful. Usually the brushing of my lips over any girl’s neck is enough to change their mind, but I can’t do that with her. So, my words will have to do. “You and I both know that Logan doesn’t plan on going anytime soon. None of our friends even know you exist. Of course you can show up as my girlfriend. No one would know any different.”

  “Oh wow.” Kayla swipes her finger across the cheesecake and sucks it off. “This is entertaining. I’ll be asking lots of questions once this is over, and FYI, the marriage offer still stands. Please keep going.”

  Natalie narrows her eyes at her co-worker and begins walking toward the exit door. “I’ll be back, Kayla. I need some fresh air. I can’t breathe in here.”

  Not ready to give up, I follow Natalie outside and grab her waist before she can get too far from me.

  She quickly turns around and gets in my face, our bodies so close that her breasts swipe against the front of my hoodie. “Thanks for pointing that out, jerk. I feel like such an idiot now thanks to you.”

  “Whoa!” I grab her arm and stop her from trying to walk away again. “What the hell did I do? I’m not the enemy here. Talk to me.”

  Her face is red, and when she speaks, she’s so angry that she sounds out of breath. “You just had to go and say it out loud. That’s what you did.” She turns her head away as if ashamed, so I grab her chin and turn it back toward me.

  “What? That our friends don’t know about you?”

  She doesn’t say anything, which tells me I’m right.

  I flex my jaw, feeling like an insensitive jerk. “I didn’t mean to make it sound as bad as it did. I’m sorry, Nat. I just meant that work is Logan’s priority right now.”

  “Doesn’t matter how you said it...” She removes my hand from her chin and backs away from me. “It’s the truth. I’ve been with Logan for almost two years and his friends have no clue who I am. The truth is, I’ve been wanting to go on that trip since he first told me you guys all get together every year no matter what your lives are like, just so you can all be together like old times. That seems important. These people seem really important, and I haven’t had the chance to meet any of them yet.”

  “You can meet them with me.”

  “Then what? What happens if Logan decides to go next year? Do I pretend to go with you again? The rock star’s girlfriend? Or do I end up being that girl that switched teams and started dating the other brother?”

  I shake my head and push my hood back. “Next year I’ll have moved on. We tell them that I was on the road too much and Logan was there for you. No hard feelings. It’s an easy fix.”

  “And as your girlfriend, what does that entail? I have to kiss you? Have sex with you?” She laughs. “This all sounds ridiculous.”

  “Nah. Of course not.” I lift a brow as her eyes meet mine. “Just the kissing part. But just in front of people like any happy couple would do.”

  She bursts out into a fit of laughter.

  “What’s so funny about that?” I lean against the building and pull out a smoke, waiting for her response. She’s really finding the whole kissing me thing to be funny. That’s a damn good way to destroy a man’s ego.

  It takes her a minute or two, but she finally stops laughing. “I can’t imagine ever wanting to kiss you. And I sure as hell can’t imagine your brother wanting that either.”

  “He already does.” I take a long drag and slowly blow the smoke out while talking. “He’s already agreed to it.”

  She freezes and her face turns from one of hurt to anger, before she rips the cigarette from my hand and flicks it across the parking lot. “The answer is no. Now leave me the hell alone.”

  With that, she pushes the revolving door with force, disappearing inside.

  Once I’m alone, I rub my hands down my face, feeling like crap for upsetting her over this shit.

  I’ve never seen her this upset since I’ve known her, and I have to admit that it has my chest feeling heavy.

  I feel like a fucking asshole, and that’s not how I wanted this to go, but apparently the truth made me one.

  If Logan would step his game up and treat Natalie better none of this would’ve happened, because she wouldn’t have had a reason to feel like crap just now.

  I have to admit that even I think it’s weird he hasn’t taken Natalie to meet our old friends, or at least mention her to them.

  I might not be the right Parker Brother, but I’d like nothing more than to bring her to them.

  She’s beautiful.

  Smart.

  Independent.

  Confident.

  Honest and feisty as hell.

  All the qualities I would look for in a woman I wanted to spend my time with. And I especially love a woman who can put me in my place. She’s done that more times than I can count over the years.

  That’s another reason it’d be believable as her being mine. My friends know me well, and most of the girls I’ve slept with since Alana wouldn’t even come close to being believable relationship material.

  They’d see right through it after only the first day.

  “Shit. I’m screwed.”

  A part of me wants to go inside and talk to Natalie, but doing that will piss her off even more, and probably lead to her using her stun gun on me.

  It almost happened once.

  After a few minutes, I push away from the building and head toward my truck.

  I have no idea what to do to make her change her mind, but I need to figure it out, and fast…

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Natalie

  I’m fuming right now. The Parker Brothers thinking it was perfectly okay to make this decision without me makes me want to slap them both straight.

  Who do they think they are to discuss me without my knowledge? Especially when it includes me being borrowed by one of them as if I’m someone’s property.

  I feel like such a fool right now. Like I don’t know my own boyfriend at all.

  Logan agreed to this?

  He actually agreed to me going away with his womanizing, rock star little brother without any worry of what could happen for six days. That doesn’t sound like him at all. It doesn’t make sense.

  If he truly cared about me, he’d want to keep me away from Madden, not place me right in his arms when he knows how easily women fall into bed with him.

  Without even realizing what I’m doing, I’m slamming things around on the desk, letting my anger out, when I hear a few screams of excitement from a group of teenaged girls sitting in the lounge pointing outside and pulling out their phones.

  They weren’t down here when Madden was inside, but now that he’s walking through the parking lot with his hood down, he’s recognizable to anyone within a visible distance.

  There’s no way possible that man can go anywhere and not be noticed by at least one person. Even without the fame of his band.

  He’s extremely hot.

  His dark hair, perfectly sculpted body, and sexy, full lips make him impossible to miss. Yes, I hate to admit it, but it’s true.

  No one with eyes could deny it.

  Madden Parker is every girl’s weaknes
s.

  But for me… he’s also my boyfriend’s brother.

  His brother who’s quick to just give me away, apparently.

  I shake my head and turn away from the fangirls, trying my best not to pay attention to them, but I find myself watching them as they run out the door and chase down Madden before he can hop in his truck.

  I’ve never seen anything like it. Girls cling to Madden as if they need him to breathe.

  “Do you see those girls?” Kayla huffs. “They have no shame at all. Chasing that poor, sexy rock star down and jumping all over him like Girl Scouts selling cookies.”

  I give her a ‘did you really just say that’ look while plopping down in the chair Madden easily made his not too long ago. When I came out of the office and saw him sitting here, my heart jumped at the memory of last night and how good it felt to be snuggled up against his body.

  Yeah, I didn’t know who he was, but that doesn’t change the fact that I enjoyed the way his body felt against mine.

  That’s another reason this whole idea is a bad one.

  A very bad one.

  “You asked the guy to marry you, Kayla. You have no room to talk.” She shrugs when I look up at her and then goes back to watching Madden and the girls outside the door. “You gonna get back to work or run out there and attack him with photos too?”

  “Now that you mentioned it… I didn’t have a chance to get one.” She quickly digs into her back pocket, grins at me, and rushes out the door.

  “You’ve got to be shitting me,” I mumble to myself while throwing my arms up.

  Did she really think that was an invitation for her to join them outside like a groupie?

  I find my attention lingering back over on the little show outside, until the hotel phone rings, pulling me back to my duties.

  “Brightside Hotel, Natalie speaking.”

  There’s a grunt before a gruff voice comes through the line. “I need to cancel a reservation for tonight, and I need a refund on my account too.”

  Really? This asshole has bad timing.

  “I can cancel your reservation, sir, but I can’t issue you a refund. The room must be canceled with a twenty-four-hour notice for you to not be charged.”

  “Bullshit! Don’t you give me that shit,” he screams, causing me to pull the phone away and cuss under my breath. “I’m not paying for something I’m not going to use.”

  “Sir, it’s hotel policy and has been from the very beginning. That was explained to you when you made your reservation, and you agreed. I’m sorry—”

  “Put a manager on the phone, girl. I’m not going to sit here and waste my time on a nobody like you that’s not going to give me what I want.”

  I growl and grip the desk, trying my best not to snap on this asshole. “I am the manager, sir. Sorry for the disappointment, but as I said before—”

  “I’m not paying shit for that room, and if I find a charge on my account, I will call my lawyer and sue this shitty hotel for stealing from me…”

  I pull the phone away from my ear as he continues to scream at me, as if it’s going to get him what he wants. I’m dating a fucking lawyer, I know that’s not how it works.

  “Need me to deal with someone for you?”

  I hadn’t even realized Madden came back inside, but when I look up, he’s standing in front of the desk with his eyebrow cocked, listening to the dickhead’s angry voice coming from the phone.

  From the look on his face I’d say he’s not too happy. “Give me the phone.”

  “I’m good. I handle assholes like this daily.”

  Releasing a breath, I place the phone back to my ear and cut him off. “Feel free to contact the owner and tell him that his policy is shit, but I can assure you that you still won’t be getting your money back, because now we have a room to fill and no time to do it, so have a great day, sir.”

  With that, I hang up the phone, slamming it down harder than I should.

  The day has barely started and I’m already over it. This place has done nothing but stress me out ever since I was promoted to manager. I’m seriously going to lose my shit if I don’t get away soon.

  “What happened to your army of groupies?” I look around and don’t see the three girls or even Kayla, which surprises me.

  “I gave them some of my clothing and they took off in a hurry to most likely post all over social media.”

  I stand up and check him out, noticing that his hoodie and belt are now gone, and I can’t help but to be slightly entertained by this. “Nice. But where’s Kayla? I need her here working.”

  He leans against the desk and crosses his arms, giving me a good view of his sculpted biceps. “She’s outside making a call to your boss to let him know that she’ll be covering your shift for the rest of the day.”

  He has to be joking, so I play along with him. “Oh yeah? And what did you have to give Kayla to get her to agree to that? One of your socks or both?”

  “My underwear,” he says with a serious face. I laugh but stop when I look up to find his expression unchanged.

  “Are you for real?”

  “I can show you if you’d like, but I’m not sure my brother would appreciate that. Now, let’s get the hell out of here so you can pack. I’ll help.”

  He reaches out and grabs the cheesecake before reaching for my hand as if he’s just won.

  “Whoa!” I pull away as he helps me to my feet. “I’m not going, Madden. Don’t make me explain myself again. Please, just leave before I really lose it. I’m pissed at you Parker boys. Did you miss the conversation we had outside less than five minutes ago?”

  “What if I apologize? I’ll apologize the whole way there if you’ll just say yes.”

  “Go, girl. It’s covered here,” Kayla says as she steps inside. “Pete just hired Jennifer back and she needs the hours. Get the hell out while you can. Seriously, run.”

  I let out a breath of frustration and turn back to Madden. “Getting someone to cover my shifts without my permission isn’t helping you any. Now go.”

  He looks disappointed but doesn’t make a move to leave. “What do I have to do to make you say yes? Name it and I’ll do it. I don’t give a shit if it’s ten thousand dollars. It’s yours, Nat.”

  “Well shit. I’ll go, but I can’t promise we won’t be married by the end of the trip.” Kayla smiles and takes a seat in the chair, bringing her eyes to rake over Madden’s body. “You’re one fine man. I don’t know who could ever say no to you.”

  “Stay out of it, Kayla.” I turn back to Madden and try my best not to let his good looks sway my decision. Everything comes so easy for him that I’m sure he’s forgotten what the word no sounds like. “I don’t want your money, Madden. I just want you to leave so I can get things done. I don’t want to talk to you or your brother right now. Got it?”

  His jaw tightens, but he doesn’t say anything as he turns around and leaves. The disappointment on his face right before he walked out the door unexpectedly made my heart sink, and I hate it. I’m supposed to be pissed at him, not feel bad for him.

  “A little harsh, aren’t we?”

  “No.” I take a deep breath and slowly release it. “They had no right to make plans behind my back. I’m pissed the hell off.”

  “Oh, come on. You and I both know you want to get away and meet Logan’s friends. You’re just as curious as I am to find out if there’s some girl there that he’s been hiding you from or something.” She shrugs, picks up the phone when it begins ringing, and then hangs it up. “Going with Madden can’t be all that bad. He may not be the right Parker Brother for you, but at least he’s willing to bring you with him instead of hiding you away like some dirty mistress.”

  I’ll admit it. I’ve thought about that before. That maybe there’s some girl from Logan’s past he’s not over yet and that’s why he hasn’t introduced me to anyone. Going with Madden just to find out is somewhat tempting, but it’s not that easy. Madden is not easy to resist. I don’t want an
y reason to be tempted by him. “You’re insane, Kayla. Do you know that?”

  She nods. “So I’ve been told a time or ten.”

  I can’t help but to smile, even though I feel like exploding inside. As much as I hate to admit it… getting out of here and away from the real world for a bit sounds nice.

  It’s the whole part about being Madden’s girlfriend that I don’t think I can handle. It’s already hard enough to pretend that I don’t notice him.

  Logan is extremely handsome, don’t get me wrong. But Madden… Madden is unexplainably attractive with his powerful features and mysterious personality. He’s completely alluring and almost impossible to turn away from. And he’s a likable guy on top of that, even though he’s mastered driving me crazy over the years.

  The only way not to fall for him like millions of other women have is to keep him at a safe distance and pretend as if his presence has no effect on me. That whole ‘dating his brother’ thing should make it easy.

  He may very well be right. I’m possibly the only woman who hasn’t fallen for him yet.

  How the hell am I supposed to go away with him to the middle of nowhere for a week and not let my physical attraction for him show?

  “…yo.” Kayla snaps her fingers to get my attention. “Are you going to take care of room three-ten or do you want me to? They just called and said the mini-fridge stopped working again. Have you even been paying attention?”

  I shake my head. “I’ll take care of it. Just watch the front desk and don’t leave it alone this time.”

  “Yeah, whatever.” She waves me off. “Next time I have to pee I’ll just grab for an empty bottle and do my best to not make a mess on the floor.”

  I roll my eyes and back away toward the elevator. She’s always such a smartass. “You know what I mean. I’ll be back.”

  I’m exhausted by the time I get done working for the night, and even though I’m still mad at Logan for what he did behind my back, I head toward his house instead of mine.

  We have a lot to discuss, and knowing him, he’ll be headed to bed soon to make sure he’s well rested for work tomorrow.