by Julie Archer
“Anyway, what was your brother doing here? I didn’t know you were meeting him tonight.”
“Neither did I.” Clem drained the first of her wine glasses and started on the second. Nagging thoughts filled her head about what Dean had said. She couldn’t ignore them. “Nate, who’s Edie Spencer-Newman? Is she an ex of yours?”
She thought she saw Nate flinch at the mention of Edie’s name.
He looked down at the table, drumming his fingers on the arm of his chair. “No. She wasn’t an ex of mine. She was with Alik for a while. And then our former bassist Billy at the same time as Alik.”
“Oh, right.” Clem wondered why someone who’d cheated on her boyfriend was such a concern for her mother.
“Why do you want to know?”
“Supposedly my mother is concerned that I’m going to end up like this Edie if I carry on seeing you.”
“If you’re thinking of sleeping with Richey, then let me tell you Eva will kill you.” Nate gave a hollow laugh. “And he’s gotten over his demons these days.”
“I wouldn’t do that! Eva was the only one who stuck up for me last night. Don’t judge me on someone else’s behaviour.” Clem was still no clearer as to her mother’s worries. “I realised Edie was on Pretty Rich Things for a while.”
“That’s right. Maybe if she’d stuck to that, then…”
“What? Can you just tell me, Nate? How can I understand if you don’t tell me what happened?”
Nate swigged his pint. “You want all the gory details? Well, here it is. Edie and Alik met at a house party and started seeing each other. It was all fine at the beginning, he followed her around a bit, going to parties, club openings, that sort of thing, much like you’re doing. The band were just starting to get noticed and it gave us some good, if unwanted, publicity. Then Edie got involved with Billy and they started seeing each other behind Alik’s back. And it was on my wedding day that Billy smashed his car into a tree and killed himself.” He stopped and Clem reached for his hand, but he pulled it out of her way. “Edie survived and found out she was pregnant. She told Alik the baby was his, but he found out that she’d been lying at one of her midwife appointments. And in the meantime, Edie had been spreading shit about Caro’s past when she got together with Alik.” He stopped talking, alternately taking deep breaths and long drinks.
“Nate, I’m so sorry. I had no idea.” At least the story went some way to explaining why Marika had kicked off to Dean. She thought about what he’d said. “Wait, do you think I’m like Edie?”
His eyes glittered back at her, radiating unspoken emotion. After a couple of moments, Nate shook his head. “You’re nothing like her, Clem, you’re totally different. Hard-working, passionate about what you do. You might be young, but you’ve got your head screwed on and I don’t think you see me as arm candy, unlike Alik appeared to be.”
“Oh, you’re definitely arm candy,” said Clem, the corner of her mouth turning up. “And thank you, it’s nice to hear.”
They fell silent, each sipping on their drinks, thinking about what had been said.
“What happened to Edie then?” asked Clem.
Nate shrugged. “No idea. Last I heard she’d moved to the country and was doing something with a kids clothing store.” He drained the last of his drink. “Christ, that got heavy. I thought we were going to have fun tonight? After all, I’m going in to the studio tomorrow.”
“Can I see while you’re there? I’m going to miss you.” Clem was glad to change the subject. All the apparent negativity around her and Nate’s relationship was beginning to wear her down.
“I’m not going to prison!” Nate laughed. “It does depend on how we get on. If we’re in the zone, then no-one leaves the room, we barely eat or sleep. Or shower for that matter. Things can get a bit smelly.” Nate wrinkled his nose. “I know that Richey’s got some great new stuff he wants to try out.”
“How does it all work then? Do you create stuff before you go and then put it all together?” Clem shifted in her seat to get more comfortable. She really wanted to know how they did it.
“Depends really. Alik and I have been working on lyrics and music since, well, forever really. If we’re both in the same zone when we’re creating something, it just happens.” The corner of his mouth quirked up. “Though I’m not sure that’s going to be quite so easy this time.” He looked down into his pint. “We’re not exactly on the best of terms right now.”
“Why?” Clem had a nagging feeling that she knew the answer to that already. If Marika and Dean were having doubts, then it made sense that other people would be too.
It took a couple of moments before Nate replied. “He’s not exactly happy about me seeing you.”
And there it was. Another dissenter.
Clem needed to know how Nate felt before she got herself in too deep. They had only seen each other a couple of times, though Clem knew she’d already fallen hard. If he didn’t feel the same way, they may as well call it quits now before anyone got hurt.
“What about you? Are you happy?” she asked before her courage deserted her.
As his lips descended onto hers, it told her everything she needed to know.
Chapter Sixteen
Nate thought he had died and gone to heaven.
The guitar studio at The Blacker Lodge was basically porn. Fenders, Les Pauls, a vintage semi-acoustic and—to Richey’s utter delight—a shiny new Rickenbacker. Nate almost felt disloyal to his trusty Gretsch.
The residential part of the studio complex was almost as impressive. The converted barn house had five basic yet comfortable double bedrooms, a kitchen, lounge and recreation room. The latter had a home cinema screen with surround sound speakers, a flat-screen plasma TV, various computer consoles and a table tennis table. Nate wondered if it was possible to stay there full time.
When they first arrived, they ate, chatted and made plans for the session. There was still a slightly uneasy atmosphere between the group. The tension was particularly noticeable between Nate and Alik, despite their best efforts to rise above it.
Nate’s creative juices starting bubbling. He was itching to get started.
Those juices still had him awake at three in the morning and he sat on the sofa in the second live space, his beloved old acoustic cradled in his lap, working out a riff. It was the part of the process he loved, bringing all the disjointed thoughts and chords in his head to a cohesive sound. He took a short break and lit up a joint, watching the smoke spiral above his head.
“Can’t sleep either?” Richey’s voice broke his concentration and he looked up.
“You know me too well.”
Richey had moved into Nate’s house when he first joined the band. They’d spent many a long hour in the converted garage, working on songs, playing covers and generally hanging out. It felt like a world away from where they were now and Nate missed that easy friendship.
His friend sank on to the sofa beside him. “I heard that Clem had a run in with Poppy the other night.”
It took all of Nate’s patience not to roll his eyes. He hated the fact Poppy was interfering in his relationship when she had one of her own to worry about. One that had started way before his with Clem.
“Yeah, I don’t know what’s wrong with her. She’s being a total bitch about it.”
“No idea why though. Eva had nothing but good things to say about Clem. She really liked her.” Richey took the joint from Nate. “I really shouldn’t, but…” He let the words trail off and Nate instantly knew what he meant.
“I’ve got an idea for a song.” Richey tossed his lyrics notebook towards Nate. “See what you think about that.”
As he read through the words, Nate lit up another reefer and they passed it between the two of them until it burned out. The mellowing effect of the hash was setting his artistry alight and as Nate began to tap out some chord patterns, Richey joined in with singing.
“All I know is the big periods of nothingness, the darkness, catharsi
s…”
The lines echoed in Nate’s head and he pondered whether it was reflective of Richey’s period in rehab. He hadn’t visited Richey the whole time he’d been there. It had been Alik, Parker and Poppy that had taken care of all that. The guilt Nate felt intensified. He should have been there for his friend, should have noticed what was going on and how Richey had been feeling.
They sat around, playing with various riffs and bridges until they found something they were happy with, the time evaporating. By the time they were satisfied, the sun was beginning to come up.
A big grin framed both their faces, in part from the grass but also from the buzz of finding a new song idea.
Richey stood up. “I’m knackered, mate. Gonna get some sleep before we put this track down later.” He high-fived Nate and headed out of the room.
Nate stretched out on the sofa, staring at the ceiling. The pleasant exhaustion that came with a session like that flooded through his body, but his mind was still not ready to rest yet. He was vaguely aware of his phone vibrating with a message and reached down to find it under the table.
It was from Clem: Miss you, wish you were closer xx
Me too, what are you up to? Xxx
Up early, prepping for the photoshoot later xx
Is that the lingerie one? ;o) xxx
Might be… gotta go, Leona’s here xx
His own thoughts echoed Clem’s. He wished she was closer too, like right here next to him. Now. He missed her more than he realised.
The bang of the door made him jump, pulling him back into reality.
“Have you even been to bed?” Alik stared down at him.
Immediately, Nate shifted himself into an upright position. “Nope, me and Richey have been working on something. He’s just gone up to bed.”
“Wanna let me hear it?”
There was a childish streak in Nate that wanted to refuse, wanted to wait until Richey was there so they could show off their work together. But the song was too strong, too intense for that.
It couldn’t wait.
If Alik liked it, they could get the engineers to work with them and have something ready for when Parker came to see them to check on progress.
He reached for his guitar. “Richey’s singing is obviously better than mine,” he said as he began to play. The words moved around the page of their own accord, as tiredness took hold.
Alik listened, moving around so he could see the notebook better, nodding his head and tapping along. Around three minutes later, he stopped.
“That’s deep. Richey wrote it?”
“Yeah, I think it’s something that came out of his stay in Beech Hill House. You know how much he wrote while he was there.”
“Has it got a name?”
“Well, the chorus talks about Big Periods of Nothingness. That could work.”
“You think it works as an acoustic? Or can you see it fully plugged in?”
“Electro acoustic,” said Nate. He already heard it in his head when they pulled it all together.
Alik nodded, seemingly deep in thought. “Why don’t you go and get some rest? We can work on this later. I’ll get Dev to take a look at this.” He waved the chord patterns that Nate had jotted down.
Music always superseded whatever was going on in Nate and Alik’s relationship.
It took all of Nate’s efforts to get up the stairs to the small room that was his. The bedroom was barely big enough for a small double bed, but it didn’t matter.
Nate tumbled across the bed like he’d been felled and slipped straight into a dreamless slumber.
Chapter Seventeen
It had been a long day. Clem was finally home, snuggled up on her bed, laptop resting on her outstretched legs. The shoot with Cordelia Lyons had gone well, amazingly well in fact. The photographer had already sent through some proof shots for her to check out. No-one was more stunned than Clem herself at how the photographs had turned out. If she didn’t know it was her in the images, she would have needed to check.
The last set of shots was the best. The lingerie was easily the raciest in the collection: a sheer, white quarter cup bra with the same embroidered stars as the rest of the pieces, with matching white net tulle panties that had narrow trims of vanilla lace and a ribbon bow, centre front. Clem’s hair had been styled in tousled waves and her make-up was smoky and sultry, her lips painted a vivid shade of plum.
On impulse, she reached for her phone and messaged Nate. Are you alone? xxx
She didn’t want to share these pictures with the whole world. Yet.
While she waited for a reply, she clicked on the other images. The campaign was going to be fabulous and it would really put the brand on the map. She sighed inwardly as she thought of Dean’s sensible, business planning reaction. There were times when that side of things really bored her. If she wasn’t so excited about the design and promoting the items in the collection, it would be such a dull job.
She glanced at her phone, checking it had power and signal. Nate hadn’t responded. Even while he’d been in the studio, he’d usually reply pretty quickly.
Before she could change her mind again, she selected one of the pictures, took a quick snap with her phone and pressed send. It was one of the behind the scenes ones, with the stylist attaching the black suspenders to her stockings, the curve of her arse bare, framed with smoky lace. She didn’t add a message. The image spoke for itself.
Almost instantly the reply came back. Holy fuck!!!! Are you still wearing them??? Xxxxx
Clem laughed. If she knew that was the way to get his attention, she’d have done it sooner.
Afraid not. You want to chat? xxx
Gimme a couple of minutes, I’ll call you right back xxx
It was closer to ten minutes before he called her. She pushed the laptop to one side and made herself comfortable against the headboard, plumping up the pillows around her.
“Sorry, we were finishing up on the last of the songs for today. And I wanted to be in my room when we spoke. I didn’t want the guys around when you tell me all about your shoot today.” His voice was husky. “You look absolutely gorgeous in that picture, by the way.”
“Oh, such a compliment.”
“You want me to tell you how much I want to fuck you instead?”
“Nate!”
“Okay, okay. Tell me about the shoot. Tell me about how you and the other models frolicked around in your underwear.”
A grin twitched at the corner of Clem’s mouth. “There weren’t any other models.”
“That’s such a shame. I’ll just have to imagine you in your underwear instead.”
“I wish you were here, then you wouldn’t have to imagine.”
“We could always video chat?”
“Nate McKenna, what are you suggesting?” Clem’s insides squirmed. She knew exactly where his train of thought was going.
“As if you’ve never done it before, Clementine Cameron.”
Suddenly, he cut the call, only for her phone to ring moments later, Nate’s face on the screen. “Hi.”
The corner of his mouth quirked up. “And here I was thinking you’d be in that gorgeous lingerie and instead, you’re already in bed, wearing my shirt.”
Clem looked down, embarrassed at his discovery. She still hadn’t given his checked shirt back to him. “Whoops. I really must return that.”
His tone softened. “Don’t bother, I like the way you look in it. Although it would look better if you undid a couple of buttons.”
A flush crept across her cheeks and her groin throbbed low and deep. Slowly, she undid the shirt, exposing her skin.
“Maybe slide it off your shoulders…”
It was intoxicating. Clem did as he asked, shrugging the shirt off, sitting there topless, the cool air making her nipples harden almost instantly. She licked her dry lips. Someone had sucked all the air out of the room. Her breathing was heavy, as she watched Nate struggle out of his own t-shirt, his muscular chest appearing on the scr
een.
“Pull the phone away, so I can see you properly.”
Shuffling down on the bed, Clem held the phone at arm’s length, her whole body quivering as she did so, her senses on fire. Hearing Nate sigh on the other end of the phone caught her attention. “What are you doing?”
“What do you think?”
Her mind went into overdrive. The way he had angled his camera meant that she couldn’t see all of him in the same way he could her.
“I wish you were the one touching me right now,” he rasped. “Your hand pumping my cock, while mine strokes your pussy, tormenting your clit until you can’t take it anymore.”
His words had Clem reaching between her legs, doing herself like he suggested. Her fingers slid beneath her pyjama shorts, fluttering over her slick core, increasing the pressure, then pulling back, just like Nate would do.
Neither of them spoke as they stared at each other on screen. Clem desperately wanted to close her eyes, to allow the feelings to wash over her as she reached her peak. But she knew Nate wanted to see her. To see how she came, how she could make herself feel. The intensity in his irises as his gaze bored into her was unnerving. It was almost as if she couldn’t breathe, intense tension built inside her, just waiting to explode.
“Clem, I’m close…” His tone was strangled, and for a brief moment his eyes closed, before opening wide.
As she watched him, her own orgasm hit, her clit pulsing and contracting as her fingers teased her over the edge.
“Oh, Nate…” Her hips bucked and she lost control, the phone tumbling from her grasp, bouncing harmlessly under her bed. Her breathing came in quick pants as she tried to steady herself.
“Clem?” Nate’s muffled voice came from beneath her. She wrestled herself into a sitting position, wrapping his shirt around her and reached underneath the bed. His grin was lopsided.
“What happened?”
She couldn’t stop her mouth from twitching. “You know what just happened.”
“I wish I could have been there. I would have loved to have seen that in person.”