Lead Me On

by Lexxie Couper

  Lily watched them all, unable to hear what Pepper said to him. She didn’t need to though. Not when Eugene threw up his arms and let out a deafening whoop, followed by an equally loud, “hot damn!”

  A smile of pure joy spread her lips. It seemed her twin had made it through to the next stage of the audition.

  She watched Eugene bound around the space, pumping Levi’s hand, Jax’s hand, Noah’s hand. When he turned to Samuel, Lily’s heart thumped faster. The two studied each other and then, with a nod, Samuel gave him a hug.

  Lily let out a shaky breath, her head dizzy.

  For the first time since she could remember, the thought of her brother immersing himself completely and utterly in the rock and roll scene didn’t worry her. Not a jot.

  She slid her stare to Samuel and knew it was because she trusted him.

  Who would have thought it? About a week after Googling Samuel Gibson with nothing but contempt, here she was in love with him and glad for his presence in her brother’s life. What a turn around.

  She caught her bottom lip between her thumb and index finger, studying the man. What happened now? Did she tell him how she felt?

  As if aware of her scrutiny, Samuel turned to face her.

  Their gazes clashed across the distance, and Lily’s breath caught in her throat.

  After a quick word to Levi, Samuel broke away from the group and walked towards her, leaving Eugene to talk with animated joy to Noah and Pepper.

  For some reason Lily couldn’t fathom, nerves crashed through her. She jolted to her feet, pulling a steadying breath.

  “Pepper’s going to book a gig for us next Saturday,” he said, his gaze roaming her face. “Apparently, she sent a text to a bar owner she knows before Eugene even finished the first verse of ‘Wretched’.”

  Lily stared at him, everything she wanted to say stuck in her tight throat.

  He smiled, taking another step closer. “Which means, Ms. Pearce, the guys and I will be staying in San Fran for another seven days. Got any ideas on what we can do to pass the time?”

  Mouth dry, Lily licked her lips. “We?”

  He nodded. “You and me.”

  Pulse pounding, she lifted a shoulder in a woeful attempt at an off-handed shrug. “Something touristy?”

  Samuel shook his head, his hands smoothing around her hips to tug her the remaining distance between them. “I’m thinking more along the lines of this.”

  He lowered his head to hers and kissed her.

  Long. Hard. Passionately.

  Oh boy, was it a passionate kiss.

  “Okay, you two!” someone shouted from the other side of the world. Or maybe from the other side of the room. Lily couldn’t tell, not when her head was roaring with concentrated need and desire. “Get a room.”

  Samuel nipped at her lip, flicked at it with his tongue and then straightened, pulling her closer still to his body as he tossed a look over his shoulder at their grinning onlookers. “Now that sounds like the perfect plan. Pepper, if you don’t need me any longer, I’m going to do exactly what yon Drummer Boy commanded.”

  “That’s my sister,” Eugene called.

  “So?” Samuel’s arms tightened around Lily’s waist.

  “Just thought I should point out if you break her heart, I’ll break your fingers.” Eugene flicked Lily a smile. “No matter who you are.”

  Lily rolled her eyes.

  Jax laughed.

  Samuel turned back to Lily, his eyes smoldering. “Then my fingers are safe,” he murmured.

  He took her hand in his and walked her from the rehearsal space.

  Samuel waved Brutal off before his bodyguard could reach the door. “We’re just heading back to the suite, Maurice.”

  Brutal pursed his lips and nodded. The closest he got to a pout.

  Samuel chuckled, the warmth from Lily’s palm against his a lifeline to a world—a future—he couldn’t believe was his. “Don’t worry, mate. You’re not redundant. We’ll be heading out to eat at some stage. Promise.” He flicked Lily a smile. “Right?”

  She looked up at him, an unreadable expression on her face.

  “Besides,” he continued, turning back to his bodyguard. “I think Levi and Jax might be grateful for your presence today. I don’t know what their plans are for the rest of the day, but I suspect Jax will be dragging Levi off to the film set so he can meet Chris Huntley.”

  “Okay, boss.”

  Grinning at the limo driver holding the back door open for them, Samuel slid his hand over the small of Lily’s back. “Straight to the hotel, Jeeves.”

  The driver—the same one as yesterday, whose name wasn’t Jeeves but Barry—dipped his head in acknowledgment. “Yes, Mr. Gibson.”

  When both Samuel and Lily were settled in the back, he cast her a curious look. “Do you want to go meet Chris Huntley? We can if you want. It’ll only take a call. It is the film we’re recording the closing credits song for, after all.”

  “I didn’t know that.”

  Samuel raised his eyebrows. “Really? It’s become a topic of conversation on all the entertainment shows and sites. Ever since Jax blabbed a few weeks ago there’s constant talk about it, what the song is going to be like, who will be the lead singer. Anyone would think it’s the next Bond theme song with the frenzy it’s stirring up.”

  Lily shook her head. “I don’t watch those shows. Nor surf on those kinds of sites. In case you haven’t worked it out yet, the whole celebrity thing irritates me. And you know how I feel about the rock-star lifestyle.”

  He laughed. “You seriously are a breath of fresh air, Lily. My agent sends me daily emails with links to every mention of me and the band on the web damn near every hour. Muso journalists are speculating daily who’s taking Nick’s place. There are reporters desperately trying to find out anything they can about you and our relationship so they can tell the whole bloody world. And, just to add to the fun of my life, a Hollywood director is constantly asking for updates on a song that has no one to sing it yet, and you…you just reduce it all to a shake of your head.” He leant forward and dropped a soft kiss on her lips. “Thank you for that.”

  A delicate pink painted her cheeks. She shrugged. “Until you came along, I didn’t have time for any of that kind of stuff. I work damn near twenty-four seven, and when I’m not working, I’m worrying about Eugene. And speaking of work, my week off came to an end today. I’m back on shift tomorrow.”

  Samuel frowned. “Well, that sucks.”

  She let out a sigh. “It’s the way it is, I’m afraid.”

  Disgruntled anger squeezed at his chest. “Take another week off. I don’t want to share you with anyone. We can go to the vineyards and stay in one of those theme rooms. Or I’ll buy a car—a convertible something or other—and we can drive down the coast to Big Sur. Or even fly to—”

  “We’re not all famous rock stars, Samuel,” she cut him off, the censure in her voice reminiscent of the tone she’d used every time she’d spoken to him when they first met. “I can’t just abandon my job. Besides, I enjoy it.”

  He tucked his fingers under her chin and raised her gaze to his. Confusion shimmered in the green depths of her eyes. The emotion struck him hard. Being in love wasn’t as easy as he imagined it would be. And that’s what he was—in love with Lily. “I’m sorry,” he said, meaning the apology with everything in his heart. “That was Samuel Gibson, narcissist and arrogant bastard rock star talking, not me.”

  A soft chuckle slipped from Lily. “You are Samuel Gibson, narcissist and arrogant bastard rock star. But I’m surprisingly okay with that. Because I also know you’re Samuel Gibson, air-guitar champion and John Cusack fan. What you need to remember is I’m Lily Pearce, paramedic. I sometimes get covered in blood for a living, while you get women’s panties thrown at you.”

  He cocked an eyebrow. “How do you know that?”

  She grinned. “I keep telling you I Googled you the first night after we met. The things I learnt about you were ver
y interesting. And enlightening. There was a particularly fascinating YouTube clip of you performing on stage in Berlin with three pairs of panties—I think one of them was a thong—hanging off the end of your guitar.”

  There was no derision in her voice this time, just a playful jest that sent tiny licks of happiness through Samuel. He laughed. “Ahh, that Berlin concert. Yeah, I got hit in the eye by one of those pairs of undies. Couldn’t see out of it properly for a good half hour or so.”

  “Blinded by panties. Can you write that on a medical insurance form?”

  He chuckled. “I have a vague recollection my agent tried to convince someone it was a legitimate medical claim. Apparently my eyes are insured for millions. Almost as much as my fingers and my voice. Having said that, my agent is a shark.”

  Lily’s lips twitched. “Aren’t they all?”

  Another lick of sheer contentment enveloped Samuel’s soul. How had he been so fortunate to find this woman? He’d come to San Francisco looking for a singer and found her as well, his forever.

  There was a song in that. Had to be.

  One just waiting to be written.

  But not now. Now, all Samuel wanted to do was lose himself in the passion Lily had awoken in him.

  But she’s never told you she loves you, Sam. Aren’t you jumping the gun a bit? Your forever? What if she hasn’t changed her mind about what’s between you both being nothing but sex? What if the future you’re seeing, a long future together, isn’t the future she wants?

  The disquieting thought scraped at his joy. “Lily?” he began, his voice a husky whisper.

  She studied him, waiting.

  He swallowed, aching to know what was in her soul.

  Do you love me?

  The question wouldn’t form on his lips. What if the answer was no?

  Christ, he’d never been more scared.

  Leaning closer to her, he cupped his hand on the side of her face and gazed into her eyes. “Will you spend the rest of the day making love to me, Lily Pearce, paramedic?”

  She drew her head to his and nipped his bottom lip in a playful bite. “I can’t think of anything else I’d rather do.”

  Samuel kissed her.

  Even as his heart ached for more.

  Chapter Eleven

  Lily went back to work—for one day. Her first shift found her attending a heart-attack victim in a busy restaurant in Japantown. She was monitoring the elderly woman’s cardio rhythms while her partner talked to her granddaughter when someone in the restaurant let out a gasp and cried, “She’s Samuel Gibson’s new girlfriend. I saw her on E! News last night!”

  Before Lily could look up from the patient, camera flashes fired around the restaurant, more than one diner deciding it was absolutely imperative they photograph her with their cell phones right at that very second. As if by taking her picture they were somehow enriching their lives.

  It flustered Lily, stressed the suffering patient so much her breathing turned rapid and shallow and angered the granddaughter until she yelled at Lily to do her goddamn job.

  By the time Lily and her partner arrived back at the depot, her boss had fielded more calls from reporters about his famous paramedic than he wanted to. He called her into his office and told her she was taking another week off. Maybe longer. No arguments.

  “Until this whole rock-star-boyfriend thing blows over, Lily, you’re more distraction than I need, okay?”

  She’d protested. And then sulked. And then worried about how she would cope when the whole rock-star-boyfriend thing did blow over.

  That night, when Samuel arrived at her home in the limo ready to take her to dinner, decked out in black leather with his cowboy hat firmly in place, she told him what had happened and informed him, with petulant frustration born from fear, she was over celebrities.

  He studied her for a long moment, gave a single nod and left.

  Pain and sorrow ripped at Lily’s heart as the door closed behind him. She stood motionless, staring at the panel of wood. Oh God, was that it? Had she pushed him away once too often?

  Fresh pain lashed at her heart and she bit back a sob. Goddamn it, how had she let this all happen? How could she fall for an unobtainable man and be filled with wretched grief when their time came to an end? She’d known all along it would. Why was she so surprised now?

  Fifteen minutes later, on the verge of finally surrendering to the tears stinging the back of her eyes, she let out a startled gasp when someone knocked on her door.

  Swiping furiously at her eyes, she yanked the door open and then stared—dumbstruck—at the man grinning at her from the other side of her threshold.

  Samuel stood there holding a large pizza box, dressed in faded-blue denim jeans, a white button-down shirt and a Chicago Cubs baseball hat pulled low on the top of his head. “G’day, babe,” he said, his Australian accent wickedly cheeky. “Reckon we could have a carpet picnic?”

  Lily gaped at him. “Where did you get those clothes?”

  He held out his arms, checking himself out. “I tracked Levistan down and made him give me some of his. He told me if I get them dirty or torn I’m dead. Who knew he was so protective of his clothes?”

  Pure delight rolled through Lily. Her heart thumped fast. “Better get you a napkin then,” she murmured, stepping aside to let Samuel in.

  He cast her a suggestive inspection. “Or we could just eat naked?”

  They did eat the pizza naked, while watching reruns of House on cable before making love for the rest of the night on Lily’s floor, her bed, the kitchen counter.

  The next day, they wandered the art galleries incognito. Samuel arranged for Brutal to deliver a week’s worth of Levi-esque clothes to Lily’s home that morning—jeans, T-shirts, polo shirts and baseball caps, and when they left the security of her house, Samuel strutted about, sunglasses in place, face turned up to the sun’s warming rays as if he were walking a new planet. Lily couldn’t help but laugh. Often.

  When Brutal turned up the following morning in a small, nondescript Audi hatchback, Lily didn’t know what to say. Not just because the limo had been replaced, but because Brutal didn’t look like Brutal any more. Gone were the white-framed Ray-Ban sunglasses and fluorescent sweats. Now, the bodyguard wore dark jeans, a black turtleneck sweater with black sunglasses covering his eyes and a dapper trilby perched on his head.

  The whole thing was so surreal. And wonderful.

  Lily could only gape.

  “Ready?” Samuel asked, trotting past her to climb into the back of the small car.

  Laughing, she followed him into the Audi. She didn’t let herself ponder everything going on, all the changes Samuel had made for her. To do so would be to court false hope. Yes, he’d told her more than once he was in love with her, but there was no way he meant it, even if he thought he did. She was a passing fancy, and eventually Samuel’s infatuation with her would wear off. She didn’t doubt that. She didn’t want to think about it, but she didn’t doubt it either. So instead, she would think about how wonderful it was being with him and not dwell on the future.

  They spent the day trolling the shops before taking in a movie, a woeful rom-com that made Lily roll her eyes so often she got a headache.

  To a casual observer, the three of them would be nothing more normal than a couple in love and their tag-along friend. The baseball cap stayed on Samuel’s head even when indoors, and the only time his sunglasses left his face was when they were inside. Then he wore thin wire-framed glasses.

  He was, to be honest, unrecognizable as the black-leather-wearing bad boy of rock. “You make a very sexy geek,” she said as they exited the cinema complex with Brutal a few steps away. “Maybe the contacts you’ve been wearing all this time have been hiding your true charm?”

  Samuel spun her to face him before she could react and crushed her mouth with his in a hungry kiss.

  “Wow,” she panted when he finally let her go. “What was that for?”

  He pressed his hips to hers,
his arousal evident against her belly. “Because I can. There’s no pap following us. We’re just a sexy geek and his sexy girlfriend.”

  Lily’s stomach knotted at the word girlfriend. Her mouth went dry. She stared up into his eyes, seeing tiny reflections of herself in the lenses of his glasses. “Samuel,” she whispered. “I have something—”

  “And your sexier friend,” Brutal rumbled at Samuel’s side. “Who doesn’t like the way the guy to your left is looking at you. Might be time to get going, Frank.”

  Lily forced herself not to look over her shoulder at the observer Brutal was talking about. Instead, she threaded her fingers through Samuel’s, tugged the brim of his cap lower over his face as if she was just trying to irritate him and then hurried to where Brutal had parked the Audi before they’d entered the cinema complex.

  They were back in her home, in her shower together, when Samuel nibbled his way up to her ear. “I love you.”

  She drew in a swift breath. Remained motionless. Even when he snared her wrists, pressed them to the tile wall either side of her head and gazed down into her face.

  “Tell me you feel the same.”

  The anguished trepidation in his voice undid her. Or maybe it was the haunted hope in his eyes. Whatever the reason, she couldn’t fight what was in her heart any longer.

  “I do. It’s scary and doesn’t make any sense, but I do. I love you, Samuel Gibson.”

  He buried his face in the side of her neck and groaned. “Fuck, I’ve wanted to hear that for so long.”

  “For the last three days?”

  He raised his head and smiled at her. “Longer. I think I fell in love with you in the mirror maze.”

  Lily closed her eyes. “This is dangerous,” she murmured. “I know you’re only going to break my heart later.”

  “No, I won’t.” The fierce conviction in his statement made her look at him again. He studied her, his nostrils flaring, water streaming over his head. “I can’t even fathom walking away from you. Not being with you.”

  Hot delight sheared through Lily. “Fuck me, Sam,” she pleaded, arching her hips towards his. “Show me how much you love me.”