Rocking Standby

by Cassandra Lawson

  I nodded. “Good idea. Thanks.”

  Gage: How about lunch tomorrow?

  Bentley: I need to go into the office. I’m working a lot of weekend hours now.

  Gage: Dinner?

  Bentley: I can’t. I have dinner plans with my sister. It looks like I won’t be able to see you before you head back to LA.

  I was ready to growl in frustration. She was trying to blow me off.

  “Don’t text her back,” Harley told me.

  “Are you honestly suggesting I let her blow me off like this?” I asked in disbelief.

  Harley shook her head and grinned. “You know me better than that. I’m merely suggesting you handle your business in person. That way she’ll have a harder time blowing you off.”

  “That’s a good idea,” I mused. “I know where to start.”

  Xander and Austin’s arrival interrupted our discussion. They were flanked by six women and a guy who couldn’t have been much older than eighteen.

  “We brought a friend for you, Harley,” Austin announced with a huge grin.

  I had to hand it to Harley. She held it together. Later, she’d get her revenge on our friends, but for now, she smiled at her young admirer who was looking at her like she was a goddess. If I didn’t have bigger plans, I’d stick around to enjoy the show. I never got tired of watching Harley being pursued by a doting submissive.

  “I’m gonna skip the after-party,” I announced.

  “Why?” Austin asked.

  “Are you going to spend the whole night wallowing in self pity because Ginger Ann didn’t show up?” Xander asked.

  “Nope,” I replied with a shake of my head. “I’m going to head over to The Frisky Beaver.”

  Chapter 32

  Gage

  It might have been a dick move, but there were definitely benefits to having had Bentley investigated. I’d been tempted to head straight to Bentley’s house, but it was late. After her long trip home, she needed rest. I also needed a plan. With any luck, her sister was working tonight. I needed to talk to someone who knew Bentley better. Bentley had an issue with my chosen career. I was certain there was a story behind her disdain for musicians, but she changed the subject any time I brought it up.

  The Frisky Beaver was much nicer than I’d pictured. Based on the name, I expected to find a sleazy strip club. Instead, it appeared clean. There was a bar in the center and an empty stage near the rear. Scantily clad waitresses were making their rounds to the tables. At nearly two in the morning, there was still a big crowd. A bouncer who had about four inches and fifty pounds of muscle on me stopped me at the door to check my ID.

  “We’re closing in twenty minutes,” he told me. “There are no more shows tonight.”

  “That’s fine,” I assured him. “I was actually hoping to talk to Mercedes Whitier. I’m a friend of her sister’s.”

  He nodded. “I’ll call back to her office to tell her you’re here.”

  “Thanks,” I said as I headed into the club and took a seat at the bar.

  “What can I get you?” the bartender asked with a pleasant smile.

  “Just an orange juice,” I told her as I set a twenty on the counter.

  “You’re not going to win my sister over by going to strip clubs,” purred a sultry voice from behind me.

  I turned to find Mercedes standing there. I’d expected her to be dressed like a stripper. Instead, she wore a dark red, fitted business suit. Her eyes were the same shade of green as Bentley’s, but the similarities ended there.

  “I only came here to find you,” I told her. “Can I talk to you about Bentley?”

  She gave me a bright smile. “Absolutely. Why don’t we talk in my office?”

  I nodded and followed her to the back of the club and into her office. “This is a nice club.”

  She seemed pleased with my compliment. “It used to be a total dive,” she explained. “The original owner was trying for that atmosphere, but I wanted something different. When I bought into the place and started making changes, he told me tips would go down. If anything, they went up. You didn’t come here to talk about my club. What can I do for you?”

  “I need help with your sister,” I began. “She didn’t come to the show tonight because of a flight delay. When I asked about seeing her tomorrow, she made a bunch of excuses. They might all be true, but I’m sure she’s trying to avoid me. One thing she mentioned was dinner plans with you tomorrow.”

  She tapped her long fingernails on her desk as she considered what I’d said. “She does have plans with me, but nothing she couldn’t cancel. When are you heading back to Los Angeles?”

  “I’m not,” I replied. “The band is moving to the Bay Area.”

  “Does my sister know this?” Mercedes asked thoughtfully.

  “No,” I replied. “We haven’t announced the move yet, and I wanted to tell her in person.”

  “Good idea,” Mercedes praised. “Don’t give Bennie a chance to run. I guess she’s already running, but this will make her run faster.”

  “Why is she running from me?” I asked. “This isn’t about me being a jerk, or even the long-distance relationship issue. Bentley is dead set against dating me because of what I do, but I have no idea why she feels this way.”

  “Bennie will kill me if I tell you her business,” she insisted. “Besides, I’m sure you can get it out of her.”

  “Only if I can get near her,” I grumbled. “I’ve brought it up over the phone, but she always has to cut our call short. I need to see her.”

  “You should join us for dinner tomorrow,” Mercedes suggested with an impish grin. “It’s possible I’ll have to leave as soon as you arrive. My schedule is quite busy.”

  “I owe you Mercedes,” I told her with feeling.

  “Call me Mercy,” she replied. “You can repay me by getting my sister to loosen up some. I don’t need to tell you what will happen if you hurt her again, do I?”

  “I have no intention of hurting her,” I insisted.

  “Good,” Mercy replied with a sweet smile. “Leave your number with me so I can text you the details. We still haven’t decided where we’re meeting.”

  Tomorrow, I was finally going to see Bentley again. It was time to remind her how good we were together.

  Chapter 33

  Bentley

  Gage didn’t message me back after I turned him down. The temptation to call him was strong. Even knowing that seeing Gage would be a mistake, I felt bad about refusing to meet up with him. There was part of me that regretted my decision. I wanted to see Gage again—all of Gage. How was I supposed to find a man to compare to him? Even worse than my inability to put my night with Gage behind me, I was jealous. I was certain he didn’t have any problems finding women on tour, and there was no reason he should spend his nights alone. While I’d heard he was avoiding groupies, that didn’t mean he’d been celibate since our night together. Why should he be? We weren’t dating. I’d made it clear I wasn’t interested in dating. So, why did the thought of him with another woman bother me so much? I knew the answer. I was crazy.

  After parking, I walked to the Thai restaurant where I was meeting my sister for dinner. The place was a dive, but the food was fantastic. When I walked in the door, my mind was still focused on Gage. As I scanned the dining area, I was sure my eyes were playing tricks on me. Gage couldn’t be sitting at a table with my sister. I was looking at the back of his head, so it could be someone with the same shade of blond hair.

  When Gage turned my way, his eyes met mine and held. I couldn’t look away. His expression held a mix of irritation and hunger. He looked like he was about to stand and stalk toward me. I had the strangest desire to turn and make a run for it. Gage’s lips curled upward, and he shook his head as if guessing my intention.

  I hadn’t even noticed she’d stood and moved from the table until Mercy spoke from my side. “I’m going to head out now. Have fun!”

  I caught her arm and turned to glare at her. “Don�
�t you dare leave me! What is going on here?”

  “You’re having dinner with Gage,” she explained. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do. In fact, you might want to ease into this by only doing about half the things I’d do.”

  “Mercy,” I ground out. “This is a very bad idea.”

  “Be bad, Bennie,” she said with a giggle. “Be very bad.”

  On those words, my sister sashayed out of the restaurant. I was seriously going to get her for this. My traitorous body seemed to think this was a great idea. My nipples were already hard, and I felt the dull ache of arousal between my legs. I could already smell his spicy cologne and feel the heat from his body. When I turned back toward the dining area, I came face to face with Gage’s chest.

  “Why do you look like you’re going to run from me?” Gage asked, placing one finger under my chin to get me to meet his gaze.

  “I’m not going to run,” I scoffed.

  “But you want to,” he stated.

  “A little,” I admitted.

  “Why?” he asked.

  “I honestly don’t know,” I replied. “Even as I was considering running, I recognized how ridiculous I’d look.”

  “Would you think less of me if I told you I kind of wanted you to run so I’d have an excuse to chase you?” he asked with a lopsided grin.

  Oh. My. God. That image turned me on even more.

  “This is such a bad idea,” I muttered.

  “Me chasing you?” he asked as he looped his fingers through mine and led me to the table.

  “Me seeing you,” I admitted.

  “No,” he argued. “That is an excellent idea. Chasing you could be fun, too. We should try that some time. First, we need to talk.”

  I could do this. Gage would be going home soon. My behavior was ridiculous. He was my friend. Yes, he was also a very hot guy who’d made me scream his name more times than I had thought possible in one night, but I could still be around him without stripping my clothes off and begging him to take me. I needed to focus on our friendship and stop allowing thoughts of that night to creep into my mind.

  Damn, he looked good in his gray t-shirt and worn jeans! My fingers itched to slide under the edge of his shirt and touch his smooth skin again.

  No! Focus! We were friends. I sat at the table and much to my surprise, Gage sat right beside me rather than taking a seat across from me. His proximity definitely wasn’t helping my resolve to keep things platonic.

  “When are you heading home?” I asked as I grabbed my menu to give me something to do with my hands that didn’t involve touching Gage.

  “That’s one of the things I wanted to talk to you about,” he began. “I’m moving up here. Actually, I already have a place. Colin helped me arrange things while I was on tour.”

  “You bought a house up here?” I asked, slowly drawing out each word as if they’d make more sense that way.

  “For now, I’m renting,” he replied. “I plan to buy a place soon.”

  “Why?” I asked.

  His lips twitched. “Real estate is a good investment.”

  “Don’t be a smartass,” I told him.

  “It’s partly because of Austin,” he began. “We don’t need to live in LA, and Austin has wanted to move closer to his family. As for me, I can’t handle being so far from my mom. My aunt and uncle were able to move down here from Portland. My mom wouldn’t have moved without my aunt. This puts me and my mom closer to Colin.”

  I nodded. “That makes sense.” I stared down at my menu as if trying to decide what I wanted to order. I already knew what I was ordering, but I needed to focus on something besides Gage while I processed this new information. Gage was moving up here. That meant my long-distance relationship argument was out the window. I still had plenty of good reasons to avoid getting involved with Gage. If I told myself that enough times, I was certain I’d believe it.

  “There is another reason for my move up here,” he stated, taking my menu and setting it to the side so I’d look at him.

  “What’s that?” I asked, looking over at him and trying to sound unaffected.

  “You,” he stated. “I moved up here for you. I can’t get you out of my mind, Bentley. One night with you could never be enough.”

  Chapter 34

  Gage

  I watched Bentley’s reaction to my declaration. When I’d been considering how to handle things with her, I’d worried about pushing her too hard. It was possible she’d run, but I planned to follow if she did. While Mercy hadn’t been willing to tell me everything she knew about Bentley, she’d seemed certain Bentley would push me away if I gave her half a chance. My plan was to push my way past Bentley’s barriers. I’d spent a lot of time thinking about this meeting—every second since Mercy had agreed to arrange it—and I’d come to the conclusion that I needed to stop letting Bentley push me away. She was already mine, and I was going to enjoy proving it to her.

  Bentley finally cleared her throat and looked down at her menu again. “I’m glad our friendship means this much to you. I like you, too.”

  “That’s good,” I said, trying not to laugh at her attempt to downplay what I was saying. Leaning in closer, I spoke quietly. “You can pretend we’re just friends, but we both know that’s a lie.”

  “It’s not,” she argued. “We are friends. Good friends.”

  “True,” I agreed. “We’re also more than that. It took everything in me not to call you every night while I was on tour. I wanted more than that. I wanted you to come see me play. I wanted to wrap you in my arms and kiss you when the adrenaline from a show was pounding through my bloodstream.”

  “You must have had plenty of women to help you with that,” she said with a laugh. Though she was trying to sound unaffected, her voice had a definite edge to it.

  “Yes, there were,” I agreed. “I sent every one of them away because they weren’t you.”

  “No,” Bentley began with a shake of her head. “I’m not getting sucked back into the Gage Addison vortex.”

  “Gage Addison vortex?” I asked.

  “You’re swirling with all this sexiness and saying just the right things to make me believe we belong together, but we don’t,” she argued.

  I grinned.

  “Why are you smiling at me?” she asked wearily.

  “First, I’m happy to see you,” I began. “It’s been far too long. Second, I’m looking forward to proving you wrong.”

  “I’m happy to see you, too,” she admitted. “That does not mean this is a good idea. It’s not. We cannot be more than friends. You need to accept that.”

  “What do you recommend from the menu?” I asked.

  Bentley eyed me before responding. “Just about everything is great.”

  “Wanna see a movie after we’re done with dinner?” I asked.

  “We’re not dating,” she insisted.

  The waiter interrupted our discussion when he came to take our order, so I decided to change the subject. Arguing wouldn’t get me anywhere with Bentley. We were definitely dating. She just didn’t realize it yet.

  Chapter 35

  Bentley

  “You were right,” Gage told me after polishing off the last of the pineapple fried rice. “This food is great.”

  “Why is it that these little dive places always have the best food?” I asked.

  He shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s the same with the food trucks.”

  I shook my head in response. “I don’t do food trucks.”

  “Are you kidding me?” he asked. “Food trucks are awesome. There are even apps now so you can find your favorites. When I lived in Portland, finding the food truck I was looking for could be a pain in the ass. Back when I was in high school, I’d have to ask the drivers for their schedules.”

  “This seems like the sort of thing you should have disclosed when we first started talking,” I told him.

  “My love of food trucks?” he asked.

  “Yes,” I replied. “I had no idea
you were addicted to food poisoning.”

  “Hey!” he began. “Don’t insult the food trucks. I’ll bet you’ve never even tried one.”

  “I have,” I assured him, shuddering at the memory. “Let’s not discuss this so close to dinner.”

  “Fine,” he relented. “We will discuss this later. I feel it’s my duty to vindicate the honorable food truck vendors.”

  While our evening had started out tense, we were having fun. I enjoyed talking to Gage, and he wasn’t pushing me.

  “So, are you going to see that movie with me?” he asked.

  “I’m not sure,” I hedged. “Dinner and a movie sounds like a date.”

  “Friends go out for dinner and a movie,” he pointed out.

  “Are you finally admitting we’re just friends hanging out?” I asked.

  “Nope,” he replied, standing and reaching out a hand to me. “We’re on a date.”

  “We are not on a date,” I told him.

  “I’ll let you pick the movie,” he offered.

  “You are impossible,” I accused.

  “I must be doing something right since you haven’t run for the door or threatened me with bodily injury yet,” he stated.

  “I’m not sure I’m up for a movie,” I hedged. “It’s been a long day.”

  “How about if I walk you to your car?” he offered.

  “That sounds good,” I agreed.

  After stepping out the door of the restaurant, Gage caught my hand and grinned at my scowl. When I didn’t pull my hand away, his smile broadened. “Are you ready to tell me why you don’t want to date me?” he asked.

  “We’ve already gone over this.” I insisted.

  “I’ve fixed the long-distance relationship problem. That just leaves us with my career. Why do you have such a strong aversion to musicians?” he asked.

  I hesitated in responding. “I realize it’s not fair to judge you by my past experiences with musicians. You seem really responsible, and I’ve read that your band isn’t big on partying.”

  “You’ve been reading up on my band?” he asked, looking far too pleased with that information.