Love by Midnight

by MacKenzie Shaw

  Contents

  Book Series Title

  Copyright

  Introduction

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Other Books

  About the Author

  Join My List!

  The Harringtons

  Love by Midnight

  Noah & Indya

  MacKenzie Shaw

  Copyright © 2018 by MacKenzie Shaw. All rights reserved.

  This book is intended for readers 13+.

  It is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, businesses, events or locales is purely coincidental. Reproduction in whole or part of this publication without express written consent is strictly prohibited.

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  MacKenzieShaw.com/subscribe

  Indya Marshall has sworn off men after she found her now ex-boyfriend had been cheating on her. She’s enjoying being single and figuring out what she wants to do for the rest of her life, now she’s realized being a live-in nanny no longer fulfills her. She wants more, and she won’t let a tatted-up, overly-confident rock star throw her off her path.

  Noah Harrington has recently finished a world tour with his band Stroke of Midnight and should be focused on recording his next album. As soon as he sees a certain feisty, self-assured siren, who is best friends with his future sister-in-law, he can’t keep his thoughts off her. She is playing hard to get, but he’s determined to make her his.

  This is a clean contemporary romance short read with a HEA.

  CHAPTER ONE

  Noah Harrington lay back on the bed with his hands behind his head and sighed. He’d just finished a world tour with his band, Stroke of Midnight, a hectic eight months of touring, not always knowing which city they were in, moving from their tour bus to the arena, then back to the tour bus, without a real break in-between. Finally, he could stop and take a breath. He wasn’t sure he liked it. Noah preferred being busy, too busy to think about anything other than his music and now the chaos had stopped. Doubts and fears trickled into his mind and he wasn’t sure he was ready to process them yet.

  His eyes glanced around the room he’d dumped his belongings in before heading off to the bar last night to meet his brothers - all four of them, and their respective partners. The eldest, Marcus, and his wife Carly, Alex and his wife Melody, Finn and his wife Willow and Adam, whose guest bed he currently lay on, and his girlfriend Lucy. He could see the pattern here - he was the odd one out, and it wasn’t because of his band.

  Now he had time to breathe, he realized how alone he’d felt while on the road. Sure, his band mates had been great. They’d been together since they were fourteen years old and had grown up together, that was ten years of friendship they’d built. They were as close to family as you could get without being blood.

  His mind slipped back to the woman he’d seen at the bar last night… Indya. He wasn’t sure what pulled his thoughts. Every. Time. To her. It wasn’t as if he’d not had female company while he was on the road. Groupies were part of the course of being in a rock band and as the lead singer, he got more attention than the others. He chuckled at the memory of Dylan, the drummer, standing behind the large group of newspaper and magazine journalists with his hands waving around trying to draw their attention, which they ignored. Sure, they looked to see who was making all the commotion but he had been instantly dismissed while they refocused their attention on Noah. That had been at the beginning of the tour, eight long months ago. He wasn’t sure Dylan, or the rest of the band, would get away with it now. They’d blown up with their sold out arena tour and their last album went platinum. Everyone in the band was recognizable now.

  It was a life they’d dreamed off since they were fourteen and practicing in Liam’s garage. They would conquer the world, and he guessed they’d achieved that.

  So what now?

  He felt so drained, physically, mentally and emotionally. He was wiped. And the record company wanted them to record a studio album within the next ten weeks to be released for Christmas. Then they’d need to go on a three month promotional tour and then they’d get a much needed break.

  This is the life he wanted, right?

  The earlier two albums had been recorded whilst on tour, so it was important that this one was recorded in a studio. He understood it, but he preferred being in front of their fans, singing for them.

  A knock sounded from the door, “You up?”

  It was his brother Adam. He groaned at the memory of the previous night where he’d declared his intentions to Lucy’s best friend and got shot down so spectacularly. He’d laughed it off, making out he wasn’t serious. Thing was, he was serious. Like a heart attack. He wasn’t sure why the woman affected him so much. He’d been around super-models and A-list actresses, not to mention women he’d met in the industry, but Indya…

  “Yeah,” he shouted back, pulling his legs over the side of the bed to open the door. Before he could do so, it opened and his brother popped his head in.

  “I’m making pancakes, do you want any?”

  His mouth watered at the thought. It had been a long time since he’d had a home cooked meal, even if it was pancakes. “Sure, sounds great. I’ll just grab a quick shower and be out.”

  “No hurry,” his mouth twitched. “The first batch is Lucy’s, and I just wanted to see if you were awake.”

  “You mean you wanted to wake me up, like old times,” he laughed, as he remembered when they both still stayed at home and Adam took great delight in waking him up when his mother had asked him to. “I couldn’t get why you always so eager.”

  He noticed his brother shift in the doorway, “I wanted to spend time with you. It was hard being the annoying younger brother that nobody wanted to be around.” A grin appeared on his face and nodded towards the bed, “If I’d known all it would take was my own place with a guest bedroom, maybe I’d have got one sooner.” He clutched his chest dramatically with his fists, “Or am I just being used… again?”

  Noah laughed as he threw a pillow at his brothers head, “You’re definitely being used. I’d not be within a hundred miles of you if you didn’t offer me this,” he said as he bounced on the bed.

  The pillow was thrown back at him as Adam quickly shut the door and shouted through it, “Your pancakes will be ready in five.”

  CHAPTER TWO

  The sound of her alarm getting louder each passing second woke Indya Marshall, and she hit the snooze button with her palm for the third time. She groaned at having to get up and look after two little horrors who wouldn’t have any sympathy for her. Her head was pounding, and she knew without Tylenol she wouldn’t survive the next hour let alone until this evening when she thankfully had a night and the following day off.

  “Indy! Indy!” shouted the twins through her door. Ben and Sean recently turned five and were full of energy from the moment they opened their eyes in the morning until their heads hit their pillows at night. She groaned, wishing they came with a mute button, or at least a volume control then cringed at the thought. She loved her job as a live-in nanny to the twins and underneath all their raucous energy they were sweet and thoughtful boys.

  Indya threw back her covers, put on her robe and opened her door, “Morning to you too,” she greeted them. They looked up at her with beaming smiles, which were permanently on their little faces. They were dressed for kindergarten, or at least what five years olds deemed as properly dressed. She was envious of their
get up and go. “You’re both up early,” she said, as she ushered them towards the kitchen. “What would you like for breakfast?” she asked as she pulled out the griddle from the cupboard, knowing the answer before they shouted it - in unison.

  “Pancakes please,” they said as they climbed on to a stool at the breakfast bar.

  She opened the refrigerator and pulled out the butter, milk and eggs, “Are your bags packed?” she asked, grabbing the flour and sugar as she mentally went through her morning to-do list.

  “Yes,” they both said as they watched her measure the ingredients and mix the batter. “We just need our lunch,” said Ben, not taking his eyes off the pancake in the pan. It was his turn to get the first one. It didn’t take her long to whip up their pancakes and make one for herself.

  While they were eating their breakfast, she managed a quick shower and take her Tylenol. It was a short ten-minute walk to their kindergarten school. By the time they got there her headache begun to clear. Now that the twins had started school, she’d more free time on her hands. It had been five months since she’d almost handed in her notice to move in with Mateo, her cheating ex-boyfriend.

  She groaned at the memory and was thankful that she hadn’t bumped into him since she called it off and blocked him from every social media account she had. While she loved her job, she hadn’t been too upset at the prospect of doing something else, as her job with the Franklins was a live-in position. They often worked late, and she needed to be there to look after the twins. It was around that time that her best friend Lucy, who was also a live-in nanny with another family, decided she wanted to go back to college and become a teacher.

  Six months ago, she was the one about to move in with her boyfriend and find another job, while Lucy was single and happy in her employment. Now, she was the single one, still a nanny and her friend was living with her boyfriend and studying to become a kindergarten teacher. She sighed, realizing she’d walked to the park, her usual place to meet Lucy, instead of going home.

  Home.

  Her home was a room in her employers apartment. Her parents still lived in a suburb of the city with her two younger brothers and she saw them at least once a month. Her older sister had moved out a few years ago, and she hadn’t seen her since last Christmas although they kept in touch via messenger. She had tonight and tomorrow off and she planned on staying at Lucy’s tonight. It was a week ago that she’d met Noah, lead singer of Stroke of Midnight. He’d come up to her while she was talking to Lucy at the bar and hit on her. Sure he was hot, but she couldn’t believe he could be serious, hitting on her. He was a famous rock star and couldn’t be interested in her.

  Her little detour added twenty minutes on to her journey home, and she had a long list of chores to finish before she could leave on her night off.

  She needed to stop day-dreaming and wishing things were different, unless she was prepared to step up and make them different.

  CHAPTER THREE

  “Stop!” Noah shouted, raising his head to look at his band mates who sat around him in a circle. “This isn’t working. Anyone disagree?” They’d been at it for hours, writing songs for their new album but nothing sounded ‘right’ to him. Their record company wanted an album in just over two months, so they’d all agreed to take a few days off then get back to the studio to hammer it out. So far it had been a disaster. It had only been four days, but a disaster all the same. Noah and Ryker usually wrote the songs together and once they’d got the basics of the track, they’d bring in the rest of the band. He was now questioning the wisdom, or lack thereof, of bringing everyone in from the start.

  “It doesn’t sound like us, man,” Dylan voiced what he knew the rest of them were thinking. “Our songs are full of energy and even after a few rifts, fans know it’s one of ours. That just wasn’t… it,” he sighed as he fell back on the couch and put his feet on the coffee table that lay in the center of their circle, littered with half empty bottles of water and food wrappers. He usually sat on the edge of the couch so he could hit his drumsticks off the table, adding to the layers of their songs. Sitting back was a sign of defeat.

  Ryker put his elbows on his knees, hung his head and placed his fingers, interlocked behind his head and sighed. Noah felt the same. In the past, the two of them had written songs with no issue. They’d even come up with one of their hit songs in the bathroom before going on stage one night. Their songs flowed easily to them… usually.

  “I got nothing,” he sighed as he placed his Vans on the table and flipped back on his couch in defeat.

  CJ, the quietest member of the band let out a groan, “I don’t know about you guys but I feel wiped. Normally after we come off tour I’m wiped, sure, but I still have loads of energy to do other stuff and enjoy our time off, but this time I’m just… wiped.”

  “What about you Liam?” Dylan asked. Dylan was the leader of the group who kept everyone organized and on track. Noah could see the fire slowly go out in his eyes as well and knew they were in trouble. Perhaps their last tour really would be their last. They’d had an amazing ten years run.

  Liam stood up and went over to the refrigerator and pulled out a fresh bottle of water without saying a word. He opened the top and drank half the bottle before turning his attention back to the band, “I think we should call it a day,” he said and dropped his eyes to the floor.

  The silence in the room was deafening as Liam’s words sunk in. Then there was uproar. “Are you crazy?” shouted Dylan at the same time as Ryker shot from his seat and shouted, “No way, man.” Even CJ raised his voice to shout, “No!” Noah looked around at everyone in shock. There was no way he wanted the band to split, sure he was jaded with the whole experience but he knew he wasn’t ready to give it all up yet. “Do you want to call it a day?” he asked Liam.

  A smirk appeared on Liam’s face as he looked up, “Just thought I’d check. You guys are acting like teenage girls not invited to prom. We’re Stroke of Midnight guys! I know it’s harder for us to relax and unwind without the paparazzi popping up in your face or a fan wanting something, but remember what we’ve been through. Why we started in the first place. You wanna give all that up? That’s what you’re doing right now.”

  “Maybe you’re right,” huffed Ryker.

  “There’re no maybes about it,” said Liam, plunking himself back on the couch between Dylan and CJ, and placing his feet on the table. “We need a real break, not a couple of days where we spend it catching up on sleep and seeing the family. I mean a break where we come back refreshed and energized to give our fans our best music yet.”

  Noah could feel the repressed energy in the room lifting and a smile appeared on his face. A real break sounded like heaven right now. He looked around the room and saw everyone else seemed to be on the same page.

  “I could do with a real break,” said Ryker with a grin, “Get back my lyric writing magic.”

  “Ha,” snorted Noah, “lyric writing magic? We won’t be putting anything like that in our songs.” He turned somber, “But I agree, we all need a real break. We’ve just over two months to record this album, Ryker do you reckon we could do it in less?”

  “Yeah, I think with a three week break we’d knock out what ten new tracks? We’ve got a few ideas in the book anyway we could bring out. Might even start when I’m away - once I get my head squared.”

  “That’s my boys,” grinned Liam, “Knew you could pull yourself out of that funk. So where we all going?” He said as he sat up and rubbed his hands together, looking around at everyone.

  “Oh no,” said Ryker, “I just bought myself a lakeside cabin on Lake Tahoe and much as I love you guys, after living on a tour bus with you all for the last eight months this is a trip I’m taking on my own.”

  Everyone nodded their heads in agreement apart from Liam whose grin slipped faster than Bambi on ice. “You guys are all leaving me?” he moaned.

  Dylan slapped Liam on the thigh as he stood up, “Yep, I wouldn’t mind a trip out to M
iami to visit that chick I met there and there’s no way I want you hanging around.”

  CJ shifted to look at Liam’s crestfallen face, “I guess you could come with me to visit Aspen. I’m sure she wouldn’t mind an extra guest,” he offered with a raised eyebrow. Aspen was CJ’s younger sister who’d moved to San Diego to study and never came back home after graduating.

  Noah thought a slight blush appeared on Liam’s face as he mumbled, “Nah, it’s fine. It might be best if we all do our own thing.”

  “What are you going to do, Noah?” asked Dylan.

  Now wasn’t that the million dollar question.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  “I am too full,” Indya groaned as she shoved the last taco into her mouth then rubbed her stomach in circular motions. She was spending the night at her best friend Lucy’s apartment, the one she shared with her boyfriend Adam. He was out with his brothers while they were having a night of chick flicks and lots of junk food, enough to put them into a diabetic coma rather than going out. Not that she’d admit it to anyone, but she was fed up of the bar scene and much preferred a night in with her best friend, thankfully Lucy was the same.

  “We’ve still got our three desserts to eat,” Lucy said, as she rolled off the couch to grab the remote that had fallen off earlier. “Although, I’m willing to admit defeat if you are,” she chuckled. “I’m sure the boys will demolish anything we don’t eat.”

  “Boys?” she blurted out, “I thought it was just us until Adam came back.” She struggled to get upright on the brown leather sofa she was sprawled on. It wasn’t called a comfy sofa for nothing. If it was boys plural, it meant only one thing - Noah. Her heart fluttered at the thought of seeing him again and she let out a groan as she looked down at the trail of taco sauce on her black Guns n Roses t-shirt. Classy.