by Lisa Gillis
“Answer my texts.” With a threatening frown, I worriedly lingered. Liv disappeared with the roadie into the tiny trailer while calling back a mocking, “Yes ma’am,” just before the door slammed.
The girl was mental. Had she really grown overly careless and crazy after I had moved in with Kel and quit partying with her? Maybe she had always been that way, and I had overlooked it…
A ball of fur in motion was an interruption to these musings, and curious, I glanced around in search of anyone the dog could belong to.
The next music act was on, and a woman’s lyrical voice mingled with the pounding of the instruments from the stage area. Numerous trailers, trucks, and buses were parked in neat numbered spaces of what seemed to be a private parking area. A few large tents broke up the rows of metal and tires. The leash trailing behind the pup was clear evidence that it was lost.
As a child, for a few brief months, my siblings and I had a pet Jack Russell Terrier, affectionately dubbed ‘Bones’ by my older brother—until my mother had professed allergies. Days later, the family pet was exiled to a good home, one that was not ours, much to the despair of everyone under four feet in my family.
This dog, bearing a huge resemblance to Bones, took my recollections back to those days and brought back sentimental emotions. Kneeling as it neared, I put a cautious hand out, and when the canine trustingly sprinted my way, I stoked through its short fur as I took the leash. No way could I leave this innocent eyed pup to wander.
Unsure of where to go, I stepped into the crosswalk of transportable habitations. Between two ginormous tour buses, a few guys stood, passing a small smoke. Fighting my shyness, I pushed my lips into a smile. Thankfully, the bunch, although intimidating with the mass of ink on their shirtless torsos and arms, their bald heads and scruffy assortment of biker beards, returned welcoming grins.
“Hey sweetheart! Want a hit?”
There was no Olivia by my side to snatch the joint and voice a flirtatious retort, yet I moved closer, intent on finding any information on my new four-legged friend. Politely stretching my hand, I took a swift drag and hoped the random drug testing threatened in my employee manual would not suddenly be sprung on me at work on Monday.
“This puppy… I was wondering who he…” Here I paused when I realized I had never scoped any details not readily visible on the canine. “…or, she, might belong to?”
“Jack.” The dude with a goatee let out a hit he had been holding. My face must not have cleared, because he elaborated, “Jack Storm.”
The name registered as one Olivia had earlier tossed about, and I extended the leash hopefully. “So could I—” Immediately, my question was cut off with a negative shake of three heads, and a guffaw about girly dogs. Kneeling, I scratched the tan fur between the pup’s ears, maybe in consolation from their ridicule.
Jabbing a thumb in a general direction, ‘mutton chops’ stopped laughing long enough to direct me. “The bus with the blue lightning bolt down the side.”
Nodding my thanks, refusing another toke, and trying not to picture what Olivia was up to, I moved off. The terrier sprinted ahead, stretching its leash to the max, and reflexively, my grip tightened. Three rows down, the tip of the mentioned lightning bolt came into view. My steps slowed, yet again unsure and uncertain, as I pictured knocking on the door to a rock star’s mobile crib.
As I hesitated, the door burst open, stopping my heart for more reasons than startled surprise. The doorjamb framed the finest specimen of the male species I had ever beheld.
My eyes were drawn first to the massive expanse of bare chest and the six-pack just on the verge of an optical eight pack. A convulsive swallow tightened my throat. Inked sleeves tapered off between his shoulder and collarbone, the design barely meeting at his throat. Denim jeans snugly encased his legs, and the button of the fly was open revealing the barest tip of hair on a flat abdomen. Reluctantly bringing my gridlocked gaze upward past these heavenly sights, my look landed on his striking features and finally stopped on deep brown irises.
A smile had worked well for me thus far, and, somehow, I summoned one, yet received a scowl in return. Shaggy dark hair brushed his shoulder when his chin jerked toward the asphalt beside where I stood.
“What the hell are you doing with my dog?”
CHAPTER 2
The obvious anger focused on me, the rescuer of said dog, was confounding. My gaze fell to his black high-tops. Impatiently, he skipped stairs in his bound from the bus to the ground. When he snatched the leash from my hand, I met his angry gaze straight on.
“What do you mean? ‘What am I doing with your dog?’” My voice dropped several octaves to mimic his tone. “Your dog was running loose! Way back there!” With a sweep of my arm, I indicated the stage area before continuing, “And instead of letting something happen to him, erm, or her, I tracked you down!”
He had picked the pup up and had been petting it during my tirade. Now he set it down and crossed his arms irritably. “Oh? Out of the goodness of your heart? You brought Rusty to me?” One dark eyebrow rose as he arrogantly awaited the answer.
“Rusty?” A bubble of hysterical laughter spewed along with my query.
“Should I even ask what’s so funny?”
“Seriously? Should I even ask what is not?” Now two dark eyebrows rose in annoyance, as I stated the obvious. “The dog is a Jack Russell Terrier?” When he would not move his chin in confirmation or denial, I pushed on, “You are Jack, and your dog is Russell or Rusty?”
“Rusty, not Russell.”
“Tomato, tomahto,” Blowing the answer out on a weary sigh, I fell a few steps away, back in the direction from which I had come. Somehow, Olivia be damned, I would find my way home.
Another weekend night to myself suddenly sounded amazing. Maybe I would stop by the sandwich deli and pick up a grilled chicken sandwich on a whole-wheat bun. My desire to get through this life-altering breakup without gaining a pound stemmed from the weight problem I had fought through my adolescent years.
“Wait!”
Responding with only a slight turn, I did exactly that, wanting to see what he would say next.
“Yes. The name was a joke, at first. But it suited him, and I kept it.” The disclosure seemed grudging as he explained the name Rusty. “I’m sorry for accusing you. I left him tied up, out here, just for a sec, while I went back in for my shoes. I’m sorry. I just assumed you took him. Because you wanted to meet me…”
“Other than your name, which I’ve heard today for the first time, I don’t know who you are.” Facing him fully, I smoothed a sweaty palm over my ragged jean shorts.
“Yeah. I’m starting to get that. Again, I’m sorry.” His dark brows were now straight, instead of drawn together, and the incredible dark eyes beneath softened. “Obviously, I’m Jack. And I guess you can join the legion of women who add ‘ass’ to that.”
Jackass. I felt my lips twitch in mirth but controlled them.
“Marissa.” I supplied my own introduction, and southern manners prevailed, causing my hand to shoot out automatically.
Moving closer, he squeezed my fingers in his, and a tingle of awareness buzzed every cell as our palms lightly met. The husky timbre of his voice was an intriguing rumble to my eardrums. “You look hot, Marissa.”
Determined to take the compliment as smoothly as Olivia would, I conjured a sultry look. “Thanks. You too…”
Surprise flickered through those dark eyes, and when he quirked a smile, a dimple actually revealed itself as he further explained. “I meant hot.” A slight breeze had begun to blow, and the next gust, from the southerly direction of the ocean, enlightened me to my misunderstanding when it cooled the sweat on my face. But, just as quickly, he amended, “And, of course, hot in every way.” The eyes that slid to the neckline of my shirt, and down for a fraction of a second, supported that endearing statement. “Want something to drink?”
“Sure,” Lifting a shoulder in a shrug, I continued to stand, expecting hi
m to pop inside the bus and out again. But upon ascending the stairs, he held the door invitationally open.
My knees felt as if they were going to knock together as I closed the distance to the tour bus. When I stepped up, his fingers closed around my wrist in a supporting tug upward.
Immediately blinded by the shade, I flipped my glasses to rest on the top of my head. The thump of music bounced around, a familiar band, hot on the charts this summer. As I gaped around, taking in the extravagant interior, he played host, verbally offering up the fridge contents until I settled on a beer. Courteously, he popped the top from the bottle before handing it over. After selecting the same for himself, he took a swig and set it aside long enough to fill a water bowl for Rusty. Bending, he set it on a shiny tiled floor, and straightened, leaning a hip against the cherry wood cabinets.
Quickly, I averted my eyes, but I’d looked long enough to find his backside as pleasing as his front.
“Thanks again. About Rusty. Probably shouldn’t have brought him on tour, but I did. And it would kill me if something happened to him.”
Genuinely impressed by his attachment to his pet, I smiled as I sipped, and his eyes seemed to hone in on my throat as I swallowed.
“So, are you here with someone? At the fest?”
“My friend. A guy tipped her the tickets at the casino where we work.” Switching my drink into the other hand, I pressed cooled fingers against the back of my neck as I joked, “But she deserted me for the first junk this side of the fence.”
Only the barest husky chuckle followed that answer, and I wished I could take it back. Had selling Liv out as a groupie made me look like one?
“What kind of music do you listen to?”
“Everything.” I lifted a casual shoulder. My tastes ranged from country, to pop, to rock.
“Not everything,” he volleyed back. When I shot him a look, trying to decipher that answer, he expanded, “Obviously not mine…” Again, that sweet, yet sardonic smile, which was already becoming addicting.
Rusty lapped up at least half of the bowl and then sprang onto the cushy, leather, bench-style couch. Swinging my eyes, from the pup to its master, I was again wowed by this man’s looks, and the charisma exuding with his every breath.
Just a few weeks ago, I had learned to hate tattoos. Yet now, as my eyes ran over the ink decorating both arms, I saw not hurtful memories, only beautiful art. The inside of his left forearm depicted a guitar neck faded into his wrist. Sheet music bars spiraled around biceps and triceps, and I wondered what the song was. He took another sip, and the movement of his arm broke my fixation.
Remembering he had asked a question, I had to think a moment to remember what it was. “Well, I listen mostly to rock. But I’ve never heard of these bands,” I alluded to the festival. “They’re harder than my normal listen.”
“So you seriously never heard of mine until today?”
Was that such an oddity? Who was this guy? Was he in a band of such importance that this really was weird for me not to know him?
Shaking my head, I explained, “My friend mentioned Jackal as one of the bands she wanted to…” to fuck… “…to meet…” Quickly, I changed the subject and asked if he had played his set yet.
Now, he was the one to shake his head, “It’s two hours or so from now. I’m just chillaxing. Trying to get in the mindset, you know?” I found myself nodding, as if I knew, and he held up the beer with yet another engaging grin. “Best cure for stage fright.”
“Stage fright?” Dubiously, I doubted this claim, while my eyes were riveted to the way the bottle touched his lips, and the swallow that convulsed his Adam’s apple.
My lips tingled, and I realized I was envisioning the feel of that sexy bump beneath them. Suddenly, I was unsettled at the effect he was having on me. The way my hormones were raging out of my control, the way I felt fourteen again. Taking a long sip, I forced a relaxed smile.
“I guess you find that funny too.” A slight grin quirked the corner of his lips, and his gaze held mine in a challenge.
“Who wouldn’t?” Defensiveness coated my words, and determination kept my gaze on his face. “A musician afraid to perform…”
“It’s not uncommon.”
Although he sounded slightly rebuffed, I still couldn’t seem to stop debating my position. “Well, if I were afraid of dogs,” Here, I pointedly glanced at Rusty, and the pup’s ears flattened against his head, “I wouldn’t be a veterinarian…”
“No?” Dark brows arched mockingly, and the gleam in his eyes was amused, no longer offended. “Not even if you put a Band-Aid on a lost puppy, and some guy saw and decided you were great with Band-Aids? Then, the guy offered to you a quarter of a million dollars to take care of a whole litter of puppies?” Rusty’s ears perked when his master glanced his way.
The comparison obviously alluded to performing and record contracts. Not lost was the pun of ‘band aids.” Eying him with a new respect, I wondered, “Is that how it happened with you?”
Shaking his head, he paused for another sip of his beer, before teasing, “No, I would never put a Band-Aid on a puppy. Impractical with all that fur…”
Normally, I was not an eye roller, but I felt the unconscious action, and saw the answering gleam in the depths of his dark eyes. How easily I had relaxed, as if he were a familiar friend, yet at the same time, every neuron transmitted awareness of this man.
Jack was turning me on, simply by standing, more than I had been affected by Kel in the midst of so much more. An override was occurring. My words and actions were governed by libido and impulses, instead of logic and instinct. He remained silent, assessing my next sip as closely as I had been watching his.
Relaxing into the sweet spell settling around us, I whispered, “So, the best cure for stage fright? Is this?” And I tilted the bottle for an extra sensuous sip.
I hadn’t so brazenly flirted with anyone except Kel since college, but every womanly instinct inside me dialed up several notches.
Dark eyes welded with mine, conveying instinctive and primal understanding, male to female.
“Well, maybe not the best-best…” His voice deepened a few decibels, and the husky whisper was possibly the most sensual sound ever to reach my ears.
“What’s the best?” My inquiry rode more on a breath, than a whisper.
With my fiancé, I had made the first move hundreds of times, and with college hookups a few times when extremely inebriated. Now, despite this guy being a stranger and me being relatively sober, I trailed my fingers down bare skin, from the art just above the first row of pecs, to the still open fly.
Struggling for a casualness I couldn’t feel, I tipped the bottle for another sip and wanted so much more than the swallow—not for a favor, or because he was famous. Simply because an intimate connection with him became something I needed. Even if it only came down to my knees on the cool marble floor.
His bottle clinked as reaching behind me, he deposited it on the granite counter top. Next, he used one long tan finger to hook a strand of my hair, pulling it over my shoulder.
Automatically, my body leaned into his as he closed the two steps between our toes. My heart pounded hard, racing with the knowledge that I was about to be kissed by him… this man who had awakened lusts of a nature I had never felt—ever.
The anticipation when his head dipped sent the blood roaring through my veins.
His lips angled against mine, testing with a frictional brush, and then his tongue was swiping in a way that stole my breath. After a teasing pull with his teeth, he deepened the kiss, and my tongue eagerly mingled with his.
There was not a way to pinpoint what was different about this kiss from any other I had ever had, but it was incomparable.
Hot and sweet, it kept me hoping he would never stop.
When he did, I couldn’t care after all, because this luscious attention had moved. The touch of his lips singed the side of my neck, and a shiver screamed down my spine as his attentiveness con
tinued to my throat and trailed to the other side.
His fingers splayed over the ribs beneath my arms, and his thumbs lazily traced their sensitive targets making me wish the thin barrier of my bra and shirt nonexistent. I could feel my breasts straining to his touch, the nipples peaked to attention.
Resting my forehead on his shoulder, I pressed closer, putting my lips to the skin of his chest. Deeply, I breathed in his showered scent and tried not to worry that I had sweated for the better part of the day. My hands flattened on his chest, greedy for the feel of his skin, then encircled around to the corded muscles of his back. With the addition of his tongue to these searing kisses, my knees gave out, and I clasped his torso for support.
A groan left my lips, and after a moment, he suspended this delicious torture. His hands roved and roamed. When I was able to do more than hang on, I took a taste of the tan chest that had tantalized my senses from first sight.
This caused him to pause as I continued, and without the distraction of what he was doing, I gave myself over to what I was doing. With a slight push to separate us, his fingers fiddled with the hem of the stretchy tank top I wore.
“Marissa?”
My ears savored the sound of my name in that deep timbered drawl, and then my muddled mind comprehended he was waiting for permission in one form or another.
Pushing at his hands, I yanked at the shirt myself, and the air conditioner cooled my fevered skin as the scrap of material fell to the floor. His fingers immediately inflamed my body again as they slid here and there, appreciatively pausing on curves and contours. Guitar callused fingers caught on smooth silk. Impatient with the lacy triangles hindering his new targets, his fingers dipped beneath the red fabric of my bra where they caressed and teased with toying tugs until crazed, I unclasped the garment hoping his wandering mouth would move in that direction.
My feet left the floor, and I found myself perched on the counter while he gratified that longing. Circling a sensitive nipple with his tongue, he ended that tease with his teeth, tugging it beyond his lips, into his hot mouth. His lips closed around it, and the next suckling tug had me gulping back a moan. The tip of his tongue teased as he released and sucked again. The shaggy strands of his hair were silky against my chin, and the pads of my fingers pressed into his scalp unconsciously holding him to me.