by Dee J. Adams
Brendan sighed. “You might not even like him or his music. It’s no big deal.” He waited another few seconds until Casey thought she might explode with curiosity. “Seger Hughes,” he finally said.
Casey’s jaw nearly hit the table. “Are you kidding me? You work for Seger Hughes?” She’d had a crush on him for years. Well, she had a crush on the new version of him. The older version hadn’t appealed to her at all, but the new and improved Seger had lit her up with his soft ballads and hard muscles. “What do you do for him?”
“I’m his assistant. Gofer. Whatever. I’m the whatever guy.” Brendan sat back as two servers set dishes in front of them.
Casey almost didn’t care about breakfast anymore. She’d give her right arm to be Seger Hughes’s gopher. “How long have you worked for him?” She picked up her fork and attempted to eat her omelet.
“A few years. It’s not always a full-time gig. It depends on his touring schedule.”
His boss must have rubbed off on him because he even talked like a musician. “You have to tell me… Is he as nice as people say?”
Brendan nodded. “He is. I got lucky when I found that job.”
“How did you find that job? I’d kill to work with someone as talented as that man.”
Brendan dove into his French toast and swallowed before answering. “It was total luck and timing. His old assistant was a friend of a friend and planning to move back home because of family issues. I happened to be in San Francisco at one of his tour dates and met up with my pal’s buddy. I ended up getting VIP passes, hanging with the band after the show and meeting Seger. He was complaining about losing Doug and wondering where he was going to find a replacement and Doug said, ‘Please, this job is so easy a monkey could do it.’ Then he looked at me and said, ‘Hell, even Bren could do it.’ Next thing you know, he’s showing me the ropes and explaining what he does for the man. And boom, suddenly I have a new job.”
“Wow. That is serious luck and timing.” Nothing that exciting had ever happened to her. Unless she counted the formal dinner Jeff took to her when his dad had won his Senate seat. But Jeff had kept her next to him with an iron arm all night and she hadn’t had a chance to talk to any of the high profile people who’d supported his dad.
“It beats bartending,” he added. “That’s my other gig. I still fill in when I’m not working for Seger. My friend’s parents own a restaurant and they plug me in when I’m not on the road.”
She nodded, but wanted the good stuff. “So what do you do for Seger?”
“A lot of everything. I handle his day-to-day needs when we’re on the road. Make sure his guests are taken care of at each venue.” He shrugged. “Doug was pretty much right. A monkey could do the job. But like I said, the perks are good.” He gestured to the surroundings and Casey nodded her agreement.
“What do you do?” he asked.
Casey sipped her tea. “I’m kind of in between things at the moment.” She was full of understatements today. “I was teaching music at a private school, but I’m not sure I’ll be going back.” She liked the kids, but working in a classroom all day felt claustrophobic. She needed new scenery to keep creative. Teaching was slowly leaching her drive to succeed in music.
“Music?” His beautiful eyes widened. “What do you play?” He took another bite of his breakfast and Casey enjoyed the way he dove in with gusto. Everything about him screamed masculine.
She dug into her omelet again before it got cold. “Piano, mostly, but guitar too.”
“No shit.” He spread his arm out wide. “I play guitar and synthesizer.”
Who would’ve known they had music in common? She’d have pegged him for a jock all the way.
“So how come the school gig isn’t working out?” He took a big bite after the question and Casey loved the way his square jaw chomped his food. God he was gorgeous from the top of his ginger laced head to the bottom of his size-giant shoes.
She met his gaze and hurried to answer. “I’m just hoping something different comes along. I’m not sure I’m cut out to teach kids.” Her something different was definitely coming, but she had to keep that news under wraps.
They discovered they were both from Los Angeles and talked high schools and colleges. Turned out they actually knew a few of the same people, friends of friends in a local band. They lingered over breakfast until they got the evil eye from the restaurant manager, then they slowly walked toward the lobby area.
“So what’s your plan for today. Your last day, right?”
She nodded and got that strange sensation on the back of her neck. She looked around the lobby, but didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. She faced Brendan. “Last day.” She looked him square in the eyes. “Last night too.” Maybe that came off a little desperate, but his smile flashed bright white and she suddenly didn’t care.
“It’s still early. Want to snag a couple chairs by the pool and hang out for a while?”
Her girl parts cheered with pompoms. “That sounds like a decent plan.” No reason to sound too excited about the idea. “I’ll get changed and meet you at the pool.” Casey casually walked toward the elevator, squashing the urge to skip, bounce, or run so that she could spend as much time with Brendan as possible. Just knowing she’d get to stare at his chest for the next hour or two made her skin tingle.
Once out of the elevator, Casey hurried down the hall to her room and stripped off her clothes as she pawed through her suitcase looking for her special honeymoon bikini. Virgin white. Haha. Yeah, that was a joke, but whatever. She wanted to wow this boy. She wanted to make sure that the next one or two hours morphed into ten or twelve. She not only wanted this whole day, she wanted this man for the entire night.
Chapter Four
One of the best days of Brendan’s life turned into one of the best nights. Hanging with Casey poolside was as good as a lottery win and smoothing sunscreen on miles of her silky skin pretty much turned him into a drooling fool. Casey made it fairly clear she wanted him, which meant they spent the whole day getting to know each other. And touch each other. A whole day of foreplay so to speak. About eight or so hours of buildup to the main event.
They’d parted ways to shower—again—and change for dinner. On the off chance they ended up coming to his place, Brendan picked up his dirty clothes, tossed them into the closet and slid the door closed. Then he straightened up the bathroom. He caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror and froze.
No matter how much he tried to avoid looking at his ear, it was always the first place his gaze landed when he saw his reflection. He didn’t know why. It wasn’t as if one day—by some miracle—he might discover he had a whole ear.
He was fairly certain Casey hadn’t noticed it yet. His hair covered it pretty well. Of course it was a matter of time. Then she’d ask. He either had to tell her the truth or lie about it. Or…
He pulled out the prosthetic ear from his toilet kit. He hadn’t had it for long. The prosthesis overlapped his partial ear without the need of surgical inserts or medical adhesive. He never would’ve gotten it if it wasn’t for next week. Hell, he never expected to make the cut, so when he got in, he couldn’t turn down the opportunity. He’d thought long and hard about what he wanted the public to know about him. Cameras would catch his bad ear in a minute and he’d be forced to come clean. Then people would speculate and he didn’t want to put his family through it. They’d been through enough already. Flashes of the kidnapping swamped him, made him sweat. With the exception of his older sister, the whole family had been held for ransom and beaten severely. The scumbag behind the abduction had used them as leverage so that Jess would get what he wanted from her boss. To prove his ruthlessness, one of his goons had cut off part of Brendan’s ear and sent it to Jess.
Brendan shook off the memory and exhaled hard. So maybe he should put the ear on and save himself the aggravation with Casey.
Or maybe he should let her see who he really was. Wasn’t that the real test anyway these days?
“Screw it.” Brendan tossed the prosthetic back into his bag. He’d save it for next week when he really needed it.
Brendan thought the night called for something special so he took Casey to a classy seafood place down the main strip. A giant aquarium in the center of the front entrance housed all kinds of fish of colorful shapes and sizes. They had drinks at the massive oak bar while they waited for a table. If he wasn’t looking right at her, he watched her in the mirror behind—and between—all the liquor bottles. Muted lighting set the stage for great possibilities. They ordered their own dinners, but tried a bite of each other’s. They talked about his brothers and compared notes on big sisters. She asked a lot of questions about his parents, but didn’t share too much about her own.
A band played and a small hardwood floor provided a place for people to dance. Brendan was ready for any excuse to touch her, so when Casey finished the last bite of her shrimp, he stood and held out his hand.
“Dance with me?”
Her eyes widened and sparkled. “Really?” She didn’t hesitate more than that before taking his hand and rising to her feet. “I can’t even remember the last time I danced.”
It wasn’t the first time she’d mentioned something that gave him insight to her past. “Don’t tell me the ex didn’t take you dancing? What did you see in this guy?” Maybe he shouldn’t have asked, because he’d meant to keep things light.
She shrugged a glossy shoulder. “He didn’t start off bad. He was just never into dancing. Not his deal.”
Apparently treating her right wasn’t his deal either. “Okay, I’m only going to say one more thing, then I’ll shut up. Any guy who doesn’t take the opportunity to hold his girl in his arms and sway to the beat of good music is very whacked.” He would’ve used stronger language, but figured that might piss her off, so he kept it clean. Once on the dance floor, Brendan pulled her close. “Did I tell you I was almost picked as one of the professionals on Dancing With The Stars?”
Her eyes rounded and her jaw dropped open. “No way! Really?”
Brendan shook his head. “Nah. I’m kidding.”
She laughed and smacked his chest playfully before he set one hand on her waist and the other in her hand in a classic dance pose and led her around the dance floor. “I hardly watch reality TV, including the dance shows. Don’t have time,” she said, following his moves.
“I don’t have the inclination,” Brendan agreed. “Most of that shit makes me sick. I don’t like watching people humiliate themselves on national television.”
Her smile faded. “Not everyone gets humiliated. Depends on the show. I think some shows really open doors for people. Look at Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood.”
He nodded, loving the warmth of her palm on his shoulder. “Very true. It’s not that I’m against it, I guess I’m just not one to watch the drama.”
“So if an opportunity came along for you to make your dream come true, you wouldn’t go for it.”
He couldn’t lie since he was doing exactly that. He shook his head. “No, I would definitely go for it. I just don’t understand the bug-eating, make-yourself-miserable shows that exist. The dance shows and singing shows are entertaining in a way that Kardashians are not.”
She smiled at that. “I have to agree.”
The band struck up a slow song and Brendan set Casey’s hands around his neck. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her even closer. She aligned perfectly with his height and looking into her gorgeous eyes and wicked smile made his pulse race faster. Her fingers toyed with the ends of his hair and the tingle traveled straight down his spine and to his groin.
“You’re a great dancer,” she murmured, her face close to his.
He wanted to dive in for a kiss, but liked the anticipation of waiting. “You can thank my mom,” he told her, brushing a long chunk of hair over her shoulder. “None of my big brothers would let her practice with them, so I got stuck with it.”
Her smile sent another bolt of heat and lust below his belt. He’d have to consider calling it a night soon or risk walking back to the hotel with a massive hard-on.
“Aw. That’s kind of sweet,” she said. “I’m sure your mom really appreciated it.”
“Well, I am the favorite.” He said it like it was a no-brainer and loved the laughter that washed over him.
After another dance, Brendan paid the bill and they strolled back toward the hotel with the stars twinkling overhead. He linked their fingers, and her sidelong glance and soft smile promised heaven was just around the corner. Warm sultry air seemed to intensify the heat bubbling between them.
“Feel like dessert?” he asked as they walked by an ice cream shop.
“I’m so full. I couldn’t eat another thing, but if you want something we can stop.” She slowed and tugged him back toward the shop’s entrance.
Brendan took the opportunity to back her up against the glass wall, their hands locked together at their sides, his body pressed against hers. “I definitely want something.” Her chest rose with deep breaths and she licked her lips and it was all Brendan could do to keep from throwing her over his shoulder and hauling her back to the hotel. This whole day had been about seduction and he didn’t want to blow it now. He wanted this to be a night neither one of them would ever forget.
“What would that be?” Her whispered words barely registered in his sex-starved brain. He couldn’t even remember the last time he’d had sex. He’d been so busy on this last leg of Seger’s tour that he’d hardly had time to think about sex. While a lot of the crewmembers still let rock groupies lead them around by their dicks, he’d lost interest in those girls a long time ago. And, yes, even though Casey knew about his boss and his job, she wasn’t anything like the fan girls Brendan was used to. Casey cocked her head, waiting for his answer.
“I think you know what I want.”
“Then maybe we should head back to the hotel and compare notes.”
“Yeah.” He nodded slowly. “I think maybe I just want to give you one thing to think about before we go.” He saw the question in her eyes, but he didn’t give her a chance to say anything. He just moved in slowly and let his lips glide over hers. The bustle of the crowd behind him faded away and he concentrated on the softness of her mouth, the lush, smooth caress of her lips against his. She tilted her head a fraction and molded their lips closer together.
Heat spread through Brendan’s veins like wildfire and he pulled away before his hard-on got too massive. He really didn’t want to walk the rest of the way back with a giant boner.
“We can skip the ice cream. I’ve found something much sweeter I’d rather eat.”
Casey licked her lips and Brendan nearly lost his resolve and dove back for another luscious kiss, but he stepped back instead and they continued toward the hotel…at a much faster pace. Brendan couldn’t get there quickly enough.
The night crowd packed the streets and weaving between people slowed their progress. The smile she shot him as they waited for the walk signal at the street corner had him grinning like a dope. He glanced at the timer ticking down the seconds until they crossed. Fifteen and counting. Down the street, a tour bus zoomed closer and Brendan stepped back a bit to avoid the draft. Casey slipped her arm under his and locked them together. Just as he looked over at her, he caught the surge behind him in his peripheral vision. The wall of people behind him stumbled forward and smacked into his back. The force sent him forward over the curb.
Right in the way of the oncoming bus.
Road kill.
The second the thought flashed in his head, Casey’s grip tightened on his arm and he was hauled around, his momentum catapulting him toward the sidewalk. Weight rolled over his back as he landed halfway on the sidewalk and half in the street. The bus plowed by, missing his foot by inches, the driver laying on the horn as he passed.
Brendan ended up on all fours, breathing hard, his palms and knees stinging from impact. What the hell had just happened? “Shit,” he breathed. �
�Casey!” He glanced over to find her sprawled next to him on the cement, breathing as hard as him, her eyes wide open and shocked. The guys who’d plowed into him were the first to offer a helping hand and sincere apologies.
The biggest of the men—and probably the one to send Brendan flying—wore a Hawaiian shirt full of orange and red palm trees with a pair of khaki pants. Somewhere in his fifties, the man looked like the ultimate first timer, his face beet red as if he’d had way too much sun during his visit. “I am so sorry, man,” he said, looking over his shoulder. “Someone slammed into me and I went right into you. You okay?”
Brendan helped Casey to her feet as he got up himself. He was glad he’d worn jeans tonight if only to protect his knees. “Yeah,” he said. “I’m okay. Casey, you all right?”
“Yeah.” She rubbed her right palm and Brendan took a look at it. It was as red as his, but not bleeding.
“Maybe we should get some ice at the hotel,” he said.
“I’m so sorry,” the guy said again.
“Not your fault,” Casey said, giving him a smile.
Brendan looked behind the group of people standing around, but no one looked suspicious. Not that he knew what he was looking for or even why.
“You sure you’re okay?” he asked her.
She nodded, reassured him with a soft smile. “Yeah. Wow. That was scary.”
“Yeah,” he agreed. “Little bit.” He looked around again, shaking off the feeling of being watched by more eyes than just the people in the vicinity. In all the fuss, they’d missed the crossing so they had to wait for another cycle. “You know you totally just saved my ass, right? If you hadn’t swung me around, I’d be splattered on the hood of that bus.” He gestured down the street where the bus’s tailpipe blew out exhaust.