“I’ll see you tomorrow night. Is six too early?”
“No, that’ll work for us.”
♪ Four ♪
The morning after their night together, Skyler called in to his boss, asking for the day off and receiving an okay. He and Billy spent the morning in bed, remembering each other well, and the other half of the day arguing, because she wanted him to come to the concert that night.
“What would I do at a concert?” Skyler asked, rolling his eyes.
“Come back stage, meet the band, watch me perform. Stuff like that,” Billy said for the millionth time that afternoon.
“Billy, I am far too old to go to a rock concert,” Skyler said, looking very serious.
“Bullshit, Skyler!” Billy moved to straddle his waist. They were sitting in his living room. He was wearing a pair of cotton pants, and she was once again wearing one of his shirts. “If you’re young enough to do what we’ve been doing all morning, then you’re young enough to come to my goddamned concert!”
Skyler grinned at her. She’d already informed him that not only did he measure up to her memories of their lovemaking, he surpassed them now. He didn’t necessarily believe her, but it felt good to his ego to hear it.
“Don’t start with me, little girl.”
“Or else what?” she said, hands on hips, looking down at him.
Skyler eyed her, then shook his head. “I can’t even stand right now, let alone do you any damage. Okay, Billy, you win. I’ll come, okay?”
“That’s much better, Mr. Kristiani. Now, don’t make me have to harass you so much next time.”
“You harass me because you like to, Billy. I don’t do anything,” Skyler said, grinning at her. “Have you checked in with Jerith, by the way?”
“Oh, shit!” Billy reached for the phone on the end table. She dialed hurriedly and waited, worry in her eyes. “He’s gonna kill me.” She shook her head. “Yes, I need room 603,” she said, doing her best to sound official. She waited again, tapping her fingernail on the phone in agitation. “Kid! Thank God you’re there. Look—”
“Where the fuck are you, Billy?” Jerith said, cutting her off.
“I’m with someone, okay, I’m fine,” she said, sounding far from repentant.
“Are you fucked up again? ’Cause this ain’t the time to go on a bender, it really isn’t. Sparks’ll eat us alive in court if you push him too much.”
“I know, Jerith, okay, don’t start on me,” Billy said, starting to sound angry too.
“Don’t try to turn this around on me. I’m not the one getting busted and then running off with some guy and being totally out of touch for like two days.” Jerith’s voice was becoming calm now, and Billy knew that meant his anger had just gone up one level rather than down.
“Okay, okay, I’m sorry. Look, Kid, I promise, I’m not on anything, and I’ll be there for sound check. When is it?”
“Two hours ago,” he said evenly.
“Shit.” She closed her eyes.
“Yeah, shit.”
“Okay, okay, I’ll just come early and do my own mike check.” She shrugged. “No big deal, we’ve done it before.”
“Yeah, the last time you were too fucked up to make the sound check,” Jerith said. “Just be there, Billy. And I’m warning you, if you let me down this time, you’re out, no questions, no bullshit.” His tone was very cool, and Billy knew he meant it. She was very thankful that she wasn’t high. She knew she’d shoot her mouth off if she was, and that would push Jerith just a little too far.
“I’ll be there, I promise.”
“You better be.” He hung up.
Billy closed her eyes as the line clicked. When she opened them, she saw that Skyler was watching her closely.
“He was pissed, wasn’t he?” Skyler said.
“And how,” she said, putting the phone down. “Read me the riot act too.”
“You don’t sound too pissed off about it.”
“I know,” Billy said, shrugging. “Kid’s about the only person in the world I let talk to me like he does. But I’ve screwed up on him so many times, I figure I deserve it.”
“That bad huh?”
“Yeah. And he’s covered for me every time, taking a lot of heat from the other guys in the band, from our manager, our producer, the record company, everyone. We recently signed with this mega star and if I screw things up, Jerith will have my ass.”
“He sounds like he cares about you a lot too, though.”
“He does, he just drives me nuts sometimes.” She sighed, then looked at him “He’s a lot like you—kind of a boy scout.”
“Is that what I am? A boy scout?” Skyler asked, surprised.
“Most of the time.” Billy’s eyes took on a mischievous look. “Except in one notable area.”
“Oh yeah?” he said, grinning. “And what area would that be in?”
“In the area that keeps me here,” she said honestly.
“So I take it it’s not my winning personality.”
“Well, I like that too, if it helps, but no, that wouldn’t be it.” She ran her hands over his chest, watching his reaction.
“Billy… don’t you have a concert or something to get ready for?”
“Are you telling me no?” she asked, the beginning of a pout on her lips.
Skyler put his hands on her small waist. “I’m telling you that you’re going to kill me soon.”
“I don’t believe that.”
“You won’t till it’s too late.”
Billy didn’t reply, just leaned down to kiss him on the lips. Within moments, his arms held her tightly against him. Neither of them noticed the front door open. Nor did they notice the fifteen-year-old girl who stood staring at them in shock.
“Daddy?” Chelsea Kristiani said when she had regained her voice.
Skyler’s head snapped up. For a moment he looked like a kid who’d been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. But then his expression changed as he realized she was there when she shouldn’t be.
“What’s going on, Chelsea?” he said suspiciously as Billy looked up at the girl.
“Nothing, Dad. I just wanted to come see you, okay?” Chelsea didn’t sound convincing in the least as she flipped her long black hair over her shoulder. Her eyes were much the same color as her father’s.
Billy felt Skyler’s muscles tense under her hands. “In other words,” he said icily, “your mother had something going on, and she thought she’d just drop you off without even a phone call.”
“That’s not fair, Daddy,” Chelsea said, but she looked guilty.
“The shit your mother pulls isn’t fair, Chelsea.” Skyler sighed, leaning back against the cushions and looking up at Billy. “Oh, Billy, this is my daughter, Chelsea. Chelsea, this is—”
“You’re Billy Montague, aren’t you?” Chelsea said, her eyes widening as she recognized the woman on her father’s lap.
Billy nodded, glancing at Skyler again.
“Wow! But what’re you doing here? I mean, I know you have a concert and everything tonight, but… why are you with my…” She trailed off as she decided that saying “What on earth are you doing with my forty-eight-year-old father?” would be over the top and would probably get her into real trouble.
Chelsea Kristiani had decided over the last couple of years that the father she’d idolized for so long wasn’t the man she thought he was. He’d been acting older and older lately. He kept to himself a lot; he wasn’t fun anymore. He didn’t seem larger than life to her anymore—he just seemed regular, and she didn’t understand why. She thought he’d changed, but she realized he was just getting older.
It was for that reason that she discounted him frequently lately. Especially when her friends said he was gorgeous. She didn’t see him that way anymore. She saw the gray hair and the minute wrinkles. She thought of the days when he used to throw her up in the air and catch her, when he was strong and virile. Now he just seemed old.
Now, staring at
him, with the gypsy-like Billy Montague sitting on his lap, she couldn’t fathom why Billy was there.
Billy caught the flash of irritation in Skyler’s eyes at his daughter’s tone and question, and she felt him tense again. Not sure what he was thinking, she stood. Skyler got up too, his eyes narrowed at his daughter. “I’m gonna take a shower,” he told Billy, and walked out of the room. Billy watched him leave, thinking he looked fantastic without a shirt—she hadn’t been lying when she told him he looked better now than he had before. After he was out of the room, she looked back at the young girl, her eyes narrowed just slightly too.
“That was rather bitchy,” she said angrily.
“What?” Chelsea said, genuinely perplexed by Billy’s anger.
“He’s your father. Don’t you even respect that?”
“What’s that got to do with you?”
“Everything,” Billy said, and followed Skyler out of the room. Chelsea stared after her, not sure what she had said wrong.
Billy found Skyler sitting on his bed. He had a scowl on his face, and she knew why.
“Don’t listen to her, Sky,” she said, standing in front of him and reaching out to touch his shoulders. “She’s a baby—she has no concept of what she’s saying.”
“She doesn’t, huh?”
“Skyler,” Billy said softly. “No, she doesn’t.”
Skyler looked at her. “She thinks I’m too old to be with someone like you, and face it, she’s right.”
“My ass she is! She’s a fucking child. Where’ve you been for the last two days? Do you think an old man would be able to do to me what you have?”
“And what’s that?” Skyler asked, his tone almost bitter.
Billy looked at him sharply, suddenly not understanding him at all. “God, Skyler, you’ve got some fucking notion in your head that you’re old, and it’s bullshit. You’re stronger now than you were ten years ago. You make me crazier from wanting you more now than then, and I didn’t think that was possible.” She took his face in her hands, staring down into his eyes. “Please, please, don’t let your daughter’s ridiculous thoughts do this to you. Don’t let her hurt you like that. You’re so much more than any of that.”
Skyler looked back at her, searching her face as if looking for some sign of deception. He didn’t see anything but sincerity, and slowly his soul started to mend itself. He’d let the world tell him he was old; he’d let his heart and body say the same thing. Billy’s words told him that it wasn’t true, and for some strange reason, coming from someone like her, it meant a lot.
“Yeah?” he said finally, sounding more like himself.
“Mmhmm,” she said, leaning down to kiss him and wrapping her arms around his neck.
Chelsea snuck down the hallway and caught sight of Billy and her father kissing. She watched, almost entranced, as her father reached out and pulled Billy down onto his lap again. Billy’s hands moved over his back and up into his hair. Chelsea tried to see what Billy was seeing in her father. She was surprised when her father stood and Billy wrapped her legs around his waist. He walked out of sight, and a few minutes later Chelsea heard the shower running. She walked out to the living room, but couldn’t help but imagine what was happening in the other room. She’d been thinking about sex a lot more lately, and the idea that it was more than likely going on in a room just down the hall made her warm and embarrassed at the same time.
She knew what the warm feeling was; she’d felt it a couple of weeks before when she’d kissed her “boyfriend” for a long time. They’d been in her room at her mother’s house, and he had wanted to make out. Things had gotten a little heated, and she’d even let him touch her breasts on the outside of her shirt. It had made her feel warm, and uncomfortable in a way she didn’t quite understand. She knew it had to do with sex, and from the books she’d been reading it had to do with an orgasm, but she didn’t know if that was it, or if that was just the start. Now, sitting in the living room, she thought about what Billy had said to her, and she wondered about what they were to each other.
An hour later, Billy came out of the bedroom, her black curls still damp from the shower. She was wearing the same shirt, which Chelsea recognized as one of her father’s, and now she wore black leggings too. She looked at Chelsea, and then moved to sit on the other end of the couch.
“So, are you and my dad together?” Chelsea asked, a lot less impudent this time.
Skyler walked into the room. Billy looked up at him questioningly.
“What?” Skyler said, grinning as he sat down next to her.
“Your daughter wants to know if we’re together.”
“Like boyfriend and girlfriend?” Skyler said almost sarcastically, raising an eyebrow at his daughter.
Billy sat up, putting one arm around Skyler’s waist, and with the other reached up to pull him back against her. Her blue eyes watched Chelsea from just behind Skyler’s left shoulder. “It’s purely sexual at this point,” she told the young girl, wanting to shock her and succeeding nicely.
Skyler laughed, shaking his head. He’d forgotten what a sharp tongue she had. “Chelsea, I think what Billy was trying to say, in her own unique way, is that her and I are just casual right now.”
Chelsea nodded, her eyes still a little wide. “Okay…” she said, not sure what to say to that.
“Anyway, you’re on your own tonight.” Skyler was still angry at her for her attitude. “I have a previous engagement. Had your mother bothered to call, she would have been told.
“Where are you going?”
“He’s going with me,” Billy said, her arm still around Skyler’s waist.
“To the concert?” Chelsea sounded surprised. “Dad, I didn’t know you even liked that kind of music. I mean, Billy and the Kid is real modern… You usually like that old stuff.”
“I still like the old stuff,” Skyler said, smiling at his daughter’s attempt at being diplomatic. “But Billy has talked me into it.” Then he gave his daughter a sly look. “Come to think of it, isn’t Billy and the Kid one of the groups you like to irritate your mother with?”
“Daddy,” Chelsea said, giving her father a dirty look. “You know they are!”
Skyler pretended to look surprised, then glanced back at Billy. “Do we have a spare ticket?”
Billy grinned at him, then shrugged. “I’m sure I could come up with one, if you wanted one.” Her emphasis made it clear that it was up to Skyler whether or not his sharp-tongued daughter got to go to the concert or not.
Chelsea looked to her father, seeing the caustic look in his eyes.
“Alright,” Skyler said finally. “But you have to be ready to go in an hour. Billy has to get there early, and we have to go by her hotel first.”
“Thanks, Daddy!” Chelsea said gleefully. She jumped up and went down to the room she used, starting the frantic search for something to wear. Skyler and Billy grinned at each other, and a few minutes later went to the kitchen.
Chelsea found them half an hour later, still in the kitchen. Something was cooking on the stove and Skyler was standing at the cutting board, chopping vegetables. Billy was sitting on the counter, a glass of wine next to her. When Chelsea walked in, Billy had just leaned over to kiss Skyler. His free hand went to her waist as both her arms pulled him closer. It was obvious to Chelsea that Billy and her father were very attracted to each other. Chelsea had to admit, in black jeans, a black leather belt, and a white cotton shirt, her father did look pretty good; his naturally tanned Mediterranean coloring set off the white shirt nicely. She began to see what Billy saw in him. The way his hands gripped her waist… Chelsea wished her boyfriend would be so passionate with her. It occurred to her then that maybe it wasn’t her dad so much as Billy’s influence on him.
They got to ARCO Arena two hours later. Billy had Skyler drive around to the back. She led them in through the band entrance. Chelsea was so excited about being backstage she could barely stand it. Billy said hi to the crew and headed for the stage. The
re she did a mike check and a few lighting checks, and then walked back over to Skyler and Chelsea.
“Come on,” she said, looking a little on edge. “I need a quick drink before Kid gets here to tear my head off.”
****
Jerith arrived at Nicolette’s house a little before six. When he knocked, Ryan yelled for him to come in. Ryan was sitting on the couch in the living room with Mandy. Mandy looked like an average groupie, underdressed and far too flashy, but that was Ryan’s problem. Jerith almost dropped dead when Nicolette came walking down the hallway toward him. She was wearing all black, but the outfit set everything about her off. She had on a black skirt that was fairly short without being obscene and a tailored, cropped jacket with a black lace camisole underneath. She wore sheer black stockings and black suede boots that came up to just above her slim ankles, and two-inch heels. Her jewelry was simple, an antique gold-link chain and earrings with small emeralds that matched her eyes perfectly.
Her makeup was more than she had worn before, but done in a way that Jerith couldn’t put his finger on. It was darker, making her eyes stand out even more and her cheek bones seem more prominent. The most noticeable difference was her lipstick—it was a darker shade than he’d seen her use before, but it made her seem all the more alluring. Her hair was loose, and just a little bit tousled, but not like the groupies liked to do it—it wasn’t standing up with a gallon of hairspray. Nicolette’s hair still looked as soft and silky as ever, but with more body to it.
Jerith was floored. He couldn’t take his eyes off her.
“Nicky, Jesus…” he said, unable to form a complete sentence.
She smiled. “What?”
“Marry me, now,” he said with a flourishing bow, looking up at her from that position. “You look fantastic. I can’t even tell you just why, but Jesus…”
“Are you getting religion on me, Jerith Michaels?” Nicolette said, raising an eyebrow.
“No, but I had no idea.” He straightened as he shook his head, still basically devouring her with his eyes.
“Well, I could say the same for you, Mr. Michaels,” Nicolette said, letting her eyes wander over him.
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