Rock Stars Do Like Christmas Stockings (Rock Stars Don't Like... Book 3)

by Nikki Ashton

  “Amber’s agreed to give you until Boxing Day to tell Jake,” Luke continued. “She won’t keep it from him after that. That gives you a few days, buddy.”

  Tom groaned and banged his head on the table.

  “What if Abbie wants to keep it to being fun?” he muttered against the wooden surface.

  “Ask her and find out.” Luke slapped Tom’s back. “Although, I’m pretty sure she wants the same thing. I saw the way her face lit up when she walked through that door and saw you earlier. Fuck knows why, but she’s got it bad for you.”

  With his forehead still resting on the table, Tom turned to look at Luke.

  “I’m a great fucking catch. That's why."

  Luke started to laugh and got up from his chair. “If you say so buddy, but let’s just hope Jake thinks so too.”

  ---

  Chapter 5 – December 20th

  As Tom punched in the code to the visitor’s gate at the bottom of Jake’s long drive, his breath misted out into the darkness. It was a cold night with a sharp wind, but the thought of finally being alone with Abbie was keeping him just as warm as the thick wool coat that he was wearing.

  After the children were put to bed, everyone sat around the dining table enjoying some supper prepared by Martha and Lucia, all asking Abbie about her trip home or discussing the plans for Christmas Day. Tom hadn’t had any opportunity to speak to Abbie alone, because as soon as the cheese, biscuits and sandwiches had been cleared away, Amber decided it was time they went home and got Hendrix into his own bed. Abbie gave Tom a resigned shrug and a secret, sweet smile and then followed the rest of her family home. It wasn’t long afterwards that one by one; everyone wandered off leaving Tom alone once again, this time flicking through channels on the TV.

  Hoping that he’d given Abbie enough time to get into her own room, away from Jake’s prying eyes and ears, Tom sent her a text message telling her that he was coming over. Abbie sent back a smiley face and instructions to go around to the back of the house, and to skirt the front lawn to avoid the security light.

  Shoving his hands into the deep pockets of his coat, Tom jogged up towards the house, getting as close as he could to the perimeter hedge and wall. As he looked up at the white, stucco house, a light came on in one of the bedrooms at the front; Hendrix the little devil was obviously not in the mood to sleep. Tom paused and took in a deep breath, pulling his mobile out of his pocket. He looked down at the screen, wondering whether he should text Abbie and suggest that they forget their midnight assignation. Suddenly, a quiet whistle from the side of the house garnered his attention. Tom peered through the darkness to see Abbie, wrapping her arms around herself against the cold, the thin jacket she was wearing totally inadequate. With a huge grin, he dropped his phone back into his coat and jogged towards her. As soon as he reached her, Tom pushed her against the wall and nuzzled his face against her hair.

  “Fuck I’ve missed you,” he groaned, his lips moving downwards to her neck.

  “Oh God, I have you too.” Abbie laced her fingers through Tom’s hair and forced his mouth down to hers.

  The kiss started soft and gentle, but within seconds was urgent and hard. Their tongues duelled against each other; teeth nipped, and lips devoured while desire swaddled them both.

  Tom moaned as his erection pushed uncomfortably against his jeans. “Abs, you feel amazing,” he whispered, “but we need to stop, otherwise I’m going to shoot my load in my pants like a teenager. Three weeks is too fucking long.”

  Abbie giggled and leaned her forehead against Tom’s chest. Feeling her shiver, Tom unbuttoned his coat and wrapped it around her.

  “I’m guessing it’s not safe to go inside.”

  “No, honey. Sorry,” Abbie replied as she lifted her gaze to Tom’s. “Hendrix is being a little monster.”

  Pushing the hair from Abbie’s face, Tom kissed the end of her nose. “I’d take you against this wall, but it’s too fucking cold,” he laughed.

  “Yeah, your Johnson might drop off in this weather.” Curling up on her toes, Abbie kissed Tom again. A sweet, slow kiss that almost had him saying sod the weather and the possibility of losing his dick to frost bite.

  “We need to talk,” he said once Abbie pulled away from their embrace.

  She frowned. “OK,” she said with a level of uncertainty. “Do I need to worry?”

  “No, not at all. I just…”

  “Abbie, are you outside?”

  It was Jake’s voice, and it was coming from the back of the house. The security light that was in the garden suddenly beamed out.

  “Shit, he’s looking for me in the garden,” Abbie hissed. “I’ll have to go in.”

  Tom raked a hand down his face. Would he ever get to speak to her about their relationship?

  “Abbie, where the fuck are you?” Jake’s voice was getting closer to the fence that secured the back garden.

  “Go, quick,” Abbie mouthed, flapping her hand at Tom.

  Tom gave her a quick peck on the lips and ran around to the front of the house. As he plastered himself as flat as he could against the wall, to avoid the setting off the security light, he heard the click of the side gate.

  “What the hell are you doing out here?” Jake asked her.

  There was a moment of silence and then Tom heard Jake again.

  “Are you fucking smoking?”

  “It’s just one,” Abbie whined. “I couldn’t sleep and I thought it would relax me.”

  Tom then heard what he thought was Abbie stamping out the cigarette that he had no idea she had in her pocket; but thank God, she did and had the foresight to light it up.

  “Give them to me,” Jake growled.

  “It’s the only one I have.”

  “Good, and no fucking more, do you hear me?”

  “Yes Jake.”

  Tom laughed silently at Abbie’s sulky tone, but he understood Jake’s concern. When Jake first found out that Abbie was his sister, she had a bad drug problem. Once she’d been through rehab, Jake brought her to the UK; mainly to get her away from her agent, who was supplying the drugs. Abbie had been clean ever since, she didn’t even drink, but Jake still worried about her addictive personality; so to catch her with cigarettes would not make Jake happy.

  “Get inside.” Tom heard Jake snap at his sister, as though she were a child, not a beautiful woman who possibly gave the best blow jobs Tom had ever had.

  The gate opened and then slammed shut, leaving Tom alone and thankful that they hadn’t been caught.

  As Tom let himself back into Luke’s house, his mobile buzzed in his pocket. He took it out and looked down at it with a huge grin; it was Abbie.

  Abbie: Phew close shave.

  Tom: Since when have you been smoking???

  Abbie: I haven’t. It was a fake one that I used on a film once. I had no idea that it was in my pocket – how lucky was that?

  Tom: Very lucky now try to get some sleep.

  Abbie: OK. Night honey xx

  Tom’s thumb hovered over the screen as he contemplated typing the words that were in his head. Taking a deep breath, he went for it.

  Tom: Night, baby. Love you xx

  Then he erased the last part of the message and sent something else instead.

  Tom: Night baby, sleep well xx

  He then turned the light off and went to bed to dream about his beautiful American princess.

  Chapter 6 – December 21st

  Martha sighed heavily as she put the breakfast dishes into the dishwasher. She and Luke had been arguing, again, and she wasn’t sure how they were ever going to compromise.

  She wanted another baby, but Luke was adamant that after Gigi’s traumatic birth, it wasn’t happening again. He was so sure about it that he’d booked into a private clinic to have a vasectomy. Luke hadn’t kept it from her, he’d told her what he was going to do, but Martha hadn’t believed that he’d go ahead with it.

  “Morning sweetheart,” Lucia said cheerily as she entered the k
itchen.

  “Oh morning, Lucia. Did you sleep okay? The kids didn’t keep you awake did they?” It had been almost midnight before the boys and Eliza had settled down and Lucia, who liked to get to bed early, was in the room across the landing from them.

  “No, I went out like a light. I didn’t hear a thing.”

  Martha smiled. Lucia wouldn’t admit it if they had kept her awake. She adored her grandchildren and was always indulging them.

  “Is Luke still in bed?” Lucia asked glancing at the kitchen clock before stooping down to rub Ernie’s ears. It was still quite early for anyone to be up and about seeing as they were officially on holiday.

  “No, they’re all down in the studio. Jake came over at just gone seven-thirty this morning. We’re going to do the Scarecrow walk with the kids this afternoon, so they wanted to get as much work done as possible before we do.”

  The village residents had all made scarecrows with a Christmas theme, and ‘planted’ them in their gardens and around the village. There were twenty in total, all numbered and named, with a clue on where to find the next one. Once they’d found twenty, the children could go into the village shop with their list of scarecrows and get a prize.

  “Do you want to come?” asked Martha. “It might be a little muddy though, as I’m expecting a few to be in the fields.”

  “No dear, I’ll use the time you’re all out to catch up on some phone calls to Italy.”

  “Okay,” Martha sighed and gave Lucia a thin lipped smile as she put the coffee pot and Lucia’s bone China cup on the table.

  “You okay, dear? You look a little out of sorts.”

  Trust Lucia to notice, Martha thought. There was no point lying either, nothing passed her sharp eye or ear.

  “Luke and I had a row this morning.”

  “Oh dear. Do you want to talk about it?” Lucia asked as she poured herself a steaming cup of coffee.

  Martha exhaled and sat on the chair opposite her mother-in-law and told her everything.

  “What the fuck is your problem this morning?” Skins asked Luke as he stalked back into the rehearsal room after a five-minute break to ‘calm down’. Jake had told him he’d hit the wrong note, and Luke hadn’t taken it well.

  “He’s on his period,” Tom quipped.

  Luke tutted and threw Tom a glare.

  “Well?” Skins prodded. “We agreed any issues and we’d talk them out.”

  “It’s nothing,” Luke muttered.

  “Liar,” Jake said. “Skins is right we do not want you going to that place again.”

  Luke had suffered debilitating stage fright a few years before, and it had almost finished the band. Brought on by Skins' collapse on stage from a drug overdose, Luke didn’t tell any of the band, but just went off into hiding and didn’t communicate with them at all for a long time.

  “It’s nothing that will affect us,” Luke snapped. “Martha and I had an argument.”

  “Is that all?” Tom grumbled. “You always argue.”

  “No we don’t, we bicker.”

  “Same thing isn’t it?” Tom shrugged and started to play a riff on his guitar.

  “Sheesh the single man stands out a mile,” Jake said on a laugh. “If you were married you would know that arguing and bickering are two totally different things.”

  “How do you work that out?” Tom asked.

  “If she ends it, because she’s right, or at least thinks she is, then it’s bickering,” Skins replied.

  “But,” Luke said. “If you know you’re right then it’s arguing. Arguing lasts a fuck lot longer than bickering. A woman will close that shit down fast when she’s right; hence it becomes bickering.”

  “Okay.” Tom lifted his chin and stared at them all. “So what you’re saying is that Martha is always right; because you bicker all the time?”

  Luke, Jake and Skins nodded.

  “Yep,” Skins said moving back to his set. “If you value your balls, then she, whomever she may be, is always right. You will learn to bicker my friend.”

  Tom’s mouth gaped open as he tried to understand their logic. “Fuck, relationships are too confusing,” he moaned.

  “Good job you’re not in one then.” Jake slapped him on the back and laughed. “Anyway, Lukey, what are you and your wifey arguing about?”

  Luke groaned at Jake’s use of the name Lukey, the one Martha used when she wanted something.

  “Hey hang on,” Tom shouted excitedly. “If you’re arguing that means you think Martha is wrong, and you’re right.”

  “By jove I do believe he’s got it,” Skins said in a clipped accent.

  Luke sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Babies,” he answered.

  “Babies?” Jake asked.

  “Yep, she wants more and I don’t.”

  Skins took a step back and stared at Luke aghast. “What happened to filling up that twelve seater dining table with kids?”

  “My wife having a bad time while giving birth to our daughter is what happened,” Luke replied.

  “Doesn’t mean they’ll all be like that.” Jake ruffled Luke’s hair, earning himself a glare. “What was Betty’s birth like, has she ever said?”

  “Apparently, she popped out like laundry down a chute.”

  “Ugh nice visual,” Tom groaned shaking his head.

  “Well don’t think about my wife’s bits then, you dirty little shit.” Luke reached over and smacked Tom around the back of the head.

  “Shit Luke! Why do you always have to do that?” Tom bent down to pick up his beanie that had gone flying across the floor.

  “Because where there’s no sense there’s no damn feeling.”

  “You gonna cut her off then?” Jake asked as he re-tuned his guitar.

  “I’ve booked in to have the job done.” Luke said through an embarrassed cough.

  He was answered with a chorus of groans and three pairs of legs crossing.

  “Shit,” Skins muttered. “That’s bad.”

  “No way would I let anyone mess around with my junk.” Tom grimaced.

  “Me neither. When Amber decides we need to stop having kids the sales of prophylactics will increase, either that, or we’ll adopt the push and pull method.”

  Tom opened his mouth to speak and then closed it before looking at them each in turn.

  “Condoms and pulling out before he shoots,” Skins explained.

  “Oh right.” Tom nodded in understanding.

  “Yeah well I know Martha, and if we do that she’ll either stick a pin in the condoms, or entice me with her sexy moves, so I can’t possibly pull out. I’ve made my decision, and I’m sticking to it.”

  “I know man,” Skins said. “But that’s pretty final.”

  “A few days of swollen balls will be worth it, knowing that my wife will be safe.”

  “It won’t happen again, Luke, and I know it was scary, but like you said neither she, nor Gigi were in any real danger.” Jake put a hand on Luke’s shoulder and gave it a squeeze.

  Luke shrugged off his hand. “You weren’t in there Jake. You didn’t see how much it took out of her, or how petrified she looked when they took Gigi away. Watching Martha go through that was terrifying. I thought at one point…” he paused and cleared his throat. “I thought at one point that she was going to die, Jake. Do you know how that feels, the thought of losing her was crippling? I felt as though someone had ripped open my chest and dragged out my heart.”

  “I didn’t realise it was that bad, buddy,” Skins said quietly.

  Luke looked up at him and let out a breath. “It wasn’t really. Now, when I look back on it, I can see that. But, at the time it felt as though my world was going to end. I wouldn’t have survived without her. I love my kids with everything I have, but Martha, well Martha she is my life and without her, I can’t breathe.”

  They all looked at their friend in silence, all of them seeing the fear in Luke’s eyes. Tom looked down at his guitar and blew out a breath. He was beginning to u
nderstand how Luke was feeling; the thought of a life without Abbie was something he couldn’t comprehend.

  “Luke,” he said quietly. “You could both have what you want you know.”

  They all turned to Tom.

  “Go on,” Luke urged.

  “You can get Martha pregnant again, and then she can have a…shit what’s it called?” Tom looked up at the ceiling and closed his eyes in thought. “That’s it, an elective caesarean; she could have one of those.”

  “How the hell do you know about that?” Jake asked his eyebrows raised in surprise.

  “I watched a program about it last week when I was bored one night.” It was when he was waiting up to call Abbie, he could have added, but didn’t.

  Luke, Jake and Skins all looked at each other and then turned their surprised gaze back to Tom.

  “What?” he asked.

  “I erm…well.” Luke shook his head and turned to Jake and Skins.

  “No words right?” Jake laughed and slapped Luke’s back.

  “I need to go and see Martha.” Luke sprinted for the door and disappeared.

  “Well, well, well,” Skins said with a huge grin. “You've done good today boy.” He hooked an arm around Tom’s neck and kissed his forehead.

  “Why are you all so surprised that I can actually have a good idea?” he asked swiping at the wetness that Skins had left behind. “I’m not totally stupid.”

  “Woah,” Jake cried. “And he’s back in the room.”

  Tom curled his lip at his laughing friends and went to follow Luke. They might think he was stupid, but he wasn’t; he was smart enough to know that Abbie was who he needed to be with and tonight was the night he was going to tell her.

  Chapter 7 – December 21st

  After the morning in the studio, and a lovely big lunch of soup and sandwiches, everyone, except Lucia and Stacey, wrapped up in coats, hats, gloves and scarfs and set off for the Scarecrow walk.