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

by Nikki Ashton

  “So what happened? You aren’t just born with a phobia of the jolliest fucking man on the planet.”

  Tom looked at Jake quizzically. “You do know he’s not real, don’t you?”

  Jake took a step back and clutched at his chest. “You’re shitting me?” He lifted a hand and cuffed it around Tom’s head. “Of course I do, and stop trying to divert my attention from your weird as fuck phobia. What happened to make you hate Saint Nick?”

  Tom closed one eye and winced. “I caught my mum kissing Santa and it freaked me out. I screamed the house down and my mum and dad had to give me a shit load of some gloopy, pink medicine stuff to knock me out.”

  “They drugged you?” Jake gasped, running a hand through his short blonde hair.

  “Well yeah, but it wasn’t as bad as it sounds, and I remember they kept poking me to wake me up.”

  Jake’s eyes widened. He’d always thought Tom’s parents were a little bit scatter brained but overdosing him on kid’s medicine was a little scary.

  “You do know that is totally wrong don’t you?” Jake said with a shake of the head.

  “I was hysterical, what else were they supposed to do on Christmas Eve?” Tom blinked with confusion. He didn’t understand what Jake’s look of astonishment was all about. “It’s not like they did it regularly.”

  “Well it might explain why you are the way you are,” Jake laughed.

  “I am not stupid!” Tom protested. “I just act that way so that you three don’t make me do things for the band. I’m a lazy shit, not a stupid one.”

  Jake grinned wide and nodded his head. “Yeah I guess you’re right, but what was going on with your mum snogging the arse off Santa?”

  “It was my dad, dressed up.”

  Jake looked quizzically at Tom and shrugged. “And?”

  “Well they couldn’t tell me that, could they?”

  “Why not? If you were hysterical, why didn’t they?”

  “Because I was four fucking years of age and still believed. If they’d told me it was Dad I would have known that Santa didn’t really exist.” He gave Jake as look as though he was the most stupid member of the band.

  “But if you became scared of him then they may as well have told you,” Jake scoffed.

  “But I still believed he was real, and they didn’t want to spoil that for me.” Tom really didn’t understand what Jake’s point was. “Would you tell Eliza he isn’t real?”

  “No!” Jake cried. “But’s she’s not bloody scared of him!”

  “Ah you’re just doing my nut in now. Can we just drop the subject and get someone else to dress up as the creepy bearded guy?”

  Jake linked his hands behind his head and looked up at the ceiling. “There is no one else.”

  “Well I’m not doing it,” Tom protested, moving towards the door.

  “Tom!” Jake caught hold of Tom’s forearm and pulled him to a stop. “It might help your phobia. You know that therapist that Luke had when he suffered from stage fright had him walking around on a stage, in an empty theatre. Maybe that would work for you? You know actually dressing up as the man himself may cure your fear of him.”

  “I’ve got a better idea, how about you fuck off? I’ve told you, I’m not doing it.” He pulled away from Jake and wrenched open the bedroom door.

  “You’re one selfish bastard, you know that,” Jake called from the doorway as Tom strode down the landing and flicked Jake the bird over his shoulder. “You are dead to me, Davies.”

  “Good, now leave me alone!”

  With a heavy sigh Tom ran down the stairs desperate to get away from Jake and the evil red outfit that the idiot had paid a fortune for. All he wanted to do was find Abbie and lose himself in her, but with a houseful of kids, a band of rockers and their wives, plus one elderly Italian sweetheart, sex with Abbie was looking about as likely as him dressing up as Santa.

  Chapter 9 – December 22nd

  When Tom reached the bottom stair after escaping from Jake, he spotted Abbie in the doorway to the lounge. She was unbuttoning her coat with one hand, while unwinding her scarf with the other. Tom rushed forward and pulled at her arm.

  “Tom!” she exclaimed as he dragged her away from several sets of gaping eyes. “What are you doing?”

  “You need to come with me. Tell Jake we’ve gone to the shop, if he asks,” Tom called over Abbie’s shoulder into the lounge.

  “Tom?” Abbie trailed behind him, breaking into a jog to keep up with his long strides.

  Tom didn’t answer, but grabbing one of Luke’s jackets from the back of a chair in the kitchen he continued on to the door. He threw it open and stood to one side to let Abbie out and then followed her, shrugging on the jacket.

  “Why have you just dragged me out of the house, when I’ve only just got here?” Abbie asked stopping in front of Tom.

  He placed his hands on her shoulders and turned her around. “We need to talk and we can’t do it in there.” Tom tapped Abbie’s backside urging her forward. “Go.”

  “Where?”

  “I have no fucking idea, baby, but anywhere away from here.”

  After a few minutes of walking down the lane, Tom and Abbie found themselves at Jake’s house. Abbie punched in the code to the gate and pushed through it, with Tom following closely behind.

  “I think we’ll be safe here, honey,” Abbie giggled, unbuttoning her coat as she and Tom entered the large square hall. “The guys were just organising to take all the kids out for pizza, so I’m real mad that I’m going to be missing out now you’ve dragged me away.”

  If there hadn’t been laughter in her eyes, Tom might have thought that she was being serious; Abbie loved her pizza.

  “I’ll buy you as much pizza as you want,” he sighed as he took off his jacket. “But, we need to talk first.”

  Abbie’s smile fell from her face as she studied him intently. “What do you want to talk about?”

  “I think you know, Abs.”

  “Telling Jake,” she whispered.

  Tom sighed and gently pulled her into his arms. “Yeah, we need to tell Jake, but first you and I need to talk.” Tom swallowed hard, his nerves were on the point of shattering at the thought of Abbie telling him that an ‘official’ relationship was not on her radar.

  “We should sit then, I guess.” Abbie kissed him gently and then moved out of his embrace and led him into the lounge.

  Once they were seated, Tom took Abbie’s hand in his and rubbed the back of it with his thumb. He wasn’t sure what to say; not because he was unsure of his feelings for her, but because he didn’t want to make a half arsed attempt at telling her how he was feeling. Abbie was amazing and deserved special.

  “Okay,” he said clearing his throat. “We said that this thing between us was going to be fun, no strings attached.”

  Abbie gripped Tom’s hand tightly. “We did and I…”

  Tom shook his head. “Please Abs, let me say this.”

  “Okay,” she replied quietly.

  Abbie’s heart sank as she looked at Tom’s face. He looked as though he was about to tell her that someone had died. This was bad, she just knew it; this was when he was going to end things, all because he couldn’t face telling Jake.

  “So,” Tom continued. “We said this thing between us would be fun, but it’s not anymore.”

  Abbie let out a little whimper. She’d been determined that she’d stay strong, but that sentence had just hit her like a punch to the gut.

  “No, I didn’t mean it like that.” Tom rolled his eyes. “I’m fucking this up big style.”

  “It’s okay, I get it. Don’t feel bad.”

  “I don’t feel bad,” Tom said incredulously. “That’s what I’m trying to say, I feel amazing. It’s not fun anymore, it’s so much more than that, Abs.”

  “It is?” Abbie’s eyes widened as she leaned closer to Tom, unsure that she’d understood him correctly.

  “God yeah. It has been for me for a while now, and you being
away for three weeks just proved how much you mean to me.”

  “I do?”

  “Fuck yeah. Abs, it was awful without you, I missed you so damn much.”

  “You did?”

  Tom grinned as Abbie’s voice got brighter with each question.

  “So fucking much. You see the thing is, I don’t want us just to be fun anymore. I want us to have a proper, out in the open, boyfriend/girlfriend relationship.”

  “You do?”

  Abbie’s face broke into a beautiful smile, the likes of which Tom had never seen before. It didn’t just light up the room, it lit up the whole damn universe.

  “Yes baby, I do. Because…well because, I love you.”

  Abbie gasped and covered her mouth with her hand, staring at Tom with huge, wide eyes.

  “You’re supposed to say ‘you do?’ now,” Tom said on a laugh. “Unless of course the thought is totally shitting with your mind and you’d rather I just took that last bit back.”

  Abbie shook her head and then flung herself at Tom, showering him with kisses and squeezing him tightly.

  “Oh my God,” she gasped. “You love me?”

  “I do.”

  “I love you too.” Abbie said with a crack in her voice. “So, so much.”

  “You do?” Tom replied in a mock Californian accent.

  They both burst out laughing and fell back onto the sofa, with Abbie on top of Tom, her hands either side of his head. Amidst the hilarity their eyes met, and suddenly there was silence as they drank each other in. Tom reached up and tucked Abbie’s long hair behind her ear, before reverently stroking a finger along her cheek bone.

  “You’re so beautiful it takes my breath away,” he whispered.

  Abbie couldn’t help the tears that pooled in her eyes, the emotion that Tom evoked in her was one of pure joy. She bit on her bottom lip and swallowed.

  “Hey, what’s wrong?” Tom pushed up onto his elbows so that his face was inches from Abbie’s. “Why the tears?”

  As Tom rubbed at a slow running tear with his thumb, Abbie leaned into his touch.

  “I’m just so happy,” she said, her voice breaking. “I never thought this would happen for me.”

  Tom wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly. He knew that Abbie was thinking of her drug problem. Jake had told them a little about it when he’d brought Abbie home; just that she’d had a problem and her manager had perpetuated the situation by bringing Abbie’s dealer onto the payroll. Over the last year, however, Abbie had disclosed a lot more than the fact that she was a crack and sleeping pills junkie. She’d told Tom some of the depths she’d dropped to in order to get drugs; sleeping with her dealer; selling a diamond choker of her mother’s and stealing from a charity fund that her father ran were the most despicable.

  Abbie also told Tom that she’d almost done a porn movie to get money. The execs at the studio that she was contracted to had suspended her for two months, without pay; they had zero tolerance on drugs, a clause that was in every actor’s contract, and as she’d broken it she had no leg to stand on or money for drugs. To Tom’s relief, Abbie told him she couldn’t do it in the end and pulled out of the film. It hadn’t gone down well with her manager who was due to make a lot of money from the deal. The less said about her the better as far as Tom was concerned. She was a shark who had manipulated Abbie and if he ever met her he wasn’t sure his reaction would be particularly gentlemanly, or legal.

  “Well it has and we’re going to have an amazing life together. All the past is forgotten. Your life, our life, together, starts now.”

  “I don’t know whether I deserve this,” she replied snuggling against Tom’s chest. “I don’t know if I deserve you.”

  Tom lifted her head and looked Abbie directly in the eye. “Don’t you ever say that again. You made mistakes, all of us make mistakes, but those mistakes don’t define who you are. I love you with all my fucking heart because you are sweetest, kindest, sexiest woman I’ve ever met.”

  Abbie grinned through her tears. “You really love me?”

  “Yeah baby, I do. So damn much.”

  “How long have you known?” Abbie’s cheeks pinked as she looked down at Tom. She’d known for almost three months that she loved him, but hadn’t dared say anything because of the deal they’d made at the beginning about it being fun.

  Tom’s lips twitched at one side and his eyes lit with mirth as he remembered. “Hendrix’s christening,” he stated. “When he threw up all over that gorgeous dress that we’d spent four fucking hours shopping for and you’d spent an absolute fortune on. It was even in your hair, but you took it like a damn trooper. You laughed about it, wiped yourself down, kissed the little monster, and then went and changed into that damn sexy waitress’s uniform that the hotel gave you.”

  Abbie gasped. “You fell in love with me covered in puke?”

  “Yeah I did, covered in puke and showing off those sexy little knickers of yours every time you bent over, because the uniform was so short.”

  “Oh my God!” Abbie exclaimed. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  Tom frowned. “Why the fuck would I? Anyway, it was only me that saw them, didn’t you wonder why I was always standing behind you?”

  Abbie started to giggle. “I did think you were being a little too close and that Jake might guess that we were together.”

  “Nah, I was subtle. I can be subtle you know.” Tom grinned and dropped a kiss to Abbie’s lips. “So that’s when I fell in love with you.”

  “Three months ago,” Abbie said with a sigh. “This is real weird because that’s when I fell in love with you.”

  “What at the christening?” Tom asked incredulously.

  “Aha. Because you pulled me into that closet before I got changed and you kissed me senseless and offered me your shirt to wear. I knew then that you were one of the best guys I had and would ever know. You were who I wanted to be with, forever.”

  Tom blew out a slow breath. “Fuck Abs, I need to make love to you now.”

  As their mouths clashed together, fingers pulled at clothing and tugged at zips and buttons as they were both desperate to be together. With all their clothes thrown into a pile on the floor, Tom flipped them over so Abbie was underneath him. He took hold of her arms and pushed them above her head. Dropping his mouth down, Tom took one of Abbie’s hard nipples and sucked on it. He licked around its peak before nipping at it and drawing it back into his mouth.

  “Perfect,” he whispered as he kissed up Abbie’s breast bone and then back down again to spend the same amount of attention on her other nipple.

  “Tom,” Abbie gasped. “Please.”

  Tom’s hand moved along Abbie’s toned thigh and then up to the apex of her legs. Gently, but without warning, his slipped his fingers inside her and felt himself harden even more as she elicited a moan of pleasure. Watching Abbie come apart with his touch made Tom feel as though he could conquer anything, be anything and do anything. He would love this woman to the end of his days.

  “I adore you,” he whispered against Abbie’s ear. “So much.”

  Pushing Abbie’s legs apart, Tom positioned himself between them and thrust inside her. With her hips rocking in time with Tom’s, Abbie kept pace with him as he increased his thrusts. Their fingers linked together and as their climaxes built, the grip on each other tightened.

  “Tom, baby. Oh my God!” Abbie arched her back as the tumultuous feeling of joy spread throughout her body. Her skin tingled as the orgasm shot through her like fireworks in the night sky.

  “Fuuuuck,” Tom groaned as he let go of his own climax. He felt Abbie tighten around him as her orgasm continued, making him cum even harder.

  They called each other’s names, their breath mingling together as the final throes of their pleasure left their bodies.

  Breathing heavily and totally spent, Tom leaned down and gave Abbie a sweet kiss, a gentle contrast to the frenetic love making that they’d just experienced.

  “S
hit,” he gasped. “That was worth a three week wait.”

  “It sure was,” Abbie giggled. “So good.”

  “That doesn’t mean I’m letting you out of my sight for three weeks ever again though; that is not happening.”

  “I don’t want to. Next time I go home you can come with.”

  “That’s a deal.”

  Tom grinned. That was a definite deal, because the next time Abbie did go home he would definitely be going with her. There was no way he’d be asking her dad for permission to marry his daughter by a long distance phone call.

  Abbie sighed contentedly and was just snuggling into Tom’s arms, when she sat up and stared towards the window.

  “Did you hear that?”

  “What?” Tom asked as he looked in the same direction.

  “The gate, I just heard it bang. Oh shit, Jake’s here.”

  Tom scrambled off the sofa and searched around the floor, looking for his clothes and throwing various garments at Abbie.

  “Quick, get dressed,” he urged as he pulled on his jeans. “It’s one thing telling him about us, but another him finding out that I’ve practically jizzed over his expensive sofa.”

  Tom looked up from buttoning his jeans to see Abbie quietly laughing, hysterically. She had one hand covering her mouth, while her other arm was wrapped around herself.

  “Your face,” she gasped between peals of laughter. “You look petrified.”

  Tom ran a hand through his unruly hair and let out a huge sigh of relief. “You little…”

  “I’m sorry,” Abbie cried as Tom launched himself at her. “But I couldn’t resist it.”

  “I will get you back for this,” Tom said as he pinned Abbie’s arms down. “You’d best sleep with one eye open.”

  “Oh yeah, and what are you going to do?”

  “Well now,” Tom dropped his head and kissed her hard and long. “That would be telling.”

  “You’re a bad boy, you deserved it.”

  Tom smiled and with a hand curled around the back of Abbie’s neck, he pulled her closer.

  “What the hell is going on?” A deep voice barked behind them.

  Tom froze and Abbie screamed as the cushion hit Tom with full force around the side of the head.