Scandalous Beat (The Tempest Rock Star series Book 6)

by Michelle Mankin

  And oh my.

  I had forgotten what it was like for me when Juaquin was with the band, on his riser, pounding the shit out of his drums. His sexy body moving in time to his rhythm.

  Mine responding.

  His arms were wind milling, his thighs pumping, cranking my heat up higher with visual stimulation. As if I needed any more encouragement to be turned on. He spun both his sticks and hit his cymbals to end the set. The crowd around me went wild, and my entire body quivered in response to their fervor.

  Ok, I decided. He was going to have to take me one more time before I told him the good news.

  Then Lace took the stage with all the other Tempest women beside her.

  “We want to welcome a new member to the crew.”

  What the…my heart raced thinking she was going to give away the pregnancy before I had a chance to. I glanced around looking for Juaquin.

  “Well, she’s not new, but she’s new in her role as ‘King’s woman.’ She did air quotes. All the guys in the band laughed. So did a few other people in the audience with me. But where had Juaquin gone?

  “She knows what it means to be one of us already. No pretenses. No perfect princesses in our sister solidarity. Addiction. Anorexia. Domestic violence. We keep it real. We rise above our circumstances with the support of each other and our men. And speaking of men, one of our own, a certain King, has something to say to his queen.”

  Holy shit.

  The crowd parted in front of me. An overhead spotlight illuminated him.

  His gold eyes glittered. They were more irresistible than any sunrise. He was more enticing than any man I had ever known. The band began to play. I recognized the song. He swayed to the captivating rhythm. He tapped his feet to the relentless flamenco-like beat. Without thought or hesitation, I followed his lead, mirroring his movements. He was so tempting, no other would ever do. I had been his at the beginning when it would have been scandalous. I had been his in the in between. I was his now. I would always be his.

  His lips lifting into a smile for me, he glided closer, his jeans, belt and shoes the only thing he wore besides the smile. The denim slid lower as he made his sexy approach. I gravitated closer, noticing the mic and realizing that he was going to serenade me right here, right now in front of everyone.

  “Tú eres la única,” he said. “You are the only one. This is for mi hermano and his bride to be and the woman in front of me who has always been the only one for me.”

  Tú eres la única

  la única mujer

  la única para mí

  You put me high up on a throne

  but I’m so damn alone

  a loser, a lost soul

  without you

  You are the only one

  the only woman

  the only one for me

  You’re back in my life again

  a shining bright light

  a woman like no other

  I’ll make you mine

  The other half, you make me whole

  no longer lost but found

  I’ll never let you go

  You’re my forever

  I tried to pretend

  that the others were real

  that I could forget you

  que podía estar satisfecho, pero…

  Tú eres la única

  la única mujer

  la única para mí

  * * *

  “No talking.”

  “But,” I complained for the umpteenth time since he had dragged me out of Footits. “I have something very important to tell you.”

  “And I told you that you will have your turn after mine.”

  “Please.” I stomped my foot on the fancy carpet and pouted my lips behind his shushing fingers. “I’ve been waiting all night to get you alone to tell you.” I didn’t understand why we had come downtown, to the same hotel on the waterfront where we had spent a night together. But we hadn’t checked into a room. We had bypassed the main hotel elevator and taken another one dedicated to private residences instead. We were on the top floor in front of a doorway at the far end of a long hall.

  “I don’t want to visit anyone,” I grumbled.

  “We aren’t visiting.” He inserted a key, unlocked and pushed open the door. “Go inside.”

  “Why?” I stepped forward.

  “You’ll see,” he explained from behind me.

  And I did see as soon as I passed the entryway, stepped into the massive main living area and read the banner taped onto the seamless floor to ceiling windows.

  “Welcome home,” it said.

  “Our home,” he whispered in an emotion roughened voice, and I spun around, placing my hand over my racing heart.

  “When?” I asked, taking another moment to examine the cavernous space, from the hand scraped dark wood floors to the vaulted ceilings and noticing the professional kitchen opening to the left of where we were standing.

  “I bought it before we spent the night in the hotel part of the complex. I had a key. I had planned to give it to you along with the flan. Some college brochures, too. I’ve been told the University of Washington has a good drama department. It might have been too soon for you then, but I was ready. I’m beyond ready now. I have no life without you in it. Let me give you a new dream. A home here. A family of our own. There are three bedrooms. The master bedroom faces east. We can watch the sunrises together. My family and yours, they’re nearby. I like the idea of you having a support network around for the times I’m away and you can’t go with me. Well, most of your family will be close. Mike will be in LA, but it’s only a two-hour flight away.”

  I put my hands over his lips. “Yes. Yes, I’m ready. Yes, I love it.”

  “Don’t you want to see the rest of the layout before you decide?”

  “I have everything I need right here.” I threw my arms around his neck. “My turn for surprises.” I tipped my head back. “I’m pregnant. That’s why I’ve been having those dizzy spells.”

  “Reina,” he breathed. His eyes wide, he gently set me back and placed his hand over my abdomen smoothing it back and forth ever so softly before he lifted his gaze. It was notably glassy. “Ay Dios mío.” He beamed proudly. “A baby. Our baby. When? How far along are you?”

  “Probably when we were here in Seattle. In this hotel. So this place? It’s perfect.”

  “You’re perfect, Miriam.”

  “We both are.” I allowed. “For each other. And for our baby.”

  Epilogue

  King

  “You look tired, Reina.”

  “I am. I guess. I never sleep well without you beside me.” I saw her hand reaching out as if she could stroke my face for real and not just touch the computer screen we had set up in the apartment’s kitchen for video calls. She sighed. I sighed also but inwardly. Missing her, I longed to taste, touch and take her, but I didn’t want to tell her. Inside her still lived the same impulsive girl I had met all those years ago. If I let her see how much my heart yearned for her, she would make sure that desire was met. She would get a last-minute flight. She would meet me in an airport that split the distance separating us. She would let me pull the VIP card. Airport staff would clear the room. I would lock the door. She would strip for me without me having to ask. She had all the sexy moves that said come and take me. And I would. Just like I had on the last Tempest tour.

  Kissed and fucked her with her arms over her head against the one-way glass while our private plane had refueled below us. I suppressed a groan remembering. It would be the shower for me again tonight. Alone. Using that memory for inspiration. Sure there were groupies on the sold out South American tour promoting the all-Spanish version box set of my solo stuff. A shit ton of them ready to bag Mr. Southside. Well, those girls might be willing, but I wasn’t the least bit interested. They didn’t have anything I needed. Only one did. Only her.

  Now, I reached out to the screen. Now, I sighed, too.

  Soon, I reminded myself. Mi mujer in a day�
��s time. Though I might have to be creative to catch her. She had all the last-minute preparations to make for the project she had been working tirelessly to bring to fruition since she had said yes to me all those years ago after my brother’s engagement party.

  Luckily, she had lots of supporters for what she was trying to do for the community of Southside and an equal amount of help.

  “When will you get home?”

  Home. Another bolt of longing shot through me. Home was wherever she was. More memories. Our wedding. Our honeymoon. Hot night after hot night in our apartment with my chiquita pero picosa in my bed.

  “Mexico City for the first leg. Onto LA in the morning. I should be in Seattle way before you cut the ribbon.”

  “That’s going to be close. Tempest goes on first in the lineup right after that.”

  “I know.” I missed the guys, too. Mi hermano and I had talked on the phone a couple of times this week. He was almost as excited as we were about the doors finally opening, but I wanted to see him in person. The Vancouver apartment he and Melinda shared was two and a half hours away. More like two the way I drove, but it was still too far. Bryan and Lace. War and Shaina. They were all Seattle residents. Mike and Alex had even purchased an apartment in the same building as ours. Besides my brother and his wife, Dizzy and April were the only other couple in the Tempest family living outside the city we grew up in.

  “I’ll be there in plenty of time. I wouldn’t miss your debut for the world.”

  “It’s the debut for all of us. Everyone’s chipped in. Your dad painted the lettering above the art wing. Your mom made fajitas and flan for later. We’re all going out to War and Shaina’s place afterward.” Yeah, I was definitely going to have to take the edge off by fucking my woman up against a wall somewhere. War and Shaina’s place was a compound on Lake Washington Boulevard. A main house facing the water for them. A studio for him and the band to use almost as big as Black Cat’s. A cottage for her parents. And a huge lawn perfect for picnic style gatherings and for kids to run around on. We would be out there for hours. It would be midnight before she and I could come back to our place and get seriously busy in our bedroom. “I hope you don’t get delayed again.”

  “I can’t control the weather, mamasota.” My voice was husky reflecting my all-night plans for us. “Otherwise I would have been home today to help you get everything ready. How’s our princess?”

  “She’s perfect. Beautiful. The only time she’s not in motion is when she sleeps.” I knew that was most certainly the truth. Our baby girl was a firecracker like her mommy with the energy level to match.

  As if she knew I was thinking about her, I heard her cry.

  “She’s waking up from her nap. She and Alexis took every container out of the Tupperware drawer and put them back in at least twenty times before they both crashed.”

  “Is her daddy Alex away on location again?”

  “Yeah, it’s just her other daddy Mike and me. We sit around watch our children play, eat ice cream and pine away for our men.”

  “You’re both too busy to pine.”

  “I miss you every moment, King. You know I do. Mike being just down the hall helps. Seeing everyone else does, too, but not after four weeks without you. Your pillow doesn’t even smell like you anymore.” Her eyes got glassy. She blinked away the excess moisture. This tour was too long. Next one she and our daughter were coming with.

  “Would you like me to get her so you can say hi?

  “Sí, Reina. You know I would.”

  “Ok hold on.” I watched my queen move away, frowning when she was out of visual range. She looked tired. She took on too much. Encouraging me. Loving me. Making our house a home. Raising our little girl while getting her degree in art therapy, completing the coursework verbally as an accommodation to her dyslexia. My brave queen. And tomorrow the doors to her big dream would open. Our big dream. We dreamed together now. And this dream meant hope in a place where it had always been needed.

  I heard the door to our daughter’s room creaking and our two-year-old babbling and then my woman reappeared with our little one.

  “There’s your daddy.” Miriam pointed at the screen. Looking sleepy, lines on her round face, her ringlet curls smushed on one side, our princess was rubbing pretty grey-green eyes like her mommy’s with her small fists.

  “Hey, princesita.”

  “¡Papá!” she exclaimed and started bouncing in Miriam’s arms while reaching her arms that were no longer chubby, out for me the way her mom had earlier.

  “¿Cómo estás, mi niña preciosa?” How are you, my beautiful girl?” We were trying to teach her English and Spanish. “I miss both my girls. Blow me kisses.”

  * * *

  Miriam

  “Slow down, MJ,” Mike said. “You’re talking so fast you’re out of breath. I can’t keep up with you.”

  “Change in plans.” I blew a stray strand of hair out of my eyes, closed the door to the Hummer with my hip and tried to organize the clutter inside my mind. “Juaquin’s flight is delayed. He has a limo service waiting to pick him up at the airport when he lands, but it’s going to be tight, and he doesn’t know that the main stage has been moved.” We’d had to add another stage. For the Dirt Dogs, a last-minute addition. The huge crowd we had already anticipated would likely double because of it. “I don’t know how Charles Morris of Zenith Productions and Mary Timmons of Black Cat Records managed to get them to come.” The band had retired, started a record label of their own and preferred surfing the SoCal waves near their home office rather than performing these days.

  “I don’t know. You guys all like to speculate about those two. Rivals with benefits. Hookups in secret. Between the sheets deals. You’ve got a backstory imagined for Charles and Mary like those Mexican novellas King’s grandmother likes to watch on Telemundo. But don’t worry about Juaquin. Delegate that task to me. I’ll look out for him. Make sure he knows where to go if he can’t get ahold of you.”

  “But you have Alexis and Hope.”

  “Nope. Your mother-in-law and your mother practically ripped them both out of my arms as soon as I arrived. Complained that they never get to see the grandbabies.”

  “They saw them only yesterday.”

  “Yeah, but you know how grandmas are.”

  “Yep.” I did. Hope’s devoted grandmothers were wonderful. I never would have been able to accomplish half of what I did if I didn’t have them. I slid a hand to my abdomen, to the slight bulge under my fingers. Another new life our love had created. One Juaquin had given me before he had gone on tour. Remembering that long night before he had left. No sleeping. Just slow and leisurely lovemaking. I licked my lips and shifted restlessly. I couldn’t wait to see him. Tell him the good news. It would be a tossup what came first, the good news or the sex. Maybe both at the same time. Imagining that, my lips slowly lifted into a smile.

  “What are you smiling about?”

  “Ha-ha!” I laughed. Mike said the words into his phone, but he had walked up right behind me in the parking lot. I shut the phone off.

  “I don’t really wanna know. I can guess.” He kissed me. “Now that I’m here, what else can I do? Do you want to go through the list before we head over to the main building for your speech?”

  “Alright.” I hitched my purse further up on my shoulder and counted on my fingers. “One: Make sure all the acts are here. Two: Make sure all the greeters are in place at the entrances to each wing. Three: Catering. Four: Media briefing.”

  “Five: Relax,” he interrupted. “You’ve got all these tasks delegated to capable leaders, though I know you will feel better after you check in with each of them.” He threaded our fingers together and squeezed. “You’ve been planning this day for months. It’s going to be fabulous. Now come on.” He took my hand and dragged me toward the complex of buildings that took up an entire block. Not something finance-wise or otherwise that I could have managed on my own, not even as successful as Juaquin had been with Tempe
st and in his solo career. But something that had been entirely doable given the kind of friends we both had.

  My cell rang. I released Mike’s hand and put the phone to my ear immediately when I saw the caller ID.

  “Hey, Jazz. How did it go?”

  “I got the part!”

  “I knew you would.” I smiled.

  “Only because you helped me.”

  “Only because you’re that good.”

  “I’m glad you think so.”

  “Why do you sound unsure?”

  “I heard some of the other girls talking. They were making jokes about who my father is. Saying I got the lead using his connections.”

  “That’s ridiculous. You testified against him. He’s in prison now.”

  “I know but people like to speculate.”

  “They do. You’re right. That kind of stuff is always going to be around. The trial was so public and went on for so long. But you are not your father, Jazz. Any more than I am mine. You are your own person. A wonderful person. Self-sacrificing. Brave. And a super-talented actress.” I gentled my tone. “Are you still doing those video sessions with Dr. Claffey?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Good.” Witnessing all the tragedies she had seen her father do, I knew she continued to carry a lot of heaviness around that she needed to come to terms with. “And volunteering at the center, helping the other girls with dyslexia?” I pressed.

  “Yes. Every Wednesday after school.”

  “That’s wonderful”. Helping others often lightened the burdens we had inside ourselves. “So I’ll see you later, after all this is done, at War and Shaina’s place?”

  “Absolutely.”

  “I love you, Jasmine.”

  “I love you, too.”

  “Miriam!” I heard her call my name as I ended the call and skimmed the crowd of family, friends and familiar faces in the courtyard until I found her.

  “Annie!” I darted toward my sister at a rapid clip that matched her own. Smiling, we collided and hugged.