Falling Down

by Anne Mercier

  "I know. We got this. Okay?"

  I nod against his chest. Frank smiles and I breathe a sigh of relief.

  "Paps at the gate."

  "Stupid fuckers. They can't get past here," Ben says.

  "Good," I murmur.

  As we near the mansion Sera whistles. "Whoa. I can totally see why you call this Casa Falling Down."

  "I know, right?"

  "Jesus," Jace says. "Do you get lost in here?"

  "We did the first week," Ben says with a laugh.

  We pull up to the front of the house and the guys grab the luggage from the trunk. When we enter the foyer, I see the rest of our luggage has already arrived.

  "Excellent. All our stuff is here," Sera says.

  "Good. Now let's get you set up. I'll show you where we're staying first. If you don't want to stay in that wing, you can stay in the one just across the way," Ben says leading Sera and Jace up the stairs. They take a right while Jesse and I take a left.

  "Jesse--"

  "This way."

  "Um."

  He punches his code in and opens his bedroom door then sets my two suitcases down. Ethan comes in behind and sets the last two down.

  "Lucy," he says with a wink before he walks back out.

  "You want me to stay in your room?"

  Jesse rubs a hand across the back of his neck. "Yeah, unless you'd rather stay somewhere else."

  Holy--. For real. He's serious. He wants to try this for real.

  I start to pace, taking in the comforting green, black, and blue throughout the room. Jesse grabs my hand and pulls me toward him. He hooks his hands behind my lower back and looks down at me.

  "Tell me."

  I rest my hands on his chest and draw circles with my index fingers. I bite my lip and when Jesse makes a scolding noise, I stop. I nearly roll my eyes but instead I muster up all my courage and blurt out my feelings.

  "I'm scared."

  "I'm fucking terrified."

  I look up at him. "You don't do relationships."

  "I know. What scares you most?"

  "That once the novelty of me wears off and you get back on tour, the groupie whores will take over and I'll be kicked to the curb with a broken heart."

  He nods. "I'm glad you're being honest and I can see that. I don't know how to do this, Lucy, but I want to see where this goes because I really like you. We have fun together, amazing sex, and we have so much in common. I promise not to just kick you to the curb like that, Lucy. I don't make many promises because I'm don't like to break them, but I know this is one I won't break. I won't ever purposefully hurt you."

  I nod and sigh. "I have to be honest too. I haven't been in a real relationship since high school." I meet his gaze. "I was involved with someone a couple years ago but that didn't last long. We never lived together or anything like that."

  He nods.

  "No other girl has ever been in this room?"

  "Besides my mom and sisters, no."

  "Wow. I wouldn't have guessed that."

  "I'm going to be blunt, okay?"

  I nod.

  "The sl--women who came to parties here at the house, they knew it was just for a good time and we all knew they were using us for whatever purpose they had. In the beginning I didn't care, but when they started taking pictures and trying to make it more than it was, it got old real quick. I didn't want those-"

  "Sluts."

  He nods. "Sluts in my private space."

  "Good to know you don't think of me like that."

  "Luce. You're nothing like that. Not even your bad girl."

  "Should I be insulted?"

  "No. You're not slutty or skanky. You're sweet and kind and classy and seriously wild between the sheets."

  I laugh. "I've never been accused of being wild between the sheets before."

  "Wrong partners."

  "Definitely."

  "So, we're doing this."

  I nod. "I guess we are."

  We're silent for a few minutes, just looking at one another. I can tell he's thinking but I am too.

  "Jesse?"

  "Hmm?"

  "Did you feel this way when I left Sunday?"

  He nods.

  "Is that why you were so quiet?"

  He nods again.

  I sigh. "You should have said something."

  "I should have, but I couldn't risk you not feeling the same or not being ready for something more. I didn't want to ruin the perfect weekend we had."

  "I have a request."

  "Okay."

  "From now on, no matter the consequences, if we have something important we want or need to talk about, we just do it. Get it out there. Knowing we've made this deal will allow for understanding on both our parts."

  "I think that's a great idea. What are you thinking right now?"

  I smile and shake my head. "I can't believe this. You're you and I'm in your room for the unforeseeable future. I think someone's drugged you or something because this can't be real."

  "It's real. We're real."

  I nod.

  "We'll handle the press, get it out there that Blush is alive and kicking, introduce everyone, and I'll stand next to you holding your hand the entire time. And when you're done talking about Blush, I'll pull you close, just like this," he says as he pulls me closer, looking down at me. "And I'll dip my head like this," he adds against my lips. "Then I'll lift you up like this so no one misses the camera shot, you can wrap your legs around me just like that, and I'll kiss you just like this."

  The kiss starts off with soft lips brushing against one another, then mouths opening and tongues coming together. My fingers thread through Jesse's hair and his hands squeeze my ass as he holds me up. I moan when he dips his finger between my legs and runs it up along the seam of my jeans.

  "Mmm," he says pulling back. "Well, maybe I won't kiss you just like that."

  I laugh and pull his mouth back to mine. I think as he carries me to his bed.

  "Jesse Kingston's falling down…" he sings to the tune of London Bridge.

  "Lucy Russo's falling down with a blush," I sing.

  We both smile and then we get wild between the sheets.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Jesse

  After a bout of mind-blowing sex with Lucy, I show her my closet. "Take whatever space you need."

  "How can you only have that many clothes? It's not right that men can get away with that."

  "I can't believe how many fucking clothes you have."

  She shrugs, hanging up a dress. "I can't go out wearing the same thing all the time. I find myself in magazines more often than I'd like so I have to be fashionable."

  He shakes his head. "Chicks."

  "You men have it made. You suck."

  "Only when you ask nicely," I tell her with a grin and a wink. She leaves herself open for those all the time. I can't help myself.

  I can't help myself with a lot of things when it comes to Lucy, it seems. I've never entertained the idea of having a woman live with me. Ever. I'm not sure what's going on with me. I'm all kinds of fucked up. I mean, I'd even thought it through before I made the suggestion that they stay here and when I did I knew I wanted her in my bed.

  It's not just that I haven't gotten enough of her yet (because I haven't, not even close), but I really like her being around. Watching her walk around my space, putting her clothes in my closet and in the dresser drawers I cleaned out for her, I feel good. I like it. Something's fucking wrong with me.

  "Thank God. Clothes are put away. Shoes are put away. Now…" she trails off and walks toward the bed with what looks like a black electronic tablet.

  "What's that?"

  "This?" she holds it up.

  I nod.

  "It's my Kindle."

  I just give her a stare. I have no fucking clue what a Kindle is.

  She grins. "It's where I read and download books."

  "Huh."

  She brings it over and turns it on, showing me how she can
hook straight to Amazon and one-click. She tells me about her one-click addiction. I just bet. If she's anywhere near as addicted to books as she is to clothes and shoes, I've no doubt she's got hundreds of books.

  "How many books you got on there?"

  She gives me a sidelong glance. She almost looks… guilty. She taps a button and shows me.

  I let out a long whistle when I see she's got over fourteen-hundred books. "Yeah, I'd say you have a one-click addiction. How many of those have you read?"

  "Um, let me see." She taps a few buttons and some reader page opens. "Five hundred-eighty-six."

  "You'll never run out, that's for sure."

  "Especially when Amazon is just a button away."

  "Shopaholic. That's the only way to describe you."

  "Not true. I think I only bought maybe one-fourth of the clothes and shoes I have. I'm content in shorts and a tank top or a sun dress and flip flops. My mom--"

  I hold up a hand cutting her off. I've heard from Jace how her mom steamrolls her life.

  "Enough said."

  She nods, picking up a bag and heading to the bathroom.

  "What's the plan for tonight?"

  "Ben texted. We're going to order pizza and just hang out."

  "That sounds good actually. Do you guys always do your own cooking or do you have someone to do that for you when you don't feel like it?"

  "We cook a lot but not all the time. Mrs. Martinez is our main housekeeper and cook. She manages two other girls who basically run the household. Mr. Martinez is our gardener and fix-it guy if we can't do it ourselves."

  "That's pretty cool."

  I lean a shoulder against the doorjamb and tuck my hands in my pockets as she starts unpacking her toiletries.

  "Yeah, they've been with us since the beginning. When we were able to, we hired them and got them out of the projects."

  "How did you know them?"

  "Xander's ex-girlfriend lived in that neighborhood and they took care of her. Her parents were crackheads."

  "I see." With one hand in her bag she meets my gaze in the mirror. "Um, are you going to have problems with me putting my feminine products in your cabinet?" she asks holding up a box of tampons.

  I shrug. I could give a shit, to be honest.

  "I don't care. Have you forgotten that I have a mom and two sisters? When we were younger we only had two bathrooms. Besides," I tell her, walking up behind her and wrapping my arms around her waist, resting my chin on top of her head. "This is your space as much as mine, now."

  See? What the fuck is going on with me? Shit like that just keeps flying out of my mouth and the weird thing is, when I say it I mean it.

  My phone chimes with a text. I kiss the top of her head and read it as she walks into the shower room.

  "That was Ben. Pizza's here. They're all out on the patio."

  "Let's go," she says pulling him through the door.

  I can't help but chuckle. "You in a hurry?"

  "I'm hungry."

  "Jump on," I tell her and I carry her piggy-back to where the others are. I just want to feel her legs wrapped around me, even if it's not in a sexual way. Her touching me does something crazy to my insides. This woman has gotten under my skin.

  When we get to the patio, I take a seat then pull Lucy into my lap. Ben gives me a look and I just shake my head. I have no fucking idea. Xander smirks and I give him the finger.

  "What kind of pizza did you get? Oh my God, Sera, are you seriously eating supreme?" Lucy says.

  "Damn straight," she mumbles around her pizza. "No more modeling means I can put on those ten pounds they made me lose for modeling."

  "You could stand to gain at least twenty," Ben says. She really could but I wouldn't have told her that. Ben's got no filter when it comes to that woman.

  Sera sends him a glare. "Did I ask you?"

  He shrugs. "You're too skinny. You look sick. People probably think you're anorexic or some shit."

  She's still glaring. "They might think that about me but I'm positive they know you're a dick."

  He throws his head back and laughs.

  Lucy leans down and whispers, "What's going on?"

  I shrug. "No clue. Sexual tension?"

  She raises a brow then takes a bite of the sausage and mushroom pizza slice she snagged while I, on the other hand, inhale pizza loaded with tons of meat and cheese. Fucking manly pizza.

  "Ethan, can you please pass me a soda?" Lucy asks him.

  "Want me to mix you up a Captain and diet?"

  "Oh my God, would you? That'd be so amazing."

  He nods and walks behind the bar. "Sera? Want anything?"

  "Captain and diet sounds good for me too."

  "On it."

  "What did Irene and Cage have to say about the press conference?" Sera asks and Lucy sighs.

  She'd been stressed and freaking out when she conferenced them and when she hung up, she started pacing. That's when I grabbed her, stripped her naked, and made a feast out of her pussy. The woman tastes like the best kind of dessert. With the sluts that were around, I don't usually go down on them unless they're ones I've arranged to hook up with when we hit that city. Having a few regulars is fucking cool. I don't have to worry about being exploited and the chick knows what to expect which is basically me fucking the hell out of her and then moving on.

  But with Lucy, she's Lucy. Classy and beautiful and once I tasted her, I couldn't get enough. It's hot as hell how easily I can get her to come and I gave her two orgasms that had her back bowing up off the bed. Fuck yeah. I'm getting hard just thinking about it.

  Then when I slipped inside of her, fuuuuck. Heaven. She's so incredibly tight that it's actually hard for me to get inside her. I'm so afraid I'm going to hurt her when I first push my dick inside her that I let her make the moves on how much she can take. But when I'm fully buried inside her, balls deep, that's when I'm back in control. I love watching her eyes half closed, her lips parted, her face and chest flushed with arousal. It's the prettiest sight I've ever seen other than when she comes. When she comes… I mentally shake my head. It's unlike anything I've ever seen or felt. Her face is completely calm, trusting, and giving. Her pussy clenches me so tight it's hard to move inside her, but I do and when her pussy spasms, she milks every last drop of cum from me. Maybe what's going on is I'm addicted to her pussy. I wish it was that simple. I know it's not and it's fucking scary as hell.

  When Lucy fell asleep in the Jacuzzi the first night she was here, after I dried her off and tucked her in, I headed to where Ben and the guys were. I told them she was different and if any one of those fuckers made her feel cheap or used in any way, I'd cut their nuts off. Yeah, none of them knew what to do with that at first. Don't get me wrong, they knew that Lucy's different, but I'd gone all caveman (as Lucy would say) in a way they'd never seen before.

  All I said was, "She matters," and they all nodded, accepting it just like that. It's not something any of us are used to but it is what it is.

  "Did you have to go there while I was eating?" Lucy asks Sera. "You couldn't have waited until I was on my second drink?"

  What were they talking about again? Oh yeah. Press conference.

  Sera rolls her eyes. "No, I couldn't. If I have to be there, I need to know what the hell is going on."

  "Fine," Lucy sets her pizza down on her napkin. "We're holding a press conference tomorrow at Nichols Records, where they usually hold theirs?" She looks at me and I nod.

  "I know where that is."

  "This is good."

  I just grunt and take another bite of pizza. I'm hungry and distracted by her ass wiggling on my cock.

  Ethan hands her a drink and she gulps half of the glass. She coughs twice and I smirk.

  "You might want to take it easy on those," Kennedy says. "Ethan usually makes his drinks three-quarters alcohol and one-quarter soda."

  "Perfect."

  "You don't want to be hungover for the press conference," I remind her opening the beer Be
n passes me.

  "It's not until three in the afternoon so I can sleep in a bit. They want everyone there, from both bands, so I had to call Trace and Meggie. Trace wasn't at all surprised and Meggie can't wait to be photographed."

  "She's so weird," Jace says.

  "Nothing new."

  "True."

  It's cool there's four of them in Blush who knew each other growing up. It's like me, Ben and the guys. We've known each other since grade school, we're as close as brothers, and I'd trust them with my life. That's what I'd been hoping for for Lucy and I'm pretty sure that's what she's got. Trace is a kick ass guy. Reliable and fucking insane on those drums. It was a stroke of luck that they'd been able to snag him for the interview. He'd just left his band days before and Xander only knew because he'd seen Trace in Nichols Records the day of the parting.

  "After facing the wrath of the media, Trace and Meggie want to look through some of the songs we have and I want to look through theirs too. Cage reminded me we could use his studio and office space but Jesse offered the use of theirs instead," Lucy continues.

  Wrath of the media. I nearly chuckle, but I don't. Honestly she gets so riled up about it, I wish I could step in and do it for her.

  "Cool," Jace says.

  She shrugs and picks up her pizza to take another bite. "I'm seriously dreading that damn press conference. I don't want to make an ass of myself again and I just know I'm going to," she whispers to me then lets out a sigh.

  I rub my hand up and down her back. "We got this," I say with conviction as she meets my gaze. She pauses for a few seconds then nods.

  The rest of the guys murmur their agreement and while I feel a bit of relief knowing they're going to be up there with me, I know she's going to have to answer their questions and that means she's going to be put on the spot which means she's not going to react well.

  "Thanks you guys."

  "So," Sera says. Lucy shifts and raises a brow. "You're staying in Jesse's room?"

  "Um…"

  I just chuckle. "Relax, Luce. It's only Sera, not the press."

  "I just… I'm not sure how much…?" I trail off.

  "How much to tell her? Everything. It's family."

  I shrug. "Yeah, she's staying in my room so really it's our room now."