Amber smiled.
“Yes, no problem,” she answered. “What time?”
“I need to be there at eleven.”
“Okay, I’ll wake you at ten, so make sure you get up this time,” she added with a gentle giggle.
“I will, and thank you.”
“Okay, now Jake, please go back into your room so I can get off this landing.”
Jake started to laugh and closed his door. As soon as she heard it shut, Amber turned back around.
“Jake!” she cried as she came face to face with the rocker, who was now standing in the middle of the landing, leaning on his crutches, totally naked.
“Sorry, Freckles, I couldn’t resist it.”
Amber bit her top lip, trying to stop the smile that was threatening to break out.
“I’ll see you in a couple of hours Jake.” Brazening it out, Amber moved past him and glanced down at his nakedness as she did so, taking in the wonderful tattoos that adorned his chest and arms. Her eyes lingered on one above his heart before she looked back up at his face.
“I just hope it’s the cold weather that’s affecting that,” she said pointing at Jake’s no longer quite so erect penis.
Jake laughed loudly, before slowly making his way back to his room. As he shut the door, Jake grinned, he’d seen the twinkle in Amber’s eyes when she’d looked at his junk. He also knew beyond doubt that she’d taken a good look at his arse. Maybe the ice maiden was starting to thaw again.
As Jake would be visiting a building site, Amber was a little nervous about him causing any further damage to his ankle. She was so worried that she’d insisted that they take along Auntie Lucia’s wheelchair. Gabriella had got it for her mamma after she’d had a small heart attack a few years ago, but Lucia had refused to use it, so it had stood in the garage ever since.
“This is fucking ridiculous,” Jake groaned as he flopped down into the wheelchair. “Seriously, Freckles.”
Amber started to laugh as she looked at Jake’s miserable face.
“This is a dangerous area,” she replied trying to stem her laughter. “Do you want a blanket for around your legs?”
Jake stared at her and tutted. “I think I prefer it when you’re busting my balls.”
“Ah, come on Jake, you have to admit it’s safer than you trying to navigate through all the debris.”
Jake looked at the path to the door way of his new house. It was an obstacle course of broken bricks, potholes and discarded cable. He had to admit that Amber was probably right. He gave a sigh and pointed ahead.
“Forwards Nurse, and mind the bumps.”
As Amber pushed Jake through the door, her mouth dropped in awe of the beautiful space that was being created for Jake.
The thick oak, double front doors opened into a huge hallway that was bright and airy due to its high ceiling and a beautiful domed skylight. To the left was a glass staircase, while a door on the right led to the downstairs rooms. Through the door, there was a huge open plan space, with a living area at the front and a large, high gloss, white, state of the art kitchen at the rear. The two areas were separated by a long breakfast bar with a shiny, black, granite work top. The whole of the back wall was glass, and Amber could see that it was a series of bi-fold sections that opened up, leaving the room exposed to a vast garden outside. The floors, which were almost fully laid, were porcelain tiles that looked so like planks of wood that she had to ask Jake to confirm it.
“Yeah, it’s the best thing to have with underfloor heating,” he replied as he pulled himself out of the chair. “Will you be okay looking around while I speak to Andy?” he asked.
Amber nodded and handed him his crutches. “Is that okay?”
“God yeah, I’d like your opinion.”
As Amber wandered around she realised that Jake actually had good taste, unlike his choice of clothing from time to time. Although it wasn’t finished, she could see that the fixtures and fittings that had been used around the house were all expensive and top of the range and, surprisingly for Jake, understated. There were five bedrooms, each with their own bathrooms, two of which were wet rooms, and each room was huge with a walk in wardrobe. In the corner of the lounge area, Amber found another glass staircase that led down to a lower floor where there was a sauna along with two other rooms. The builders told her that they were to be a gym and a games room. Without doubt, Amber knew that this was going to be a home that Jake would be proud of.
Finally, after half an hour, Jake hobbled back to the kitchen where Amber was waiting for him talking to one of the plumbers.
“Okay?” Jake asked looking pointedly at the plumber.
“Yeah, just chatting to your gorgeous girlfriend,” he said winking at Amber.
Jake didn’t bother to correct him and spoke to Amber before she had a chance to say anything. “We’d better go and let these guys get on with their work.” He then turned back to the plumber whose eyes were roaming up and down Amber’s body. “You got something that you should be doing?” Jake asked him.
“What? Oh yeah, best get on.” He winked at Amber again and moved away to mess with some pipework under the sink.
“No wonder this is taking so long to finish,” Jake muttered throwing a furious stare at the plumber. “So, what do you think?” His face now plastered with a smile as he looked at Amber.
“It’s going to be gorgeous.” Amber’s face reflected Jake’s. “Although, I can’t see how it’s going to be ready in four weeks.”
Jake groaned and rubbed a hand across his face. “It’s not. It’s going to be a hell of a lot longer, which is a pain in my arse. I really need it to be ready to move into, as soon as possible; like yesterday!”
“Why, you’re okay at Luke’s aren’t you?” Although she hadn’t wanted him there initially, the thought of being alone in the house, even for a couple of weeks, didn’t fill Amber with joy. Obviously it had nothing to do with it being Jake, she’d just didn’t want to be alone.
“Yeah, yeah of course I am, and I love sharing with you Freckles, but I just need this finished.” Jake looked at her warily, hoping that he hadn’t made it sound as though he wanted to get away from her. “It’s the costs,” he explained. “Every extra day will cost me a fortune.”
“Oh, okay,” Amber replied a little confused. Surely a late finish would cost the builder more if Jake stuck to his threat. Plus, Jake wasn’t known for his careful attitude to money normally. He was the man who’d paid to fly a fast food chef from L.A. to join them for just one day on tour, all because he craved one of the guy’s chilli burgers.
“Right let’s go. Where’s my carriage?” Jake asked before looking down at his phone that had just alerted him to a text.
Amber smiled and shook her head. “By the front door, but seeing as you didn’t initially want to sit in it, you’ve grown pretty fond of it now.”
“I just love getting pushed around by you, Freckles.” Jake looked up from his phone. He laughed and nudged Amber with his shoulder.
Once Jake was settled in his chair, Amber started to push him back to the car while they chatted away about Jake’s plans for the décor.
“So, I was thinking,” he said as they got to the car. “How would you fancy helping me plan the decorating?”
“Me? Well, I don’t know.” Amber pulled open the car door. “I don’t know anything about interior design.”
“I know, but you’re stylish,” Jake said looking up at Amber. “Just from our conversation I can tell you have some good ideas.”
Amber thought for a few seconds. She’d made all the decisions when her mum had redecorated throughout the house, and everyone always said how lovely it was.
“Okay,” she answered with a firm nod of the head. “Yes, if you want the help that would be fun.”
“Excellent,” Jake replied. “We’ll have a chat over dinner.” Jake smiled broadly and made a mental note to cancel the interior designer that he’d employed the day before. Amber was right, it was going to be
fun.
Chapter 7
By the time they had returned to Luke’s house the weather had taken a turn for the worse, so Amber and Jake found themselves stuck inside for the next few days. Amber hadn’t even taken Ernie for a walk because of the wind and rain, and instead she just let him have a run around the huge garden.
Both Amber and Jake were miserable, and Jake’s mood wasn’t improved when Tom called. His face had lit up for at least five minutes, but then, when Tom said he wouldn’t now be coming back from L.A. until the end of the summer, it fell dramatically.
“What am I going to do without you for the whole summer, Sugar Tits?” he groaned.
“I’m sure you’ll find someone to play with,” Tom replied.
“I’m guessing that’s why you’re not coming back.” Jake said, sulkily picking at a thread on his jeans. “You’ve found someone to play with, haven’t you?”
Tom laughed softly. “I couldn’t possibly say. Anyway, the house isn’t ready and isn’t likely to be for a while. All the shit weather you’re having has slowed them down.”
“Tell me about it,” Jake sighed. “Okay, but I’ll miss you.”
When he ended the call, Amber looked up from the book she was reading and giggled.
“You’re like a pair of lovers. Are you sure that there’s nothing physical between you?” she asked.
Jake screwed his face up. “Ugh, no way. If I were gay, I think Skins would be my beau of choice. Luke’s too intense and Tom, well…no definitely not Tom.”
“Why?” Amber asked with a mischievous grin. “He’s very handsome and sexy.”
Jake’s eyes narrowed on her. “Seriously?”
Amber nodded. “Hmm, seriously.”
Jake shook his head, muttered to himself and shuffled out of the room as quickly as his crutches would allow. After just a few minutes he returned and flopped down on the sofa.
“You honestly think he’s sexy?” he asked Amber
“Yep,” she replied without looking up from her book. “Very.”
Jake huffed and reached for a magazine, not noticing the amused smile on Amber’s lips.
“Christ, I’m bored,” Jake moaned a few minutes later. He discarded his magazine and snatched Amber’s book away.
“Hey, I was reading that!” she cried, trying to snatch it back out of his hands. “Well you’re not now,” Jake said with a grin, holding the book just out of Amber’s reach with one hand and trying to fend her off with the other. “Think of something we can do together Freckles. I can think of something, but it would involve us being naked.”
A bored Jake was an extremely annoying and naughty Jake, and he’d been throwing innuendos about all day.
“What about a film?” Amber suggested. She gave up trying to rescue her book and flopped back into her seat, deliberately ignoring his comment. “I’ll make popcorn.”
Jake arched an eyebrow. “One of your silly namby pamby girly films?”
“I’m not averse to an action film or a thriller if that’s what you’d prefer.”
Jake heaved a sigh and pouted. “I’ve seen all Luke’s collection, about a thousand times over the years. He’s what you call old school, and doesn’t seem to have any films released later than 1999.”
Amber giggled; she’d seen Luke’s DVD collection and had to agree. She thought about what she had up in her room.
“Okay,” she replied. “I’ve got a great film that we can watch.”
“Is it girly?”
“Well, I suppose so, but it’s an absolute classic, and everyone should see it at least once,” she said, pleading to Jake with her eyes.
Jake narrowed his eyes and regarded her suspiciously. After thinking for a few seconds he nodded slowly. “Okay,” he said, “go and get it.”
“Excellent, I promise you’ll love it.”
“Holy bandido,” Jake whispered. “That was brilliant.”
Amber leaned forward and peered at him. “Are you crying, Jake?” she asked, wiping away her own tears.
Jake bit his top lip and nodded. “Is that your favourite film ever?” he asked mid sniff.
“Yep, it’s so beautiful isn’t it?” Amber thrust the bowl of popcorn at Jake. “Here, have some. It’ll make you feel better.”
“God, they were so meant to be a couple. Why couldn’t they just get their shit together?” he asked, grabbing a handful of butter coated popcorn and shoving it into his mouth. “They’d had a child together for God’s sake,” he said through his mouthful of food.
Amber sat back and gave a sigh of satisfaction. Gone with the Wind was her favourite film of all time and she couldn’t believe that she’d actually found someone else to enjoy it with.
“Rhett’s a dude isn’t he?” Jake turned to Amber and grinned. “I might just pinch some of those lines.” He sat up straight and pulled his shoulders back, giving Amber what she guessed was a Rhett Butler stare. “No, I don't think I will kiss you,” Jake boomed in a deep voice, “although you need kissing, badly. That's what's wrong with you. You should be kissed, and often, and by someone who knows how.”
Amber started to laugh as she fluttered her eyelashes and fanned herself. “I was so glad to see you. I was Rhett, but you were so nasty.”
They both started to laugh, and helped themselves to more popcorn.
“Shit,” Jake said as their laughter died down. “Amazing film.”
“I thought that you’d hate it.”
“Nah, it was great, Freckles.”
Amber turned her head to a smiling Jake, and took in his profile. It struck her that his whole face changed when he smiled. He was handsome anyway, with high cheek bones, a strong square jaw and long nose, but when he smiled his eyes shone and wrinkled at the corners; in fact his whole face lit up. She also hadn’t failed to notice how good his body was when he had stood naked in front of her. He was often described by the press as tall and wiry, but his slim hips and a flat stomach widened out to a broad chest, like a swimmer’s body. Pretty much perfect in Amber’s eyes. His tattoos added an edge to his blonde haired, blue eyed appearance and she wondered whether each of them had a story, as she knew Luke’s did.
“What’s the tattoo above your heart?” Amber said, then she gasped when she realised her thoughts had decided to spring out from her lips of their own accord. “Sorry, I being nosey again. You don’t have to tell me.”
Jake turned to look at her and smiled.
“It’s fine, but I knew you were checking me out, Freckles.”
Jake shrank back, expecting a blasting from Amber who, he hadn’t realised until now, was actually enjoying this new found peace and tranquillity
“What else is a girl to do, when a rock star stands in front of her butt naked?”
Amber’s grin warmed Jake’s heart. She looked so happy and cute.
“Too true, you’re only human, after all,” he replied with humour.
“So, do you mind telling me what it means; what do all your tats mean?” she asked.
“Most don’t mean anything. I got a lot of them done in L.A. and just liked the art.” Jake took the bottom of his t-shirt and pulled it over his head. “Okay, this one over my heart, ‘dum spiro, spero’, well that means ‘while I breathe, I hope’, and I do. I’m not big on religion, so I always hope that whatever shit life throws at me, something better will come along later to make up for it.”
Amber pulled her knees up to her chest and rested her cheek on them. “What about the three stars, do they symbolise anything?”
Jake traced a finger along his left bicep, down the star tattoos. “They are my mum and my grandparents. I like to think that they’re stars now, up there shining down on me.”
“Okay,” Amber continued. “The guitar I understand, and the musical notes, so what about…erm the green fish?”
Jake laughed and ruffled Amber’s hair. “It’s not just any old ‘green fish’ Freckles, it’s a Koi Carp and because it’s green and faces upwards in basic terms it symbolises getting
over depression.”
Amber lifted her head up, shocked that Jake had followed his mum into depression.
“You’ve had depression too?” she said, suddenly concerned for him.
“No, I haven’t, but if I feel down I look at that tattoo and remind myself what it did to my mum.” Jake looked down at the Koi that appeared to be swimming upwards on the left side of his stomach. “Probably not the most accurate form of therapy, but it works for me.”
“They’re all beautiful.” Amber placed her head back on the sofa and smiled wistfully. “When I was a teenager, Luke used to always send me pictures when he had a new one and tell me what they meant. I could never wait to see what he’d had done. I love his latest one, his and Martha’s names entwined in the shape of an infinity symbol.”
“Yeah,” Jake said with a smile. “He bloody adores that woman.”
He wouldn’t always admit it, but Jake envied the love that both Skins and Luke had found. Yes, it was great hooking up with different women at first, but it had lost its shine a long time ago. He looked at Amber and without thinking he reached across to take a strand of her hair, allowing his fingers to linger for a few seconds on her cheek. Jake’s heart jump started as he felt her shiver beneath his touch.
As he pulled his hand back and ran it through his own hair, Jake noticed that Amber’s cheeks had blushed pink and her breathing had hitched slightly.
“You never thought of having one, Freckles?” he asked his eyes capturing Amber’s.
“What, a tattoo?”
“Yeah.”
Amber shook her head and smiled shyly. “No, too much of a coward where needles are concerned. Plus if I told my story using tattoos, it’d be a pretty miserable work of art.”
Jake gazed at Amber as her eyes suddenly darkened and he felt the need to lighten them.
“Okay, well maybe I’ll persuade you someday, when you’ve got something good to say,” he whispered.
Amber’s face softened and she nodded. “Maybe.”
“Hey, if you hang around with rock stars, Freckles, then you’d better be prepared to get tatted up.” Jake gently poked Amber in the ribs, making her giggle.
Rock Stars Don't Like Ugly Bras Page 4