“Lanie, it’s so good to see you, and congratulations for lasting the entire two weeks on tour. Noel called me this morning and said you stuck out your time like a champ. Not that it was a major task for you.” She winks.
I swallow hard, feeling a little uncomfortable that she knows so much about my sex life. “Thank you, Ms. Swagger. I actually have the proposal done as well.”
I flip open the screen and stand, but Diana holds up her hand. “No need for that, dear. The more experienced members of my team already outlined the project, and we have things in the works.”
I tilt my head and furrow my brow. “You don’t even want to see what I’ve come up with?”
She holds up her hand as though I’m being ridiculous. “Your only real job was to look pretty and keep Noel Falcon happy. You’ve done just that. Leave the real work up to the rest of us.”
I pull my lips into a tight line and slam the lid closed. “You were never going to take me seriously no matter what I did, were you?”
She pulls off her glasses. “Lanie, dear, the sooner you understand that certain people are used for their brains and others are meant to just look pretty, the better off you’ll be. I’m a thinker—a visionary—while you’re the type who can wrangle in clients for me.”
I blow a rush of air through my nose and roll my eyes. “Do you know how archaic that sounds? As a woman, surely you don’t really think that way.”
She shrugs. “That’s reality, honey. You better get used to how things work in the real world.”
Anger boils through me. Part of me always knew she was using me, but I never imagined she would completely shut me down. She won’t even give my work a chance. The dream of working under her doesn’t seem like such a grand idea anymore. I lift my chin. “You know what, Diana, I quit.”
She flinches. “You can’t quit. Have you forgotten about the contract you signed?”
“I didn’t forget. I made it through my two weeks on tour, so you can’t sue me, and there’s nothing you can do if I quit.”
Her eyes narrow. “You’ll never get another job in this town again.”
I shrug. “The non-compete was only for New York. I’m fine with leaving this state if this is how business is done here.”
Her jaw drops. No one is going to treat me like a piece of meat, especially not her. Her expression shows that never in a million years did she expect an intern to tell her she can basically shove her job up her ass. I grin, turn around, and—without a second of hesitation—walk out.
“I can’t believe you quit!” Aubrey says as she watches me pack my suitcase.
I smile as I think about the smug look on Diana’s face disappearing when I quit. “Believe it. That woman’s a tyrant.”
She pokes out her bottom lip. “You sure you can’t stay? There are a thousand jobs in this city other than marketing.”
I zip my suitcase. “I love marketing. That’s where my heart lies. It sucks that I can’t stay here with you, but going back home will be good. Mom misses me like crazy, and I can find a job in Houston or something.” I set my bag on the floor and pull up the handle until it clicks. “I think I’m all set.”
Aubrey steps around the bed and wraps her arms around my neck. I close my eyes and lean into her as a tear escapes down my cheek. I hate leaving her. She’s the only thing I don’t want to leave behind. She rubs big circles on my back. “It’s going to be okay, sweetie. You and Noel can finally have your happily ever after.”
I squeeze her tight. “I don’t know if we can. The entire time we fought over him having a pregnant girlfriend, he asked me not to leave him—to let him show me I wasn’t second to him. At the first sign of a problem in our relationship, I ran. I don’t know if he’ll forgive me for walking away from him a second time.”
She pats my head. “Sure, he will. True love can get through anything. He’ll forgive you.”
God, how do I even go about fixing this? The whole thing is one big clusterfuck.
She pulls back and wipes her eyes. “Go on, before I decide to hold you hostage.”
I frown. “You sure you’re going to be all right by yourself?”
She sniffs and smiles. “Are you kidding? Now I can have all the wild sex parties I want. Maybe I can even get Riff to visit.”
I roll my eyes. “I’ll tell him you miss his...”
She smacks my arm. “Don’t you dare tell him that, no matter how true it is. That boy has one giant—”
I shove my fingers in my ears. “La! La! La! La! Not listening to you!”
She laughs. “Go on, smartass, before you miss your flight. Riff says the pass to get into the V.I.P. show for tonight will be at the door under ‘Long-Dick Dong’?”
I shake my head. “Those guys really love giving that pseudonym. I’m so glad to hear he and Noel are working things out since Mike finally told them the truth.”
She sighs. “Me too. I can’t believe that bitch would do that. Doesn’t she know she nearly destroyed one of the greatest rock bands ever?”
“Love makes people do insane things. Look at me. I’m traveling cross-country to apologize to a man I’m not even sure wants me anymore. He hasn’t called once since he learned the truth. This is probably a mistake.”
She pushes my long hair over my shoulder. “The only mistake when it comes to love is not going for it.”
I practice everything I want to say in the cab as we speed toward the venue. Black Falcon is doing an acoustic show to kick off the children’s literacy campaign for a small audience of three hundred people. I read on the internet the ticket prices jumped up to nearly three hundred a piece for such an intimate event.
Aubrey arranged for Riff to leave me a ticket at the entrance after she advised him not to tell Noel I’m coming. I don’t want to cause a scene before the show, so I figure I’ll slip backstage and talk with him after.
The cab driver stops at the entrance of the A&R Bar and I slide some cash to him before I slip out the door. My heart thunders as I walk through the entrance. This is it. He’s somewhere in this building. I collect my pass from the girl at the door after she snickers at the ridiculous name Riff left it under. Someday I’m going to have to speak with these guys about changing their incognito name.
A small stage sits along the far wall, and tables and chairs face it. Every seat is packed, except for one in the left corner farthest from the stage. Silently, I say a prayer of thanks. The farther back I sit, the better. I don’t want to distract Noel. These people paid a ton of money to watch him sing for an hour.
The chatter all around me dies down as soon as the guys take the stage. Their normal grand entrances are nowhere in sight. The guys smile and wave as they take their seats to play an all-acoustic set. My eyes lock on Noel.
He sets a bottle of water on the floor beside him. His distressed jeans and black T-shirt hug his body perfectly. His dark hair sticks up in every direction and has that messy look I find unbelievably sexy. Even from a distance, I can see he looks beat down and tired, not his usual upbeat, cocky self. A pain in my chest hits me hard, and I clutch my shirt. He pulls the mic to his lips and says a simple, “Hello.”
Trip starts off the beat, thumping on a box-looking thing, while Tyke and Riff strum their guitars. Noel nods and closes his eyes as he sings. His voice is always beautiful, but it sounds different. A little more tortured.
Every song goes on that way, his eyes mostly remaining shut as he belts out the words. Finally, he announces their last song, and I know it’s almost time to face him. During the last chorus break, I stand and grab my suitcase, ready to find my way closer to the stage. As I near the security team, I flash them the backstage pass Riff left for me.
“Lane?” Noel’s voice echoes around the room. “Is that you?”
This is exactly what I wanted to avoid—a public scene—but I have no choice now. I turn slowly, and our eyes lock. His lips quirk up before he whispers in Riff’s ear. He stands and meets my stare again. Riff nods and leans over toward T
rip and Tyke to fill them in on whatever Noel just told him.
Noel brings the mic up to his lips. “This song goes out to the girl who is my everything. I’m not an easy man to love, and music is about the best way I know how to express my feelings. This is called ‘Faithfully’.”
Riff plays a few notes on his guitar, and I instantly recognize the melody made famous by Journey.
After the intro, Noel’s voice blends into the acoustic chords beautifully. He takes a couple slow steps before hopping off the stage. He fixates on me while coming closer with each step. My heart pounds as he stops directly in front of me. He sings sweet words about life on the road being tough and how loving a man involved in the music business is hard. Especially when things don’t always go the way they’re supposed to. Noel’s eyebrows pull in as he gazes into my eyes and continues the verse. The last few lines are about me standing by him through everything and that he’s mine, forever and faithfully.
A lump catches in my throat and I swallow hard, trying not to cry in front of a room full of strangers. Noel grabs my hand and threads his fingers through mine. I squeeze his hand as a tear slips down my cheek. He lets my hand go and brushes it away while he continues to sing. He says he’s lost without me, and being apart isn’t easy, but we need to learn to fall in love all over again.
He sings, “Faithfully. Oh oh oh oh...”
A sob escapes me, and everything I planned on saying flies out the window. I feel how much he loves me through the passion in those lyrics. Noel drops the microphone, and a loud thud snaps around the room. He cups my face and pulls it to his. Tears stream down both our faces, and he presses his lips to mine.
“Forever,” he whispers. “I’m yours.”
Rock the Band
A Black Falcon Novella (1.5)
by Michelle A. Valentine
Chapter 1
Light flickered across the room as the bus rolled down the highway. The constant rumble of the wheels below us comforted me as I held the woman I loved in my arms. Being with her was home. Everything I needed was on this bus. Lane had finally chosen to give herself over to me and be completely mine.
I traced my fingertips over the soft skin on her bare shoulder as she rested her head against my chest. I’d admit I was shocked to see her in the bar earlier tonight at the end of my gig. That Riff could be a sneaky bastard—always able to pull fast ones if the situation called for it.
I hadn’t expected to see Lane so soon, but he knew how much I’d been suffering and took it upon himself to arrange for us to talk things out. Over the few days we were apart, after Sophie and Mike revealed how they’d completely fucked up my life, I’d gone over everything I wanted to say to her at least a million times. How sorry I was. How it was wrong for me not to try harder to make things work between us. The fact that I should’ve stood up to Sophie after she tried trapping me in a relationship I didn’t want for the sake of a child—a child that turned out to not even be mine.
I closed my eyes and tried not to think about that or how stupid my thought processes had been. The idea of being the best father I possibly could had clouded every judgment I’d made in all the other aspects of my life, including the way I’d tried to keep my relationship with Lane a secret until I figured the Sophie thing out. It was wrong of me to ask that of her, and the realization hit me hard when I thought she’d left me for good.
The bus slowed down. Our driver, Jimmy, probably needed to hit the head.
Lane stirred in my arms. “Are we nearly there?”
I smiled and ran my fingers through her brown hair. “Not yet. We still have an hour or so.”
I couldn’t wait to get her back to my place in Kentucky, knowing that after she saw it she’d finally agree to move in with me. It was the perfect spot for us. When I bought it, I was looking for someplace like my parents house on Cedar Creek Lake, back in Texas. As much as I hated to admit it, I missed that place like crazy. One of the best weekends I’d had in a long time was when Lane took me home with her to our old neighborhood. Hopefully, my place would remind her of being home and safe.
She lifted her head and placed her chin on my chest. I took a lock of her brown hair and twirled it around my finger. There was an odd comfort in doing that. At times, I wished it were physically possible to wrap her entire body around me, like I did with her hair on my finger. It was crazy to love someone so much, I knew that, but I couldn’t help it. Being around her made me want to be a better man.
Big Bertha jerked to a stop and Lane pushed herself up on the bed. She raised her arms over her head in a delicious stretch and I tucked an arm behind my head, taking in the sight of her bare chest in the moonlight. I bit my lower lip as I trailed my eyes over every inch of her body. It was amazing how fucking sexy she was.
She dropped her arms into her lap and whipped her head in my direction. Her lips pulled in to a heart-stopping smile. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
I furrowed my brow but couldn’t fight back my grin. “How am I looking at you?”
Lane shrugged. “I don’t know, like you’re studying me.”
A chuckle escaped from me as I sat up with lightning speed and pulled her back down into bed with me, brushing a few stray hairs free from her face before tracing her delicate jaw line. She really was absolute perfection.
“Maybe I am studying you.”
She readjusted her head on the pillow. “Why?”
“Just wondering why you came back to me tonight? I mean, I was fully prepared to grovel to win you back, but I was just giving you space.”
She sighed and brought her hand to cup my face. “I left to give you time to figure things out. You just had your entire world rocked. I didn’t want to add any more drama.”
This was one of the reasons I loved this woman. She actually cared about my feelings. No one had ever done that before. She was the only person who had ever put me first in their life. Not even my parents did that. The only time she’d ever considered herself was when she left me on the dock, but she was right to do that. Back then I never put her first, and I see now how shitty that made me. Her leaving pushed me to succeed. It drove me and, in a way, I owe her for that.
I leaned my head down and placed my lips on hers. “You are my world, and you’re welcome to dramatize it all you want.”
Her mouth turned up into a smile. “I think it’s time we live drama free for a while, don’t you?”
I nodded and stroked her face.
Drama free? Was there really such a thing? Life for me had always been filled with it. The only time I’d ever experienced true peace was on stage. The surge of the crowd and the heavy thump of the drums pulled me into what felt like another dimension, making me forget all the bad shit in my life. It was true to say I felt nearly the same way in moments like this one with Lane, but deep down I always had to fight back the fear that someday I’d fuck things up and she would decide to run from me again.
Then it hit me. I needed to make this thing between us permanent. I had to show her I meant what I’d said earlier at the show. That I was hers—forever.
I stared into her green eyes and made a silent promise to myself that somehow, someway, I would make this girl my wife. The mere thought of us being apart again caused an ache I didn’t think I could bear. Yes, giving her my last name would alleviate that fear.
Lane reached up and tapped my temple. “I know that look. What’s going on in that brain of yours?”
Damn. She caught me. But I wasn’t prepared to tell her what I’d been thinking about. She would probably give me the speech about taking things one day at a time, and I fucking hated that speech. I was ready to live in the moment—the here and now—with her. If she could only see herself through my eyes for a second, she would know how I felt and wouldn’t need to question my motives because she would know I loved her to the depths of her soul. She would see how completely she rocked me, in every way possible.
“You’re still doing it.”
I bit my lip.
She wouldn’t leave me alone until I gave her an answer. I knew how relentless she could be. I shrugged and replied as coolly as I could, “Just thinking about surprising you with something.”
She raised a perfectly manicured eyebrow. “What kind of surprise?”
“Now, why would I ruin it by telling you?” I teased.
Lane’s lips pulled into a smile. “Guess I’ll have to withhold sex until you tell me.”
I grabbed her around the waist and rolled her over on her back. Every inch of my body covered her naked flesh and my cock twitched at the nearness of her moist heat. I ran my right hand up her side, knowing full well the effect of me being so forward had on her. I pinned her gaze with my eyes.
She squirmed beneath me. “You’re cheating!”
I licked her bottom lip. “How is this cheating?”
Her legs moved further apart and I slid my hips between them, my throbbing dick pushing against her folds. I ran my nose along her jaw and inhaled the intense scent of her hot skin. Fragrances of sweet shampoo and a mouth-watering perfume filled my nose. Every sense in my body went into complete overdrive by her nearness. I dragged my lips across the flesh of her neck and when she tipped her head back, letting a moan escape from her parted, pink lips, I knew she wanted what I was about to give her.
My hand slid down her belly until it found the point where our bodies were about to connect. Only one finger glided into her, and she bucked her hips against my hand. I ground the palm of my hand against her clit, giving it the friction she craved. She gasped and closed her eyes. The urge to taste her raged inside me, so I snaked my tongue out and licked from the base of her throat to her chin. Lane opened her eyes, grabbed both sides of my face in her hands and crushed her lips against mine. A primal need to take her, to feel her, pushed through me, and a growl rumbled in my chest.
I loved it when she was forceful with me. It turned me on instantly when I could see the need to be pleased in her green eyes. She was practically begging me to fuck her senseless.
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