Trusting Gibson (Last Score Book 2)

by K. L. Shandwick

  Gibson was holding his stomach and laughing raucously, he was breathless and just managed to squeeze out, “Damn, can we hire that guy to do that when we’re not playing? I like his thinking.” Laughing helplessly again, Tori looked at them laughing raising an eyebrow.

  “What are you laughing at?” She swaggered over in their direction and Gibson held his hand up still chuckling and struggling to talk between kinks in his laughter.

  “Not for your eyes— it’s a guy thing.” Ignoring him, Tori snatched Simon’s tablet from his hand and turned the screen around to look at it. Her face instantly changed and became angry. Sneering she slung the tablet back aggressively at Simon and shook her head.

  “Fuck you two.” Stamping furiously towards the door, she opened it, stepped out and banged it closed behind her. Emma and I looked at each other in a what-the-hell-was-that-about look, and Lennox picked the tablet up and burst out laughing while Simon, who was struggling to breathe and coughing with laughter, just continued to stare at us.

  “Ace!” Lennox snorted throwing his head back and began laughing loudly. Seeing my puzzled face, he waved the tablet at me to take it while still chuckling. Emma snuck up and looked over my shoulder and we creased up chuckling at the image. Some guy had sold his story about his trysts with Tori and there was a picture of her lying on a floor in a playroom somewhere, tied up with a ball-gag in her mouth and the caption, “Proof: Tori Sanders Isn’t Always Outspoken.”

  Emma and I were still giggling by the time we went to get some air, allowing Gibson and the guys time to warm up for their gig. I was glad that Emma was so relaxed and easy to be around. She suggested she should tell me a little about herself and began to describe some of the operational duties and the carnage she had witnessed during her time as a soldier, but she was careful about how much she disclosed.

  Confidentiality was something that I could see she was not going to compromise during this and it gave me a further sense of security. I knew from her file she had worked in a covert capacity during her deployment and stared back in awe as this brave petite hero, chatted a bit about her previous roles and her experience.

  When it was my turn, my throat constricted because Kace was a very raw subject. Emma explained that she had to gain knowledge because Kace was a “known and specific risk,” and fans and the media were in the general risk category. She then went into some speech about known and unknown risks and my eyes glazing over as I stared at her, lost.

  What it came down to was, as long as she knew what the risks were, she could make accurate risk assessments to minimize any harm. After she said this, I filled her in as objectively as I could about Kace’s behavior and demeanor.

  Tori had reappeared, behaving pretty subdued, by the time we re-joined the group. All the other band members were ignoring her and chatting about some football player who had pulled some amazing moves to help his team to victory.

  Johnny appeared and waved for Emma to leave the room and I knew he and Jerry would be briefing her about what the dangers were to me. It brought home the feeling that I wasn’t free to come and go as I pleased any more. I wasn’t free with Kace either, but that was different kind of prison. Prison? Was that how I saw this? Would I ever be anything but Gibson’s girlfriend if we were going to be together?

  Johnny’s voice broke into my thoughts. “All set, Gibson?”

  Pushing up slowly from the sofa, Gibson rocked his head from side to side before his warm gaze met mine and he walked straight toward me. With each step, his sexy roguish grin grew on his face. When he reached me his hands slid around my waist and he pulled me flush against him. When he stared lovingly down at me, my heart flip-flopped in my chest and my pussy clenched with excitement at how attentive he was being.

  “Gotta go to work, darlin’. Why don’t you come and hang out with me and I’ll say ‘hi’ when I’m not too busy.” Leaning back to look up at him, I smirked wickedly and crooked my finger in the V of his black soft cotton t-shirt, pulling him down to talk in his ear. “So if I come and hang out at your work, what will you give me?”

  Gibson smirked and kissed my nose lightly then bent to brush it with his. “Don’t worry darlin’, here…” Taking my hand, he stuffed it in his pocket and rubbed my hand along his semi-hard dick running up to his pocket. He whispered intimately to me, sounding very seductive, “I’ll let you play with this when I get you home…and if you’re really good I might just let you sit on it.”

  Pulling my hand out giggling, I shook my head as Gibson winked and began to chuckle heartily. “Your face is a picture, Chloe, but I’m deadly serious, darlin’, so what do you say, are you coming?” Smirking knowingly at his double entendre, he raised his eyebrow as I felt my cheeks flush. I swear if he hadn’t been about to go on stage in front of 27,000 people I’d have taken the initiative and dragged him off somewhere quiet again. Gibson oozed sex from every pore and I was completely captivated.

  Holding the sides of my face, Gibson kissed me softly, then pulled back and turned to Lennox, Mick and Simon saying, “Let’s do this.” Clasping his fingers in mine we followed Johnny through the dark passageway with bare dull light bulbs. The corridor was full of nameless people in M3rCy t-shirts, the only sign they were part of their crew.

  Glancing at the M3rCy band members as we followed behind Johnny, I couldn’t help but notice how attractive they all were in comparison to the motley crew of guys they had organizing their sets and running things for them. Some had unruly hair in no particular style but longer than normal, unkempt and rough looking, but I figured that they worked so hard and touring was taxing, so getting groomed was probably a lower priority than getting sleep.

  Emma was standing at a junction where two other corridors met the one we were coming along. Turning my head slightly, I saw Jerry was monitoring the other. We were ushered up the stairs and into the dark where we were surrounded by black drapes and an eerie silence, considering there were thousands of people waiting out in front of the stage.

  Gibson’s hot minty breath fanned across my face and into my ear, sending shivers of delight down my spine and making my nipples pebble with excitement. Squeezing my butt gently, he inhaled deeply while I took in the intoxicating smell of him. “See you at the end of my shift if not before.”

  I never saw him move away, it was pitch black at the side of the stage, I just felt a draft of cold air where Gibson had been standing. Instantly a hand landed in the center of my back and I almost jumped out of my skin until I heard Emma’s voice.

  “Sorry. We need to establish some way of you knowing that I’m here if this is how dark it will be every time they are going up to the stage. I can’t see anything— I think I’m going to use a night sight from now on.”

  Shaking my head, I stood blinking into the darkness. It sounded incredulous that someone was going to use a military-type aid to keep an eye on me. Chloe Jenner was at a rock concert because her boyfriend was a superstar.

  When the band struck the first note I was startled again, no matter how expectant it was, it still shocked me to my core when the noise of their music disrupted the momentary silence right at the beginning of their set.

  Emma placed a hand on my shoulder which calmed me. “Are you okay?” Turning to face her I swallowed at the same time as the lights suddenly glared and the sound blared from the amplifier to my right startling me, before I turned back to watch Gibson and the guys perform to the masses.

  It was strange to see Gibson performing now that I knew him so intimately. Every time he licked his lips, ran his hand through his sweat soaked hair or wiped his face with his hand and I‘d get a flashback to something sensual he did when we had been together at one time or another. Either that or I was becoming a sex addict, because everything he did seemed to lead my thoughts back to a memory of us doing something naughty in a bed, on a work counter, on the floor, against a door or in a car.

  Staring out in awe at the wonderful, larger than life rock star on stage, it was hard to believe Gibson
was the same man that wrapped me in his arms so tenderly and held me as if his life depended on it in bed each night. Gone were the gentle smiles and intense eyes he gives me when we are alone, replaced by a salacious sexy smile and lust-filled eyes as he strums the strings of his guitar and stares out at the crowd like he was watching porn. There was no doubt in my mind that Gibson got off on performing to an audience.

  Emma leaned in towards my ear and shouted loudly, “I know it’s not my place, but fuck! Your guy is totally dripping sex out there and every female in the stadium wants to get into those jeans of his.” Swallowing hard, I wasn’t sure how her comment went down with me when she was going to be around Gibson daily. As quick as her comment entered my head and I’d processed it, I turned to see a soft smile on her lips.

  “Come on, Chloe. I’d rather say it to you than to someone else and you overhear it. I’d have to be blind, deaf and eighty-five years old for him not to affect me. Look at him.” I had been and she was right. Gibson enthralled all women and most men. Once I’d got over the shock of Emma saying it to me, I knew that she was giving me exactly what I needed to trust her with my life—brutal honesty.

  Pushing everything aside, I focused on watching Gibson and the rest of M3rCy rock the house with their amazing talent and was surprised when the lights dimmed to Gibson’s signature set of blue spotlights and he pulled the strap of his acoustic guitar over his head.

  Mick began to strum a riff and I instantly connected with the music. They played a cover by Ed Sheeran, “Thinking Out Loud,” and I fell under Gibson’s spell, totally enchanted by his ability to surprise me with something so unexpected in front of 27,000 fans.

  I swear you could hear a pin drop in the electric atmosphere of the massive stadium as every female in the place swooned at the sound of Gibson’s gravelly, low timbre rock sound with that oh-so-sexy Southern twang, delivering one of the most romantic songs I’d ever heard.

  Feeling privileged just to witness this unplugged live performance, I was stunned when he began to move around the stage in my direction. Lost completely to the lyrics and beautiful melody of the song, Gibson’s eyes were closed and he looked like he was singing as much to himself as he was to his thousands of fascinated followers who were hanging on his every word.

  Moving slowly toward our side of the stage, Gibson opened his eyes and they locked into mine. His serious face briefly registered me with a small grin and a shake of his head in a weirdly shy looking way, then he sang the lines of the song directly to me, and they connected with me instantly because of how he found me again.

  Seeing the serious look on his face, I couldn’t help but recognize the plea there as he continued to deliver the lines that were so significant to our story so far in the short time we’d been together.

  I noticed him sing the word darlin’ instead of darling, and was bewitched by the unpredictability of Gibson Barclay. His song choice was perfect for showing me what I meant to him. And the fact he was doing this with thousands of people staring at him while he made this declaration of love to me was entirely mind-blowing to think about. The emotion in his voice was undeniable, giving him a vulnerability that I’d never seen before.

  As the words finished, Gibson walked off stage and headed straight toward me, while Mick played an instrumental which sounded hauntingly beautiful. Placing his sweaty forehead on mine, he stared passionately into my wide eyes then angled it to kiss me tenderly. Breaking the kiss he said, “Tell me what else to do to prove how I feel for you, Chloe.”

  My heart swelled, filling my chest to capacity and was thudding in a weird uneven beat as tears stung at the back of my blurry eyes. The lump in my throat was rendering me speechless and I knew if I managed to get a sound out of it, the sobs would quickly follow.

  Laying his heart on the line in that very public interaction had taken about two minutes between us, but its effect left indescribable feelings bubbling away inside my stomach. The way he delivered those lyrics had felt completely unhurried, like it had been taking place in slow motion. As quick as he was there with me, he was gone.

  Rapturous applause erupted to fever pitch when the last note sounded, the tension in the house completely broken. It’s a wonder it was still standing, because metaphorically speaking Gibson just brought it down with his ingenuity and exceptional candor.

  Speechless, I was impressed with Gibson’s strength of character and self-assured confidence which allowed him to take an unimaginable risk of upsetting his following to declare his love for me and I hadn’t even been able to voice mine back to him yet.

  In the middle of a stadium full of people at a rock concert, I definitely had a new found respect for Gibson. How he had been able to sing with such depth of emotion, pouring his heart and soul into it, and to feel the words of a song like that one minute and then run and jump about on stage like he was afterward, I had no idea. Gibson was too complex a man for me to even begin to fathom.

  CHAPTER 16 - RAW DATA

  Gibson

  Len stalked his way around his drum kit and came toward me grinning. “Way too fucking romantic for a rock star, Gib, but whatever Chloe’s got dude, I definitely want some. The jury is still out on whether I prefer the pussy-whipped version of Gibson Barclay or the ride-every-pussy one.”

  Snickering at Len, I was determined not to get pissed at him because I knew all he wanted was for me to be happy, and with Chloe I was climbing that scale. The only worries I had were making her feel secure and convincing her to believe that what I was offering her was the real deal. I also knew there were some big tests coming with that as well. Chloe still had to experience the life of a rock star at close quarters and I was all out of time for protecting her from that.

  My heart almost burst out of my chest when I ran off the stage and Chloe stepped forward, instantly wrapping her arms around my neck. I was soaking in sweat, but there was no hesitation about holding me close to her. The softness of her small soft finger tips grazing on the nape of my neck felt awesome.

  I was as horny as hell and still buzzing from the energy the crowd injected into me, just smelling her sweet womanly scent made my dick ache. I couldn’t resist licking the silky skin on her neck and was rewarded by the sexiest erotic groan, before she leaned back abruptly to look at me.

  “Hard day at the office, honey? What would you say to a shower and some downtime?”

  Chloe’s face beamed up at me and the wicked little twinkle in her eye and upward curve of her lips showed me she had a little sexual appetite of her own going on. I stroked her nose playfully with mine and said, “It’s a date, two hours max and we’re out of here.”

  I have to admit, I was nervous about what was coming next. Since Chloe had been on tour with me, she’d been sheltered thus far from the rawness of the lifestyle I had before, but the guys were all single and she was about to be exposed to the seedier side of being in a rock band.

  Wishing I’d had longer to prepare her for what she was about to see, I knew that if we were going to do this, Chloe would have to be able to handle herself and as much as I wanted to protect her from all the excess and bitching that went on, I knew I couldn’t. It was time for us to sink or swim as a couple and I just hoped I’d done enough to show her that she was it for me. Nothing else mattered.

  Should I have warned her? If I ‘d warned her, she’d have been second guessing me and I’d have got frustrated with her, so I figured I’d just play things by ear and get her out of the after- party as quickly as I could.

  Desperate for a shower, I gathered my stuff and left Chloe in the hospitality area with Emma, Jerry and some of our public relations team. I had a job to do and, although I was worried about her, she had to learn the ropes to survive.

  So far, she hadn’t been exposed to my fans much or the negative vibe that would undoubtedly surround her while we were getting established, but there was feedback all the time from people who monitored the media. Negative tweets were the worst, and I thanked God that Chloe wasn’t on Twit
ter.

  By the time I had showered there must have been fifty people in the hospitality area. Erica, Dana and Zandra, three of the regular groupies in Chicago, were busy with Lennon and Mick, while Simon was talking to Chloe. It felt good that one of the guys had my back, but the fact that it was Simon gave me a little pang of jealousy. If anyone could give me a run for my money with women, it was him.

  Simon might well have been looking out for himself, because I saw the way his wandering eyes were ticking appreciatively over Chloe, and the salacious smirk he had on his face said he was having some kinky thoughts. He and I were going to have words about that. Grabbing a can of soda, I strode over towards them and slid in between them, my lips connecting with Chloe’s. Kissing her passionately, I walked backwards, pushing her away from him.

  When her ass hit an armchair and her body began to arch, I dropped the soda can and wrapped my arms around her, keeping her in place until I’d finished tasting her. By the time I broke the kiss she was so breathless, I grinned wickedly at how affected she was by my unexpected seduction. Chloe looked a hot mess. From the cheers that erupted from the guys in the room, I knew we’d given them a show, but there was no doubt in those guys’ minds, that Chloe was mine.

  Quickly scanning around the room there were eight groupies that I knew, five I’d fucked and three I wanted nothing to do with. Bad form when I was trying to impress a girl who’d only had two men in her life. Still, that was before Chloe and she was definitely keeping my interest despite her limited knowledge about sex. Being with her and inside her was different, it wasn’t at all about being extreme and getting off and I was still getting to grips with this new concept.