Rocking Perfection

by Cassandra Lawson

  To be honest, the Mitch situation wouldn’t bother me so much if I wasn’t leaving soon. I worried Mitch would cause even more problems for Cami while I was on the road. It was always possible he’d stay away from her, but I didn’t trust the slimy little fucker.

  I was mulling over those thoughts while jogging on the treadmill at the gym. Since I was still required to bring security with me, Jared was jogging beside me. “This is fucked up,” I muttered as I continued to dwell on the situation with Mitch.

  “The run?” he asked.

  “I was thinking that it’s fucked up that Mitch is still breathing, but I’m also not happy about having to take security everywhere. Why do I need security at the gym?”

  “You’re just pissed because I’m in better shape than you,” Jared taunted as he jogged on the treadmill beside mine.

  “I’d like to tell you that’s bullshit, but I’ll bet you work out forty hours a week,” I replied.

  He laughed and shook his head. “Not quite that much. I do work out a lot. It’s the only way I can keep from being scrawny. Working out is how I moved past my nerdy days.”

  I was having trouble imagining Jared as skinny. The guy was a few inches over six feet tall and a mountain of muscle. With short blond hair and a neatly trimmed beard, he didn’t look nerdy to me. Then again, I’d been an honors student and a member of the chess club back in high school. At the time, I’d looked like I was part of the stoner crowd, so I knew looks could be deceiving.

  “You had a nerdy look in high school?” I asked.

  “Oh, yeah,” he replied. “Back then, I was skinny and terrified of girls. I’m not surprised Harley didn’t recognize me.”

  “Hold up.” I stopped the treadmill so I could focus on our conversation. That and, unlike Jared, I was starting to get out of breath. “You went to high school with Harley?”

  “Sure did. I even tutored her boyfriend. We didn’t talk much back then.”

  “What was she like in high school?” Harley never talked about her past.

  “She was the girl everyone wanted to date,” Jared told me. “Harley was head cheerleader and homecoming queen. She was also really uptight. The only time she seemed relaxed was when she played with her band.”

  Jared was a wealth of Harley trivia. “You saw her band play in high school? Did you have a thing for her?”

  “Everyone had a thing for her.” He continued running as he spoke, not at all out of breath. “She wasn’t just popular because she was pretty. Harley was also nice, talented, and smart. What wasn’t to like?”

  I grinned. “You still like her.”

  He shook his head. “I barely know her. We’ve hardly spoken since I started working security for Reckless Release.”

  “But she’s still hot, right?” I frowned. When Harley had first joined Reckless Release, I’d been more than a little attracted to her. Now, it felt strange talking about how hot she was. “Forget I said that. It feels like talking about how hot my sister is.”

  Jared grinned. “Well, she is hot. But I can see how talking about that would make you uncomfortable. It’s also very unprofessional for me to admit, so let’s keep that between us.”

  “I can do that for you.” I started jogging on the treadmill again. “Since I’m keeping your crush on Harley between us, you should pretend I can keep up with you on the treadmill.”

  Jared snorted. “I’m not that good of a liar.”

  “We’ll practice,” I told him. “I’m glad I didn’t have to bring Samantha this week.”

  Jared chuckled. “I don’t blame you. Even I feel out of shape when I jog with her.”

  “It would be okay if you asked Harley out.”

  Jared’s eyebrows were practically at his hairline when he responded to my suggestion. “Are you trying to fix me up with Harley?”

  I shrugged. “It wouldn’t be fixing you up. I’m just saying it wouldn’t be a bad thing. She always attracts the wrong guys, and I’m tired of seeing her alone.”

  Jared nodded and started jogging again. “As nice as it is to have your blessing, I’d still rather avoid getting fired for coming on to a member of the band.”

  “You wouldn’t get fired for that,” I insisted. “Harley might kick your ass, but she won’t get you fired.”

  Chapter 61

  Cami

  “Do you know what sucks most about your job?” Xander was sitting on the opposite end of the sofa in his living room when he asked that question. My feet were resting on his lap as I checked emails on my phone.

  “Insurance companies who don’t appreciate the importance of mental health care?” I asked.

  “That sucks, too,” he agreed. “I was going to say it sucks that you can’t go on the road with me.”

  “I’m not interested in spending several nights sleeping on your tour bus.” It was true. No matter how much I disliked being away from Xander, I had no desire to experience tour bus travel.

  “It’s not that bad,” he insisted. “The thing is huge, and we’ve got comfortable places to sleep, and do other things.”

  “You aren’t winning me over,” I replied.

  “I guess it would be hard with you begging me to fuck you all the time,” he mused. “You’d be climbing all over me. Eventually, your desperate pleas would wear me down, and I’d throw you a bone.”

  I groaned. “Please, tell me I misheard you, and you didn’t just use that horrible line.”

  “What horrible line?” he asked innocently. “All my lines are perfectly polished.”

  I snorted and set my phone on the coffee table. “You try to come up with the crudest thing to say.”

  “I think you like it when I say crude things,” was his response.

  “Much as I want to argue, I do like it when you say crude things.” I decided to change the subject because I knew from experience that it would lead to him talking dirty to me. Xander talking dirty to me just about always ended in me naked. There was no time for that. “Jared seems nice.”

  Xander chuckled. “That is an interesting way to change the subject.”

  “We don’t have time to fool around,” I reminded him.

  “Do we have time for me to make you come on my tongue?” He quickly caught my ankles and pulled me further onto the sofa before settling his weight on top of me.

  I pushed on his chest. “Our friends will be here soon. No fooling around.” My protest was weak, likely because fooling around sounded good. I had to stay focused. The members of Reckless Release were known to use their keys to enter each other’s homes when no one answered. I didn’t like the idea of having them see me lying naked on Xander’s sofa while he went down on me. I practically moaned at the mental image I’d painted for myself.

  Xander grinned when I tried to wiggle out from under him. Even the ringing of his doorbell didn’t make him budge.

  “Xander! People are going to walk in here and see us!”

  “You’re still fully clothed, so who cares?” he asked.

  Before I could respond, there was a loud pounding on the door. Xander cursed under his breath as he got to his feet. “I’d better get that.”

  As Xander went to answer the door, I sat up and ran my fingers through my hair. Even before he made it back into the room, I knew our evening wasn’t going to play out the way we’d expected. How did I know? The police were at Xander’s front door.

  Chapter 62

  Xander

  “Why would I send a threatening email to Mitch?” Cami seemed just as irritated as I was by the questions. When I saw two police officers on my front porch, I immediately worried something horrible had happened to one of my friends. For that reason, hearing that Mitch was being harassed was almost a relief. It wasn’t nearly as much of a relief when I learned we were suspects.

  “Is this your email address?” One of the officers slid a paper across the kitchen table.

  Cami shook her head. “No, it’s not. Someone has been pretending to be me.”

  “Mitch
may have sent the emails to himself,” I suggested. It sounded just as crazy as when I’d first thought it, but so did the idea that someone was sending Mitch emails while pretending to be Cami.

  “There was also a substantial amount of damage done to his car,” one of the officers stated. “Do you have alibis for yesterday between four and eight in the evening?”

  “I had patients in Fremont from three until eight,” Cami replied.

  “And I was in Los Angeles most of the day for a publicity shoot,” I explained. “My flight landed around eight. I think it was about nine when I got back here with my security detail.”

  Cami nodded. “You got back just after nine, and Jared was with you.”

  One of the officer’s asked, “We’ll need to confirm your alibis.”

  “You don’t think Mitch is really in danger, do you?” Cami asked.

  “We’re not sure,” one officer replied. “We may need to contact you for more information.”

  “I’ll be out of town soon. My band has a three-month tour scheduled.”

  The officer nodded. “We have your number. In the meantime, can you think of anyone who would want to place the blame for something like this on you, Dr. Shaw?”

  Cami shook her head.

  “What about his ex-wife?” I asked.

  “Do you know his ex-wife?” one officer asked Cami.

  “I didn’t even know he’d been married until recently,” she replied.

  That prompted another twenty minutes of questioning. It seemed whoever had sent the emails to Mitch before was still sending emails, and he believed they were from Cami.

  After the police left, we headed into the living room where only Gage, Austin, and Piper were waiting. The others had headed home since it seemed our evening plans were ruined.

  “What’s going on?” Gage asked.

  “Someone spray-painted die on the windshield of Mitch’s car,” Cami explained. “It seems I’m the prime suspect.”

  “Not true,” I argued. “I’m pretty sure I’m the prime suspect. The gist seems to be that I’m jealous because you can’t get over Mitch. We both have alibis, so we’ll be in the clear once the police confirm them.”

  Cami let out a frustrated sigh. “I should just call Mitch.”

  “Absolutely not,” I practically snapped. “That could be what he wants. We don’t know that he’s not the one sending himself emails. Maybe he even vandalized his own car.”

  “Xan makes a good point,” Austin chimed in. “Mitch would know when his garage at work is unmanned.”

  “That’s not hard to find out,” Piper added.

  “It wouldn’t make any sense for Mitch to do this,” Cami argued.

  “The attention from the press has been fading,” I pointed out.

  “He really took to the interviews,” Gage agreed.

  “It’s not Mitch,” Cami insisted. “The only way we’re going to figure this out is if I talk to him. I’m going to call him.”

  “No, you are not,” I ground out. From behind Cami, I saw Austin gesturing for me to shut my mouth, which was probably a good suggestion—one I ignored. “Mitch might be dangerous. You will stay the fuck away from him. No calls. No emails. No visits. I’m leaving soon, and I don’t want to worry that you’re in danger.”

  The room fell silent for several heartbeats before Piper spoke. “We’re all going to wait in the kitchen while you work this out. I recommend pulling your head out of your ass before you start speaking again, Xander.”

  Cami spoke after the others were out of the room. “Don’t tell me what to do. We’ve been through this more than once. I’m not going to take orders from you. If you think it’s a bad idea for me to contact Mitch, you are more than welcome to tell me so, but you don’t decide what I’m going to do.”

  I took several deep breaths, trying to get my temper under control. The bigger part of me knew I was acting like a dick. Cami was right about my approach. At the same time, I couldn’t get over my fears that Mitch was a danger to her. Even if he wasn’t dangerous, his past actions suggested he’d misconstrue her intentions and assume her call meant she was open to dating him again. I just wanted him to disappear from our lives.

  “I’m trying to protect you.” It was all I could think to say that wouldn’t get me in more trouble with Cami.

  She nodded and grabbed her purse. “I know, and that’s why I think I should go home.”

  “Home? Why are you going home?” I asked.

  “It’s for the best.” She sounded angry and sad. “We’re both pissed. If I stay here, we’re just going to fight.”

  I caught her arm before she could leave the room. “We’re already fighting, and it’s okay. Couples fight. It’s not the end of the world. We need to work through this.”

  She shook her head and pulled away from me. “No. We aren’t fighting yet. Stop trying to give me orders.”

  “Stop hiding every time there’s a conflict.” It was a low blow on my part.

  She turned to glare at me. “If I was hiding from conflict, as I’ve done in the past, I would have pretended your asshole orders didn’t bother me. Actually, it would have never gotten to that point, because I would have never suggested talking to Mitch. I’m leaving because I don’t want to have some ugly fight. At least, that’s what I was trying to avoid until you decided to turn this into an ugly fight.”

  She didn’t give me a chance to say more before storming out of the house.

  Chapter 63

  Cami

  I was almost to my car when a large hand grabbed my shoulder and spun me around. I gasped when I came face to chest with Xander.

  “What are you doing?” I demanded.

  Rather than responding, Xander bent forward and tossed me over his shoulder. I pounded on his back until he smacked my ass hard.

  “Xander!” My screech brought Gage, Austin, and Piper to the front of the house.

  “Uh, you should probably put her down, Xan.”

  Gage’s suggestion was met with a snort from Xander.

  “I don’t think so,” Xander told them. “Lock up on your way out.”

  I was beyond pissed as he skipped up the stairs. As soon as he put me down, I planned to smack the hell out of him.

  “Come on, babe,” he coaxed on the way into his bedroom. “Yell at me. Tell me what a dick I am.”

  “Put. Me. Down.” Each word was carefully enunciated so he wouldn’t miss how serious I was.

  When he set me on my feet, I jabbed his chest with my finger. “I’m not going to put up with this kind of treatment. You don’t get to tell me what to do. Am I making myself clear?”

  “You’re right,” he agreed with no heat. “I’m sorry.”

  “For carrying me up to your room like this?” I asked.

  He shook his head and laughed. “No, I’m not at all sorry about carrying you up to my room. I’m sorry for telling you that you can’t call Mitch. That was a dick move on my part, and you were right to call me on it.”

  It took real effort to not scream at him. “Then why didn’t you just apologize outside?”

  “Because you were going to leave no matter what I said.” I wanted to argue, but he was right.

  “I don’t like conflict.” Honesty seemed easiest. “I’m not avoiding it like I was before, but I didn’t want to have some horrible, nasty fight.”

  “We fought, but it wasn’t nasty. Not all fights turn ugly. You can call me on my shit, and I’m not going to lose my temper and start screaming at you. I don’t want you to talk to Mitch, but I have no right to forbid you.”

  It was hard to stay mad at Xander when he’d admitted to his mistakes twice. It wasn’t the first time he’d tried telling me what to do, and I suspected it wouldn’t be the last, but I was also certain Xander was trying to change.

  “Are you going to forgive me?” he asked with an adorable smile.

  With a roll of my eyes, I nodded. “Yes, I forgive you, and I’m sorry for running.”

  “Y
ou know, there is one very good thing about fighting.” He moved closer as he spoke.

  “What’s that?” I asked, even though I was sure I knew what he meant.

  “Make-up sex.” On those words, he closed the distance between us and kissed me.

  Chapter 64

  Xander

  As our mouths moved together in a near-violent kiss, Cami was still a little angry with me. That anger was getting me even hotter. She clawed at the back of my shirt while my fingers threaded through her hair, tugging at it to tilt her head back even further. There was definitely something about angry sex.

  Cami bit my lip, and when I pulled back slightly, she shoved my chest until I stepped back. She yanked my shirt from my pants and pushed it over my head. When I reached forward to grab her shirt, she swatted my hands away.

  “Undress for me.”

  I quirked an eyebrow at her command. “Only if you do the same.”

  “You first,” she insisted.

  I quickly stripped out of my clothes and stood before her with my dick at full attention. Dropping to her knees in front of me, she ran her nails down my inner thighs. Her tongue swirled around the tip of my cock, and I groaned.

  I’d been planning to fuck her hard against my bedroom door, but I wasn’t about to turn down a blow job. Her mouth was the stuff of wet dreams. When I was sure I couldn’t take any more of her teasing, she finally took my dick into her mouth.

  “Fuck,” I ground out as she cradled my balls and sucked my dick. Every once in a while, she’d slide my cock out and run her tongue along the length or flick the sensitive undersides of the tip.

  She hummed and sucked, teasing me with her wicked mouth until I’d had enough. When I tugged at her hair to pull her away from my dick, she pushed out her lower lip in a pout.