“Table eight said their mussels were served cold.”
“I know, Daddy. I took care of it. I already replaced the entrée, apologized and comped their meal.” Her voice was soft and conciliatory.
His wasn’t. “It shouldn’t have happened in the first place. You need to be more on top of things when I’m away. You seem to have forgotten everything I taught you while you were off at college. Head in the clouds spending way too much time on those inconsequential theater classes.”
“I can’t be the manager and the hostess at the same time.” Her words were reasonable as was her tone but I could hear the slight edge of panic in it. “Without you here we were short staffed.”
“Excuses, Simone. Poor ones. I won’t tolerate you turning out all flighty like your mother.”
“She’s not…She wouldn’t be if you would…I’m not…” Her face turned to the side. She saw me, her eyes widening slightly within her pale face and I saw her jaw tightening with the effort it cost me to control my anger.
“Another night like tonight and I’m warning you that I’ll change my mind about paying for those electives you seem to have grown so fond of. You need to remember you’re at SDSU to earn a business degree.”
“Yes, Daddy.” Her voice was dull, lifeless, resigned. I didn’t like it.
He turned away from her and I ducked back the other way stepping into the kitchen just as he came around the corner behind me.
I washed and I scrubbed out pots and pans trying to work out my frustration. Steam billowed up from the commercial dishwasher beside me but my thoughts were much hotter. I was furiously angry about the way he treated her when she was such a dutiful daughter. He seemed intent on destroying her spirit, the part of her that made her eyes sparkle, the part of her that seemed to come alive near the ocean, the part of her that unashamedly belted out show tunes at dawn.
After closing, I jogged home, showered, changed into a white button down and clean jeans and jogged back to the beach pacing back and forth above the stairs where we’d first met and where we’d agreed to meet again tonight.
Had it only been a couple of days?
It felt like much longer.
Maybe because her golden eyes were all I thought about when I went to bed at night.
Maybe because my fingertips buzzed with the compulsion to touch her soft skin again, to learn and trace every single curve of her body.
Maybe because I knew she was different.
Chapter Seventeen
* * *
Simone
I was nervous even before he said those things and called me Mona, like no one ever had before but I loved it that he had. Now I was practically panicked. Sure I was delighted that he wanted to kiss me, but Lincoln wasn’t like the boys I had gone out with in college. He wouldn’t fumble. He definitely wouldn’t make me wish I had said no instead of yes. And that scared me because I didn’t want to disappoint him.
The short walk to the Deck Bar was a blur. Even though the ocean was right there on my left, even though the moon sparkled romantically on its surface and even though Linc’s hand was warm on mine, I couldn’t enjoy it the way I should.
“Hey,” he told me gently turning me to face him at the base of the wooden steps that led up to the second story where the open air bar was located. “Where’d you disappear to?”
He was too perceptive. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I tried to deflect him.
“Don’t.” His expression hardened. “Tell me the truth. Don’t tell me what you think I want to hear. You don’t have to hide from me. I don’t know who you think I am but I’m not like you’re father.”
“I know that.” My stomach tangled into a knot. I knew he’d seen my father dressing me down, seen the shrinking violet I became, had to become, around him. My chin came up. “Don’t you dare feel sorry for me, Lincoln.” I tried to tug my hand free but he wouldn’t let me so I gesticulated irritably with the other one. “I don’t know what this is all about with you but I’m going home now. I don’t need anyone’s pity.” I felt the prick of angry stupid tears behind my eyes. “So what if my father’s an asshole and my mother’s a drunk? So what if my home life sucks? I have a plan. He thinks he’s the one who controls me but maybe it’s the other way around. Maybe you don’t know everything you think you know. Maybe you’re the one who’s being too quick to judge without having all the facts.” My chest heaving with the force of my passion I had to stop to catch a breath and that’s when I noticed Lincoln’s expression had changed. His eyes were no longer glittering with anger. They were glittering but with something else now, something significant, something I could get more addicted to than his smooth as silk voice, his handsome face, his gorgeous body, or his elusive dimple which suddenly made a surprise appearance.
“Damn, you’re fucking phenomenal when you’re pissed off.” He stepped closer releasing my hand not to let me go but so he could frame my face with both of his. He stared deeply into my eyes that still burned brightly from the pressure of holding back my impassioned tears. “I’m falling for you Simone Bianchi. Just so you know upfront what’s going on. I didn’t take the job at Napoli’s because I was desperate for the money. I’ve got tour sponsors since I turned pro and living with my aunt and uncle keeps my expenses low so I’m pretty much set through the next year if I’m careful. Not that I don’t appreciate having some extra cash to spend until the next qualifying event. I got that job because of you, to be near you. What I feel for you has got nothing to do with pity. You’re one of the most gorgeous women I’ve ever seen. The most gorgeous when you light up like this. When you get that dreamy spark in your eyes and then look at me like you just did just a couple of minutes ago when I almost kissed you.” He exhaled heavily his minty breath fanning my face. “Fuck the waiting.”
He lowered his head. My heart started pounding wildly. My lids fluttered closed and his warm lips touched mine. I was prepared for an assault, for the hard kiss he had warned me about, but not for this one. The gentle persuasion, the back and forth feather light brushing of his firm masculine mouth against my lips decimated my senses. The kiss was so divine, so magical and so sweet that I sighed as soon as he lifted his head. My lids fluttered open and my sight was filled with the vision of his gorgeous face. His eyes were completely dark and his expression was so fiercely possessive that my pulse pounded even harder. No man had ever looked at me with such intense desire before. And because it was Lincoln and because I was falling for him every bit as over the falls hard as he was falling for me, I suddenly felt as beautiful as he’d said I was to him.
I smiled and went up on my toes feet sliding completely out of my flip flops.
And
then
I
kissed
him.
• • •
Linc
She totally changed, completely transformed after I laid it all out for her. I was still reeling from her pressing her ripe luscious lips to mine. Simone made me as dizzy as when I got on my board and did a full turn reverse. Currently laughing and smiling, she was charming my aunt and uncle with her effervescent personality and drawing the attention of every single male inside the packed club, all of them moths to her irresistible flame.
“Linc tells us that your family owns Napoli’s?” My aunt had to practically shout to be heard over the heavy bass thump of the recorded music. My Aunt Maggie might not be as striking as Simone’s mother but she had platinum hair just like Ash and blue eyes similar to mine and my uncle certainly treated her as if she were a rare beauty. He sifted through her shoulder length hair while she grilled Simone for personal details I had mostly already given her.
“That’s right.” A shadow crossed Simone’s pretty face at the mention of the restaurant. My aunt must have noticed and smoothly changed the subject.
“Are you looking forward to going back to SDSU in the fall?”
“Yes.” A curt nod accompanied that answer and she tucked her delectable body clos
er into my side. I liked that being close to me seemed to make her feel more comfortable but I wondered why my aunt’s innocent questions were making her feel awkward.
“What are you studying?”
“Officially?” she blurted out then covered her lips as if she hadn’t meant to be that candid.
“Yes.” My aunt smiled. I had the same problem around her. She was one of those people who were easy to talk to. “I promise not to tell.” She elbowed my Uncle Gene who looked out of place in coastal California since he resembled a mountain man with his imposing build and thick beard.
He pretended to be serious locking his lips with an imaginary key but his coppery brown eyes danced beneath bushy brows near the same color.
“I want to get a degree in theatre arts,” Simone admitted. “I love singing and acting on stage. Maybe if I’m really lucky I’ll get a chance to perform on Broadway someday. I actually got the part of Kim in Miss Saigon on a campus production this fall.”
“That’s the title role isn’t it?” My aunt guessed as I looked at Simone completely floored by that revelation. “That’s a big deal.”
Simone nodded. “Don’t say anything to anyone else. Please. For real. My dad isn’t at all supportive.” She looked down at her feet, her internal light dimming further. “I haven’t told him yet.” I wondered if she ever really planned to.
My aunt touched her arm. Simone looked up, her eyes shimmering, reflecting the twinkling lights woven through the rafters of the open air bar that sat on stilts and hung over the water. “I won’t tell a single soul.”
“Neither will I,” my uncle chimed in.
God, I loved them. My dad certainly was no prize, but I’d hit the jackpot having both of them and Ash solidly in my corner throughout the years.
The recorded music screeched to a stop and the overhead lights flashed a couple of times. Like everyone else, I turned to look at the stage and watched my surfing slash sometimes rocker buddies take it. Ash as usual looked a little green as he took his seat behind his drum kit and tapped on his snare beginning the song without any lead in. Ramon looked confident popping along with the guitar chords that launched the band straight into a cover of the Foo Fighters’ ‘Gimme Stitches’.
They had come a long way from their modest beginnings. They were actually pretty damn good. Dominic was exceptional on the bass. Ramon was no slouch on the guitar, though their sound would have been fuller with a second guitar and someone to harmonize with Ash.
My aunt and uncle found their table and motioned for us to join them but I shook my head, taking Simone’s hand and leading her out to the empty space in front of the stage that served as the dance floor.
I didn’t care that we were the only two people on it.
I didn’t care that it wasn’t really a slow song.
I didn’t even care that I was going to get an earful of teasing from the guys later.
I just wanted to hold her.
Chapter Eighteen
* * *
Simone
I reminded myself to breathe and tried to do it slowly, though the proximity to Lincoln and my racing heart made it difficult to do. His hands resting on my lower back seemed to scald my skin through the cotton of my dress and even though he kept a respectable distance between our bodies as we swayed in time to the music, I was imagining us being much closer.
What would it be like to have a man like Lincoln Savage make love to me?
My hands glided across his broad shoulders. Taut. Lean. Warm. And so very tempting.
How would it feel to test and learn every masculine curve and contour of his muscular body, to have his weight on top of me, to feel him inside of me?
My cheeks grew hot. I laid my head against the rock hard wall of his chest to hide them.
“You ok?” he whispered, his breath stirring the wispy tendrils of hair near my ear.
“I’m fine.” I willed my heated cheeks to cool before looking at him. “Better than fine,” I admitted peering at him through my lashes and boldly reaching up to trace the whisker roughened planes of his handsome face. His eyes darkened, the direction of his gaze dipping to my lips. Seemed we might be having similar thoughts.
“We’ll stay until their set is done. If I don’t I’ll never hear the end of it from the guys or my aunt and uncle. But then we’re going for a walk down on the beach. Just you and me.”
I nodded wondering if the surface of my eyes glittered with as much passion as his did. Maybe, but surely mine didn’t glow like the Pacific on a cloudless day. I closed my eyes, swayed closer and dreamed about Lincoln being mine.
Ash introduced the next number. “RHCP’s ‘Otherside’ for the couples in the audience.” I cracked open my eyes. I felt out of it as if Lincoln’s ocean fresh scent had been a drug I’d been mainlining. We weren’t alone anymore. A dozen or more couples had joined us on the dance floor. Seemed we might have started something.
When the song ended, Linc pressed his warm lips firmly to my temple. I sighed contentedly.
“I don’t know if they’re through but it’s getting late and I don’t want you getting too tired.” He took my hand and led me closer to the raised stage. “I just wanna let Ash know we’re heading out then we’ll split.”
Ash had other plans. “Seems my brother has a pretty songstress on his arm tonight. Simone,” his gaze and his words snagged me, “Come up here and sing something for us. Surely you know some Rihanna.”
“I’m sorry.” I felt Lincoln’s tension on my behalf. “I told him about your singing right after I first met you. I didn’t realize that it was something that needed to be keep secret.” He spoke over the heavy bass drum beat intro for ‘We All Want Love’. “Listen, you can do this, Mona. It’s just a short tune and it’ll be bigger news if you refuse.”
I nodded numbly.
He whispered more encouragement. I must have processed it because my feet started forward. I stepped up onto the small stage and took the mic someone handed me. Somehow I did it. Staring into Lincoln’s warm gaze, pretending it was just the two of us I sang a song about needing something, about needing someone, about needing love.
And it didn’t feel at all like a stretch to sing those words to him.
Chapter Nineteen
* * *
Linc
Ash was starting to piss me off. I couldn’t figure out what his problem was with Simone. It was almost like he was jealous of her which made absolutely no sense. She on the other hand had blown me completely out of the water with her singing. Her voice on the beach had been one thing with the ocean and the wind dispelling its power and range. But here in the club with the microphone and the speakers it had given me chills.
I wasn’t the only one impressed. A line had formed after my aunt and uncle had complimented her. I don’t think that was the result Ash had been going for but I was glad she had gotten it. She deserved to be affirmed openly and often. She was positively beaming by the time the well-wishers dispersed and she caught my eye.
I uncrossed my arms and went to her. She passed her mic to Dominic, put her hands on my shoulders and I helped her down from the stage waving to the guys without speaking a word. I was done with talking and done with sharing her.
“You stole the show.” I took her hand after we stepped outside into the humid air. The steady churn of the ocean was our music now. I curled my fingers tighter around hers and led her down the stairs.
“I did, didn’t I?” She turned to look at me and her smile widened. She swung our arms as we walked along the sidewalk almost as if jazzed on the energy of performing and I hoped also because she was with me. Without consciously making the decision to do so I led us in the direction of the pier. I believed the water called to her the same way it did to me.
We both popped off our shoes when our feet hit the sand. “Leave ‘em,” I insisted when she started to reach for hers. “We’ll come back for them later.”
“Alright,” she agreed pressing her body closer to my side as we st
rolled along the water’s edge a full moon illuminating our path. Hand in hand we were silent for a while but it wasn’t an uncomfortable silence. It was one of the most comfortable nights of my life. I glanced at her. It was her, not the peaceful setting. She was the part I had been missing in my life. The solace I’d always lacked even in my aunt and uncle’s home.
As if sensing the weight of my heavy thoughts she stopped walking and turned to look at me. I stared back at her wanting to memorize every single detail. Her pretty expectant face. The breeze tossing her hair around it. The moonlight caressing her sexy body and giving it an almost ethereal glow. The way her toes unconsciously dug into the sand as if she wanted to become one with the beach.
“Come here.” I tugged her hand to pull her into me and she came willingly resting her slender fingers against the center of my chest. I wrapped my arms tightly around her enfolding her into me. I forced myself to be patient, to savor, to just enjoy the feel of her soft curves, the ultimate counterpart to my hardness.
But every muscle in my body was drawn taut and on high alert. Just like when I was in the final round of a competition and time was running out on the clock and I knew that I was getting ready to pop up into my stance and catch the perfect wave to the perfect score.
I reveled in the thump of her heart beat.
At the silky texture of her hair as it swirled around both of us in the steady ocean breeze.
I tipped her chin up. Her eyes were alight like the moon. She smiled at me in a way that told me she was marveling in the moment, too.
I loved her. I knew it to be true but it was too soon to speak the words aloud. So I decided to show her. Soft at first like the last time, I touched my lips to hers to declare my intention to cherish her. But I wouldn’t be able to keep them there because I lost all focus when she was near me, because I had wanted her from the start, because she was a fever surging through my blood, because her lips were the catalyst that quickened my madness.
(Complete Rock Stars, Surf and Second Chances #1-5) Page 8