by Jenna Jacob
“They’re really reaching. The Kardashians must be on vacation or something. Fuck if I know.”
“What do you want me to post for you, man?”
“As long as you don’t say I’m on life support, I don’t give a fuck.”
“Good thing you’re not asking Syd.”
“He’s the fucknut who started all this.”
“I know, but the crazy bastard would give the name and address of a mortuary just to fuck with them even more.”
“Then I’d have to kill him.”
“Which would piss Quinn and the rest of the guys off. Yeah, it’s better if I post for you, man.”
I nodded, both to Darren and the waitress, who shoved her double Ds in my face and filled my coffee cup.
“If I’d known I’d be serving the hottest men in rock and roll, I would have worn something a little sexier.” She flashed a flirtatious smile.
Why? Do you think I’d fuck you just ’cause you poured me a cup of coffee? You don’t know shit about me, sweetheart.
I was sick of women wanting to claim a sexual encounter like it was a fucking trophy they could set on their mantel. Ignoring the woman, I took a sip of coffee. Of course, ever-polite Darren told her she looked fine.
“Don’t go anywhere with that coffee, sweet thing,” Syd called as he rushed toward the table. “Daddy needs stamina juice.”
“You’re on my shit list, fucker,” I snarled.
“What else is new?” He grinned, then started swapping sexual innuendos with the waitress as Darren’s cell phone chimed.
The love-mush rolling off the guitar player’s tongue told me he was talking to his woman, Tori. Blocking him and Syd out, I buried my nose in my menu.
When the waitress finally left, I lifted my head and glared at Syd. “Thanks for shoving me under an avalanche of shit, asshole.”
“What? It’s not my fault they think you’re dead.”
“You could have mentioned that I was sleeping.”
“Where’s the fun in that?” Syd smirked.
“Paybacks are a bitch, motherfucker. And I will pay your ass back.”
“Yeah, yeah. Hey, did either of you eunuchs bother to notice the titties on our waitress?” Syd sighed. “I would love to get my hands on them. They were all but spilling out of her knocker-blocker.”
“Knocker-blocker?” I drawled. “How old are you?”
Before Syd could answer, Burk and Sofia strolled to the table, hand in hand, smiling and laughing like the disgustingly happy couple they were. As if their PDA wasn’t enough to obliterate my appetite, Ozzy and Mia, wearing a fresh-fucked glow, and clinging to each other as if they’d been superglued at the hip, arrived next and sat down.
After jerking a nod at the two couples, I focused on the menu again.
Beside me, Darren lifted his head and tensed. Following his line of sight, I saw Quinn escorting the most beautiful, fresh-faced woman I’d ever seen in our direction. I actually blinked twice to make sure the stunning vixen wasn’t a mirage.
She wasn’t.
Nearly choking on the sip of coffee in my mouth, I set my mug down so I wouldn’t crush it like the air in my lungs that had suddenly seized.
My heart rate quadrupled.
Desire roared to life inside me, wildly tugging on its chain.
Down, boy, she’s not for us, I mentally growled at the beast.
Struggling to fill my lungs again, I told myself he’d simply found a fan in the hotel who wanted some autographs. But when I saw Quinn’s hand poised at the small of her back—in an all-too-familiar fashion—that notion vanished, instantly replaced by an irrational wave of jealousy.
Suffocating the absurd snarl rising from my chest, I clenched my jaw and memorized each luscious inch of the innocent beauty he was ushering our way.
Her wheat-colored hair, spilling down narrow, sun-kissed shoulders, swayed over the generous swells of her breasts with every step she took. A bashful smile—a genuine one like I hadn’t seen in decades—tugged her pink, pouty lips that were all but begging to be bruised and devoured beneath my hungry kisses.
What the fuck am I thinking? No. Hell no!
When she lifted her dark lashes and locked her big ocean-blue eyes on me, I felt as if I’d been kicked in the balls. As if that wasn’t bad enough, my cock began lengthening, thickening, and pulsing. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d gotten hard simply by looking at a woman.
Lurid images filled my brain. Images of peeling off the white tank hugging her full, natural breasts—yeah, they were real; I could spot implants from forty feet—the faded blue jeans cradling her lush hips and slender legs, before dragging her under me.
The ball-churning beauty made more than my dick ache. Every cell in my body was screaming to glide my hands, mouth, and tongue all over her. I ached to defile her a million kinky ways and seize every ounce of her ethereal innocence.
Defiling her would unequivocally destroy her, asshole.
That sobering reality sent guilt spiking, sweeping my erotic visuals out to sea.
“Hey, guys,” Quinn greeted. “Sorry we’re late. I stopped by Harmony’s room to escort her to meet you, but we got caught up in conversation.”
Well, well…the tempting beauty was staying at the hotel.
Too bad that nugget of info wasn’t going to do me a damn bit of good.
I couldn’t touch this girl.
Couldn’t teach her hours of sexual splendor until she screamed my name so loud and long her voice turned to a whisper.
Couldn’t bask in the heat of her soft, slick tunnel clamping down around my cock or coax so many orgasms she couldn’t walk right for a month.
Acknowledging all the things I couldn’t do to her didn’t lessen my ache to violate her a million different ways. Fuck, it was insane and dangerous for me to even look at the alluring beauty. And torturing myself like this was full-on masochistic.
“Does Ava know you’re stepping out on her?” Syd cast an accusatory glare at Quinn. “I hope she kicks your ass bloody when she finds out this sweet thing’s been warming your bed.”
Quinn scowled. “I’m not sleeping with anyone but Ava, asshole. This is Harmony Sharp. She’s going to be joining the tour.”
Joining the tour? Joining our tour?
“Doing what?” Ozzy asked, voicing the same question slashing my brain.
Darren whipped his head Sofia’s way. “You’re not throwing in the towel as den mother, are you?”
“Not hardly. Nobody on the planet can keep your asses in line but me,” she replied with a sassy smirk.
“I’ll explain everything over breakfast,” Quinn assured.
Holding out the chair beside me, he waited until Harmony eased onto the padded surface before flashing me a cocky grin.
What the fuck are you up to, you sneaky, meddling bastard?
As Harmony plucked the napkin off her plate and draped it across her lap, she turned to me with a delicate smile. Her intoxicating scent of lilac, honeysuckle, and sunshine crashed my senses. It took all the self-control I possessed not to lean down and drag my tongue along the slender slope of her shoulder, up her neck, and settle in behind her ear to see if she tasted as good as she smelled.
“Hi,” she whispered in a soft, shy voice.
My cock lurched against my zipper and my mouth began to water. I was suddenly ravenous. Not for anything on the menu but to gorge on the pretty girl’s innocent flesh and screams of ecstasy.
Fuck me. This cannot be happening.
Unfortunately, it was. Biting back a curse, I glanced at my lap to make sure my napkin was covering my aching erection and simply issued her a curt nod.
“Before we begin, why don’t you all introduce yourselves to Harmony.” Quinn smiled. “I’ve briefly given her your bios, but it would be helpful if she could put faces with names.”
“Helpful for what?” I bit out.
“To get to know you all, of course.”
The calculated smile curling the
corners of Quinn’s mouth sent chills of suspicion climbing my spine. I slid a glance to my right to see Darren’s phone sitting on the table. He’d chosen a photo of Tori as his screen saver. Beside him, Ozzy’s fingers were tangled together with Mia’s. As I paused at Syd, luridly ogling Harmony—trying to ignore the flare of jealousy kicking up inside me—I studied Burk’s arm possessively draped over the back of Sofia’s chair.
Letting my sidelong stare linger on Harmony, I pondered Quinn’s propensity for matchmaking. When I leveled him with a fierce glare, he replied with a nonchalant shrug.
A blast of white-hot fury erupted inside me.
“Whatever shit you’re cooking up, the answer is no. Hell no,” I barked.
“Calm down, Ross.” Quinn held up his hands as if to placate me.
“No, I’m not going to calm down, and I’m not going to let you play me like you did them,” I said, nodding toward Burk and Ozzy.
“I’m not trying to play you, Ross,” Quinn assured, waving off the waitress heading toward our table. “I’m trying to save you from the tabloids.”
“Give me a break. Those cocksuckers print shit about us all the time. You think I care what lies they’re spreading? I don’t. I don’t give a fat fuck!” I barked, slamming my fist on the table.
Harmony jolted and sucked in a sharp gasp.
Son of a bitch. I’ve already scared her and haven’t even spoken to her yet.
She was skittish and shy. Whatever Quinn had hired her for was never going to work. Not in this eat-you-up-and-spit-you-out industry.
Hired her. He’d fucking hired her. Hell yes! That was my get-out-of-jail-free card.
Swiveling in my seat, I turned toward Harmony. Lifting her thick lashes, Harmony’s sliver-blue eyes, teeming with kindness and trust, all but eviscerated me. Shit, I didn’t know those two things existed anymore.
Are you sure you want to do this? the voice in my head cautioned.
Yes. No. Maybe.
Sure, I would love the luxury of properly meeting her, talking to her, and maybe even getting to know her a little, but I had to put an end to Quinn’s insanity. Now. Because just looking at her was a risk I couldn’t afford.
“Whatever Quinn is paying you, I’ll double it. All you have to do is stand up and walk away.”
Her unique blue eyes and flawless face clouded in sympathy. She lifted her hand and gently placed it over mine, sending a surge of electricity streaking up my arm. I jerked it out from under her fingers, but the burn still lingered, sinking deep and wending through my system.
Gasping, Harmony blinked down at her palm as if she’d felt the surge, too. And when she turned her startled stare my way, I was drowning in her pools shimmering with virtue.
“Wow. That’s…never happened before,” she murmured, then blanched as if she hadn’t meant to say the words out loud. Harmony drew in a deep breath, causing her breasts to lift and taunt me. Then she parted her lips and glided her wet pink tongue over the plump top bow. “I’m sorry, I can’t do that. I’ve already signed a contract with Quinn.”
Fuck. I’m too late.
“To do what?”
She darted a nervous glance at our manager.
“I know you don’t want to hear this,” Quinn began. “But you have an image problem.”
“No shit,” I scoffed.
“It’s not doing you any favors. Sadly, it’s not doing any for the band, either. The press and fans have pegged you the bad boy.”
“Which I’m fine with, by the way.”
“I’m not. We need to start redeeming your persona now.”
“We don’t have to do shit. My persona hasn’t affected concert or record sales, so butt the fuck out of my life.”
“I’m afraid I can’t. We don’t have the luxury of waiting. We”—he glanced at Harmony—“have to improve the public’s opinion of you, and get the tabloids off your back now.”
“So, you hired her to fix the public’s opinion of me?” I chortled dryly. “And just how is this shy, timid woman supposed to do that?”
“By posing as your girlfriend for the duration of the tour.”
Quinn was not only out of his fucking mind but had just crossed a line he couldn’t erase. Glancing down at the wide-eyed beauty beside me, I held her anxious gaze for several long seconds as a roiling, blistering rage consumed every cell in my body.
“I’m not asking you to fall in love with her, just make the press believe she’s the best thing in your life since sliced bread.”
Clenching my jaw and fists in tandem, I stood and skimmed a stare over the faces of my shocked and worried band brothers. A melancholy pang stabbed deep. We’d been together, through thick and thin, for over thirteen bad, good, and glorious years. They were family…the only family that claimed my heart. It killed me to think that my fucked-up life and shitty attitude might drag them into the cesspool with me. I couldn’t do that to them.
But Quinn was asking the impossible. I couldn’t play a part in his farce, either. Not with her. I’d either lose my fucking mind or do something that would asphyxiate me with even more guilt and regret.
“I love you all like brothers. Thanks for putting up with me and all my shit.”
Burk blanched. Fear and uncertainty stamped his face as he scooted out his chair and stood. “We love you, too, man. Sit down. We’ll work this out.”
“No can do, brother.” I shook my head, then leveled my fury where it belonged, at Quinn, and tossed my napkin on the table.
I wanted to grab him by the throat and snap his meddling, foolish head off. Instead, I simply lifted my chin and sent him a nasty smile.
“Consider my image problem solved. I quit.”
Ignoring the collective gasps, curses, and pleas erupting around the table, I turned and snagged the ball cap off Ozzy’s head, shoved my sunglasses on, and stormed toward the lobby.
Chapter Four
Harmony
Mouth gaping, I sat frozen in my chair as Ross thundered away. The only thing that stole my attention from homing in on his sturdy legs wrapped in soft, faded denim was his lingering fury singeing my skin.
Swamped with fear and sadness pelting me from all directions, I couldn’t shield myself from the other’s emotions to process mine first. I tried to erase the way Ross’s sensual lips moved with each angry word flying off his tongue. But I was still trying to compartmentalize the rush of emotions he’d conjured when our gazes had locked for the first time.
His dark eyes, framed in long lashes, had looked right through me as if I were a ghost, while it afforded me the opportunity to study his massive form. Sitting beside him, I’d started at his bald head before dragging my gaze to the outline of his sharp nose and dark stubble covering his jaw. His thick neck and wide, defined muscled shoulders, biceps and forearms nearly made me drool. And his hands, lordy, his long, thick fingers and broad palms made me weak in the knees.
Everyone at the table was pleading for Ross to come back, but he didn’t even pause. He simply continued taking long, angry strides toward the exit.
He’s quitting because of me.
Had agreeing to play a part in Quinn’s deception pissed off the goddesses this much? Probably. The din of furious and shocked voices around the table grew louder as Burk bolted from the table and raced after Ross.
I sent Quinn a pleading stare. “I think you need to reconsider your plan.”
“No,” he answered firmly.
“You set him up, didn’t you?” Sofia railed as she stood and tossed her napkin on the table. “When are you going to stop fucking with people’s lives?”
“I’m not setting him up. I’m trying to get the bullseye off his back,” Quinn called to the woman now racing after Burk. “Seriously, guys. Ross will come around after he cools down. He’s not going to quit. He’s only bluffing because he’s pissed.”
“Oh, yeah? When has Ross ever bluffed about anything?” Darren bit out with a snarl.
As Quinn tried to calm the masses, I watched
Burk grab Ross’s arm. The drummer spun on him with an angry scowl and wrenched free.
“Back off. I don’t want to hurt you, man,” Ross barked.
Burk raised his hands in surrender, then said something I couldn’t hear. Ross snarled and shoved the lead singer away. Worry and defeat stamped Burk’s face. He cinched an arm around Sofia’s waist and tugged her to his side as Ross stormed into the lobby.
“Quinn! Stop him,” I begged.
“Relax. Ross knows I’m only trying to—”
“No. He doesn’t. He thinks he’s under attack.” I jumped from my chair, raced past Burk and Sofia and out of the restaurant.
When I reached the lobby, I caught sight of Ross as he stepped out onto the sidewalk and pulled Ozzy’s ball cap over his head. Determined to catch up with him and convince him not to quit the band, I jogged out the door and was instantly jostled and bumped by the mass of people vying for their own piece of pavement.
“Excuse me. Pardon me,” I murmured.
Dismissing the odd expressions being flung at me, I weaved my way through the crowd. Ross was half a block away and quickly widening the gap between us.
“Ross. Wait,” I yelled. “Hold up.”
He wasn’t slowing down. Either he couldn’t hear he or he was completely ignoring me. Frantically pressing through the unending stream of humanity, I screamed his name louder.
Suddenly, an arm snaked around my waist and I was unceremoniously dragged toward a beige stone building. Yelping in shock and fear, I tried to wriggle free. But the man dressed in the dark pinstripe suit was too strong.
“Let go of me,” I yelled.
Panic pulsing thick in my veins, I wildly kicked his shins and punched his shoulders.
“Shhh.” He flashed an ugly, lurid grin, then yanked my arms above my head and pinned them in one meaty fist against the unforgiving stone.
My heart was pounding like a jackhammer, and the air in my lungs seized.
“Since it doesn’t look like Ross is around, I’ll gladly take his place and give you what you need, sweet thing.”