J
The after-party was in full swing, but Jack wasn’t enjoying himself. The restaurant that Dex had arranged for the party—to celebrate their fourth album, Hidden Captions, just being certified double platinum—was packed, and there was no shortage of beautiful women. Most of whom had made it clear they’d like to spend time with him, but Jack wasn’t interested. At twenty-nine, he needed more of a connection than his dick getting hard. And ever since waking up with a girl whose name he couldn’t remember, Jack had been celibate.
A gorgeous brunette caught his eye across the room. She smiled and sashayed over to him. Everything about her screamed please fuck me: from her painted-on minidress to the jiggle of her too-large-for-her-narrow-frame tits to her stilettos. Her interest was clear. Four months ago, Jack would’ve taken her back to his hotel and fucked her crazy all night and then said goodbye in the morning. He wasn’t in the mood to evade yet another come-on.
Jack was honest enough to admit that when the band started to garner attention, he’d enjoyed hearing how great he was, but that shit got old quick. He learned to take every compliment with a grain of salt.
“Hey, you’re Jack McBride, aren’t you?”
Wow. Jack tried not to roll his eyes. “Yup.” For fun, he went over in his head his guesses for her name, possibly something with an “i” where a “y” should be and most likely not the name her parents gave her.
“I’m Destiny,” the brunette purred. She leaned in and used her arms to squeeze her tits together so they protruded even farther out the top of her dress. “And I think we were destined to meet.” She giggled.
Jack couldn’t help the groan that escaped. “Hi, Destiny. Are you having a good time?” He wouldn’t be rude, but he needed to get the fuck out of here. And soon.
She looked around the room and feigned boredom. “It’s okay. But I can think of better ways to have a good time.”
The gleam in her eyes and the way she licked her bright pink lips left Jack in no doubt of what she had in mind. Destiny would be disappointed. “Me too, wanna go bowling?” At her puzzled expression, Jack did his best to contain his laughter. “Sorry, just kidding.”
Before he could let her down easy, Curt appeared. “Hey, buddy, who’s your new friend?” Because Curt stood next to Destiny, she couldn’t see him wink at Jack.
Jack was grateful for his friend. “Curt, this is Destiny.”
“Destiny, what a lovely name.” Curt made a show of looking around. “You are the most gorgeous babe at this party.” Then he leveled her with his signature innocent smile.
And just like that, Destiny moved on. She giggled at everything Curt said and took every opportunity to showcase her tits and touch him. Curt had his own bad breakup last summer and was still enjoying all the perks being a musician had to offer.
The party was still young, but Jack was ready to leave. He worked his way over to Elliot, who always stayed on the perimeter of the room. He hated these parties and protested by coming but not participating. Even though he and Siobhan had been separated for the past ten months, Elliot showed no interest in any other woman.
“You ready to blow this party, Black?”
“Hell yeah.” Elliot smirked. “You must be exhausted from all that ducking and dodging.” He clapped him on the shoulder. “Curt did you a solid.” He tilted his chin in the direction of the exit where Curt was leaving with Destiny.
“Yeah. He’s not suffering though.”
Elliot laughed. “Final count, fourteen dodges with three assists.”
“Really? You’re keeping track?”
Elliot shrugged. “I was bored.”
Jack saw Dex walking toward them, and he pushed Elliot out the door. “Hurry up, I don’t feel like listening to Dex’s bullshit tonight.” Dex was a great manager, but Jack had enough mingling and didn’t need Dex’s spiel.
Jeff followed them out of the exit as their SUV pulled up. Jack and Elliot climbed in the back, and Jeff got in the passenger seat. “Hotel,” Jeff said to Brick. Jeff had handpicked three additional bodyguards to cover the band during the tour. Miller stayed at the hotel with Buzz, who still wasn’t comfortable at parties, and Polson left with Curt.
In three days, they’d be back in New York. Since moving to California two years ago, Jack didn’t get to see his family as often as he’d like, but he’d be seeing them on Sunday, and he couldn’t wait.
J
I watch Jack and Elliot get into the SUV with the new bodyguards. All brawn, no brains, the lot of them. Do they really think they can keep him from me? Once Jack and I are together, I’ll convince him he should lose the dead weight. Jackie doesn’t need a band. He’s the real star. They’d be nowhere without him.
Elliot looks like he’s homeless. Ha! He is since his wife kicked him out, probably for screwing around. Buzz is a loser druggie, and Curt is as dumb as a sack of rocks.
I’ll rid Jack of all these hangers-on: no more groupie whores and no more band.
Just the two of us.
chapter
THREE
Emily rolled onto her stomach and drew the blanket over her head to block out the daylight. Sleep, when it came, provided the only measure of peace she’d had in the last three weeks. Unless she dreamt of him, then she was out of luck.
Emily opened her eyes. Sully. Crap. Those first few blissful moments of peace vanished. Now that her brain had kicked on, the memories rushed in.
She’d hoped to sleep later. Emily glanced at the clock and saw it was 9:11. On a normal day, she’d have been at work for over an hour, but yesterday she’d been ordered to take time off. Emily was no closer to figuring out what went wrong, and until she did, she couldn’t move on.
Nicki’s ring tone blared out of Emily’s cell. She covered her head with a pillow. She never should’ve told Nicki her bosses forced her to take time off. Emily didn’t want to go shopping or talk anymore.
Emily rolled on to her back. Coffee, she needed lots of coffee. Blessedly, the ringing stopped. After a few seconds, it started again. It was too early for this. She threw the covers off, sat up, and rubbed her hands over her face. Coffee.
She climbed out of bed and stood, trying to get her bearings. Lack of sleep made her punchy. She grabbed her cell, and by the time she reached the kitchen, the ringing had stopped.
As she poured herself a cup of coffee, Nicki’s ring tone sounded for the third time. Shit, she only does this when something’s really wrong. With a pained sigh, Emily answered.
J
Emily stood at the open doorway to her apartment as she checked her watch. “You’re late, as usual.”
Nicki gasped for air as she rushed up the stairs. “I’m sorry. It’s not my fault this time.”
Emily grabbed Nicki’s arm as she stumbled through the doorway; her five-inch heels weren’t made for running. Neither was the tight pink and black minidress that barely covered her butt and had a V-neck so deep that if she bent over a wardrobe malfunction would no doubt occur.
“No really. Tad called. He wanted his ticket to the concert.” Nicki’s lips formed a tight line. “Can you believe that? Stone Highway has been my favorite band since their days playing dive bars in the city. He never even listened to them before we met.” She stomped up the inside stairs, dropped her designer purse on the coffee table, and plopped on to the couch.
Emily was sure Nicki’s purse cost more than her entire living room set. “Are you surprised? The only thing he likes more than flaunting his money is hoarding it. I’d be amazed if he hadn’t planned to scalp the ticket to offset his losses.” Emily sat next to her friend. Might as well get comfortable because they weren’t going anywhere until Nicki had her say.
“Emi, I appreciate you coming with me. None of my other friends are into Stone Highway, and I didn’t want to go by myself.” Nicki’s pout was unnecessary, since Emily had already agreed to go but was probably just force of habit.
Emily would much rather
stay home. “I’m not into them either.”
“I know, but you’re too nice to say no.” She patted Emily’s knee.
Her look of pity made Emily’s stomach tighten.
Nicki’s brows dipped. “Besides, you need to get out of this apartment. You’ve been holed up for three weeks. I still can’t believe Sully—”
Emily put up her hand. They’d spent the last two and a half weeks going over what happened, and Emily didn’t want to talk about it anymore. That was the one condition she’d set to going out tonight; no more Sully talk. “I haven’t been holed up for three weeks. I’ve gone to work and gone grocery shopping…” Okay, lame even to her ears. Truth was, she didn’t feel like doing anything. She really didn’t feel like going to this concert, but she couldn’t let Nicki go on her own. After what Tad had done, someone needed to keep an eye on Nicki.
Nicki sniffled. “I still can’t believe Tad cheated on me. We’d been talking about moving in together. How do you go from ‘let’s move in together’ to screwing another woman?”
Emily moved closer to Nicki on the couch. “I’m so sorry this happened to you, sweetie, you deserve better.”
“Why do guys do this shit?” Nicki’s eyes teared up. “He said he loved me, and I believed him.”
Emily had no doubt of her friend’s broken heart. Nicki really thought Tad was the one. Since Nicki was on a roll, Emily didn’t bother to interject.
“I should’ve known when Tad said he loved me on our third date”—Nicki hiccupped—“he’s handsome, rich, successful, a snazzy dresser…”
Emily handed her a tissue as the first tears rolled down her cheeks.
Nicki dabbed her eyes, so as not to disturb the makeup so skillfully applied, and sniffled. “That’s it. I’m not shedding another tear over that bastard. He doesn’t deserve me.”
“No, sweetie, he doesn’t.” Emily hugged her.
“You never liked him.”
“That’s not true. I liked him well enough, you know, for the first ten days.”
Nicki scrunched up her face. “Yeah. I’m surprised you spent any time with us after that.”
“Nic, you’re my best friend. Not even you dating a tool could change that.” Launching into another rant—about how Nicki should reconsider how she met guys and the correlation to how her relationships collapsed—was pointless. “Besides, he and Sully…” Fuck, there he was again. Emily’s head pounded. She got up, went to the bathroom, and got some ibuprofen. Was crying withdrawal a thing? It hurt to breathe. Going to this concert was definitely gonna hurt: too many people and loud rock music.
Only for Nicki.
Emily looked at her reflection in the mirror and sighed. Nicki needed her, so she’d suck it up. She trudged back into the living room. “Sorry.”
“Don’t apologize. You’ve been through the wringer the last three weeks. If you’d rather stay home—”
“No. I said I’d go.” She looked at her watch. “We should leave, and if we’re lucky, we can still grab dinner before the concert.”
Nicki’s face perked up. “Plus, it’s my birthday,” she said with a glint in her eye.
That look set off alarm bells. Shit. As suspected, Nicki planned on getting into trouble tonight. She’d dressed for it. Nothing Emily said would prevent trouble, but hopefully she could minimize the damage.
Nicki blew her nose, stood up, and chucked the tissue into the garbage. She grabbed her purse and smiled brightly. “Let’s go. I’m determined to have a good time tonight.”
Emily locked the door behind them. “That’s what worries me.”
chapter
FOUR
Nicki bounced in anticipation of her favorite band taking the stage. The opening band, Xerxes had been great, but she was a die-hard Stone Highway fan.
It was so damn hot in here that Nicki was glad she’d worn her new sleeveless minidress. Smoke from the pyrotechnics used during Xerxes’ set still hung heavily in the air. Nicki inhaled deeply; the scent of beer mixing with dozens of colognes and perfumes reminded her of her wild college days. She smiled to herself. She hadn’t really been wild back then. It wasn’t until she’d moved into the dorms that Nicki realized how small her life had been. Even though she’d traveled all over the world on vacations with her family, her life had been sheltered. Her parents meant well, but once Nicki got a taste of really living life, she never looked back.
The house lights were up enough that she could see Emi. They made such an odd pair; Nicki in her designer dress and five-inch heels and Emi in a burgundy T-shirt, jeans, and flats. Nicki had always envied Emi’s dark hair with the natural red and gold highlights complementing her fair skin. Nicki spent a fortune at her salon getting highlights and lowlights in her dull blonde hair.
Looking around, she noticed several guys openly admiring her friend. But Emi didn’t notice. Nicki hated seeing her so heartbroken. She was glad she’d been able to cajole Emi into coming. After saying no half a dozen times, she’d left Nicki no choice but to remind her these tickets were her birthday present from Tad. She shook her head. She was moving on, and she wouldn’t waste another second of her life on that bastard.
For the past three weeks, Emi hadn’t been herself. Who could blame her after what that motherfucker Sully had done? Nicki still fantasized about hogtying him, covering him in honey, and leaving him by an ant hill.
Emi was the calm, cool, and collected one, totally had her shit together since the day they’d met, while Nicki's love life was a mess. Emi had always been there for her, or anyone, if she thought she could help. Well, Nicki would be there for her best friend, and if she didn’t snap out of it soon, drastic measures would need to be taken.
She gave Emi a sidelong glance. She looked pale, fragile, almost broken. She’d always been so strong; she’d had to be. If Nicki didn’t know better, she could believe this was pod Emi, a duplicate swapped out with the real one, who at this moment could be getting probed, in intimate places, by little green men. Yuck.
Time for fun. Her mission was to help Emi, but there was no reason she couldn’t enjoy herself at the same time. Lost in her own thoughts, Nicki hadn’t realized that Emi was talking to her. Emi could read her like a book. Play dumb. “Were you talking to me?”
Emily’s face darkened with anger. “You didn’t hear a word I said, did you?”
Nicki’s smile grew wider. “Sorry, I’ve been looking forward to this concert for months. I’m so excited. Aren’t these seats awesome?”
“I know you’re excited. Yes, these seats are awesome. But, you are up to no good.” Emily took a deep breath. “I came out with you tonight because you asked me as a favor. I’d rather be home because I’m exhausted. With everything that needed to be done, I haven’t had a chance to catch my breath.” She paused as the crowd noise intensified. “Instead, I’m here with you in the fifth row at a rock concert.” Emily screwed her face up and sighed. “I know that look. Don’t.”
“Don’t what?” Nicki asked, trying to sound innocent.
“Don’t what?” Emily mocked. “Don’t even think about whatever it was you were thinking about. You promised you’d behave. Come with me to the concert, you begged. We’ll have a great time, we’ll get dinner, see the best band ever in concert, and call it a night.” Emi shouted as the crowd noise went up a few more decibels. “That was your ‘I’m looking for fun, a.k.a. trouble look.’ I’m begging you, please, let’s enjoy the concert and go home.”
“I know this great bar where we can stop for a drink and then go dancing. You know, have fun.” Nicki shook her ass to simulate dancing.
Someone behind her whistled and Nicki turned. A handsome, tall hottie, wearing a black Stone Highway T-shirt, whistled again. She winked and blew him a kiss. When she turned back, Emi just shook her head.
“Maybe a drink, but we both know what you mean by fun. It involves hooking up. I’m not looking to be your wingwoman.” Emily huffed in frustration.
Nicki almost felt sorry for causing her irritation, but Emi needed to break out, have some fun, and as her best friend, it was Nicki’s responsibility to help. Nicki was the queen of breakups, and she knew exactly how to help Emi feel better. “Come on, you could use some fun in your life.” Nicki smirked.
“No way. You promised me this morning, if I came with you, we’d keep it low-key. Dinner, concert, home.”
Nicki pouted.
Emily put her hand up. “Don’t even try that with me. I don’t have a penis, so it doesn’t work. You promised, and I’m holding you to it.” All pleading had left her voice and was replaced by vexation.
Nicki bided her time. “Okay, concert then home.” She resisted the urge to cross her fingers behind her back.
J
After Jack finished his vocal warm-ups, he stretched out on his yoga mat and took a deep inhale as he leaned forward and wrapped his hands around his feet. Yoga calmed his nerves, and damn, if he wasn’t nervous. He’d tinkered with the set list enough. If he changed it again, the guys would kill him.
Elliot slammed his phone on the arm of the chair. He’d been sitting there tapping and then disconnecting a call for the last few minutes. Anger radiated off him.
Jack exchanged glances with Curt and Buzz. Elliot had been a miserable s.o.b. ever since his separation. Jack had hoped that the stalemate that had been ongoing for the past month would end once they got to New York, but it seemed that Elliot wasn’t going to be the one to end it. Always one to keep his own council, Elliot had been even more reticent since his last phone call with Siobhan. Jack hated seeing his friend in pain.
Buzz sat closest to the door with drumsticks in hand and eyes closed in meditation as he tapped a beat on the arm of the chair.
A loud knock sounded on the dressing room door. Walt, one of their roadies, opened the door and popped his head in. “Ten minutes, guys,” Walt said, his head barely out the door before it closed.
With You: A Rock Star Romance (Rocked in Love Book 1) Page 2