She shimmied her shoulders and closed her eyes, as if she were kissing Hugh. “Okay. Now tell me. What was it like?”
I’d spent nearly every moment since Hugh’s kiss thinking about it, but now that the initial shock had worn off, I had to say it was pretty damn sexy.
I just hoped that creepy photographer had been nowhere in the vicinity.
Putting my head closer to Nikki, I spoke quietly. “I liked it, Nikki. And what was especially hot was that I didn’t expect it. He just did it. Like he was taking something.”
Her eyes widened. “Oh my god. I know exactly what you mean. Like when they kind of dominate you, or something?”
She grinned maniacally.
Dominate. I’d never considered that. What accomplished, strong woman wanted to be dominated?
And yet, it was so freaking delicious how he’d put his hand on the back of my neck and just kissed me like I had no say in the matter.
I nodded slowly. “I think that’s what it was. Like he took what he wanted but knew ahead of time it was exactly what I needed.”
Nikki grabbed my hand. “Girl, you are in trouble. Did you touch his shaved head? Bald guys are not my thing, but he’s one I would make an exception for.”
I dropped my head back, laughing. “Don’t be ridiculous. It was a one-time thing. I’m working with those guys. They are my clients. It won’t be happening again. I promise you.”
She rolled her eyes. “Bullshit. Just wait. Now you’ve got a taste of each other. No turnin’ back.”
God, I loved Nikki, but she was so full of shit.
I held my hands up. “Okay, okay. Enough about me. What is your sexy story?”
She set her drink down like she always did when she wanted to concentrate, and proceeded to tell me a story that, if I’d heard it from her once, I’d heard it a hundred times.
“Remember that new doc I told you about? The one in pediatrics? Well, now his brother’s working at the hospital, too, and they are probably a couple of the hottest hotties I’ve ever laid eyes on.”
I seriously hoped I’d never have to go to a hospital for anything because from the stories Nikki told, all they did all day was fuck each other. It kind of creeped me out, come to think of it. How was that even slightly hygienic?
“Is that not the craziest thing you’ve ever heard?” she asked breathlessly.
Shit. I hadn’t heard a word of what she’d said.
But I rolled with it. “Holy crap. That is something. You should write a book someday.”
Her eyes widened. “You are so right. Damn. The stories I could tell.”
She ordered us another round of drinks. “So. Did they remember you?”
Ah, yes. The inevitable shame. Hello, my friend! I might have kissed a hot rock star, but a few innocent words could somehow make me feel like shit all over again.
I looked down at my hands. “They did. It was pretty bad. The lead singer, Stone, just blurted out that I was, you know, the fat girl.”
Nikki’s mouth fell open. “What an ass.”
But I squared my shoulders and lifted my chin. “I’m over it. Well, I will eventually get over it.”
Yeah, right.
“You know, you can’t let that shit follow you. Look at you now. You’re gorgeous.”
“Oh god, stop. Thank you, but stop,” I said. “Don’t things from your past haunt you?”
She got quiet for a change. “Yeah. For sure. I’m so afraid of being poor again, I’m fanatical about saving money. It’s why I always seek out the cheap happy hour beers. And I barely buy any clothes because I can wear scrubs every day.”
“Guess I’m not the only one, then,” I said.
Her face brightened. “On a happier note, when can I meet the band? Can you get free concert tickets? Do you think they like nurses?”
Chapter 16
STONE
“Why are you still crashing at Ennis’s house?”
Why did our manager give a shit where I lived? It was none of his business.
But I was trying not to be a dick, so I clenched my fists to control my usually out-of-control mouth.
“I don’t know, Bryan. I know I have to get my own place since the ex booted me. But I just haven’t felt like looking. Plus, who’d want to leave this place? Look at the goddamn view.”
I gazed past the patio doors and the glittering swimming pool to the Hollywood sign in the distance.
When I was a kid, on the rare occasion my family drove from the boring-ass San Fernando Valley into the real LA, I couldn’t wait to see the sign. It was an emblem of everything I didn’t have and everything I wanted.
Back then, I kept thoughts like that to myself. We weren’t encouraged to have dreams. In fact, my parents told my brother and me that it was fruitless for us to think we could do better. That we just weren’t the ‘type’ to succeed at anything in particular.
You’re nothing special.
Well. Fucking look at me now.
But parents’ words, no matter how long ago they were spoken, never stray far from your mind. They just don’t, no matter how much therapy you get and how much Jack Daniels you drink. I remember when I bought my first kick-ass house with my first royalty check from the record label, and how when I got the keys and the realtor left, I dropped to my knees in the foyer and just cried. A churning mishmash of both gratefulness and guilt will do that to you.
And when I had my first housewarming party, my parents weren’t invited. Nor were they invited to any parties that followed.
That’s right. They’ve never seen any place I’d lived. And I’m pretty sure they’ve never listened to any of my music.
They’d never give me that much credit for my hard work.
No wonder I was such a fuck up drunk.
Actually I couldn’t blame everything on them, much as I’d like to. My demons came in all shapes and sizes and from every damn direction.
Which was part of the reason I was sitting there with Dirty Bandit’s manager on a day when I’d rather be out riding my motorcycle along the Pacific Coast Highway.
“This is an amazing place, I’ll give you that, Stone,” Bryan said. “But when you’re ready to look, I’ll get our realtor on board for you. She takes good care of us.”
Whatever. She took awesome care of Bryan, that was for sure, from the looks of his sweet place. I used to think she was fucking him, but the truth is, I didn’t think that was his jam.
Bryan, as much as he could be a pain in the ass, had always been there for us. Even though it chafed me to admit it, he was the driving force behind much of Dirty Bandit’s success. Yeah, we worked goddamn hard—we had been since we were kids making music in whatever garage we could find to practice in—but when it came down to it, a lot of our success had to do with being in the right place at the right time.
Some might call that luck.
It was no joke.
I looked at other bands at the top of the charts. They were full of mega-talented musicians making amazing music.
So how come they weren’t in our place?
It wasn’t fair. But that’s how it was.
And now the pressure—the unrelenting, merciless pressure—to make every album better than the last, grew by the day.