"No, we're on a date. I'm taking you out."
"Out? Have you ever been to Dallas before? Where are we going?"
"I told you my mom and I were like gypsies. There isn't a place I haven't lived."
Even though he said it casually enough, she knew there was more going on in his past than he let on. It made her feel closer to him, knowing they were both damaged.
"So then where to?"
"Dinner and a show."
"Really? Okay," she said suspiciously.
She was curious to know what he had in mind, but she knew him well enough not to bother asking. He laced his fingers between hers as they walked through the lobby and outside where they got into a taxi the bellhop called.
"Samuell-Grand Park please," Dylan said to the driver. "We're stopping at Whole Foods on Greenville on the way."
As the car pulled away from the hotel, Jordan couldn't keep her mouth closed anymore. She needed to comment, ask, learn something.
"Whole Foods? The grocery store? When you said dinner and a show, is this your way of getting me to make you dinner?"
"Alright fine, I'll tell you. Geez, you make surprising you very difficult, you know."
She grinned cutely at him then batted her lashes before laughing.
"They have sandwiches and stuff there. I thought we'd get some sandwiches and watch Shakespeare in the park. I know how much you love him."
"Seriously? Which play?" she asked.
"Midsummer Night's Dream."
She giddily bounced in the seat. "I've always wanted to see that. I can't believe you went through so much trouble."
"I'd do anything for you, Jordan." He leaned over and kissed her. She couldn't stop smiling.
After choosing sandwiches and snacks at Whole Foods, they found a spot on the lawn and Dylan laid a blanket down that he brought with him. The smell of the freshly mowed lawn hung in the warm air. Set against the trees of the park, the stage seemed organic. Holding hands, they admired the sun setting through the trees as they waited for the performance to start.
Jordan was amazed. Never would she have guessed he'd remember a passing comment she made once about something she read in school. She was so enthralled by Dylan that the play was a blur. She spent the entire time holding his hand and wishing time would stop at that perfect moment.
Feeling a bit melancholy, she didn't say a word on the ride back to the hotel. She never asked him if there were other girls or what he did during other tours. She didn't want to know. And Jordan never spoke about the future.
Knowing they were spending the night together, she began to have doubts. She worried it would ruin how things were between them. Jordan assumed Dylan would get his prize and leave like a child at the county fair.
As they entered the hotel, her shoes clicking on the marble floor, Dylan slipped his arms around her shoulders and pulled her close.
"Are you okay? You've been quiet. More so than usual," Dylan said.
"I'm sorry. I've just been thinking."
"Want to talk about it?"
"No. Not really. It's just stupid anyway."
They rode the elevator in silence then walked to his room. Once inside, Jordan kicked off her shoes, took his hand, and led him to the bedroom. She needed to get out of her head and just live in the moment. To her, sex was how to do that.
As she reached up for his face, he pulled her close. Their lips met and she felt the rush his kiss always gave her, like her heart soared. She never felt that with anyone else.
His lips moved from hers to the curve of her neck where he knew she was sensitive. Feeling a combination of tickling and excitement from him, she pulled him closer to the bed until they fell onto it.
Passionately, he moved his mouth back to hers, sliding his tongue in while she unbuttoned his shirt. She felt the cool air of the air conditioner hit her back as he lowered the zipper.
Tracing her fingers over the erection his khakis failed to conceal, Jordan unbuckled his pants, excited to finally see his hard on. As she slipped her hand into his pants, he pulled away.
"Wait. Before this goes any further," he said.
"Did I do something wrong?"
"No, you're perfect. That's just it. I've done this so many times before. I've rushed things just for the sake of pleasure. For one night. I don't want one night with you, Jordan."
"What are you saying?"
"I don't want to say the things I know would scare you away. But when I asked to spend the night together, I just wanted to be with you. Hold you through the night. Wake up beside you. I think we've both rushed into relationships before, and that's gotten us nothing but disappointment."
"I'm confused. Are you breaking up with me?"
"No. I don't want this to just be a tour thing. I don't want the memory of our first time together to be just another tour stop. I want more than that. I need more. I need you."
"But--"
"But nothing. You're my future, Jordan Blake. I don't want to rush that. And don't get weird on me because I said future."
She didn't know what to think and had nothing to say. He helped her out of her dress and they climbed into bed. He held her close and she wrapped her arms around him, feeling safe in someone's arms for the first time in her life. Feeling his still-hard cock pressed against her, she convinced herself Dylan Young was insane. And she loved him for it.
She woke the next morning to find herself still in Dylan's arms, his hair a bit wild, his cheek a little rough with stubble. He smiled at her and she grinned back as she looked up at him.
"You're even more beautiful first thing in the morning without all that eyeliner," he said.
"Shut up," she said then giggled. "I bet you'd look pretty sexy with a little liner."
"Guy liner on me?"
"Yeah, why not? Look at Billy Joe Armstrong, he's way hot."
"I'll have to remember that if we ever meet Green Day."
She laughed and ran her finger along his smooth chest.
"Thanks for the great date. It was amazing. I'll never forget it."
"There can be more of those. I want to take you everywhere."
"You're sweet."
"I'm serious, Jordan. When the tour is over, I'm thinking about becoming a studio musician. I want to be with you. We can have nights like this all the time."
"What are you talking about? Dating?"
"Yes, dating and more. What do you think about living together? We've been spending so much time together and I'd hate for that to end. I love being with you. I love you."
"Love? Living together? I don't know. This is going a little too fast. I can't promise anything. I can't. Besides, you're full of it. Once the tour is done and you're in one place, you'll want to keep moving again. You said so yourself, you're a gypsy. I understand what we have is just for the tour, and I'm okay with that."
"No, it’s not like that."
"Please, I really don't want to talk about this. I can't talk about anything with the future or love anyway. I just can't. I can't see it. Why can't things be simple? Let's just take things one day at a time."
"But, Jordan--"
"No, I'm serious. I can't talk about this. It’s too much."
She got out of bed and picked up her dress from the floor and started dressing.
"What are you doing? Where are you going?"
"Back to my room. I just…I don't know. I need to be alone. I really care about you, Dylan, I just…I can't, okay? Please, just one day at a time."
"Okay, whatever you want. Whatever it takes."
She kissed him quick then grabbed her shoes and left his room without putting them on. She loved him, she knew it. She just couldn't say it. Could she imagine being with anyone else? No, but who knew what the future held?
People were unreliable to Jordan. One minute they said they loved you, the next minute they were lying to your face or screwing you over, she thought. She had learned to protect herself at a young age.
Returning to her room, she thought a
bout how sweet Dylan had been on their date and all night holding her. While she’d had sex with other guys before, not having sex with Dylan fulfilled something deep inside her. Sleeping next to him was the most intimate thing she ever did, and she felt closer to him. Her heart felt full just thinking about him.
Jordan knew she'd be crushed when he came to his senses and left her, but taking it one day at a time, she didn't have to worry about that yet. He didn't love her, he just wanted something from her. He'd probably be gone once he got laid. But he didn't even try. He had stopped her. Confused, she curled up on the couch and turned on the TV, hoping to numb her brain.
15
Lucky
"Let's go, everybody! In the bus, in the bus!" Stan boomed in a voice that was much larger than his small frame.
Everyone rushed to board the bus after the show, making sure all the equipment was stored underneath. They just opened for an incredible band Lucky was hoping to listen to, but when Stan wanted something, you obeyed.
"How long of a drive?" Lucky asked.
"Fifteen hours to Phoenix. I'm well rested after that beautiful hotel and..." He cleared his throat and waved to a middle-aged woman blowing kisses at him.
"Stan, you dog!" Lucky giggled.
"I am what I am," he said, grinning. "Feel free to sleep, it'll make the time pass quicker. We'll make one pit stop in the morning so I can refuel and stretch my legs."
Lucky slid into her seat with her messenger bag. Across the aisle from her were Jordan and Dylan, lost in their own world. Those two are too cute. She looked up at Jude as he entered the bus and exchanged a smile with him. As he walked past, he leaned down to her.
"Come sit with me," he whispered then continued walking to the back.
As she grabbed her bag, Kat popped up from the seat behind her.
"You're moving?" Kat asked.
"Umm yeah, Kat. Did you want something?"
"No, I just thought since you invited Ross and Mark on the bus you might want to spend some time with them. Seems I'm always keeping them company."
"No, you invited them," Lucky said. "You just needed my permission to bring them on board. If you don't want them around anymore, just tell them they're off the bus."
"Nah, I find them amusing. You do know though the thing about rock stars, right?"
"What?"
"They've got a girl in every city."
"What's that got to do with me?"
"I'm just saying, that's all." Kat said with a shrug and then lifted her eyebrow at Lucky. "Sometimes though they find a girl on tour and bring her along. Plenty of stuff happens on tour. It’s almost like Vegas. Whatever happens on tour, stays on tour. Just thought you should know that."
Lucky angrily yanked her bag and moved to the back of the bus. Kat became more annoying as the tour went on. She didn't even know why she needed a keyboardist. All of her songs would be fine without it.
"Something happen?" Jude asked.
"No, nothing. Just Kat. Forget about it."
She looked out the window as the city lights blurred against the windows. Eventually the bus made it back onto the highway and the passing cars and landscape blended together. She turned on a small light and began writing in her notebook.
Lucky spent most of the night writing lyrics. Getting lost in her words, she didn't realize she hadn’t slept until the sun began to rise. She turned off the small light and looked over at Jude asleep in the seat beside her.
"You need sleep, you know," he said with his eyes still closed.
"I thought you were sleeping. Did my light keep you up?"
"No. I can't sleep out in public."
"You're not in public, it’s just us. The same people you've been traveling with."
"It’s public. There are windows. There are people I would never allow in my bed."
She grinned, thinking about how she had slept in his bed twice, but then remembered a lot of women had done more than just sleep in his bed. She had a hard time believing he couldn't sleep because of the windows.
"You're strange," she said.
"Why do you think there's the bed in the back?"
"Really? I thought that was just the Jude Morrison love den," she said as she giggled softly, not wanting to wake everyone.
"Ha, no. Maybe at one time, but not anymore. Come on, I slept great last night. I need you to sleep with me again."
She smiled and got up with him. He quietly opened the door and turned on the lights as they entered and the door closed behind them. Turning towards her, he pulled her close. Her breath caught as she looked up into his green eyes, getting lost as she always did.
The sound of her heart was deafening. It raced while at the same time, seconds slowed as he stepped even closer to her. He touched her chin firmly as he looked directly into her eyes.
"I can't hold myself back anymore, Olivia. I've been waiting too long for this."
His lips came down upon hers and the world began to spin. She felt his hands press her against him tighter, then slide down over the curve of her ass and stay there. Moving her hands up his strong muscular arms, she moved her lips with his. His head tilted to one side, hers to the other. All the things she was curious about kissing were answered in a few brief seconds.
She felt the slow jerk of the bus come to a stop and there was an odd sound, but she pushed it out of her head. Why would she pay attention to anything but him? When his tongue entered her mouth, she felt her legs go weak and held on to him tighter, hoping he wouldn't stop.
"What the hell? I knew it!" Ross yelled as he entered the room and snapped a picture of them with his cell phone.
"Get the fuck out of here," Jude growled at Ross as he moved in front of Lucky protectively.
"Fuck you! I was hoping I'd get something good. Especially after you came on this tour. Everyone knows you'll screw anything that walks. I bet I can make a mint off these pictures," Ross said as he ran off the bus.
WILD WILD WEST
16
Lucky
"Ross, no!" Lucky called after him, but Jude grabbed her arm firmly.
"I’ll handle it. Trust me."
Before she could respond, Jude was out of the bus. Confused, she looked out the window just in time to see him spin Ross around and punch him in the face. She heard gasps, and she quickly realized everyone on the bus was either pressed against the glass or exiting the bus for a closer look.
Ross fell to the ground with that punch, still clutching his cell phone while blood gushed from his nose as Jude stood over him. Swiping the phone from him, Jude threw it to the ground and crushed it underneath his heavy boot. Ross held his bloodied nose and spoke, but Lucky couldn't hear. Based on his indignant stare, she knew he was saying it was too late.
As Jude turned to face the bus, Ross tried standing up but fell again. The roadies and Dylan patted Jude on the back as he entered the bus and made his way back to Lucky.
"Sorry, I tried," he said.
Looking deep into his green eyes, for a moment she forgot what happened. But as Lucky realized her first kiss was going to be splashed across tabloids and magazines, she felt her stomach clench and twist. After the interviews and now this, she felt like her whole life had suddenly been made public. She missed the comfort of her home and how simple her life was before.
Her heart sank as she imagined the photo being seen by everyone. That moment was something private and special to her. It was something she dreamed about and never thought would ever happen, but it did. And now she had to share it with the world. Thinking about Jude's reputation, she imagined how bad the headlines would be. The tabloids would take something sweet and turn it into something it wasn't. Her vision blurred as tears filled her eyes.
Feeling the bus begin to move, she sat on the bed as tears spilled from her eyes. She couldn't stop them from falling. She covered her face, not wanting Jude to see her cry.
"Why are you crying? Because of the picture?" he asked.
She nodded as the words spilled ou
t of her mouth. "I thought he was my friend. We even let him ride on the bus with us. Now I know he was waiting for something to happen all along. Something he could make a buck off of."
"You learn that quick in this business. Not everything or everyone is who they seem." He sat beside her and held her against his chest as she sobbed. "Sometimes the ones you think you can trust the most, you should have trusted the least. You'd be surprised what money does to people."
"Is that how you got your reputation?" she asked.
He let her go before answering. "Let's just say there's always an element of truth in everything you read."
"Wait, you mean--"
"That means we're not going to talk about it."
He got up and left the room without an explanation. She looked out of the small room, towards the sea of leather chairs. Ross and his stuff were gone, along with his friend Mark. She was glad about that, except it meant he was probably selling the photograph that very minute.
After so many days on the road, a couple of hours felt like nothing to Lucky. She was used to the steady sway and hum of the bus. Positioning herself in a seat next to a window, she sat with her acoustic guitar and strummed as she played with some lyrics she wrote earlier.
The label had already suggested she should plan her next album. She figured if the tour did well enough, they'd have her recording sessions done and be out on the road again quickly. It didn't take much to figure out how they worked.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Jude approaching. Her heart leapt into her chest as it did every time she saw him. It didn't matter that they were trapped on a bus or if she hadn't seen him in a while, her body reacted as it did when he first entered the dining room at breakfast in Philadelphia. She hoped it wasn't obvious.
"Hey Olivia, I called some people I know in Phoenix. They're going to have a bike for me when we get there. We're going on a little trip."
"A trip?"
"Dress comfortably, we're riding up to Sedona. I think you need a break from all this. Show's not till tomorrow night anyway."
Lucky: A Rockstar Romance Two Book Boxed Set Page 11
