“Well,” Bay hesitated, then chuckled, “Yeah, I guess I do mean that. I mean, I look at Dash and he subscribes to every stereotype there is.”
“On the outside.” Tom smiled and motioned for her to follow him into the lounge. As they sat, he continued. “Dash …well, he’s still finding his way. Sometimes it’s easier to stick to the stereotypes while you find your way. He’s still very young—only a couple of years older than you.”
“But you didn’t follow the crowd,” Bay said, studying the man she loved. He was such an original, such a beautiful soul. Her man. Her heart.
Tom inclined his head. “Yes, but I’m stubborn. All I ever wanted really was to be involved with music. I never wanted the big houses or fast cars.”
“But you live in a million-dollar houseboat and drive a Merc,” she teased him.
“Hey, I just said it wasn’t my ambition. Doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy the riches. All I care about is that you’re safe and warm and loved.”
She crawled across the couch and into his arms. “I feel all those things and I wish the same for you.” She kissed him, tenderly and softly.
Tom sighed. “Honey, we can expect more of what happened tonight when the album drops. The buzz for the band is already insane, and, although I hate that this is an issue, the fact that you’re my girlfriend and totally drop-dead gorgeous means that the intrusion on your life is inevitable. The fact that all of three of you have something that they’ll latch onto is inevitable; Pete is gay, and however much it shouldn’t be a talking point, it will be. I know,” he said as she rolled her eyes and looked annoyed.
“It’s the twenty-first century and it shouldn’t even be a concern, but we have to be realistic. The tabloids are assholes. They’ll pick his life apart, and yours, and Kym’s. Her thing is her parents—there will be constant comparisons and constant attention. It is what it is.”
Bay let her head fall back onto the couch. “God, all we want to do is make music for a living.”
“I know, but—“
“Yeah. Well, thank god we have Emily and Dash to save us from the worst. They make a cute couple, huh?”
Tom raised his eyebrows. “You matchmaking?”
She shook her head. “I forget you don’t see them together as much as we do. Major chemistry. I mean, major …like you and me.”
Tom chewed his lip, looking worried, and Bay, grinning, smacked him with a pillow. “Hey, don’t you dare give me the “let’s keep it professional” speech. We didn’t.”
Tom laughed. “I guess we didn’t.” He pulled her closer and kissed her. “Let’s go to bed, Baijayanthi, and I’ll show you again just how unprofessional I can be …”
Even before she opened her eyes, Emily reveled in the feeling of being held by Dash Hamilton, his bare skin on hers, his fingers splaying over her belly, and his lips resting on her shoulder as he slept beside her. His other hand held hers, his arm flung over the pillow above her head.
She opened her eyes and gazed at the ceiling. Last night had been, without a doubt, the most erotic of her life. Her entire body felt as if every bone had been removed, every nerve ending caressed, and her skin soothed. Dash was an incredibly unselfish lover and he had fucked her so thoroughly and expertly that she completely lost herself.
She turned her head to look at him in the early morning light. His chestnut hair was messy and too long, his dark eyelashes falling onto smooth-skinned cheeks. When he opened his eyes, she would sink into the deep blue of them, enjoying the way they would lift at the corners in a smile.
Almost as if she had wished it, Dash woke. “Hey beautiful,” he said, his voice scratchy from sleep. He leaned over and kissed her. “Sorry about the morning breath.”
She giggled and kissed him back. “Ditto.”
Dash sighed happily. “Do I ever have to move from here?”
Emily laughed. “Well, I would prefer it if you peed in the bathroom.”
They laughed together. “Actually, I’m really thirsty.” Emily reluctantly slid from his arms and got up. “Would you like some coffee?”
“Right behind you.”
Emily stuck her head back in the bedroom. “Your spare toothbrush is where you left it.”
“I get the hint,” he grinned, sliding from the covers. Emily’s eyes swept over his naked body, his broad chest, long legs, flat stomach, and his cock. God, that body, she thought with a satisfied smile. That body was all mine all night. She caught Dash smiling at her, obviously enjoying her scrutiny.
“Maybe a glass of water would be better,” he said, walking toward her. “Quicker. Then a shower—a hot shower where I’ll get you all soapy and slippery and wet …”
Emily turned and darted back into his arms. “Screw the water, just take me, Dash. Now …”
In the shower, they fucked furiously, clawing at each other as the water pounded them, then falling, laughing, delirious, and happy to the bathroom floor.
Kym Clayton waved merrily to Pete as he drew up outside her apartment. Pete, opening the passenger door, whistled as he took in the neighborhood Quartet had moved his friend too. “Very nice.”
“You would have known that sooner if you and Hank ever came over, but you’re always so busy lately.” Kym grinned at him as she buckled up. Pete kissed her cheek. “Sorry, honey, some stuff has been going on. Nothing to worry about,” he added when he saw her frown. “Just stuff.”
Kym relaxed. “God, can you believe it’s here? We’re actually releasing the album tonight. An album! Our album!”
She giggled and Pete laughed. “Jeez, I know, right? The kids in my class are so excited that their teacher is going to be a rock star. They’ve all told me their parents are sick of them reminding them to buy the record.”
Kym hooted. “Good thing Roman insisted Bay remove all of her cursing then.”
Pete grinned. “Who knew our little Baijayanthi had such a potty mouth?”
“That’s cause she’s getting laid properly.”
“Word. What about you, then? Any prospects on the horizon?”
Kym rolled her eyes. “No, thank god. No disrespect, but I’ve had my fill of men for a long time. Anyway, there’ll be groupies …” She grinned at Pete, who sighed dramatically.
“What have I done to land myself with two such slutty bandmates? And me so innocent, too.”
Pete drove them towards the Quartet Seattle offices. That night, The 9th & Pine would officially release their debut album and all three of them were excited and disbelieving in equal measure.
Kym’s cell phone buzzed and she frowned as the caller I.D. came up as blank. “Hello?”
“Hi.”
Her stomach dropped. Stu. “What do you want?” She glanced at Pete, but he was concentrating on the road.
“Hey, listen, I just called to say …God, Kym, I’m so sorry. I can’t tell you how ashamed I am, or how desperately sorry. What I did to you was unforgivable. Unforgivable.”
Kym digested this. “Okay.”
“I just wanted to hear your voice.”
Kym’s eyes narrowed and she looked out of the window so Pete couldn’t see her. “I can’t talk right now.”
“Can I call you later?”
“I’m busy later.”
“I heard about the album launch. Congratulations, Kym. You deserve it.”
“Thanks. So …”
“Find five minutes. That’s all I ask. I’ll be on this number all day.”
“I’ll think about it.”
“Thank you. I miss you, Kym.”
She hung up and sighed. Damn it. She felt herself withdrawing into the frightened woman she had been when Stu had beaten her, emotionally and physically, into submission.
Pete steered the car into the underground parking garage under the Quartet building. He looked over to her. “You okay?”
Kym nodded. “Just a random hook up I can’t get rid of,” she said lightly. She held her breath, but Pete seemed to accept that.
Upstairs, Bay met them, grinning. Kym notic
ed how relaxed her best friend was. She glowed with happiness, her café-au-lait skin shining with radiance. Not for the first time, Kym felt a pang. She knew she herself was attractive, her blonde hair falling in a platinum curtain down past her breasts, her face finely sculptured, but sometimes she envied Bay her soft beauty, those dark eyes that made people feel loved, and comfortable in her presence. Her own beauty was definitely a more brittle thing.
Bay tucked her arms under her friends’. “And, by the way, Emily and Dash are already here and I think you’ll find, my fine friends, that you owe me money. They’ve definitely done it.”
Pete and Kym laughed. “Pictures or it didn’t happen.”
“Eww, Pete!”
Pete’s laughter, loud and deep, bounced around the corridor. “In a manner of speaking, of course.”
Hushing them, Bay quietly opened the door to the conference room. Tom and Roman had disappeared and only Emily and Dash were in the room …kissing. Bay, grinning, closed the door gently.
“Pay up, bitches.”
Crowing, she took her friends’ money and danced around the corridor in a victory dance as her friends laughed at her.
Inside the room, Dash broke off the kiss, regretful but smiling. “If we don’t stop,” he said when she pouted, “I’ll have to take you on this table and that door doesn’t have a lock.”
Emily sighed and stepped away from him. “Good point. God, I’m nervous.”
“Why?” Dash pulled out a chair and sat down. “Everything’s planned to the last minute. Starts at seven p.m., Roman introduces the band, Tom does his thing, the band plays the three-song set, everyone claps and cheers, and we all get drunk. Then we wait for midnight to see how it hits the iTunes chart.”
“If it hits the iTunes chart.”
Dash grinned. “With the both of us blanketing the press and radio, how can it not? Buzz is better than I’ve seen for any act we’ve championed—even Rocky.”
Emily smiled and shook her head at him. “Don’t tell her that.”
“Is she coming tonight?”
“She was supposed to, but she called Bay earlier and apologized. Her partner is pregnant and sick and the kids need some stability.”
“How many do they have?”
“Seven.”
“Seven?” Dash was incredulous. “How the hell does Rocky find the time to be a mother, a partner, and a top-five rap star?”
Emily looked smug. “She is a woman, Dashiell. That is all.”
Dash laughed and saluted her. “Of course. Speaking of kids, how’s Henry?”
“He’s almost fully fit,” she said with a smile. “We went to get ice cream yesterday and he ate two huge scoops of mint chocolate chip. Then, at home, he threw them up. Luckily—and I can’t believe I’m saying this—it was Paige’s home and not mine.”
“How did Paige take the news of the custody suit?”
Emily sighed. “She said she expected it and that even if I thought she couldn’t parent Henry effectively, she would spend the time between now and the court date proving otherwise. Now that she’s between contracts, she said, she had all the time in the world to devote to Henry. I said a few words that were probably not helpful about her losing interest at the next opportunity. She didn’t seem to hold it against me, though.”
“And that pisses you off?”
Emily tried to smile. “I know it shouldn’t and that this is all good for Henry. It’s just …I want her to fuck up so I can say, ’See? I’m a better mother.’ I just miss him.”
Dash pulled her into a hug. “I know, sweetheart. I wish there was something I could do.”
She looked up at him, her eyes shining. “You are doing something. You’re here, you listen, and you help me immeasurably. Which is why I’m falling so hard for you.”
Dash smiled, smoothing her hair back behind her ears. “That? That’s what I like to hear, and just so you know …” He leaned in to whisper in her ear. “I’ve already fallen.”
So many emotions flooded through her that she couldn’t speak. Joy. “Oh, Dash …” She choked up and he caught her mouth with his, kissing her until she gasped for air.
The Paramount Theater at the corner of 9th Street and Pine was alive with concert goers that evening. All the faithful fans from their covers days had been invited to the album launch, as well as music press and industry insiders. It was another hour before the event was due to start and Kym left her two band members in the dressing room and snuck outside with her phone.
For five minutes, she stared at the screen, debating whether to call Stu back. What are you doing? she asked herself, but then found herself dialing his number.
“Sweetheart.”
“Hey.”
“Thank you for calling, I’ve been waiting to hear your voice again.”
“Stu, tell me. What is it you want?”
“Just to talk. No, that’s crap, Kym. I love you. I want you back.”
Kym laughed, then, a mirthless sound. “Stu, I’m hanging up now.”
“No, wait, please. I know I’ve fucked up but—“
“What did you do to Bay?” She had to ask the question. She had to know.
Stu was silent for a time, then laughed softly. “It all comes back to that bitch, doesn’t it? What is your deal with her, Kym? Do you want to fuck her? Is that it?”
And the true colors show themselves. “Stu, don’t call. Don’t call—don’t even think my name again. It is over. Goodbye.”
She ended the call, feeling free and light. She considered the palpable feelings that were lifting her whole body and laughed. It was truly over now. She had the closure she wanted. She looked at her cell phone, then walking to the nearest dumpster, dumped it inside. She was a rock star now. She could afford a new one.
Kym breathed in a lungful of fresh Seattle air and went inside to join her friends.
Emily found Dash waiting for them in the green room. “Hey beautiful,” he said. “What a night.”
She grinned. “Weren’t they incredible? I swear they get better every time I see them.”
“You’re not wrong.”
“Are you coming out to the stage? Most everyone has stayed to hear if the album’s charted, even the fans. The building people decided to let them stay because the band’s given them so much publicity. The manager even told me that ticket sales had gone up so much they’re thinking about expanding.”
Dash smiled. “You are jabbering. You know that, right?” He put his arms around her and kissed her.
“I’m just pumped …I love this part …and this part …” She kissed him back, moaning as his hand slipped under her skirt and caressed her.
“You know,” he murmured, between kisses. “This door does have a lock.”
Giggling, she watched as he leaned over and flicked the lock. She reached for his fly as he pulled her panties down, and in seconds he was entering her, holding her up against the wall and thrusting his hips as she moaned.
“Fuck me harder,” she ordered, and grinning, Dash obliged, slamming her back against the wall and driving his cock deep inside her again, again, and again, until they were both crying out.
Up on the roof of the theater, Bay and Tom were in each other’s arms too, both staring at each other in amazement at the evening’s events.
“You did it,” Tom said softly. “You’re a success, baby.”
“If I am, it’s because of you.” She kissed him. “I love you so much, Tomas Meir. I can’t ever repay what you’ve done for me.”
Tomas smiled a strange smile and he took both of her hands in his. “There is a way,” he said slowly, and when he met her gaze, she could see the burning passion in them—the absolute love for her. “Before we go back inside, before we join our friends and find out just how much of a superstar you are, I want to look at you. Just here, just now. My beautiful Bay, my life began the moment I saw you. Marry me, Bay. Marry me and make me the luckiest man in the world …”
There were tears dropping down her
cheeks, but she was smiling, radiant and glowing in the moonlight. “Yes,” she whispered. “Yes, Tom, I will marry you …”
He pulled her into his arms and kissed her, his own tears mingling with hers. “I love you. I love you so, so much …”
Bay tangled her fingers into his hair and they were so involved in kissing that they didn’t hear the door to the roof opening and didn’t notice Roman Ford as he spotted them. He cleared his throat, embarrassed, and they broke apart, laughing at Roman’s scarlet face. He grinned at them.
“Sorry to disturb you …it’s nearly midnight.”
Tom stood behind Bay, his arms around her waist. His new fiancé looked as scared as her band members. Emily smiled over at her, trying to calm her down. Kym and Pete stood hand-in-hand as Roman called up the iTunes chart. Then they started a countdown to midnight and the whole crowd joined in.
“Five …four …three …two …one!”
“Ladies and gentlemen, the eponymously titled debut album from Seattle’s own The 9th & Pine is officially released!” The normally reserved Roman whooped as the three band members looked at each other in amazement.
“It really happened,” Emily said, and Dash, his hand on her back, laughed.
“Of course it did, honey. Now all we have to do is wait to see if it hits the download chart.”
During the next few minutes, while Roman refreshed the chart, there was tension in the room, the noise down to a low buzz. With the help of the theater’s technicians, Roman was casting from his laptop to the screen overhead so everyone could see the chart. At first, every time he refreshed the chart, none of the top ten albums changed, then, on the fourteenth try, they did.
There was a gasp in the auditorium followed by the briefest silence, then the room exploded.
The 9th & Pine’s debut album had entered the download chart at number one.
Kym screamed and Bay and Pete whooped with joy and hugged all of their friends. At one point, Bay hugged Emily hard, and whispered, “This was all you. Thank you, thank you, thank you …”
Emily watched the celebrations with tears in her eyes. It had never felt this good, getting one of her acts to the top. They were such a lovely bunch of people …and it was because of them that she met Dash.
His Beautiful Revenge: A Bad Boy Billionaire Romance Page 76
