by Emma Lea
“Spa day,” she said with a grin. “My work here is done.”
Stevie laughed as Lily and Derek left the room and then she turned to the other members of their newly minted band.
“So,” she said, drawing out the word.
“So,” Jace said with a sigh.
The girls exchanged looks and then they all squealed and hugged each other, jumping around in a circle while Jace sat at the piano and shook his head.
“What did I do to deserve to be the only guy in a chick band?”
Stevie swiped a hand across his shoulder. “Stop it,” she said, “you know you love it.”
He just grinned in response. It was a surreal moment and Stevie couldn’t quite believe what had actually just happened. It had taken three years, but she was finally within reach of a lifelong dream. Damn it felt like sweet victory.
“So, I have news,” Stevie said when she walked through the door into Carson’s townhouse later that night.
He looked up from the files he was reading, a tired smile on his face. “What news?”
“Well,” she said coming over to sit next to him on the couch, “you know how I was writing that song for Lily Ames, the duet?” Carson nodded, his eyes going back to the paper in his hands. “Well, I’ve been having some issues with it so I asked Jace to work on it with me. Anyway, long story short, he asked Ness and Nadine to sing with us and Lily walked in while we were rehearsing it and guess what?”
He looked up at her a bit dazed, like he wasn’t quite sure what she had been talking about.
“What?” he said.
“Lily wants us to cut an album and be her opening act on her tour next year.”
“That’s great honey,” he said looking back down at the document. He froze and then after a heartbeat, he looked back up at her. “Go on tour? As her backup singer, you mean.”
“No,” she squealed. “She wants me and Jace and Nadine and Ness to form a band. She called us ‘Court’n Jacks’ and she is offering to help us cut an album and then to tour with her as her opening act.”
Finally Carson put down the papers and turned to her, his eyes searching hers. “You want that? To go on tour, I mean.”
“God, yes,” she said, bouncing up and down on the couch. “I thought when you-know-who ditched me that I would never get a shot at something like this. Our own album! Can you imagine it?”
“And a tour,” he said, not sounding as excited as she had hoped he would be.
“Yes and a tour,” she said, climbing on to his lap and kissing him.
His hands went to her hips, his fingers sneaking underneath her top and caressing the naked skin he found.
“And how long is this tour?” he asked as she kissed a trail down his neck, loosening his tie and unbuttoning his top button so she could get to the soft skin beneath.
“A couple of months,” she said against his skin before sucking it into her mouth.
His fingers tightened on her hips, and he pulled her closer, rocking his pelvis into hers.
“What about the election,” he breathed as she nipped the muscle that joined his neck and shoulder.
“What about it?”
“If I get elected?”
“The election is this year,” she said, riding his lap, feeling him harden beneath her.
“And if I’m elected, I’ll be a senator.”
“How does that impact on my going on tour?” she asked. It was hard to concentrate now that she had all of the buttons of his shirt open and her hands on his bare chest. Her nipples were hard and she brushed them against him, biting her lip at the contact.
“You’ll be a senator’s wife,” he said before threading his hands through her hair and dragging her mouth to his.
He kissed her deep, wiping away the thoughts that his words had stirred up. She couldn’t think while his tongue slid against hers and his cock rubbed against her core. His hands left her hair, sliding down her body and then up under her shirt. She lifted her arms and let him take it off her. He worked quickly to undo her bra and throw it on the floor with her shirt. He dipped his head and sucked her hard nipple into his mouth and she arched her back as white hot arrows of lust struck her low in her belly.
Something niggled in the back of her mind, but the pleasure he was giving her, kept it at bay. He sat forward as she pushed his shirt from his shoulders, her hands coasting over his smooth skin and firm muscles. Her fingers made quick work of his belt and undid his pants, freeing his impressive erection. She stroked him and he groaned, his mouth burning a trail across her breasts to the other nipple, while his hands tried to undo her jeans.
She slipped off his lap and pushed them over her hips, standing naked before him. He watched with heavy eyes as he lifted his hips and slid his own pants free. She climbed back onto his lap and guided his cock into her, slowly sinking down, impaling herself on him. He held her still for a moment, his eyes closed, his hands on her hips and then he thrust up into her. She wove her fingers through his hair and matched his rhythm enjoying the friction as he pressed up into her. His mouth found her nipple and his teeth grazed it, making her cry out and clench around him. He worked one of his hands between them and found her clit, caressing it softly before increasing the pressure, just the way she liked it.
Her movements became erratic as her orgasm built and when he bit down on her again, she flew apart, her core spasming around him, a loud cry escaping from her throat. He flipped her over so that she lay on the couch with him over her and he pounded into her before stilling as his own orgasm took him.
“Wait,” she said a few minutes later. “Did you just ask me to marry you?”
Chapter Ten
Twelve Months Ago
Nate sank down to the couch, mesmerized by the sight on the television. He’d been walking past it on his way to do…he didn’t even fucking know anymore, when he’d caught a glimpse of her out of the corner of his eye. Stevie Jacks.
He turned the volume up and heard the reporter say that it was the official launch of Carson Giles’ bid for a seat in the senate. He squinted at the guy that had his hand around Stevie’s waist, possessively pulling her into his side as he waved to the crowd and the photographers. He knew Carson. Well, he’d known Carson. They’d grown up in the same town and gone to school together. What he didn’t know was that Carson and Stevie were a couple.
She looked good… happy. And that damned red dress she was wearing looked hot. How had he never seen that side of her before? He’d worked closely with her for years and never once had he noticed just how fucking sexy she was. She’d always just been Stevie, the girl who taught him to play guitar and showed him the reason he drew breath. But not once had he ever seen her as the girl he wanted to sleep with.
He was a damned idiot. She was gorgeous with all that long blonde hair and rocking bod. There was something a little bit girl-next-door about her but with an edge, like if you scratched the surface you would find a sex-kitten underneath. Like her dress. It was conservative, not displaying too much skin, but it hugged her breasts just so and skimmed her hips, hinting at what lay beneath. He’d seen her in denim shorts and a bikini top and his cock hadn’t even twitched, but now he was sporting an impressive hard-on for her. It was more than three years ago now since he’d seen her, but she hadn’t changed that much. Looking at her all cozy with Giles gave him a really odd feeling in the pit of his stomach. He didn’t like it, didn’t like it at all.
“Nate!”
“Shit,” he whispered to himself, hitting the power button on the remote and turning the television screen black.
Natasha walked out into the lounge room in nothing more than a tiny little pair of panties. Her double D-cup breasts were on display and hovered, unnervingly, pertly. He knew she’d had enhancements, although she insisted it was just to keep them high and tight so she didn’t have to wear a bra, but he had his doubts. He’d had the damned things in his hands and his mouth and they felt more plastic than real. Not that he’d cared all that m
uch at the time, but now they just looked… wrong.
“What’s taking you so long?” she asked coyly, blinking big, wide eyes at him. “I’m getting lonely.”
The hard-on he’d been sporting after seeing Stevie on the news had deflated with the sight of Natasha. He didn’t know what had changed. He’d been more than willing last night, several times last night in fact, and Natasha was a beautiful woman despite her disturbingly buoyant breasts. He’d never had a problem getting it up before, not once in the three years that he’d been riding the Rocksteady gravy train. How was it that one look at Stevie had him limp-dicked and uninterested?
“Listen, sweetheart,” he said, standing and walking over to her. She stood on the raised walkway, one step up from the lounge room and when he moved to stand in front of her, she was at eye level with him. He looked at her mouth, plump and glossy, but he felt nothing. He had a fucking half naked woman in front of him and he felt nothing. What the hell was wrong with him? “Ah,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck, casting his eyes down. All he could see were her tits and he closed his eyes, creeped out by them. “I’m gonna need you to leave,” he finally said, looking up at her.
“Leave?” she asked, her eyes growing wider and dismayed. “Did I do something wrong?”
“Of course not,” he said, running a hand down her bare arm. “I just gotta work, you know.”
She pouted and, whereas in the past he might have relented and given her one last roll in the hay, this time it just irritated him. She was a grown woman, not a five year old.
“What if I just stay out of your way and let you work, then when you need a break, I’ll be here, waiting for you.” Her fingers walked up his chest and across his shoulders until she had wound her arms around his neck.
He gave her his panty-melting smile, but pulled away from her. “If you stay,” he said, “I won’t get any work done. You’re far too distracting.” And those tits seemed to have a life of their own, he was seriously tripping on the sight of them now. Those things just weren’t natural.
“But you’ll call me?” she said, her voice disintegrating into that awful baby voice that women thought was cute.
“Of course I will,” he said, already pulling his phone out and texting Frankie to come take her away. “Frankie’s going to give you a lift to wherever you need to go.”
He walked away and didn’t look at her again, his mind already moved on to the rest of his day. He didn’t hear her leave. In fact, he forgot she’d even been there.
Present Day
“You need me Nate Nash.”
He looked down at the short, curvy woman pointing her finger at him. She had ambushed him coming out of Starbucks. He hadn’t even had a chance to take a sip of his coffee yet and he didn’t know who she was or what the hell she wanted.
“Whatever it is, honey, I’m not buying.” Not that he wouldn’t have been tempted in the past, but now that Stevie had come back into his life, he couldn’t even think about other women. It was hell on his social life, considering she seemed to be avoiding being alone with him.
He tried to step around the woman in front of him, but she anticipated his move and effectively blocked him.
“Look,” he said, holding his hands up in surrender, “I’m not interested okay?”
“You don’t even know what I’m offering,” she said.
He looked her up and down. “Oh, I know what you’re offering, sweetheart,” he drawled.
She rolled her eyes. “I’m not a goddamned groupie,” she growled at him, “I’m your new PR manager.”
That stopped him in his tracks. “I don’t need a PR manager, the label handles all of that.”
“Yeah, well, they’re doing a piss poor job of it if you ask me.”
He pushed his sunglasses to the top of his head and looked at her anew. “You think you can do better?”
“Hell yeah,” she said. “Who’s your manager?”
“Ah, Rocksteady handles all of that stuff.”
She rolled her eyes and he was annoyed at her. He was sick of people looking at him like that, like he was clueless.
“You don’t have any independent representation?” she asked like he was a small child.
“I’ve done okay without them,” he said defensive.
“Bullshit. You call those last two albums ‘doing okay?’” She shook her head in derision. “Fuck it,” she mumbled before piercing him with a ferocious stare. “You need me,” she reiterated. “Call me when you get a clue.”
He took the card out of her hand, stunned by her words and fucking annoyed with himself. What Jace had said the other day was right, he was lazy and self-absorbed. All he’d cared about was the success, not about how he got there. He’d toured, but he hadn’t done a lot of PR stuff, just fan meet-and-greets and autograph signings. Maybe he needed to take a step back and have a really good look at his career. He’d come into the industry blind and had just expected Rocksteady to handle everything. Now he wondered whether they had just been taking advantage of his naivety. He even used the lawyers they suggested, not bothering to shop around for one of his own.
Until now, he hadn’t given it much thought, but somehow he didn’t think that other artists were so uninformed about their own careers. Was it any wonder his last album had been such a flop? He hadn’t known enough about the industry to take control of it. Maybe if he’d had his own manager and PR, his brand wouldn’t have been so compromised and the label wouldn’t have messed with his image so much.
He slid into his truck and headed to the studio. It was time to have a heart to heart with one of the only people he really trusted in the industry - Derek. The guy had had his back from the get go and he should have listened to him when he told him not to do that last album, but he’d been the big shot rock star and thought he knew best. What a joke. Nate was beginning to realize he knew jack shit about the industry he’d been devoting his life to.
He was early. Court’n Jacks weren’t scheduled to be there for another hour or so. He hoped Derek had time for a chat before they arrived. He needed to get his life sorted. He walked into the studio and headed for the control room. He knocked softly and then stuck his head through the door. Derek looked over at him, headphones on his head, and motioned for him to enter. He sat beside Derek and looked through the window into the live room. Derek flicked a switch and the sound filled the control room. It was Lily Ames standing on the other side of the glass, her eyes closed, a hand on her head phones as she sang into the mic.
Nate listened, closing his eyes and letting the music flow over him. The song was good, great even, and it was perfect for the husky voice of Lily. He was always surprised that such a full sound came from such a small woman. He expected her voice to sound girly by looking at her and was surprised every time he heard her sing. The song ended and Nate opened his eyes, watching as Lily looked to Derek with a grin and he gave her the thumbs up. He flicked a switch and leaned down to talk to her.
“That’s a wrap,” he said.
Lily removed her head phones and headed for the control room.
“Nate Nash,” she said when she walked through the door.
Nate stood and stuck out his hand, which she took and shook. “Nice to meet you,” he said. “Officially.”
They’d passed one another at times throughout his career, been at the same parties and awards dinners, but they hadn’t ever had an actual conversation.
“I’m hearing good things about the record you’re working on,” she said as she grabbed a bottle of water out of the fridge.
“Thanks,” he said, embarrassed. “That sounded good.” He tilted his head to indicate the recording room she had just exited.
“It helps when you have a good songwriter.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Who?”
“Stevie Jacks,” she replied.
“Stevie and Lily have been working together for a long time,” Derek supplied. “She’s the one who finally convinced them to form a band.”
/> Lily shrugged. “They’re talented and they work well together. It was a no brainer.” She narrowed her eyes at him. “I hear you’re working with them on a track.”
He nodded. “I am,” he replied. “And you’re right. They’re a talented group. I wish I’d worked with them before now.”
She shook her head. “They could have done a lot better for you on that last album,” she said.
God, he was never going to live down that mistake. “You’re right. I let Rocksteady have too much control.”
“Your manager didn’t object?”
“I, ah, don’t have my own manager,” he said sheepishly.
“You’re a fool, Nate Nash,” she said with a laugh. “Those record labels are nothing but blood sucking leeches. You need someone in your corner working for you, someone who has your best interests at heart.”
“I’m starting to realize there is a lot about this business that I took for granted.”
“About damn time,” Derek said.
“Listen,” Lily said, “I know a guy—”
“That sounds sketchy as hell,” Nate said and she laughed.
“Yeah, it does, but what can you do? I do know a guy who can help you if you’re interested.”
“I am,” Nate said.
She handed him a card. “This is him. Give him a call.”
“Thanks,” he said and she waved to him over her shoulder as she walked out of the studio.
Chapter Eleven
Mabel Clarens sat opposite Nate in the conference room at Derek’s studio. The short, curvy PR manager that had accosted him outside Starbucks, was younger than her name suggested and just as feisty as the day he met her. Her brown hair was pulled back in a sensible ponytail and her pale grey eyes regarded Nate shrewdly. Beside her sat Wade Vincent, the man Lily Ames had recommended to be Nate’s manager, dirty blonde hair and blue eyes and a hunger that Nate recognized. These two seemed perfect for the team he was building for himself. The only problem was, they hated each other.
