Marrying the Rock Star

by B. B. Hamel

  “Did you buy a guitar?” Chase asks.

  I shake my head. I unlatch the case and slowly open it, taking in a sharp breath when I see what’s inside.

  “Holy shit,” I whisper.

  “Is that…?”

  “Nathan’s guitar. The freaking Telecaster.”

  I slowly pick up the guitar, marveling at it. I can’t believe it’s here.

  “Why?” Chase asks, as confused as I am.

  There’s a piece of paper slipped into the strings at the top of the fretboard. I pull it free and unfold it.

  Written in Nathan’s scrawl is a note.

  I’m ready for another Slide record. Convince your husband for me, will you? – N

  I laugh and hand the note to Chase. He reads it and grins.

  “Good timing, I guess,” he says. “Since we were just about to send music out.”

  “What do you think?”

  He shrugs, stretches a little bit. “I guess we could use some more money.”

  I roll my eyes. “Seriously. What do you think?”

  He looks at me. “I’d only do it if you were okay with it.”

  “Okay?” I stare at him. “Chase, you better freaking do it. I need more Slide songs in my life.”

  He laughs and he kisses me. “Okay then. Better call the guys.”

  We kiss one more time. He leaves the room and I sit back down, hoisting the guitar into my lap.

  I strum a few chords. It sounds so damn sweet, I almost want to cry.

  But I don’t need to cry. I have nothing to cry over anymore. I have my husband, my home, my music. I couldn’t ask for anything more.

  Maybe we’re notorious, maybe my life has changed so much that it’s almost unrecognizable, but it’s so much better now. I don’t feel like a failure anymore.

  I feel like my music has a chance, and I have a chance.

  Every day gets a little bit better. Every day, we grow a little bit closer. Chase makes that possible, and I don’t know what I’d do without him. I smile to myself, playing a little melody I’ve been working on.

  I love him more than he’ll ever know. He’s my family, my life. I’ll give him whatever he wants, because I know he’ll give me whatever I need.

  I hum along, and start writing a song.

  It’s about love. It’s about Chase.

  Every song I write these days is about Chase, which is more than enough for me.

  THANK YOU!

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  If you loved this book, read Joss’s story right now! Hating the Rock Star is a steamy, exciting, and emotional rock star romance featuring a bad boy lead singer and the woman he absolutely has to have.

  Want more sexy love to hate? Hating My New Boss is over the top, exciting, crazy, steamy, and fun!

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  Hating The Rock Star Preview

  1

  Grace

  “Ever been to Vegas?”

  The words come out of a god’s mouth. Actually, no, that’s not true.

  Just a rock star.

  Joss Myers tilts his head at me, and I’m at a loss for words. I know, it’s a simple question. I could just, like, open my mouth and say words at him. I’ve done it a million times.

  Talking, it’s called talking. I can totally do that.

  “Yes?” I say, blinking.

  His smile spreads. He’s so close to me and my heart’s beating so fast I can barely breathe.

  I can hear his bandmates in the other room. Landon, the drummer, is banging on something, keeping time and laughing as the other guys sing an out-of-tune song I’ve never heard before. The hallway I’m standing in with Joss is dim and empty except for the plush carpeting and the gold record plaques hanging on the wall.

  One of those records belongs to the debut album of Slide. Actually, I think theirs is platinum.

  “You’re not sure if you’ve been there?” he asks. “That sounded like a question.”

  I clear my throat. “Uh, I mean, yes. I’ve been there before.” I say it so formally, and his eyes are sparkling.

  I don’t know why the lead singer of Slide is talking to me. Their record, Body Language, was like the biggest thing a couple years ago. I think I wore out my CD player listening to it over and over. I know Joss’s voice intimately, or at least his singing voice.

  It’s a little deeper, when he speaks. But that lilting, musical quality is still there, barely contained, just waiting to come out.

  “Good,” he says. “Want to go again?”

  I stare, not sure what to say. He’s waiting for an answer, but I’ve forgotten how to do that thing again. I mean, it’s an easy thing, I do it all the time.

  Right. Talking.

  “Okay,” I blurt out.

  Joss lights up with a grin. He’s so handsome it’s almost unfair. Thick, dark hair, smooth eyebrows, heavy lashes. There’s a perpetual bit of stubble on his cheeks and chin, and colorful tattoos peek up through his simple black t-shirt.

  “Good.” He turns and walks away, back into the control room where the rest of his band is waiting.

  I stand there, staring after him, still holding a tray of drinks. It takes me a second to realize that I should follow, since the whole reason I’m in this hallway is to bring them some beer.

  Getting a job working for Somesuch was a dream come true. I’ve always been into the music business, and Somesuch is one of the biggest indie labels around. They have huge bands on their roster, some of my favorite bands around. I’ve even gotten to work with a few, even though I’m just an intern and basically a glorified coffee girl.

  And of course, there’s Slide. My all-time favorite band, and they’ve only put out one record.

  I follow Joss into the room. Landon is sitting on the couch, his drumsticks in hand, keeping a languid rhythm on the coffee table in front of him. Nathan, the lead guitarist, sits at the control panel and broodingly stares at the dials and knobs. Joss leans up against the wall to my left, and Chase grins at me from the other chair in front of the control panel.

  “I hear you’re coming with us,” Chase says.

  “Uh, yeah,” I stammer. “Beer?”

  He grins and takes the tray from me. He puts it down in front of Landon, who immediately grabs one, cracking open the top with his teeth. He gives me a grin, a little loony, but what else do you expect from a drummer?

  “Good,” Chase says. “Joss here’s been needing a little, ah, cheering up. And we were hoping you’d take care of it.”

  I blush and glance back at Joss, who winks at me.

  “Uhm, I’ll do my best.”

  The guys laugh. Even Nathan cracks a smile.

  Landon holds up his beer. “To getting fucked in Vegas!” he says.

  “You mean, fucked up?” Chase asks.

  “Nah. I mean fucked!”

  The guys all laugh but I’m intensely aware of Joss’s eyes on my body, roaming my skin.

  I should get out of there. I should run away.

  Instead, I’m going to Vegas with these crazy rock stars, and apparently the lead singer can’t stop staring at me.

  2

  Joss

  I wake up with a splitting headache, which is about average for me.

  It takes a
few minutes before I feel good enough to roll out of bed. It’s a hotel like any other hotel, maybe a little gaudy, but otherwise fine. I shamble over to the bathroom, take a piss, and brush my teeth before I even remember what city we’re in

  Las Vegas. Jesus fucking…

  Of course we’re in Vegas. The night before comes flooding back, at least parts of it. At least the beginning.

  There’s a knock at the door, followed by an insistent pounding. It mirrors the headache lancing through my skull.

  “Shut the fuck up!” I shout. “I’m fucking coming.”

  I walk over to the door and yank it open. I’m just wearing a pair of boxer briefs, but I’ve never been ashamed of my body. Actually, sometimes I like to show it off.

  Chase arches an eyebrow at me. This is not one of those times.

  “Sweet dick,” he says, pushing past me.

  “Thanks, babe.” I sigh and head back into the room. I grab a pair of shorts and pull them on as Chase plops down in a chair and kicks his legs out.

  The room’s pretty big, which means we sprung for the nice shit. That’s fine by me. The first album’s been selling nicely and the label’s been pretty good about discretionary spending while we fuck around and start writing material for the third album.

  The world doesn’t know it yet, but our sophomore work is already pressed to vinyl, ready to ship. It releases in a few days, and after that, we go on a surprise tour.

  This whole thing was Nathan’s idea. He figured it would be more mysterious if we drop the album without any hype, just out of nowhere, and announce a tour at the last second. The venues and vendors and all that shit aren’t happy, obviously, but the label’s been smoothing it out.

  These past few days have basically been the last hurrah for us. Once we hit the road, we all know what life’s going to be like.

  Boring. Drudgery. Shitty city after shitty city playing the same songs over and over.

  And I’ll do it with a smile, because I don’t love anything more than those moments on stage. When I’m up there, and the crowd’s screaming along with my music, I feel more alive than I ever thought possible.

  I feel indestructible. I feel beautiful.

  “You wanna talk about it?” Chase asks me.

  I sit at the edge of my bed and arch an eyebrow. “About what?”

  He barks a little laugh, and I wince. “Holy shit. I knew you were wasted, but not that drunk.”

  “I was fine,” I shoot back, although I think he’s right. I’m only getting hazy snippets of the night before.

  Champagne on the label’s private jet. Shots in the limo on the way to the Chandelier.

  Grace smiling and laughing at me, slowly loosening up.

  A spike shoots through my gut. Grace. Holy shit.

  Chase is grinning at me. “Well?”

  “Well what?” I stand up and go to the minibar. Fortunately, there’s some Gatorade in there. It’s blue, but whatever, good enough. I crack it open, drink half of it down.

  “You’re seriously trying to play coy with me right now, man?” Chase shakes his head. “You remember the bet at least, right?”

  That part I definitely remember.

  We were sitting in the control room, bored and losing steam. The engineer left an hour ago, and the only person in the whole place with us was Grace, that gorgeous little intern.

  I couldn’t keep my eyes off her. So naturally, Chase noticed, and he decided to piss me off.

  “Hey, Joss,” he said to me, grinning ear to ear. “I’m bored. Let’s make a bet.”

  I arched my eyebrow. He’s always making bets, small and large. “What kind of bet?”

  “I bet you can’t marry the first girl that walks into this room.”

  I stare at him and bark a laugh. We both know the only girl in this building is Grace. And I’m betting he noticed how I was staring at her.

  “Why would I take that bet?”

  “Because if you win, we’ll put your song on the record.”

  I stare at him. “Seriously?”

  “Hold up,” Nathan says, shaking his head. “That’s insane. We didn’t discuss this.”

  “Come on,” Chase said. “The song’s good, we all know it. So let’s make it interesting.”

  My song. The song I wrote every part for, full control.

  Nathan’s been our lead songwriter on these last two albums, and he hasn’t been willing to give up a bit of control. We’ve been butting heads over that for a couple years now.

  Getting one of my own songs on this record…

  “Let’s fucking do it,” Landon said. “Marry the fucking girl and let’s fucking do it.”

  Nathan went to stand up but Landon and Chase just talked over him. That’s when Grace walked in an asked if we needed anything.

  I stared at her. Short, curly blonde hair, full, red lips, bright blue eyes. Curves that would tempt any man.

  She was fucking beautiful in that moment, and every moment since.

  “Beer, please,” Landon said to her, and winked at me. “If you wouldn’t mind.”

  “Sure, anything else?” She looked around, her wide eyes bright and innocent.

  My god, I thought to myself. I’m going to destroy you, little girl, and I bet you’ll thank me for it.

  She left and the guys cracked up, except for Nathan. He was pissed.

  “I’m not going along with this,” he says.

  “Too fucking bad,” I snapped at him, sick of his shit. “It’s a good song and you know it. I shouldn’t have to win some bet just to get it on a record.”

  Nathan grumbled and glared at me. “I’m still not going along.”

  “Oh, lighten up,” Chase called out. “Our boy’s in love. Look at his face.”

  I grinned at Chase and stepped out into the hallway, out toward my destiny.

  It didn’t seem that way last night. It seemed insane, stupid, reckless. But when she agreed to come with us to Vegas, I knew I had to do it…

  I groan, back in the present. My head’s fucking pounding.

  “I didn’t actually…?” I ask him, tailing off.

  His grin gets bigger. “Can’t say I’m surprised you don’t remember. You were taking tequila shots like a fucking fish.”

  “No wonder I feel like fucking ass,” I grumble. “Tequila always gets me. Why was I drinking that shit?”

  “Grace asked for it.” Chase shakes his head. “She’s a spitfire, your wife. She can party with the best of them.”

  He says something else about body shots and dancing but I don’t hear him. I’m just staring, those words reverberating in my skull.

  Your Wife.

  “Hold on,” I say, interrupting a particularly graphic story about impatience, a British gentleman, and a public urinal. “You called her my wife.”

  “Oh, yeah. I was getting to that.”

  “I actually married her?”

  He nods, his grin splitting his face. He’s clearly so incredibly delighted he can hardly stand it.

  “You sure did.”

  I feel like I might pass out. My whole world’s spinning and I have to grab onto the sheets. Chase actually looks a little concerned as he leans toward me.

  “You okay?”

  I actually did it. I really fucking married her. I never intended on going through with it. I figured I’d play along with the joke, have some fun, maybe fuck the pretty blonde intern, but not actually marry her. I’d talk to Nathan, straighten shit out, get him to agree to the song without this insanity…

  But I did it. I went through with it.

  And I don’t remember a fucking thing.

  I stand up, floor lurching. I pull off my ratty old shorts and throw on a pair of jeans before stumbling to the door. Got to try and look my best, even when hungover as fucking hell.

  “Where are you going?” Chase asks.

  “Grace. Where is she?”

  “Across the hall.” He gets up. “But I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

  I ju
st ignore him. I stumble out of my room and across the hall, falling against her door. I knock until I hear footsteps on the other side.

  It opens, and there she is. Maybe a few inches over five feet, round, perky breasts, glowing honey skin, full lips, curly blonde hair. She looks almost as bad as I feel, wrapped in a hotel robe.

  “Joss?” she asks, blinking. “Are you okay?”

  I push past her, dragging her into the room. I slam the door shut and take her into the main room. Her bed’s a mess, clothes are on the floor, and I spin her around toward me. I need to talk to her, explain what happened, beg her to….

  That’s when her robe falls open.

  I gape. She’s wearing a little bra that barely covers her full breasts and these sexy black panties. For a second, she stands there, before she realizes she’s putting on a show. Embarrassed, she covers up again and steps away from me.

  “What’s your problem?” she asks me. “Asshole.”

  “Sorry,” I mutter. “I didn’t mean to.”

  “Yeah, whatever. What do you want?”

  “We have to talk.” I feel dizzy again. I keep seeing her body in my mind, so fucking tight, so fucking soft at the same time. I’m hard and it makes all the blood leave my brain. I can barely think.

  “Fine,” she says. “We can talk, but can I get dressed first?”

  “Yeah, right.” I back away. “Meet me downstairs. Breakfast.”

  “Okay, sure.” She frowns a little. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m great.” I flash her a grin before turning and running out of there.

  Chase is in the hall and he ushers me back into my room. I stumble into the bathroom and think I’m going to get sick, but it passes. Chase stands there and shakes his head.

  “Marriage ain’t that bad, man.”

  I look up at him miserably. “It is when your wife looks like… that.”

  Chase cracks up, and I stare at my hands, wondering what I’ve gotten myself into.

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