One Last Shot

by Archer, Julie

  “I think you might be right about it getting messy.” Eva winked at Poppy.

  “Oh God, am I going to be a third wheel?”

  “Ha, no way. I’m not getting involved with someone who already has a girlfriend.”

  Caro had taken the same stance when she first met Alik. Poppy was disappointed by the spiky conversation they had had at the party. It felt as if Caro had chosen to side with the band, and that Poppy wasn’t important to her any longer because she didn’t have a career. Deep down, Poppy knew that Caro didn’t mean any of it, but in her current state, not knowing what was going on with her marriage, it didn’t make her situation any easier.

  Chapter Twelve

  Richey tipped the taxi driver as the man helped him unload his bags, bass, and amp from the car onto the drive outside Nate and Poppy’s house. The driver hadn’t been overly happy when he’d arrived at Richey’s B&B and been asked to drag a bunch of stuff down the stairs into the waiting vehicle. The landlady had been insistent about his departure time, as she already had someone waiting to take the room. Given that she’d offered a bit of a discount, he didn’t want to keep the cleaners waiting.

  As he looked up at one of the bedroom windows, he thought he saw Eva watching him. It was going to be a challenge living around her the whole time. Ever since the dinner party, he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her. He thought the attraction was mutual, but he couldn’t be absolutely certain. He’d done a little bit of Internet stalking, but couldn’t find anything much about her. There were a few photographs but nothing particularly recent. It was as if she didn’t exist.

  Poppy threw open the door and welcomed him, calling out to Nate to help him get the luggage.

  “Thanks. you don’t know how much I appreciate this.” He kissed her on the cheek.

  “Why wouldn’t I welcome the opportunity to have not one, but two, babysitters on tap?”

  “You travel light, mate,” said Nate. He easily hoisted the largest rucksack over his shoulder and picked up one of the smaller holdalls. “We’ll put the bass and amp in the studio.”

  “I picked up a few of the essentials last weekend and put the rest in storage. Never had much to begin with to be honest, most of my money went on the bass.”

  Nate nodded in agreement, and Richey knew he had exactly the same sentiments about his own guitars. He followed Nate into the house and up the stairs, turning right at the top. They went down the hallway.

  “This is your room,” said Nate. He opened the door on the right of the corridor. “That’s Eva’s room.” He pointed to the one opposite. “And that’s the bathroom you’ll be sharing with her.” He gestured to the final door at the end of the corridor. Richey could hear the sound of the shower running.

  Richey entered the bedroom, trying not to be impressed. It was a huge space and despite being sparsely furnished, felt homely and welcoming—very different to the studio flat he’d left and the B&B. He dropped his bags on the floor, already looking forward to settling in.

  Poppy put her head around the door. “I’m going to be doing dinner in a bit, is lasagne okay?”

  Richey nodded. “Great, thanks.”

  “You haven’t tasted it yet,” said Nate, earning himself a thump from Poppy.

  “Why don’t you get unpacked?” she said. She pulled Nate out of the room. “Come downstairs when you’re ready.”

  They shut the door behind them, and Richey sank into the soft, fluffy bed, letting the duvet envelop him. He stared up at the ceiling, wondering how the hell life had got to be so good. He had a decent place to live, the opportunity of making it big in a band, and the possibility of a really hot woman.

  The grin that crossed his face was the widest it had ever been.

  He decided it probably wasn’t good form to doze off on his first night there and miss dinner, so instead he unpacked his meagre collection of stuff. It didn’t take him long to fling a few t-shirts, jeans, and boxers into the built-in wardrobe and drawers. He dithered for a moment, holding his wash bag, and finally decided to put it on an unused shelf in the wardrobe. He’d take it to the bathroom when he needed it. It seemed that Eva was in there at the moment, and he didn’t want to disturb her. He stuffed the empty bags under the bed. Satisfied that he had done all he needed to, it was time to get a drink.

  He barged out of the room without thinking and ran straight into Eva, who was clutching a towel around her body, dark hair trailing damply across her shoulders.

  “Shit!” she said. She managed not to let the towel drop, although Richey wished she hadn’t been quite so successful.

  “Jesus, I’m sorry,” Richey said. His eyes were drawn to the tiny sun, moon, and stars tattoo that adorned her right shoulder. Then he checked the left for signs of the bruise he’d seen the other night, but she moved to cover it. “I guess this sharing a bathroom thing could be quite awkward.”

  Eva laughed. “Maybe we need to set up some kind of rota. Welcome to the mad house,” she said. “Hope you don’t mind being woken up at all hours by a screaming baby.” She gestured to her towel. “I need to get dressed. I’ll see you downstairs.” She disappeared into her room on the opposite side of the hall.

  Richey stared after her. Shit, this was going to be hard.

  He descended the stairs, following his nose, and ended up in the kitchen. Poppy put a couple of garlic baguettes in the oven, and Nate uncorked a bottle of red. He saw Richey come in and waved at him.

  “Hey, I said we’d take your bass into the studio; you want to see it?”

  Richey nodded and followed Nate out the back and into the garden. Nate unlocked the garage door and ushered Richey inside.

  The double-garage had been converted and soundproofed and had a small mixing desk in one corner. Nate’s guitars sat in a rack next to a pretty impressive Marshall stack; Richey’s single Fender Precision and Trace Elliot amp looked dwarfed and insignificant by comparison.

  “This was one of the things that swung the sale for us. Poppy was getting tired of our old spare room never being available for guests and, with a bit of work, it meant I could stay out of the way but be close by,” said Nate. “The alternative would have been to rent a studio in town, which would have cost a fortune.”

  “I thought you practiced at The Indigo Lounge?”

  “Yeah, we do sometimes, but when it’s just Alik and me jamming, it’s easier to be here. And now you’re here too.”

  Poppy called to them, saying that dinner was ready. Nate locked up and they went back into the house.

  Eva was sitting at the table, dressed in jeans and a fluffy grey dip-dye jumper. She already had a glass of wine on the go. Richey slid into the seat next to her, not ready to spend an entire evening staring at her.

  Poppy brought in the food, and they helped themselves from the dishes on the table.

  Just before they started eating, Richey raised his glass. “Nate, Poppy, I just want to say thank you for this. Not just the whole thing with Blood Stone Riot, but welcoming me into your home.”

  “Wait until India wakes you up at three in the morning!” said Poppy. “But do make yourself at home, as Eva has. It’s going to be a change having people in the house again.”

  The four of them enjoyed a pleasant dinner, chatting late into the night and drinking wine, and as Richey drifted off to sleep in the early hours, he couldn’t remember the last time he’d been so happy.

  Chapter Thirteen

  As well as living together, Eva found that she was working with Richey fairly regularly. He’d started at The Indigo Lounge a couple of days after moving into the McKennas’ house and was an instant hit with the rest of the staff. A couple of the younger girls constantly tried to swap shifts in order to work with him and often stayed on later than needed just to spend time with him. If Eva thought about it, she might have classified the emotion she was feeling as jealousy. After their encounter the first night he had moved in, they had frequently bumped into each other coming out of their shared bathroom. Ev
a was getting used to the sight of Richey with a towel wrapped round his waist, water glistening on his tattooed chest, his long hair slicked back. She suspected that if she mentioned that fact, she would suddenly have loads of new friends.

  Eva was on her own in the office. Nic was meeting with one of their suppliers, and Amy had taken the day off. She was half-heartedly doing some social media to promote the next band night for the club when Richey came in. Even in his Indigo Lounge polo shirt, he looked hot. The shirt clung to his muscled chest, and she could see his tattoos peeping above the neckline.

  “Hey, boss, we need some change downstairs,” said Richey. He held a bunch of bank notes in his hand.

  Eva laughed. “Don’t let Caro hear you say that. I’m definitely not the boss.”

  Richey rolled his eyes. “I think you’re the most responsible adult here today, so you are, technically.”

  “Ah, great, I get to hold that position based on a technicality.” Eva pushed her chair back and took the money from Richey. She went to the safe in the corner and unlocked it. “What do you need?” she asked. As she glanced over her shoulder, she thought that Richey was checking her out, and she wished he would reply with ‘you’.

  “Pound coins, please, boss.”

  She rifled around until she found what she needed. Their hands brushed as she passed over the bags. The light touch made the hairs on the back of her neck stand to attention. Trying to ignore how he made her feel, Eva went about locking the safe back up.

  Richey lingered in the doorway.

  “Is it busy downstairs?” Eva asked. She was keen for him to stay a little longer and keep her company. If he went, she would be left with her own, dirty, thoughts.

  Richey shook his head. “Not really. Joanne’s not exactly the best for conversation either. She’ll be all right on her own for a bit. And if she’s not, I have no doubt that she will tell me.”

  Eva allowed herself a small smile. She thought Joanne might be interested in Richey, and it was good to hear that he, apparently, didn’t feel the same way. It was a nice change having a conversation, just the two of them. At home, there was usually someone else around, or Eva was helping out with India, or Richey was holed up in the studio with Nate.

  “How are the rehearsals going?” she asked. She returned to her desk and sat down. Richey came and perched on the end of the table, practically sitting next to her, and put down the bags of coins.

  “Good, really good. It feels like we’ve been together for a long time rather than just a couple of weeks. Alik’s pleased with how things are going too.”

  “You guys have been practising full-on for ages, when are you going to play properly?”

  “The first actual gig is tomorrow night at The Vegas.”

  Eva nodded. “Oh, right.”

  “I’d really like it if you would come along,” said Richey.

  Eva pretended to check the roster. She knew that she was free; she was working an office shift again the next day, which meant she’d be finished by early afternoon. “I can probably swap things around.”

  Richey grabbed the paper from her hand and scanned it. “You’re coming,” he said. “I can see from here that you’re not working tomorrow night.”

  She tried to wrestle the paper back from him, her fingers grazing his. The gentle touch set her groin alight, and she drew back. She looked up at him and met his dark blue eyes. A few strands of hair were loose, and she wanted to reach up and tuck them back behind his ear. She wondered what he would do if she acted on the impulse. Just as she was about to move, a voice called from downstairs asking for help. Joanne.

  Richey slid off the desk and grabbed the change he had come up for. “I’ll catch you later.”

  * * *

  Richey shut the office door behind him and leaned against it. He breathed out and steadied himself. It had taken all of his willpower not to grab Eva, pin her down on the desk, and kiss the life out of her. Being in such close proximity to her—and on their own for once—had made him realise his feelings about her; she wasn’t just as a quick shag as so many of his recent conquests had been. It was the first time in quite a while that he had thought about something longer term. But he didn’t know if she felt the same way.

  He headed back down to the bar, where Joanne was waiting for him.

  “Here you go,” he said. He handed the change to her and looked around the bar. There were a couple of regulars in one corner and that was it. “What do you need me to do?”

  Joanne laughed. “I can think of a few things...”

  “You’re kidding me, right? I was in the middle of something with Eva.”

  “Yeah, I bet you were.” Joanne screwed up her face.

  “I thought you at least needed a barrel changing or something.”

  Richey turned his back and went about checking the bottles. He needed to give himself something to do to take his mind off what might have happened upstairs. As he rearranged the stock, his thoughts focused on the gig the next evening. While the gigs with NightDrive hadn’t been all that long ago, they were worlds away from what he was about to embark on with Blood Stone Riot. There was a following there, and an expectation. He was already worried that he wouldn’t live up to Billy Walker’s standard. That he would be exposed as a fake, a fraud. Alik, Nate, and Dev were right behind him with their support. They wouldn’t risk damaging their reputation with anyone less than their previous bassist had been. The pressure was there though. That pressure made him think of how he used to deal with it in the past, how he used to deal with anything when it got too tough. He couldn’t give in to that kind of temptation, not now.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Poppy and Eva jostled for position at the bar at The Vegas as the venue started to fill up in anticipation for Blood Stone Riot’s comeback gig. Poppy was glad that Eva was there. With the way things were with her and Nate at the moment, she needed all the support she could get. Someone pushed past her to get to the bar, and just as she was about to protest, she realised it was Parker Roberts.

  “Evening ladies,” he said. “Can I get you a refill?”

  Poppy glared at him, but Eva cut in before she could say anything.

  “Lovely, I’ll have a double gin and tonic if you’re buying.” She held out her empty glass. “I’m Eva, by the way, a friend of Poppy’s.”

  “Good to meet you.” Parker took the glass and waved at the bar man. “Poppy? Do you want anything?”

  Poppy shook her head, and at the same time Eva said, “She’ll have another white wine spritzer. Needs to be relatively sober when she gets back to India tonight.”

  It took a few minutes for the order to be sorted. Parker passed them both their drinks and turned to Poppy.

  “How are you, Poppy? I gather the house is quite busy at the moment.”

  “It will be until Nate and Richey go on tour again.”

  “I’ve got a lot to do to make up for that, haven’t I?”

  Poppy shrugged. “I don’t know, have you?”

  Poppy was being deliberately difficult. On the previous occasions she had met Parker, she had always been the cheerful one, the one that drew the rest of the group together. Even when all the shit had gone on with Edie and Billy, she had been the one to keep things on an even keel. For some reason, she didn’t want to make things easy for Parker this time. Eva excused herself to go to the ladies, leaving the two of them alone. There was a cavern of awkward silence, despite the music playing.

  “Look, I’m sorry,” said Parker. There was a dip in the volume that meant it came out louder than he had anticipated.

  Poppy’s eyebrows shot up in surprise.

  “I know it can’t have been easy for you being on your own while Nate’s been away, and I guess I have some part to play in that, particularly as I’m about to send him away again. But it’s nothing personal, and I’m sure Caro feels the same.”

  Poppy laughed harshly. “I don’t think so somehow. She’s got her own life in Mallorca as well as what she�
��s got with Alik, so it’s hardly the same.” She paused and looked down into her drink. “Things aren’t good between Nate and I. I think we’ve been apart too long.” She shook her head.

  “Um, I’m sorry. But wouldn’t you be better talking to Caro or Eva about this?”

  Poppy looked straight at him, her blue eyes boring into his. “I could, but you’re one of the reasons that we’re having problems and I thought you should know.”

  “If you do need to talk to someone, I could recommend a couples counsellor.”

  “Because that worked so well for you, didn’t it?”

  “How did you know about that?”

  “The split or you having therapy? Your break-up was all over the press. Anyone who didn’t know who you were before does now, and pretty much everything has been analysed and dissected.” Poppy was matter-of-fact as she spoke. “So I don’t think I need to take relationship advice from you.”

  She stalked off.

  * * *

  Richey felt sick. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been this nervous. They were playing The Vegas, and Richey knew that the band had played some legendary gigs there in the past. Nervous energy flooded every inch of his body. Alik had taken him to one side and given him a kind of pep talk, telling him that he deserved to be there and he should enjoy the gig. It had gone some way to calming him down. Eva was there too. It was important to him what she thought.

  He paced up and down in the tiny corridor by the toilets. Other punters eyed him suspiciously as he did so. Lost in his thoughts, he didn’t notice the tall, skinny bald man until it was too late and he bumped into him. The man was dressed in a perfectly-cut suit jacket and a pair of expensive jeans. He didn’t look like the type of person to frequent places like The Vegas.

  “Watch where you’re going,” the man said. There was a sharp tone to his voice.

  “Sorry, mate, bit nervous about the gig tonight.”