Craving Lucy

by Terri Anne Browning

  He inclined his head and led the way downstairs. Marcus was definitely a man of few words. At the door, I called out to my parents that I was leaving and my dad came out of the living room with a twin on each leg. He walked with ease despite having at least seventy-five pounds of extra weight added to his calves. The twins snickered as they held on tight, enjoying the ride.

  “Be careful, Lu.” Dad stopped in front of me and hugged me. I hugged him back, holding on for an extra few seconds when he would have pulled back. There was nothing better than a hug from my dad. Nothing. “Have fun,” he murmured before pulling away.

  “Bye, Lucy,” Lyric said.

  “Yeah, bye Lu,” Luca chimed in, giving me the same sly grin as his twin. “Don’t get in any trouble, sis.”

  “Bye. Love you.” I stuffed my hands in my jacket pockets as Marcus opened the front door for me and led me out to my Range Rover that was parked in the driveway. It was stupid that I had a nice SUV but hadn’t gotten to drive it more than twice in the almost two years since I’d started driving. Marcus drove me everywhere and the few times that he hadn’t, it had been one of my parents behind the wheel.

  I didn’t complain about it out loud, though. I knew that my parents just wanted to make sure I was safe. But next year, when I went off to college, I was going to try and convince them that I didn’t need Marcus to go with me. Most likely they would overrule me and make me take him, but I wasn’t going to give up without a good fight. Still, that was a while away so I was going to store up all my arguments on the whole bodyguard subject until then.

  Kin lived only a few blocks away so it didn’t take more than two minutes to get to her house. She was already waiting in the driveway when Marcus pulled to a stop beside her. She tossed her guitar case and backpack into the back before Marcus could even get out and jumped into the back seat with me. “Go!” she ordered just as I saw the front door to her house opening and her step-monster coming out onto the porch.

  My eyes widened when I got a good look at Jillian Montez’s face. She looked livid. “What did you do, Kin?” I asked with a laugh as Marcus pulled out so fast the tires squealed.

  “Damn bitch wanted me to take Georgia with me.” She covered her face with her hands and screamed her frustration into them. Marcus shot us a quick glance in the rear-view mirror but kept driving. When she looked at me again her face was set in stone. “Because—really, she said this—Georgia needed more exposure with the paparazzi and being seen with us at First Bass would get her on TMZ.”

  I couldn’t help the snicker that left my lips. “Wow, she’s a real trip.”

  “Georgia was still getting ready when I came outside, but what she was wearing...” She broke off, shaking her head as if trying to clear her head of the image her stepsister had put in there. “Promise me if I ever leave the house looking like a cross between a high-end prostitute and skankzilla you will do the right thing and slap some sense into me.”

  That had me falling into a fit of giggles and I had to wipe my eyes while Kin sat back and grumbled. “It’s not funny, Lu. You should have seen her. I guess she thought that since Harris owns it and is the son of a rocker, she should try to look like a groupie. But she over-jumped the boundaries. I think it’s against the law to wear the clothes she had on in public. If she was going for shock value, she hit it hard. Her hair was as high as a Texas beauty queen’s and her makeup… It was horrible. That eye makeup will haunt my dreams tonight.”

  “Stop,” I begged as I continued to giggle. “You’re killing me.”

  A smile teased at the corners of Kin’s lips. “I’m being serious here.”

  “I know. That’s what makes it so freaking hilarious.” Wiping my eyes, I turned in my seat to face her. “I’m surprised you were able to ditch her.” Georgia was like a dog with a bone when her mother put an idea in her mind. I doubted the girl had a viable thought in her head that hadn’t been planted there so that Jillian could live vicariously through her oldest daughter.

  “It wasn’t easy. Going home tonight isn’t going to be an option, either. Can I stay with you?”

  “Of course you can.” My mom would have let Kin move in with us if she wanted to. If Kin hadn’t promised her mother that she would try to get to know her father and his family, she would have taken Mom up on the offer.

  Well, probably not. If Kin hadn’t made that promise to her dying mother, she would have been back in Virginia with her stepdad and the step-twins that she loved so much. I hated that my friend was miserable at home, but I wouldn’t lie and say I wasn’t glad that she was now living in Malibu. We probably never would have met if she hadn’t made that promise and I was thankful for her friendship now.

  The crowd outside First Bass was as crazy as ever. Marcus handed the keys to the Range Rover over to the valet and then opened the back door for us. As we approached the big man letting people into the club, he barely gave us a second glance before he was unlatching the velvet rope and letting us through. He didn’t smile or even speak to us and I was more than glad for his disinterest. It made the paps across the street flashing their cameras at me and Kin less interested.

  Marcus opened the door for us and I stepped through, holding Kin’s free hand. On Wednesday nights we didn’t go up to the VIP since Kin always preformed something. Tiny had gotten used to us not going upstairs on open mike night, so I was a little startled when the big, scary yet beautiful dark-skinned man stepped out of the stairwell.

  “Miss Thornton.” His voice was just as scary as the rest of him and, as I always did when I was confronted with such a terrifying man, I automatically took a step back, getting closer to Marcus. “Mr. Cutter asks that you join him in his office at your earliest convenience.”

  My eyes widened in surprise. “So Harris is here?”

  “Yes, Miss Thornton. He returned last night.”

  Relief that Harris was there and okay washed through me, but I wasn’t about to jump at his bidding. I didn’t know where he’d been or if he was okay. He could have at least texted me back and told me he was fine during the last eleven days. I was still hurt and yeah, definitely still pissed off. Magically reappearing and then asking his muscle to tell me to go to his office was not going to fly with me.

  Who the hell did Harris think he was?

  Kin’s hand tightened on mine, silently offering me strength, and I gave Tiny a small smile. “Thank you, Tiny. But please inform Mr. Cutter that I won’t be joining him in his office. If he couldn’t find two seconds to send me a text letting me know he was alive, I sure as hell don’t have time to visit with him now.”

  The big man’s mouth dropped open in surprise. I was sure that he wasn’t used to people telling him no when he relayed messages from his boss. Kin smirked beside me and before anyone could say another word, Marcus was pushing us forward. He found us a table and seated us before stepping back and analyzing the room.

  Kin ordered us sodas but I couldn’t focus on anything. I was confident with my decision to not run off at the first sign of Harris wanting to see me. I was not that girl who jumped at the chance to be with a guy at the first sign he was interested again after being ignored. It might sound childish to some people—I should have probably gone to see what had been going on with him for the last two weeks—but I just wasn’t built to chase after a guy like that.

  A waitress I recognized set my drink in front of me. “Mr. Cutter would like for you to join him in his office.”

  “Tell Mr. Cutter to go fuck himself,” Kin snapped at the waitress. “If he wants to see her so damn bad, he knows where to find her.”

  The blond chick’s eyes glittered and her lips twitched as if she wanted to grin, but she didn’t. Instead she inclined her head and walked away. I watched her as she went back to the bar and spoke to the bartender. The man had a headset on and must have relayed what Kin had said to whoever was on the other end. I didn’t know whether to laugh or hide in the bathroom when, a few minutes later, Jace appeared at the table.

&n
bsp; The blue-eyed rocker had eyes only for Kin at first and she point-blank ignored him as she focused on the lyrics she had spread out in front of her. After a few moments, he seemed to grit his teeth and turned those hypnotic blue eyes on me. “Harris wants to know why you won’t come back to see him.”

  “It probably has something to do with him being a dickhead. Better be careful, I hear it’s contagious.” I covered my mouth, gasping. “Oh, wait, too late. You’ve already caught it.”

  That produced a small snicker from Kin but she didn’t lift her head. Jace shook his dirty blond head, a small grin teasing at his lips. “Been taking lessons from Kin?”

  “Probably the other way around.” I lifted my drink and took a small sip. “If you want to sit with me while Kin preforms, that’s cool. When you aren’t trying to stomp on her heart and pride, I actually like you.”

  “Just my pride, Lu. My heart is no longer involved,” Kin assured me, still focused on the song in front of her. I knew she was lying, but Jace must have believed her.

  His jaw clenched. “I’ll come sit with you, Lucy. If you come back and talk to Harris.”

  “See you later, Jace. It was good talking to you. Maybe we’ll see you next Wednesday.” I took another sip of my soda and set it down before pulling my phone out of my jacket pocket. I had it on silent and noticed that I had three missed calls from Harris and two text messages.

  Really? He dares to start reaching out now?

  Rolling my eyes, I deleted the texts without reading them. Pulling up my emails, I started reading through a few while Jace just stood there, frowning down at me. “You aren’t coming tomorrow night to watch Tainted Knights?” he finally asked after a few minutes of complete silence at the table.

  I shrugged. “I’ve seen you and your band play before. I’m sure I’m not going to miss anything important. The only reason I’m here now is because of Kin. As soon as she’s done, we’re leaving.”

  “Damn it, Lucy. Harris wants to see you.”

  Lifting my gaze from my phone, I met his eyes. “I’m right here.”

  Chapter 2

  Harris

  Blowing out a tired breath, I tried to focus on the computer screen in front of me. It had been a long week and a half and I had barely slept during that entire time. All I wanted was to go home, crawl into my bed and sleep for at least two days. But I’d been in Arizona for ten of the last eleven days so going home just now wasn’t an option. I had things that needed my attention at First Bass and, honestly, I didn’t want to go home anytime soon if Tessa was going to be there.

  The bitch was mental.

  Things felt like they were becoming out of control and I couldn’t do a damn thing about it. From the moment Lucy had left my office after I’d kissed her, everything had gone to hell. I’d gone home to find Tessa high as a damn kite and trashing my apartment, raging about Lucy and how she’d forced Jenna into rehab. I’d locked myself in my room, feeling like a fucking prisoner in my own home.

  Waking up at six thirty on a Sunday morning after only a few hours of sleep was not my idea of a good time. Getting a phone call from Jenna screaming at me that she was going to come home two weeks early from rehab because I was treating her girlfriend like shit was definitely not my idea of a good time. I hadn’t been able to make her understand what was going on and had had no choice but to grab the first flight out to go see her.

  The clinic that Jenna was staying at only allowed visitors for an hour each day. I’d spent every minute of the time they would give me trying to make Jenna see that the girl she swore she was in love with was nothing but trouble. I didn’t tell her that Tessa had been trying to sleep with me for weeks now, or that she had basically attacked me in my office Saturday night. I didn’t know how she would react to that, but didn’t want to chance it setting her off in a bad way and ruining the hard work she’d already put in at rehab.

  I tried to make her see that it was Tessa who had gotten her into the drugs that had been clouding her mind and judgments for so long. Attempted to make her see that the girl she said she loved so much really didn’t love her back like she thought. It had taken me a while to see how Tessa really was, too, because she had been so good at hiding it. What I’d seen when I’d finally opened my eyes were the same girls that had chased after my dad and his bandmates for so many years before they had settled down and started families of their own. Tessa was nothing more than a desperate, gold-digging whore that was only along for the ride on whatever money train she could climb aboard.

  At first Jenna hadn’t wanted to believe me, but I was sure that I’d convinced her that breaking up with Tessa when she got home in a week would be a good idea.

  During that time I’d had to focus all my attention on her and hadn’t dared look at my phone…

  Okay, so that was a copout. I’d been avoiding looking at my phone. Even when I was trying to concentrate so hard on Jenna, I’d been fighting the need to talk to Lucy. Fuck, I’d wanted to talk to her so bad. To spill everything that was running through my mind to her. The only reason I hadn’t was because if I heard her voice—fuck, if I’d so much as seen her name on my phone’s screen—I would have wanted to kiss her again.

  And a hell of a lot more.

  I was fighting this need—this damn craving—that was starting to consume me for that girl.

  During the time I’d been trying to put her out of my mind and focus my attention elsewhere, I’d gotten two texts from Lucy. It had taken every ounce of willpower I possessed to not text her back. It went against everything inside of me to ignore her the way I’d done. Lucy wasn’t just the girl who I was in love with. She was also my best friend, my voice of reason when I needed it most.

  I’d been telling myself that I needed to avoid her until her birthday. If she were out of sight I wouldn’t have to fight as hard to control the need I had for Lucy Thornton. I’d thought it was the perfect plan, the only option available to me if I was going to keep my hands to myself for the next few weeks.

  Fuck, I’d been wrong. So damn wrong.

  Last night I’d gone straight to First Bass as soon as my plane had landed and still I’d tried to hold my ground. My assistant manager had done a great job of holding down the fort while I’d been out of town, but there were some things that only I could take care of. I’d forced myself to focus on work and not call her, text her, or stop by her house on my way home. Yeah, that last one would have really went over well with her Demon father, but I’d still contemplated it.

  Death seemed like a reasonable enough payment for five minutes with the chick I was in love with.

  Jace had been in house and had followed me into my office. After catching me up on a few details that my assistant manager hadn’t informed me about—probably because she hadn’t known—Jace told me that Lucy and Kin had been absent from First Bass except for open mike night. After talking to Lucy that night, he’d been surprised to find out that I hadn’t contacted her.

  I hadn’t told anyone about what had happened in my office the night I’d kissed Lucy. No one. I’d figured the less people who knew, the less chance there was of Jesse Thornton finding out, which was how Lucy wanted to keep it for the moment. But everything was starting to fester inside of me and it all spilled out like vomit as I’d told Jace what had happened and why I was avoiding her.

  My friend had sat back and listened to it all with a sympathetic look in his blue eyes, but when I was done he’d shaken his head at me. “You poor dumb bastard. Looks like you’ve just screwed yourself rather than making it bearable. You’ve been able to keep your hands to yourself for months now—and honestly, bro, you’re my hero for that because I sure as hell couldn’t have done it if it were Kin. But what makes you think you couldn’t withstand it for a few more weeks?”

  I’d scrubbed my hands over my tired face, feeling the jet lag starting to wash over me. It didn’t normally affect me so badly, but I hadn’t slept more than an hour or two a night because I’d been worried about Jenna, on t
op of missing Lucy. Thoughts of our kiss had haunted what little sleep I had gotten and I had woken up more than a few times from the kind of wet dream I hadn’t had since I was sixteen. “Because now that I’ve felt her against me, had her in my arms, fucking tasted her lips, I don’t think I can keep from kissing her every damn chance I get.” It just spewed out of me and I grimaced, feeling like a pussy for admitting out loud how fucked up I was over a girl.

  Jace lifted his brows at me. “Dude, she’s seventeen. That’s considered legal. You wouldn’t be doing anything wrong if you guys…” His voice broke off when I shot him a glare.

  “It might be considered legal, but my dad would kick my ass. And that would be a picnic compared to what Jesse Thornton would do to me if he found out that I touched his daughter while she was underage.” That particular Demon and his band-brothers would chop me up and scatter me across the country, and I would bet money on my dad helping them. He loved Lucy.

  Jace had scratched at the several days’ worth of scruff on his chin. “Yeah, I can see why you would be cautious. But I wonder what you should be more worried about. A few rockers killing you, or Lucy feeling like all she is to you is a piece of ass now. The look on her face the other day wasn’t a good one, bro. She seemed really hurt.” He shrugged as he stood. “But it’s your choice, man.”

  I’d chewed on that the rest of the night. The thought of Lucy hurt hadn’t set well with me. I hated the idea of her hurting more than I was scared of her father. I’d slept even shittier that night. When I’d woken up, I’d thought about texting her, but I didn’t want to explain why I’d been avoiding her for so long in an emotionless message. Since it was open mike night, I figured she would be in with Kin and I would talk to her then.

  Leaving word with Tiny to send her to my office as soon as she walked through the door had seemed like a good idea when I’d gotten to work, but now it seemed like a copout. He’d sent me a message as soon as she’d gotten to First Bass letting me know that she wasn’t going to come back to my office.