You Shook Me All Night Long (Scorned Lovers Book 1)

by Simone Harlow

“Do you think if you help him, he’s going to stay in the band once the album is done?”

  That was the million-dollar question. Hell if he knew, he just had to do something, because he had to make up for leaving Andy to die alone. “Andy’s death destroyed him. All he’s thinking about is quitting, going back to Detroit, and working construction. You don’t let a musician of his caliber quit like that.” It was easy to give his ego’s answer. As long as he’d known Malcolm he knew he could trust him with his secrets. But he hadn’t even figured out why he was doing this. All he knew was that he had to help Travis or it would be the end of everything.

  “God forbid anyone try to derail your career.”

  Declan pushed down a spurt of anger. He deserved that, but he wasn’t the only one who needed this band. They all needed the band to go on. It was a part of what made them who they were. “I’m not trying to wipe my father from the face of the planet. It would be quite a coup if, when people talk about the talented Elliots, they say your name first and not your father’s.” Declan ignored his father’s existence. He sent him a check once a month to keep him out of his life and his mouth shut. Malcolm wanted a relationship with his father; he just didn’t know how to go about getting one. Either that or he wanted to bury an axe in his head. Declan was never sure.

  Malcolm took a deep breath.

  Declan knew he hit a sore spot with his friend when he saw Malcolm’s fists clench, but he was angry and he had lashed out.

  “Andy was our friend too. Do you think the rest of us aren’t still hurting? Or we’re having trouble moving on?”

  Yeah they were all hurting. Gavin dealt by playing harder. Shane just got angrier, and Malcolm got quieter, spending more time by himself. Declan could admit he’d become a bigger asshole, and that was saying a lot. Travis just seemed to be in limbo. Until last night. That woman did something to him, jolted him. She brought something back to life in him. “We didn’t know Andy all his life. He and Travis finished each other’s sentences.”

  “You shouldn’t play with Travis’s head. He’ll work this out.”

  He toyed with women, not with his friends. “I have no idea how this going to play out, but I haven’t seen Travis interested in anything in a year. If this girl can help him get his head back into the game, then we have half a chance of getting another album out and keeping the band together.”

  “Is that all this is for you? Another album, another tour? You and your ego getting stroked?”

  “We’ve been friends for a lot of years. So I’m going to let you talk to me like that, because you’ve earned the right. Yeah, it is about the band, but it’s also about our friend. He’s got to get back to the business of living or we can dig a hole right next to Andy. If this girl does it for him, then I’m going to help him anyway I can. We can’t let him loose around those people like this. They will eat him alive. I checked her out. She doesn’t just have a family tree; she has a fucking forest. These people are on the Social Registry. She can trace her family all the way back to French nobility before the Revolution.”

  “Did you have Gavin do some hacking for you?”

  “I can navigate Google.”

  “There is something wrong about this.”

  “Back in the day when I wanted a role I did my research. You’d be amazed how much that works.” He had to have an edge, because if he didn’t get a role, his father beat him, or starved him, or threatened to pimp him out. Or do the same with Brody. He knew what to do to survive. This was the same. Because if he wasn’t the lead singer of Scorned, then who was he? He didn’t know anymore. Unlike his friends, he didn’t have a fallback position. Without the band he was nothing.

  Malcolm thumped him in the chest. “I swear to God, if this turns out to be the cluster fuck I think it’s going to be, I will rip your balls off.”

  And Declan would let him. “Fair enough.”

  Then in that moment when his balls were threatened, he found clarity. He knew exactly why he was doing this. He didn’t have a lot of people in the world he could trust, people that would have his back no matter what. Or people that he loved more. He’d never say it out loud, but he loved them. He loved Cherry, their agent. He adored Rose, their P.R. rep and Jocelyn, their manager. His baby brother and his mother. When Andy died last year he’d lost one, he couldn’t afford to lose another. If he could help save Travis he could save the band, maybe even save himself. And maybe he wouldn’t feel so guilty over Andy’s death.

  No, no, and no, Travis thought. He couldn’t do this. “But I’m not wearing any underwear.” He put his hands in front of his cock, not believing the little tailor woman wanted him to drop his pants right here in front of her.

  “Now look, Pretty Man, I’ve been doing this for over fifty years.” She pointed to his dick. “You think you got something special down there?”

  Well, he liked to think so. “Can’t you just, you know, eyeball it and let me keep my pants on?”

  She muttered something in French, or so he thought.

  “I’ve seen the bitness of every governor, mayor, and senator of this state. I’m no wilting lily. You ain’t gonna shock me. Besides if you want a good fit, I got to measure on the body.”

  Travis didn’t care whose junk this woman had seen, measured, or touched. It just seemed perverted to get naked in front of woman that was old enough to be his grandmother. Up until this second, he was down with everything he had to do to see Charlotte again, but this was a deal-breaker. Then he remembered their first kiss. Who was he kidding? If grandma elf told him he need to do the mambo naked on Bourbon Street to see Charlotte one more time, he’d do it. “Fuck me,” he muttered.

  “What you say, boy?”

  “Not a damn thing.” He pulled his shirt over his head and tossed it on a chair.

  Ruby swung her measuring tape in a big circle. “That’s what I thought.”

  He bent over and slowly took off his boots. He was really stalling for time. He could have gone to Macy’s and gotten a suit. But then he would look out of place. For a brief second, he swore to God the old broad was checking him out and it made him feel dirty. And not in the fun way.

  Her foot started tapping as he unzipped his jeans. “I’m not gettin’ any younger. I gotta have this suit done by noon tomorrow.”

  Travis turned around and pulled his jeans off. When his jeans hit his knees he heard a sigh from the old girl. Apparently, she approved of his ass. He got the pants off and before he turned around he put his jeans in front of his crotch, and refused to lower the pants so she could see ‘his bitness.’

  Ruby rolled her eyes and pointed to a chair in the fitting room.

  Travis closed his eyes. The shit he was going through to maybe, and he repeated maybe, get laid. He tossed his jeans on the chair, hoping he didn’t have to look this woman in the eye.

  “Oh, Pretty Man, that thing’s a monster.”

  Travis grabbed his dick and tried to hide it from her.

  “Hmmm. You gonna need both them hands to wrangle that boy.”

  “Jesus Christ lady, please.”

  “Now if my man had a package like that I’d be on my knees everyday thanking the baby Jesus. Hell, I'd never come to work.” She fanned herself. “When I’m done with your suit, you won’t have to show your boy to get a date.” She barked out a loud laugh.

  “Lucky me,” he muttered

  She flicked her measuring tape at his hands. “Can I get one more look at you?”

  Even though her tone sounded professional, Travis could see the salacious gleam in her eyes. He was about five seconds from being creeped out. He did not think it was possible he could blush anymore. Heat crept up his entire body and he was afraid he was going to spontaneously combust at any second. “Can we just get this over with?”

  “Hey Stephan, bring me a package of them fancy boxers, before he pokes my eye out with this monster.”

  “You played me, lady.”

  She gave him a lopsided smile. “I’m old, not dead. Your
girl is a lucky woman.”

  “Maybe I just wanted to flash an old lady.”

  A hand holding a package of black boxers slid through the dressing room curtain. Travis snatched them away and started to rip open the package, but stopped when he saw the price tag. Two hundred bucks for a pair of boxers! Shit, he didn’t spend that much money on clothes last year. If the drawers cost this much he wondered how much the suit was going to cost. He felt a stab in his gut. Forget that, he didn’t want to know. Quickly he slipped into the silky material. Damn they felt nice. Soft. The silk warmed quickly to his skin. He wondered if Charlotte would like him in them. He might have to start wearing underwear. “Let’s do this, lady.”

  “What side you carry that beast on?”

  Did she really need to know that? No wonder he bought his clothes from a department store. “The right.”

  She pointed at his dick. “You should take that thing for a ride.”

  “I’m saving myself for marriage,” he answered her back sarcastically.

  Shaking her head, she gave him a wistful smile. “Now that is a damn shame.”

  He forced himself not to smile. “I’m that kind of boy.”

  “You change your mind, you come to Ruby first since I’m gonna have to spend all night getting you all dolled up. I earned a ride on that.”

  Travis started to laugh. He couldn’t help himself. This old broad was a riot. “You know what Ruby, you’re alright.”

  “This woman you’re doing all this for, is she special?”

  “How do you know it’s for a girl?”

  She gave him a pointed look. “You about as vain as a mud fence, and you let ole Ruby tease you. She must be special.”

  His heart kicked up a notch, just thinking about Charlotte. “I kinda think she is.”

  “She a Nawlin’s girl?”

  “Yeah.”

  She whipped the tape down his leg. “Let me give you some advice, Pretty Man, you treat her like a lady in the living room and a bad girl in the bedroom, and you’ll get her. And don’t forget to court her family.”

  “That’s a lot of work.”

  “You puttin’ up with me and dropping enough money to buy a car today. She’s special. Men don’t put up with shit just to get a little nookie. Especially when they as pretty and gifted as you.”

  “I’ll remember that.”

  “You decent in there?” Declan asked.

  “I hope not,” Ruby muttered as she measured the inside of his leg.

  “Yeah.”

  Declan and Malcolm came in. Declan was holding a light gray suit, a pair of black shoes, and a belt. Malcolm followed, holding several shirts and ties. Declan held the suit up to him and Malcolm held up a light purple shirt with a darker purple tie.

  Travis looked at Ruby as she measured his other leg. She shook her head.

  Malcolm held up a red bow tie.

  Travis grimaced. “Oh, fuck no.”

  Malcolm held up the tie to the suit. “Southern men wear bowties.”

  “I’m from Detroit. We don’t wear bowties.”

  Declan held up a white shirt and a dark gray tie. “Malcolm wanted to see if you had lost your balls.”

  Travis gave them a snarky smile. “Thanks.”

  Malcolm laughed. “Hey, you’re the one getting a mani-pedi. I had to try.”

  Travis smiled. He expected the teasing and in a strange way it was comforting. He took the white shirt out of Declan’s hand. “This is the one.”

  Declan put his hand over his heart. “Our baby boy’s first formal.”

  Malcolm dabbed the corner of his eye. “You hope you raise them right and teach them manners and send them out into the world with all your hopes and dreams.”

  Travis’s chest rumbled. “Thanks, Mom. Can I borrow the station wagon for my date tonight?”

  Declan grabbed a handful of his hair. “You still need to cut that hair.”

  Travis rolled his eyes. “Now you sound like my mom for real.”

  “Actually, my stylist said long hair is making a comeback.” Malcolm added. “I think you can rock the man bun.”

  Travis had no problem believing Declan had a stylist, but not Malcolm. He eyed Malcolm’s Public Enemy hoodie and black ripped jeans. Today he dressed like a wannabe ex-con wankster. “You have a stylist?”

  Malcolm ran his hand over his close-cropped dark hair. “I gotta look good for the ladies.”

  Ruby harrumphed.

  “You say something, Ruby?”

  “About now, I’m wishin’ I was fifty years younger. They didn’t grow them like y’all when I was younger.”

  Now that Travis could believe. “Ruby, you are way too much woman for any of us.”

  She smacked him on the ass. “Dat right for sure.”

  They all laughed. He was having fun. How long had it been since they had fun together? He couldn’t remember. Sometime before Andy died. Maybe he was getting back to his old self. He didn’t know, but for the first time in a year, he didn’t feel as if life was pushing him down. He wanted to keep that feeling. Pursuing Charlotte did that for him. He wondered what he was going to do when he got her.

  Charlotte smiled as she greeted Justine Forrester, one of her grandmother’s oldest friends. She leaned over and kissed her still smooth cheek. “I’m so happy you were able to attend. How are you, Miss Justine?” Which she genuinely meant. Unlike most people that showed up at these events, Miss Justine was vibrant and alive and didn’t feel the need to impress anyone. Much like Charlotte’s grandmother, who was in Paris with her twin sister who had just had hip surgery.

  “Still as feisty as ever, my dear. You look stunning today.”

  Charlotte flushed. “Thank you.” She’d found a beautiful sleeveless pink Nina Ricci dress in Viv’s stash of clothes. It was light and flirty, with big black polka dots. The airy material caressed her skin. Charlotte splurged on a dramatic wide brim black hat and a pair of nude Gucci ankle strap wedges.

  “You are finally dressing your age. I love you in this color. What is it?”

  “Blush. May I confess something?”

  Miss Justine snickered. “You know I love secrets.”

  Charlotte leaned down. “When Viv died she left me a lot of clothes. So many of them she hadn’t even taken the tags off. It’s one of her dresses.”

  “Who am I to tell? You look so pretty. Are you finally ready to get out there and find yourself a new man?”

  Charlotte felt herself getting all heated again. She hadn’t been able to forget about her night with Travis. He had been such a passionate lover; all she wanted to do was go back to him again. She’d heard that her grandmother, great aunt, and Miss Justine were hell raisers back in their day. They were simply known as The Three. Viv had taken after her grandmother, but she wasn’t comfortable confessing that she wanted to find a lover. “I don’t think I’m ready.”

  “Darling girl, I know Preston hurt you deeply, but you are young and vivacious. You should be in love. Don’t let the anger eat you alive.”

  “I’m not mad at Preston.” She truly wasn’t. Maybe a little jealous that he’d found love but not mad. “I want him to be happy. Even if it’s not with me.”

  “Such a dear forgiving girl. His parents are devastated.”

  That just made Charlotte sad. “They should just love him for who he is, not who they want him to be.”

  She waved her gloved hand. “You know the Colliers dear. They don’t budge. His mother still wants to blame you. Nadine is such an idiot.”

  “Miss Justine! I’m shocked.” Well, not really. Nadine Collier didn’t like it when her plans fell through. And Preston marrying Charlotte was a plan she’d had in motion for years.

  Miss Justine could be extremely salty and brutally honest. “No you are not.” She smiled. “If you would like, my son’s law firm has several new interns with prospects and good family names. You and I could arrange to have lunch with James and we could do a bit of man shopping.”

  Charlott
e was tempted to join, just to be in Miss Justine’s company. She had such juicy stories about her grandmother and great aunt. “How can I be expected to compete with you?”

  “I did have my own private stable of beaus, but you have your mother’s beauty. And I can tell you right now there are several young men here who are giving you the eye. One in particular hasn’t taken his eyes off of you.”

  Good heavens, what she supposed to do? She had no idea how to flirt. She’d been dating Preston since she was six and Travis had picked her out. She had no wiles to speak of. Now if she wanted to get money out of them for her foundation, she was fine. But, the womanly art of seduction was completely lost on her. She started to turn to see if she could spot the man.

  Miss Justine put her hand on her arm. “Don’t turn around. That’s bad form. Child, didn’t anyone teach you how to hunt a man?”

  “No.” She leaned closer to Miss Justine. “If I don’t turn around, then how am I supposed to see him?”

  Miss Justine sighed. “Vivienne must have gotten all the skill in this area.”

  “Apparently so.” A slight breeze ruffled her dress, sending a cool breeze between her legs cooling off her heated flesh. “Is he interesting?”

  Miss Justine leaned in. “Darling girl, he is what they refer to nowadays as a bad boy.”

  She could only picture Travis. He looked like a bad boy with his scruffy beard, long hair, earring, and tattoos. Charlotte bit her bottom lip. If only he was here. Her senses started to swirl. It was almost as if she could feel his callused fingers on her skin again. Dear heavens, she was getting damp between her thighs. This would not do. “Really?”

  “He’s quite dashing, well dressed, but a bit rough around the edges; just enough to make him interesting, mind you. I’ve never seen him at any of these events before. Every woman with a pulse is giving him the twice over. If I were you, I’d take him for a turn, if you know what I mean.” Miss Justine winked.

  Charlotte did know what Miss Justine meant. She felt a hot blush creep up her face. “I am surprised you know about such things.”

  She shrugged her shoulders. “Sex was invented long ago. Do you want to get a look at him yourself?”