He pulled me close so that my chest was pressed tight against his. He dipped his knees a little so his lips were against my ear. “I care about your daughter, Dahlia. I love Abbi’s sparkle and how fiercely protective she is of you. But mainly I love her because she’s part of you.”
I gripped his forearms to keep my world steady. We’d kept our conversations relatively light, only delving in deep late at night when we were both tired. But here he was, making declarations I didn’t have the willpower to withstand.
He pressed a kiss to my ear before his teeth nipped my lobe, chuckling when my legs crumpled. “Good to know you’re not much of a stander when you’re being seduced.”
I met his gaze, loving the flecks of brown mixed with the green. “Are you seducing me?”
His grin was full of mischief. “Of course. That’s why I’m buying other women jewelry.”
I wrinkled my nose, desperate to keep the smile from my lips. “I’m not sure that’s how it works.”
“Seems to be working on you,” Asher said.
“You’re right.”
Mason tugged my hands. “Can you hug my dad later? I’m really hungry.”
I tousled his hair. “How about those waffles?”
“Sweet,” Mason hooted, running toward the kitchen, Jeremiah on his heels. “I’m eating at least ten.”
“I’m gonna eat more,” Jeremiah declared as his butt hit his seat. He gripped his knife and fork and turned his bright gaze toward me. “Come on, Aunt Lia. We got a contest.”
Asher chuckled. “Duty calls.”
“Should I seduce you with my culinary skills?” I asked.
He dropped his arm to my waist, giving me a friendly squeeze. “You could. But I don’t need any seduction. I see you, hear your voice, even smell your shampoo, and I’m more than ready to—”
“Waffles coming up,” I said in a loud voice, clapping my hands.
Asher laughed, and an answering smile tugged at my lips as I headed into the kitchen.
Ella and Asher cleaned up the dishes, bickering about the best way to wash a waffle iron. Simon shook his head, his eyes drifting from Asher to me. I waited, eyebrows up.
Simon scooted closer to me. “You seem happy.”
“I am.”
“Think it’ll last?”
“Why wouldn’t it?” I asked, but Simon had just voiced the question I was too scared to ask aloud.
“Because we know how hard the music world is on a relationship.”
“Are you and El having problems?”
Simon shook his head, causing his dark hair to fall across his forehead. “I’m not famous.”
“Yet.” I stood, brushing off my jeans.
Simon leaned his elbows on his knees, hands clasped loosely.
“I’ve gotta go meet up with the guys to practice for a couple hours and go over our set list,” Asher said after he finished wiping the counter. “Mason, you about ready to hit it?”
“Aw, Dad! I want to stay here with Jeremiah and Abbi. Your practices are always so boring.”
He was going to force Mason to leave. I gripped Asher’s hand and tilted my head. He followed me to the other side of the living room.
“Why don’t you let him stay? Ella already said she’d be happy to have him for the night. Briar’s going to stay here with Jeremiah.”
Asher’s eyes held indecision, which I understood. He didn’t get to spend a lot of time with Mason, and he’d miss tucking his son into bed tonight. Again.
“You don’t have to. I just thought it might let you focus on your work. And the show will run late. The boys will be happy here with Briar.”
I frowned. My sister was talking with Abbi on the couch. Even from here, dark circles were visible under Briar’s eyes.
Asher sucked in his lips. His eyes wandered to the two boys ramming Lego trucks together, laughing. “He really likes Jeremiah.”
“It’s clearly mutual,” I said.
“You sure?” I asked again. Briar looked wistful, shadows filling her eyes.
“I’m not in the mood for fun tonight, Lia,” Briar said. “Thanks, though. I appreciate it. The boys and I are going to pig out on some pizza, popcorn, and soda. I’ll blow the boys’ bed time, and I’ll be the supercool aunt I always wanted to be.”
I hugged her, feeling how stiff her shoulders were. “You’ve been that for years, Bri. You’ll tell me what’s bothering you? Please.”
Her lip trembled but she nodded. “I left him.”
I stilled. “There’s something you need to tell me. More to this story.”
“I’m not ruining tonight for you.” At my steady look, she dropped her gaze. “We’ll talk soon. I’m okay. Really. This is a good thing.”
“Mom! We have to go. Like, now.” Abbi popped her head into the room. She looked lovely with her dark shadow and bright pink lips.
Briar shooed me toward the door. “You both look great.”
Abbi wore her cutoff denim skirt and wedge sandals. Her tank was trimmed with sequins. She’d curled her hair so it rippled down her back in thick waves.
Abbi gave me a long once-over before nodding. “You’re hot, Mom. Asher’s going to love the skirt.”
The flirty blue cotton ended above my knee, showing way less leg than Abbi’s outfit. My top was more sedate as well, a cap sleeve blue-and-cream silk-and-lace blouse with a cute bow offset on the right shoulder.
“You sure it’s okay?” I asked again. Abbi had picked this out for me, and while I liked it, it was a far cry from my normal jeans-and-tee attire.
Briar laughed. “You’re gorgeous. Have fun.”
I hugged Briar hard. “I want to talk to you. Tomorrow.”
She nodded then walked toward the living room where Jeremiah and Mason were sprawled on the rug, building monsters out of Legos.
The excitement of being backstage and hanging out with the band before the show, seeing the envious looks cast our way when we were led to the VIP section in the front row by one of the three people the Supernaturals employed on staff, made me giddy. Abbi bounced in her seat, screaming louder than even I was. Ella’s hands were clasped under her elfin chin, her bright eyes glowing like cut emeralds.
“So, I have someone special here in the audience tonight,” Asher said.
He swiped a towel across his forehead and the back of his neck. His hair was darker, nearly black, and plastered to his head. I licked my lips, turned on by his sweat. Wanting to please his fans, he put such effort into these shows.
“She’s a special young lady, and tonight’s her seventeenth birthday. The guys and I would like Abbi Dorsey to come on up here. We have a song for you.”
Abbi’s eyes and mouth were wide. I smiled and shooed her onstage. Asher went to the steps and helped her up while the crowd hooted and hollered, the noise reaching deafening proportions.
Bill and Johnny shook Abbi’s hand while Carl bent over his drum set to kiss her on the cheek. He grabbed Asher’s mic and turned to the crowd.
“She’s a sweet girl, this one, and she’s currently available, or she was until my son met her backstage.” Carl winked.
She laughed and replied. I couldn’t hear her over the crowd, but whatever she said made Carl cackle in glee.
“So, the song. We’ve been working on it with your very talented uncle, Simon Dorsey. C’mon up here, Simon.” Simon leapt to the stage, accepting the guitar one of the roadies handed him. Pride puffed out my chest. My face was going to hurt from smiling so much. Ella vibrated in her chair.
“This is the first track from the album we’re recording now. What better gift than your very own song?” Asher winked at me, and I beamed back. I knew he was referring to “Moonshine Eyes.” He’d told me he wasn’t going to include it in his set because he wanted to whisper it in my ear some night as we lay tangled together under the stars. Keep it just between the two of us, like my poem.
My stomach quivered at the thought.
Asher conferred with Carl, who knocked out
the beat on his sticks. The melody was soft and lovely, just like Abbi. She was too excited to hear the lyrics properly, I decided, because if she had, she would have been teary-eyed like all the rest of the women in the audience.
“Summer days drift past
Those half-loves never last.
They’re memories left, hell-bent on survival
As I wait for her arrival.”
I put my hands to my mouth. Asher’s eyes were warm and steady when he met mine, and he continued to sing about heartache turning into lasting love.
I’d been fighting my feelings for Asher because they seemed so intense, seemed so sudden. I didn’t have the fight left in me.
I wanted to be part of a relationship, not defined by it. Asher did, too. More, he needed love. He’d not gotten that from Jessica or from the other women who’d come before her.
We might not last forever, but I was sure I loved the man Asher was now. I couldn’t protect myself from feeling that, no matter how scary. What was it Ella and Simon had said in their kitchen a few weeks ago? Love was worth the risk.
Living this time, each of the moments we created together, would have to be enough.
The song ended, and Ella leaned toward me. “That was scorching,” she moaned. “Simon will get a proper thank-you later.”
Asher was still looking at me so I smiled and blew him a kiss. He winked, and my blood revved, my skin warming, even as my heart burst with emotion. Yes, a proper thank-you was in the near future.
28
Asher
I was on that after-a-great-performance high. The crowd dispersed outside, the energy slow to ebb from the theater. Carl banged his drumsticks against the wall and the couch, screaming “woo!” over and over.
“Let’s party,” Carl said, throwing his arm over my shoulder. He was as sweaty as I was, but hopefully I smelled better.
“Shit, man, you need a shower before you go anywhere,” I said.
“You coming out for drinks?” Bill asked. “I need one, but first I need to find Cammie. She’s with Seth and Laura. Right, Carl?”
“Should be.”
Dahlia, Ella, and Abbi came around the corner. Ella walked straight to Simon and kissed him long and hard enough to make me smirk. Simon was going to enjoy the rest of his night.
Abbi bounded over, her normal effervescent self, her long hair swaying across her back. Dahlia was quieter, but my eyes were drawn to her immediately. Just like they were every other time we’d been in the same room.
“Nah, I got some ladies to celebrate with,” I said.
“Oooh, are you going clubbing?” Abbi asked.
“You’re not,” Dahlia said, her tone final.
“Mom,” Abbi said.
“You’re seventeen. That is not eighteen.”
“We don’t club anymore,” Carl said. He stretched, his back cracking. He winced. “An hour and a half on a stage is enough of a workout.” Carl was the oldest member of the band at forty-seven. His hair had turned all gray over the past year. “We were thinking about a beer and maybe something to eat. I hate eating before a show.”
“I thought you wanted to party,” I said. Carl rolled his eyes. We’d all toned it way down the last few years, and we were playing better music for it. We’d been surprised how much more focused we were off the sauce-and-pill mix to the point we’d had a long discussion about sobriety and what it meant to us as individuals as well as a band.
“Sounds fun,” Dahlia said. “We just wanted to tell you all thank you for a fabulous show. That was the most fun I’ve had in years.” She smiled at Carl, Johnny, and Bill, who turned into bumbling asses. “You finished up the sound track?”
“Our part,” Carl said, twirling his drumstick. “Got two more songs to lay down for our record. Some mixing. We’re in the studio all next week. Maybe the following, depends on how it goes.”
“How about I buy a round to celebrate that, too?” Dahlia asked.
“They’d like that,” I said, shooting them a look that said don’t fuck this up for me. The guys grinned.
“Come out with us,” Carl offered. “It’s Abbi’s birthday, right? My son turned nineteen last week. We’ll grab an ice-cream cake. Take it down to the beach, light a bonfire. Seth’s hanging out around here somewhere with his mom. I’m sure he’d like to come along. So will Laura.”
I’d introduced Dahlia and Abbi to my bandmates’ wives—well, Carl’s ex-wife, earlier, and I’d been pleased to see them bond over Dahlia’s books.
“Laura and Cammie were talking to someone they knew at the entrance when we came back,” Dahlia said.
“Let’s grab ’em and hit the beach,” Bill suggested.
“You like that kinda shit, er, stuff—right, Abbi?” Carl asked.
She was smart enough to look at her mom, who turned to me. I smiled and dipped my head. If they wanted to go, I was happy to take them.
“That’s a great idea. We can shove Carl in the sound,” Bill said.
“Funny as ever, my man,” Carl muttered.
“I’ll go find our crew,” Bill laughed.
“As long as I buy the cake and the beer,” Dahlia said.
“I’m always up for a swim with a pretty lady,” Carl told Dahlia with a wink. “Especially one as generous as you.”
“Back off,” I growled as I threw my arm over Dahlia’s shoulder. She didn’t seem concerned at all by my sweat-stained shirt. She smiled up at me, and I turned into a complete idiot, grinning back. The woman had a beautiful smile. I wasn’t even sure I understood what she was doing to me, but I liked it. A lot.
“You good with Simon and Ella joining us?” she asked.
“Course,” Carl said, leaning over to slap Simon’s shoulder. “Simon’s a great dude.”
I pulled Dahlia to her feet. “We’re going to walk off that ice cream,” I said.
She looked at Abbi. “You okay here?”
“Fine, Mom,” she said. She was seated next to Seth, who was leaning back on his elbows in the sand. The rest of the guys, Simon, Ella, Johnny’s girlfriend, Susie, and a couple of Susie’s friends sat around the bonfire, talking and laughing. Carl still floated in the surf though Laura held a couple of towels, yelling at him to get out. I shuddered at the thought of how cold that water must be.
“I’ll take Abbi home,” Simon said. Dahlia bit her lip, her gaze sliding toward mine. She didn’t want to make a scene, but Simon had consumed a couple of drinks, as had most of the group. Only Dahlia, Seth, Abbi, and I hadn’t imbibed more than soda.
“I’m the designated driver tonight, so no worries, Lia,” Seth called. “I’ll get everyone back to Simon’s place. Enjoy your walk.”
He winked at Dahlia, and I stifled a growl. I was like a stallion around this woman—anyone who got too close was likely to get trampled.
“Abbi’s enjoying flirting with Seth,” I whispered in her ear, putting Seth’s forwardness from my mind. “And I want to do some flirting with you.”
Dahlia laughed and waved. She snuggled tighter to my side, and I clasped her hand as we walked for a while in silence.
“Thank you for tonight,” Dahlia said. “Abbi had a great birthday. I’m not sure we’ll ever be able to top it.”
“We have a year to figure something out,” I said.
Dahlia stopped walking. She turned to face me. The water lapped over our feet. Shit. It was freezing. “You sure you want that?”
“Us, together? Yeah,” I said.
“Asher, I’m not asking for more than you can give me.”
I tugged her into my arms. Her skin was cool but the underlying heat was there. Dahlia burned hot but she kept it bottled up tight. I planned to uncork that desire and drown in her passion. “My life’s so much better now that you’re in it again. Remember when I told you I wrote ‘Moonshine Eyes’ after I met you? It was that first time in that shitty garage.”
“Mmm.”
“I’ve thought of you every time I sing that song, Dahlia. I didn’t do ballads
and romantic shit. Until you.”
She blinked up at me, her eyes luminous. “I’ve been in love with your lyrics since I was seventeen.”
“Just my lyrics?” I asked, my heart slamming into my chest.
“No.” Her mouth formed the word but I couldn’t hear it over the thrumming of my heart in my ears. She held my gaze, her eyes bright, molten silver. “I’ve been in love with you since our walk. Maybe before.”
I needed to connect with her, touch her. “That’s really good because I wanted to put my fist through Doug’s face and claim you as my own. I think I fell in love with you then. I just wasn’t smart enough to understand it.”
Amusement softened her features. Her fingers played with the buttons on my shirt. “That would’ve been one hell of a show. I’m glad you didn’t.”
“Why?”
“I wouldn’t have pined for you if you had.”
“I don’t want you to pine, Dahlia. I’m here. I want you. Fuck, I want you.” I splayed my hand across her spine, pulling her snug against me. “However and whatever you want from me. I’ll give it.”
She slid her hand up my chest to cup my cheek. “You’re the least selfish man I know, Asher.”
I brushed her hair behind her ear. “With you, for you. Yeah. You bring out the best in me.”
She stilled, her eyes roving the area. “We probably shouldn’t do this here.” Her voice was filled with regret. “Not if Jessica had us followed the last time.”
My hands slid to her hips, gripping her tighter to me. “People already saw those pictures. I don’t care if people know we’re together. In fact, I want them to know you’re mine.”
“I am. I will always be.” She stepped on my feet and pulled my head down so she could kiss me. It wasn’t a tentative kiss, so I pulled her tighter to my body, shoving my thigh between hers. Her tongue wrapped around mine, sucking. I groaned at how good she felt. She tugged my hair as she nipped at my lip.
Blood rushed to my dick, and I wanted to drop her to the sand, kissing and licking every inch of her. I resisted the urge. Barely.
Seattle Sound Series, The Collection: Books One to Five Page 22
