“Yeah?” Simon eyed him. “If she’s a clone of my wife, I’m definitely kicking your ass.”
That even made Harley laugh. “If she’s the redhead I saw, she’s not a thing like Dakota.”
“Not even close,” Barber agreed. “She’s a girly girl. Manicure, superlong red hair. Prissy clothes. And she’s got some extra padding.”
Simon’s mouth twisted. “You’re right—that’s nothing like Dakota.”
“All that, and you’re adding her to the band?” Harley asked, disbelieving the probability of it. She didn’t sound like Barber’s usual fare, or a woman who’d mesh with a hard rock, unruly group.
“She’s got one hell of a voice.” The coffee finished brewing and Barber stood up to fill three disposable cups. “If you two are free tonight, stop by the bar and you can not only meet her, but hear her sing. It’ll be a sort of trial run now that she should have some new threads that’ll help her fit in.”
“What time?” Harley asked. He found he was equally curious about the redhead’s performance and Simon’s reaction to Barber finally moving on.
To Harley’s way of thinking, Simon had been more than tolerant of Barber. If a flame from Stasia’s past was still lingering around…
Whoa.
Harley quashed those thoughts real fast. What he had with Stasia sure as hell wasn’t the lifetime commitment that Simon and Dakota shared. Not even close.
Right?
“Let’s say nine or so. You in, Simon?”
“I’m sure Dakota wouldn’t want to miss it.”
“Great.” A subtle tension eased from Barber’s posture. “Get hold of Havoc and Gregor, will ya? We’ll make a party of it to welcome the new songbird proper.”
Simon looked at Barber for an exaggerated time, then turned to Harley. “Do you get the feeling that he doesn’t want to be alone with her?”
“I’m getting that vibe, yeah.” Harley scrutinized Barber, too. “She scare you, Barber?”
Barber sat the coffee cups in front of his friends. “Actually, my man, she shocks me.”
“How so?” Simon took a sip of the too-strong coffee, made a face, then drank again.
Barber leveled a look on him. “My admiration of Dakota is no secret to anyone. Hell, half of Harmony feels free to comment on it twice a damn day.”
Scowling, Simon plunked down his coffee.
“So being that Jasmine Petri isn’t a damn thing like Dakota, I can’t figure out why I’m considering breaking one of my cardinal rules.”
Being facetious, Harley asked with feigned disbelief, “You have rules? Since when?”
“They’ve always been there.” Barber held up a finger. “Number one rule—no sleeping with band members.”
Harley choked on his coffee. “Well, that’s a good thing. Other than Dakota, all the band members have been guys.”
“Yeah, but it applied to Dakota.”
Simon bunched up from his knees to his ears. Harley thought that if Simon didn’t have a shaved head, his hair would stand on end.
“She wouldn’t have had you, you dumbass.”
“Yeah, I know that.” Barber grinned. “But the point is, I never even tried. Didn’t want to cross any lines, you know. The thing is, with Jasmine…She really is good, no disputing that. But I’m not sure having her in the band is worth not having her in my bed. Or maybe the rule doesn’t seem so important now that it applies to Jasmine.”
“And you’ve known her how long?” Harley asked.
“Long enough that I can’t seem to stop picturing her buck-naked in my mind.”
A tentative tap sounded at the door. Barber froze. Without looking, he said to Simon, “Don’t suppose you closed it all the way?”
Simon took unparalleled delight in saying, “Nope. You had it open, so I left it open.”
“Shit.”
Fighting to keep his face straight, Harley leaned forward to see the door. A red-faced, redheaded girl stood there, fuming. “Ah. You must be Jasmine, right?”
“Yes, hi. I’m Jasmine Petri.” Staring daggers at the back of Barber’s head, she asked, “Am I interrupting?”
Barber closed his eyes a moment, then spun around with a welcoming and cocky grin. “Not at all, Jassy. Come on in.”
She tripped over her first step. “Jassy?”
“Yeah. I think it suits you.”
“It doesn’t!” Reddish brows pinched down over a lightly freckled nose. “I prefer Jasmine, thank you very much.”
Barber shrugged. To Harley and Simon, who were both now on their feet, he said, “Given the scathing reprimand I received yesterday for failing in my social duty, I suppose introductions are the thing.”
Though Jasmine’s face was hot, her voice sounded sweet. “Now, Barberosa, if it taxes your brain too much, we can forgo common courtesy. I wouldn’t want you to hurt yourself.”
“Barberosa?” Harley asked. “No kidding?”
“Damn,” Simon said at almost the same time. “I like her.”
Harley liked her, too. He elbowed Barber aside and held out a hand. “Harley Handleman. It’s nice to meet you, Jasmine.”
“Thank you, Mr. Handleman.”
“Harley, please.” Her hand was soft, gentle in his, and quickly withdrawn.
She nodded. “I’ve met Stasia. She’s very interested in your profession.”
That took Harley off guard. “You don’t say.”
“Several of us went shopping, and then we all had lunch together. Stasia kept the conversation very interesting.”
Going cold inside, Harley wondered just what the hell they had talked about. Did Stasia now feel at liberty to discuss him in idle conversation?
There had been a point in his life where everyone gossiped about him, and he didn’t like it worth a damn. He made a mental note to share his displeasure with Stasia first thing.
After delivering that zinger, Jasmine turned to Simon. “And you must be Mr. Evans. Dakota is so very proud of you.”
“Call me Simon. Any friend of Dakota’s and all that.”
“Thank you. It was wonderful meeting her in person. I’ve been a fan ever since I first saw her perform. She’s incredible.”
“I agree.”
“So do I.” Barber, the only one still sitting, tipped his head back to see her. “You’ve got some big shoes to fill, Jassy.”
Harley wanted to kick him.
Simon looked ready to throttle him.
Pasting on a very false smile, Jasmine said, “I only stopped by to ask you what time you wanted to see me tonight.”
“I was just chewing on that.” Barber rose out of his seat. “Why don’t we sort out the details in the hall? That way if I have another verbal faux pas, I can spare myself the public flogging.”
“If you don’t watch yourself,” Simon grumbled, “it’s a very old-fashioned ass-kicking that you’ll get.”
“One well deserved, I’m sure,” Jasmine said.
Barber took her arm and started her out of the room. Right before he went through the door, he glanced back at Harley with a wolfish expression and a bobbing of his eyebrows.
Harley shook his head. Instead of mellowing, Barber got more reprehensible with time.
Or maybe he really was still in love with Dakota, and this was his way of hiding it.
Simon strode to the door, removed the guard and let the door drop shut. “If deep down he wasn’t such a good guy, I’d have to demolish him. But the truth is, he was a damn fine friend to Dakota when she needed one most. I sometimes wonder what would have happened to her without him around.”
Reclaiming his seat, Harley said, “I know what you mean. She really had it rough.”
“It made her the woman she is, and I love her, so I try not to dwell on it.”
“You just ensure no one will ever hurt her again. I get it.”
Not one to mince words, Simon nodded and then said, “I’m definitely retiring, Harley.”
Ah hell. There it was—the thing Harley most
didn’t want to hear.
“I figured.” While struggling with what he’d known would be inevitable, Harley dared another drink of the god-awful coffee. “I can’t even say as I blame you.”
“It wasn’t an easy decision. Both Dakota and I feel indebted to you—”
“Don’t.” Harley couldn’t say exactly why, but it insulted him to be thanked for doing what any honorable man would do. “The injury was my own damn fault, not yours, and not hers. I was caught off guard, and that’s inexcusable on my part.”
“Still—”
“Believe me when I say I’d do it again in a heartbeat.”
Simon accepted that without another word. “I’ve been thinking about it, and since I won’t be competing, I’d like to train you.”
“Yeah?”
“I’d enjoy it. Retiring doesn’t mean I want completely out of it. Investing in you will be almost as good.”
“I appreciate that.” Harley knew Satch would be thrilled. Between Dean and Simon, he couldn’t ask for a better core camp to get him ready for the competition.
He was about to say more when his cell phone rang. Standing, Harley pulled the slim phone out of his jeans pocket, glanced at the caller ID, and said to Simon, “It’s Drew Black.”
The president of the SBC didn’t make a lot of social calls. That he’d be calling Harley now could mean that some decisions had been made.
“About time.” Simon sat forward.
Assuming he was about to get the details on his next fight, Harley answered with anticipation. But after he and Drew got through the cordial small talk, Harley got a shocker.
The fight was sooner than he expected. And it was a straight shot for the title.
BARBER had a difficult time listening to Jasmine’s endless chatter about her shopping trip and girls’ lunch out. But even in his distraction, wondering how much she’d heard before making her arrival known, he picked up on her enthusiasm and overall delight for her new wardrobe and new friends.
In the normal course of things, female chatter left his brain numb. But with Jasmine, it didn’t matter what she said. Watching her lips move only made him want to kiss her more.
She was so animated in all she did, so…perky.
Comparisons came without his bidding.
Dakota had never been perky a day in her life.
Dakota filed her nails, but it took a very special occasion for her to suffer through a manicure.
Dakota was headstrong and iron-willed, and Barber couldn’t recall ever seeing her cry.
He admired everything about her. He respected and adored her.
Until now, he’d really thought it’d take another woman just like Dakota to get him fired up. But damn…
When Jasmine spoke, she used her hands and changed her posture a lot. The movements were feminine and naturally flirtatious. Dakota never flirted. Barber wasn’t sure she even knew how. When Jasmine shifted, her assets jiggled in a delicious way guaranteed to drag his already sidetracked brain into carnal supposition.
Everything about her was so unintentionally inviting that no way was Barber going to blame himself for his reactions.
Even the fact that Jasmine reveled in giving him hell, especially in front of his friends, turned him on. Why he liked that, Barber couldn’t say. Maybe it was because most women were too accommodating, and after his recent taste of fame they were downright easy. That blind agreement suddenly seemed…boring.
“Anyway,” Jasmine said, “Dakota shared some of the song lyrics with me. Wasn’t that nice of her? She said they were favorites of yours. I recognized them, of course, and I’m pretty sure I know all the words, but just in case, I’ll look them over.”
“Good idea.”
“She really is nice. I wasn’t expecting that.”
“She’s great.”
“We all had so much fun, we’ve agreed to get together again real soon.”
“Yeah.” Barber barely registered her comments. Today she had her long hair in an intricate and feminine French braid. Little curls had escaped and teased her cheeks and neck. Dainty earrings hung from her earlobes. Her flesh-toned sweater didn’t show a speck of skin, but it did emphasize the generous weight of her breasts.
This skirt was even longer than the one from last night, and Barber found himself musing on her thighs. Would they be as soft and lush as her breasts and ass?
God, he hoped so.
She put a hand to her chest. “The food was so good, I ate way too much.”
Barber looked at her glossy painted nails, the slim birthstone ring on her finger. He smelled the light fragrance of scented shampoo, and the subtler scent of warm female skin.
“I even got dessert,” she said. “Peach pie.”
“Peach, huh?” Man, he was sinking like a cement block.
Jasmine licked her lips. “It was heavenly. I could have eaten the whole pie.”
“That does it.” Unable to take it a second more, Barber caught her chin with his fingertips. “Sorry, sugar, but if you really want my attention, I have to alleviate the suspense.”
“The what?”
He kissed her.
It was like kissing a warm board.
For about three seconds.
She melted with a lot of enthusiasm. Her arms went around his neck and she squirreled up close to him with a soft moan.
Barber lost it. In a clumsy rush, he backed her to the door and leaned into her, opening her mouth with his tongue, squeezing her hip with strong fingers. All in all, going off the deep end fast and hard.
The door opened behind them and Jasmine almost toppled into the room.
Barber grabbed for her and missed.
Simon, standing in her path, ended up with her filling his arms.
Unfortunately, in his surprised effort to catch her, his right hand went where it wasn’t invited to go. Simon tried to readjust, which only pulled Jasmine’s sweater into an awkward twist that exposed a narrow strip of pale flesh across her waist.
Simon tried to release her, but with all of Jasmine’s frantic readjustment, she couldn’t quite regain her feet.
Barber took her arms and yanked her upright.
“Omigod,” Jasmine said, and humiliated heat poured off her.
“Now Jassy,” Barber said, hoping to soothe her embarrassment. “Simon just copped a small feel and it was an accident, so it hardly counts.” He straightened her sweater for her.
“Idiot!” Jasmine slapped his hands away and tried to do the straightening herself.
Both Harley and Simon stood there staring at Barber, their expressions a mix of hilarity, censure, and male understanding.
Finally, his expression fed up, Simon stepped around them. “For God’s sake, Barber, you have a room.”
Harley whistled.
And Jasmine cried, “Barber,” and then, “damn it!”
She shoved him back and marched off down the hall, assumedly to her own room.
Still breathing hard, Barber watched her go. The back view was every bit as enticing as the front. Those perfectly padded hips swayed, more so with her anger. And she’d blasted him. Again.
Hell, she’d called him an idiot. Barber grinned. “God almighty, Harley. I think I’m losing it.”
“You lost it years ago.” Harley shook his head. “I have to go, too. Drew called.”
“Drew?” Barber stowed the lust and gave his friend the attention needed. “No way.”
“I have six weeks to prepare.” Harley couldn’t hold back his pleasure.
“No shit?” Barber grinned in expectation. “Title fight?”
“Nothing but. Drew is skipping the buildup. He says the time is right, and I’m not about to disagree.”
Barber held out a fist. “Well hell, pound me up, dawg! This is cause for celebration, right?”
After rolling his eyes, Harley tapped the top of Barber’s fist with his own. “Damn straight. And this time, I’m not going to let anything get in my way.”
Anything…or a
ny one? Poor Stasia would have her work cut out for her now. “You’ll have the belt, dude. This is double cause for celebration. Don’t even think of bailing on me tonight.”
“I’ll be there.”
“With Stasia?”
“Probably.” He punched Barber’s shoulder. “After tonight, it’s going to be all business.”
“And very little pleasure. I know.” As Harley left, Barber shook his head. Harley had been all business ever since he’d met him. The man had no real idea how to cut loose, which was why the idea of Harley and bondage had really thrown him. Kinky.
Barber grinned. The sly dawg. Maybe there was hope for Harley yet.
But with Satch always on guard, making sure that Harley kept it tight, he probably wouldn’t have a chance to really sow wild oats.
Unless Stasia could help him with that.
Barber was betting on her, but in the meantime, he had his own business decisions to make.
Like whether or not to risk the peace in the band by hiring Jasmine Petri and having her, too.
CHAPTER 16
S TASIA didn’t want to blame Harley’s distraction with her legs, but when the half-frozen mass hit his windshield, he was as shocked as her.
“Son-of-a-bitch.”
Whatever it was, it had to weigh ten pounds or more. A fawn? She didn’t think so. When it hit, it sounded like a chunk of cement crashing into the car.
Cold air blew in around the shattered windshield. Her nails dug into the leather seat of Harley’s car.
Hands tight on the wheel, Harley struggled to see through the debris long enough to steer the car safely to the side of the road.
Numb with astonishment, Stasia didn’t move. She was so stiff, she didn’t think she could.
Harley unhooked his seat belt and reached for her. “Stasia? Are you all right?”
“Yes.” Her gaze sought his. She swallowed down her fear. “What the hell was that, Harley?”
Grim, he touched her face, smoothed her hair. He looked in the rearview mirror, out the side window. “I don’t know. Stay in the car.”
Two other vehicles stopped to see if they were all right. Other drivers rubbernecked as they passed, trying to see what had happened.
Stasia concentrated on breathing.
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