Maid for the Rock Star

by Demelza Carlton

Audra told herself that her motivations were entirely selfish, as she said, "All right. I'll stay for a bit. As long as you don't demand sex of any kind, don't try to treat me like a prostitute, and don't stare at my boobs the whole time."

  He managed a watery smile. "I'll try. But your boobs...the...you have to promise you won't go to the press. Whatever I tell you, no one else will ever know, right?"

  Unless they hear this recording. Audra pressed her lips together. "That's right, Mr Felix," she lied. "All hotel staff are covered by a non-disclosure agreement. I can't sell guests' secrets to the press or I'll lose my job." That part, at least, was true.

  "Jay. You can call me Jay." He met her eyes and then glanced away. "Let me get you a drink. We only have these weird fruit beers left. None of the normal ones. What'll you have?"

  Thanking the hotel's policymakers for forgetting to ban drinking on the job, she accepted a mango beer and settled in an armchair. Savouring the taste with her eyes closed, Audra asked, "So what would you like to talk about, Jay?"

  ELEVEN

  He hunched over in the armchair across from her, gripping his beer with both hands for what seemed like an eternity. "This is stupid. I don't know you. You don't like me, so there's no way you could want to help me. You're nothing like my sister. And as long as you're wearing a shirt that shows your tits, I'm going to stare at them."

  Yes, this was stupid, but if it saved her from cleaning blood off the floor and worrying about her brother... "Fine," she relented. "If you feel more comfortable talking to my chest than my face, do it. Not knowing me didn't stop you from wanting to get naked with me this afternoon, and talking is nowhere near as personal as that. But if it helps..." She took a deep breath. "Hi. My name is Audra. I've been working here at the Romance Island Resort in housekeeping for a few months now. Since graduation. I'll probably work here until I get a job in something more related to my degree. I have two older brothers and one younger one who've been bringing their problems to me since they could talk, and I usually find some way to solve them, so they keep coming back to me. Sometimes I don't like them much, either, but I still help. And I may not be like your sister, the lady I met earlier today, but you remind me of my brother."

  "Do I look like him?"

  Audra laughed softly. Jay might be a prick, but he was a perfect physical specimen. "No. Tad's...well, he has more of a keg than a six-pack. And a beard. One of those bushy, hipster ones." Because he doesn't trust himself with a razor anymore, she thought sadly. "No, you're better looking than my brother. But Tad video calls me at least once a week. Whenever he gets lonely. Just like you're calling your sister."

  He chewed his lip. "I don't get lonely that often. I don't call her every week. I'm a rock star. I'm usually surrounded by people." He stuck his chin out. "What're you? A shrink?"

  "Hell, no. My degree's in atmospheric science. Meteorology and weather, mostly."

  It was Jay's turn to laugh. "A weather girl. I'm going to tell a weather girl my problems and then you'll forecast fine weather and sunny skies for me? Why are you here, Audrey the weather girl?"

  She gritted her teeth, but turned it into a smile. "Audra. My name's Audra. Not Audrey."

  "You look like that classic movie chick called Audrey. The one with the dark hair and big eyes who smoked a long cigarette with her breakfast." Jay took a deep pull of his beer.

  "You mean Audrey Hepburn?" Well, there were worse people to be compared to. Coming from him, it was quite a compliment. Especially alongside the weather girl joke. If she had a dollar for every time someone had said it, she wouldn't be doing this job, that's for sure. "Um, thank you. But my name really is Audra. And aren't you the one who's supposed to be talking? It's my job to listen."

  Jay nodded, drained his drink and headed to the kitchen for more. When he offered Audra another, she shook her head and held up her barely touched beer. She didn't dare have more than one – not being able to afford much alcohol messed with her already low tolerance for the stuff.

  He returned to the lounge but rejected his armchair for a sofa he could recline on instead – fortunately, wearing more than just his undies. "Do you know how Chaya started?"

  Audra shook her head and sipped her drink. Damn, it was sweet, but good.

  "I started getting a couple of live gigs in small bars on weeknights, just me and my guitar. It was all right, but not much money. In school, I was in a band with my sister and her best friend. That girl had...music in her head like magic, you know? She'd come in to practice and tell us to stop whatever we were doing to try something new she'd come up with last night. We'd whinge and complain, but we'd always give in because whatever it was would just be fucking awesome, better than anything we'd ever done before. And when the bars started looking for bigger bands than just some bloke with a guitar, I gave them one of our high school demo tracks by mistake. They fucking loved it – wanted to know if the rest of my band could come in and play. Except I didn't have a band. The girls were still at school and she was a year younger than my sister. So I waited, still playing small gigs and making a name for myself, until my band were all over eighteen and could play in pubs on a Friday and Saturday night. Sunday sessions. The bigger stuff.

  "Then right before she turned eighteen, she disappeared. I was the last person to talk to her. She said she was buying my birthday present, but she wouldn't tell me what or where. We had a rehearsal that night and she never came. The police interrogated me, heaps of times, and everyone looked fucking everywhere for her. But they found nothing. It's like she'd been abducted by aliens or something. But in broad daylight while she was shopping."

  Shaking his head violently, he fell silent. Audra waited.

  Finally, he continued, "After about a month, they found her body. Well, not really her body, because she was alive. But only just. And fucked up...the things her kidnappers did to that girl. Fucking monsters, the lot of them. They broke every one of her fingers. She was a guitarist, amazing on the piano, too, and her voice just soared along with it, but without her hands...fuck. I thought she'd never play again."

  "I don't remember hearing about this in any of the news about Chaya," Audra ventured.

  Jay laughed mirthlessly. "And you won't. If some journalist tried to print it, they'd mysteriously disappear. Don't get me started on the things wrong with how that investigation was handled. A fucking government conspiracy worse than aliens. And the girl...it's like everything that happened to her unleashed a fucking avalanche of music. She got out of hospital and laid down something like the next five years' worth of songs. Dark stuff, light stuff, all of it more epic than anything we'd ever done before. And then she sold the story of all the shit that happened to her to some media group, who interviewed her on TV.

  "From that, she got us a record deal. Nothing huge, mostly just royalties...and when we hit it big, the record company realised they'd fucked up, big time. We were raking it in and they were getting next to nothing. In less than a year, we renegotiated our contract and we were playing up and down the east coast, videos and tracks just going crazy on the internet. She had her new rock star name and wouldn't do press interviews because she said she was in the witness protection programme. Fuck, with an audience of millions, what sort of secrets did she expect to be able to keep? But I knew we were screwed without her, because she built the band. The songs, the image, the contract...it was all her. So I stepped up and took the media spotlight. Spent more time in the gym than practising the songs. Became a fucking rock star who everyone wanted." He sighed and drained his second beer in one long pull. "Except her."

  "Your stepsister?"

  He snorted and choked, spraying beer everywhere. "Jo? Fuck, no. I mean, no, she doesn't want me and I don't want to fuck her either. We grew up together. Since we were little kids. Our parents met when we were at playgroup together and I can't even remember my real mum. Jo's the only sister I have. What kind of crazy, incestuous bastard screws his own sister?"

  "There's a whole genre of romance books ab
out stepsiblings who do. Seriously. Check out the resort library some time," Audra said. Yeah, right next to the rock star romance section. Which she seriously needed to revisit in the near future. Maybe some fictional rock stars could help get thoughts of Jay Felix out of her head.

  Jay padded to the kitchen and pulled his beer-soaked shirt off before washing his face and chest in the sink. Water cascaded down muscles in a performance that held Audra's attention far more than she expected. She tore her eyes away and turned her attention to her own beer. Pretty packaging did little to hide the mess he was inside, she scolded herself.

  Jay returned to his seat, sans shirt. "Nice to know there are people more fucked up than me." The bottle cap clinked to the table as he opened a new beer and raised it in a toast before drinking.

  "So if it's not your sister...you must mean the girl. The one who was attacked."

  "The weather girl gets it right!"

  His taunt nettled her. "And so you're at a luxury resort, sulking, because a traumatised girl doesn't fall at your feet and worship you?"

  "I don't want her to fall at my feet. I just always figured if I became a rock star, then she'd want me. She didn't even want to study music at uni. She didn't. Her dream was...different. But I always figured she'd want me. I mean, what's better than a fucking rock star?" He puffed his chest out and struck a pose. An impressive one, Audra had to admit. But one that was shallower than the shark-infested lagoon outside.

  "Jay, have you ever read any romance books?" Audra asked carefully.

  He snorted. "What, shirtless dudes on the cover and women falling over themselves to let the bloke tie them up? Why the fuck would I want to read something like that?"

  "Because it's what women want. A fantasy." She'd had this argument with her brothers before. "You know, there's a whole section of rock star romances in the resort library. Right next to the stepbrother ones you don't like. Maybe if you read those, you'd work out what women want from a rock star."

  And it'd be bloody funny to see a rock star reading a romance book about his fictional colleagues, she had to admit.

  "I'm not walking into a library and asking for romance books!" Jay protested. "I am a rock star. I know what women want from a man like me. Sex and plenty of it. They beg me for it all the time."

  Not all of them, and not tonight. At least as long as she managed to control herself. Audra let the silence build until the pause was so pregnant it was ready to give birth to a crazy idea. "I could go into the library on your behalf and smuggle them in here, wrapped in tomorrow's fresh towels."

  Jay regarded her for a long moment, as if his beer-blurred brain was trying to figure something out. "Do you read them?" he asked finally.

  "Yes," she replied. "I'll try to bring you ones I've read." Just as long as he didn't ask her if she'd ever imagined herself with the books' heroes.

  "Then I can ask you questions about them. You'll come back tomorrow night, right?"

  She couldn't argue her way out of this one. Book club with the rock star. What had she gotten herself into?

  "Sure," Audra said wearily. "Just get Reception to page me."

  TWELVE

  The following morning, Audra slipped into the library on her way back from breakfast. Blushing a little, she realised Jay was right – most of the book covers featured hot men with more ink on their skin than clothing. She wondered why Jay only had the one tattoo inked down his well-muscled arm. She'd have to ask him about it some time. In the meantime, she avoided tattoos and shirtless men as she selected two books with couples on the front and then picked out one with a pink cover.

  "Are you out of books?" Annette called. "The hen's party in Albina last week left a whole stack I'd never seen before. A real mix, too. Email-order brides, rock stars, virginity auctions...even a hot student-teacher romance. I've been reading them, but I'm almost done. I can pass them to you next, if you'll put them in the library when you're finished with them."

  Audra held up her three new titles and thanked Annette. Maybe the rock star romances might be appropriate for Jay, too, not that she'd tell Annette that. Jay's romantic education was one joke she'd have to keep to herself.

  Remembering her promise, Audra placed the books carefully between the folds of a towel before carrying the stack to Maxima. An awkward wrist swipe gained her access to the empty villa, where she left the towels on the side of the fortunately frog-free bath.

  Wondering whether to leave a note or simply continue cleaning, Audra headed for the kitchen. The previous night's beer bottles were lined up on the bench, so she took care of those and dragged the rubbish bag outside to her cleaning trolley.

  Jay ambled up the path, his steps quickening when he spotted her. "Did you get the..."

  "I brought you fresh towels. You'll find everything in the bathroom," she replied, hoping he meant the books. She headed back into the villa, but hesitated at the front door. "Do you want me to finish cleaning now, or come back later?"

  He shrugged. "I was going to head off to the beach. Now's fine." He entered the villa in front of her and made a beeline for the bathroom. He emerged with a beach towel wrapped around the pink book and a look of distaste on his face.

  "Good choice," she said, nodding at the visible strip of pink.

  He stared at it in horror and adjusted the towel to cover it. He left without another word.

  Audra hid her smile and returned to the kitchen to wipe down the counter. She'd have to refill the refrigerator, too, given Jay was out of beer. Probably a good thing. She wasn't sure she could discuss rock star romance with a rock star while she was sober. Or without picturing the hero as him...

  THIRTEEN

  She needn't have worried. After dinner, she spent an hour talking to her family on an online video call while her wristband was mercifully silent. She even managed to squeeze in a little light reading of her own, after she'd found Annette's stack of books sitting outside her room.

  Jay avoided her for three days, though she caught sight of him lying on his private beach, reading, more than once. If she lingered for a moment or two to admire the lines of his sweat-sheened body, spread on a towel for all the world to see, surely no one would blame her. She was human, after all. Looking wasn't licking...and she couldn't deny that it had been a long time since she'd licked any part of a man's anatomy.

  Not that Jay was on the staff menu, she reminded herself. She'd be lucky to get anything as tasty as mango chicken again this week, let alone raw rock star. A raw, hot mess of a rock star. Or maybe he'd gotten over his momentary insecurity, managed to contact his sister, and decided that he was the deity of music once more. His ego certainly seemed big enough for it.

  On the third night after her book delivery to Villa Maxima, Audra eyed the evening's burned dinner offering. Penny had evidently distracted the sous-chef so much that he'd singed the garlic prawns. It wasn't that she didn't like king prawns; it was just time consuming to peel them out of their shells, and if they were overcooked, they might be inedible. She tentatively touched the tiniest crustacean with the tongs.

  Someone bumped her elbow, sending the tongs flying. "Don't do it!" Serge cried.

  Audra stared at the grinning personal trainer. "Why? Am I so fat I need to cut down on my protein intake?"

  "You're gorgeous just as you are. But if you eat one of those, you might break a tooth. Adam did." Serge jerked his head at the gym manager, whose thunderous expression was partially concealed by the bloodstained wad of paper napkins he held to his mouth.

  Overcooked prawns. Ugh. Audra reached for the beef curry instead, ladled a generous dollop onto her plate and carried it to an empty table.

  "Do you have plans tonight?" Serge's plastic bowl of fruit salad clacked to the table and he took a seat beside her.

  "Hmm." She deliberately delayed by taking a bite of beef. "I plan on staying on the island, relaxing for a couple of hours after dinner, before I drag myself into bed to fall asleep for a few hours until I have to wake up tomorrow and vacuum t
he sweaty gym carpet."

  "Hey, it's not just sweat. That's my gym. There's blood, sweat, tears, toil and determination soaked into that carpet!"

  Audra laughed. "Glad I only vacuum it and don't have to shampoo it. I've cleaned some crazy things off hotel room floors, but I wouldn't have the faintest idea how to get determination out of carpet."

  "Me neither. Hey, do you remember that hen's party last week?"

  How could she forget? The bride-to-be and her friends had cackled their way through their stay, drinking the bar almost dry each happy hour as they demanded every cocktail on the menu and a few they'd probably dreamed up just to confuse the bar staff. Not to mention the steamy reading material they'd left behind. Pressing her lips together, Audra nodded.

  "They bought me a carton of beer as a thank you for running their boot camp sessions. Gazza from the bottle shop in town rang to tell me, asking me what I wanted. I could've gotten a carton of VB." Audra wrinkled her nose at the name of her brothers' favourite cheap beer. "See? I figured you wouldn't like that, and if I can't tempt you to into town to try the beers at the brewery, maybe I could bring them to you. So I asked him to send a taster pack and I've got Patel keeping it in the back of one of the Catering fridges."

  Audra didn't know what to say. Finally, she answered, "But you earned it. You should enjoy them."

  Serge laughed. "I intend to. Look, you said you want to relax for a couple of hours. How about you come relax with me on a beach with some of Broome's best beers and we'll watch the stars until they get too fuzzy to see?"

  Audra glanced at her wristband, but the display was still dark. Just because she was on call didn't mean she'd be called, and Serge was certainly good company. "Sure. I'll swipe some beach towels from the laundry to sit on and we'll make a picnic of it."

  After dinner, they met outside the staff accommodation. Audra slung a couple of towels around her neck, while Serge carried a cooler box full of ice that rattled against the bottles inside with every step.