“Frank,” she moaned, her cheeks on fire, her tummy a curious mix of nerves and joy. “I’m not going to—”
Her cell rang, the Star Wars theme emanating all the way from her bedroom.
“I’ll get it,” Frank squealed, dropping her hands and dashing for her room.
“Frank!” She laughed, dropping into the armchair.
“The delightful Ms. Kerrigan’s phone,” Frank cooed, swanning back into the living area with Pepper’s phone pressed to his ear. He paused, disappointment falling over his face. “Oh, Rupert, you’re not who I was expecting.”
Pepper laughed again. She didn’t know if she was relieved it wasn’t Noah or disappointed. The way she’d ended last night with him, she wasn’t sure when she’d hear from him again. He’d given her such an amazing sexual experience, and in return, she’d given him…nothing.
To make matters worse, her growing suspicion she didn’t really want to replace Nick Blackthorne kept scratching at her consciousness. She’d dreamt of being a singer her whole life, so why did it now seem enough that she’d sung for Noah?
Frank’s slap against her shoulder made her jump.
“Let me check,” he said into the phone before covering the end with his hand. “It’s Rupert, honey. He needs you to come into work now. The morning shift waitresses have called in sick. He’s begging you.”
Heat itched at Pepper’s nape. She was meant to sing with the band today, but Noah hadn’t told her when or where.
“Yeah, yeah,” Frank snapped into the phone. “Keep your pants on. Remember, I’ve seen what you’ve got in there. You’re not hung well enough to take them off over something…oh, who’s a touchy bar owner this morning?” He covered the end of Pepper’s cell again, pulling a face. “He sounds desperate.”
Pepper swallowed. She could text Noah and ask when he was collecting her, but she didn’t want to sound clingy. Especially after the way she’d behaved last night. Or she could go to work and hope she finished before he came to get her.
“Pep?” Frank prodded. He raised the phone to his mouth. “Hold your horses, tiny. She’s thinking. She spent the night making glorious love to a—Oww, Peps, that hurt!” He rubbed at his leg. “Pepper just slapped me, Rupert.”
“Of course I slapped you,” she whispered. “You’re telling my boss about my sex life.”
Frank grinned. “And what a sex…what, Rupert? Oh, okay.” He rolled his eyes. “He’s really begging, honey. Even offering to reimburse your subway ticket.”
Letting out a breath, Pepper straightened to her feet. “Tell him I’ll be there ASAP.”
An hour later, pocketing a very miserable tip from a regular customer, she wondered why she’d said yes. Rupert had scowled at her when she’d rushed in, muttering something about a magazine under his breath before telling her she had to service two sections of the bar. The guy at the first table she served had slid his hand up the inside of her thigh, no doubt thinking the hot pants of her uniform gave him permission to go for a grope. “Pepper needs new shorts,” he’d murmured, already half drunk at nine forty-five in the morning. “’Cause I’m gonna rip these off.”
She’d slapped his hand away, thrown Rupert a scowl and moved to the next table, only to find the woman that had been seated there had left a massive tip, a phone number scrawled on a napkin, along with a lipstick kiss and rather detailed drawing of two women in what appeared to be the sixty-nine position.
However, it wasn’t until she caught the man at table five taking a photo of her ass with his smartphone that she realized she couldn’t do this anymore. Even if she failed at singing with the band, she couldn’t deal with being a bar waitress any longer. When she finished this shift, she was telling Rupert she was quitting. Worst-case scenario, she’d get a job in a diner during the day and go to school at night. Study music management and find an unknown garage band to…
The thought faded away as her gaze fell on Noah striding into the bar. Dark sunglasses covered his ice-blue eyes. A playful grin curled the corners of his mouth. He walked straight toward her, ignoring everyone else, including Rupert, who hurried over to him with right hand extended.
“What the bloody hell are you doing here?” he asked, his Australian accent making Pepper’s belly flip-flop.
“Working,” she answered.
He shook his head. “Nope. Someone with a voice like yours doesn’t work in a bar.”
“Noah,” she began, shifting on her feet. She wanted to throw herself at him. Kiss him senseless.
Tell him singing for him had been enough. “I’m not—”
He held up a finger. “And more to the point, you promised me you would sing with the guys today. Can’t do that while your serving tables here, can you?”
“But Rupert needed—” she tried again.
Noah swung to face the bar’s owner, currently standing beside him. “Are you Rupert?”
Rupert nodded, right hand still thrust outward. “I am, Mr. Holden. Can I just say I’m honoured to have you and the other members of Nick Blackthorne’s—”
“How much for the bar?”
Rupert blinked at Noah’s question. “A drink? Wh-what do you want?”
Noah shook his head. “No, the bar. The whole bar. I want to buy it.”
Rupert’s mouth fell open. So did Pepper’s. “B-buy it?” Rupert stammered.
Noah shrugged. “Sure. If it means I get to take Pepper away from here now.”
“I…” Rupert swung a shocked stare at Pepper. “I mean…”
“Noah.” Pepper frowned at him, even as her heart pounded fast. “You can’t do that.”
Noah cast a quick look around the bar. “Five-hundred thousand. First and final offer.”
Pepper’s heart smashed into her throat. “Noah, you can’t be—”
“Deal.” Rupert grabbed Noah’s hand and shook it vigorously.
Noah beamed. “Excellent. My lawyer will be in touch tomorrow. Now, if you’ll excuse me…” He took a step backward and raised his arms. “Your attention, everyone,” he shouted, his deep voice resonating around the near empty bar. “I’m Noah Holden, the new owner of Rupert’s. G’day.” He nodded at the few patrons drinking so early in the morning and then smiled at the confused barkeeper behind the marble and glass bar. “G’day. The bar is closed until further notice, but don’t worry, it’s not closed for good. Customers, your current tabs are on me. Staff, you’ll still be paid your weekly wage, plus forty percent daily to compensate for tips. But for now, everyone should go have some fun. Bloody hell, it’s autumn in New York. Who wants to be inside when it’s so beautiful out?”
He swung to face Rupert with a flourish. “Rupert, you can shut up shop for me, right? There’s an extra fifty thousand for you if you—”
“Deal.” Rupert snatched his hand and shook it again, faster this time. He flicked a look at Pepper. “Pepper, I knew you were my favourite for a reason.”
Turning away from them both, he clapped his hands with brisk proficiency. “Okay, everyone, you heard the owner. Closing time.”
He hurried away, waving his hands at the various people staring agog at him, Noah and Pepper.
Pepper, for her part, couldn’t stop staring at Noah. “Are you serious?”
His answering grin stretched wide. “Always wanted to own a bar.”
“Since when?”
He shrugged. “Since now?”
She shook her head. “You can’t do this.”
“I just did. Don’t worry. I’ve got stupid amounts of money. And hey, if my drumming career tanks, at least now I’ve got something to fall back on, right?”
Pepper continued to stare at him. She didn’t know what to say. Or do.
He chuckled. “C’mon, there’s singing to be done. I should warn you though, Strings is going to be a pain in the arse. He’s got a hangover. A big one.”
Pepper frowned, tearing her stare from him long enough to watch Rupert shoo the man that had groped her earlier out the door. “Did you rea
lly just buy a bar so I could come sing with the band?”
Noah looked about himself. An expression of immense joy filled his face. “Seems that way, doesn’t it.” He reached for her hand, threaded his fingers through hers with warm pressure and then tugged her to his body. “Let’s go. Before I decide the guys can wait and I kiss you. In a purely platonic way, of course. Hey, did you hear they’ve finally announced who’s playing Han Solo in the new movie?”
Pepper didn’t know whether to laugh or just be shocked into a stupefied silence. In the end, she laughed. “You’re unbelievable, Noah Holden.”
He beamed, obviously pleased with her observation. “Thank you. Now we better—ah, fuck it. Who am I kidding?”
His lips captured hers, the kiss quick and feverous and playful all at once. Pepper’s head spun. Her breath caught in her throat. And then he pulled away, happiness twinkling in his eyes, and dragged her by the hand toward the exit door.
“My bag,” she laughed.
“Don’t need it,” he answered. “I’ve got it covered.”
He swung the door open and strode straight for the stretch limo parked directly in front of the bar. Pepper blinked at the bright morning light. And then raised her eyebrows as Frank climbed out of the vehicle’s back seat.
“I tried to convince him he didn’t need to be here,” Noah said over his shoulder as he continued to walk toward the limo, “but he demanded I bring him. Said he had to see the look on your face firsthand when I dragged you out of work.”
Frank raised a cell phone—her cell phone, Pepper noticed—and took a photo. No doubt of Pepper’s incredulous expression. “And what a look it is,” he said with a smirk. “Priceless.”
Noah stopped at the limo and held out his arm toward the open back door. “The sneaky bastard snuck into the bar earlier and grabbed your bag. He’s gonna take it home with him. Today, I’m going to show you the life of a rock star, and rock stars don’t need things like handbags and purses and mundane stuff like that.”
Pepper swung her gaze to her roommate.
Frank wiggled his eyebrows as he tossed her cell phone to her. “Told you that first kiss said everything you needed to know.”
Noah laughed. “I shall return her sometime later this evening, Frank. Or maybe never. Depends if I can convince her to run away with me.”
Frank shot Pepper a sly smirk. “Don’t think you’ll need to do much persuading.”
Prickling heat crept over Pepper’s cheeks. “Frank,” she admonished on a mutter.
Frank snorted.
Noah tugged on her hand. “C’mon,” he said, directing her into the limo. “I can’t wait to hear you sing again.”
Unable to fight the surreal situation any longer, Pepper let out a shaky breath and, with a smile at Frank, climbed into the back seat.
She couldn’t tell Noah her doubts now. Not after he’d just bought Rupert’s bar.
When will you though?
Noah took his place beside her before she could contemplate an answer, his hand reclaiming hers with easy familiarity. With a wave at Frank, he nodded to the driver holding the door open. “Punch it, wookie.”
Pepper couldn’t help but laugh at the man’s confused expression.
“It means let’s get going,” Noah told him.
The driver nodded. “Yes, sir.”
The dull thud of the door closing vibrated through Pepper. She drew in a quick breath, the nervous butterflies previously running amuck in her belly returning with gusto.
She squirmed on the luxurious leather seat, her pulse pounding in her throat. She told herself it was because she was about to go sing with Nick Blackthorne’s band, but the reality of the situation was all the more daunting.
She was sitting alone in a limo with Noah Holden. A limo with the privacy glass already raised.
Her sex constricted. The memory of his hands and lips on her body the night before crashed over her. Her nipples pinched tight.
She caught her bottom lip with her teeth. If Noah turned to her now and proceeded to make love to her, she wouldn’t stop him. It didn’t matter how many times she told him she needed their relationship to be platonic. If he began to kiss her now, undress her now, she would beg for more. The man had come into her life and changed everything.
“Nervous?”
She started at his low question.
“Don’t be.” He dipped his head lower to hers. “As much as I want to press you to the seat and make mad monkey sex to you, I won’t.”
She gazed up at him, her breath shallow. “You won’t?”
His smile was devilish. “Not this trip. Can’t make any promises about future limo rides though.”
“In that case,” she murmured, “I best be travelling with Levi or Jax.”
He laughed, even as the desire in his eyes blazed hotter. “Oh, babe, Jax would be all over you like white on rice.”
Pepper swallowed, her heart in her ears. “He would?”
Noah nodded, drawing his face closer to hers. “I’d have to kill him after though. Do you know of any good keyboard players?”
She shook her head, the motion slow. “No.”
Noah’s warm breath tickled her lips. “So for the band’s sake, and Jax’s safety, I promise not make mad monkey love to you in any future limo rides. How’s that sound?”
“Terrible,” Pepper whispered.
Time froze. Her pussy throbbed. They gazed at each other, their breaths mingling.
And then, just when Pepper couldn’t survive a second longer on the edge of such tormenting need, Noah pulled away.
Nostrils flaring, he settled back in his seat, repositioning her hand—still in his—on his right thigh. “So,” he said, his voice a strained growl, “tell me something about you I don’t know.”
Pepper’s chest ached. As did her body. Every fibre in her being craved his touch, and yet he’d given her exactly what she kept asking for. God, how could she be so goddamn disappointed when he was only doing what she asked?
Letting out a wobbly laugh, she shifted on her seat. She could do this. She had to do this. Even if she wanted to tell Noah to hell with her previous request for a platonic relationship. “I used to manage a grunge-rock band called Black Toad Dare.”
The muscle in Noah’s jaw bunched. His grip on her hand tightened for a brief second. And then he gave her a curious expression. “Is that right?”
Pepper frowned. There was no mistaking the tension in his body. What had she said? “Do you know of them?”
He nodded. “They were making a real name for themselves a few years ago. And then they seemed to drop off the planet.”
She couldn’t stop her frustrated sigh. “Yeah. They found someone better than me to manage them. From what I can see though, he took their money and flushed their rising popularity away.”
Noah didn’t answer. He studied her, his blue eyes steady on her face.
She squirmed. Something was not right.
“I really enjoyed working with them though,” she said. “Organising their gigs, arranging press releases for them. It was something I could do without needing to come face to face with people. Good for someone who is…well, you know…” She ducked her head, the dreaded S word bitter on her tongue. “Shy.”
“So you managed them, helped propel them up the indie charts, got them noticed by the right people, even got them a label contract and they dumped you?”
Disquiet licked at Pepper’s nerves. How did he know she’d landed Black Toad Dare their first recording contract? “That’s right.”
His fingers fluttered over the back of her hand. His stare never wavered from her face. “Who stole them away from you?”
“Ewan Burgess.”
The man’s name sent a hot shard of anger through Pepper.
Noah made an ahhh sound. “He’s a douche. He tried to lure us away from our manager a few years ago, just before Nick announced his retirement.”
Pepper shifted on her seat, trying to disengage her finge
rs from his. “Why do I feel like I’m telling you something you already know?”
His grin was wide, and yet it didn’t seem to reach his eyes. “Music trivia genius, remember?”
Pepper didn’t believe him. She regarded him, wanting to ask what was going on. Wanting, but unable. She found herself in a dream she’d never believed possible. She had no right to question it, or Noah.
Chicken.
Scowling at the silent mock, she attempted once again to slip her hand from Noah’s.
He refused to let her go.
Their eyes connected and Pepper’s throat seized shut at the torment in his gaze. “I…do you need to tell me something, Noah?”
The question left her on a quiet whisper.
He sucked in a slow breath, closing his eyes. “No,” he said, looking at her again. “Someone I know is playing with my head. That’s all. Fucking with me. I’m sorry.”
She caught her bottom lip with her teeth again. “Okay.”
They travelled in silence for a long moment. It wasn’t until Pepper felt Noah’s thumb beating out a soft rhythm on the back of her hand that she realized the earlier tension in his body had gone.
“What do you think about a drum solo during a slow-mo action sequence?” he asked, the relaxed grin she loved so much back on his face. “A wild beat, no other music, like hearts at war, while shit gets blown up, bullets flying, real Michael Bay kind of action?”
Pepper raised her eyebrows. “John Woo would be proud.”
He laughed and pulled her hand deeper into his lap. “Face Off meets Jason Bourne?”
She smiled. “Perfect.”
He pulled a smug expression. “I thought so too.”
A few minutes later, he twisted on his seat and studied her. “Our manager quit yesterday.”
Pepper didn’t hide her surprise. “Really? Wow. Why?”
“Said we were nothing without Nick and he couldn’t be bothered coming out of retirement for a bunch of has-beens. His words, not mine.”
Hot anger licked through Pepper. She pulled a contemptuous face. “Now there’s a real charmer for you.”
Noah laughed. “To be honest, none of us really liked him, but he was good…ish at keeping us under control back in the day.” A sheepish grimace pulled at his lips. “Sorta. Anyways, I was thinking, you know how Samuel wants us to perform live soon? To let you flex your wings?”
Steady Beat Page 10
