She had blonde hair tied back in a long braid. I couldn’t tell what color her eyes were from across the room, but her body was tight and curvy in all the right places.
She scooped the skirt of her dress as she sat down, and I closed my eyes and inhaled, imagining what it would be like to run my fingers up those milky white thighs of her and feel the honey between her legs.
My pulse was hammering, and the headache that had plagued me all day was gone. I took a long drink of water and nodded to Garrett, and then we started playing.
I couldn’t keep my eyes off her. She watched me, leaning forward slightly on the couch as we played. She looked completely entranced by our music.
It wasn’t the first time that I’d seen someone react like that, but with Lacie it seemed different. Her eyes widened and her cheeks blushed, as if she was experiencing live music for the first time.
We played our new single, the one that we’d be playing at the Grammys in a week’s time. The girls clapped for us, and Tony said something to us about the plan for the week. I didn’t hear any of it. Lacie ran her hand along the neckline of that pretty blue dress she was wearing, and my eyes followed the movement. Her chest moved up and down with every breath, and I imagined tasting those sweet breasts of hers.
I couldn’t remember the last time I’d wanted someone this badly.
All the worries from earlier, the conversation with my lawyer, the hangover—all of it was forgotten. None of it mattered. All that mattered was getting closer to Lacie.
I wanted her… and I always got what I wanted.
Morgan Matthews, our new PR Manager, nodded to Tony. “Yes, exactly,” she said, shifting her gaze straight to me. I forced myself to keep my eyes off Lacie until Morgan looked away. “I’ve already started working on your image. We’re going for ‘rugged’, not ‘out of control’. We have a full schedule of interviews this week, with the first one being tomorrow morning.”
Garrett groaned. “I don’t do mornings,” he said. I chuckled. Out of all of us, she’d have the most trouble with Garrett. He really was out of control, and sometimes it was like Carter and I were just along for the ride.
Morgan’s eyebrows shot up and she squared her shoulders. I grinned. I liked her already. She put her hands on her hips and tilted her head, staring at Garrett defiantly.
“No?”
He shook his head, and I stifled a laugh. Morgan wasn’t phased, though, and my respect for her grew.
“Well you’d better start. You’ve got a spot on Mornings with Mark and Michelle, which is the biggest morning show in America right now. You guys might not realize this, but you need this spot if you want to keep being ‘rock stars’.” She sounded almost mocking when she said the last word, and I tried not to grin.
Yeah, I liked her.
“Fine, you’re the boss,” Garrett growled, and my eyebrow shot up. It was unlike him to give in so easily. As much as I was used to getting what I wanted, Garrett definitely got what he wanted. Something about being a lead singer, I guess.
Lacie got up, and I stood up at the same time. I walked around my drum kit to get closer to her, noticing that her eyes were a piercing green color. Her lips tugged upwards in a shy smile and desire for her flashed through my body again.
How could one little smile make my cock jump like that? Maybe it was the innocent look in her eyes, and the thought of turning her into a dirty little girl who was hungry for my cock. Her eyes drifted over my chest again, and a blush stained her cheeks.
Yeah, she’d get dirty. She’d get dirty with me.
The three of them followed Tony out the door and we watched them in silence. When the door closed behind them, the breath returned to my body and I blinked.
What the fuck just happened?
Carter turned to Garrett and punched him in the arm. “What was that? I’ve never seen you agree to an early morning show!”
Garrett shrugged. “Trying something new.”
“You sure it’s not the foxy PR Manager that was eye-fucking you since she walked in?”
“Shut the fuck up, Carter,” Garrett said, but I could see a grin on his face. I stayed quiet, grabbing my wallet and keys and trying to get my cock to go down.
I was still thinking of Lacie’s thighs, and the look of desire in her eyes. Desire for me.
Well, Lacie, you are going to be mine sooner than you thought.
Because there was no doubt about it, that pretty little blonde with the perfect body and the emerald eyes was going to be all mine.
Carter grabbed his stuff and followed me to the door. When we got there, he turned towards Garrett. “You coming?”
“Nah, not feeling like a beer tonight. Early morning, remember?” Garrett grinned, rolling his eyes. Carter laughed and shrugged.
“Your loss.”
The two of us walked down the hallway towards the exit. When we got outside, Carter glanced up and down the street frowning.
“Looking for someone?” I asked, trying to hide the fact that I’d been looking for our foxy new makeup artist, hoping she’d still be here.
Carter didn’t meet my eye. He just nodded down the street. “Forgot where I parked. Come on,” he said. “Let’s go.”
I followed him to his car, and we went to our usual post-rehearsal hangout: O’Grady’s pub. It was a dingy Irish bar near our rehearsal space. Well, if I believed the Irish bartender, Mickey, it was more of an ‘Irish-themed’ bar, because no American bar could truly be Irish. Whatever that meant.
All I knew is they had cold beer, and they didn’t look twice at you even if you were in the world’s biggest rock band. In O’Grady’s, we were all normal. Even when we felt anything but normal.
In short, it was the perfect hangout for Carter, Garrett, and I because we could get drunk in peace.
I leaned my head against the window as we drove down the dark streets, and all I could think of was the fire in my stomach. I didn’t feel like getting wasted tonight. I didn’t even feel like drinking.
I just wanted to see Lacie, and watch those pretty pink lips of hers part as she blushed. I wanted to make her blush all fucking night long.
Chapter 4 - Lacie
“Well that was… interesting,” I said, glancing back through the door as soon as we got outside. Veronica made a noise and patted her cheeks.
“It was warm in there.”
“Yeah,” Morgan replied. “Pretty hot.”
She looked more than a little flushed. I grinned, catching Morgan’s eye. “Garrett seemed to be giving you the eye.”
“Stop it.”
“He was!” Veronica laughed. “I saw it too. And how about Maddox?” She looked right at me. It was my turn to blush. Had I been that obvious?
Morgan rolled my eyes. “Oh don’t pretend you were taking pictures of anyone except Carter, Veronica,” she said and she started to giggle.
“Well it’s not my fault we were in a small room with three very—uh, big— rockstars,” I said. I’d seen the bulge in Maddox’s pants when he’d stood up. It had made my panties soak through more than I cared to admit.
“Come on, Vee,” I said. “We need to plan the styling for tomorrow afternoon’s photo shoot. Didn’t we pass a bar on the way in? We could brainstorm over a drink.”
Morgan nodded to us. “See you in the morning.”
I guess that meant she wasn’t coming.
“Later, Morgan,” Veronica called out over her shoulder. “Go rub one out or something. It’ll help.”
“Oh shut up,” Morgan said, the blush creeping over her cheeks again as the three of us started laughing. At least I wasn’t the only one who was a bit star-struck.
Or maybe not so much star-struck as sexy-man-struck, if that was a thing. Maybe the word for it was just simply ‘turned on’.
Veronica and I went over to her car, and I pulled up the map on my phone.
“That bar is just down the street, about five minutes away. Turn left at the end of the road.”
I g
uided her along, and we pulled up outside a quiet-looking Irish bar: O’Grady’s pub. Veronica looked at me with a raised eyebrow.
“What is up with you and dive bars? Why can’t we go somewhere nice?”
“Because nice places are expensive, and in case you don’t remember, I’m very, very broke right now. Dive bars are quieter anyways. Better for working.”
Veronica sighed. “I guess we have had some good nights in dive bars.”
“Remember the night you went home with that red-haired rugby player?” I teased. “Where was he from? Scotland?”
“Wales,” she replied, rolling her eyes and trying to hide her grin. “I think. I couldn’t understand anything he said.”
I laughed, getting out of the car. “Come on. I bet it’s dead in there and we can have a drink and talk about how freaking sexy those musicians are. I mean—we can plan the styling for the photo shoot.”
Veronica laughed and followed me inside. I was right, it was dead in there. There was an older gentleman behind the bar, who looked like he’d been working there for about thirty years. He had a rag hooked into his back pocket, and he poured beers while keeping up a conversation with the two patrons sitting at the bar. Other than that, the place was empty.
“Come on,” I said. “Let’s take this booth.”
We dropped our bags and I started taking out my files. I’d sketch some looks, and Veronica would come up with concepts for the photos. She got up and ordered a couple drinks at the bar. I heard her laughing with the bartender, and when she came back she winked at me.
“I don’t think they’re used to having women in here,” she said. “He just gave us these for free.”
I shrugged. “I’ll take it,” I laughed.
I hadn’t been kidding when I said I was broke. I was beyond broke. My mother had just gotten out of the hospital again, and I was just waiting for the hospital to realize that we had no money and shitty insurance. We were so deep in debt that I doubted I’d ever pay it all back.
“Hey,” Veronica said, staring at me and pushing my drink towards me. “You’ve got that look in your eye.”
“Sorry,” I said, shaking my head.
“You mom’s going to be fine,” she replied gently. I looked at her and smiled sadly. I nodded.
“I know,” I lied. Veronica knew how bad things were, but it was still nice to have her say those things. She knew that my mom had a particularly aggressive form of brain cancer, and she knew that the prognosis was not good. But she was my friend, and she always made me feel better. We clinked our drinks together and got to work.
Within minutes, we had sketches and concepts laid out, and my family issues had melted away. I looked at my drink, surprised.
“This is empty!”
Veronica laughed. “Imagine that.”
“I didn’t know I was drinking that fast. I was so focused on these sketches I didn’t even notice,” I laughed.
“Here,” said a deep voice that reverberated deep into my stomach. A sinewy, tattooed forearm dropped another drink on the table. “To a successful working relationship.”
My eyes trailed up the arm and over the shoulder it belonged to. How could an arm be so manly? I already knew who it was, even though I’d never heard him speak. Maddox’s whiskey eyes were drilling into me, and the heat in my core bloomed. I opened my mouth and closed it again, vaguely noticing Carter walking up beside him. Veronica was equally speechless.
“What are you ladies doing in a place like this?” Maddox asked, never taking his eyes off me. I curled my fingers around the drink and cleared my throat.
“Just putting some finishing touches on the plan for tomorrow.”
His eyebrow quirked and he turned one of the papers to look at it. He slid into the booth beside me, and I scooted down to give him room. Carter let himself in as well, and soon my heart was hammering. Maddox was so close. I could feel the heat of his skin right next to mine.
I wondered if he could tell that my heart was racing? Thank God he couldn’t know how wet my panties were.
I took a deep breath and the intoxicating scent of man wafted towards me. He smelled of wood and musk and it made my head swim with desire.
“Leather, tousled, rock n’ roll,” he read. “Is that me?” He pointed to one of the sketches. I blushed, grabbing the papers and stuffing them back in the file. A smile played over his lips and I quickly glanced at Veronica. She was staring at Carter, smiling and blushing like an idiot.
At least I wasn’t the only one.
Maddox reached over and tucked a stray piece of hair behind my ear. I shivered at his touch, closing my eyes for a moment.
“I… I liked your song,” I stammered. Nice. Real smooth.
Maddox grinned. “Yeah?”
I nodded.
“I can play you another one sometime,” he said in a low voice. I doubted Vee would have been able to hear it. His eyes had flames dancing in them, and they trailed up and down my body. They set me on fire.
“You play any other instruments?” I asked.
Maddox grinned, resting his arm on the booth behind me. His closeness was unbearable in the best possible way. I felt like a nervous wreck, and I loved every second of it. His other hand reached under the table and brushed the outside of my thigh. He ran his fingers ever so gently up towards my hip, and a whimper escaped my lips.
“I play lots of instruments,” he growled in my ear. “I’m pretty good with my hands.”
Chapter 5 - Maddox
She looked so fucking good. It was making the animal in me rear its savage head. Desire pumped through my veins until my whole body felt like it was on fire. Her tight little body looked perfect in that booth.
She looked at her friend and I glanced at Carter.
This was a pleasant turn of events. Usually we’d come to O’Grady’s to disappear, but sitting next to these two stunners was even better.
“So what have you guys got planned for us tomorrow,” Carter asked, draping his arm over Veronica’s shoulder. She smiled.
“Oh, you know, the usual ‘rock star’ sort of thing. Bad boys, leather, black.”
“The usual ‘rock star’ sort of thing,” Carter repeated, grinning. “I might be wrong, but it sounds like you might be making fun of us.”
“Not at all,” Lacie replied innocently. Her eyes gleamed. “We’re just working with what you’re giving us.”
“And that is…?” I asked.
She swung her pretty emerald eyes at me and stretched those perfect lips into a smile. My cock throbbed. I wanted to see those lips wrapped around it.
“You’re giving us the ‘bad boy rocker’ vibe. Trashing hotel rooms, bankruptcy, angry exes,” she teased. “We’ve all seen the papers.”
She arched her eyebrow, almost like a challenge. Her tone wasn’t malicious, but there was definitely an undercurrent of electricity to it.
For the first time since this whole roller coaster started six months ago, I actually felt a bit embarrassed at our behavior. She was right, we had trashed hotel rooms. We had financial problems and angry exes. I was glad she didn’t mention family issues, because that would mean she knew way too much about me.
I straightened myself up. “What if I told you that we were actually just three sensitive guys who were going through a tough time right now?”
Lacie looked at me, reading my face as if she were trying to figure me out. Her gaze made my skin crackle, and I itched to touch her. I wanted to run my thumb along her lower lip and taste that pretty pink mouth. I wanted to trail my fingers over her breast and pull her hips on top of mine.
But I didn’t.
I let her stare at me as I burned for her.
“If that were true,” she said slowly, “I would be very sympathetic.”
She grabbed her drink and lifted it to her lips, pausing before she drank from it. “But I don’t condone any sort of trashing of any sort of room.”
“Maybe because you haven’t done it yet,” Carter laughed.
“It’s actually really cathartic.”
“‘Yet’ he says,” Veronica grinned, rolling her eyes. “As if you two will corrupt us so easily.”
“You never know,” Carter replied, leaning in closer to her. I could see the look in his eye, and it was the same look I was sure I had in mine: pure, unadulterated lust.
He glanced at me and gave me a quick nod. I grinned.
“What do you ladies say we get out of here? Our place is only a short drive away, and I’m not going to lie, it’s a lot nicer than O’Grady’s,” I grinned.
Lacie and Veronica looked at each other, and it seemed like they were having a silent conversation. They communicated wordlessly for a few seconds, and finally Lacie turned to me.
“Sure,” she said, her sensual smile sending a thrill straight down my spine. “We’d love to. Never been to a rock star’s house before.”
“You guys live together?” Veronica asked.
Carter nodded. “Moved in after my divorce. I’ve known this guy since I was fourteen.”
“Kind of like us,” Lacie laughed. “Vee and I have known each other since grade school.”
I slipped out of the booth and held out my hand to Lacie. She stuffed the rest of her papers in her bag, and slipped her delicate hand in mine.
The touch made me want her even more. Her hand was small and soft, and all I wanted to do was pull her into me and crush her lips against mine. It was making me dizzy how much I wanted her.
I hadn’t felt like that in a long time. I’d been with women, sure. Quite a few women. They tended to come out to the woodwork when you start making millions and playing shows all over the globe. But Lacie had a spark in her eye that I hadn’t seen before.
She looked at me like she was studying me, trying to figure me out. She wasn’t afraid to say what she thought. I was attracted to her physically, obviously. Her body was a fucking ten out of ten. But it was more than that. I could tell that she wasn’t some vapid groupie that was just trying to fuck me so she could tell her friends about it.
She cleared her throat and nodded towards the washrooms. “Just gonna pop in there and I’ll meet you out front.”
Maddox: A Bad Boy Rock Star Romance (Rock Hard Book 2) Page 2
