Trusting Gibson (Last Score Book 2)

by K. L. Shandwick

  After eating breakfast, I didn’t shower because I knew I’d get sweaty in the snow suit and I couldn’t wait to be out there. So I pulled on some yoga pants, a bra and a t-shirt and a beautiful mohair sweater Gibson had somehow produced for me.

  Someone must have checked my attire at some point prior to arriving here, because there were several new sweaters and lots of sweat pants in my size in the closet when I arrived. Gibson only said he didn’t want me to be cold in the mountain air.

  By the time I was ready to go out, I had so many layers on I could hardly bend my arms. Ruby was a bit of a tomboy and I was girlie-girl, so I gave up my Ski Doo for the back of hers, after five minutes of stop-starting because the clutch on the handle bar was freaking me out.

  I swear we bounced off the ground more than once and I could hear Ruby’s muffled “Yeehaw” coming from the inside of her snood, scarf and helmet shielded face. I was shivering with the cold by the time we stopped. Ruby took the scarf away from her face, pulled the snood down and took her hat off.

  As soon as I saw her face, I snorted with laughter because it was the first time I’d ever seen her look less than perfect. Wild frizzy hair with the damp air became static from the woolen hat she’d been wearing and her mascara had run down her cheeks where her tears from the cold had streamed down her face. Crazy as it seems, I actually think it’s the prettiest she’d ever looked.

  When we came back inside, the warmth of the underfloor heating and the smell of the log fire felt like heaven to me. Emma had put two bath robes in the utility room, so we changed from all the wet gear in there. One luxury that felt like an essential in the cabin was the hot tub. It was hot and ready on the deck and there was a Swedish sauna in the master suite, but I wanted to experience being in the tub with the snow on the ground and the massive mountains as the backdrop. Dressed in the robe, I padded through to the great room to see if Jill wanted to join us in the tub.

  The atmosphere in the cabin was very calm. I guessed this was what drew Gibson to it in the first place. Emma was busy using a laptop and Lois was sleeping because apparently, one stayed awake all night.

  Once settled in the tub, Jill filled us in on how she met Toby when she was working in a hotel as a beautician and his PA had called to arrange a massage for him. Instead of dealing with Toby in the treatment room, she went to his hotel room and they just clicked. How she described it was pretty wild, she’d covered him in thick massage oil and after a few minutes of deep muscle massage, he’d got off her massage table and insisted he return the favor. She then elaborated that Toby’s was an internal deep muscle massage.

  An hour into our soak, I was feeling the most relaxed I had since college. Everything was just sublime. Sitting chatting with girlfriends was something I hadn’t done much of in the past couple of years, until Jill made a comment that made my heart stop.

  “I have to say, Chloe— you are handling this stuff with Gibson amazingly well. You’ve really surprised me…you are much more controlled than I was the first time.” Jill’s hand was flat and moving in and out of the water– almost absentmindedly, except it wasn’t, because she was watching it drip through her fingers, like she was being measured in her delivery of what she was saying.

  Ruby’s brow creased as we swapped confused glances and then Ruby frowned at Jill.

  “Sorry Jill, you’ve lost me, what is she handling better than you?”

  Exhaling a tired sigh, Jill looked sympathetically at me and then glanced quickly at Ruby before looking back at me. “Gibson. The record company function…the fly-on-the-wall pictures, Toby’s sister sent them to me. She thinks I’m too good for Toby.”

  My heart stopped with the jolt of electricity in shock. What pictures? What was Gibson doing?

  “Strange that neither of them mentioned it. Gibson took Morgan with him and I have no idea who the leggy whore was that was with Toby.”

  My mind just wouldn’t go where she was trying to lead it. It was clear that Jill was distressed about Toby, and I could see that she had no clue I hadn’t seen the pictures or that I didn’t know what she was talking about.

  “All I’m saying is—well, I know how it feels. It stings and you don’t have to put a brave face on it, Chloe. I’ve been where you’re sitting now and I still remember the first time Toby cheated on me.”

  Gibson cheated on me? I sat silently, trying to absorb exactly what she was telling me. None of it made sense. However, Gibson was a rock star. And what rock stars did in their daily lives and the scrapes they got themselves into was nonsensical to the rest of us living in the real world.

  “Guys that write love songs can play on your heartstrings Chloe, and they have the ability to say exactly what you need to hear, when you need to hear it. I was determined to leave Toby the first time he did it to me, but he talked me around with amazing words that he strung together, and I think he believed what he was saying at the time… and I loved him…”

  Jill stood up abruptly in the hot tub, fighting back tears, the water slopping noisily around her thighs.

  “Sorry Chloe, I really am. You have no idea how much I wanted to think that Gibson could give up that sordid part of a band’s lifestyle for you. For a while there I really believed he’d changed, because he’d found someone so special in you. It gave me hope that one day Toby would realize what I was to him, and do the same.”

  Stepping out of the water, Jill reached over to where she had discarded her robe and shrugged it over her shoulders, rapidly blinking back tears and angrily tying the belt tightly around her waist. She walked quickly away with her head bowed and a loud sob escaped her throat. Turning to look at Ruby, I stared numbly at her.

  Gibson really cheated on me? Three days away? He went to a party and never told me? Was that because he was taking Morgan? Gibson hadn’t called me again and I’d thought it was because he was recording. And from conversations we’d had about that, I knew that they could be there twenty-four-seven when they were working on something.

  What was strange was that Morgan was back on the scene after how Gibson responded to her at the cabin. I knew I needed to see for myself what was so damning. With Gibson I had learned not to have knee jerk reactions. Besides, there may well have been pictures, but were they current ones?

  I grabbed my robe and began treading carefully through the freezing cold snow to get back inside. It was crunching under my feet and stinging my skin as it stuck and melted on my wet skin. I felt sad for Jill when I saw her curled up in the fetal position on the sofa, staring up at the snow covered peaks of the mountains. Pushing her over with my butt, I sat perched on the edge of her sofa and stroked her hair.

  “Are you okay, honey?” Jill chewed the side of her mouth, and I knew that I couldn’t tell her that I hadn’t seen the pictures or she would have known she’d screwed up and spilled about them.

  “Jill, would you mind sending me the pictures, I want to see them again? I deleted them when I was in a temper this morning.” Jill looked nervously back at me, then she began to sit up on her elbows and leaned over to get her laptop.

  “Sure, although why you would want to look at them again is beyond me.”

  Tapping some buttons on her keyboard, Jill’s eyes scanned down her email, then selected and clicked the email she was looking for. “Email address?” After I shared that with her, she clicked again.

  “All done. Enjoy.”

  Jill’s tone was sarcastic but she was hurting badly. Leaning over, I slid my hands around her and pulled her close to me. I could feel the resistance in her because she was trying to protect her feelings. After a moment her body went limp and she began to cry softly.

  CHAPTER 30 - DANCING

  Gibson

  Jeez. My head is bursting. I woke up late in the day with the mother of all headaches. At first I didn’t know where I was and had little recollection of the night before. Then I remembered Syd asked for a favor. So we showed up to the launch party of a new band he’d signed.

  I racked my b
rain for some memory of what had happened to me after a certain point, but I drew a blank. There were snapshots of people in my mind, Toby, Len and a few other people I’d spoken with. Then I remembered drinking with Toby and me dancing with girls. Vague recollections of some random woman dancing naked on a table, but that’s all I could remember.

  What the fuck was I doing drinking? Toby had come to the launch but I couldn’t remember how he got there, and I found it impossible not to drink around that guy. Stretching out, I smoothed my hand down my abs in a gesture of self-comfort and stroked my morning wood resting my hand around it. Chloe’s soft, hot little body came into my mind and I instantly found myself stroking up and down my shaft slowly while her tight little ass played on my mind.

  I hadn’t even woken up properly and opened my eyes, yet I was horny just at the thought of Chloe. There and then I promised to make it home to her. Another day without her and I was going to be unbearable to be around. I began to think about her ass and how it felt over my hands and how good she tasted on my mouth. The more I thought about it, the wilder the fantasy and the harder I got. Within a couple of minutes I was tugging rapidly at it, but it didn’t feel like enough.

  When I came–my release was purely functional. There was no way my hand satisfied me. Nothing was going to appease my dick now that I’d been back inside Chloe’s tight little pussy with those smooth, slick little walls completely.

  Rolling to my right, I found a box of tissues on the nightstand and once I had wiped cum off my dick I stretched out restlessly again. I knew that it wasn’t going to be long before I’d be fantasizing about what I was going to do to her and about getting home to Chloe. I’d only been inside her for one night in months and I wasn’t sure whether that was worse now that I had been again, or if I should have waited until I had gotten back from this trip.

  I rolled to my left at the same time as I heard a loud female groan. Startled I edged myself up on my elbows and looked out into the large suite. Morgan was lying on a couch about fifteen feet away, on her side; her ass, except for a thong string, was bare and facing in my direction.

  Throwing myself back down heavily on the bed I was both pissed at myself and horrified at the situation, wondering what the hell she was doing back at Len’s place with me. With no memory of her from the night before, I had no idea how she got there.

  Nothing was coming to me, but my only saving grace was that she was asleep on the couch and not in my bed. Then I started to deduce I could have fucked her there then crawled into bed, so I dragged my ass out of bed and snatched my cell phone off the nightstand as I headed to the bathroom so she wouldn’t hear me and called Johnny.

  Johnny answered clearing his throat. He sounded rough, croaking, “Yep?” His tired gravelly tone pissed me off because he should have had my back. In a hissed whisper and a low angry tone, I asked, “What the fuck happened last night? Morgan is lying practically bare assed on the couch in my room. Please tell me I didn’t fuck her.” Raking my hand through my hair, I caught sight of how rough I looked in the mirror. My guts were in agony; twisting in knots at the potential I had done something so monumentally wrong. I prayed for everything to be a bad dream.

  “Why didn’t you keep her the fuck away from me? The last thing I remember is talking to Syd and the band. One minute Len was telling me that Toby had arrived and the next I’m doing shots and dancing. I’m never drinking with that fucking Toby again. Don’t let me do that ever again. Promise me you’ll knock me the fuck out before you let that happen again.” Johnny hacked a cough and grunted while he listened and I knew he was getting his shit together before he replied.

  “Gib, you were a fucking mess, dude. When I tried to have a quiet word with you, you told me…and I quote, “Mind your fucking business, Johnny. Just because I hire you to work for me doesn’t give you the right to tell me I’ve had enough to drink. You are crossing the fuckin’ line, dude.

  “Five months I held my shit together while Chloe’s head got straightened out, I deserve to have fun and enjoy myself with my buddies for one night. Sit back, relax, don’t fucking interfere. It’s not your place. You are not working tonight. Interrupt me again and you’re fucking crossing the line, understand? Or words to that effect.”

  Whoa! Fuck. I knew I was an asshole when I was drunk but I can’t ever remember saying anything close to that to Johnny before. The guy had always been reliable and practically invisible when I had nights out. Johnny usually managed my security effortlessly, so for me to behave like that I must have been feeling pretty out of my depth about something. Mumbling about being drunk and not knowing what I was doing, I struggled to apologize outright.

  “Just cut me some slack and give me the short version of what went on before Morgan wakes up. Fuck this is a cluster fuck.” I began pacing on the cold marble floor in the bathroom and rubbing my chest while I waited to hear the damage I’d caused. All I could think about was Chloe and how she was going to feel. I hadn’t even called her last night because I got drunk before I’d even thought about it.

  Johnny grunted again, like he was sitting up, I heard a noise like slapping skin and Johnny then he said, “Get up, doll you gotta leave now. Come on get your ass out of the bed and leave, I got a job to do. Thanks for everything, you were a great ride, honey.” I heard a very disgruntled female voice telling him he was an asshole, then some rustling followed by a hard bang, which I figured was his door.

  Suddenly I heard Johnny’s voice slightly echoing and then I heard him passing urine. “Fuck Johnny are you gonna have a shit and a shave as well before you fill me in, dude? Tell me what the fuck happened last night.”

  Johnny let out a huge puff of air slowly and I could feel whatever he was going to tell me was going to be bad. “Alright are you ready for this?” I wasn’t but I need to know what I was dealing with.

  “So as you know you got rat-assed-drunk. Tori arrived—Syd had invited her not knowing the drama she caused when she was with us. Once M3rCy had agreed to make an appearance he thought he’d better extend the invitation to her as well, because he had no idea that she wasn’t staying. Anyway, she waited until you were really drunk and made her move. To cut a long story short— her hands were all over you and I have to say Gib, the way you were dancing with her you were almost dry humping her.”

  “Fuck!” I was clearly off my face. There was no way I’d have gone near her had I been sober. How was I going to explain it to Chloe? If I was that drunk then I’m sure I made an ass of myself and let Chloe down.

  “Where does Morgan fit into all of this? Sweet, Jesus, I’m utterly fucked aren’t I?” My heart was aching in my chest at the thought that Chloe was going to have to deal with more shit and this time of my making.

  “You owe Morgan. Apparently she saw you had arrived in LA on TV, and when she saw the footage of the chaos as you arrived at our offices, she headed down from Sacramento where she was staying with friends. By the way she is still extremely pissed at you so don’t expect an easy ride when she wakes up.”

  “I’m not fucking her, Johnny.” Starting the shower faucet running, my mind was going over everything I could possibly say to Chloe that would make what happened at the party okay. There were no positives coming to mind with that particular exercise.

  “Jeez, Gib, I mean she’s going to ride your ass for what you did to her at the cabin up north.”

  My mind was so focused on being able to get myself off the hook about my legacy that I couldn’t even listen in context at that point. “All I can hear is you connecting me to riding her or her riding me so fucking change your language choices, the words you are using are making me more frustrated about this by the minute.”

  “Morgan wanted to talk to you so she showed up at the offices. You were the one that gave her a swipe card to enter the building in the first place. You haven’t taken that back from her. She has access all over the place. Her lanyard has shit on it that gets her everywhere. So Kiri, the big titted receptionist, gave her your whereab
outs and she showed up.” He sniffed down the phone and I felt he’d only given me half the story.

  “So…”

  “So she saw how drunk you were… you were completely trashed by the way, and she saw how Tori was behaving around you, like she was gonna whip your dick out and blow you on the dance floor, so she swooped in to save the day.”

  “Morgan did that? So, she dragged me away from Tori then what?”

  “Then nothing. When I told Morgan not to pull a fast one and take advantage of you being drunk she said, ‘I wouldn’t fuck Gibson if he were dying and it could save his life’.” Johnny laughed hard at that comment, then coughed and remembered who he was talking to.

  “What I mean is, we got you in the car and brought you back here, she stayed with you to make sure you didn’t choke...so you really didn’t fuck her?”

  Poking my head around the door to the couch, Morgan was still flat out. “Fuck, how can you tell if you fucked someone when they are lying unconscious?”

  Johnny started to laugh again but I was having a serious sense of humor failure. None of it was remotely funny. This was my life. Chloe was my life. The girl that was lying on my couch was someone I used to fuck. How does that look with my history and the fact that I don’t even trust myself not to get it wrong?

  “How much did you drink last night?”

  “Me? I don’t drink when I’m on duty boss.”

  “What did you drink when you got back here?”

  “Never got as far as drinking, my dick was down that broad’s throat before I’d closed the door here.”

  “Get the plane ready. I’m heading back to Breckenridge.”

  “But you got…”

  “Fuck, Johnny. Take your ass down to the airfield and get the fucking plane ready. I’m not interested in anything except seeing Chloe, although what the fuck I’m gonna say to her is gonna have to be all kinds of fuckin’ inspirational.” By that time my voice was loud because I wasn’t able hold back the fear of what this looked like even to me, and I forgot that I was trying to be quiet.