Interlude (Rockstar #4)

by Anne Mercier

Lucy nods at Sera and calls what sounds like her security detail.

  I see Spenser pull up the video of us last night and I know the exact minute she sees it. She makes a strangled noise in the back of her throat. Sera tells Spenser to play it and he restarts it from the beginning—the beginning of our dance. The entire dance. It's so fucking hot, just watching it has me hard again.

  "Oh my God," Lucy breathes out.

  "It's sexy as hell," Spenser exclaims.

  "Hell yeah it is," I say from where I'm standing behind them. She needs to know she's not alone.

  Lucy huffs. "Honestly Jesse."

  I can't hold back the smirk, I don't want to.

  "Don't you smirk at me."

  Again with the challenges. She's going to figure out that challenging me makes me only want to do it more.

  "I can't help it. This is amusing. You're amusing."

  "I'm amusing. Are you kidding me right now?"

  "Lucy, you're taking this too seriously."

  Her temper flares and her eyes narrow.

  "Oh hell, Jesse. Now you did it," Sera says.

  "What?" I ask with a shrug.

  "Her eyes are narrowed, her nostrils are flaring, her lips are thinned out. She's pissed. She's going to blow any second."

  "She can—" I begin with a grin.

  "You better not go there right now, hot stuff," Sera tells me with a laugh.

  I look at Lucy, who's turning red, and it's not from a blush, but anger. "You're probably right."

  Lucy takes a deep, calming breath. "So you saw the video, then?"

  I nod.

  "You know what?"

  I'm not sure if I should respond, so I don't.

  "For as hot and wet as I was last night on the dance floor, we should have just fucked right there."

  Sera laughs, Spenser coughs, and I get harder, my cock pressing against my zipper.

  "Perhaps we should have," I agree.

  She shrugs. "We may as well have. The only difference would be if we were naked, because we were all but fucking in that video."

  I step forward, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "Lucy, trust me. If we were fucking you'd know it. I'd be buried so deep inside of you, you wouldn't know where you ended and I began, and I can guarantee it wouldn't be over as quickly as that dance was."

  She licks her lips and I can all but smell her arousal. My lips hover just over hers. I want to pull her to me and kiss her senseless, strip her clothes off and take her right here, right now. The look on her face tells me she's thinking the same thing.

  I smirk and she lifts a brow. I wink at her, then lean in to press a soft kiss to her lips. "Soon."

  "Not soon enough," Spenser says. "Jesus, you two. Even I need a cold shower after that."

  "And Lucy's going to need some dry panties," Sera blurts out.

  My smile stretches across my face.

  "Do we need to do damage control?" I ask Lucy.

  She shrugs. "Nope. I really don't care anymore. I just hate my personal life being scrutinized, speculated, and dissected."

  I nod. "The life of a movie star."

  "That's not—," Sera says with a smile until Lucy cuts her off, shaking her head. Sera pouts. "Awww, why not?"

  I'm not sure what's going on, and I'm about to ask when Lucy changes directions.

  "Later. We need to get ready or Cage is going to get cranky. You know very well that a cranky Cage is not a good thing."

  "True enough," Sera responds.

  "Jesse, can I talk to you later? Not about," she waves a hand at the television and computer, "that, but something else."

  "Of course."

  She nods, her gaze focused on my lips. Damn. "I've got to go," she tells me.

  I nod. Lucy starts to stand up on tiptoe and I meet her halfway for a lingering touching of our lips. What is she doing to me?

  I pull back and rest my forehead against hers.

  "This is so going to complicate things," she whispers.

  "I hope so," I tell her with a pat on her ass. "Now go get ready."

  She squeals when I smack her ass and I laugh. She walks away with a bounce in her step and a grin on her face.

  Shit. Lucy's going to change everything. No, if I'm being honest, she already has.

  The day is long and tiring. We get through a lot of filming and the girls look wiped.

  "You said you wanted to talk about something?" I ask, remembering what she said earlier.

  "Yeah. Actually," Lucy answers, looking round. "Cage? Guys? Can Sera and I talk to you all in say, twenty minutes? I'd like to wash the mask off my face and get out of this ridiculous leather dress."

  "It's fucking hot," Kennedy says. It's the first time he's ever directly spoken to Lucy and the shock on her face is adorable.

  She laughs. "Thanks. It really is hot. It's making me sweat under my boobs and that's just gross."

  Kennedy laughs. "Too much information, girlie."

  She nods her agreement. "Twenty minutes?"

  We all murmur our agreement.

  Sera jumps up and down a bit as they walk back to the changing room.

  "What's going on?" Xander asks after they walk away.

  "I'm not sure."

  "For fuck's sake," Ben chides. "Go after her already. You look like someone stole your candy."

  "Not my candy. My Cupcake," I admit, then head toward the back changing room.

  "Gross," Lucy mutters.

  "What?" Sera asks.

  "Boob sweat. I need a washcloth."

  I can't stop the grin as I walk over to the sink and wet a washcloth, then head over to where Lucy's changing.

  "Well go get one."

  "I'm naked and I'm not putting that sweat trap back on."

  Fuck. She's naked and right on the other side of this partition. The temptation to take a peek is overwhelming, but I don't. I'll wait to unwrap my Cupcake properly. I knock on the other side of the partition and Lucy gasps. I drape my hand over the partition, dangling the washcloth.

  "Oh my God."

  "Yeah, you'll be saying that to me a lot, Cupcake." I swear I hear her eyes roll.

  "I can't reach, can you just drop it?"

  "Sure."

  I let go of the washcloth and she catches it. I hear leather rustling, then her breath of relief.

  "This feels amazing. God, Jesse, you have no idea."

  I chuckle, my grin wide. "You'll be saying that a lot too, but I'll have an idea because I'll be making it happen."

  She snorts, then more rustling and I know she's getting dressed. I adjust my erection in my jeans.

  "It's safe to come back here now."

  I walk around the side and eye the leather dress on the ground. It's crumpled up.

  "Did you trample it?" I ask with a raise of my brow.

  "Yes," she snaps.

  I smile. "Why?"

  "It sucked all the fluids out of my body and pushed them on and around my boobs and any crevices it could find. It's made of evil."

  Innuendos float through my brain about sucking fluids out of her body, but I hold back. Instead I grin and ask, "That bad?"

  "And then some." She ties her shoe and sits up and looks at me. "Sure, sure, laugh it up at my expense. It's all fun and games until I'm dehydrated and pass out and need you to resuscitate me."

  "Oh baby, I'll resuscitate you anytime you want."

  "Pig."

  "Oink."

  She laughs. "See? This is why."

  "Why what?"

  "This," she says, waving a hand around, "is why I think you're cute."

  "There's way more to it than that, Lucy. Stop lying to yourself. It'll make things easier in the end," I tell her straight faced as I take a step closer to her.

  "What things?"

  "You accepting that you're mine."

  Her eyes widen. "Yours?" she squeaks out.

  I nod, serious as a heart attack. She's mine and I'm hers. There's no way around it even if I wanted there to be.

  "You don't
seem too happy about it." She hops in the chair and Spenser helps her take off her makeup.

  "I wasn't happy about it six years ago in Chicago and I'm not happy about it now."

  "I have no idea what you're talking about."

  I grunt as she wipes the smears off her face.

  "You do. You felt it just as I did in Chicago. I saw it," I tell her, leaning in close.

  "That was a fangirl crush, Jesse."

  "Nope. It was more and you can deny it all you want."

  "I won't deny my attraction to you."

  "That's a good thing. You're sexy as hell so we're on an even playing field."

  "As far as that's concerned, yes."

  "I figure we'll just fuck it out," I say and she laughs. Spenser snorts. Lucy laughs so hard she snorts.

  "What's so funny?" Sera asks, walking over to us.

  I shrug and Lucy points at me, tears running down her cheeks from laughing. I'm not amused.

  "Fuck it out," she says and falls off the chair onto the floor laughing.

  My eyes then slide down to the floor, my legs on either side of her hips. I grab her arms and pin them above her head.

  She keeps giggling and it's pissing me off. This is a serious moment and she's laughing?

  "I'm sorry, Jesse," she says breathlessly. "It’s just… the way you said it." She giggles… again.

  That's it. I lower my face to within an inch of hers. "I guarantee you, Luce, you won't be laughing when you're naked beneath me—not unless I want you to. You'll be moaning and writhing and clawing up my back and shoulders. You'll be calling out my name as I make you come over and over again with my fingers, my tongue, and my cock."

  She's not laughing now.

  "Jesus," she whispers, her eyes heating up.

  I nod. "You'll be calling for him too."

  She's thinking, I can see it. I’m not going to let her think herself out of this. Hell no.

  "Not so funny, now is it?"

  She shakes her head, still thinking.

  "You're mine and it's not a joke," I tell her, staking my claim.

  "I don't even know what that means," she tells me honestly.

  "Neither do I, but we'll see how it plays out, yeah?"

  "Yeah, I don't think so," she says. I see the minute she starts to panic. She pushes me off and stands up. "Nope. No. Can't do that." She grabs a wet towel and finishes washing her face.

  "What?" I ask, crossing my arms over my chest.

  "The whole fangirl crush thing I had going on when I was younger? Sure it's still there and I'd be lying if I said I didn't want you in my bed. But yours?" She shakes her head in denial.

  She's going to make this difficult. Everything about me and her has been difficult, why should this be any different?

  "Yeah, mine."

  "I'm pretty happy being just me."

  I stare at her, knowing she's not going to admit to it just yet, but she will eventually. She knows it's true, just as I do.

  "If that's how you want this to go, I'll play along," I tell her with a shrug.

  "Jesse, this isn't a game."

  Not to me, no. "Sounds like you're making it one."

  "No. You are making it one. We barely know one another."

  "So what? We'll get to know one another—in and out of bed."

  "How do you propose we do that when we have one more day on this shoot and then we go our separate ways?"

  "We'll figure it out."

  She shakes her head again. "I'm not going to deny my attraction to you. That's just stupid, but that's it. Attraction, lust, want, desire. That's all."

  "You keep telling yourself that, Lucy." I tried that too. I'll let her hold onto that delusion if that's what she needs.

  "It's the truth."

  "Uh-huh."

  She huffs in frustration.

  "They're waiting for us. We need to go," I tell her, grabbing her hand and pulling her down the hallway. Spenser laughs behind us and I smirk. As we near the conference room, she struggles to pull her hand out of mine, but I just hold on.

  "Let go."

  "I don't think so." Not for a good long time.

  "Jesse. Stop."

  I meet her gaze and see fear and apprehension. I don't want to push her too hard. I don't want her to run from this. I lift our hands and press a kiss to her knuckles.

  "I'll let you go. For now."

  I release her hand and she rolls her eyes.

  "I'm not going to be yours, Jesse," she tells me without much conviction.

  "You already are," I tell her truthfully.

  With that, I walk into the conference room, leaving her standing in the hallway.

  "What the hell is wrong with that man?" I hear her mutter, and I grin as I take a seat at the table.

  She's mine. Mine. I'll help her see it and alleviate some of her fears while I do. She's not just another one in a long line of chicks to bang. Not Lucy. Lucy's more and that's what she doesn't realize. Not yet. But soon.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Jesse

  Past

  "What's shakin', doll?" Xander says to Lucy.

  "Hey," she says with a smile as she takes a seat. "Sera and I would like to talk to you all about…"

  "Our total life change," Sera interrupts.

  "What? You're getting sex changes?" Ben says with a chuckle.

  "No, smart ass," Sera glares.

  I hand Lucy a diet Coke and take a seat next to her. She forces a smile and I smirk.

  "Thanks."

  "No problem, Luce." I open the top of my Coke bottle and take a long swallow.

  "Jesus, Lucy. Look away from the hottie and let's get to business."

  I grin and Lucy blushes. "Uh, yeah. Sorry. So I was saying—"

  She gets cut off when the conference room door opens.

  "What's up, fuckers?" a dude I've never met before exclaims, and Sera and Lucy squeal and run over and hug him. Lucy jumps up, wrapping her arms and legs around him, and he smacks her ass. I frown, seeing a red haze around the edge of my vision.

  "Oh my God, we weren't expecting to see you here!" Lucy says.

  "Max said you were still here, so here I am," the dude replies.

  "This is awesome," Sera says with a laugh.

  I clear my throat, frown firmly in place, and Lucy turns to look at me. Then the damn infuriating woman rolls her eyes.

  "Everyone, this is Jace. He grew up with us and he's come out here to play with us."

  "Play?" I ask, still scowling.

  "Yeah," Lucy answers, walking back to her seat. "You see, after the whole club incident, I realized I was completely done."

  "What do you mean 'done'?" Cage asks Lucy.

  "Acting. Unless some phenomenal part with an amazing costar—"

  "Milo Ventimiglia," Sera interrupts with a smirk.

  "Yeah," she breathes. "Milo." She sits there for a few seconds, daydreaming about Milo. "I was saying, unless some really great part I can't pass up falls in my lap, I'm done."

  "Same with me for modeling," Sera adds, meeting Cage's gaze with a smile.

  Surprised murmurs fill the room.

  Cage raises his brows. "What does Regina say?"

  Lucy laughs. "She was not happy at first and was trying to talk me out of it until my dad jumped in."

  "Excellent. Good man," Cage says with a grin. "Does this mean what I think it means?"

  "It does."

  "What does it mean?" I ask, feeling as if I’m missing something.

  Lucy leans forward, looking around the table.

  "It means that as of yesterday, well last night, I'm no longer an actress and Sera's no longer a model and Jace no longer works at his dad's accounting firm. It means that we're going to come together—with a few others that we still need to find—and share our music with the world."

  "You're going to rock?" Ben asks with a grin.

  Lucy nods. "We are."

  "Fuck yeah." My Cupcake is gonna rock the shit out of it.

  Everyo
ne goes nuts. From "that fucking rocks" to "holy shit". The room is loud and boisterous and full of excitement.

  "Lucy, this is cool as fuck," I tell her, pulling her in for a hug. "Are you sure?"

  She's a fantastic actress. She's giving up a lot.

  She nods. "One hundred percent."

  I lean back and shake my head. This is seriously kick ass.

  Cage gets everyone to quiet down.

  "What do you need to make this happen?"

  I fucking love that he's on board with this. He'll do whatever it takes, especially, it seems, for Lucy and Sera. Apparently they're a lot closer than I imagined.

  "First I'd like to say I'm not sure why you've done it but you've befriended us and you barely know us," Lucy announces.

  "We know enough," Xander says. "You're hot, you're talented, and you're sweet and classy chicks. We like you."

  "Just like that? You're rockstars."

  "And you're an Academy Award-winning actress and let's not get to the nominations," he retorts. "Why are you befriending us? You don't have to be our friends to get in Jesse's pants."

  Oh, that fired my Cupcake right up and Xander knows it.

  "I wouldn't use you like that. That's just rude—" Xander's grin grows. "You totally played me," she tells him through narrowed eyes.

  Xander chuckles. "I did. You're really sexy when you're fired up. Now, as Cage asked, what do you need to make this happen?"

  "Band members," Sera blurts out.

  "Reliable, nondrug-using band members," Lucy adds.

  "Well, shit. That's easy," Ethan chimes in.

  "Easy? Even the nondrug-using part?"

  He nods. "We know a lot of people and I, personally, know a few guys and girls who are looking for a good band."

  "But we're not established and you know a lot of people are going to turn their noses up and really criticize because of who I am." Lucy looks to Sera and Jace apologetically. "They're going to see an actress not a musician."

  "Fuck them," Jace says.

  "Exactly," I agree. "Fuck 'em. Look at Jared Leto."

  Lucy snorts. "Jared Leto is in a class all by himself. He just stands there and women fall at his feet—add in his talent and you've got a phenomenal talent like no other."

  "So you'll be in a class all of your own. It's the talent that gets you there, the voice, the band, the music. You've got it all," I tell her, no lie.

  Sera sighs. "Jared Leto. Wow, those eyes of his and his smile."