Hard Rock Unrehearsed

by Van Dalen, Rene

  Jade followed Tag out of the guesthouse drowning in one of his hoodies, she was completely covered just in case one of the vultures had a vantage point, and a damned long lens, from which to take photos. Tag insisted on a workout and since she had missed her morning workout she had to make time for it now. He had already scaled down the intensity of her workouts and watched her like a hawk as she went through her routine. Tag knew her so well that he would spot her body going into distress almost as soon as she did. She worked diligently and her mind only started wandering once she started running on the treadmill, a fairly safe place to let that happen.

  In her heart of hearts she knew that she loved Diego more than she had ever loved Val and that made her sad and feeling guilty at the same time. Not that she had anything to feel guilty about. She had been faithful to Val, even after she had lost him. It had only been the last three years, maybe a little more, that she had started to notice the men around her in a sexual way. Ugh! No that sounded trashy! It was more like she had noticed when a guy was hot. When she shared that with Mel and Tag she had to suffer their gentle teasing with good grace. Not that she had told either of them how hot she thought Diego was! She had noticed it the first time Val introduced them but that was all she did, she noticed it. It was years later that she had fallen into an unrequited attraction to him. Or so she thought. Imagine her surprise when the man swept her feet from under her and she fell head over heels in love with him. Yip, she loved the man to distraction. The fact that she had slowed down to a walk on the treadmill was a clear indication! With a grin she started slowly speeding up again until she ran at a comfortable speed. Next to her Tag shook his head in pretend disgust, his eyes laughing at her as they ran.

  With her muscles feeling pleasantly warm and stretched Jade stood in the shower and let the hot water run over her. Diego had been gone since they got to the house and she wondered what he had been doing all day. Yes she knew he had the enormous responsibility of keeping them all safe and she appreciated how complicated that was at times. He had to ensure that chaos would not ensue at the stadium while they were there, or if it did he had to get them out unscathed. She had seen the blueprints he had of every stadium the band would perform at and she had seen his copious and meticulous notes in red pen all over those blue prints. Diego liked having the actual plans in front of him when it would have been a whole lot easier to work on his laptop. According to him it made visualisation of the stadium easier for him and it was safer. No one could hack a plan locked in his briefcase that was locked in his safe. Made sense, sometimes. What if someone hired a safe cracker? On that nonsensical thought Jade laughed and stepped out of the shower.

  The guesthouse was a new addition to Luis’s home and she had never stayed in it before. The last time she had been here it was still in the early stages of planning and she was pleased that some of her suggestions had been incorporated in the design. Like the main house it was fashioned after a Spanish hacienda with double volume exposed rafters, terracotta floor tiles and rough white walls. Spanish bars covered all the windows and heavy wrought iron and glass doors barred access to the interior. The central part of the house was open plan with the lounge running through to a small dining area and a fully functional kitchen. On either side of the open space lay the two bedrooms with their en suite bathrooms ensuring privacy to the guests Luis would house here. The guesthouse was decorated in creams and brick red with accents of blue. Squashy cream sofas with throws to cuddle under while watching TV or just lounging and a small wrought iron dining room table with four chairs filled the open space in front of the kitchen. Almost sheer white curtains covered the windows and doors while heavier brick red curtains were tied back on either side, ready to be pulled closed when more privacy was required. The bedrooms were much the same, both decorated in creams but one with blue curtains and one with brick red curtains. Jade had picked the one with the blue curtains which at this moment were tied back, leaving only the white curtains slowly stirring in the breeze.

  She stuttered to a stop as she saw the red, so dark it was almost black, dress and black underwear laid out on the bed, black shoes neatly placed next to it. A heavy card stuck up out of one of the shoes. Jade slowly walked over to the bed, picked up the card and recognised Diego’s handwriting immediately.

  Wear this for me please baby.

  I'll be waiting. D

  What the hell was the man up to now? Were they going out to dinner? Would he risk it? Hell yeah, her man would risk anything for her.

  Jade dressed as he had requested, everything fitted as if made for her. Did her hair and make-up, spritzed on a hint of perfume, slipped on the shoes and then she was ready. Her heart was beating rapidly as she slowly opened the door. Her mouth fell open in amazement as she stared at the scene before her. The guesthouse was semi-dark, the only light the soft flickering light of what seemed to be hundreds of candles set in wrought iron candelabra everywhere. The small dining table was set for two and shimmered white and silver, while the crystal glasses glittered in the soft flickering light. Red and purple flowers were the only colour in the centre of the table. Jade saw it all in seconds then her eyes met those of the man dressed in a black suit with an open necked black shirt standing to one side of the table. Good God but Diego Delgado cleaned up beautifully!

  Standing in the doorway to the bedroom she watched as he slowly walked over to her, took her hand and drew her to the table. She opened her mouth to speak but he placed a finger over her mouth and she shut it. Waiting for him to tell her what he had planned.

  “Please sit baby. I arranged a dinner for just the two of us. Tag has the night off and has gone out. He said to tell you that he will be back in the morning in time for your workout.” Diego said softly.

  Jade could do nothing but nod as she sat down in the chair that Diego held for her. She watched him as he walked over to the serving trolley she had missed seeing and pushed it over to the table. Placing one of the covered dishes in front of her he warned softly. “Careful baby, it’s hot.” Then lifted the lid and revealed one of her favourite dishes to her shocked eyes. Chicken and dumplings! It looked and smelt exactly the way it did when Letty made it. Letty had made it for a house full of shocked and bereaved children and a man who had lost the woman who had made life worthwhile. Already middle aged at the time Letty had retired when Jade was seventeen and lived in a small house on the vast Galloway estate, never far away if anyone needed her. She filled the role of the Grandmother none of them had ever had.

  “How did you know?” She whispered as she looked up at her smiling man.

  He shrugged. “I called your Dad who told me to call Letty. I did.”

  Jade laughed. “Babe no way would Letty just give you this recipe, she’s a dragon when it comes to her recipes.”

  Laughter glinted in his eyes as he answered. “I had to promise a bunch of stuff baby but it was no hardship to do. I was onboard with most of it already.”

  Riddles, the man was speaking in riddles! Watching him as he sat down opposite her at the small table she breathed in deeply and the aroma of the food, the candles and flowers mingled as she drew it deep into her lungs. Reaching across the table Diego took her hand in his, rubbing a thumb across the back as he looked at her.

  “Eat baby.”

  She fell on the food like a ravenous animal. It tasted so good! She was amazed when she cleaned her plate without any problems, she usually didn’t finish the food on her plate. Diego cleared the table, setting the plates in the kitchen and returning with two small plates filled with huge slices of dark chocolate cake with swirly cream icing. Heaven! Diego pulled his chair right up next to hers, sat down and held her hand as they ate their cake. His eyes were on her almost all the time, only glancing down when he forked up a piece of cake. She wasn’t finished when he pushed both their plates to the centre of the table and held her hands in his looking deep into her eyes. His beautiful eyes glittered in the candle light.

  “Baby I don’t have a lot of
flowery shit to say to you, only that I love you more than I ever thought it possible to love a woman. I want to marry you and I want to make babies with you.” He pulled one hand from hers, reached into his pocket and withdrew a little red velvet box. With his thumb he flipped the lid open and a flash of light revealed the ring as he put it down on the table and pushed the little box towards her with his forefinger. “I got you the dress, the shoes, the candles, the flowers, the dinner and lastly the ring, which I hope like fuck you like. Marry me baby.”

  Staring open mouthed down at the most beautiful ring she had ever seen Jade was speechless. Silence stretched between them as she stared at the ring. Diego’s voice brought her back.

  “Baby? Do you have an answer for me or are you going to sit there saying nothing for the rest of the fuckin’ night?”

  Her man was getting a bit testy while waiting. Reaching out she took the box and held it in the palm of her hand then she held it out to Diego.

  “Put it on me please.” She had hardly whispered the words when the box was out of her palm and the ring was on her finger. It was a perfect fit and so beautiful. Diego held her hand as she kept staring at her kickass ring. The diamond was big, but not so big as to be ostentatious, it was set in a wide platinum band and flanked by two smaller baguette cut diamonds on either side. The ring was so her! No high rise knuckleduster in sight! Her beautiful man was a genius. Smiling up at her man she leant towards him put her palm to his cheek and kissed him softly.

  “Yes babe, of course I’ll marry you.” She whispered against his lips.

  Diego yanked her out of her chair and onto his lap, kissing her deeply while her hands grabbed onto his shoulders then slid up into his hair. Still kissing her he rose with her in his arms and walked them into their room laying her down in the middle of the bed and covering her body with his.

  Lifting his head to leave a tiny space between their lips he whispered. “Soon baby, promise me it will be soon.”

  Staring up into his eyes she whispered back. “Okay babe. When you get back from the tour we can set a date.”

  But her man shook his head. “Uh-uh, no baby, not waiting that long. Tomorrow we set the date then you and Mel start planning the shit you need to plan. You tell me where I have to be and I’ll be there.”

  Grinning Jade teased. “Babe I’ll need you to make some of the decisions with me.”

  Her man shook his head while a tiny smile kicked up at the side of his mouth.

  “Nope, not getting involved in that shit baby. You have the vagina therefore you do all of that shit. I told you, you tell me where you want me to be on the day and I’ll be there. The only thing you will leave to me is the honeymoon, I’ve got that.”

  “You telling me you aren’t going to get involved in any of the preparations?”

  “Yip, that’s exactly what I’m telling you.” Diego grinned. “I’m a badass macho man baby, we don’t do wedding planning shit.”

  Throwing her head back against the cushions Jade laughed so hard tears ran from her eyes. But her man changed her laughter into gasps of pleasure as he proceeded to show her how much he loved her.

  And he loved her one hell of a lot.

  CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR

  A strange sense of emptiness swirled inside her as she stood in front of the mirrors in the dressing room realising that this would be the last time she would go out with Storm Front as their drummer. Over the weeks the guys had become like family and she was going to miss them. She would miss their jokes, their unswerving support when the shit hit the fan and the way they made it seem as if it wasn’t a big deal. But it was making music with them that she was going to miss the most. Pulling a face at herself in the mirror she turned away. That was enough of that! She would be working with them when they got back from Europe, so it was all good.

  “You look hot tonight sweet thing.” Mel teased.

  “It’s all your doing. If Diego has a shit fit about this I’m sending him straight to you. At least my guava is safe from exposure.” She laughed as Mel pretended to be shaking in her shoes.

  “He’s not going to have a shit fit at all. He will throw all of us out of the dressing room and bang you like a drum against the wall if he sees you before you go on.” Sally smirked.

  Jade grinned as she looked down at herself. “That’s a distinct possibility. The man likes my muscles.” Looking back up at her friends she shook her head. “I don’t know when his taste in women changed from tits and ass to muscled female drummers but I’m definitely not complaining.”

  Mel made an impatient sound with her tongue. “Don’t be stupid. The man has always watched you like he wanted to gobble you up. You just never noticed.”

  Before she could answer the dressing room door opened and the man they had been discussing walked in, only to go rock solid as his eyes took her in. Mel and Sally sneaked by him with knowing smirks, closing the door behind them.

  “Baby, holy shit!” He muttered softly as he moved towards her with blazing eyes. He got right into her, melding their bodies together. “If you didn’t have to get out there right now I would have had you up against the wall with your legs around my waist in a fuckin’ second. But seeing as you have to get out there we’ll leave that for later. I brought you something baby.” He whispered, his voice rough and deep.

  Only then did Jade notice the flat rectangular gift box in his hand. He didn’t give her a chance to get a word out before he ripped the red ribbon from around the black box and opened it. A platinum chain glittered against the black velvet, not so short as to be a choker, just a teensy bit longer, the chain wasn’t thick but it wasn’t thin either. It was a chain worthy of a badass rock star. Taking the chain Diego dropped the box on the counter behind her, took her left hand in his free hand then drew her ring from her finger. He kissed her suddenly very naked finger slid the ring onto the chain and fastened it around her neck. Turning her towards the mirror he stood behind her with both arms wrapped around her, drawing her back against his chest.

  “You don’t take it off baby, you play with it around your neck, later I’ll slide my ring back on your finger where it belongs. My chain will stay around your neck.”

  Jade lifted a hand to run a finger over the chain that kept her ring safe while she played. Her man was a possessive badass but he was still the best!

  “I love it babe.” She whispered as she looked into his eyes in the mirror.

  “Good. I’ll see you later.”

  With that he kissed her on both sides of her neck and like the ninja badass that he was he whooshed out of the dressing room between one blink of an eye and the next.

  The stadium was in an uproar! The fans were screaming for more but after four encores Storm Front was done. They had given everything they had to give to their hometown fans and even though they were on an incredible high they were tired, worn out after the long weeks of being on the road. They wanted to get to their dressing room, get cleaned up and meet with their family and friends at the after party. With a final wave they left the stage. Backstage was pandemonium with those who had passes mobbing them as they came off stage, thankfully Diego’s crew was there to get them through and into the dressing rooms.

  Knowing that they would be sleeping in their own homes and that they didn’t have to get on another plane for the next three weeks had the guys ready to party hard and finding a woman and blowing off some steam would definitely make it even better. They were looking forward to having Richie back but they would miss Jay. With anyone else the weeks without Richie behind the drums would have been a painful experience. With Jay filling his chair it had been a learning experience. Working with her had been an unexpected pleasure.

  The after party was rocking and looked to be a great success but Diego was having a hard time controlling his temper. Looking over the laughing crowd from the doorway Diego found his woman standing next to Trace talking to someone who was far too interested in her. He cursed his job tonight. He had to keep circulating, checking in
with Steele and his crew as they were battling to keep the party crashers out. These fuckin’ women were relentless! They wanted a piece of Storm Front ass and they would do anything to get it. And when he said anything that’s exactly what he meant. He could no longer count how many times he had been offered various sexual positions to let some woman into the party. He was losing his patience. He wanted to be standing next to his woman, not listening to some whacked out skank propositioning him so she could get into the party! Jerking his head to one of his crew to remove the bitch in front of him he started to move around her when she grabbed his junk.

  “What the fuck?” Diego snarled as he ripped the woman’s hand off him and shoved her at Pete. “Get this fuckin’ bitch out of here. She gets put on the sidewalk and if anyone lets her in they are fired.”

  Pete nodded and started dragging her away.

  “Oh come on! Your dick is hard. You want what I’m offering. I’ll give you anything you want, just get me to Trace.” She begged while fighting against Pete dragging her out fluttering her black mascara caked eyelashes at him. Good God she was hideous!

  “Get a fuckin’ clue bitch. My woman is inside looking like a fuckin’ wet dream which is the reason I’ve been hard as fuckin’ stone the whole fuckin’ night. Your scrawny fuckin’ skank ass won’t even get a twitch so get the fuck out of here and if I see you again I’ll have you fuckin’ arrested.” With that Diego had had enough and he stalked back into the venue where his woman waited.

  He was collecting his woman and dragging her out of here. They had yet to make the formal announcement of their engagement so she wasn’t wearing his ring on her finger. Which led to every dick in the room hitting on her and it was driving him slowly out of his mind. He wanted to let the fuckin’ world know that she belonged to him and the sooner he could get it done the better. As he neared Trace and his woman his blood boiled as the asshole talking to them dared to lay a hand on his woman’s waist, trying to draw her to him. He was going to fuckin’ kill him! He lengthened his stride as Jade took the fuckers’ hand off her waist and turned to Trace with anger in her eyes. The fucker didn’t back off and then Diego was next to him.