by L. P. Maxa
When I played the first couple of cords my dad started jumping up and down like some crazed fanboy, making me throw my head back and laugh.
Hey kid, rock and roll
Rock on, ooh, my soul
I played my guitar like a champ, the chords to this song as familiar to me as the way the ranch smelled during the dead of winter. This was my dad’s favorite song and I loved playing it for him, even though I liked to give him a hard time about it. How it showed his age. He had his arms around M Kat and he was singing her all the words. If I didn’t want a repeat of last night, I needed to find a chick to take home. I searched the crowd, looking for the perfect short-term love affair. My specialty.
My eyes landed on a gorgeous girl with long brown hair that was actually singing along. That hot-as-hell girl wearing a midriff tank and cutoff blue jean shorts knew this ancient song? Yep. That was the one for me. Well, the one for tonight anyway.
Still looking for that blue jean, baby queen
Prettiest girl I ever seen
Well, it looked like I found her. And she was all mine.
I called one of my roadies over and whispered the girl’s coordinates and description in his ear. He’d get her backstage, say she won something or whatever she needed to hear to feel good about it. And then after the show I’d work a little magic. Easy as pie. I finished up my set with another three songs of my own and then shouted good night to the crowd. I walked straight over to my parents and let them hug me. “Well, what did you two think?”
“You know we loved it. You were great out there.” M Kat grabbed my face and placed a motherly kiss on my forehead.
“Thanks for the song, punk.” My dad clapped me on the back. “And for announcing that your very old and less talented father was here tonight. It’s going to be chaos trying to sneak out.” He looked around backstage like he was already planning his exit.
“I have tons of security and a no access backstage, we’ll be fine.” I slung my arm over his shoulder and pulled him close. “I just need to grab a little midnight snack and then we can get out of here. Feel me?”
He laughed. “I think this is exactly the kind of behavior that Kate says I should discourage.” Then he shrugged. “But who am I to make you keep it in your pants, I never did.”
I turned to go find my little blue jean baby and stopped short. There she was. Talking to M Kat like they were besties. Well, wasn’t that just convenient as fuck? “M Kat, are you going to introduce me to your friend?” The girl I’d picked out from the stage was even more beautiful up close. She had a tiny nose and pretty brown eyes. She had high cheekbones and a slender neck. She was like ballerina beautiful. Like she belonged in a sponsored story for Coachella.
“Mason, this is Payton Adkins. Payton, this is my stepson, Mason.” M Kat looked between us, her eyes narrowed and suspicious. Yeah, she knew me well enough to see the excitement on my face. “Payton did a rotation in the ER a few months ago. She just graduated from nursing school.” M Kat still worked part time, even though she definitely didn’t need the money.
A sexy nurse and the prettiest girl I’d ever seen? Could this night get any fucking better? “Payton, it’s nice to meet you.” I took her hand in mine and held it for just a smidge longer than necessary. Not long enough that it was creepy, but long enough for her to know I was interested. “We were about to head out and get something to eat, would you like to join us?”
Payton smiled, but waved my words away. “Oh, uh, that’s really nice of you. But I don’t want to impose.” Her green eyes met mine and she bit at her lower lip. Fuck. I wanted this one bad. It was always the sweet, polite ones that I had the most fun with. It was like they were just waiting around for a reason to be bad.
Insert M Kat, with enough manners to cover the whole family. “Don’t be silly. It’s so good to see you, please come with us.” M Kat looped her arm through Payton’s. “Besides, it’ll be nice to have another girl around. It’s usually just me and those two.” She jerked her thumb in our direction, leading Payton toward the exit.
My dad and I followed.
Discreetly, he held his fist out. And discreetly, I bumped it.
Chapter Three
Mason
Before
Once we were in the car and M Kat saw all the traffic leaving the pier to head toward town, she suggested that we just go to the ranch and eat there. Just like I knew she would. M Kat hated sitting in traffic, plus she really didn’t like Dad and me eating a lot of fast food. My dad’s driver brought the Tahoe tonight, so unfortunately Dad sat up front and M Kat and Payton sat in the captain’s chairs. Which left me lonely in the third row. I didn’t dare complain though. Payton was on her way to my house, and I hadn’t even had to lift a finger. Which was good because it turned out that Payton was really smart and not at all a groupie. She got the tickets to my show for free, from one of her friends. Apparently the girl had ditched her for some dude the second my show started.
The women chatted and I listened to their hospital stories until we got to the ranch. Then, while M Kat cooked in the kitchen, we’d all sat around the island, talking and sharing a bottle of wine. I couldn’t tell if my dad was cock blocking me, or being a good wingman. He kept telling Payton stories about me as a kid. Embarrassing things I’d done or seen on the sets of his movies, and about other celebrities that adored me. Either way, he was making her laugh. And her laughter was one of the best sounds I’d ever heard.
Once our late night dinner was ready, we all gathered around the dining room table. Payton wasn’t trying to talk to me, or get my attention. Which was a little different than what I was used to working with. But every now and then I’d look up and catch her staring. So she at least thought I was hot. Who wouldn’t?
“Payton, did you grow up around here?” My dad wiped his mouth with a napkin and smiled at her warmly. I couldn’t help but laugh a little. My dad had banged chicks her age before he’d fallen for M Kat, and now he began to lay on the father small talk pretty thick.
“I grew up in McAllen.” She took a sip of her water and I tried not to stare at her throat as it worked to swallow. She was really fucking sexy without even trying. “I went to Kingsville A&M and then came back this way to do my clinical for nursing school.”
“She was the top of her class and the best nursing student we’ve ever had on rotation.” M Kat leaned back in her chair, resting her hands on her stomach. “It takes a special person to be able to deal with the chaos of the ER and Payton handled every shift with ease.”
She shrugged, with a small smile. “I have three older brothers, I was pretty much raised in a constant state of chaos.”
“Three older brothers? Wow.” My dad sent me a quick holy shit look. I knew exactly what it meant too. Be careful with her or her brothers might come kill you in your sleep.
“My parents were both only children and decided they wanted a bigger family.” She laughed. “They went a little overboard if you ask me.”
“I don’t know how your mom kept enough food in the house. Geez, these two put away more than a herd of cattle.” M Kat gestured over to us with her blonde head.
“Speaking of, that fried chicken was delicious, babe. Thanks for cooking.” My dad placed a kiss on M Kat’s waiting lips and then headed toward the sink to do the dishes. Growing up my dad and I had round-the-clock, live-in help. Once he married M Kat, she insisted that we only needed the staff every few days or so. And now the spoiled man-child was cleaning the dirty dishes and putting them in the dishwasher. Would wonders never cease?
Payton chimed in with a thank you, so I did too. “You are all very welcome.” M Kat yawned loudly. “Now if you will excuse me, I’m going to go pass the hell out. This baby growing business is exhausting.” She kissed me on my forehead and hugged Payton good-bye. “It was so good to see you again. You let Mace know when you’re ready to leave and he’ll call the driver.” Payton smiled and nodded. M Kat grabbed my dad’s hand. “The dishes can wait, come tuck me in.”<
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Of course he got a wicked little glint in his eye. “Yes, ma’am.” He winked at me on his way out the door. “You kids should go out to the pool, all the lights are off and you should be able to see about a million stars.”
Nice setup, Dad. Once they were both out of earshot I turned to Payton. “You game? It really is amazing out there.”
“Okay, sure.” I wanted to raise my fist in triumph, but I didn’t, because I was a rock star. “We’ll be able to know when the driver is here, right?”
Ego only slightly deflated. “Sure thing.” I pulled out my phone and pretended to text the driver. I’m not an asshole when it came to taking what wasn’t offered or anything, I just thought she was being a little hasty with her departure. I would give it ten minutes under the stars and if she still seemed like she wanted to leave, then I’d text him for real. No harm, no foul.
I undid the sliding doors, which disappeared into the wall, opening the dining room and the back patio into one giant room. My pops was right, with none of the pool lights on, the stars looked incredible. I led Payton over to a longue chair and sat her down, throwing my leg over the other side and sitting behind her. Bold move, I know.
“Uh, there are about ten other longue chairs out here.” She was stiff in her seat, her beautiful hair blowing in the night breeze.
“True, true.” I put my hands on her shoulders and brought her back against my chest. “But this is the most comfortable way to look at the stars. Trust me.”
“Does that line usually work for you?”
I couldn’t help but grin. “I’ve never tried it before. You’re the first girl I’ve ever brought out here like this. So, you tell me.”
“Nope.”
This chick wasn’t going to make it easy for me. I got up and pulled another chair over to her as close as I could. It basically made a giant bed. I sat down, my arm against hers. “Better?”
She took a deep breath and then let it out. “You smell really good.”
“I always smell good. It’s a curse.”
I smiled as she tilted her head back some, looking up. “It’s so pretty. I’ve never seen the stars like this. Did you grow up here?”
“Yeah, we’ve lived on the ranch ever since I was two. My dad bought it after his second big movie.”
“You and your dad seem really close. You actually remind me of two of my brothers, Poe and Parker. They are about three years apart. Parker is the oldest and then it’s Poe and Paxton.”
“My dad is for sure more of an older brother than he is a father. He was only seventeen when I came along.” I never faulted him for it, mainly because I had no reason to. I’d always felt loved and safe and happy. Maybe he let me go and do as I pleased a little too often, maybe I didn’t have a curfew or a bedtime, but I had a great childhood and he was always my biggest fan. “He tries and things have changed a lot since M Kat came into our lives.” I reached over and ran my fingers through her silky brown locks.
“What are you doing?” She straightened slightly at my touch.
This one was touchy, one wrong move and I knew she’d bolt. “Your hair looked really soft, I couldn’t help myself. I’ll stop if you want me to.”
“Stop.”
I stilled my hand and rested it back at my side. “Okay, sorry.” I told her I’d stop, so I had. Not because I wanted to, but because I wanted to earn her trust. I was kind of a prick, but I could come across like a prince when necessary. I pointed up at the stars. “I live in New York now and it’s been months since I’ve seen the night sky like this. I’ve missed it.”
“Kate talked about you all the time. She would show us YouTube videos and articles about your music. She’s really proud of you.” She laughed. “All the girls would beg her to introduce them. They all wanted a piece of Mason Maxwell.”
Here was my opening. “What about you? Were you one of those girls?” I poked her in the ribs, trying to tickle her. She elbowed me in the stomach, causing me to huff out a breath. Damn. She was strong.
Payton laughed again. “No. Sorry, rock star, but you aren’t my type.”
“I’m everyone’s type, sweetheart.” Short-term anyway.
“Cocky attitude with practiced lines? Not really what I’m looking for in a guy.”
Who was? But here was what she’d yet to figure out; I wasn’t her guy. I wasn’t anyone’s. I was a good time and a fun story to tell your friends. When it came to hot one-night stands, I was what you wanted, what you needed, and everything you craved. “I’m not asking you to marry me, sweetheart.” I wouldn’t do that until I was way older, like my dad.
She sat up and turned to face me, sitting cross-legged. “What are you asking me, Mason? The backstage summons, the chair, the stars. What are you trying to get?”
Fuck she was hot. Her brown eyes were so dark they almost appeared black, her hair so brown it was the color of chocolate. Her skin was lightly tanned from the sun and her lips made me lose my train of thought. “I’m asking for one night. That’s all.”
“You’re asking me to be your one-night stand? Are you serious right now?” She came across indignant, like she couldn’t believe my audacity. But see, I knew how to read between the lines. It was a skill I’d honed to perfection. Her pupils had dilated at my offer, and her nipples had gotten hard under her thin tank top. She had goose bumps on her arms, and although there was a breeze, it wasn’t cold out here. If she was pissed, she would have stood up. But she stayed rooted in place, her leg pressed against mine. She may hate the fact that she wanted me, but she did want me.
“Give me three minutes and if you still want to leave, I’ll walk you to the door and I’ll never bother you again.” I held my left hand up and put my right over my heart. “Hand to God.”
She pursed her lips and narrowed her gorgeous eyes. For a brief second I thought I’d read her all wrong and pushed too far. But then she grabbed my phone and set the timer for three minutes. She shrugged. “Go.”
Some girls wanted a full-fledged attack, they wanted to be manhandled, they wanted to be so consumed by me, they couldn’t possibly think about leaving. Those were the ones that I would pick up and haul against me, devouring them without letting up when the three minutes were over. But not this girl. No way. If I did that she’d leave without a backward glance.
Softly, I put my hands on her face, gently bringing our lips together. I kissed her sweet and slow, lazy. I waited for her to open before I invaded her mouth with my tongue. I waited for her to let out a soft little moan before I snaked one hand around her waist and pulled her closer. I moved my other hand into her hair, holding her firmly, but not aggressively, against me.
And right before the timer went off I moved my lips to her ear and whispered, “You taste so fucking good, Payton.” I kissed that spot just under her earlobe, trailed my lips down her neck, then backed away as my phone started to ding.
I held her gaze, pretending like I was searching for her answer. Begging for it. When in reality, I knew I already had her. She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth. “One night?”
“One night with a rock star. And I’ll make it count, I promise.” Her eyes stayed on mine, like they were searching for something.
“Okay.”
I gave myself a mental fist bump and then grabbed her around the waist. I stood and she wrapped her sexy legs around me. “Where do you want to start, sweetheart? It’s your choice.”
“Start? Is there already a location in which we will finish?” She raised an eyebrow, challenging me.
“My bed. It’s one o’clock in the morning and very soon, you’re going to be very tired.” I winked.
“Oh yeah?” She was going to dare me until the second she walked out the door. And I would fucking love every second of it. “What are my options?”
“Hmmm. The pool? The stables? The media room? That one can be with or without porn on the big screen, ladies choice. Let’s see, my bedroom? We could just do a marathon in there. The shower?” Before I could say a
nything else the warm wind picked up and it started to sprinkle. We looked at each other and grinned. “The pool? In the rain?”
“Sounds like the perfect place to start.”
The universe was on my side tonight, that was more than apparent. A hot as hell girl who knew all the words to my dad’s favorite song? Who happened to be close to M Kat? I mean getting her here was a breeze. Now we got to fuck in the pool, in the rain, a la Perfect Catch? The Gods loved the shit out of me. There wasn’t even a chance of rain in the forecast.
I sat her down and crossed my arms over my chest. “Strip.”
The rain was picking up and our clothes were getting soaked, but she shook her head. “You first, rock star.”
It took me all of ten seconds to rid myself of my clothes. I was standing before her buck ass naked with my hard-on at attention between us. I gestured to her. “Your turn, sweetheart.”
She peeled off her sopping wet shirt and tossed it to the ground, then shimmied out of her cutoffs. When she was in just her black bra and matching thong, she turned and dove into the pool so gracefully she looked like a mermaid. I jumped in after her, not nearly as smooth. When I came up she was on the other side of the pool, her lingerie floating beside her. If I weren’t in a pool during a downpour, my mouth would have gone dry. She was so damn beautiful. She was like M Kat kind of beautiful.
Payton was sexy as hell, but so much about her radiated from within. From the person she was. I’d been with enough pretty but shallow chicks to know the difference. I swam over to her and she wrapped her long legs around my waist. “Condom? Or did you leave it all the way over there in your pants?”
