(Complete Rock Stars, Surf and Second Chances #1-5)

by Michelle Mankin

  Looking a little bewildered, she licked her lips. “Huh?”

  “I’ve got the rental. I could take you to see Patrick and his band. I think he’d like it if you went. Right, Patrick?”

  “Yeah. She’s always making excuses but the guys and I invite her all the time.”

  “Sure. I want to go.” She gave me a subtle look that I knew meant retribution was coming later for backing her into a difficult spot. “But are you sure you’re going to still be in town?”

  “I’m sure.” I wasn’t going anywhere. We had a show at Humphrey’s on Friday but after that the tour was over. We were taking a break. An extended one while we, mainly me, decided if we wanted to continue doing the rock band thing anymore.

  “Let’s go inside.” I put my hand on the center of Simone’s back a little lower than was proper but I had to feel the bare skin her cropped top left exposed. See if it was as satiny soft as I remembered. I was pleased to discover that it was. I leaned in close and lowered my voice. “I’m suddenly starving.”

  Chapter Six

  * * *

  Simone

  Dipping beneath the red Hodad’s awning Linc and I entered the restaurant through the open doorway. Loud rock music and the aroma of sizzling meat and onions hit me immediately. I noticed nearly every seat was filled from the VW bus that had been repurposed to seat two diners to the long surfboard shaped table that spanned the entire length of the interior. My stomach grumbled as I scanned for a spot. Meanwhile Linc began to rub seductive circles into my skin with his thumb.

  His touch was infinitely more devastating in its present position that it had been on my shoulder. Nerve endings flared with heat as he widened the circles under the pretense of guiding me toward an empty blue painted booth in the back. Murmuring an excuse about having to get back to work, Patrick waved over his shoulder as he moved away.

  “Thanks for not using the intimidating celebrity angle on him.” I motioned with my eyes toward where Patrick was clearing a table as I scooted onto the bench. His brow creasing Linc stared at me for a long beat before he eventually nodded once and moved onto the bench opposite. Had he been contemplating sitting on the same side?

  “I’m curious as to why you think I would?” His clear blue eyes searched mine while his fingers drummed on the polished wood table top.

  “Hmmm.” I arched a brow. “Maybe because of that guy thing you pulled out on the sidewalk. “Hey, Mona.” I made my voice as low as I could to mimic him. “You look smokin’ hot.”

  “Nice impersonation.” He laughed and his gorgeous eyes glittered with amusement.

  Hands folded on the table in front of me I waited for him to explain. I had answered his question. It was his turn to answer.

  “The celebrity shit isn’t a big deal to me, Mona.” He covered my hands with his. My gaze dropped to where we were joined and I was reminded of the first time he had touched me. My body had reacted much the same. Immediate attraction. A rush of heated desire that made my pulse pound hard. Lightheadedness. “Definitely not something I feel I need to mention when first meeting someone. It’s refreshing to just get to know people as a regular guy without all that.” He squeezed my fingers and withdrew his hand but my flesh burned where he’d touched me. My gaze fluttered up to his face. His sexy lips wore a slight frown. “I heard your stomach growling when we came in. What would you like to eat? I’ll go up to the counter and place an order.”

  I told him and when I insisted on having my own order of fries he lifted a querying brow. “What?” I scowled at him. He had to remember I loved fast food. I had always been the most excited about trying out each new greasy spoon as we had traveled up the coast all those years ago.

  “These portions look pretty big, babe.” He scanned me again, his gaze lingering on my eyes delving deep for truths I didn’t want him to discover.

  “Yeah? What’s your point? I missed lunch and I’m hungry.” I could feel myself getting defensive.

  “That’s not like you. Skipping meals.”

  “Ok first off you don’t know me well enough anymore to make a definitive statement like that.” I was working toward more than a little peeved now. “And I resent the fact that you think you do. Fifteen years is a long time. People change.”

  “You’re right. They do.” I got the idea he meant more than just their eating habits. He didn’t say anything else for another tense moment and I could tell he was a little angry, too. His jaw was clenched and his eyes were a darker blue.

  “I got busy at work,” I admitted, immediately regretful for my previous tirade and wanting to smooth things over. I didn’t want to be at odds. It wouldn’t serve any purpose for both of us to lose our tempers. “I didn’t have time for lunch.”

  “Fair enough.” His face lightened. He knocked on the table twice. But I think we need to talk about that when I get back.” He sauntered away beneath the surfboard that dangled from the ceiling weaving his way through the crowd made up of mostly locals dressed in casual worn beach wear like me. The menu of burgers on the dry erase board wasn’t complicated but they were delish. The shakes were legendary, big scoops of ice cream overflowing the silver mixing cups they were served in. They always came with extra spoons, too.

  But even more enticing than the menu was the walking away view of Lincoln. So sexy with his wide shoulders and lean torso encased in a navy half button hoodie and his tight ass outlined in dark indigo Buffalo jeans. The navy color made his eyes look even more hypnotic and made my heart beat even faster. I tore my eyes away from the temptation and dropped my head into my hands. I felt a headache coming on and rubbed my aching temples.

  Keeping my mind on the end goal and not on him was going to be a lot harder than I had initially anticipated.

  “What’s wrong?” Linc asked when he returned folding his leanly muscled frame into the booth on my side, scooting so close to me that his hard thigh touched mine. A memory resurfaced that I swept aside as quickly as I shifted away from him. His arm over the back of the bench. His beckoning heat. His enticing scent. I tried not to hyperventilate as I pressed closer to the wall. If only the physical distance I’d created between us would be all it took to overcome my weakness for him.

  “What the hell, Mona?” Linc frowned. “Why do you keep acting all panicked around me?”

  I tensed grinding my teeth together as I glared. Needing a moment to measure my words, I took my time and then some before responding. He drummed the table as he waited. “Stop it.” I squashed his fingers flat. “And stop pushing me. Stop touching me. Stop flirting with me. Just stop it, alright.” My stupid eyes filled the way they often did when I got angry. I squeezed them shut and pulled in a deep breath to collect myself before opening them again. He was staring at me and what I thought I’d seen in the parking lot the night before was right there blazing steadily inside his eyes. Warmth. Caring. Regret.

  Two of the three I’d seen there before but the regret was new. And I knew in that moment that putting a world of distance between Lincoln and me wasn’t going to make a bit of difference, not when he looked at me that way. Startled by the realization my eyes got wide.

  “I’m sorry, Mona.” He spoke softly almost as if he were afraid that if he spoke louder I would bolt. He was probably right. “Sorry that I screwed up with you. You were the best thing that ever happened to me. I miss you. Not a day goes by that I don’t think about you and what we had.” I blinked at him stunned completely silent by his words. “I know we can’t go back. I know it’s over for you. I can’t change the mistakes of the past. But I’m here and you’re here right now. Could you at least give me a chance to get to know you again?”

  I nodded. I couldn’t possibly form words. There were too many random thoughts running through my head and too much emotion clogging my throat.

  “Good.” He tapped the spot beside him. “Stop hugging the wall. You can sit closer. I won’t promise I won’t flirt. You’re a beautiful woman. I’m a man. It goes with the territory. I’m sure you’re
used to it by now. Own it. Accept it. You don’t seem to mind when Patrick does it.”

  “What? He doesn’t, and I don’t,” I sputtered. “You’re wrong. He doesn’t think of me that way.” My eyes drifted to Patrick who seemed to be watching the two of us closely. He smiled when he caught me looking, waved and lumbered over with our order and a large shake I didn’t remember requesting.

  “I brought you a vanilla shake. I know how much you love them.” Patrick shrugged as if his observation and thoughtfulness wasn’t a big deal. The casual movement made his toned muscles flex beneath his Hodads’ t-shirt.

  Lincoln lifted a brow as if to say, ‘See, I told you so.’

  “You’re right I do. Thank you, Patrick.” I busied myself taking things off the tray and arranging them on the table. I avoided looking at both of them as I dug into my burger. The extra sauce dribbled down my chin. Lincoln handed me a napkin.

  “I like a woman who can enjoy her food. Who has enough of a figure that there’s something to hold onto besides bones when I’ve got her in my arms. Wouldn’t you agree?” he turned his intense speculative gaze on Patrick.

  “Sure,” Patrick replied readily while looking at me and I caught the definite gleam of interest in his eyes that I had never noticed before. My brow creased. Knowing Patrick had a crush on me was going to make things awkward between us. “But she doesn’t eat enough.”

  “Yeah?” Lincoln popped a French fry into his mouth, chewed and swallowed. “Why’s that do you think?”

  Patrick glanced at me and shrugged keeping my secrets.

  Grateful, I beamed at him.

  His gaze traveling back and forth between us, Lincoln frowned.

  I knew Lincoln didn’t like being shut out but he would just have to deal. Accept the boundaries that I set for him. I had to maintain the barriers between us or else I was afraid I was going to give him whatever he wanted.

  Chapter Seven

  * * *

  Linc

  I watched her carefully out of the corner of my eyes while we ate. I caught her watching me every bit as cautiously. I had hoped my words would have made her relax more around me. I guess I’d been wrong. I finished my last bite, crumpled the waxy paper, wiped my mouth with a napkin and set my jaw determined to try harder.

  “How’s your shake?” I asked.

  “Good.” She scooped a spoonful and offered it to me. Her expression was so expectant I couldn’t refuse. I leaned in my eyes on hers and opened my mouth. She seemed to realize her tactical error immediately. If she was trying to maintain a distance between us offering to feed me from her own hand wasn’t the way to go about it.

  She tipped the spoon in and I wrapped my lips around it, my gaze conveying the message that I was imagining them around something infinitely sweeter. She pulled in a sharp breath that she didn’t immediately let back out. I added in a, “mmm,” before sitting back. She got even more flustered turning away and messing with her growing pile of discarded napkins.

  “I didn’t remember you liking sweets.”

  “Not usually,” I replied, “but I could be convinced. Could you give me another bite?”

  “Help yourself.” She slid the shake toward me.

  “Not what I had in mind, babe.”

  “That’s all you’re gonna get, Linc.”

  “Fair enough.” I grinned.

  She tried not to smile. Held it off pretty well but her lips twitched. “Ass,” she muttered with her eyes twinkling beautifully. She wasn’t one to ever hold onto a pique long except understandably at the end of us. I was glad to discover that trait of hers hadn’t changed.

  “You finished?” I gestured toward her empty plate.

  “Yeah.” She pushed back from the table and smoothed a hand over her stomach. “I eat anymore and I’ll pop.”

  “I wouldn’t want that.” I had lots of questions I wanted answered but it wasn’t going to be easy to get them. I had noticed the look that had passed between her and Patrick. She was wary about sharing with me. I understood her reticence. We had carved more than an inch out of each other fifteen years ago. But though I remembered the pain, lately I remembered the love better. I was willing to take on the risk to have her back.

  “Maybe it would help if we walked it off.” I was scooping our trash back onto the tray to throw it away when Patrick suddenly reappeared to take it from me.

  “You heading out?” he asked Simone. She glanced at me then back at him as if she were looking for an excuse to ditch me.

  No way, I thought. She wasn’t going to get away that easily. I played my trump card. “We still have things to discuss,” I reminded her.

  Not looking too happy about that fact, she nodded, slid out of the booth and put her hand on Patrick’s arm. “I’ll see you later at the beach.”

  I gritted my teeth and shoved my fists into my pockets so I wasn’t tempted to go all primal and rip the guy’s arms out of their sockets.

  “Let’s go.” She lifted her chin and headed toward the door. I followed and the spike of anger turned into something else as I watched her sexy ass sway in those linen pants.

  Outside, she drew in a deep breath of air. “I love this time of day. The salt from the ocean smells so good. I don’t know how you stay away.”

  How indeed? I turned away from the vision that was her and started down the hill to the beach. I semi offered her my hand as we strolled but she acted as if she hadn’t noticed. That was ok. I could bide my time. For a little while.

  “So what all is involved with this royalty deal?” she asked, the rise and fall of her tits as she breathed making it extremely difficult for me to concentrate.

  “Not a whole lot,” I hedged. “We’ll draw up a contract. Get the song produced. Split the royalties and residuals fifty-fifty.” I shrugged.

  “Yes but what do I need to do?” She didn’t seem surprised that I hadn’t tried to lower her percentage of the deal. Either she had some measure of trust in me or she didn’t know how underhanded things like that usually went in the entertainment world. An unknown like her versus someone in the business like me? In most cases she’d be lucky to get anything beyond a meager one time payoff.

  We reached the parking lot and for once I got distracted not by her but by my other love, the ocean. The sun had already set but the stars hadn’t yet come out. There was still enough light to see the waves curling in the distance. I pulled in my first deep breath. Moist and salty. My ears feasted on the siren’s roar of the surf. I closed my eyes imagining running into it with my fingers wrapped around the rails of my board.

  “Do you still miss it?” she asked softly.

  I turned away from one temptation and looked at another. Her hair swirled around her beautiful face and slim shoulders. She understood what it had cost me to give up the ocean but I avoided answering that question directly. She and the surf were so intertwined for me. I couldn’t tell her that it had been easier to get over losing it than her because that wasn’t strictly true. I had never gotten over her.

  “Sure. I’ve actually taken it up again just recently.” Short runs. Shallow waves. Safer waters.

  Her eyes brightened. “That’s fantastic.”

  I nodded. It was but being with her was better.

  “I’m so glad, Linc.” She touched my arm. “So, so glad.”

  I covered her hand with my own to hold her to me as we strolled along the firmer sand near the water. “How about you, Mona? I can’t believe you have a surf shop. That’s not at all what I pictured you doing. Where is it located?”

  “Here,” she admitted while twisting a wayward strand of her caramel hair. “In OB. It was Karen’s first but she sold it to me. She couldn’t bear to stay in town after…” She trailed off but I didn’t need her to finish. I knew and I understood. Memories had kept me from returning though mine weren’t nearly as devastating. So much had happened to all of us. But I was pleased that Simone seemed to be more comfortable sharing with me now. Had my revelation opened up things a littl
e between us? I certainly hoped it had. “I only went away for a while. It didn’t stick. This is my home now. I live in my parents’ place.”

  I stopped and turned her to face me. I didn’t like the idea of her living there at all. “With your mom and dad?”

  “No.” She pulled away taking a few steps to distance herself before turning back to face me while walking backward. “Just me now. My mom got the house in the divorce. My dad sold the business and moved away. She got sick with stomach cancer five years ago. He didn’t even come to her funeral. Not that I would want him to. I haven’t seen him in years.”

  Holy shit. There was a lot there to assimilate, a lot that she had gone through without me. Guilt and regret churned heavily in my gut. “I’m sorry, Mona.”

  “It’s ok.” But I got the idea that it wasn’t. Far from it. Looking lonely and distracted, she moved toward the water skimming her feet along the bubbles of foam. She’d had an awkward relationship with her mother but the one with her old man had been a twisted hateful thing. It was one of the reasons why I believed she didn’t have as much self-confidence as she should. But even though he wasn’t around anymore, I could tell that he was still hurting her.

  “I’d like to see your shop.” I measured my steps to match hers so I could walk along beside her but didn’t pry anymore. I had issues of my own with my father that made me feel vulnerable. I hated it for her as much as I did for myself.