“You must have gotten the water to hot,” Hollie decided as I blinked slowly at her. “You’re all flushed and everything. Plus, you look a little woozy.”
Yeah you think? A man who resembled the mighty Thor with his long blond hair and piercing blue eyes staring at you in the buff was a little disconcerting. Ok a lot. I gave her the look, the one that said all of that with an added a plea for her to let it rest. She knew about my infatuation with Ashland Keys. She knew he lived in OB. When we had gotten stuck here, I had told her I would keep my distance. I knew she worried that my seeing him again would stir up the old pain of his rejection. I convinced her my only concern was him recognizing me and blowing my cover, that the whole fangirl phase of my life with him and his band was over, that he couldn’t affect me anymore. Apparently I had been lying to myself as well as her. One interested glance from him left me trembling. His penthouse might be a better place than the streets was for us right now, but it wasn’t entirely safe.
Not for me.
“You shouldn’t have showered alone.”
Um, what? My gaze swung to him. I was pretty sure Hollie’s jaw came unhinged as he strode directly to me and swept me off my feet.
Again.
“Uh, how else am I supposed to get clean?” I asked unsettled by the way his touch singed and sent shimmery sensations skating through me even through the thick cotton towel.
“Your sister can help you.”
“Oh, yes, of course.” My addled mind had processed his statement as a naked party invitation for two. Us two. Aftereffects of the hotness assault on my senses continued as he effortlessly carried me into the bedroom.
“I don’t need to be toted everywhere, big guy,” I protested as he gently deposited me in the bed. His hair silky cool against my hands, I unwound my arms from his strong neck, faster this time around than the previous time he had carried me. But I self-indulgently allowed my fingertips a long lingering glide along the smooth skin of his shoulders. His eyes darkened as if from desire, and I felt him shudder as I withdrew them. “I…I have a busted nose not broken legs.”
“You fell,” he reminded me, his gaze cobalt and intense as he stared down at me, his eyes actively searching mine.
“I slipped,” I corrected, and he smiled slowly. My disagreeing with him seemed to please him.
“You’re feeling better.” It was a statement, but it held enough of an up tilt at the end that I answered.
“Yes. All the rest is helping a lot.” I hadn’t slept so soundly since before Hollie and I had fled. “The compresses, too. Only my nose hurts, and I’ve got a killer headache.” My bum hurt, too, but I didn’t mention that.
“Tylenol again today and alternating warm compresses and ice packs for the swelling. Does that sound good?”
“Yes.”
“Alright.” He straightened. I tipped my head back reluctant to give up his gaze. “Karen’s coming over with more food. Some clothes.” His eyes swept over me, and I suddenly remembered my near nakedness. “You can wear one of my shirts until she gets here.”
“Um, does she have to come in?” I tipped my head to the side to regard Hollie. She was hovering in the periphery. Her eyes shared my concern about Karen recognizing her. Her bottom lip creased between her teeth while my hands did a nervous flutter. “I mean, I appreciate her bringing those things over. But…” I struggled for a believable excuse. Ashland might not have recognized Hollie. He was a guy. Ten years and then some from her major teenage fan demographic. But Karen and Simone were a whole other matter. Fashion conscious women. Likely readers of celebrity magazines. Hollie had graced the covers of the major ones before we had fled. Now it was likely we were both featured in a media blitz with whatever spin our stepfather had put on our disappearance.
“What Fa-Frances won’t say is that she’s embarrassed to have Karen see her like this.”
“I understand.” Ash’s gaze swung back to me. Just a look from him made my nerves hum. “But Karen knows what happened. I prepared her. She’s not the type of person who puts a lot of stock in outward appearance anyway. She’s not gonna care if you have a broken nose or no nose. Only that someone who matters to her got hurt.”
I nodded. Sudden emotion made my throat too tight to speak. I had gotten those vibes from Karen for sure. From both her and Simone. But Karen had moved beyond that, taking an active interest, seeking me out at the recycling center and getting involved now when most would have distanced themselves from a woman whose life was such a mess. If she only knew the half of it.
“Don’t stress about Karen. I’ll explain to her how you feel. She’s not gonna like it. But I’ll tell her you’ve got enough to worry about right now. To give you a little space to process and get your body better before she hits you with the full press of her concern. But I hope you get that we’re both here to help you however we can.”
“Why?” I held my breath as his gaze narrowed even further. “You’ve been chasing me and now I’m here in your apartment. I don’t understand why you want to help me.”
“I was chasing you to thank you for saving Karen’s life. She’s important to me. To all of us. I think just from the little you know about her you’re getting an inkling why.”
For sure I did, so I nodded. I got that both he and Karen were extraordinary people.
“I took the thanking thing a little too far.” He got a look on his face that gave me the impression there was more behind his motivation to pursue me, but he had decided it wiser not to share. “I feel responsible for you being on the street as long as you were. If you hadn’t been running from me all the time you might already have been off of it. You’re on Karen’s radar. She’s not going to give up on you, and neither will the rest of us. You sealed your fate the day you pushed her out of the way of that moving vehicle. With her, with me, Ramon, Simone, Linc. All of us. You proved the type of person you are, a sacrificial one who would risk her own safety for another, a person like Karen. A person herself worthy of saving.”
Chapter Ten
* * *
Fanny
“Whoa,” my sister announced, and we shared an incredulous look. Ashland had left the room. We stared at the damaged door leaning against the jam. It could probably be restored to functionality. But it needed to be reattached to its hinges first. “I must say I never really understood your fascination with him until now.”
I burst out a laugh.
“I didn’t know men like him still existed.” She smiled. “Busting down doors, carrying in distress damsels, looking like Chris Hemsworth while waxing poetic.”
“He’s a rock star. They’re sort of like poets.”
“He’s hot.”
“He is but…” I shrugged. “He’s not interested in me that way.”
“That look he gave you in there,” she hooked a thumb over her shoulder, “didn’t say ‘not interested’, Fanny.”
“He’s a guy, and I was naked,” I countered, but it was worth noting that she had read the situation the way I had.
“Keep telling yourself stuff like that if it keeps you from clamming up around him.”
I didn’t reply. I wanted to believe that he could be attracted to me, and I did get tongue tied around him for sure, no use denying it. I reached for my clothes. She shook her head and gestured to his closet. “He told you to put on one of his shirts until Karen gets here.”
“But they’ll smell like him,” I grumbled. The bed was bad enough. I kept pushing the blanket away to sleep, and he kept returning to tuck it around me.
“You like the way he smells?” She gave me an apprising look. She knew how I was about scents.
“Yeah,” I admitted.
“You aren’t over him.”
“Can we please not talk about this right now with me practically naked, the door busted and him just in the other room?” I whispered with my watchful gaze on the darkened hall.
“Sure, but don’t you think this is fate’s way of giving you a do-over for what happened a y
ear ago?”
“Almost two.”
Her knowing smile widened.
“Fate’s got nothing to do with it. It was just me and my silly crush.” I had obsessed about Ashland from the time my body had started changing as a teen, associating him and his music with every major milestone thereafter. Hollie had her video entertainment. I had the Dirt Dogs, and a different album for every deteriorating phase of my mother’s and Samuel’s relationship. I had played their ‘Sometimes Forever Never Comes’ album over and over again after her death. The bleak theme had seemed to echo my sense of loss. Probably because the band had lost Dominic around the same time I had lost my mom.
The doorbell suddenly rang. I jumped. “You’ve got to stay out of sight,” I hissed pointing at the bathroom. “Go.” Hollie looked like she wanted to say something more but only nodded and complied. I went to the walk-in closet, stepped inside and grabbed the first shirt I saw drawing it over my head. Soft, worn, mauve hued cotton slid into place the hem skimming my thighs just as I heard Karen’s voice. I swayed, not because she was inside the apartment and could potentially see Hollie, but because his shirt smelled that good.
I moved to the hall and cocked my head to listen.
“Is she asleep?”
“No.” He made a sound. “Definitely not. She just got out of the shower.”
“And you’ve got a weird look on your face like you got caught doing something you shouldn’t. Something you liked a lot apparently because your mouth’s doing that wicked curve thing… What gives? Uh-uh. Don’t give me the shoulder shrug, Ash. That’s what guys do when they’re trying to pretend that something isn’t a big deal when it really is. So what happened?”
He said something low.
I took a step closer.
“You saw her naked?!” This time there was a feminine cluck of disbelief. “And she’s worried about me seeing her without any hair?”
“She’s a girl.”
“Yes, I know she is, and I bet you have a more than fair idea on that count now, too.”
“Frances!” she called. I jumped again.
“Yeah,” I returned.
“I don’t give a damn about how you look. What I care about is that some creep terrorized and hurt you. Do I need to add Ash to the list of persona non grata?”
“No. It’s ok. I fell stepping out of the shower. He came to my rescue.” Twice now it should be noted. “It was an accident.”
“Well ok, I guess. But you know you and your sister can come stay with me. There’s plenty of room with me and Ramon.”
“Thanks.” My eyes burned. No one had ever fought over me before. Sure my mom had wanted me around. But my stepfather and his superficial celebrity crowd? Not so much. Not that I had wanted to fit in. “We’re fine here.” And we wouldn’t be staying long anyway. Just until I regained my strength.
“I brought stuff for both of you. Clothes. Underthings. He guessed your sister’s size. Shampoo, moisturizer, bath gel so you don’t smell like this loser. I’m leaving it all here with Ash. And he has my number if you need anything else or even if you just want to talk things through. Call me, ok?”
“Ok. Thanks, Karen.” My eyes burned. I found myself overcome once again by her kindness.
“You’re welcome.”
I heard murmuring after that. It went on for a couple of minutes. Then Karen shouted out a goodbye which I returned and I heard the door clicked closed. I had barely taken a step backward when Ash suddenly appeared.
“You eavesdropping, little one?” His deep voice and his hum inducing gaze swept over me.
“I’m not little.” I raised my chin
“No you’re not.” He considered me intently.
“That’s not what I meant.” I flushed. It was impossible to miss the suggestive glint in his eyes. Obviously he was recalling seeing me naked. “I meant, I’m not small in stature.”
“You are in comparison to me.” He took a step closer, his much larger compellingly masculine frame overshadowing me as he glanced over my head. “Where’s Hollie?” The sound of running water was an answer to his question apparently. His gaze returned to me. “You look nice in my shirt.” His voice had gone so low I had to suppress a corresponding shiver. His lips slowly curved up on one side.
“You wanna stay dressed like that I certainly don’t mind, but if you wanna come into the other room, there’s lasagna I can heat up and there’s a shit ton of clothes to sort through.”
“I love lasagna.” My mouth started to water.
“I think most chicks would’ve gotten glassy eyed about the four shopping bags of clothes.”
“Most chicks haven’t been combing through the trash the past few weeks for food.”
His eyes pinched registering the punch of that truth. “I hear you. Are you gonna cry if I tell you there’s salad and garlic bread to go with the lasagna?”
I nodded.
He grinned. “I’ll get you a box of tissues.”
• • •
Ashland
All I did was microwave the lasagna, but I got an inordinate amount of satisfaction watching Hollie and Frances scrape their plates clean. The first and the second go around.
“No more.” Hollie waved off the refill on her Sprite.
“Frances?” I questioned with the half full liter bottle of soda poised over her empty glass.
“No. I can barely finish what I’ve got. I’m about to pop.”
“More pain reliever?” I studied her face. The swelling had gone down some around her nose and the bruising was less pronounced beneath her eyes. The warm-cold treatment we had instigated seemed to be working already, but she was proving to be stoic about her pain. The only indicator that she was hurting again was in her eyes, and those were starting to widen enough for me to get a read.
“Yes, you need some,” I answered for her. “You’re waiting too long between doses. The key is to stay ahead of the pain.” I remembered that from Linc’s surf injury. “Let me get the Tylenol.” I pushed back from the table to get the caplets, reaching for her empty plate planning on dropping her dish in the sink on the way into the kitchen, but her sister stopped me.
“I’ve got the dishes.” She gave me a firm look. “You can take care of Frances.”
“Ok.” I dipped my chin to acknowledge her and turned to Frances. “We have our orders. You get to the couch with what’s left of your drink. I’ll bring you the meds and the warm compress and ice.”
“Alright.” She pushed back from the table wincing as she straightened. My eyes met hers. They were such an unusual color, nearly a translucent grey when she had been piqued earlier, but they had darkened now because of the spike in her pain level. She turned away, her movements slow and deliberate. I watched her make her way to the couch just a couple of feet away. I wanted to help, wanted to scoop her up and carry her, but I knew she wouldn’t appreciate my interference. She was mending. I needed to let her assert her independence.
I turned back to my appointed task and caught Hollie’s gaze as I shook out the pills. Her hands in the sink, she offered me a soft smile. She was the more trusting, open one. I got the impression whoever the abuser was they had concentrated most of their efforts on Frances. The result of that effort glaringly obvious. The older sibling seemed well-practiced at being the younger one’s shield.
I put the bottle back in the cabinet where I kept the meds, threw the eye mask in the microwave to rewarm it and refilled the ice pack from the freezer while it heated. When I had everything ready I took it to Frances. She had her eyes locked on the ocean. She didn’t even acknowledge my approach until I dropped down beside her. Her gaze sharpened as she regarded me.
“Hey,” I said softly, my eyes drifting over her features. The shower had removed the lingering traces of grime. She had full lips that had been a distraction every time I had looked her way while we’d been eating. Silver eyes notably beautiful under arched brows that were so dark I had mistaken the color for black when she had been all dirty
, but they were actually auburn. The drapes matched the carpet I realized as I recalled the sexy-shy woman who had stood before me earlier, her alluring nakedness barely concealed by a towel. Perfect tits. Slender waist. Subtly flared hips. Red curls. Long shapely legs. Silken skin. All enticing. I’d gone hard the moment I laid eyes on her.
With her head covered by a black Roxy beanie I could easily imagine auburn hair tucked underneath it. Her stretchy yoga clothing accentuated the curves I considered myself fortunate to have seen unveiled. Once she fully healed Frances would be more than pretty. She would be a goddess.
She had been wise to cover her beauty with dirt and hide her attributes beneath loose clothing.
“Here.” I held out the caplets to her. She blinked at me a couple of times before she dipped her gaze to my hand. Her expression clearing, she reached for and took the pills from my palm. The pads of her delicate fingers skimmed my skin. I knew she didn’t mean it as a caress, but my brain took it that way, and my body responded. My eyes darkened as I watched her lips part. She placed the pills on her pink tongue and leaned forward reaching for her glass. She brought the drink to her mouth to swallow them, and I swallowed, too, to moisten my suddenly dry throat.
“What’s going on inside that pretty head of yours,” I asked her, my purpose twofold. I was interested sure, but I also needed to get my mind away from imagining her mouth and tongue doing other things.
“Nothing.” She sighed.
“Big sigh for nothing.” I reached for the eye mask before it could cool. “Lean back,” I ordered, and she complied, her warm breath spilling over my hands as I laid it gently over her eyes.
“That feels so good.”
I almost groaned. My cock swelled taking her statement another way. “The heat increases the blood circulation and reduces the tightness in the muscles.” An entirely different process was going on with my cock right then, but I made a concentrated effort to get my thoughts under control. “So you wanna share what you’re thinking?”
(Complete Rock Stars, Surf and Second Chances #1-5) Page 64
