by Jenna Jacob
A rusty laugh burst from the back of Ross’s throat.
The room turned deathly quiet as everyone around the table stopped talking at once. Then as if witnessing the birth of a unicorn, they each locked a stunned stare on Ross.
“Holy shit, she did it,” Darren whispered in unmistakable awe.
As fast as the buds of Ross’s lightheartedness had bloomed, they withered and died when he bristled and scowled. “What the fuck is your problem?”
Everyone looked away except Burk, who answered in a voice thick with emotion. “A fond and distant memory, brother.”
The lead singer lifted his menu to shield his emotions, but his heart-aching sadness rushed through me, bringing with it an enlightening revelation.
My job was more complex than the role of disingenuous girlfriend. More than helping Ross learn to embrace light and love. I also had to exhume the long-lost brother his bandmates desperately missed.
Unwilling to let Ross fully retreat, I cocked a brow and smiled. “So, what do scallops taste like?”
“Mild. Similar to lobster but the texture is different.” When I started laughing softly, Ross rolled his eyes. “You’ve never tasted lobster, either, have you?”
“Nope,” I laughed. “But I’m never going to turn down the chance to try something new.”
Chapter Seven
Ross
I’d love to give you something new to try, little girl. Something thick and hard. Something guaranteed to make you whimper, moan, and beg all night long.
“Being adventurous is a good thing.”
And the fact that she’d never tasted lobster or scallops or nearly any other dish on the menu made me want to show her all the glorious things she’d been missing…besides sex. Which I was ninety-nine-point-nine percent certain she hadn’t experienced yet, either. The thought of being the first to coat my cock in her virgin cream…
Betty White naked…Betty White naked.
I didn’t have anything against the aging actress, but she looked exactly like my grandma—god rest her soul—and was the only sure cure to shut down the forbidden sexual images of Harmony spooling in my head.
But even wrinkled body parts couldn’t erase the sound of Harmony’s lighthearted laughter stamping my senses. Or dim the unfettered happiness glowing on her angelic face now branding my brain.
Simply being close to her had lessened the panic that had lit me up outside. After I’d peeled the redheaded exec-u-chick off my crotch, I’d turned to find Harmony gone. Terror had punched me in the gut. The memories of that scumbag piece of shit who’d pinned her up against the wall this morning were still fresh in my head, making me crazy with the need to protect her. Heart in my throat, I’d tossed down the marker and started scanning the crowd. But I couldn’t find Harmony anywhere. It wasn’t until I’d started yelling her name that Burk rushed toward me to say she was inside the restaurant with Sofia.
Relief had landed such a brutal blow I’d nearly dropped to my knees.
I knew then I was in over my head.
When we entered the restaurant, I was scrambling for a way to atone for my cruel behavior. I couldn’t keep acting like a raging douchebag. Harmony might have signed up for this gig—why, I had no clue and aimed to find out—but she didn’t need to deal with my shitty attitude.
Extending an olive branch sounded good in theory. But I didn’t know how to tone down my overwhelming need to protect her or deal with the unending ache to strip her bare, whisper filthy things in her ear as she shattered all over my tongue, fingers, and cock.
The tempting nymph was shredding my control, which was terrifyingly dangerous.
I couldn’t give in to my basal desires without destroying the very virtues—like her captivating innocence, kind and caring disposition, and unjaded purity—that turned me inside out. Of course, I’d be a lying motherfucker if I said I didn’t want to wrap her in my arms and prove there was far more to life than gardens, canning, and cheese.
Discovering that Harmony lived on a farm wasn’t that much of a shock. It explained a whole lot. Like why she didn’t wear makeup, twirl her hair in some fancy do, cover her smoking-hot body in designer clothes, or reek of some high-end perfume. Harmony didn’t need any of that shit anyway. She glowed with natural beauty. It was as if the sun had kissed her cheeks and sprinkled fragments of the sky to dance in her unique blue eyes.
Even more intriguing was the fact I hadn’t offended her about being innocent, yet scrawling my name on those other women clearly bothered her…and had maybe made her a bit jealous.
If she knew the truth, her little green monster wouldn’t ever raise its head.
“Do they have a strong fish taste?” Harmony turned her face up to me, and I locked onto her big blue eyes, then skipped lower to the ripe bow of her mouth. Christ, I wanted to sink my teeth into that plump flesh, tug it, then suck it into my mouth.
What the hell were we talking about? Oh, yeah, scallops…right.
“Okay,” I said softly while the others chattered on about…whatever. I didn’t care. I had Harmony’s undivided attention and liked it. “Scallops are kind of sweet and buttery, and they’re soft and delicate.” Like you.
The words lay singeing the tip of my tongue, but I bit them back.
Being nice to Harmony while maintaining safe boundaries was going to be hard enough. I didn’t need to blur the lines by spewing poetic shit.
“They sound delicious, but I think I’ll stick with the chicken.”
I wrinkled my nose. “It sounds good on the menu, but it’s really sort of bland.”
“I didn’t know that you’d eaten here before?”
“Yeah, lots of times. I was born and raised in New York.”
I watched her mentally digest that nugget of info as a hundred questions skipped through her brain. But she didn’t ask a single one. Harmony simply lowered her lashes, nibbled the inside of her lip, and studied the menu again.
“What should I get?”
“You’ve had steak before, right?”
Of course she has, dumbass. She lives on a farm.
“Yes. I did last night. Quinn ordered room service for me. It was delicious.”
“Was that the first time you’d ever had steak?” The question rolled off my tongue before I could stop it. When Harmony nodded, it was my turn for a hundred questions to circle my brain. Ironically, I didn’t ask a single one, either, simply nodded. “The filet mignon is really tender and juicy.”
“Okay. I’ll have steak then. Thanks.”
When she turned and joined Mia and Sofia’s conversation, disappointment I had no right feeling invaded my system. Pretending to be deciding on an entrée, I stared at my menu while getting lost in Harmony’s sweet southern drawl and carefree laughter.
On the other side of me, Darren leaned in close. “You doing okay?”
“Yeah, man. I’m good.”
“Harmony did an amazing job at the interview.”
Too good. And the sexuality she displayed is seriously fucking with my libido.
“I know.”
“If she keeps playing her part like that, you’ll be free of her in no time.”
I nodded as a coil of dread unraveled in my gut.
I didn’t want to be free of her…not yet.
While we’d only been thrown together for less than a day, Harmony was unlike any woman I’d ever met. The fact that she didn’t have an agenda or expected a single thing from me was like a breath of fresh air.
Harmony tossed back her head, and the sound of her throaty laughter filled the air…taunting my beast, testing my resolve, and igniting my cells.
My attraction to her was beyond feral. It was primal, basal…a fucking elemental caveman demand. An ominous chill spread through me, and I wrapped the danger of her allure in double-thick chains.
When the appetizers arrived and we started passing them around the table, I inwardly grinned as Harmony timidly plucked an item off each platter and set them on her small plate. H
er little brows furrowed as she studied each appetizer as if it contained the meaning of life.
Cutting into the goat cheese ravioli, she inspected the creamy filling with her fork before drawing it to her nose. After a tiny sniff, she nibbled off a bite then closed her eyes and sighed in delight. When she polished off the pasta, she examined the thick, fluffy crab cake. Two chews later, she wrinkled her pert little nose, grabbed a glass of water, and quickly washed it down.
The starters on my own plate were getting cold, but I didn’t care. I was too enthralled watching Harmony’s animated reactions as she stepped outside her comfort zone.
When she sliced into a scallop and speared one half with her fork, I held my breath as she lifted it to her mouth and took a sparrow-sized bite. Her eyes grew wide, then she quickly parted her lips and slid the rest onto her wet, pink tongue. My cock twitched. And when she wrapped her plump lips around the fork and issued a moan of unadulterated pleasure, it stretched and hardened.
I needed to stop watching her before I had to make a trek to the men’s room and jack off. Sadly, even a court order couldn’t force my gaze off the sight of her slender throat working the tender mollusk down. I knew then and there how erotic she would look gliding those lips over my cock and swallowing my seed. The temperature in the room shot up a couple thousand degrees. Grabbing a glass of water, I guzzled the cold liquid to put my fire out.
“What is this delicious thing?” She pointed to the other piece on her plate.
Fuck. Any second now, she’d lay the other half on her tongue and make me suffer part deux of cock-throbbing Food Porn.
I swallowed the lust thickening my throat. “That’s a scallop.”
“Wow,” she whispered. “You were right. They are mild, sweet, and buttery, and mmm, so good. I have a new favorite food.”
“What’s it replacing?”
“Bacon.”
Well, what do you know? We actually had something in common.
“That’s at the top of my list, too.” I nodded as the waiter returned with our food.
Harmony looked at the filet in front of her, then slid a longing glance at my scallops. Without a word, I reached over and lifted her plate away, sliding mine in its place.
“What are you doing?” Her blue eyes flashed wide.
“Trading.”
“B-but…this is your meal,” she said, waving at the plate.
“You want steak instead of your new favorite food?”
“No, but…”
“Then it’s settled.” To keep her from protesting any further, I sliced into the tender fillet and popped a piece in my mouth.
“You’re too kind.” Her expression softened and she smiled in gratitude.
From across the table, Quinn cleared his throat.
I glanced up to see a gloating, cocky I told you so, smile stretched across his lips. Narrowing my eyes, I discreetly flipped him the middle finger, then polished off the rest of my steak.
Kenny ducked out early to unlock the coach. A few minutes later, stomachs full and the three ladies each clutching small gold bags containing their desserts, we left the restaurant. As usual, someone had tipped off the press. They started swarming around us like bees and screaming questions as if we were all deaf.
Just as I released Harmony’s hand to wrap my arm around her waist, an eager reporter charged forward, knocking her straight to the ground.
The sight of her petite body skipping over the rough pavement along with her terrified cry filling the air sent a blast of white-hot fury exploding through me. A roar of rage tore from my chest as I grabbed the cockbag by his throat and lifted him off the ground. All around me screams, gasps, and my band brothers’ curses echoed in my ears.
Hoisting the prick above my head, I tossed him like a javelin, taking a handful of media monsters to the ground with him. Then I spun on my heel and rushed toward Harmony, who was still crumpled on the ground. Blood seeped from her elbow and pain wracked her face. Tears pooled in her eyes, but she bravely blinked them away as the rest of our group rushed to help.
“I’ve got her,” I snarled.
Harnessing my fury, I bent and lifted her into my arms and gently cradled her against my chest. As I strode toward the bus, ignoring the people scurrying from my path like rats, Harmony wrapped her arms around my neck.
“Wait,” she cried, pointing to the mangled gold bag on the ground. “My carrot cake.”
“I’ll get you more, princess,” I bit out in a semi-civil tone. “I’ll call the restaurant and have them deliver an entire cake for you to the hotel.”
“You’d really do that for me?”
“Yeah.”
“Oh, Ross,” she whispered, then shook her head. “You don’t have to carry me, I can walk.”
“I know, but I’m not giving anyone else the chance to hurt you.”
No one but you, right? mocked a little voice in my head.
Harmony didn’t argue, simply rested her head on my shoulder and closed her eyes.
Something inside me shifted and a warmth I hadn’t felt in forever began melting the ice in my veins. She felt so right snuggled up against me, yet at the same time, so terrifyingly wrong.
Ignoring the tendrils of panic webbing my system, I focused on Quinn’s voice behind me, cursing the paparazzi and barking at the others to get on the bus.
As I sprinted up the stairs of the coach, Kenny wasn’t behind the wheel.
You picked a bad time to take a shit, man.
“Bring her back here, Ross,” he yelled from the rear of the bus. “I saw what that prick did to her. I’ve got the first aid kit ready for you.”
Thank fuck.
Kenny was more than our driver; he was like an older brother. When Sofia joined us, he’d taken her under his wing like a father. Looked like he was doing the same with Harmony now.
As I headed toward the sleeping berths, I knew it was no coincidence that Kenny had placed the first aid kit on my bunk.
Since I first laid eyes on Harmony this morning, fantasies of her splayed out on my bed had been rolling around in my head. Unfortunately, the scenario of her hurt and bleeding hadn’t been one of my twisted visuals.
Kenny hurried toward the front of the coach while I carefully sat down beside Harmony and brushed the soft, golden hair from her face. Both of our shirts were stained with the blood still oozing from her elbow, and as I grabbed the antiseptic wipes, I scanned a cursory glance over her body to see if she had any other injuries.
I didn’t see any, but… “Do you hurt anywhere besides your elbow?”
“My hand,” she replied, turning her scraped and bleeding palm up to me.
“Oh, princess. He fucked you up good.”
The rage I’d locked in a cage threatened to break free. Part of me wanted to charge off the bus and end the cocksucker for good, but a bigger part wanted to stay and take care of Harmony. The heavy footfalls and bitter curses spiking the air told me the others were onboard now. Relief spread through me. I wanted nothing more than to get her back to the safety of the hotel.
Sofia rushed in beside us, worry written all over her face. “Do we need to take her to Bellevue?”
“What’s Bellevue?” Harmony asked.
“A hospital,” I replied.
“No.” Harmony blanched and shook her head. “It’s just a scrape. Please…I don’t want to go to a hospital.”
“You don’t have to.” The panic rolling off her felt like a roundhouse kick to the heart. “We’ll patch you up on the way back to the hotel. All right?”
“Yes. Thank you.”
“I’ll get a warm washcloth from the bathroom,” Sofia said before darting away.
Quinn moved in beside me and bent to look in on Harmony. When he saw the blood, his nostrils flared. “That fucking cock-sucking… I’m going to sue his balls off. When I’m finished with him, I’ll own that goddamn television station.”
He pulled out his cell phone and growled, “Take care of her. I need to rip balls
.”
As he stormed away, Harmony started to giggle.
“What’s so damn funny?”
“Him…you.”
“Me? What the hell have I done?”
“Rescued me again…thank you, by the way. But you look like you want to”— Harmony lowered her voice to a whisper—“rip balls, too.”
“Trust me, princess. I want to do a whole lot more than rip that bastard’s balls off.”
She softly tsked. “An eye for an eye only achieves blindness.”
“Yeah, well, sadly, I’m not as forgiving as—”
“Oh, no…your shirt,” Harmony interrupted. “I’ve ruined it.”
“You didn’t do shit. And don’t worry about my shirt. I’ve got plenty more. The one thing I don’t have is another you.”
Harmony lowered her lashes as a crimson blush stained her cheeks. I wanted to reach out and cup them…feel the warmth against my palms.
“You don’t have to keep acting, Ross. It’s just us here now.”
“I…” Don’t be a dick and encourage her. You know you can’t have her. The infuriating voice in my head was right. Biting my lips together, I simply nodded as Sofia returned with several towels.
A minute later, Mia joined our little first aid party, and together—as Quinn continued to yell and curse into his phone, the bus crawled through traffic, and each of the guys came back to check on our patient—we cleaned off the blood, doctored the scrapes, and bandaged Harmony’s wounds.
After Sofia retrieved a clean Licks of Leather tee from the closet, I left so Harmony could change without me ogling her. Then, working to bleed the remaining rage from my bones, I joined the others who were silently eavesdropping on Quinn, still ranting and raving into his phone.
“Is Harmony doing all right?” Burk asked quietly.
“You tell me. She’s been attacked twice in one day. Twice, on her first fucking day in New York…her first fucking day on the job,” I snarled before blowing out a hard sigh and dragging a hand over my head. “What the fuck is going to happen to her when we’re on stage tomorrow night?”
