Rock Star Romance Ultimate Volume 2 Page 16

  “But we’ll at least continue this conversation later, right?”

  “Yes, we will.” I grabbed up her suitcase and guitar case.

  “Wait, you don’t—”

  “Yes, I do. It’s the gentlemanly thing to do.”

  She shook her head and then fell in step behind me. I eased her stuff into the trunk and then closed the lid. “Be careful.”

  “Thanks. You too.”

  “And knock em’ dead tonight.”

  “I’ll try.”

  I grinned as I opened the backseat door for her. “You will, and you know I’m always right.”

  She rolled her eyes but then smiled. “Bye, Jake.”

  “Bye, Angel.”

  As she started past me to get into the cab, I stopped her. Sometimes there were just moments you knew you would regret if you didn’t follow your heart. Grabbing the back of her neck, I tipped her head up to mine. Then I brought my mouth to hers. This time I let the warmth of my tongue slide her lips open. When she made a little moan in the back of her throat, I tightened my arms around her waist. God, she tasted good. I could’ve kept on kissing her the whole afternoon, but a symphony of whistles and catcalls interrupted my moment of pure bliss.

  I jerked away to see AJ, Brayden, and Rhys standing beside the bus. Warmth flooded Abby’s face as I growled, “Thanks a lot, guys.”

  “¡Agarrale el culo, chica!”.

  Abby’s eyes narrowed before she shouted, “Callete, cabron!”

  “What did he just say?” I questioned with a grin.

  “Grab his ass, girl,” she replied.

  “And what did you say to him?”

  She grinned. “I told him to shut up and called him an asshole.”

  I laughed. “I’ll make sure to knock the shit out of him for you.”

  “Gracias,” she replied. Glancing at the guys, she shook her head. “I’m tempted to give you all the finger, but I’ll just wave instead.”

  “Bye, Abby,” they called in unison.

  She turned back to me. “Talk to you later.”

  “It’s a promise.”

  Without another show of affection, she dropped down onto the seat. “The Hilton, please,”

  Abby commanded politely.

  “Fine, but just so you know, the meter’s been running, sweetie,” the cabbie replied.

  “It’s okay.” She glanced up at me and smiled. “It was worth it.”

  “Damn straight,” I replied before closing the door.

  Like a love-sick teenage girl, I stood waving at her until the cab disappeared over the hill.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  * * *

  Abby

  When I arrived at the hotel, all three of the boys were waiting on me in the lobby. I rolled my eyes but grinned in spite of myself. “Don’t tell me you were afraid I might get lost and take up with another group of unruly rockers?”

  Gabe chuckled as he pulled me into a bear hug. “Nah, we just wanted to do right by you this time and welcome you in person.”

  “Aw, that’s sweet.”

  Eli’s blue eyes twinkled. “There’s also the fact we have to be over to the arena in an hour for sound checks and all.”

  I shook my head. “Just when I thought you guys were playing overprotective big brothers, you crush my dreams.”

  Micah threw his arm around my shoulder. “I’ve missed you, Baby Girl.” He planted a kiss on my cheek. “Are you excited about tonight?”

  Just the mention of performing caused my stomach to lurch. “Yes and no.”

  He nodded as we swept through the hotel’s revolving doors. “I remember the first time I played in front of a packed crowd of tens of thousands of people.”

  I elbowed him playfully in the ribs. “Not helping, brother dear.”

  He grinned down at me. We were the matching bookends of the family with our blonde hair and blue eyes. Gabe and Eli were true fraternal twins in the fact that Gabe had about three inches on Eli while Eli was the more muscular of the two. The only matching trait was they had our father’s jet black hair while we all shared the blue eyes of our mother. Even if they were my brothers, I had to admit they were good-looking. Of course, Micah had been engaged for six months to a girl named Valerie who worked at our dad’s church. Like Brayden, he never even looked at other girls. Now the twins…that was another story.

  “You’ll be fine, Abster. After all, you’re only singing one duet with Garrett and one song with us,” Eli said as he held the limo door open for me.

  As I flopped inside, I huffed out a frustrated breath. “Oh sure, just two songs. That’s two prime opportunities for me to sing off-key, fall off the stage, etc.”

  Gabe sat next to me. “You worry too much. Just go out there and have fun. Pretend it’s like when we were kids.”

  “Or you could do the old adage and pretend everyone’s naked,” Eli suggested while waggling his eyebrows.

  I nudged his foot with mine. “You’re so disgusting!”

  After we made the short drive to the arena, the limo pulled up to the back. The boys’ head of security, Manny, opened our door and gave me a beaming smile. “Good to see you again, Abby.”

  I gave him a hug—all 6’5”, three hundred pounds of him. “Good seeing you again too.” I motioned back at the boys. “You keeping them in line?”

  He grinned. “Trying to. It’s a hard job.”

  Giggling, I replied, “I can only imagine.”

  As Manny ushered us inside, someone outfitted in black with a headset came rushing up to me. “You’re wanted on stage right now for your rehearsal with Garrett.”

  “Oh, okay.” I turned back to the guys. “See you in a few.”

  “Knock em’ dead, Baby Girl,” Gabe called.

  When I got to the stage, Garrett sat perched on a stool with his guitar, doing a run through of his other songs. After finishing the song, he glanced over and caught my eye. His face lit up. “Abby!” he cried before hurrying over to pull me into his arms. We’d only met a couple of times before, but by the way he was acting, you would have thought we were long lost best friends or former lovers. Jake would have gone for the second scenario.

  “I see you made it safe and sound.”

  I laughed. “Yes, I did.”

  “Great. I’m stoked as hell to be singing with you.” He waved at a technician who came to deliver my microphone. “Ready?”

  “Sure.”

  ***

  After rehearsing with Garrett, I watched the boys go through their run-throughs before joining them onstage. For the first few shows, I’d only be singing a cover of The Band Perry’s If I Die Young. Then the guys planned on me taking over some of the vocal leads Micah usually did. Once we went through everything, we were ushered back to our dressing room. While the boys chowed down on the catered food, I could barely down a slice of my mom’s homemade pound cake.

  The closer it got to show time the more the small space filled up with people. It felt like an out-of-control bee hive with all the conversions buzzing around me. Hair stylists, wardrobe people, management, and roadies streamed in and out. There was no privacy or time to catch my breath with all the madness.

  When my mom and dad entered the room, they rushed over to me like I was a hostage who had been released from captivity. It was incredibly ironic considering I had Face-timed, talked, or texted with them every day that I was with Jake and the guys. “How are you sweetie?” Mom asked.

  I laughed. “Just as good as I was earlier today when we talked.”

  “You look fine,” Dad surmised.

  “Jake and the guys took good care of me.”

  Mom and Dad exchanged a glance at my mention of Jake. “What?” I asked.

  Shoving his hands in his khaki pants pockets, Dad cleared his throat. “Well, your mother and I were just talking about how you seemed to mention this Jake guy a lot when we talked.”

  I knew what he wanted to say but couldn’t. “I like him.”

  Mom inhaled a sharp breath. �
�Like a boyfriend?”

  With a grin, I replied, “Maybe.” I took in the looks of horror that flashed on their faces. “Is there something wrong with that?”

  “Uh, no, Abigail, there’s not. It’s just…” Dad fumbled around.

  Mom stepped in for him. “It’s just a relationship with a musician is hard. I mean, look at Micah and Valerie.”

  “Yes, I know. But sometimes you can’t help who you have feelings for.”

  Dad’s eyebrows practically shot off his head. “So you might be really serious about this guy?”

  “Yes, Daddy. I really like Jake Slater from Runaway Train. Yes, I’ve only known him a week. Yes, he’s a bad boy with tattoos and piercings, and yes, he’s your worst nightmare when it comes to the guy dating your little girl.” I leaned closer to him. “No, he’s not taken advantage of me, and no, he’s not going to turn me into a pierced bad girl with tattoos.” With a tentative smile, I added, “We’re both going to bring out the best of each other as we see where this takes us. Okay?”

  Dad’s mouth gaped open for a few seconds before he quickly shut it. I think it was one of the first times I’d ever seen him speechless. I turned to Mom who was equally as dumbfounded.

  “Abby, we’re ready for you,” my hair stylist, Renee, said.

  “I have to go.” I glanced between them. “So we’re okay—everything’s okay?”

  “Sure honey,” Mom replied. She sounded a little more convinced than she looked. My dad, on the other hand, still continued to stare at me in shock. I guess I couldn’t blame them for being shell-shocked at my declaration. They were going to need more time to absorb it all.

  Leaving my parents behind, I headed into the hair and makeup room. The moment I sat down in the chair, my stomach clenched into tight knots. Nervous energy hummed through me. Tapping my boot relentlessly on the floor, I stared into the lighted mirror in front of me as the band’s stylist, Renee, made my loose curls bigger and bigger. From the way she was cementing my hair in place with hair spray, I was pretty sure half of the ozone layer was being depleted. Trying to calm down, I took a few deep, cleansing breaths as I sat outfitted in a silky robe.

  When I dared to take in my reflection in the mirror, my nerves went into overdrive. Once Renee finished with my hair, Becca, the makeup artist took over and started going all out. I’d never had on so much foundation or blush in all my life, not to mention the fake eyelashes made me feel like a total hooker.

  “Are you sure this isn’t too much?” I asked.

  Becca snorted contemptuously. “Unless you want to look like a corpse under the stage lights, you’ll go with the flow.”

  So I went with the flow, which also included the biggest hairdo this side of a Dolly Parton wig. A roadie poked his head in the door. “Ten minutes, Abby.”

  “Oh God,” I murmured before my whole body started trembling all over.

  “Jeez, Abster, enough with the tapping!” Eli growled in the chair next to mine.

  Immediately I stilled my foot. “Sorry. It’s an anxious tic thing.”

  “You’re going to be just fine,” Micah reassured. When I glanced at him through my poofy hair, he smiled.

  “I know. It’s just I’m still scared of forgetting the lyrics or falling flat on my face.”

  His gaze honed in on my boots. “You scuffed them up pretty good, didn’t you?”

  “Oh yeah.”

  “Then you’ll be fine.”

  Renee patted my shoulders. “All right. Time to get you to wardrobe.”

  I fell out of the chair and followed her through the door. I had yet to see what they had picked for me. I knew the boys never concerned themselves with what they were wearing, and I’d seen the same thing when I was on Runaway Train’s bus.

  As I started across the hall, a roadie tapped me on the shoulder before shoving my phone at me. “You have a call.”

  My brows furrowed. “Thank you,” I replied before putting the phone to my ear. “Hello?”

  “Hey Angel.”

  Those two words sent a shudder through me, and I skidded to a stop. “Hi, Jake,” I replied breathlessly.

  “I’m calling you for two reasons.”

  “Oh?”

  “One is to prove that I’m a man of my word when I promised you I would call. And like a fucking love-sick puppy, I couldn’t even wait a couple of hours to hear your voice.”

  Grinning like a fool, I fought to catch my breath. “I’m glad you proved me wrong.

  Now what’s the second reason?”

  “I wanted to call you before you went on stage and wish you good luck. I figured you were pretty nervous.”

  I chewed my lip to keep from squealing out loud at his thoughtfulness. “I am…and thank you. It’s awfully sweet of you to call.”

  “You have no idea just how sweet I could be for you.”

  With a snort, I replied, “Just when I’m thinking what an amazing romantic and heartfelt guy you are, there’s the real Jake coming through loud and clear to remind me that you’re truly a horndog.”

  He laughed. “I had to give you a little innuendo, Angel, to loosen you up.”

  “Well, I’m still nervous as hell. My knees are knocking, and I think I might puke.”

  Jake drew in a deep breath. “Abby, I told you that you’ve got nothing to be worried about. You have a powerhouse voice inside one hell of a beautiful package. You just go out there and sing your ass off like you did when we practiced.”

  Just hearing his deep voice say my real name caused my body to shiver. “Thank you, Jake. And I will.” With my heartbeat accelerating, I debated whether to say what was on my heart. Finally, I blurted, “I’ll pretend I’m singing with you again, instead of Garret. That’ll get me through.”

  Silence came on the other end of the line, and for a minute, I thought I had lost him.

  “Jake?”

  “I’m here, Angel. And I’m glad to hear it. I wish I could be there singing it with you.”

  “So do I.”

  A roadie different from the one who brought my phone said, “Wardrobe is waiting for you in the dressing room.”

  “Oh, I have to go. But thanks for calling me. You don’t know how much it means to me.”

  “You’re welcome, babe. Now go and kick some ass on that stage, okay?”

  I laughed. “I sure will.”

  The roadie then ushered me into a room down the hall. “Here she is, Cari,” the roadie said.

  A girl with pink hair sized me up. “About time,” Cari muttered. Her hands went to the racks filled with clothes in front of her. She jerked out a coral colored dress and shoved it at me. “Here you go.”

  I quickly stepped behind the partition and slid off my boots. My robe then followed. Since the bodice was strapless, I slid off my bra as well. Huffing and puffing, I managed to stuff myself inside the dress.

  “Um, any chance you have a different size?”

  “Usually all dresses are custom fit, but you haven’t been here to get measured,” Cari snapped. Coming around the partition, she zipped me up harshly. Eyeing me, she nodded her head, “That looks hot.”

  “I. Can’t. Breathe,” I panted.

  Cocking her head at me, Cari rolled her eyes. “Listen sweetie, you’re just going to have to deal with it. Maybe I could throw something together for your set with your brothers, but you are out on stage with Garrett in five minutes.”

  A knock came at the door. “See?”

  “Fine,” I huffed. I was barely able to bend over and pull on my boots. I feared at any minute the zipper might explode.

  “She’s decent,” the girl called.

  Yet another roadie stuck his head in the door. “Five minutes, Miss Renard.”

  I smiled at him. “Please call me, Abby. And I’m coming.”

  He nodded and held the door open. Glancing back, I took in my appearance. “Holy shit,” I muttered. I didn’t even want to think about what Dad would say when he saw my outfit. I’m pretty sure he would have a coronar
y right at the sight of the dress. It ended way above my knees, and while the applique roses and lacy parts were pretty, my boobs looked like they would come popping out the top at any minute.

  I followed the roadie out the door and to the stage. Thank God I had on my trusty cowboy boots and not heels, or I’m pretty sure I would have killed myself. When we got to the wings, Garrett was just finishing his signature hit “Just the Girl for Me”. As the stagehands whipped around changing the set, Garrett put down his guitar and took the microphone off the stand.

  “So I’d like to introduce y’all to a very special lady. Not only is she the baby sister and potential new lead singer for the amazing Jacob’s Ladder, but she’s my duet partner tonight for my final song. Would you all welcome Miss Abby Renard!”

  I drew in a deep breath and pushed myself forward out of the wings. Throwing on my best megawatt smile, I started across the stage, waving madly at the crowd. Just when I thought my arm might fall off, I reached Garrett.

  He whistled into the microphone and then winked at me. “Ladies and Gentlemen, I forgot to tell you how absolutely smokin’ hot she was, didn’t I?”

  “Thank you, Garrett.” I paused to let my gaze rove over him. “You’re looking pretty fine tonight as well,” I replied, trying my best to work the situation.

  Turning to face the audience, he grinned. “She’s sweet too, isn’t she?” They whistled and applauded in response. “Just wait until you hear her sing. You’re going to be blown away that not only is she a very beautiful gal, but she has an amazing voice as well.”

  I waved my hand dismissively at him. “You’re embarrassing me with all the compliments.”

  “So are you ready to wow Des Moines?”

  I smiled out into the audience. “Why yes, I am.”

  Garrett bobbed his head. “All right then. Let’s do this.”

  The familiar melody of Don’t You Want to Stay echoed throughout the arena. As soon as it came to my part with the chorus, all nervousness faded away, and I gave it my all. With only one quick rehearsal, I didn’t know exactly what to expect out of Garrett. And just like I had promised Jake, I imagined it was him I was singing to, rather than Garrett. By the time I got to my solo, Garrett was all up close and personal. He winked at me as if to say, “Let’s give them a hell of a show.” But then I got the impression he might be actually enjoying rubbing against me or trailing his hands over my arms and back a little too much.