Instead I was with people who didn’t want me to talk about my mother and how much I missed her. I was breathing salt-filled air and there were no trees, just a sandy beach and the Pacific Ocean in the back yard. I just wanted to go home.
Making sure I had my keys, I closed the door behind me just as Lucy’s Range Rover pulled into the driveway. I picked up the guitar case and practically ran toward the vehicle. Lucy greeted me with a grin and a hug and I soaked up the affection from her before settling back into my seat and fastening my seatbelt.
“You looked like you were escaping something worse than death when we pulled up,” Lucy said with a laugh as Marcus pulled out of the driveway and headed for L.A.
I laughed. “Yeah, well, I did. My dad had just gotten home. He actually talked to me.”
Her eyes widened. I hadn’t held back when I’d told her about how it was at home—no, not ‘home.’ That was never going to be home for me. Home was where you felt safe and loved. How it was at their house.
Of course I hadn’t held back when I’d told her about me and Jace on Monday, either. I hadn’t meant to unload it all on her, but she was just so easy to talk to and I hadn’t been able to keep the words in any longer.
It had taken longer than I had thought to get Lucy to go back to First Bass, however. She hadn’t told me what was up with her and that Harris guy, but it didn’t take a brain surgeon to realize they had history. Why else would her name be on a list that some people would kill to be on, yet she was reluctant to use?
The drive into the city was a long one, but since we both had a late curfew—one my mother would have lost her shit over if she knew about it—we didn’t have to worry. Lucy was quiet most of the ride but I didn’t push her to talk. I was going over the song that I was going to sing later and trying to remember the chords that I’d decided needed to be changed.
Thanks to Caleb, I had been playing guitar since I was six. His mother had been a music teacher and had gotten him hooked on learning instruments. He’d taught me how to read and write music and I’d bonded with him more than Angie because of our shared love of all things musical.
Marcus pulled to a stop in front of Frist Bass and I glanced out my window to see the flash of cameras already going off. Damn. That was the one drawback about going out with Lucy. The paps were hungry for anything they could get on her movements because she was a ‘rock princess,’ being the adopted daughter of a Demon.
I heard the paps screaming her name as soon as I opened my door and stepped out. Lucy was slower getting out so I waited for her at the rear of the Range Rover. Just as she met me, I heard the damn paps start calling my name too, wanting me to talk to them. Double damn.
Seeing the look on Lucy’s face, however, told me that maybe I shouldn’t have twisted her arm so hard to get her to come with me tonight. I reached for her hand, offering a comforting squeeze. “You really don’t want to be here, do you?” She tensed and I grimaced. “Look, we don’t have to do this. We can just go and I’ll come back another time on my own.”
Something close to relief flashed across her face but then she shook her head. “No. We’re doing this. I’m sorry for being such a drag. I’m over it now, though. I’m going to go in there and fan girl the place down when you get up there.”
I let out a relieved breath and smiled down at her. Lucy wasn’t the smallest chick I’d met, but I stood above the majority of the females I came in contact with. “Thanks, Lucy.” As much as I didn’t want to push her into something she really didn’t want to do, I was glad she was going in there with me. I didn’t want to do this on my own. I would probably chicken out.
It took a few minutes to get inside and then past the scary yet delicious security guy at the door. Marcus was right behind us the entire way. Lucy found us a table and ordered her usual ginger ale while I glanced around. We weren’t up in VIP today because the open mike was on the ground floor, but I kind of liked the regular-Joe room better. I didn’t feel like I was being watched by the ‘beautiful’ people.
I waited until our drinks arrived before figuring I’d better get this thing done or I would chicken out. It was only now that we were inside First Bass and I saw that the place had a big crowd that my nerves were giving me butterflies in my stomach.
What the hell was I doing? I had no business being here. I couldn’t dare be as good as I thought I was. This was for people with real talent, not my second-rate ass. Shit. Shit. Shit. Okay. We can just go. I hadn’t committed to anything yet. My name wasn’t on a list for it to be called later and embarrass myself further when I didn’t jump on that small stage to sing…
Lucy’s hand covered mine, pulling me out of my anxiety-filled moment of sheer panic. “Kin, you’re going to kick ass up there. Don’t worry about getting the chords right, or if your voice gets off key. You aren’t here to become a rock star. You’re here to get your songs recognized, maybe even sell one. You are a gifted writer and you’re going to bring the house down with that song of yours, babe.”
My lips started trembling without my permission. That was exactly what I needed to hear. It was what Angie or Caleb or even my mother would have said. Pressing my lips together, I gave a firm nod and smiled. “You’re right. Now, where do I sign up for the chance to get up there and kick some ass?”
“Aunt Emmie said you tell the bartender and he adds you to the rotation.” She glanced at the bar and I followed her gaze. “Best bet is over there, babe.”
I stood and crossed the room to the bar. The bartender was already busy mixing drinks for the crowd at the bar and I waited for him to hand a few beers over to the twenty-something guys beside me before asking about the open mike rotation.
The guy’s gaze skimmed over me twice before he pointed to the end of the bar without so much as a word to me. I looked at the end of the bar for the first time and everything inside of me went equal parts hot and cold at the sight of the man sitting on the stool next to Harris Cutter.
Jace St. Charles was the most perfect guy I had ever met in the looks department, with his messy, dirty blond hair and those killer blue eyes that seemed to look straight through all the bullshit to the person beneath it all. He worked out frequently and his body showed the hard work, but not in an over-the-top kind of way like Caleb was. His features were purely masculine, there was nothing necessarily pretty-boy about him, but it was his voice that had pulled me in that first night I’d seen him.
I’d become addicted to the sound of his voice and not just when he was singing, either. There was something almost hypnotic in the way he spoke that had drawn me to him and had sucked me in from that first ‘hello’.
As I watched him lift his beer and take a deep swallow, I hated him for how much he was still able to twist me inside. I wanted to slap his handsome face and kiss him all in the same moment. Then…
Then I wanted to kick him in the balls.
Grinning, I pushed away from the bar and walked toward the two guys at the end of the bar. I was almost to them when Jace lifted his head as if he could sense me, and our gazes collided. My steps faltered and I reached for the back of the stool closest to me to steady myself. Stop it, I wanted to scream at him as his eyes skimmed over my face almost worshipfully.
I sucked in a deep breath, then grinned again. One way or another I was going to have fun tonight. I walked past Jace’s seat and leaned between the two guys, my gaze only on Harris. I hadn’t really given him more than a quick glance on Saturday, but now I was taking my time.
While Jace had the messy hair and a little scruff going on tonight, Harris was clean cut and dressed for business in dark dress pants and a blue button-up that was only half done, showing a sexy glimpse of dark muscles. Aquamarine eyes brightened when he met my gaze and grinned, showing me twin dimples that could make any chick’s panties melt.
Mine, however, weren’t even affected. How could they be where this guy was concerned when I was still so invested in the stupid idiot behind me?