She shook her head.
I sat back down and counted the money in the cash box. Even if Babs was staff, you couldn’t be too careful.
Chapter 7 ALEX
I FINE-TUNED MY OUTFIT before I left my apartment. Added a leather wrist cuff. Took one off. Made sure my hair looked casually ruffled.
It’d been planning for this all week. My Saturday night spot. It’d been a while since I’d been on stage. My first time playing at Trouble but definitely not my last.
I knew Violet would be hooked. Not that the clothes meant anything, it was the image, the whole package. Once I got on stage, I'd show her I wasn't just another rock star with nothing in his head and a short-range weapon in his pants.
Violet, she entranced me. I'd gone to the club with the intent of charming her, throwing her a few compliments and treating her to my winning smile in order to get a leg up at the club. God, I needed that. I needed a fresh start and to put all the shit I'd left behind firmly in my past.
That was the plan. I'd take this town by storm.
I'd heard through my sources that she was the person to get to know in town. Trouble wasn’t the biggest club I’d played and it wasn’t the fanciest but it had a reputation as a place where industry types hung out, looking for the next big thing. And, since I fully intended being the next big thing, I wanted to make it easy for them to find me.
I hadn’t planned on anything more than that until I met Violet. I thought I could sweet-talk her and have her like putty in my hands within minutes.
She wasn't so easy to win over.
I wasn't averse to a challenge. And she definitely was a challenge but not an unwinnable on
e. She put on that stony front but she'd be a marshmallow underneath it all. Girls like that always were.
I'd known from the moment she'd fallen into my arms that she was for me. Her legs in those tiny shorts got my cock hard but it was her mouth that got the rest of me interested. Something about the way she twisted it when she was thinking about work intrigued me. I couldn’t get that image out of my mind.
But she had more than a pretty face and a great set of legs. We were alike, both work-focused and driven.
The only problem was that meathead who hung around her. I had no idea what his game was but he wasn't her type, anyone could see that. An oaf like him would crush her, physically and mentally.
My t-shirt stretched nicely over my belly. I patted my stomach, rock hard and sculpted.
As I walked out the door, I checked my phone. There was a message, someone interested in the "band members wanted" notice I'd put out. I replied as I walked down the street, telling him to show up at the gig if he could make it. He sounded promising.
The hardest part about starting over was getting a band together. So many idiots wanted to waste my time and most of them weren't even worth auditioning. If they couldn't follow the simple instructions in my ad, it didn't matter how well they played.
I wanted no egos in my band. I wanted people who could play well but who were as hungry for success as I was. I didn't need a democracy or a bunch of friends. Doing it any other way would never work out. I knew that now.
I got to the club early, as I'd intended. I sat at the bar downstairs and ordered a whiskey. The bar girl, Carlie, gave me a weird smile as she sat my drink down.
"We're not supposed to, but you can have this one on the house. You get your drink rider upstairs."
I nodded my thanks and looked around for Violet but she was nowhere to be seen. That was okay, I could bide my time. There was nothing to gain from being overly anxious.
When I finished my drink, I headed upstairs. The opening band had started playing. The bass beat thudded through the stairwell as I walked up.
There was a decent crowd already. I had a fan base in this town, it was one of the reasons I'd chosen it. A few girls ran over and asked for autographs. One of them slipped me her phone number. I gave her a wink but had no intention of ever calling her. She wore too much makeup and her t-shirt had a stain on it as though she'd spilled her drink.
Anyway, banging groupies was not in my plan. Even if I didn't have Violet in my sights, flirting and the hint of a promise did much more than straight-up sex. Sex with groupies just got messy and emotional. I wanted to be admired, not attached.
I sipped on another whiskey and listened to the opening act. They weren't the type of band I'd have chosen to follow, far too much uncontained rage, but I wasn't in a position to be picky. I had to establish myself first.
A lanky guy with unkempt hair approached me just as I was about to go backstage.
"Alex? I emailed you. I'm Fabian, the bass player..."
"Cool. I'm about to get up but stick around. We can chat after I play." I gave him a nod and went to set up. With just me, it wouldn't take long.