Backstage Pass: On Tour (The Backstage Pass Rock Star Romance) (5 page)

I straightened the stack of books on the coffee table for the thousandth time.

“Stop fidgeting,” Mom said on her way through with a pile of laundry as she headed upstairs.

I flopped backward on the couch. “It’s taking forever.”

“Then go bake some cookies or something.”

Jesse was supposed to be here in the next few minutes and I’d been this way for hours now. He’d surprised me by planning to come up for the whole weekend and I couldn’t wait. I almost wished he wouldn’t have told me on the phone last night because I pretty much hadn’t slept a wink. My poor body finally knocked me out around three and even though I was up again at six, it was more than I would have gotten without the exhaustion I’d put it through last night.

When I’d told M
om that he was coming up she was reserved but not downright hostile. For now, I was calling that a win. They’d have time to interact this weekend and I had a feeling that just having her get to see us together might start changing her mind about what we could accomplish together—and how different he was from Rocker Dad.

Speaking of
Rocker Dad, he’d heard about the accident while they were touring in China and Kerri texted me last night to tell me that flowers had shown up at the apartment while she was meeting with the landlord to give him the keys. Jesse was bringing up most of my stuff with him this weekend and anything he couldn’t fit in his car I’d told Kerri to use when she and Axel moved in together. The thought of having no stuff to drag me down almost helped foster my strange “new breath” idea that I’d had last night.

And since I’d missed so many classes because of the wreck and recovery, my teachers were all willing to just mark me as incomplete instead of failing me. I’d have to repeat everything, but at least it wouldn’t
completely wreck my GPA. Depending on what Jesse and I decided about my involvement on the tour and whether I was going with him or not, I might do some online classes or just take a year off. I smiled to myself and straightened the stack one more time. I wasn’t worrying about the future, not yet.

I took a breath.

Just today.

My nerves chilled out just as the doorbell
rang. I leapt off the couch. “Got it!”

Mom
’s laughter carried down the steps. “You’re acting like a teenager.”

God, she was totally right. I paused for just long enough to smooth my shirt and then I opened the door. And just like that, every single worry, fret, and pending disaster vanished at the simple sight of this gorgeous man standing on the edge of my porch.

“Hey, baby.” He stepped closer and wrapped his arms around my waist. My fingers wound up through his hair and I scratched the back of his neck before pulling him closer.

“It’s so good to see you.”

His lips brushed mine, igniting fireworks across my skin. I’d already forgotten how amazing his body felt and I pressed as close as I could get so I wouldn’t forget again. His hard thighs pressed against mine and I ran my fingers across his shoulders, tracing the curves and lines of each muscle in his back. He was so sexy. His hands splayed wide across my back and at the first sweep of his tongue I surrendered to him. “Sasha,” he whispered and it was another kiss against my lips. We made out on the porch like a couple of love-starved teenagers for a while before I no longer felt like I’d been wandering the desert for weeks without food or water.

He lifted his head and leaned our foreheads together. “Is it wrong that I want to ravage you right here on your mom’s front step?”

I laughed. “Only would be if I didn’t feel the same way.”

He bru
shed my hair back from my face and kissed me softly again. “How’s your mom doing?”

I shrug
ged. “Okay. I think we’re going to have an uphill battle with her, but she’s better.” My hands snaked around his waist again because I couldn’t stop touching him. Holy cow, I had an addiction when it came to him and time apart was only making it worse.

“Is she home? Should I go say hi?”

I took a big breath. No time like the present to get this thing underway. We were either going to have smooth sailing or hit an iceberg within the first few minutes and sink to the bottom of the ocean. I’d rather find out what we were up against right away so I could start launching lifeboats. “Let’s go.”

I le
d us back in the house and toward the kitchen where I could hear her rummaging around and trying not to be obvious that she’d been waiting for us to come back inside.

“Mom?”

“Oh, hi!” she said, a little too brightly.

Jesse let go of my waist and went around the counter, hand extended and exuding charm. “Good to see you again.”

She smiled and it was a little less forced this time. He’s a tough guy to hate, even when you really wanted to. I knew what she was going through because lord knew I’d given hating him my very best shot. But she let him shake her hand and when he kissed the back of it I thought I even saw a bit of the ice melt around her heart. He had a whole lot of making up to do—and tragically, for stuff he shouldn’t—stuff my rocker dad had laid down before him, but I guessed that every boyfriend was going to have to deal with that at some point.

He let go of her hand and straightened. “Thanks for suggesting that Sasha come up here for her recovery.
”

“I’m just glad she listened.”

Then they laughed like old friends, using me as the middle ground for their not-so-funny joke.

“Ha. Ha,” I said, trying to sound upset, even though I would gladly be the source of their amusement if it meant they could find some common ground.

“Are you hungry? How was your trip?” And just like that he’d become another mouth to feed and she was in full-force mother mode. Moms were such a trip, and mine was no exception, even though she tried to play tough every now and again just to shake things up. I knew better than to think we were past the hiccups, but if she was willing to feed him, we were still afloat.

But I’d be a fool to stop looking for icebergs.

“Sasha’s dad, er, um, Jack will be home in a couple of hours and we’ll eat a regular dinner then, but I’d be happy to make you a sandwich or something.”

Jesse held up his hands and returned to me. “I’m fine. Had a big late lunch on the way up, actually. Would you be okay if Sasha and I went for a drive and caught up before dinner?”

Her shoulders stiffened just enough, but I picked up on it. Nope, definitely not out of the iceberg-infested waters yet. “Of course. Take your time. I can always reheat dinner or, I mean, you two don’t even have to eat here. You can just do your thing.”

“I’d really love to be back for dinner.” He turned up the charm, clearly picking up on her emotional uptick too. What a smart guy. No wonder he was so good with the
ladies, whether they were groupies, or agents, or me. “We’ll be back in a bit.”

He escorted me out of the room and paused at the base of the stairs. “Do you need anything before we go?”

I shook my head. “Not a thing.”

Truly, I did not need a freaking thing. Just him. Just me.

He helped me into the car and kissed me before shutting the door. “How are you feeling?”

“Better.”

He grinned. “Before I got here?”

“Oh. Well, still pretty shitty, but I’m doing my PT so I can get out of here.”

He pressed his lips against my forehead. “Good girl.”

Somehow it sounded so much more seductive and wonderful when he said it versus how Drake said it even though they were talking about the exact same thing. Maybe I should have been having him help me all this time.
He closed my door and jogged around, stopping for a quick second to grab something out of the back. “Here,” he said as he got in. “Picked these up for you.”

He handed me a stunning bouquet of baby’s breath. I’d never seen it in a bouquet all by itself, but I’d always been fond of the dainty white flowers.
“They’re adorable.”

He kissed my cheek. “I love you.”

I smiled and pressed our cheeks together. “I love you.”

He started the car and pulled out of the driveway. “I don’t really have anywhere to go. You want to direct me?”

I thought about town and where I’d wandered over the last few days, but none of those places felt right. I wanted to take us somewhere new and fresh. “Turn left.”

He did and I guided us all the way through town and to the edge of a canyon hike that I hadn’t done for a million years.
He pulled into the nearly deserted parking lot and parked beside the trail head. After he turned off the car, he turned to me. “Are you sure about this?”

I nodded. “It’s a super easy hike and I haven’t done my PT yet for the day.”

“Okay.” He leaned over and kissed me. “As long as you’re sure.”

I grinned. “Positive.”

We got out of the car and I stared up the hillside. I used to love this hike but I hadn’t done it much after high school, and then I’d been gone all the time. Seemed like a great place for us to go and be away from everyone and everything. A great place for new beginnings.

“How’s the house?” I asked, linking our fingers together.

“Good.” He chuckled. “Not sure what in the hell I was thinking taking that on. I need you there looking after everyone and making it how you want it.”

I grinned, still a little dumbfounded that he’d bought us a house. “I definitely want to be on site when they start messing with the yard.”

“I’ve told them not to touch it until then.”

I grinned and laid a big kiss on him. “I love you.”

“Back at ya, baby.”

I was so curious about his thoughts behind buying the house. “Do you already have
plans for it?” I paused. “We didn’t really get to talk about it much after that night.”

He sobered and pulled our bodies together. “It still terrifies me to think about what could have happened.” He swallowed. “
I could have lost everything in an instant.”

I settled my palms against his cheeks. “But
you didn’t. We didn’t. That’s the part we have to remember.”

He pressed his lips to mine.
“Every day, baby. Every day.” He unwrapped our bodies and smacked my butt. “Now get a move on so you can get better and get home.”

I laughed and dragged him up the easy incline. We walked for a while and he told me about his plans for the house. I loved every single thing about what he’d envisioned. “I
don’t want to change a thing in the house. Let me at the yard, but I don’t really care what we do to the house.”

“Don’t care?” He tried to act hurt.

I slapped him playfully. “You know what I mean. Good grief, it’s not like you’re even going to be there.”

His face fell and he sighed. “True.” He tugged me closer. “Which is kind of why I want you to love the house. What if you’re there a lot by yourself?”

I shrugged. “It won’t be forever.”

He yanked me to him and I fell against him with a screech.
“How’d I get so lucky?”

I
lifted my leg and wrapped my thigh around him to keep from toppling over. His hand gripped the back of my knee and he spread his legs to take my weight. My lips bumped against his neck and he inhaled sharply, then the entire edge of his body changed and his fingers ran up the back of my thigh. I gasped and things got real in a hurry.

His lips were hot and demanding
against the line of my neck and I nearly climbed up his body, needing to be closer to him. His fingers slipped beneath my shirt and I arched my back as they slide up my spine. “Yes. Oh, Jesse.”

He
picked me up and tangled my legs around his waist, then walked us a few feet off the trail to a mound of boulders. They were warm from the sun and my butt and legs were instantly heated, but nothing in comparison to the rest of my body that he’d just lit on fire. I squeezed my thighs against his waist and leaned back on my hands, palming the warm boulder beneath me. His hungry gaze raked across my body and I was suddenly as excited like this was the first time again. He eased my shirt higher, up over my stomach, then exposed my bra, then higher and off my head. I straightened and lifted my arms so he could slide my shirt off. There was never anyone up here, and honestly, I couldn’t give a shit if anyone came along the trail and saw us. I was with my man and we’d been through way too much to not be together when the mood struck.

And
it was striking fiercely right now.

His lips
were on my skin again and all thoughts were gone, buried beneath the sparkling caress of his fingers and the lava trail he left across my cleavage. I ran my fingers through his hair and scratched my fingernails against his scalp. He moaned and twisted against the pressure, then licked his way across my breasts, sucking the nipples through the fabric of my bra. I was instantly hard and wet. His thigh pressed between mine and rubbed seductively against me. I purred and ground my hips against him as he shifted my bra and sucked my nipple between his teeth.

The sun warmed me on the outside while he turned my insides to molten lust. I yanked his shirt off over his head and tossed it into the woods behind me. He chuckled and settled his warm stomach against mine, then dipped his lips to my other nipple, his hands sliding around behind to unclasp my bra.