Backstage Pass: On Tour (The Backstage Pass Rock Star Romance) (8 page)

He must have had them working on it non-stop since the very beginning. The waffle truck wasn’t here, but there were a few construction trucks. I shut the door and walked over to where a group of guys were talking and pointing.

“Hi. Can we help you?”

I smiled. “No. I’m
, uh, a friend of the owner’s. He’s coming in tonight and wanted me to meet him here.”

“Oh, good. Then maybe you can tell us how he’d want this set up.” They walked around a curve of still-overgrown hedges and I tried to keep my tongue in my mouth as I got my first taste of the back of the house. They’d built out a magnificent brick patio that perfectly suited the house and left me a brilliant set of bones to start structuring the landscape around.

“We have a couple different options to tie the stairs in to the landscape off the patio, but he’s been pretty specific about leaving all the landscaping to his designer.”

I hid my smile. “That’s me, actually.” I hoped. I hoped that was still my job and he was going to let me have my way with this. We weren’t officially living together, or engaged, or even dating like normal, so this might have been a complete overstep. But I didn’t think he’d see it that way.
If so, he could always reverse my decision.

I stepped up on the patio—with their help—and turned, then stared at the back yard as it played out from where I was. I squinted, trying to see how the natural curves and breaks of the dirt would determine the most
natural way to set up the yard. I took a few steps to the left, then a couple to the right. “Here.” I pointed to a spot off the main curve of the patio. “Start them here, do the minimum to get them to the ground, then leave the rest to me.”

“You got it. Tell your friend that we’ll be back in the morning to finish this off, then we’re done
, other than a few punch list items.”

“Great. I’m sure
he’ll want to see you.”

“Fine.”

They left and I stood on the patio for a while, overwhelmed at the excellence. This would be the most amazing yard ever. And I couldn’t wait to get started. But first I wanted to check out the status of the house so I could let Jesse know what to expect when he got there.

There were new French doors off the patio and I tested the
m. They were unlocked. I glanced over my shoulder, but the workmen had already taken off. They must have figured the house would be safe with me. Not like there was anything to steal.

The inside took my breath away. We hadn’t come through the house last time since there hadn’t been
much more than a run-down shell, but what they’d done in the meantime was blowing me away.

Beyond the doors, a grand room rose two stories and spread its wings wide, ending in an open kitchen and dining area on one side, and
a wide hallway on the other that probably led toward bedrooms, or at least the master. There was still cosmetic finishing that would have to be done—the carpet, paint, and all the trimmings—but the structure was here and sound.

My footsteps echoed off the roof high above an
d I explored the kitchen and its bare bones. There were lines on the floor with chicken scratched names and I pieced together what it was going to look like. The wide, tall windows on the far side of the dining room made it a stunning picturesque room.

I laugh
ed and it ricocheted around. Too bad I’d probably almost never use this room for anything other than storing soda and frozen pizza. I grabbed one of the contractor pencils and sketched out a bigger fridge so I know it would hold all my pizzas.

I wander
ed through the entire house and the master bedroom was stunning. There was another set of French doors and I opened them wide, letting in a lovely breeze. A grin played on my lips as the wind tugged on my hair. There was nothing that said I couldn’t make this a romantic welcome home, but I’d have to get it in gear to pull it off before he got here.

The house was fully enclosed and all the rooms had windows and doors, so there wasn’t any reason we couldn’t stay here tonight. I still wasn’t sure
how long he was going to get to stay, but I wouldn’t be able to drive home tonight so I was hoping to crash here. Even though I could totally go bunk with Kerri and Axel, there was something super fun about sleeping in what was quite possibly my new house.

Our
new house.

I was nearly giddy at the prospect of surprising him with this. This seemed like such a normal dating silly thing to do, but one I’d never had the opportunity to do for him.

I raced to the Bed, Bath & Beyond and grabbed half of the stuff there, and then swung by the grocery store for the rest of the things I needed. In a quick thinking bit of genius, I pulled the car into the downstairs garage so he wouldn’t see it when he pulled in. This was going to be so exciting.

I rubbed my face and strolled off the stage. Sweat poured off my brow and back but I didn’t care. I had to get to the hotel, shower, grab a bag, and hit the road. The plane was already waiting for me and I wanted to get out of town as fast as I could. I tabbed through my phone and glanced at a few pictures of the house that the general manager had sent me today. The house was coming together great and I was so looking forward to surprising Sasha with how much had gotten done since we’d been there last.

I was hoping that once she was done at her mom’s she could go live there and maybe even start setting it up how
she wanted. I hoped she liked it well enough to take that step. We really hadn’t even talked about it.

I high fived the stage manager as he ran by to start taking down the equipment. They were in for a big night and had to get everything torn down and out of here before the next show rolled through.
I didn’t envy them their job. I’d done it enough myself way back—I laughed at my own little inside joke. It seemed like that was years and years away, and yet it had barely been any time at all. I couldn’t believe how far Sasha and I had come in that little amount of time too. God, I missed her so much and couldn’t wait to see her in a couple of hours.

I doubted she’d stay at the house tonight, even though it would
be fun to camp out for the night since we didn’t have anything—including carpet—in the house yet. Maybe Kerri and Axel would let her crash on their couch for a few nights until I could get my surprise put together.

“Hey, Jesse.”

I looked up and Ainsley was headed down the hallway. I turned and let more of the crew slide by and then wrapped my fingers around her elbow and drew her out of the way. “Hey, what’d you think?”

She smiled. “Really great tonight. I think Tate and Scout are already heading backstage to meet with the VIPers. Are you bailing out of here before that?”

I winced. “Yeah. Plane’s waiting.”

“That’s fine. We never commit to having
the whole band in the VIP area. I want to make sure you’re emotionally taken care of along with physically.”

I patted my stomach. “Definitely don’t have to worry about that one. I’m hoping to keep the chef and trainer on after the tour. Any chance I could get them to come live with me?”

She laughed. “Listen, Jesse.” She paused and glanced down at her leopard print pants, flicking a speck of dust off the thigh. “I feel like you’re still not getting a handle on this situation with Scout. How’s that looking?”

I groaned. “Maybe you need to talk to him. Tate and I have both tried. Tate’s doing a much better job of handling him than I am, but he’s driving us both bat-shit crazy. I’m tired of his shit frankly.
” I probably shouldn’t have been telling her how close I was to losing it on him, but as our agent I felt like she had a right to know what we were going through, and hopefully give me some advice.

She frowned. “I’ve seen this before. Lots actually.” She leaned back
against the wall and bent one foot up underneath her butt so she looked like a flamingo. “Not everyone is cut out for this. You’ve got a decision to make. I obviously need you to keep it together through the end of the tour, but by then you have to let me know if you guys will be able to work it out or not.”

I sighed and stepped to the left as a mass of groupies went chattering by. “What if we can’t?”

She averted her gaze. “Don’t put me in that position, Jesse.”

I nodded and
she straightened.

“Tell Sasha I said hi.”

I gave her a smile but it was only halfhearted. Scout was going to fuck everything up and I didn’t have a whole lot of recourse. I couldn’t give him an ultimatum because then he’d walk before the tour was out. We’d tried talking about it but he was just a complete douche whenever anyone tried to ask what the fuck his problem was. I was so tired of the drama. Just once I wanted to be able to ask him a question and get a straight answer.

I slipped into one of the elevators near the
stage and rode up to the suite, grateful that we’d played the grand ballroom for a private party tonight instead of an events center. Getting out of those was always a nightmare and since I wasn’t crawling on the bus and dying for the next twelve hours, I’d needed an easy way to get to my room and slip out unnoticed.

I race through the shower and as I’m tossing my gear in my bag, someone knock
ed on the door. Must be room service, I thought. I gave the room one last glance and pulled the door open. Scout stood on the other side and we both bristled instantly.

“Thought you were downstairs with the VIPs.”

“I’m going back down, needed to come up and shower.”

Since when? I want
ed to ask, but I didn’t. He had his own special way with the ladies and I was sure he’d just come up for a refill on lube and condoms. Or to make sure that there weren’t any groupies already in his room to do before going back down. I still wasn’t sure how they all ended up in our rooms, but it was nearly every night. Some of them were clearly very good at getting past security.

I shook away the thought. He was here for something or he would have just slunk right back down to all the pussy.

“What’s up?”

“Why aren’t you down with the VIPs? Shirking your dut
ies again?”

I wanted to laugh. Of all the things to call it, duty seemed a little excessive, and certainly not a term he’d ever use. “You know where I’m going.”

He leaned a shoulder against the wall and examined his fingernails. “How long are you going to keep that up?”

I lifted and eyebrow.
“Lot more to life than pussy, Scout. I love Sasha.”

“You only think you
do. It’s stupid. It’s ruining our entire gig.”

“No, y
ou’re ruining it.” I was not about to waste time spiraling into a he-said, she-said tug-of-war with him, but I wanted him to know that I was done with his shit too. And I was so fucking tired of listening to him tell me that it was time for me to ditch Sasha and move on to enjoying all the free pussy he’d been tapping. I couldn’t believe it was that satisfying that this was really becoming such an issue for him. “I’m not infringing on what you do. Why can’t you let me live my life the way I want to?”

“This is why!” He lunged forward and yanked the straps of my backpack. “You’re fucking leaving to go see her. You’re not partying with our fans. You’re not giving them the attention they need. They come to see you, Jesse.
You!
” He shouted and got right in my face.

I leaned away from him. “Is that the problem, Scout?” I shoved him away from me. “Is that it? You’re pissed that they’re settling for fucking you because I’m the star?
”

His face turned sour and I wanted to fucking punch him but that wasn’t press that we needed, and I actually cared what ended up in the paper about us. He just wanted press.

“If that’s the case,” I leaned closer, “and I think it is, then you should be glad that I’m not tapping any of it so you can hit it all. Because you know you’d be scraping the barrels if I had my pick.”

He ground his teeth together and glared at me. “You’re a dick.”

I shrugged. “Is that all you came to tell me?”

“I’m leaving the band.” He stood beyond my reach and I was certain that wasn’t an accident.

“So?”

His fists cl
enched by his sides. “You don’t even care, do you? You think I’m totally replaceable and you’re the only talent that matters.”

“Not true,” I said, watching his face. “I think Tate is exceptionally talented.”

He swung at me and I ducked, then grabbed his throat and slammed him against the wall. I got right in his face. “You listen to me, you whiney fucking bitch. You’re going to finish this tour, and then you’re going to walk away. I’m never not choosing Sasha and if you can’t get that through your thick fucking skull then we’re going to have a serious problem. She’s my forever. Got it?” I shoved and stepped away.

He stood there seething and I wanted to unleash all over him but I had a plane to catch.

“This isn’t over.”

“Yes,
” I took a step toward the elevator and pushed the button, “it is.”

The hours flew by and before I knew it, Jesse was texting me and letting me know that he’d landed.

I tried to sound tired and like he’d just woken me up. “Okay. I’m just here
in town.”

“Are you inside? How does it look?
”

I fought the grin so he couldn’t hear it over the phone. “
No. There wasn’t any power or anything in the house. I’m at Kerri’s.” I knew I was taking a massive gamble that he wouldn’t go to her house first, but I was pretty sure that he’d swing by the house first, and find me here. “Oh gosh,” I lied, my lips quivering, “Was it supposed to be done?”

He groaned and then went silent. I
glanced at my phone, but he was still there. “Yeah, we were supposed to be moving on to the internal stuff, cabinets, flooring. Dammit.”

“Well, maybe I can help
whip it into shape after you take a look at it. Are you coming over here?” My cheeks were hurting from trying to hold it in.

He sighed. “I’ll be there in a few hours.
Go back to sleep. I want to swing by the house and take a look at what they didn’t get done. Sorry to wake you. Do you need me to bring you anything?”

“I’m fine, babe. Just
do your thing and then come over here whenever. I’m just on the couch.” I couldn’t take it anymore and if I had to keep up the façade for much longer I would totally crack. “See you in a few.”

“Sorry for whatever shape it
was in.”

I glanced around the room, delighted and so excited for him to see it. “It’s just a house.”

He sighed again, and I could hear the strain in his breath. It seemed far heavier than it should be for just some house remodel. I hoped that nothing had gone wrong with the tour now that he was headed this way and taking a break. I needed Scout to start cutting him some slack. That thing was still a disaster waiting to happen.

“I’m so excited to see you.”

“Me too.”

***

I hung up and slammed my hand against the wheel. If it wasn’t in the middle of the night, I’d call my contractor and chew him a new one. Fuck! This weekend was supposed to be super special and I’d wanted to surprise Sasha with a dinner and something fancy up at the house. It had taken all kinds of convincing to build this trip into the tour and I was totally pushing the schedule. I couldn’t believe they’d fucked this up. Or that I’d somehow missed it.

They’d been sending me photos all along but I’d gotten caught up for the last two weeks and hadn’t even had a chance to really look at them
. It had seemed—at least to my completely untrained, non-house-owning eye—that we were nearly to the point of moving in. The kitchen still needed to be done, but I thought they were starting all of that next week. Now I was just pissed.

If it was a disaster, I was never going to be able to bring Sasha out and finish what we’d started the last time we’d been there.

“Damn it!” This was fucking perfect. Today could not have been a more fucked up day. First, Scout had caused a ridiculous scene at the radio station, even hinting that he wasn’t appreciated and that he would take a deal from anyone who would give him a shot as lead singer. I nearly lost my shit on national radio. Luckily the DJ was cool and realized where the conversation was headed and took us to a break while I slammed Scout up against the wall in the booth. Tate managed to distract the entire radio staff while we had it out. I couldn’t take any more of him. I was dying for someone to take him up on his offer just so I didn’t have to deal with him anymore. There wasn’t a fucking thing he brought to the table that we couldn’t find somewhere else—and with a whole lot less drama.

When he found out that I was flying  home for a few days to be with Sasha, you’d have thought I’d have told him that I was recording a record for the Stones with all our new songs. God, I could not handle him.
If it weren’t for Tate I think we’d have bashed each other’s skulls in by now. And I was worried that Tate was getting a little tired of being in the middle. Not that I could blame him. But Tate was one that I couldn’t afford to lose.

We were fucking falling apart bit by bit, record by rec
ord. And at this rate, I wasn’t sure how much longer Ainsley was going to put up with it. I’m sure she had plenty of rock stars waiting in line that were willing to toe the line, mind their manners and do what she asked. I sure as fuck wanted to, but with this god dam loose cannon flying around I couldn’t manage everything.

I pressed my fingers into my temple. Fantastic, and now I had a fucking migraine coming on.

I pulled into the grocery store, bought a pack of Excedrin, three Red Bulls and a bag of black licorice. This was going to be a fucked up night. Damn it. All I’d wanted was to swing by, check on the house, make sure it was ready for Kerri to fancify so that I could finally treat Sasha to a date. A plain, simple, old-fashioned date. No waffle truck. No hospital. Just a damn card table, folding chairs, and a nice bottle of wine. But no, my contractors couldn’t even do their jobs so I could make that happen.

Touring was bad enough. I wanted to give her normalcy when I was home.

I sighed and bit off a stick of licorice and took two pills with a swig of the Red Bull.

Hopefully the guys had left tools and I could hammer away my frustration on site.
I could work for a couple hours, then show up at Kerri’s and be there when Sasha woke up.

Traffic was unsurprisingly light
for the middle of the night and I made it to the house in under an hour. As I eased along the driveway, I slammed on the brakes a hundred yards from the end, still not out of the overgrown trees and shrubs that lined the lane. Lights were on in the upstairs bedroom, which didn’t make any sense if Sasha didn’t think there was power there. I turned off the headlights and the lights flickered and then went out.

Great. With my luck there was a fucking electrical short and the damn thing was going to burn to the ground tonight. I would not be surprised in the least. The lights flickered in the kitchen, then those went out too. I scanned the circle drive, but there weren’t any cars, and I highly doubted anyone would be squatting here—

Another smaller light flickered in the master bedroom. Like someone was using a candle or flashlight.

“What the fuck?”

I scanned the entire yard and pulled the car off the driveway. If someone was in my house they were going to regret ever fucking with me on a day like today. I shoved my phone in my pocket in case there really was an intruder and I needed to call the cops. I didn’t feel like dealing with a false alarm, so I wanted to make sure there really was someone in there first.

I popped the trunk and dug around in the rental until I found the tire iron. No point in going in stupidly. The gravel crunched beneath my feet and I wavered between making enough noise to scare them off or being silent so I surprised them. This was twenty
ways from stupid, but I was just hot enough that I didn’t care.

I paused at the front door and looked around. I hadn’t anticipated a door. I
thought there weren’t any. And I wasn’t sure now how I felt about having to open and close a door, shutting us both in a house I barely knew the layout of. I had no idea how many people were inside or if they were armed with more than tire irons.

I tightened my grip and pushed the door open, thankful that there at least weren’t any knobs.

I listened. Nothing made a sound, but I could still see the flicker from the master bedroom ricocheting down the hallway and off the ceiling in the grand room. They’d done more in here than I’d thought. All the drywall was up, and it looked ready for paint and carpet.

Maybe
Sasha didn’t know much about remodeling houses. But why would she? My anger at the general manager was abating and maybe he’d get a pass if he really was as done as it seemed to be. Especially if there was really power. My foot steps were louder than I wanted them to be as I made my way across the expanse and toward the bedroom. I stopped every dozen feet and listened, but I couldn’t make out any movement.

Maybe it really was an electrical fire.

I crept closer, easing along the wall. The master bedroom was a dark expanse and I couldn’t see more than a few feet beyond the threshold. The door was on its hinges in there too, and it was nearly closed.

My heart was starting to pound and adrenaline was pumping through my body. I lifted the tire iron higher and tightened my grip.

On the other side of the door, something bumped the wall.