How to Catch a (Rock) Star (The Dead Hour #1) (2 page)

CHAPTER TWO

Jed looked at the line of fans and held back a sigh. Normally, he loved meeting the fans but the first US leg of the tour was catching up with him and he was tired and missing home. Specifically his own bed and, a close second, his mom’s cooking. What he wouldn’t give for some of her home-made Eggplant Parmigiana and Oreo Cookie cheesecake.

Plus, if he was really honest, he wanted to be at the bar with Lillie. He hadn’t been that attracted to a girl in a very long time, and she obviously had great taste in music.

He watched her with her cute blonde friend, who was petite in every sense of the word. Shorter than Lillie by about six inches. He knew Johnny would try and chat her up even though she had asked about Chris. Jed smiled watching Lillie pull a face as she acted out some story, her arms waving about in wide, expansive gestures. Very Italian, he thought. Mom would approve.

‘Yo! Jed!’ Johnny was yelling across Eddie again, who looked like he might flip the table and start a fight any minute now. Johnny gestured to the girl in front of him, ‘She wants you to sign her -’

‘Sorry, I’m not gonna do that,’ Jed said, ‘but if you’ve got a ticket or something, I’ll sign that.’ The girl looked disappointed as she bypassed Eddie and gave Jed her ticket. She also looked about seventeen which probably meant she was fourteen.

She bent unnecessarily forwards when she took her ticket and Jed averted his eyes from her cleavage. Johnny roared with laughter, slapping Eddie on the back.

‘Dude! Not even a look? You suck as a rock star, man!’ Johnny said. ‘I really don’t know how you manage to resist.’

‘I’m too pretty for jail,’ Jed replied in a sarcastic murmur, shaking his head as Johnny obliged a fan’s request for a kiss, landing one right on her mouth. At least she looked like she might be nineteen.

Eddie slammed his hands on the table before scraping his chair back and letting it fall to the ground, striding off to the bar without a word.

‘I guess he’s had enough of signing for tonight then?’ Johnny smirked.

‘Maybe he’s pissed at you for the way you behave with the fan girls?’ Chris suggested from Jed’s left side.

Johnny laughed and returned to flirting with the fans whilst Jed looked down the line, checking how many more were waiting. Fifteen or so more signatures and then he could join Lillie and Kate at the bar.

He got through the rest of the fans as quickly as he could without seeming like a real dick, and when the last fan moved on to Chris, he leapt up.

‘Whoa there!’ Johnny said. ‘Take it easy, Jed. Haven’t you ever heard of playing it cool?’ He put a restraining hand on Jed’s arm and he was momentarily touched by the look of concern in his eyes. ‘Just, you know – relax a bit,’ he lowered his voice, ‘she’s hot but -’

‘I’m just going to talk to her. That’s all,’ Jed interrupted.

‘Well, I’m coming with you,’ Johnny said, grabbing his jacket off the back of his chair. ‘C’mon Chris. Come and see how an expert does it!’ Johnny laughed as he walked towards the bar.

Jed shook his head and followed with Chris lagging behind. Johnny’s confidence had no limits and he had already made Lillie and Kate laugh by the time Jed reached them.

‘Hey,’ he said to Lillie, touching her on the arm. Oh man, she was blushing again, which looked amazing contrasting her huge grey eyes and long dark hair that hung in waves half way down her back. ‘How about another slammer then?’

She shook her head and laughed.

‘I’d rather just have a beer to be honest,’ she replied as she moved her arm from under his hand. Jed frowned slightly. She blushed when he touched her but then moved away from him. What was that all about?

‘Sure,’ he nodded at the barman, ‘what does everyone else want?’

Kate held up a beer as proof that she was okay, so Jed ordered five beers before turning around to find that Johnny had already begun his charm offensive on Lillie.

‘So,’ he heard him say, ‘you thought we were the best band of the night, huh? You know, we just got signed to Island Records.’

Jed smiled at Lillie’s blank expression and reply of ‘oh, right.’ Johnny started to educate her on the other bands signed to Island.

‘They’ve got shit loads of big names. Nine Inch Nails, Pulp, Free -’

‘Sugababes?’ Kate chimed in. Johnny turned to look at her and Jed knew he was about to go in for the kill.

‘Yeah, well. You’ve got to have balance. Great rock music and bland pop music, sweet and sour,’ he reached out and tugged a strand of her hair. ‘Light and dark,’ he pulled his own dark brown hair and winked at her. She laughed and took a swig from her bottle before replying.

‘That’s why I like tall guys. It restores the natural balance.’

Johnny stabbed a pretend knife into his heart and fell over onto the beer soaked floor.

‘Cruel, so cruel,’ he said as he pushed himself off the floor to standing. ‘I may be short but I make up for it in other areas, which I’d be happy to prove to you.’

Jed left him to it and took the opportunity to talk to Lillie.

‘Sorry about him,’ he nodded his head at Johnny. ‘He’s really proud of the signing. We’ve been at this for seven years so it’s a big deal for us.’

‘Of course,’ Lillie said. ‘It is a big deal. For anyone. You’re really lucky. I mean, obviously you deserve it -’

She was blushing again, and man, it was killing him. He’d never met a girl who blushed so easily and he found it incredibly sexy.

‘It’s okay,’ Jed laughed. ‘I know what you mean. So, what about you? What do you do?’ He saw an angry frown flit across her face before she answered.

‘Nothing exciting. Office work.’ She played with the label of her bottle. ‘I hate it.’

Jed shifted his feet, unsure what to say back. He didn’t know whether she wanted to talk about it or if the words had fallen out of her mouth by accident.

‘What do you want to do then?’ he asked. ‘You know, in life,’ he clarified when she looked at him blankly.

‘I guess I haven’t decided yet. How about you though? Where are you off to next?’

Jed heard the forced cheeriness in her voice but decided to go along with her change of subject. If she didn’t want to talk about herself, he wasn’t going to push it and risk upsetting her. Especially when he hadn’t secured a date or got her number yet.

‘I really have no clue. All I know is we have a free night tomorrow so I’m gonna spend the day sleeping and then I was hoping you’d have dinner with me,’ he said. Johnny would be proud at how smoothly he had managed to ask her out on a date. Perhaps he had learned something from him after all this time.

‘Dinner. With you.’ She looked surprised and confused. Jed watched as she took another swig of beer and wondered what her mouth would feel like against his.

‘Yeah, maybe some place Italian if you know anywhere good. Or Mexican. I love Mexican food.’ He tried to stop looking at her mouth and focus on her eyes. God, they were an amazing colour. He could write a dozen songs about her eyes.

‘What about Japanese?’ Lillie said, seeming confident and comfortable for the first time since he’d met her. ‘There’s supposed to be a good Japanese restaurant down by the Theatre Royal.’

Shit, Jed thought. Raw fish and seaweed. But if that was what she wanted to eat then he wasn’t gonna say no.

‘Sure, that sounds good. Do you wanna book it for eight and I’ll meet you there. Or for drinks somewhere before maybe?’

‘There’s a really nice bar down the road from it. Why don’t I meet you there at seven?’ Lillie said. ‘I can’t remember the name of it so I’ll have to text you.’

‘Cool, give me your number,’ Jed said, reaching into his back pocket for his cell. He punched her number into his phone and saved it. ‘I’ll send you a text later so you have mine,’ he said. ‘Another drink?’

She shook her head and said it was her round, turning to the bar and leaning over it to get the attention of the barman. Jed couldn’t help himself, he was only a man after all, he leaned back slightly and took a quick look.

‘Mmm mm. Great ass,’ Johnny said in his ear. ‘Do you need me to crash on Chris and Eddie’s floor tonight?’ Jed elbowed him playfully in the ribs, smiling at his grunt of pain.

‘Shut up, man. We’re having dinner tomorrow night.’ Johnny shook his head and opened his mouth but Jed got there first. ‘I know what you’re gonna say but it’s only dinner. It’s not as if - ‘ Johnny reached across him suddenly and said loudly,

‘Awesome, thanks babe. I love a girl who pitches in with rounds.’ He held up his bottle, ‘Here’s to a successful tour so far and to you beautiful ladies. Cheers!’

He clinked his bottle to Jed’s and then everyone else’s but not before flashing Jed a warning look, which Jed decided to ignore. It was only dinner. Everyone had to eat. Right?

CHAPTER THREE

Lillie woke up with a severe hangover. She winced as she attempted to roll over and shock waves surged through her brain. She reached out a heavy hand and groped about on her bedside drawers for the paracetamol she knew were there.

Her fingers finally touched plastic and she grinned in triumph before remembering that she needed water. Dammit. She was going to have to get up.

Carefully, she pulled herself into a sitting position and swung her legs over the bed. Huh. That wasn’t so bad. She caught a glimpse of her alarm clock and fell back onto her bed in shock. Midday. She rolled over onto her front groaning aloud:

Sliding off the bed and onto her knees, she recalled drinking tequila slammers with Johnny, just the two. But that was more than enough when added to the four, or was it five, beers.

She stayed kneeling in a prayer position, desperately trying to remember if she had embarrassed herself in front of Jed, but she was drawing an absolute blank. Kate. She needed to speak to Kate.

Her phone bleeped and Lillie risked falling face first onto the hideous brown and orange patterned carpet of her bedroom to reach for it. She couldn’t wait for the 70s vomit-inspired monstrosity to be ripped up – it hurt her eyes even when she was sober.

She lowered herself to the floor and sat cross legged, scrolling through her new text messages. One from her mum asking if she was going to Sunday lunch. That would be a no. One from her sister, Tess, asking to borrow her leather jacket. Also a no. One from Jed. Lillie’s heart raced in terrified excitement. She opened it and slowly read it through.

‘Looking forward to an actual kiss later – that almost kiss had me awake most of the night… ;) J xo’

What? What almost kiss? She didn’t remember that. How could she not remember that? She closed her eyes and thought hard. She remembered agreeing to go to dinner at the Japanese place she’d always wanted to try. She remembered that moody guitarist, what was his name? Ethan? Freddie? Eddie. She recalled talking to him about The White Stripes, arguing over their best song and which of Jack White’s subsequent bands were the best.

She smiled as she had a flashback of the drummer, Chris, and Kate getting on rather well, but almost kissing Jed? How could she possibly forget – no, no, she did remember. She’d gone to the loo and when she came out, he was waiting outside for her, which, okay, was a bit stalkerish, but she supposed there had been no other way to be alone otherwise.

Her cheeks grew hot as she remembered how she had started with surprise as he said her name in his low husky voice, and the sound of his laugh in response to her mile-high jump.

Her stomach flipped as she thought about him moving his body so close to hers and her backing up against the wall. Her breath had caught in her throat when he linked his fingers through hers, trapping her arms against her body. Her heart had started to beat insanely fast as he leaned into her, the heat from his body transferring to her own, making her already flushed skin even more fevered.

‘I couldn’t wait any longer,’ he had said, his face so close to hers, she had felt the whisper of his breath on her lips. She hadn’t said anything back, just tipped her face to his. He had moved his mouth towards hers, her eyes had closed and she had felt him gently brush a strand of hair back from her face and then softly touch his fingertips to her cheek. She had pushed herself forward the tiniest bit until their torsos touched, her entire body tingling with desire...

And then some twelve year old barely dressed in a long t-shirt and Converse Hi tops with half the MAC counter on her face had grabbed Jed’s arm, asking for an autograph and a photo. Lillie had felt the moment rip away as Jed had moved back, letting the cool air rush between them, a remorseful smile on his lips as he turned towards his fan.

She sighed and heaved herself up to standing; time to stop feeling sorry for herself and start sorting out her hangover. She figured a shower and a huge breakfast of bacon and eggs would go some way towards helping her to feel more human, so she stumbled down the hall to Kate’s room to see if she wanted to do a post mortem of the night before at Mimi’s Café.

***

As soon as Lillie opened the door to hangover salvation, she cursed washing her hair as she was only going to have to wash the smell of grease and sausage fat out of it later. Still, Mimi’s was the best hangover cure she knew. That and sugary tea plus the blast of tangy sea air that had buffeted her on the way to the best greasy spoon in all of Brighton.

‘Sit down,’ Kate commanded her. ‘I’ll order for us.’

Lillie gratefully collapsed into a red plastic chair at a table for two in the window and waited for her tea. She was busy wondering why she felt so terrible and Kate was showing no signs of having had anything to drink the night before, when Kate reappeared.

‘Thanks honey,’ Lillie said as she accepted a massive mug from Kate. She took a large gulp before staring at Kate. ‘What is that look on your face? Did you and Chris - ‘

‘No!’ Kate exclaimed. ‘Of course not!’

Lillie laughed and took another gulp of tea. Strong and sweet. She silently blessed Kate for reading her mind and bringing her exactly what she needed. She quirked an eyebrow,

‘But...’

‘He kissed me,’ Kate said, a big grin on her face. Lillie smiled, pleased that at least one of them had been kissed last night.

‘And?’

‘And that’s it,’ Kate said, concentrating hard on blowing on her tea, a pointless gesture as somehow Mimi’s tea was always the perfect drinking temperature as soon as it was made.

‘Kate,’ Lillie reached across the table and forced Kate’s mug towards the white formica table top. ‘I need more than that.’

Kate sighed and looked towards the counter, probably hoping to be saved by the arrival of their all-day breakfasts. She was always oddly reticent about giving up any naughty details.

‘Okay,’ she finally relented. ‘He kissed me twice. Once on the dance floor and then when you’d gone to the bathroom. Jed had disappeared and Johnny was busy chatting up some girl.’

‘Where was the guitarist, Eddie?’

‘Who?’ Kate looked confused.

‘You know, longish brown hair, tallish, ummm, I forget what colour eyes,’ Lillie tried to describe him.

‘Oh yeah, I don’t know. Maybe he was dancing.’ Lillie was unconvinced. Poor Eddie. She bet he was standing right there and Chris and Kate hadn’t noticed. It seemed like that probably happened a lot to him.

‘So, what was the kiss like then?’

‘Really good,’ she said dreamily. Lillie made a disappointed face, but Kate was spared from having to share any more as their meals arrived and Lillie was distracted by the revitalising aroma of perfect, stodgy hangover food.

‘Oh my God, I am so hungry,’ Lillie declared, reaching for the ketchup and forgetting momentarily about Chris and his kissing technique.

She loved the tomato-shaped bottle it was decanted into. The bottle made her think of New York, which made her fry up seem much more glamorous. She squirted a huge dollop onto the side of her plate and set about cutting the whites off her eggs so she could spread the runny yolk over her toast. She looked up to see Kate watching with disgusted fascination.

‘That is so weird the way you do that,’ she said, loading her own fork with beans and bacon. Lillie shrugged and carried on eating.

She was feeling much better already despite the smell of cigarette smoke wafting through from the kitchen, where Mimi was probably illegally smoking. Nor did the sight of Mimi’s rather overweight husband frying eggs on the flat plate in his string vest affect Lillie’s appetite.

‘So,’ she said with a mouth full of egg white and beans, ‘I nearly kissed Jed or, at least, he nearly kissed me.’

Kate hastily swallowed her own mouthful.

‘What? How could you wait all this time to tell me that? What happened? I want to know everything.’ Lillie put her knife and fork down and took a slurp of tepid tea.

‘Well, it was when I went to the loo that last time. He waited for me outside -’

‘Oooh, he must -’ Lillie silenced her with a look. ‘Sorry.’ Kate looked suitably contrite and mimed zipping her mouth closed.

‘Anyway,’ Lillie carried on, ‘he said he couldn’t wait any longer, pushed my hair back, touched my cheek -’

Kate opened her mouth but Lillie raised a warning eyebrow.

‘Leaned in towards me as I closed my eyes,’ Lillie paused, inwardly smiling at Kate’s rapt expression. ‘And then some child rocked up and demanded his autograph,’ she finished, cutting up her toast. Kate looked devastated.

‘What? So he didn’t try again?’

‘No. The moment was gone.’ Lillie finished her toast and said, ‘I suppose it’s for the best really. I mean, you don’t really want your first kiss to be outside the ladies room, do you?’

‘Oooh, so you’re hoping for more kisses then?’ Kate squealed.

Lillie rolled her eyes and leant back, rubbing her full stomach whilst Kate fantasised out loud about her impending date with Jed.

What was she going to do if he suggested more than kissing? Maybe Kate was right. It would be the perfect way to break her self-imposed celibacy after the whole finding out her ex, Matt, had a wife and child thing. It had been nearly a year for goodness sake.

She could ease back into the saddle without the hassle of properly dating someone and suffering from all the usual wondering where it was all going, what he meant when he said this or that, when he was going to call bullshit, and those other annoying things that came with a relationship package deal.

It wasn’t like she was ever going to bump into him around Brighton, so it would be completely uncomplicated. Yes, she decided, despite her reservations, she needed to stop punishing herself. If he asked her back to his hotel she would go and she would have a damn good time without worrying about any repercussions because there couldn’t be any. He was just here on tour for, what? A couple of days and then he would be gone along with her born-again virginity. Perfect.