Interlude (Rockstar #4) (11 page)

He nods. "There's always a few less heavy songs mixed in the albums so if you wanted drums, you'd be great."

"Thanks. That means a lot coming from you."

Xander just nods.

"The question is," I say, "do you want to be back there or would you rather be up here?"

"First, let's see what she's got for the chords," Ben says.

Lucy smirks and I raise my brows. I have a feeling we're in for a big surprise.

"Just watch," Lucy whispers and heads over to grab rhythm guitar.

"Whatcha got going on here?" Kennedy asks as she picks up one of his guitars.

"Relax, oh silent and sexy one. I won't wreck your precious. I just know what she's got in mind and I need to do rhythm for her. Well, I don't need to, I want to because this is going to be epic."

"What's she got in mind?" Ethan asks.

"The same thing she always has in mind whenever someone challenges her on guitar," Jace says with a grin. "The only question is which song."

"My new favorite," she announces and Lucy raises her eyebrow, her mouth forming a small o.

Luce hops up on a stool and tells me, "You're gonna have to sing this one solo, hot stuff."

I nod, grabbing the mic and stool, and plop right next to her. "What is it?"

"You'll know it as soon as the first note is played."

I nod again, ready for whatever they've got for us.

"Ready?" she asks.

Sera nods and Jace winks.

Sera strums the first chord of
Hail To The King
by Avenged Sevenfold and all brows go up and grins appear. Sera jumps in to sing her part as do Jace and Xander. Kennedy matches Lucy, Ethan matches Jace, and I sing like a motherfucker.

Ben stands in front of Sera and watches her while his fingers work the fret, grinning. She's not even paying attention. Her eyes are closed and she's in the zone. That's fucking impressive.

When the last chord is struck, the studio is completely silent. Sera's head comes up and she grins at Lucy.

Ben shakes his head. "Fucking
Hail To The King
."

She shrugs. "I do so love a challenge and I'm glomming on A7X right now."

"Obviously you've been playing some if you know that song."

"Well, yeah. I'm a musician. I have to play even if I'm not in a band. Lucy and I have jam sessions."

"Good. It seems you get to choose what you want to do because you're fantastic at both," Ben says.

She grins at him. "Thanks, Ben."

He nods. "I mean it. That was incredible."

"It's up to you. If you do drums, you'll be in the back and likely someone else will have to sing backup. If you choose lead, you get the spotlight. If you choose rhythm, you get a lot of spotlight but not as bright," I tell her.

"First, would you be content back there? People know who you are as a drummer, I mean, look at Xander. The women are nuts for him even back there," Lucy says.

"Probably not. I'd prefer to move around the stage a bit."

Lucy nods.

"That leaves lead and rhythm. Would you be content with rhythm or do you want to continually challenge yourself?"

I look at Lucy with a knowing smirk. I know what she's doing. Clever.

"I, of course, want the challenge," she says with a grin, her brown eyes, so much like Lucy's, flashing with humor and excitement.

"Then you're it, woman," Jace says with a grin.

"So we're looking for rhythm guitar and drums. You need anyone for boards?" I ask.

"Nope. I got that," Lucy tells me.

At that, I'm surprised and my brows go up. "No shit?"

"No shit. Why do you sound so surprised?"

I shrug, not sure why really.

"What, only Sera can be a musical prodigy?"

"I never said that."

"They must have missed our P!nk performance yesterday," Sera explains.

Lucy nods. "Must have. And now I feel like I have something to prove," she says, heading to the piano. She flexes her hands and fingers, cracking her knuckles. I take my mic with me and sit next to her on the bench. I like being close to her and, if she's honest, she likes it too.

She starts playing
Your Song
from Elton John and everyone joins in on their cue. I sing the first verse. Lucy joins in on the chorus and takes the second verse. I lean forward, catching her attention, and sing the last line of the second verse to her.
Yours are the sweetest eyes I've ever seen.
That's no lie. They are. So expressive and kind.

Lucy smiles.

"Well done, Cupcake."

"Thank you, thank you," she says with a laugh.

Cage stands from his chair in front of the stage.

"You want my opinion?" he asks.

"Always," Lucy tells him.

"Sera, take lead. Luce, just sing, do acoustic when you want, during breaks or whatever. Piano if you need to. Focus on working the crowd, engage them. Jace is perfect." Cage shakes his head and laughs. "I knew you'd be sensational but I wasn't expecting this."

Lucy, Sera, and Jace light up at his praise, and it's high praise, indeed. It's not every day Cage Nichols hands out compliments like that.

"So we find rhythm and drums and get you set up in a studio. You've got songs, right?" he asks.

Lucy laughs. "Are you fucking with me right now?"

"Yep," he laughs in return. Hell, I can't remember a time when I've seen Cage smile so much.

Lucy throws a guitar pick at him, which doesn't go very far.

"Yeah, we've got songs. Books upon books of songs."

He nods. "You know I own a company that produces records."

"No, had no clue at all," she tells him, pointing at me and the guys.

He laughs. "I've got the company studio and a private one. You can use the private one any time you want, but in a couple weeks I want you in the company one recording your album."

"Holy fuck," Jace says. "You're
that
Cage Nichols."

He nods. "I am."

"Oh yeah," Sera says, walking up to him and jumping on his back. Piggy-back time. "We're going to be on sexy Cage's label." She leans forward and kisses his ear.

His arms reach back and cup her ass, holding her up. Well then.

I put my arm around Lucy. "I'll help you. Whatever you need."

"Thank you, all of you, for this." We all nod.

She turns to me, her expression one of complete sincerity so I give her my undivided attention. "Please know that I don't expect it from you, but I am grateful for every single thing you do."

"I know, Lucy. If I thought it was anything else, you wouldn't be
mine
."

She leans in and whispers, "I'm not yours, Jesse."

"You will be before the night is over."

She ignores me—or tries to—and stands up. "I've got to say, boys, I'm pretty surprised you knew that last song."

"What?" Kennedy asks. "If there's a musician out there that doesn't know that song, they are a disgrace."

"Agreed. I just figured you guys were too hardcore to know Elton John."

"Fuck no. It's a classic. Layla. Lola. Shit, they're the best," Ethan says.

"Truer words were never spoken," Jace replies.

"Well all right. We need to get Jace settled in at the penthouse—"

"Penthouse?" I ask, remembering the hotel comment from this morning.

She nods and blows out a breath. "Suites really."

"Why are you staying in a hotel?" I frown.

"Well, Mr. Sexy Rockstar, I can't go home. It's surrounded by reporters and when I say surrounded, I mean surrounded. It's gated, but that means stopping and risking someone getting in when the gates open and I can't be bothered to hire additional security. I've never had to before, and I'm not starting now."

I nod, not at all happy about the situation, a situation I helped create.

"So where are you staying?"

"I've got an entire floor booked at the Beverly Wilshire. Once filming is done, we'll stay in the house in Santa Monica."

I feel like shit. Damn. "I'm sorry, Lucy. I didn't realize the reporters were on you that bad."

She shrugs. "It's par for the course."

"They weren't nearly that bad at my place."

"Gated community?" she asks and I nod. "Yeah, mine's not. I haven't had a need for it."

"Until now," Sera says.

"You're a movie star," Xander says. "How could you not need a gated community?"

"I've always stayed under the radar when I've gone out—avoided temptation, so to speak. It's not that we haven't been looking already, we just never made it a priority."

"Guess we will now, huh?" Sera says and Lucy nods.

"We're taking Jace out for drinks," Kennedy says and Lucy groans.

"Really? His first night here?"

"Is there a better time?"

She sighs. "He's got his own suite. I'll give you the key, Jace. I rented out the floor so we have privacy. You all can party there if you want, just keep the skanks to a minimum please, and over on your side of the building. I don't want to hear that shit."

Lucy looks around then asks, "Where'd Sera go?"

"She took off with Cage," Jace replies.

She nods and I wonder what's going on between the boss man and Miss Sera.

"Do you have a car here?" I ask.

"Max."

I nod. "I'll take you home."

"Okay. That's probably better. Then Jace and the boys can have Max or Gio drive."

I nod again as Lucy hands Jace his suite key and tells him they've got the car for the night.

"We'll drop their cars off and Max can take us to the hotel."

"Sounds good. Stay out of trouble," Lucy says to Jace as she gives him a hug. She mimics Robert DeNiro as she points and squints her eyes at the other guys, who just grin.

I let out a chuckle. I'll be damned if I don't like her even more now than I did ten minutes ago.

"You're not going to
invite me up, are you?" I ask.

She shakes her head. "No, I'm not. We've still got to work together."

"Just one more day… more like half a day. There's not much left to shoot."

"Jesse."

"Lucy."

She smirks and shakes her head.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Oh come on. It was something."

She turns in the passenger seat to face me. "You really want to know?"

I glance over for a second before looking back at the highway stretched before us. "I do."

"I was just thinking 'Jesse freaking Kingston'."

I grin. "Yeah, that's me."

"It still seems surreal."

"I could say the same Miss Hollywood actress. Luciana freaking Russo."

She waves me off. "I'm not anything but a mediocre actress at best."

Now I really do laugh. "Oh really. This coming from the woman who got nominated for an Oscar after her very first film."

"Please. It was best supporting actress and I didn't win."

"Still nominated
and
you won the actress Oscar for your last film so don't tell me you're mediocre."

"Meh. I don't feel like I deserve any of that. I'm just Lucy and I go play other characters sometimes."

"You work hard, learn all the lines, get into that character, make it believable."

"Great scripts help."

I chuckle. She can't accept the compliment. "Would you stop? You can't admit you're good?"

"I just don't see myself like that. It's just a job… acting. Now music... That's going to be something I really want to succeed at."

"I have no doubt you're going to. It might be a little slow going at first, but I honestly don't think so. Not with Cage's backing."

She nods. "I have to find a new manager, though Cage said he would step in for the time being. I'm not sure how he can find time for that with everything he's already got going on."

"I'm sure it has a little something to do with Sera."

"Probably."

"How'd you meet Cage?"

She smiles a smile of fondness and I know Cage is someone special to her.

"Well, it wasn't long after I'd met you that Irene, my agent, had lined Sera and I up to be in a music video for Crashed. My mom hated it. I mean
hated
it. Anyway, when we got there, his assistant Marci greeted us just like she did yesterday and took us into the conference room. There sat Cage and a few of his people, as well as all the band members from Crashed. It was all Sera and I could do not to squeal like stupid little fangirl groupies." She shakes her head at the memory.

I chuckle. "Go on."

"I'd never worked on anything like the videos so we were essentially virgins—that's what Cage called us. I was offended at first but didn't say a word. I mean, it's Cage Nichols. At least that's what I thought back then. Anyone who isn't in the industry, I've noted, doesn't see anyone who
is
in the industry as just a person. They're all hyped up to be OMG Mr. Rockstar or Miss Actress."

"Kinda like you just thought of me a few minutes ago?"

"Yeah, but I know you're just a guy who loves music, who gets to do what he loves for a living. But that's not how we saw it back then, Sera and I. So we were pretty awed by everything. Then we got on set and it was so much fun. God. So much more fun than acting in a movie or television show. The music, the lights, the sound, the stories that Cage creates for the videos—but mostly it was the music. Sera and I lose ourselves in it and we weren't prepared for being in a video."

"Uh-oh. I sense something bad is going to happen."

"Not bad, just super embarrassing."

"What happened?"

She plucks at something on her pants. "Well, we got out there and Crashed started playing. Sera and I did our ass wiggling as we were supposed to but when they got into it, so did we. We were dancing around singing the lyrics at the tops of our lungs," she laughs. "It was just horrifying to do that in front of all these professional people."

"How hard of a time did they give you?"

"That's the thing. They didn't."

"No?"

She shakes her head. "They knew we were being weirdoes but they didn't stop playing. They let us get our goofy dancing and singing out of the way, they laughed a bit, and told us we were a lot of fun. Cage—he just sat there in his chair, leaning to one side, elbow bent upward so his chin was resting on his hand—you know what I mean."

I nod, knowing that posture of Cage's well.

"So quiet and stoic, I thought we were fired for sure. Then he gets up from his chair and walks over to us, just me and Sera, and pulls us both into a hug and starts laughing, telling us what a breath of fresh air we are, that everyone is always so serious. Well, that set the tone for that shoot and our relationship with Cage. We started hanging out with him a bit, I took his advice on movies and things—he's good friends with Irene, by the way."

"Of course he is."

"I know, right? Anyway, so we just became friends and whenever we can, I should say, whenever my schedule allows for it, we work on videos with him. I'm not sure how many we've been in. Five? Seven? All I know is that Cage is one of our best friends and there's something between him and Sera that they are in such denial of and I'm afraid they'll never act on."

"I've seen them together. There's no way they'll be able to hold out much longer."

She shrugs. "Maybe. I hope so. They'd be happy together but Sera's… different."

"There's a story there."

"There is but one very personal and private."

I nod. "I can respect that."

We ride in comfortable silence for a while before I ask the one question I've been wondering since I saw her on our set.

"What did you think when they told you, you were going to be doing a video with us?"

"Ha! They didn't!"

"What do you mean?" I ask, not understanding what she’s saying.

"Sneaky fuckers, all of them. Cage, Irene, Spenser, all the assistants… none of them told us who it was, just that it was some big-name band and we'd be happy. It was a 'surprise'."

"So you didn't know until you saw us?"

"Not a clue. Not until Ben strummed his guitar and you sang with me. Talk about a heart-stopping minute."

"We heard you when we walked in the building. You were singing some P!nk song and when we got halfway to you, you started in on Red. We all just kinda stopped where we were and listened. None of us said a word. Your voice," I shake my head, remembering how haunting it was. "It was an incredible thing to hear and then we started toward the sound and when I turned the corner and saw you, I couldn't believe it."

She grins shyly. "Yeah, well. I thought for sure we were going to get bitched out for touching the guitars and Sera on the drums."

"There was no way, after what we'd heard. No way. And then seeing it was you, well, who can yell at you?"

"Oh you'd be surprised," she says with a laugh.

"Bastards, every one of them," I joke—sort of. "Seriously though, I knew you were going to be there but I thought it was part of the crew fucking around." I shake my head. "To turn the corner and see you and Sera caught up in the music like we do…"

She just nods.

"Little Lucy who couldn't even speak was standing there singing her heart out six years later."

She looks at me confused and I meet her gaze.

"You're going to make it. It's going to happen fast, too. You need to prepare for that."

She nods. "I'm not sure how, but we'll try. I mean I know the fans and stuff are going to be much different than they are at movie premieres and things like that. I've been to concerts but I've never been backstage or a VIP or anything so I'm not sure how that all goes."

"It's completely different from what you're used to, Luce. There are so many fans, and they all want a piece of you. They'll reach up on stage to try to touch you and there are days you just don't want to be touched. You just want them to enjoy the music—not you—you know?"

She nods. "Well, from what I've heard you have no issues with the fangirl groupie whores."

I raise a brow. Rumors. Great. "From what you've heard?"

"Oh yeah. It's common knowledge that you're a manwhore. Jesse Kingston, the man with a new girl every couple hours." She nods. "Yep, it's not news."

I grin, amused. "Really. That's what's being said?"

She nods and twists her fingers in her lap, clearly uncomfortable.

I pull into the parking lot of the hotel instead of in front. She and I need to talk. We need to clear the air.

"What Jesse?" she snips.

I raise a brow. "Well that put a damper on your mood, didn't it?"

She shrugs.

"Look Lucy, I can't change my past, what I've done or who I am. Yeah, what they said was true for the first few years we were out on the road, but that gets old after a while."

"So it's just one girl a show then," she says with a bit of bite to her tone.

I sigh and run my hand through my hair. "You're going to find out and it may not be the same for you, but after a show, the adrenaline rush..." I shake my head. "You feel on top of the world. I mean, you just got to do what you love and rock it out in front of fifty-plus-thousand fans and they fucking loved it. It's like no other feeling I've ever experienced."

She just nods, frowning and looking out the windshield.

"You don't want to lose that feeling. Then there are the women throwing themselves at you—"

She holds up a hand and looks at me. "Stop. I don't want to hear this. You owe me nothing, Jesse. I'm not sure why you're trying to explain yourself or your actions to me. I'm nobody to you, not really. It doesn't matter."

"That's not true—"

"It's true. Thank you for driving me home, Jesse."

It's fucking
not
true. She's everything to me. She just doesn't know it yet.

"What are you going to do for the rest of the night?"

"First, I'm going to take a nice long shower and rinse off the gross dried leather boobage sweat." She curls her lip. "Then I'll probably put a movie in and turn into a Tijanette for the night."

"A what?"

"A Tijanette."

"What the fuck is that?"

She laughs. "Okay, something you might not know about me. I love to read. I read every day in my spare time. If I'm not working, I generally read all day and lounge by the pool or whatever. I just—read. It's my escape."

"Okay, what does that have to do with Raisinettes?"

She laughs so hard she snorts and I grin. She's so fucking adorable. "Not Raisinettes,
Tijanettes
. You see one of my favorite author's names is Tijan and her fans or street team is called Tijanettes. I love her stories and there are a couple I haven't read yet, so I'll download it to my Kindle, grab a bottle of wine, and lounge on the oversized sofa with a pillow and blanket because Sera probably set the air conditioning too low and I'll freeze my ass off."

"What movie are you going to watch?"

She shrugs. "A chick flick probably."

I cringe. "Well then. Maybe when we've wrapped up everything with the video tomorrow, you'll let me take you out to dinner."

She doesn't answer but I see her thinking. She gets this little line between her eyebrows when she's concentrating hard on something. I start the car and pull around to the front of the hotel. She looks at me, really looks at me, and the look has my heartbeat racing. It's more than lust. It's more than amusement. It's exactly what I'm feeling. I let her see it, everything going on inside right now.

"All right, Jesse. Dinner it is."

I nod, relieved and really fucking happy I'm getting at least a chance with her. I know who she is. She's the good girl that all the guys like me want… only I don't want her just to fuck her. I want to keep her for as long as she'll let me.

"We'll work the details out tomorrow. We've already exchanged digits so you can call me anytime."

"And you can call me. Convenient how that worked out for you."

I chuckle. "I admit it. I wanted your number."

She smirks. "And now you have it. Do you know how many squealing fangirls would kill for this phone number?"

"Don't even think about it."

She laughs. "I wouldn't."

"Look, Lucy. I'm sorry. I didn’t mean to bring up shit that upsets you. It's just, I don't know. I feel like I need to explain."

"You don't. As I said, you owe me nothing."

"Maybe not but it feels like I do. Anyway, you're going to have guys in your band and I don't know how Sera is or if you'll get another girl, but I know for sure the guys are going to get wild for a while. Hell,
you
might."