Rock Stars Don't Like Ugly Bras (10 page)

Any effects of the alcohol that Jake had been drinking were quickly wearing off.  The bright, light mood he’d been in earlier had sunken beneath a rising tide of jealousy and fear.  He leaned over the balcony of the snug and stared down at the club below, his eyes searching the crowd for Amber.  She had been gone for much longer than the five minutes they had agreed, and Jake was tempted to go and look for her, but the possibility of finding her with Daniel all over her made him sick to his stomach.

Jake groaned and turned away from the balcony, wondering what to do for the best. The snug’s appeal had long since disappeared and now he just wanted to see the back of it – to get Freckles out of this damn club and take her back to the hotel.  He snatched up a bottle of beer from the table and drank it back in two gulps before dropping gloomily onto the sofa.

He knew that she had loved Daniel, but surely she wouldn’t just abandon him here without a word.  She was a kind hearted, loving woman, and wouldn’t do that sort of thing surely.  He looked at his watch to see that she had now been gone almost half an hour.

“Fuck this,” Jake hissed to himself.

He reached over and pushed the button to call Andre.  Within a couple of minutes, he entered the room.

“How can I help you, Mr Hughes?” he asked with a smile.

Jake stood up and fished his wallet out of the back pocket of his charcoal grey trousers. 

“Here,” he said, thrusting a wad of notes at Andre.  “Take two of those for yourself, and give the rest to Miss Mahoney to get a cab, or a hotel, whatever she wants.”

Andre, trained to perfection, didn’t flicker at the amount of money he was holding, or the fact that Jake was leaving alone.  “Thank you Mr Hughes, I’ll see she gets it.”

Jake ran a hand through his hair and glanced longingly at the doorway, hoping that Amber would suddenly appear.  “If you don’t find her just share it out between you and Lana.”

“I’ll make sure I find her,” Andre replied with a nod.  “Can I order you a taxi?”

Jake shook his head.  “No, I’ve got a car waiting outside.”  He knew he could send Harry, his driver, back for Amber but he’d be damned if Daniel would benefit from a ride in his limo.  “Just make sure she gets in a licenced taxi…if she’s alone.  If she’s with some greasy looking, dark haired bloke then I don’t really care.”

Jake stormed past Andre, stopping only briefly to give him a single pat on the shoulder and a grunt of thanks.

Amber glanced at her watch anxiously.  She’d been talking to Daniel for so long that she had visions of Jake getting angry and coming to look for her soon if she didn’t hurry up and get away. And with her aversion to the sight of blood, she’d seen enough spilt for one night.

Daniel had droned on about the pressure he had been under when they were together and how much he missed her, not once asking about the baby or how Amber was.  Within minutes Amber was bored and irritated and desperate to get back to Jake.

“Why are you with him anyway?” Daniel asked as he ran a lazy finger down Amber’s arm.

“Why would I not be with him? He’s adorable, talented, sexy, and I like him…a lot,” she replied.

“He seems like a complete prick to me.  I noticed he’s got tattoos; since when have you liked men with tattoos?”

Amber sighed as she thought of Jake’s tattoos.  He had worn a pair of grey, tailored, skinny trousers and a crisp, white shirt for her tonight, because he knew that she liked him in more formal clothes.  Then when Amber had moaned that she couldn’t see his tattoos, he’d rolled his sleeves up to give her a peek.  She smiled.  He really would do anything to please her.

“Listen Daniel,” Amber huffed as she pushed away from the wall.  “As much as it’s been great fun catching up outside
the
toilets
, I need to go.”

“But we’ve not talked properly.”  Daniel grabbed hold of Amber’s wrist and pulled her back against his body.

As their chests collided, Amber held her breath, waiting for the dance company of butterflies that usually performed ‘Riverdance’ in her stomach when he touched her; but nothing happened.  She no longer had any desire for him, whatsoever?  He was dull, boring and smarmy.  As she watched him rake his eyes over her body, she felt nothing but disgust for him. The only person she thought, or cared about was Jake.

“Oh shit,” Amber groaned with the realisation that, despite all her best efforts, emotions had crept into their relationship.

“What’s wrong, Ambs?”  Daniel’s fingers moved up to her neck.

Amber shivered.  “Please get off me Daniel.  I need to go back to my boyfriend.”

“Why waste time on some bum like him?”  Daniel pursed his lips and moved them closer to Amber’s.

She pushed him away and stepped back.  “What are you doing?”

“Kissing you, what does it look like?”

Amber pulled a horrified face, and turned to walk away.

“Ambs, you know you don’t want him.  I can give you a good life, what can he give you?” 

Amber started to laugh, realising that Daniel was so self-obsessed that he had no idea who Jake was.  She paused and thought about her feelings for Jake.  Finally, she nodded.

“Love, Daniel,” she said after a moment. “That’s what he can give me.”  Without further comment, she pushed through the door back into the club to find her boyfriend.

As she pushed through the crowds, Amber’s looked up at the floor above.  She couldn’t wait to get back to Jake.  Just as she reached the staircase, Andre came rushing over and placed a hand on her forearm.

“Miss Mahoney.”

“Oh, hi Andre.”  Amber smiled.  “Is everything okay?”

“Mr Hughes has just left. He asked me to give you this and to see that you got safely into a taxi.”  Andre passed over the wad of notes that Jake had given to him.

Amber frowned and stared at the money in her hand.  “He’s gone?” she repeated, her voice filled with panic.

Andre nodded apologetically. “He left about five minutes ago.”

Amber didn’t wait to hear anymore.  Gripping Jake’s money tightly, she turned around and headed for the exit.  Weaving her way through the host of elegantly dressed people she finally got to the edge of the club.  As she rushed into the foyer, Lana looked up at Amber and smiled.

“Did Jake… I mean did Mr Hughes come this way?” Amber asked with tears brimming in her eyes, unable to believe that he’d left her there alone.

“Yes, Miss Mahoney.  He left just a couple of minutes ago.  He did wait a short time.”

Without thanking Lana for the information, Amber ran out of the building into the cool night.  The line of people was still quite long, and Brett was still holding guard.  As Amber reached the thick purple rope which cordoned off the entrance to the club from the street, she looked around frantically.

“Are you okay?”  Brett asked, appearing beside her. Amber shot around to face him.  “Brett, have you seen Jake?”

Brett smiled and pointed in the direction of the black limo parked a few feet away.  Without any thought, Amber swung her leg over the rope and launched herself into the street.  Despite the pain in her feet she ran towards the car and reached it just as it was about to pull out.

“Jake,” she cried, banging on the darkened rear window. “Stop the car!” As the limo continued to edge forward, Amber slammed harder on the window with the palm of her hand. 

“Jake, please.”

Suddenly the car stopped.  Amber was breathing heavily as the door opened and Jake leaned out.

“Get in,” he said, his voice quiet and emotionless. 

Jake moved along the seat and as Amber stooped to get in he took her hand and guided her in.  As soon as she had pulled the door closed, Jake leaned forward and pressed a button on the intercom.

“You can go now, Harry,” he said.

As the car moved off, neither Jake nor Amber spoke but instead eyed each other warily, aware of the elephant sized cloud of anger that was hanging in the air.  Finally, Jake sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

“Where the fuck were you?” he asked, turning his gaze away from Amber.

“I was talking to Daniel, you know that.”  Amber’s voice faltered.  “But never mind that you were going to leave me stranded in there, you shit,” she cried, thrusting the wad of money against Jake’s chest.

Jake looked down at the money as it fell to his lap.  He sighed, gathered it all together and shoved it into his pocket.

“I thought that you were with him,” Jake said, turning to face her.  “You said you’d be five minutes, but after half an hour you still weren’t back, so what else was I supposed to think?”

“I couldn’t get away,” she cried, throwing her hands in the air.  “I can’t believe you were going to leave me.  You’re just as much a prick as him.”

“Hardly,” Jake snapped.  “You were the one who abandoned me, remember.”

Amber sighed and banged her hand down between them, making a slapping sound on the leather seat.  “I didn’t, I wouldn’t, and you should have realised that.”

Amber started to cry, her silent tears creating sticky tracks down her cheeks. 

Jake’s face softened.

“Look,” he said, reaching up to wipe them away. “Please don’t cry. We can talk about it when we get back.”

Amber heaved a sob and pushed Jake’s hand away.  She turned to stare through the window as late night London whizzed past them.

Jake walked wearily back into their suite, headed straight for the mini bar, and pulled out a bottle of beer.  He flopped down onto the sofa, and laid his head back against the plump, soft cushion.  Amber had stayed downstairs in the lobby, saying that she needed some time to cool off. Jake had tried to convince her to come up to their suite so they could talk but she was having none of it.

Jake sighed heavily and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, his bottle of beer dangling from his fingers between his legs.  He hadn’t meant to fall so hard, he hadn’t wanted to, but somehow Freckles had wormed her way into his head and his heart.  Freckles, had taken him by surprise.  She was like some love Ninja or something.

“Fuck!” Jake sat up straight and shook his head.  “I did not just think the word love,” he muttered to himself.

“First sign of craziness.”

Jake turned around to see Amber standing in the doorway.

“Well, did you manage to cool off?” Jake asked, his tone gentle.

Amber nodded.  “I’m sorry, Jake.  I didn’t mean to embarrass you.  But you should have waited for me.”

“You disappeared for almost half an hour without even a text, so I assumed that you were staying with DD.”

Amber frowned.  “DD?”

Jake allowed a small smile to play at his lips.  “Douchebag Daniel.  DD isn’t such a mouthful.”

Amber sucked on her bottom lip, attempting to hide her smile.  “I never had any intention of staying with him.”

Jake placed his beer bottle on the floor and sat back, eyeing Amber warily.  “You were gone bloody ages.  Did he try anything?”

Amber shrugged.  “What do you think?”

“I don’t want to think, but I’m guessing he did,” Jake said, trying to keep his temper under control. “Did he touch you, or kiss you?”

“He tried to kiss me, but I told him I wasn’t interested.”

Jake let out a sigh of relief.  He watched as Amber moved into the room, and stood in front of him.  The lamplight, behind her, casting a glow around her beautiful blonde hair that was pulled to one side, cascading over one shoulder.  She stood with her hands in front of her, nervously knotting her fingers together.

“Why did you leave me?” she asked, dropping her gaze from Jake.  “Why didn’t you trust me to come back?”

Jake snorted out a laugh.  “Because Freckles like I said, you were gone for at least twenty-five minutes longer than you’d said you’d be.  I didn’t know how long I’d have to sit there alone, like a dick.”

“I admit I should have come back sooner, and I’m sorry about that, but you should have waited, Jake.”  Amber sat down in the wing backed chair opposite Jake. Their knees touched, and immediately her body fizzed with excitement despite the anger still swelling in her chest.  “God knows what Andre thought.  Probably that I’d been off shagging someone and then just came back for the lift home.”

Jake shook his head and frowned.  “Don’t be so ridiculous.  No one could ever think that of you.”

“You’re joking, right?” she cried.  “You gave him money for me, Jake, do you know how that made me feel?”  Amber’s face flushed as she recalled the embarrassment she felt when Andre handed her the wad of cash. 

“I was trying to make sure you got to wherever you were going safely.” 

“Yes, well I felt like a prostitute,” Amber said, her eyes brimming with tears at her humiliation. “It was awful.”

“Did Andre say something?”  Jake asked, leaning forward.  “Because if he did, I’ll have him sacked.”

Amber hit the arm of the chair.  “No, Andre didn’t say anything.  It was you; you upset me, no one else.”

“Yeah well, you upset me too,” Jake replied with a heavy sigh.  “It wasn’t much fun sitting there waiting, not knowing if you were coming back.”