Stepbrother's Gift (21 page)

Suddenly, I received an email from Tessa.

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D
id you talk to him yet?

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I
knew she was just looking out for me, but I also knew that I could look out for myself. Well, most of the time anyway. Still, I'd be fine for now. I emailed her back.

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N
ot yet. His concert is going to start in a few minutes, then there's a party back at his place.

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T
essa replied back almost immediately.

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H
old onto your drink all night.

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N
ow that was an eye-roll inducing statement. Did she think that James had roofied Audrey now? That was pretty unfair. I emailed her back as quickly as I could.

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I
'll let you know how it goes.

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T
hen I turned off my phone. I didn't need to hear any more from her after that. By this point, James was back on stage, tuning his guitar again. I expected him to occasionally look down at me, but he was completely engrossed in that guitar.

It kind of reminded me of the single-mindedness with which he pursued his business. Oblivious to the world around him, he made deals for the simple joy of making them. The guitar was the same way. I could tell he was enjoying it, that he took joy in making his guitar sound perfect. I felt like it gave me an insight into his soul.

A guy walked out on stage. I had seen him before, working on the sound system. What was his name? Ryan. He looked more confident now than he had been when James was yelling at him about his little sister's karaoke machine. His short hair was a sandy blonde, he had bolts in his ears, and I could see tattoos on his body. He looked like the embodiment of a bad boy rocker. It seemed a little strange, but he was holding a large reusable grocery bag.

He stepped to the mic, then looked at James. James nodded at him. Ryan smiled and grabbed the mic. “Who's ready for Lefty and the Sharks?”

A cheer came up from the crowd. It was hardly a huge crowd, maybe sixty or seventy people, but they filled this half of the coffee shop to the brim. However, a few of them were quite enthusiastic, sending a few hoots and hollers up to the band.

A drummer sat down at his set, and another guy had a bass guitar. Ryan didn't have a guitar, but I guessed he was going to be doing the singing tonight.

“Now, I know that you all know that I don't have a liquor license, so I can't sell you any alcohol. However...” He bent down and pulled a bottle of whiskey from the bag that he had brought on stage. “That doesn't mean that I can't give away some to my friends. With the purchase of a coffee, of course.”

Another cheer came from the crowd. He bent down and handed the bottle to someone in the first row. I saw Anne pull out the two bottles of whiskey from behind the counter and some disposable plastic shot glasses. I was pretty sure that it was just as illegal for him to give the alcohol away as it was to sell it, but then again, I'm sure James could buy his way out of any trouble here. Maybe he had even cleared it with the cops first. James was the type who would have all his bases covered like that.

Ryan took another bottle out of the bag, then opened it up. He took a huge gulp of it, then passed it to James. He also took a drink, then passed it to the drummer. They all took a drink before Ryan put it back down on the stage. “Now who came here to hear us play?”

Another cheer came up. The drummer clacked his sticks together and they immediately launched into a song. The crowd was on their feet in no time, cheering on the band. I unzipped my jacket, allowing my hands to linger on my belly for just a moment before raising them in the air to cheer as well.

I wish I could tell you about their music. There were some originals, mixed in with some covers of classic rock. I wish I could tell you that the lyrics spoke to me, that I thought they were about me, but I can't. I only listened to James' guitar, letting his music wash over me. Half the time he looked out at the crowd, and mostly at me. The other half of the time, he watched his own fingers move over the frets, taking great passion and pride in making the music sound fantastic.

My eyes never left him. One song blended fantastically into the next. I didn't have a drink, but the crowd was definitely enjoying the booze and music for sure. I know that they played for over an hour, but it felt like just minutes passed. In fact, when the guitars did stop playing, and Ryan said into the mic, “Thank you all for coming, you've been great. There will be no encores,” I was actually surprised that they had been playing that long.

James set his guitar down and walked up to the mic. “The after party is at my apartment. If you have to ask where it is, just follow the line of people walking there. Entry fee will be one of my metal folding chairs, stacked neatly in my studio. See you there!”

As I watched people fold up their chairs and start to carry them out the door, I laughed. Leave it to James to find a way for people to do his work for him. I walked up to the stage. He saw me coming up to him, and put the mic back away in the stand.

“You were great,” I congratulated him.

“I really was on fire tonight,” he said, puffing up a little bit with pride. That cocky attitude was never too far away with James.

“Well, don't quit your day job anyway,” I said.

“Maybe some day,” he said, winking at me. “Anyway, you should get to my apartment. I've got to make sure all my equipment gets put away right, but I'll be there as soon as I can.”

“Are you sure? I can help if you like.”

He shook his head. “Some of it is heavy. I promise, I'll be as quick as I can. Anne is going to keep manning the register until the place is empty, but she'll be right behind you.”

I nodded, figuring I'd just wait for her. James turned away and started dismantling sound equipment, while I walked to the front of the store. The metal folding chairs were all gone by now, so I pulled a chair up to one of the tables on the other side of the shop. Anne saw me and waved. As soon as everyone was gone, she gestured for us to go. “Once more, into the breach!” she cried as she turned the OPEN sign to CLOSED and locked the door.

A
s soon as we walked into the apartment, I noticed how different it felt with so many people in it. There were forty or so people, including a bartender that I had seen at the concert. He was now manning a table with every kind of major liquor available. People were drinking and having a great time, but all my mind could think about was how
dirty
this place was going to get.

I guess when you're as rich as James, you just get maids to do it.

Anne immediately introduced me to some people. She said that her band couldn't make it there tonight, but that I totally should meet them some time. From the way she lit up talking about them and her music, I really was looking forward to hearing her play.

Soon, however, I was tired of hearing people I didn't know tell stories about more people I'd never met. I went to the bartender, thinking about getting a drink, but just getting a diet cola at the last moment. One drink wouldn't hurt the baby, especially when I didn't even have a positive pregnancy test yet, but zero drinks would probably be better.

I went and sat down on the couch, the same couch that I had played with myself on just a few days ago. I really just wanted to hang out with James, not go to a party where I knew literally nobody. I thought about pulling out my phone, but then I knew I'd look really bored. I unzipped my jacket, letting the cooler air hit my stomach. It had been a long day, so I just kind of leaned back and closed my eyes.

“You feeling okay?” a voice that I had just listened to for an hour asked me.

I opened my eyes back up. The lead singer, Ryan, was standing over me. “Mmm? No, I'm fine.”

He nodded his head, then sat down next to me. “Too much to drink?”

I looked down at my cup, half full of the cola still. He didn't know that it was non-alcoholic. “Yeah, maybe,” I said. I noticed his tattoos. They looked tribal, but I had no idea what they meant. I had been dating bad boys for a long time, and they all seemed to get tattoos that looked cool without knowing what they meant.

He nodded again. “You're James' little sister, right?”

“Yeah, is he back yet?” I asked, looking around the room.

“No, he's still packing away equipment. He's gotta have everything done just right so that it doesn't get broken. I'm sure you know how he gets, though.”

I didn't really know, but I nodded anyway. He was a perfectionist and it didn't surprise me that it flowed into everything. “You were great tonight,” I said.

He seemed to puff up a little bit. “Well, your brother messed up a couple times, but other than it was a great performance.”

I had been watching James all night and hadn't noticed him messing up. I didn't know what his angle was here, but I just wanted to change the subject. “So. Lefty and the Sharks. Interesting name.”

He shrugged. “We change it every month or so. Last month it was 'Spoon Boy and the Potentials'. But my nickname in high school was already Lefty, so this was perfect.”

“Why is your nickname Lefty?”

He smirked at me. “Two reasons. I'm left handed, for one. But that means I jerk off with my left hand, so my dick naturally curves to the left.”

It was such an outlandish comment that I couldn't help but look down at his pants. His left hand made a jerk off motion, and it made me laugh. “That's funny, I've never seen a dick curve to either side.”

“Well, maybe you'll see one tonight, if you play your cards right.”

Normally a comment like that would have made me more likely to actually sleep with him, but I was with James now, whether we were public or not. I was in his house. It made me feel really uncomfortable that he would be this upfront, even if he didn't know that. I felt my smile fade a little, then I shook my head. “Probably not, though.”

He shrugged. “We'll see what happens,” he said.

“Well, you have a great night, Lefty,” I said. I stood up from the couch and walked over to where Anne was talking to her friends. I had a feeling he wouldn't follow me here, and I was right. However, I made the mistake of looking over my shoulder at him.

His eyes were boring right into me.

***

J
ames and a few other guys arrived shortly afterward. I stayed in the group with Anne, but made eye contact with him long enough to know that he had seen me. However, he made his way around the room, talking with some of the people at his house.

Now that we were here at his house, I could tell that many of the people here were obviously his employees or colleagues. He was shaking a lot of hands with some well-dressed people, obviously doing some networking and deal-making even as he was supposed to be having a good time and celebrating.

He took his time making his way over to us, but eventually he made his way over to Anne's little group. “I'm glad you found someone to hang out with over here,” he said.

Anne reached her arm around me and pulled me in, shoulder to shoulder. “Don't worry, Mr. Coleman, I'll make sure she has a good time tonight.”

“I'm sure you will, Ms. Dean,” he said. Then he just walked away to another group. My jaw dropped a little bit. I didn't even get a chance to say one word to him. No once-over, no nothing. He was really serious about not giving away any signs in public.

I stood there listen to them chat for as long as I could, maybe another twenty minutes, but eventually, I was just tired. I had just finished a long day of travel and, if James wasn't going to pay any attention to me, I didn't really want to just hang around. I said something polite about going to the bathroom, but instead I went off to my guest room to go lie down.

I didn't even bother taking off my clothes, just slipping my jacket and shoes off as I crawled into the bed. I put the blanket over my head, and closed my eyes.

I'm not even sure if I had fallen asleep yet when I heard a knock on the door. I figured it was James, or possibly Anne, so I called “Come in.”

The door opened, and the light flicked on. It was neither of them.

“I was wondering where you had wandered off to,” Ryan said, his voice dark and sensual, more so than it had ever been on stage. If he could get that bedroom voice into a recording studio, he'd make a million dollars.

I shifted uncomfortably in the bed, grateful that I still had all my clothes on. “Oh, hi there.” I didn't really want to talk to him anymore. He didn't seem to realize that, as he crossed over to the room and sat down on the bed.

“What are you doing? The party's just starting,” he said.

I pulled my hair back from my face and tucked it behind my ear. “I thought James said the party was ending at ten.”

Ryan shrugged. “Yeah, the party here. The party at my place is going to go all night.”

I couldn't tell if he was actually having a party or if he was just inviting me to a party in his pants. Either way I didn't want to go anywhere. I wanted to stay here, with James. “I'm real tired, we'll have to party another night.”

“Come on,” he said. “Do you want to see my motorcycle?”

Of course he drove a motorcycle
, I thought. “I'd love to see it. Some other time, though.”

He still wasn't listening. “Do you know what I like best about a girl riding on the back of my motorcycle?” I shook my head. “When they're pressed up against me, and the vibrations of the motorcycle go right up into their clit. Because, usually, when they get off, they're ready to get off, if you know what I mean.”

I was suddenly very nervous around him, and figured I just had to leave to get rid of him. “Oh, that's cool,” I said, pulling back the covers and sitting up.

As I stood, his hand shot out and grabbed me by my elbow. I gasped. He said in a much more threatening voice, “Don't you want to take a ride on my motorcycle?”

All I wanted to do was scream. I tried to pull away, but his hand held me super tight. I felt like all I could do was squeak. He was practically ready to drag me from the bed. Suddenly, I heard another voice. “What the fuck do you think you're doing?”