CupidRocks (8 page)

“I found her last night. I wasn’t keeping her a secret.”

“Last night? Where did you meet her?”

“Um…”

Leopold growled. “Some
dirne
from a bar?”

Joe took a deep breath to keep from yelling. “Mandy is no
whore. Damn it, Father, she’s wonderful. How dare you…”

“Ah, good. I think maybe you tell me the truth after all.”

Joe rumbled. “Her parents are in my band.”

“Good lord. More rock musicians?”

“Eddie and Carly are. Mandy is a photographer.”

“An
artistic
photographer?”

“I don’t know, but I’m sure anything she does is wonderful.
We haven’t gotten into a deep discussion about it.”

“What she does is important.”

“No, it isn’t.”

“We shall see. Now, when will we meet her?”

Joe looked into Mandy’s hopeful eyes and fought a groan. “We
don’t have any plans for today.”

Mandy smiled, kissed his cheek then set the food on the
table and pulled out the orange juice.

“Today would make a nice start. Please drive to visit.”

Just then he heard a clicking sound registering another call—it
was Tom. “Father, can you hold on a minute? I have to take another call.”

“Joseph, this is most rude.”

“Sorry.” Joe clicked over to get Tom’s call, joining Mandy
at the table. “Hey, dude, what’s the verdict?”

“It’s a go. We’ll need to get together to do some practicing
this week and next so we don’t suck.”

“Maybe we can play some of the new stuff at the concert.”

“I like it. Give it a try on a friendly crowd.”

“That always helps, Tom.” Joe dished up some eggs and
grabbed some bacon, eating some quickly before replying. “Eddie and Carly will
get back here later. We can sort something out. Call Zach and confirm, will ya?
My old man’s on hold.”

“Will do.” Tom chuckled. “Tell the Teutonic gent hello from
us.”

“As if…” Joe laughed. “Later, man.”

“Later.”

Joe took a deep breath and returned to his father. “I’m
back.”

“What was so important that you must rudely interrupt me as
I was talking?”

“We set up a gig for next weekend and needed to finalize
things.”

Leo snorted. “A gig? At some dreadful bar?”

“No, it’s at a damn nice bar, actually.”

“Don’t swear.”

“Sorry, Father.” Joe rolled his eyes and Mandy grinned at
him as she started eating. Joe forked some eggs into his mouth.

“Are you eating in my ear?”

“That’s generally what one does this early in the morning.
It’s only nine a.m. you know.”

“Most civilized people eat at seven a.m.”

“We had a gig last night.”

“Ah. Well, it is rude to crunch in my ear.”

“Sorry,” he muttered, counting to ten…again. He wasn’t going
to wait to eat, damn it. The food was hot now. He turned the phone so he could
listen without his father hearing him eat.

“Now, then. We shall expect you promptly at one p.m. for
luncheon.” Leopold waited for Joe to respond.

“Yes, Father. We’ll be there at one.”

“Your brothers will be pleased to see you too, I’m sure.
Both said they have not had the pleasure of your company even once since they
moved to Denver.” Joe winced at the reprimand.

“Our schedules haven’t meshed.”

“Then you can renew your relationships today. Splendid. We
look forward to seeing you.”

“Um…yeah.”

“Language, Joseph.”

“Right.”

“Oh, and Joseph?”

“Yes?”

“Bring the Hauser with you.”

“But…”

“With all of us under the same roof we can play together
again. It will be pleasant.”

“But it would be rude to Mandy.”

“Doesn’t she like
real
music?”

“Yes, she does but…”

“Players always need an audience.”

“I’ll bring my camera and snap photos while you all play,”
Mandy said loud enough for Leopold to hear. He cleared his throat.

“How…nice.”

“Yeah, isn’t it? See you later, Father. Did Mother want to
talk to me?”

“You can speak when you arrive later. Goodbye, son.” His
father hung up and Joe groaned, flipping his phone closed.

“Shit.”

Mandy set her hand on his arm and leaned over to kiss him.
“C’mon. What’s so bad about this?”

“You haven’t met Leopold Schwarzerwulf yet.”

“Leopold who?”

“Schwarzerwulf. It’s Blackwolf in German. My father kept his
name from the old country.”

“He’s German?”

“Austrian. His family immigrated to the United States after
the war in 1950, but he’s as Teutonic as they come.”

“Were they Nazis?”

“Hell, no.” Joe shook his head fiercely. He’d heard his
father almost spit the names of Nazi officers when he watched the History
Channel. “Grandfather fought in the resistance. Father has a good memory of his
early years and the horrible conditions just after the war. He doesn’t talk
much about those days but he’s fiercely loyal to his adopted home. Scary loyal
sometimes.”

“Oh.”

“Oh God…” Joe shivered. The Hauser. He hadn’t practiced with
it in days. Damn it.

“Joe, what is it?”

“He told me to bring the Hauser.”

“A gun?”

“Not a howitzer. A
Hauser
. It’s a fine guitar that
Father gave me when I was a boy just starting out with classical guitar
lessons.”

“Why did he pick a Hauser?”

“Segovia played a Hauser.” He shrugged then smiled wickedly
at her as he assumed his father’s attitude and accent. “Joseph, I shall give
you a
fine
instrument and you must treat it well. Our family plays
music
,
my son. Not that modern rock rubbish.”

Mandy blinked. “Did he actually say that?”

“Yeah.”

“He and Eddie are gonna be
great
buddies.”

“Completely.” Joe laughed and kissed her. When
Nessun
Dorma
started to play from his phone, he groaned and flipped it phone open.
“Hey, Jake. What’s up?”

“Father called for a command performance.”

“I know.”

“Then he called you first?”

“Must have.”

“He said you’d be bringing your guitar and he hoped I’d be
ready to sing.”

“You are. You sing all the time.”

“But not for Father.”

“Tell me about it, bro. I’ll see you later.”

“Hey, is he for real? You found your True Mate?”

Joe glanced at Mandy, smiling. “Yeah, I did.”

“That’s great. See you at one.”

“Bye.”

“Who’s Jake?”

“One of my brothers—the opera singer one. Look I need to go
get my guitar. I haven’t practiced. I need to practice before we leave.”

“Now?”

“Yeah. I should be able to get in at least two hours—maybe
three.”

As Joe stood to go out to the bus, his phone started playing
again—
Rondeau
this time. That completed the set.

“The
Masterpiece Theater
theme?” Mandy asked.

“My brother Julian plays trumpet—he was just accepted as a
lecturer in applied trumpet at the University of Colorado.” He flipped the
phone open. “Hey, Jules. Father call you too?”

“Yeah. True Mate, man? Why didn’t you tell us?”

“’Cause it happened last night, okay?”

“Holy shit.”

“Language, Julian.”

Jules laughed. “He’s been at you already, huh?”

“Yeah. Damn, I haven’t practiced properly with the Hauser in
days.”

“Wing it. You’re the best of us.”

“Bullshit.”

“Father thinks so.”

“No way.”

“He does too. He always says what a fine musician you are.”

“Like he knows anymore,” Joe grumbled. “Look, I’ve got to
practice. I’m rusty.”

“Okay. Don’t sweat it. Even if you haven’t played the damn
thing in months, you’ll wipe the floor with Jake and me.”

“Not true. But thanks for the vote of confidence. See you at
one.”

“See you then.”

Without a backward glance, Joe headed for the bus to get his
guitar.

Chapter Eight

Mandy frowned as Joe walked out the door. Hadn’t he been
attempting to get her back into bed not ten minutes ago? She finished eating as
he came in carrying a guitar case and a garment bag.

“What’s in there?” She pointed at the garment bag.

“Suit. Can I hang it in your room?”

“Sure.” He left the kitchen with barely a glance in her
direction. “Damn it,” she muttered, getting up to follow him. What the hell was
going on? When she entered the bedroom, the garment bag hung from her closet
door and Joe was hunting along the walls for something.

“What are you looking for?”

“An outlet. I need to tune.”

“Let me help,” Mandy purred, walking over to slide her arms
around him. She pressed a hot kiss against the side of his throat. He growled,
pulling her close. She lifted her face and he covered her mouth, delving inside
with his tongue. As quickly as he’d started, he withdrew and set her aside.

“I’m sorry, angel, but I
have
to practice.” He looked
around. “I think I better go to the living room or maybe the bus. Less
tempting.” He grabbed his guitar case and walked out the door.

“Well, really.” Mandy huffed in disbelief, following him.

He stopped in the living room and tugged a small footstool over.
Then he plugged in his tuner and finally settled himself in an antique straight
chair. He put one foot up on the footstool and set about tuning the instrument
he’d pulled from the case. As soon as he had the guitar tuned he started in
with finger exercises.

“Joe?”

“Hmmm?”

“Don’t you want to go back to bed for a while?”

“Can’t,” he muttered, his attention on his guitar.

“Would you please explain what’s going on?”

Finally he looked up, annoyance in every line of his face.
“I already did. I…need…to…practice.”

“Why? Why is this so important, Joe?”

He shook his head and waved her away, focusing on his
guitar.

She wanted to scream and throw things at him. Instead, she
left the room. There was obviously no talking to him right now. Her best
conclusion was that her True Mate was an asshole. Just her luck to get a jerk.
She shook her head and went to the kitchen to clean up the dishes.

In the kitchen she stared at his half-full plate. He’d eaten
almost nothing. She considered putting his plate in the refrigerator, but
decided not to. Scrambled eggs would get rubbery. She threw the eggs away and
put the cooked bacon in the fridge. She could always crumble it over salad
later.

Mandy could hear him continue to work through fingering
exercises, stumbling a couple of times then going over the same fingerings
again and again. Maybe Eddie was right—because mating a guitar player sucked so
far. She cocked her head when the music stopped.

“Mandy would you please quit thinking so loud? I can’t
concentrate,” Joe shouted.

She restrained a strangled scream.
Go to hell, fella.
She
thought as hard at him as she could.

She felt something click in her mind and realized that
somehow he locked her out. Then she heard him begin to play again. That lousy
son of a bitch. Fuck this. She was not going to sit around here while he
ignored her. It was time to take a shower, get dressed and go for a walk to see
if she could figure out what the hell was going on.

* * * * *

Joe arched his back and set his guitar away from him. He
felt a little better about facing his father now. He’d gotten worried at first,
missing all those fingerings. He flexed his hands then stood up. He needed a
shower and he needed to get dressed. He glanced at the clock on the mantle.
They had to leave in just over an hour to make it to his parents’ home by one.
They couldn’t be late. Damn, Leopold would have his hide.

He went to the kitchen to look for Mandy. The kitchen was
clean…and empty. He went to the fridge and took out some cold bacon strips to
eat. He headed for her bedroom. Empty too, but she’d showered. He found damp
towels folded along the side of the tub and on racks beside the shower stall.
The room smelled like her and he shifted as his cock stiffened. Damn, he wanted
to fuck her. But where the hell was she?

Joe went through the place from top to bottom. No Mandy.
Anywhere. Now he was pissed. This little trip to visit his parents was
her
idea, damn it. If she didn’t show up soon, they’d be late.

Joe heard a pickup truck pull up behind the house and prayed
it was Mandy. He went out to the back porch then swallowed hard. She was
laughing down into Zach’s face as he helped her out of the bed of the pickup.
He opened the door and went out into the cold.

“How the hell would you guys have gotten home if I hadn’t
been driving past?” Zach asked Mandy, laughing.

“We woulda walked.”

“Then why did you ask me?”

“’Cause you live next door, silly.” She glanced over and saw
Joe, her eyes clouding and her smile fading. “Look. Zach gave us a ride in from
downtown.”

“Yeah. I see that.”

Joe blinked a couple of times, wishing the damn wind wasn’t
making his eyes tear up. And he was sure his chest only felt tight because he
was hungry. He wasn’t hurt. No way. He turned and went back into the kitchen to
get some food.

“Did you finish practicing?” Mandy asked quietly.

“Obviously.” He pulled out some orange juice to drink,
taking a swig before turning back to face her.

Carly came in and looked from one of them to the other. “We
missed you,” she said softly.

He raised his brows. “Really? Looked like you all did fine.”

“You were busy,” Mandy reminded him.

“I didn’t tell you to leave the house because I had to
practice.”

Mandy shrugged. “I went for a walk and ran into Eddie and
Carly. We went window-shopping. Everything’s all decked out for Valentine’s
Day. Hearts and flowers everywhere.”

“And Zach just drove by while you were out? Right?”

“Yes, that’s right.” Mandy crossed her arms over her chest.

“Bullshit.” Joe put the juice away. “I’m going to shower. We
have to leave in about thirty minutes. You might want to get dressed.” He
looked her up and down. “And trust me. With my father, jeans won’t cut it.” He
stalked past and went to her bedroom.

He pulled off his clothes, throwing them on the bedroom
floor then walked into the bathroom. Joe got into the shower, turned on the
water and stood beneath the streaming water. So Zach gave them a ride home. Why
the hell was he so bent about it? Shit.

He got his hair wet and looked for shampoo, swearing when
the only thing he found was some damn female fruity crap. He poured some out
and used it anyway. He didn’t think Eddie would appreciate him wandering wet
and naked upstairs to get his suitcase.

He climbed out of the shower and dried himself then used the
hairdryer on his long hair. Joe walked naked into the bedroom to find Mandy
still dressed in jeans and he shook his head.

“Mandy, you can’t wear jeans.”

“Why not?”

“You just can’t.”

He pulled down the garment bag and got out his clothes. He
tugged on a pair of briefs, then a white shirt. He pulled on his suit pants,
zipping them up. He tugged the leather belt out of the garment bag and put it
on, adjusting his shirt cuffs. He shrugged into his suit jacket, all the while
ignoring Mandy, who sat on her bed watching him with a pissed frown. Finally,
he tied his tie, put on his socks and dress shoes then he was ready to go, but
she was still in the damn jeans and T-shirt she started in. His father would
have a coronary. Joe growled and started going through her clothes to find
something for her to wear.

“What are you doing?”

“Looking for something for you to wear.” He turned to glare
at her.

“I look just fine.”

“I’m not debating that, but you
cannot
wear jeans.”

“Why?” Her voice rose.

“Are you freaking kidding me? Didn’t you hear the
conversation I had with my father? Don’t you get it?” He fought to keep an even
tone…losing the fight miserably.

“I guess I’m just stupid.”

He bit his lip to keep from rising to her taunt. “
Jeans
are not proper attire
. Don’t you have a dress?”

“A dress?”

“Yeah. Or a skirt? Something female.”

“You’re joking, right?”

“No, I’m not.”

“I’m not wearing a dress,” she yelled.

“God damn it, Mandy. This visit was
your
fucking
idea. I could have gotten out of it,” He was shouting…he knew it but he
couldn’t stop.

“How?”

“Somehow.”

“I look perfectly fine.”

“Right. Fine. Just fine. Wear whatever the hell you fucking
want, but don’t be surprised when he assumes you’re rock-and-roll trailer
trash.”

“That’s it.” Eddie threw open the door. “Damn you, my
daughter is
not
trailer trash.”

“I never said she was, Eddie.”

“The hell you didn’t.”

Joe lifted his eyes to the ceiling, fighting the urge to
howl. This was the capper to a
fabulous
day. He woke up and his True
Mate’s father tried to beat the shit out of him. Then his own father called
sending waves of disappointment down the phone lines and he got stuck going to
visit and finally, his Mate comes home grinning at another male while her
father wants to jump him for round two. Fuck this.

“Daddy, you’re not helping,” Mandy said quietly.

“Listen, dude.” Joe turned on Eddie. “
Your
daughter
suggested we go visit my parents for the day. Leopold Schwarzerwulf will look
down his aquiline nose at her if she shows up in jeans and a T-shirt that says
Everyone
has a photographic memory but not everyone has film
.”

“Why can’t he accept me as I am?”

“That’s not my father. He’s exacting. He’ll judge you.”

“I can get cleaned up but why a dress? What’s wrong with
jeans?”

Joe shook his head. “Wear whatever the hell you want, but
expect to be judged and found wanting. My father is a demanding, exacting male
so what you’re wearing will
not
impress him.
Jeans
won’t impress
him. He’ll be expecting you to be dressed up. I’m trying to help you out here,
but it seems like you don’t want
anything
from me. Fine. That’s cool.”
He took a deep breath. He pulled his wallet out of the pants lying on the floor
and picked up his guitar case. “Toss me the keys. I’ll go out and start up the
car, we’ve got to get going.”

“We’re not done with this conversation.”

“Yes, we are. Look, you already have a strike against you
because you’re
my
True Mate. Wearing casual clothes will just add insult
to injury, but it’s your call, angel. Be a badass if you want. Keys…”

“I can drive.”

“Like hell. I’m not going to pull up and get out of the
passenger side and have my father ask me if I’ve been pussy whipped.”

“Dude,” Eddie growled.

“Oh, he won’t say it like that. Something along the lines of
‘has finding your True Mate unmanned you, Joseph?’ Like I need that question.
Keys, damn it.”

She dug in her pocket and tossed. He caught them then left
the room, shaking his head as he stalked out to start the car.

“I hate to say it, honey, but I think Joe’s right on this
one.”

“Why?”

“I’ve met Leopold once. It was enough.”

“Is he horrible?”

“No. He struck me as a good male, but it’s all about rules
and regs with him. Proper behavior. Shit like that. T-shirt and jeans aren’t
proper
to him—especially for a daughter-in-law.”

Mandy sighed. She knew her father was right, but she didn’t
want to admit it. It stung when Joe had ignored her after talking to his
father. She could have danced around naked in the living room while he
practiced and his only reaction would have been to tell her to get dressed so
they wouldn’t be late. But showing up like this would only hurt
her
, not
Joe. Oh it might hurt Joe too, but…

“He’s been such a bastard today,” she muttered.

“Well, if you were looking for payback I think you managed
it by accepting a ride home with Zach. Joe looked a little sick to his
stomach.”

“Did he?” Mandy winced when she realized how hopeful and
happy she sounded about hurting her True Mate. What the hell was wrong with
her?

“You know he did. He hurt you so you hurt him. We should
have walked back.”

“We didn’t need to though.” Eddie snorted and Mandy ducked
her head. “I’m new to this True Mate stuff.”

“Bullshit.” Eddie hugged her. “Honey, don’t do what I did.
Don’t sabotage your relationship just as it’s getting started. You may hurt
him, but you hurt yourself far worse. I could have had years of support from
Carly, but I pushed her away. You have to let him in.”

“He ignored me and I didn’t like it.”

“After he talked to his father?”

“Yeah.”

“He and his old man have been at odds ever since Joe struck
out on his own at twenty. Give Joe a break and talk to him. He’s basically a good
guy.”

“Are you softening up about him?”

“Maybe. I’ll see.” He shook his head, “Hell, you just met.
You should still be in the honeymoon period, not having your first fight.”

Mandy laughed. “Well, I guess we’re ahead of schedule. Why
don’t you go, so I can change.”

“Good call. Have a nice visit.” He kissed her forehead and
closed the door as he left.

Mandy surveyed her closet, smiling as her eyes caught
something feminine that was still
her
. When she walked out to the car
fifteen minutes later, she was glad she’d compromised. Joe’s face lit with
admiration.

“You look beautiful, angel,” he told her softly, taking her
hand and kissing it.

“This old thing?” She grinned, as she waved at the
knee-length red silk dress and matching heels she wore.