Rockin' the Heart (Hot Wired) (15 page)

I am no one
’s bone
! “Finally! I agree with Tab. You
will
drop this, Jase.”

Keys pointed at
his chest and mimicked the worst artificial air of innocence Sam had ever been forced to witness. “Me no drama, momma.”

Derr
snorted and knuckle-fived Keys.

Sam rolled her eyes at
Keys’ mockery, but nudged her brother on the arm. “Did you hear me, Jase?
Drop it
.”

“
I hear ya, sis.” With leisure, he rotated his head, and eyes the same shade as hers targeted her. “If he fucks you, I’m going to kill him.”

“
If I fuck him, it’ll be because I
want
him.” Caving to her brother’s threats would be calamitous. “You don’t get a vote in my sex life. Get that through your thick skull or be prepared to watch me walk out of
your
life.”

Hurt flashed across his features, slackening his jaw and crinkling the corners of his eyes. Sam
elbowed the older woman out of the doorway and made a beeline for the exit.

“
Where do you think you’re going, missy?” Hot Wired’s agent called, as Sam was a step away from achieving freedom.

“
The hotel.”

“
Oh no, honey, you got work to do. Back stagers to greet and mingle
as Fang’s girl
.”

“
Have you lost your sick and twisted mind?” Sam noticed the Tone Deaf band members milled about, all but one attempting to hide his interest. “In case you missed it, the Cliff notes version is Jase wants to kill Fang for breathing my air, and you want to stir up more shit?”

“
News flash: Hot Wired pays me to stir up shit.”

Sam groaned.
“I hate you.”

“
Make the band more money, and I can live with that. We need to spiff you up a bit before the meet-and-greet.”

Sam looked down at herself.
What the hell was wrong with what she wore? Jeans tucked into knee-high leather boots and a tight, low-cut T-shirt that staged her cleavage at an eye-popping perspective.

“
She looks fucking hot to me.” One of the guys from Tone Deaf toasted her with a raised glass. The same man who’d obviously been listening to hers and Tab’s discussion, he slouched on the sofa with his legs spread wide wearing jeans and a vest. Not the look she’d have gone for, but she’d learned ages ago bands dressed for the stage. Only in their private moments did you get a true sense of their fashion sense.

Sam thought he was the drummer. She
’d spied him earlier. Good looking with his long brown hair, lithe frame, and killer percussionist skills. “Thanks.”

“
She smells like Fang.” Tab grimaced.

Sam lifted her arm and took a sniff as the drummer said,
“A shame.”

“
You are?”

“
Dixon.”

She smiled.
“Sam.”

“
I know.” His lusty eyed look suggested he wanted to
know
more about her too.

“
See ya at the meet-and-greet?”

His broad grin answer
ed for him.

“
Now who’s stirring up shit?” Tab asked as she put an arm around Sam’s shoulder.

“
You wanted publicity.”

Not one to mingle with fans often, hanging with them went better than Sam anticipated. Those who weren’t plotting a one-way ticket to Heath’s bed were eager to be engaged by her. Then there were the groupies who eyed all of the guys like a conquest. She held nothing against them. But why none of them—musicians and girls alike—respected themselves enough to be viewed as something more than a conquest to brag about later left Sam dumbfounded.

Dixon sidled up to her and offered her a bottle of beer. Sam shook her head.
“No thanks.”

“
Don’t drink?” He discarded the bottle on a nearby table.

She eyed his Root Beer.
“Not often. You?”

“
Recovering alcoholic.”

That surprised her.
“How long?”

“
Five years.”

Surrounded by every vice known to mankind, the man deserved props for resisting.
“How old are you?” She hadn’t figured him for much older than her.

“
Twenty-one.”
About my age
. “Divorced parents, latchkey kid, I let my friends drag me into some
baaaad
stuff. He keeps looking at you.”

The change in conversation threw her for a moment.
“Who?”

“
Fang. I don’t think he likes me talking to you.”

“
I don’t think it’s any of his business who I talk to.” The freakin truth, but she sent a casual peek beneath her lashes anyway. Yep, Fang tipped a liquor bottle to his lips and swigged. Jase buddied up shoulder bumping him and slapping his back, while chatting with the hot babe-a-licious groupies surrounding them. She knew the routine. Give her brother a chance and they’d bang half of them before daylight. Probably even the men in the collection. She did
not
want to know for sure.

“
You’re a shit-starter.”

“
Haven’t you read my bio?” She peered up at Dixon. “Recently added a car jacking to my resume. I’m pretty sure I’m the type of friend your momma warned you against.”

“
I’m not looking for a new friend.”

Stunned by his forthrightness, Sam did a double take.
Wearing an amused grin, he elevated an eyebrow. When he smiled, he went from cute to good-looking.

“
You realize I’m… um… dating”—why’d that word make her cringe inside—“Fang, right?” Probably elicited such a response because she loathed lying.

“
Oh, yeah I could tell.” Dixon licked his bottom lip after taking a drink of his soda. He lowered his voice to a whisper and leaned closer to her. “Just so you’re okay with me being his secret lover, we’re all good.” His finger beneath her chin pushed her mouth shut. “Don’t worry. Secret’s safe with me.”

“
I told Tab I wouldn’t be able to pull this off.”

He chuckled.
“From what I’ve seen you’re pulling it off just fine. That performance onstage tonight… inspiring.” Tossing his waist-length hair over his shoulder he surveyed the occupants of the room.

She couldn
’t decide what he wanted to keep the knowledge secret, so she just asked. “What do you want?”

“
Nothing. Do you want to know what surprises me?”

“
Probably not.”

“
The male groupies.”
Okay, so not what I expected to hear
. “Don’t get me wrong, I don’t have a problem with anyone being gay or bi—my brother’s gay, and his partner’s a decent guy. But I wasn’t expecting it on tour. Don’t know why, I should’ve, everyone’s got their kinks.”

“
What’s your kink, Dixon?”

“
I like your straightforwardness.”

“
Most people hate it.” Sam dimpled. “It’s one of my many talents.”

“
I bet you have a lot of hidden talents.” His gaze drank her in, made her feel like a woman and the only person who’d been able to do that lately was Heath.

Uncomfortable by Dixon
’s inspection, she looked away, caught Heath’s frown and sent him a rebellious raspberry.

“
Aside from the obvious beauty,” Tone Deaf’s drummer went on. “I bet your reckless nature is a front for a woman who hasn’t been taken seriously by too many men. If any.”

Sam
’s eyes widened. No one ever took her seriously. Jase still tried to dictate her actions. Keys and Derringer protected her like a set of brothers or father figures. And Heath… well, she continued to sort out his intentions.

Heath must
’ve caught her surprised expression because he nudged Jase and nodded toward her. They both scrutinized her as she dismissed them and gave the drummer her full attention. Before she could say anything, he said, “I’d very much like to get to know the woman the world isn’t allowed to meet.”

“
You didn’t answer my question.”

A slight frown.
“Which one?”

“
What’s your kink?”

“
That a need to know for what I want?”

Sam inclined her head.

“Why? Your
boyfriend
looks like he might head this way.”

“
Because I want to know. Ignore him.” She wouldn’t explain that if he wanted to know the real Sam, then he’d have to share something personal with her.

“
Are we talking sexual kinks or something else?”

She shrugged. There were all kinds of kinks. She wouldn
’t get nitpicky.

“
I’m partial to oral.”

Sam snorted.
“What man isn’t?”

“
Giving, not receiving.”

Oh
. Now that wasn’t something she encountered often.

“
And burgers,” he said with a grin.

“
Pardon?” He’d lost her.

“
I’ve got a thing for burgers. Love them. I try to visit local burger joints in each town I stopover. I’m on a mission to find the best one made.”

Humor siphoned from her belly
, and she bit her bottom lip to halt the nervous giggling.

He must’ve noticed her amusement because he asked, “What is it?”

“I’m seeing a pattern here. Both of your kinks involve eating.”

Dixon chuckled. A nice sound, but nothing special that made her panties wet the way Heath
’s laughter did. Proof she was in over her head. “You doing the party at the hotel?”

“
No.” A mental shudder at what went on at
those
scrambled her brain. “You?”

“
I wasn’t invited.” She hadn’t thought of that. “Want to grab a burger?”

“
I think you’re trouble, Dixon.”

Lots of trouble.

“I thought
you
would be the bad influence on me.” He winked at her.

“
Brat, we’re about to leave for the hotel.” Heath got in her personal space, a subtle declaration to Dixon that she was his.

Testosterone idiocy
.

An
entertained smile teased the drummer’s mouth. They could be friends easily, but she doubted he’d ever be more. Too bad. First impressions, she liked the man. Heath hadn’t even touched her, and her belly trembled.

“
Fang, meet Dixon.”

“
We’ve met.” Cool words laced with displeasure, he didn’t even glance at the other man.

She turned her face and tilted her head back.
“You’re being rude.”

“
I don’t care.”

A silent contest for dominance proceeded. The sooner he realized no man would control her, the better off he
’d be. “I’m not in the mood to party with….” She peered at the groupies who’d obviously been selected to join the band at the hotel. They preened and teetered like a bunch of brainless nymphos. “I’ll forgo the orgy altogether and meet y’all at the jet.”

“
I made you a promise, I won’t renege on that. We’ll go elsewhere, but I
will not
return to the hotel without you.”

“
It’s okay, Sam. I need to be on the tour bus in an hour. We can meet up after the next concert and grab a burger or… munch on something else if you like.”

The
‘munch on something else’ comment jolted a startled giggle from her. Had Tone Deaf’s drummer just offered to get her off by eating her out after the next concert?
Yes, I believe he did
. Sheesh, he was brash.

Heath frowned and for the first time looked directly at Dixon. They were of almost equal height, so neither
was forced to look up to the other. Dixon was wirier and Heath a little more muscled, outweighing the drummer by a good twenty pounds. As far as sex appeal went, Heath beat Dixon with zero competition.

“
Am I missing something?” Heath’s palm slid down her arm and he twined their fingers together. The move felt natural, as if he hadn’t put any thought into it, and Sam’s heart rate hammered in her chest.

“
No.”
Get yourself together! It’s an act, all an act
. “Neither of us drinks much so we were going to engage in other recreational activities.”

“
Next time.” Heath peered between them as if he was sure he’d missed something.

In silence they walked together to the limo that
’d take them to the hotel. The chauffer opened the door for them, and Heath palmed her lower back as she slid into the vehicle.

Heath climbed in and sat beside her. The door was shut.

“Howdy, Tex.” She smiled at Heath’s bodyguard in the front seat.

“
Hey, doll. Did you enjoy the concert tonight?

“
Yeah. Hot Wired always kicks ass.” She relocated to the opposite seat to be nearer the man. Tex was the doll, not her. Soft spoken, heart of gold, and a former member of the Marine special forces. A total contradiction. “What’d you think about their performance?”

“
It’s yours I want to talk about.”

She grinned.
“Ha! You saw that? Any suggestions on how I could—
hey
!” Using her fingernail she tapped on the privacy window as it went up.

“
Guess he wants to talk.” Tex nodded in Heath’s direction.

With a huff,
she twisted in her seat to glare at him. “Aren’t you the rude man of the hour?”

Long legs stretched out, he slouched in his seat and stared out the window as the limo pulled away from the curb and berserk fans.
He ignored her, seeming a little too contemplative for her peace of mind.

“
Where’s the rest of the gang?” The short skirt Tab dressed her in rode upward, and she pulled at the hem.

“
We’re sleeping at another hotel so the partying won’t bother you.”

Sam wasn
’t sure that was such a good idea. “Tab booked our rooms already.”