Rockin' the Heart (Hot Wired) (26 page)

He could say that again.
“You’re still pissed at his ex hiring that photographer to post those photos of us.”

“I’ll never forgive that slut!” Omega held a grudge better than she did. “
That’s off topic. Back on track. From what I’ve read according to
all
of Heath’s groupies, he’s detached, efficient, and selfish. Each one that tried for more has been shot down. From what I hear, his selection process is difficult.”

She knew all about his selection process. Heath was picky, always had been, but he was anal too. He preferred the gal with the least complications. His groupies signed waivers, verifying their age, job description, and single status, even confessed their religion. They all agreed to a sterile type sex. If he wanted oral,
they
would give it, but he rarely-to-never offered. Any displays of warmth would result in the female being dismissed immediately. More important than all of that, there would be no future communication between them and he wore a condom regardless what transpired. Even if only head was involved. Before the night began he detailed what he wanted, if they agreed, they had a contract. If they didn’t, they were dismissed.

The first time she’d heard those questions, she’d been just shy of her eighteenth birthday. None of
his would-be lovers seemed put-off by the checklist, but Sam had been horrified. What’d happened to impulsivity? Genuine attraction?

So she’d approached Heath. Stunned
by her inquiry, he’d peered at her, and she’d expected him to tell her it wasn’t any of her concern. Instead he’d told her groupie sex was business. A clinical activity that was all about
his
pleasure, not theirs. The questions were intended to weed out the clingy admirers.

When Omega spoke again, she realized she’d been silent too long. “I’m going to take a leap of faith and predict he wasn’t detached or selfish with you?”

“No.” Not even with her limited experience with other men, could she pretend he’d been either. He’d been wholly in the moment, enjoying himself with her, and not once had she felt like he moved through the motions.

“How long’s it been since you were together?”

“Three days.”

“Congratulations. You’re the first woman to last beyond one-night.” Her mind scattered
like buckshot. “He loves you or he wouldn’t be sticking around. Has he called you?”

The shift in topic confused her for a moment. “Called and texted. More than once.”

“Don’t answer.” Devilry infiltrated his voice. “This is what you and Dixon are going to do….”

After several phone calls that went straight to voice mail and a dozen text messages pleading with Sam to call him, Heath decided the ball was now in her court.
Her avoidance told him the level of her indignation was off the charts. Great. Fucking great. Sam could hold a grudge longer than anyone else he knew.

Two
hours into the hotel party he spied her dancing with Dixon. Pleased she’d finally shown, he was also irritated she’d brought the drummer. Was she trying to make him jealous? If so, she’d succeeded, and he deserved a dose of his own prescription. It was the only reason why he didn’t stalk straight to her and drag her to his bedroom so they could clear the air. He’d just barely managed to control his impulses.

In under a minute, he realized
Tone Deaf’s drummer had a thing for her. It was obvious by the way he watched her while they danced. Not that he could blame the other man, but he wondered if he realized how volatile Heath’s mood was and because of that, how much danger he placed himself in? One wayward touch and Heath might go postal.

They’d finally stopped dancing, she’d
quit grinning at Dixon like the sun rose with him, and interacted with fans. Too soon he’d breathed a sigh of relief because the way the drummer claimed her with his touch on her lower back rattled Heath.

I am not a caveman
. She can socialize with whomever she wants
.

Knowing he was probably about to feed the tabloid
gossip, he downed his glass of whiskey and pushed through the crowd, ignoring anyone that attempted to halt him with conversation or promises of sex-filled nights. He came to an abrupt halt in Dixon’s face. They were of an equal height, so they squared off on level footing.

“If you value the use of your hand”
—he knew the other man did because without the limb he couldn’t drum—“you’ll remove it from
my
woman.”

“Don’t be an ass, Heath.” Sam tried to nudge him away from Dixon, but he refused to budge. “You’re making a scene,” she hissed.

He ignored her. “I won’t ask twice, my friend.”

He had to give the drummer credit. He didn’t flinch or back down. “I believe it’s the lady’s choice who she’s with.”

“This is rich, Heath, you were the one all but fucking the woman on stage.”

“It was a performance.” He didn’t look at her, but continued to stare Dixon in the eyes.

“And, oh look, I see she’s here. Did you bang her before I showed up?”

That got his attention. He stepped away from the other male and focused on Sam. “No.”

“You had time, and she’s attractive, so I wouldn’t—”

“If you like blonde and plastic, she might be attractive. But I prefer a particular brunette with a sassy mouth and erotic piercings.” He realized Dixon didn’t halt him or make a play for Sam. From his lack of defense, Heath surmised he was with Sam as nothing but show.

She bit her bottom lip and looked away. “Yeah, and I prefer men who are faithful. We don’t always get what we want. Let’s dance, Dixon?”

Taking a chance she wouldn’t cause a scene, he grabbed her
arm.

“Excuse us,” he said as he tugged her out of the room.

“Heath, let me go,” she made a half-hearted effort to get free, but not enough to indicate she truly wanted her liberty.

Saying nothing, he led her down the hall past
partygoers. Several abandoned conversing and gawked.

“I’m not going into your room.” For the first time, she dug her heels in.

At his door, he halted and peered down at her. She studied those down the hall that rubbernecked. Under normal circumstances, Heath would’ve respected her wishes not to cull public interest. Tonight wasn’t an ordinary situation. He captured her nape and wound his fingers around her hair. He flattened her against the door and turned his palm into the wood, positioning her head back so she had no other choice but to meet his gaze.

She
flattened her hands on his chest in a silent demand to come no closer, but she made no effort to push him away. “Don’t. I came with Dixon.”

“Doesn’t matter. You’re
leaving with me.”

“In our world, appearances always
say something. What you said about me tonight on stage was that I didn’t matter.” Her eyes slid closed, but the way her voice cracked on the final word told him how close to breaking she was.

“It was a performance. Nothing more.” True, but…

“That
performance
said
a lot
more than nothing.”

Was she reading his mind? The press would
persecute his commitment to their relationship, would possibly hint she wasn’t enough for his appetites. One negative word against her and he’d probably go bat shit crazy and crucify the press.

“I’m sorry.” Her eyelids flicked upward at his apology, which she seemed sur
prised to hear if her wide eyes were any indication. Tears shimmered, and a single drop slid down her right cheek. Heath thumbed the moisture away, cursing himself for allowing her brother to manipulate him. Peer pressure obviously extended well beyond the teen years. He hated himself for his weakness to step up and be the man she needed him to be. He tried to hug her, but her hands on his chest remained firm and maintained their distance. “Brat, don’t cry. Won’t happen again. Not. Ever. Again. Your tears
crush
me.”

When pissed, she knifed people. If tears were her answer, then she was devastated.

I did this to her.

“I
’m to blame if it happens again.” Her voice sounded stronger, more determined, and he panicked, fearing she would break off their romance.

H
e rushed on. “You’re all I want, Sam. All I need. You’re the chords that pluck my heart and create the music inside me. Without you I am a hollow man, lyrics without music, notes minus the beat.”

She reached up and
extracted his grasp from her hair, taking special care to relocate his hand to his stomach. One solitary step sideways and she removed herself from his intimate environment. With cool detachment, she contemplated the curious onlookers. “Easy words to say, Fang.” She faced him, and he flinched at the usage of his stage name. “But can you back them up when push comes to shove?”

“You know I can.” She shook her head and he could see the doubt in her eyes. He was unworthy of her, but that wasn’t going to stop him from
begging to keep what he didn’t deserve. “Brat, give me a second chance to prove I’m worthy of you. That you’re all I need.”

“
You made love to me and told me you loved me, then stage-fucked that girl tonight.”

Heath winced. That’s what they’d called the exhibition since they’d instilled it. He’d been unaware of how crude the term sounded until the words exited her mouth. “
I don’t know what to say, except for what I’ve already said. I’m sorry. I was wrong. It will not happen again.”

“I believe you think that, but—Omega!” Her eyes rounded and Heath glanced over his shoulder to spy the male
walking toward them. What the fuck was
he
doing here?
Bad timing
. Omega brought complications to the table he wasn’t eager to address. “I told you not to come.”

Dressed
like he owned the fucking joint, Omega winked at Sam. “Was already on the jet headed in this general vicinity when you said that, sunshine. Easy to divert my destination.”

Even knowing the man hadn’t publicly
disgraced Sam, Heath still loathed him for no other reason than he’d been intimate with her and remained her friend. A stir of excitement from the onlookers buzzed, drawing more spectators.

Omega walked straight to her and kissed her on the lips. Like he had every right to embrace her.

“
Let’s ditch this lame party.” Omega gave Heath the cold shoulder and wrapped his arm around Sam’s waist, cuddling her against his side. “Do some partying of our own. Get drunk and give the pap something else to chirp about. You and me, like always?”

Tight lines fanned outward from Heath’s eyes. His stance went from slouched to standing tall and straight, using all of his six-three-height to intimidate a
somewhat shorter opponent.

“I don’t feel like partying tonight.” Sam couldn’t recall a time she wanted to forget life with drugs and alcohol like she did
this evening. She’d given up drugs over a year ago and while she drank spirits on occasion, the hangovers weren’t worth suffering through the next day for the small window of forgetfulness they provided. Enticement for the drugs was a hard bitch to ignore though.

“Then we’ll brew up our special brand of
magic in your hotel room.”

Unnecessary
jealousy blazed from Fang’s gaze. “In case you missed it, we were talking before you interrupted.”

Unperturbed, h
er beastie pivoted only his focus. “In case
you
missed it, now
we
are talking and
you’re
not.”

Sam put her hand out to halt any intention by Heath to confront Omega
physically. “You don’t have the right to act this way, not after stage-fucking that chick less than six hours ago.”

Frustration evident, he slammed both
sets of fingers through his hair, one after another. “You gonna hold one mistake against me?”

“
Big mistake, Mr. Rock-Star Fuck-up.” Omega went from cool and detached to enraged, his entire body vibrating with his anger. “It’s all over the internet. The press is exploiting the
mis-fucking-take
like it’s a new nine-eleven in progress. They’re painting
my
girl here”—he tilted his head in her direction and hugged her a little tighter—“as a naïve casualty of Fang’s rock star bogus promises. She should’ve
known
you weren’t serious about her. Poor, pitiful, and delusional, and those fucked up groupies of yours are loving her torment while speculating how big an argument Jase is going to start with you. Brokenhearted and spiritless, she’s ashamed to show her face in public. I aim to let the fucktards know if anyone lost here it is
you
. If anyone should be ashamed it is
you
.”

Sam wasn’t sure she’d ever seen Heath at a loss for words until now. He opened his mouth several times to respond, but
remained silent. Closing his eyes, he ran his palm down his face and groaned. When his eyelids flipped upward, the anguish she saw reflected in his silver gaze told her all she needed to know. He beat himself up worse than she ever could.

“Heath, don’t—”

“Time to wake up this party, sunshine.” Omega dragged her away from Heath. The moment they were out of earshot, he said, “Uh uh. Don’t you
dare
ruin the effort I’m putting into helping you. He needs to suffer a little while, endure half of what you’ve gone through.”

“He doesn’t deserve to simmer in remorse the way he is.”

“Beg to differ. If a man doesn’t ferment in the misery he’s created, he’ll never learn from his mistakes. I should know. Evening.” He shot a devastating grin at a group of female partygoers and they twittered like a bunch of brainless twats. Oh, yeah, they recognized him. No telling what the tabloids would say about him showing up to her rescue.

“Heath wouldn’t hurt me on purpose.”
She glanced at the man she loved just as Omega pushed her into the penthouse living room where the celebration was in full hardcore swing. Gaze zero-locked on them, Heath bore his guilt like a Scarlet Letter.

“Key words are ‘on purpose’. He won’t take your feelings or forgiveness for granted next time.”
Her beastie hauled her to the liquor bar, poured spirits into a cup and offered it to her. “I don’t have any dust, so this will have to suffice.”

“We gave that up.” Even so, it was a good thing he wasn’t in possession of any cocaine because she wanted a fix really bad at the moment.

“Right answer, even if I don’t believe you.”

She looked up at him. He watched her, consideration weighty.
“You worried about me backsliding?”

He shrugged. “
Aren’t we all just one problem away from relapsing? Drink up, then we’ll party.”

“I
told you I don’t want to party.” She skimmed the crowd. Derr made out with two chicks on the sofa, dividing his time between them.
Gonna be a wild night for him
. Keys and Jase weren’t anywhere to be seen. She breathed a sigh of relief that her sibling wasn’t present to provoke trouble with Omega.

“Trust me when I say you
need
to party, at least for a little bit.” He pushed the glass toward her lips. Like a dutiful girl she chugged the liquid, while wondering why she allowed her friend to guide her actions. Maybe subconsciously she wanted to give Heath a taste of his own medicine.

Dixon sidled up to them
, and she made the introductions. She drowned out their conversation as she contemplated Heath. He wouldn’t repeat the stage-fuck. She felt certain of that. Witnessing the anguish on his face when he realized the rumors the tabloids fanned, she had little doubt he wanted to punch her sibling for crafting the drama.

Keys
slinked up to them a little while later. “Care to introduce me to your
friend
, Boo?” Like he didn’t know who Omega was.

“Omega Starr.” She waved at him. “Winston Cornell
—aka Keys.”

“My dad knows your dad.” Omega extended his hand
, and her ivory plucking newly self-appointed bodyguard dismissed the polite introduction.

“My dad knows everybody.” He wrapped his arm around her shoulder
s, his demeanor hostile—at least to her it was hostile because she doubted Omega noticed. “Or owns them. It’s a crapshoot either way.”

Only her beastie would laugh at a politically incorrect statement like that.

“Now, explain why he’s at my party.” Keys looked her dead in the eye.

“I’ve told y’all a thousand times Omega wasn’t responsible for those damn pictures hitting the Net.”

Blond eyebrows domed upward on his forehead. “I believe you on those pictures, but I also know what he
was
to you. Fang won’t like him here.”

“I’m helping her with payback,” Omega said.

“He’s my best friend, Fang doesn’t get a say in that,” she muttered at the same time Omega spoke.

Keys grinned and cracked his knuckles.
“Are we busting kneecaps?”

“No.” Sam shook her head
and snorted at his enthusiasm. “Didn’t you just get laid? Shouldn’t you be mellow afterward?”

Hot Wired’s guitarist and resident jokester laughed.
“How is that any of your business?”

“How is any of
my
problem your business?”

“Boo, you’re always my business. We’ll be right back.” He carted her off to the balcony like an errant child. In the moonlight and city illuminations, he folded his arms over his chest and studied her.

“What?” she demanded when she couldn’t take the broody silence any longer.

“I saw the bullshit on the web. Fans are always going to talk.”

“I know that, Keys.” She walked to the railing and rested her palms on it. “I got a little jealous of him grinding all over that chick on stage.”

“We both know that was nothing compared to what has happened. And if you were watching then you know he was uncomfortable with the stage-fuck.”

“He’s
mine
!”

“Yours already?”
She could hear the humor in his tone as he sidled up next to her.

She could feel him watching her, but she didn’t look at him. “I slept with him.”

Keys whistled. “I told Jase, Fang wouldn’t be able to resist.”

“
I swear you guys are the worst hens! Stop gossiping about my life.”

“I wasn’t gossiping, but apparently stating a fact.”

She glared at him. “Not one word about what we did. I don’t need yours or Jase’s approval. I love Heath, and I won’t apologize to anyone for how I feel about him.”

He clasped
her nape, and he agitated her like a parent who shook an errant child. “If I was your daddy, I’d spank your ass for that disrespect.”

She elbowed him in the gut
, and he grunted. “More disrespect for ya, Daddy-Keys.”

He popped her on the ass
, and she yelped. “You deserved that.” She elbowed him harder, and he cursed. Gawd, he was a pain in the ass just like her brother. She and Jase excelled at petty sibling brutalization, but so did she and Keys. “I
am
teasing, show the abs some mercy. The ladies will thank you.”

Sam snorted while Keys
thumbed his belly. “You’ll just have them kissing the boo-boo away. Do you require a new boo-boo lower?”

He chuckled. “No thanks. I’ll pass this time.
And boo-boo’s? Seriously,
Boo
? We’re not five.” She laughed, and he gave her a firm hug of solidarity. “Fang’s in love with you too, you know?”

She whipped her head back to peer at him.
“He told you that?”

“He admitted it to all of us the night Jase punched him
at the concert.”

Tears distorted her vision, turning Keys into a watery apparition. That’d been the night they made love. Heath had confessed his feelings for her to them before he told her. Another girl might be angry by that, but Sam was delighted. He’d made a stand against her brother and band mates before he knew how she felt toward him, which confirmed the validity of his emotions for her.

“I’ve already made her cry,” Heath said, interrupting them. “Should I deck you for doing the same, Keys?”

“I’d prefer you didn’t.” Keys
maintained his hold on her, but Sam had eyes only for Heath.

Obviously unsure of her reception,
Heath thrust his ePad into her grasp. “Hit the play button, brat.”

She sent him a questioning look, but followed his instructions. What pulled up was a
ViewTube video of him in his hotel room with Big Al draped across his lap, purring. He cleared his throat before speaking. “I need to set the record straight. Both for the fans and my girl. I made a mistake at the concert allowing the performance with the girl on stage. I mean no disrespect toward her, but I should’ve halted the show before it started. It sent the wrong message about my feelings for Sam. So let me clear the air before further inaccurate rumors and gossip spreads. I am in love with Samantha Collins, and her love creates the lyrics that soothe my soul. I would never hurt her purposefully, and that’s what I did tonight. It pains me that Hot Wired’s fans are eager to glory in her sadness, while not calling out my shameful actions. I’m not above reproach and no man should disrespect his better half the way I did Sam. She’s an amazing woman. I don’t deserve her love, but by the grace of God, or mild insanity on her part, she loves me regardless of my countless faults. Sam, I’m sorry for hurting you publicly. I love you more than music.”