Sheet Music - A Rock 'n' Roll Love Story (30 page)

Annie rolled to face him completely.  “Excuse me?”

He laughed and settled onto his back.  “Yeah, I was holding back.  I mean, you had just gotten out of the hospital and recovering from a serious car accident.  I was terrified I’d hurt you if I bent you the wrong way.  So, I treated you like a china doll and did my best to remain in control of my urges.  What did you expect?  I’m not a total animal!  I do have some degree of restraint.  But, I do have to admit, it wasn’t always easy.  There were times when all I wanted to do was go crazy on you.”

She stroked at his face.  “Michael, I want you to promise me you’ll never hold back again.  The strength of your passion is one of many things that attracted me to you in the first place.  It is part of who you are and it’s a huge turn-on,” she grinned, climbing up on top of his lap.  “You can bend me any way you like.  Chances are, I’m going to love it.”

He sat upright and slipped himself back inside her warmth.  She groaned in appreciation against his mouth.  “You may live to regret what you just said, babe.”

“Maybe so, but I’ll die a very satisfied woman.”

“Okay, but don’t say I didn’t warn you,” he said, flipping her beneath him.

With her body slick with sweat, her orgasm built.  She coiled the bed sheets in her palms and tugged as she crested, tearing the linens from the mattress as she arched against him.  His thrusts brought them precariously close to the edge of the bed until they shamelessly slid to the floor in a tangled mass of arms, legs, and sweaty sheets.  Even that didn’t break his rhythm.  It only seemed to intensify the sensation for them.

“Had enough yet?” he asked in a low rumbling pant.

“Not on your life,” she answered.

“Good,” he sighed against her neck.  “Because I’m just getting warmed up.”

Their lovemaking continued throughout the night until they both collapsed in total exhaustion.

“I love you,” he whispered, pulling her close to his body and entwining his arms around her slender curves.

“I love you too.”

A matter of minutes passed when Annie felt his breathing slip into a peaceful sleep pattern.  She smiled contentedly and closed her eyes, wishing they could stay like that forever.

The sudden slam of a hallway door woke Annie from a sound sleep.  Quietly she slipped from bed, pulling on Michael’s shirt discarded on the floor, and found her way to the window.  The sun was just beginning to peek between the city buildings of Boston.  An early morning fog blanketed everything, giving the scene a mystical feeling.  Annie sighed, absorbing the majestic beauty of the sight.  Behind her, Michael still slumbered.  His hair spilled loosely over the pillows.  His muscled torso and limbs barely hidden beneath a thin cotton sheet.

Annie smiled and her eyes filled with emotion.  He was so peaceful.  The tiny stress creases between his eyebrows were relaxed and a faint smile was evident on his sensuous mouth.  She loved this man so much it hurt.  Though, part of her wondered if that alone was enough to make a relationship between them work.  She watched him begin to stir beneath the sheets, as the first flicker of sunlight danced across his face.

“Annie?” he called out to her, sitting upright in bed.

“I’m over here.”

Slowly, he made his way across the room, naked and stretching as he walked.  When he reached her side, he enveloped her with his arms, and kissed the nape of her neck.

“I woke up and you weren’t there,” he said.  “For a second I thought maybe you had left during the night.”

“I wish I didn’t have to leave,” she replied.

A pause fell between them while Michael considered the meaning of her answer.

“Then don’t,” he yawned.  “Move back in with me.”

She spun around to face him.

“You make it sound so simple, but it isn’t.  I’m living on the Vineyard now and have responsibilities to the clubs I’ve booked gigs with there.  I just can’t pack up and leave.”

He pushed back the window curtain completely and silently stared across the city.  Several minutes passed while he contemplated a possible solution.

“Then, I’ll move to the Vineyard and live with you,” he said pensively.  “We can live in my beach house.”

Annie smiled.  Her face filled with a sudden rush of excitement.  Then quickly the smile faded.  “What about your band?”

“We’re off until Fall.  Then Brian and I are supposed to get together and finish up some new material before we hit the studio and record the tracks.  I can commute back and forth for that.”

She remained silent, suddenly remembering her Fall commitment to Lace.  They would want to see her in New York for rehearsal sessions soon.  “What would happen then?” she thought, studying a jogger pass below on the street.

“Michael, there’s something I forgot to tell you last night,” she sighed.

“Oh shit.  Here it comes,” he replied, stepping back to sit on the edge of the bed.  “That’s a statement no man likes to hear.”

“I signed contracts a couple of months ago to join the band, Lace.  Have you ever heard of them?”

“Lace? You joined Lace?” he asked with relief.  “That’s fantastic!  We used Lace as an opening act for one of our tours several years ago.”

“Then you must know Taylor and Lacey.”

Taylor and Lacey Sheridan.  At first, Michael had forgotten the connection, until he heard the names spoken aloud.  Then his memory became clear.  Taylor and Lacey were first cousins, played and sung better than most bands he knew, and both were gorgeous in different ways.  Taylor was an exotic beauty with deep dark features and the skin the color of cinnamon.  Toe to toe, she stood a good two inches taller than Michael.  Lacey was the epitome of a California beach babe with long, honey blond hair, piercing blue eyes, and a pair of sun-kissed legs that could make grown men weep.

Michael remembered the first night they met.  Brian stumbled into Michael’s hotel suite, with Lacey on one arm, and Taylor hanging off the other.  He also remembered the sex that soon followed.  Brian ended up with Taylor while he was with Lacey.  For Brian, it was another one night stand.  But, Michael and Lacey continued to see each other for most of the following year.  Nothing serious, just two road-lonely people needing to be with someone when it was convenient.  Soon enough, their touring bands took them in different directions and their relationship ended.  No broken hearts and no regrets.

“Michael, did you hear me?” Annie asked, trying to get his attention.

Nervously, he glanced up at her, wondering if he should mention his affair with Lacey.  “I’m sorry.  What was your question?”

“I asked if you knew Taylor and Lacey?”

“Yeah, you could say that.”

“Did you like them?  Were they easy to get along with?” she asked, sitting on the bed beside him.  “I’m a little nervous about working with them, since they have so much road experience.  While I, on the other hand, have none.”

Easy to get along with, he pondered.  Man, if she only knew.  Part of him wanted to explain their connection.  A bigger piece thought differently.  What had it been, five, six years since he had last seen Lacey?  Maybe she wouldn’t remember their affair and Annie would never have to know.  Then again, if he could remember, Lacey certainly could too.

“Did you mention to them that you knew me?” he asked, cautiously.

“Hell no!  I wanted to get the job on my own merits, without dropping any names, especially your name!”

“You say that like my name is a curse.”

Annie laughed and quickly pushed him onto his back, his arms pinned above his head, and straddled his hips.  “Not a curse, Michael.  But your name is just too big in this business.”  She wriggled into position again.  “And, that’s not the only part of you that is big.”

He closed his eyes and moaned.  Perhaps another time would be better to tell Annie about Lacey.  Maybe tomorrow.

It was almost eleven in the morning when they finally woke from another sex-induced slumber.  Michael’s eyes glanced at the clock on the bedside table and squinted to bring the blurry numbers into focus.  It was getting late and he couldn’t remember what time Brian said they needed to be back at the FleetCenter for their meeting with the press.

“Do you already have plans for tonight?” he asked pensively, rolling over behind her in bed.

“No, just heading back to the Vineyard.  Why?”

“Would you consider going to the press party with me tonight?”

“I guess I could.  But I’d have to call my girlfriend first.”

“I don’t suppose you packed a semi-formal dress in the backpack you brought with you?”

“No, why?  Is this a formal event?”

“Afraid so.  Thankfully, we don’t have too many of them, but this one is.  That’s okay.  It will give me an excuse to take you shopping this afternoon.”

“You don’t have to buy me a dress.”

“Do you want to go with me tonight?”

“Yeah, sure.”

“Then I’m buying you a dress to wear.  If you don’t mind, I’d like to introduce you to everyone tonight.  Would that be okay?”

“Sure, that would be fine,” she shrugged, slipping out of bed and making her way toward the bathroom.

“Hey!  Where do you think you’re going?” he asked.

Annie spun around with hands on hips.  “Michael, take a look at this room!  There is enough of your DNA spread around here and all over me for scientists to clone six of you.  I think I’m in desperate need of a shower.”

He came up behind her and grabbed her around her waist.  “I specifically remember a certain someone begging me not to hold back on her last night.  I was just following orders,” he smiled against her neck and biting her earlobe.

“Oh, so now I was begging for it,” she laughed.

“Yeah, something like that.”

Annie stepped beneath the warm shower spray and Michael quickly slid in behind her.  Reaching for a bar of soap and a wash cloth, he began to bathe her, slow and seductively.  Within minutes, he had her chest pressed against the tiled wall.

“Oh no, Michael, not in the shower,” she sighed, in mock disgust, as she felt him penetrate her again.

An hour later they were almost ready to leave.  Annie was still munching on the fresh fruit platter that room service had delivered while they were still in the shower.

“I’m going next door to talk with Brian,” Michael called from the doorway.  “I need to double check the time we need to meet at the FleetCenter tonight.”

“Go ahead,” she replied.  “I’ll be there in a minute.  I want to call my friend first and let her know what I’m doing.”

Michael tapped on the open door to Brian’s suite and walked in before hearing a reply.  Brian and the other three band members sat around large round breakfast table that room service had delivered.

“Did someone call a band meeting and forget to tell me about it?” Michael asked.

“Well, well, well.  Here’s the moody bastard now,” Brian taunted, giving his friend a quick once-over glance.

“Do I detect a hint of a smile on your ugly mug?” John the drummer teased.

“Yeah, and the sweet scent of pussy,” remarked the bass player.

“I hope that means Annie stayed last night?” Brian added, taking a gulp of his black coffee.

“As a matter of fact, she did,” Michael answered with a smug nonchalant smile.

“All right!” all four men cheered and clapped hands as if at a rowdy football game.  “Does this mean you'll actually
play
that guitar tonight instead of beating on it for two hours?”

“Yeah, well, at least I know how to play mine,” Michael laughed.  “Listen, I stopped in to see what time we need to be at the FleetCenter tonight,” he asked, ignoring their continued line of questioning.

“Management expects to see us there around six o’clock.  Why?  Are you and Annie taking off?” Brian asked, shoveling more food into his face.

“I’m taking her shopping for a dress to wear tonight.”

“Oooh!  It must be love,” Brian sneered, while the others continued to snicker and chuckle in the background.

When the laughter died down, Brian got serious.  “Take her to my sister-in-law’s shop on Newbury Street.  Barbara shops there all the time.  For the money she spends there, I should own the God-damned place!”

“Okay, I’ll do that,” Michael agreed.  “Also, I want to do the new song tonight with the orchestra playing back-up.  I think we’re ready to debut it, and tonight would be the perfect time with all the ‘suits’ in attendance to hear it.”

“Are you out of your mind?” Brian blurted.  “Where do you think we’re going to come up with an orchestra last minute?”

“We’re in Boston, for Christ sakes!  This city is swimming with musicians.  I’ll have it arranged by show time.  You guys just be ready.  We’ll play it for our last encore.  Okay?”

Michael stared at his band mates as they continued to fill their faces, ignoring his request.  “I wrote the song for Annie,” he said, his voice genuine and sincere.  “I’d really like her to hear it tonight.”

It was as if he was invisible to them.  Agitated, he shifted his weight and stuffed his hands into his pockets.  Sometimes he hated the politics in the band.  But mostly, he hated to grovel.

“It would mean a lot to me,” he pleaded.

Brian’s eyes locked with Michael’s and he smiled.  “Well, since you put it that way, we’ll do it.  You guys got a problem with that?”

Everyone nodded in agreement, without raising their heads from their breakfast plates.

“Great,” Michael answered.  “I’ll call Andy and have him make the necessary arrangements.”

“Michael?” Annie’s soft voice called from the hallway.

“I’m in here, babe.”

As Annie walked in, the conversation stopped.  Nervously, she walked directly to Michael’s side.  In a protective gesture, he extended an arm and pulled her against his body.

“You guys all remember Annie, don’t you?” Michael asked.

“Yes, good morning or is it afternoon?” John joked, while the others waved.

“My, my, don’t we look ravaged - I mean ravishing this morning,” Brian chuckled like an adolescent school boy.  “Would you like to join us for breakfast or have you already been eating this morning?”  Again the room broke into an outburst of lewd laughter.

“All right, we’re out of here,” Michael replied, trying to hide the smile on his face.