The Rocker That Needs Me (The Rocker...) (16 page)

Drake relaxed. “Okay.” He sighed. “I hate that you’re going to leave me if for only a few hours… Why don’t you come by the studio later and we can have lunch?”

“Will you behave?” I asked, only half teasing. The fight from yesterday still lingered in my mind. That had been scary as hell. I hated Cole, but I didn’t necessarily want him dead!

He crossed his heart. “Promise.”

I dropped a kiss on his lips. “Okay. I’ll come by.” Reluctantly, I stood. There wasn’t time to go home and change. “Can I barrow some sweats?”

“Of course, but they will be too big. Ask Shane if he has anything. I’m sure he has a few things that will fit you.”

I wrinkled my nose as at the idea. No way was I going to wear something that had come off of one of Shane’s one-nighters. “Um, yeah. No thanks.”

I crossed over to the dresser and pulled out a pair of sweats pants. He was right. They would be too big, but I could work with that. Grabbing a clean shirt from the next drawer, I headed for the shower. 

Drake

As the door closed behind Lana and I heard the faucet turn on, I frowned. Obviously, she didn’t want me to know what she was saying to her sister. It didn’t really bother me. I was sure she was just trying to explain why she hadn’t answered her phone the first time Layla had called.

If I were Layla I would be worried too. Especially when she found out that her sister was sleeping with the man who had hurt her so badly back in December. Grimacing, I decided to call Layla and assure her that I only wanted to make Lana happy. This time I wasn’t going to fuck it all up!

With that settled in my mind, I instead turned to other things...like reliving the most incredible experience in my life. Making love to Lana had been epic. Just thinking about how tight she had been, how incredibly hot and sweet she had been as I had thrust into her over and over again, made me hard to the point of pain…

Yet even as I basked in the remembered ecstasy, something kept nagging at me. Lana had been tight…but not a virgin. It shouldn’t have bothered me. Fuck, she had every right in the world to explore her sexuality. I had given up the right to be her first when I had hurt her in Vegas.

Just because I didn’t have the right to care, didn’t mean that I didn’t!

I had dreamed of being Lana’s first. Of teaching her all about passion and lovemaking. It made my gut ache with some unknown pain knowing that I hadn’t been the one to do any of those things. Muttering a curse, I punched the bed on either side of me and glared up at the ceiling.

This was just one more fuck up that I was responsible for…

When Lana came out of the bathroom, looking flushed and her eyes red as if she had been crying, I pushed all my unreasonable thoughts away. “Layla says hi,” she murmured.

I had been worried that something was wrong with her sisters or my band brother, and I was relieved when she assured me that they were okay. Her need to leave bothered me, but her explanation eased some of my upset. I was happy that she had gotten back into dancing. I knew that it had been a passion of hers as a little girl.

When she grabbed my sweats and headed for the bathroom to shower I didn’t stay in bed long. Whistling to myself, I followed her and stepped into the huge walk-in shower with her. Five shower heads were already beating down on her from all imaginable angles. Her back was turned to me and I wrapped my arms around her waist, pulling her against my already throbbing erection.

“We don’t have time for this, babe,” she murmured, but there was an almost purr quality to her voice. She wanted me just as badly as I wanted her despite our earlier session in bed.

I nipped her just under her left ear. “Showering together will save time,” I argued as I pushed her front up against the tiled wall. From behind, I parted her thighs until my dick fit just right. Her opening was drenched with her arousal. Leaning forward, I nuzzled her neck with my nose. “No matter what, we will always have time for this.”

Her arms wrapped around my neck, pulling me closer as she turned her head and met my lips. I kissed her deep, playing with her tongue as I lifted her just enough for the head of my dick to slip into her dark recesses. Her cry was drowned in my mouth as I pushed into her until I was balls deep.

“Slow and easy or hard and fast?” I asked as I felt her muscles start to contract around me. Just one thrust into that tight, sinfully hot pussy and she was ready to come for me.

“Fast,” she panted. “Hard.” She pressed her ass back against me, inviting me to take her any way I wanted. “Please, Drake.”

Her plea was my undoing, and I clamped my hands tightly around her hips to keep her in place as I began to thrust into her with reckless abandon. I pounded into her only a half a dozen times before she was screaming my name. Her muscles convulsed around my dick as I sunk deep into her each time. It felt so good. So fucking
good
!

“Angel,” I ground out as I lost what little control I had on myself and emptied deep within her…

--

I was forty-seven minutes late.

Cole and Axton were already seated at our table when I walked in. The producer shot me a hard look, but I ignored him. I was too happy, too content with the world at large to care about anything or anyone else. Humming softly to myself, I dropped down beside Axton at the judge’s table.

My friend grinned as I thanked the assistant who sat the mug of coffee down in front of me. “Drake Stevenson smiling, humming happily. Thanking people… Wow! I don’t think I have ever seen any of those things happen in the entire time I have known you. Does the lovely Lana have anything to do with this change in you, old friend?”

“She has everything to do with it.” I couldn’t help the goofy grin that spread across my face as I pulled the ever present itinerary closer.

“Good for you, dude. I’m glad to see you so happy.” He turned to Cole. “I think he’s going to marry that girl.”

“The leggy blonde or the stacked brunette?” Cole asked, sounding both bored and interested at the same time. How the hell was that even possible? Yet he pulled it off.

I refused to let his question put a damper on my good mood. “The brunette,” I told him. “And yeah, I am going to marry her. Not anytime soon, though.” Lana still had college to finish. Marriage was a few years away for us.

Cole nodded as if understanding. “The brunette. She was dynamite. And that mouth! She was keeping up with that brother of yours, man. Good choice.”

“Listen, man...” Axton put his phone down after typing a few words and hitting send “...can you do me a huge favor?”

I raised a brow at him. Axton never asked favors. He didn’t need to. If he wanted or needed something he either took care of it himself or called his assistant to do it for him. Sometimes he even called Emmie if he needed something major done quick. “I don’t know. Maybe.”

“Lana said something yesterday and I really like the idea. That Dallas chick would be ideal for OtherWorld’s new video. She’s hot, inked, hot, feisty… Did I mention hot?” I rolled my eyes at him. “Can you talk to Lana? Get her to work on her friend and persuade her to do it? I’ll make sure the pay is sweet.”

“I’ll talk to her,” I promised. “But don’t get your hopes up, man. Lana told me a little about her last night and she isn’t exactly Miss Sunshine.”

“Yeah, I figured that out yesterday.” Axton grinned. “Jesus Christ! She’s hot.”

Cole snorted. “Man, we know. Not only do we have eyes, but you’ve told us like a hundred times.”

Before either of us could comment, the producer’s assistant started showing in hopefuls. The next two hours passed in a blur of tone deaf, off key, cry baby boredom. I spent more time checking my watch or phone then paying attention. Really, I sucked at this job, but I didn’t care. It wasn’t like I needed the money or anything. If they fired me—which I knew they wouldn’t because they didn’t want to piss Emmie off—then it wouldn’t bother me in the least.

At one thirty, Lana texted me to let me know she was outside, and I stood up the second the latest hopeful finished his shaky voiced attempt at some original song that he had written himself. “No,” I told him point blank.

“Dray? Where ya going?” Axton called after me.

“Lunch. Lana’s waiting outside for me,” I called over my shoulder.

“Awesome. More Lana.” I heard his chair scrape against the floor as he stood. “No way, dude,” he told the hopeful. “Wait up! I’m hungry too.”

I muttered a curse under my breath. I wanted a quiet hour with Lana. Just her and me, and maybe a little day-old Chinese food after a quickie, but it didn’t look like that was going to happen. Axton caught up with me before I reached the door, and Cole was quick to follow. “Sounds good to me,” the old rocker said as he fell into step with me and Ax. “I always did enjoy some eye candy while I eat.”

As soon as I saw her my heart stuttered in my chest. Would it always skip a beat when I saw that girl? I fucking hoped so! The smile on her beautiful face when she spotted me coming her way was breathtaking, and I pulled her into my arms, kissing her until she moaned.

“You look beautiful,” I said as I glanced down at her simple jeans and tank. The sweats that she had left my place in that morning were not something I wanted my friend to see her in. Especially since they had been hanging off her, even after she had rolled, tucked, and gathered the extra fabric into rubber bands to make them fit better.

“Thanks.” She kissed me again, quick and hard. “I’m starving, babe. Where are we eating.” Her gaze went over my shoulder and I felt her stiffen. “I assume it will be the four of us…”

Axton pushed between us, hugging her. “Yep. I’m not turning down the chance to be with little Lana.”

She wrinkled her nose at him. “Why do I like you again?”

“My charming personality? The sexy rock god persona?” He smacked a kiss against her cheek, and I had to grit my teeth before I said something I would regret.

Lana raised a dark brow. “Yeah… No, neither of those things.”

Axton pouted. “But…But…You don’t like me?” He grinned. “You know you do, sweetheart. You don’t have a mean bone in that beautiful body.”

“Mean? Maybe not. Bitchy, fuck yeah!” She hugged him before stepping back and putting her hand in mine. “And you, rock legend? Are you going to be joining us too?”

Cole shrugged. “It looks like it, beautiful. Might as well tag along. You wouldn’t deprive an old man of some company for a mere meal, would you, sweetness?”

I felt tension in Lana, but she didn’t look like she was upset. In fact, she was smiling at Cole. “No. I wouldn’t dare do a thing like that.”

Lana

What the fuck had I been thinking?

I should have told Cole, and probably Axton too, that I didn’t want them coming. I had been doing nothing but thinking about Drake all morning, and I had hoped we could have something small at a quiet café or something. Instead, I had had a moment of insanity and a plan had formed.

We all got in the back of Axton’s car, since it was the first one we came to. Axton gave his driver the address for some deli that he said he favored and we were off. I was stuck between Ax and Drake while Cole took up the seat across from us. I didn’t mind that I was squished up against Drake. I would have been pressed there even if Axton wasn’t crowding us.

A silence descended the back of the car and I started to feel tense. Not even Drake’s hand tracing little swirls on my arm could fully distract me. Sighing, I broke the silence. “So, Cole… Are you married?”

Cole snorted. “Tried that once. It didn’t work out too well.”

I knew all about his one marriage. It had ended in a nasty divorce. That had been about twenty years ago, and Cole had had to shell out a big load of cash to keep his secrets a secret.

“How about kids? Got any of those?” I was surprised that my voice was so calm, that I was able to keep my smile in place for so long without my face breaking.

The old rocker shrugged. “One or two. Neither of which want anything to do with me.”

“That’s too bad,” I murmured, offering some sympathy. It would look really bad if I suddenly started screeching at him. “Sons? Daughters? Both?”

“One of each. My son is in the movie business. His mother is an actress.” Which meant that the son’s mother was also Cole’s ex-wife. “And my daughter… I haven’t seen her since she was a baby. Fuck, I don’t even know what her name is. Her mother was a real bitch.”

I stiffened. He had to be lying. Had to! No way had he seen me when I was a baby. Layla would have told me that kind of thing. Unless… Maybe she didn’t know? Crap, now I was going to have to call her and ask her if she knew about it. Layla was going to worry, and Jesse was going to get pissed. Then hot head Jesse was going to fly out to New York and all hell would break loose.

Because as soon as the tabloids found out that I was Cole Steel’s daughter and the reason for his expensive breakup from his wife… Oh and that I was currently Drake Stevenson’s girlfriend… I wasn’t going to have a moment’s peace.

Lana

It seemed like I had just blinked my eyes and five weeks had gone by. Maybe it was because I was so happy. I had no free time with summer school, the beginning of the fall term, and dance practice with Linc.

If possible, I had lunch with Drake every day. The auditions were still going on with the end of the line nowhere in sight. People actually had backpacks full of food and drinks, and they had sleeping bags so they could camp out in the line. Of course when I showed up, the producer always started muttering under his breath and was quick to wrap things up so I was out of the way sooner rather than later. Axton and Cole had lunch with us several times. I enjoyed spending time with Axton. His sarcasm was amusing, his sexiness easy on the eyes. He was a good friend. Cole―I had mixed feelings about. I wanted to keep hating that old fucker, but he had actually chipped away at the ice around my heart where he was concerned.

Turned out Cole Steel wasn’t all bad. He could be charming when he wanted to be. Don’t get me wrong, I would always hate that bastard, but at least I didn’t have to try as hard to hide that hate all the time. I hadn’t asked Layla about what Cole had said. I didn’t want to open that can of worms just yet. It was getting harder and harder to keep Jesse in LA with each passing day, and I didn’t want to give him a reason to jump on a plane with my sisters.

Today was Friday and I had talked Dallas and Harper into going with me to have lunch with Drake and the guys. Shane had begged me all evening last night to bring Harper, refusing to leave Drake and me alone until I gave in. He had it bad. Harper wasn’t falling for any of his usual tricks, which normally had women handing over their underwear and pleading for the rocker to give it to them hard.

If possible, Axton was worse than Shane. Drake had asked me to persuade Dallas to do the OtherWorld video. I had worked on her for three days before she had given in and accepted. You had to know how to push the right buttons with Dallas because she was stubborn as hell. Mostly, she had mommy issues and was a real daddy’s girl. Lucky for me—and Axton—that Austin Bradshaw hated his ex-wife just as much as his daughter disliked her. One phone call and Austin was in New York telling Dallas to accept the job.

That had been two days ago. Dallas had called Axton and told him that she would do the video…
If
I did it with her. Sneaky bitch! Put on the spot, I had had to agree. She had been staring me down at the time daring me to say no. Drake hadn’t liked the idea. When his manager had suggested that I be in Demon’s Wings video last Thanksgiving, Drake and Jesse both had gone a little crazy.

The producer shut down the auditions as soon as he saw me, shooting me a frustrated look. I shot him a grin, not caring that I was interrupting his day. Drake had to eat and he hadn’t had a day off in over a month. My presence was the only thing that got the producer dick wad to move his ass and make things happen at a faster pace.

“Lana’s here,” Axton told Drake.

Drake stood without looking up from his phone. He was frowning down at something and I could only assume it was a text from Emmie. I went to him, not wanting him to bump into anything in his attempt to reach me. Standing on tiptoe, I kissed his cheek.

“What are you reading?”

His eyes lifted to meet mine, and he raised a brow at me. “Jesse just sent me a really interesting text.”

Dread filled my stomach. I could only imagine what my brother-in-law had to say. He had been chomping at the bit for a while now. The last time I had talked to him he had demanded I tell Drake, but I hadn’t been ready. I still wasn’t ready!

Muttering a curse, I glanced back at my friends. Shane had come out of the woodwork and was talking to Harper, making her laugh like always. The sparkle in his blue-gray eyes was something I had seen in Drake’s eyes a lot. Harper was still oblivious to the fact that she quiet possibly had one of the sexiest rock stars in the world watching her with bated breath. The girl had no self-confidence at all when it came to guys!

A few feet away, Dallas was rolling her eyes at Axton as he leaned against the wall beside her. I was sure the steel support beams were going to melt he was turning up the wattage on his charm so high. Dallas wasn’t having any of it. I would have laughed if I hadn’t felt the tension pouring off the man beside of me.

Turning my gaze back to him, I bit my lip. “Are you mad at me?”

“I don’t know,” Drake told me honestly. “I keep wondering why you didn’t tell me, Angel. Don’t you trust me?”

“Of course I do!” I cupped his face, hating to see the hurt in his eyes. Damnit! I had put that pain there, and it tore my heart to pieces. “I trust you, Drake. I…I just didn’t know how to handle it. I’m sorry.”

“Let’s get out of here,” he muttered, pulling me close for a tight hug but not a kiss. Still holding me close to his side, he pulled me toward the exit. As we passed Shane, he leaned over and whispered something in his brother’s ear.

Shane nodded. “Sure. No problem. Take all the time you need.” His gaze landed on me. “See you later, sis. If you need me, call.”

Tears filled my eyes. Did that mean that Drake was about to breakup with me? All I could do was nod and let Drake push me through the door. Once we were in the back seat of Drake’s car he didn’t speak, not one word until the door to his apartment closed behind us.

I dropped down onto the edge of the couch, my head bowed to hide my tears. “I’m sorry,” I whispered. “I wasn’t ready to tell you.”

“Cole Steel? How the hell did your mom get involved with Cole-fucking-Steel?” he demanded, pacing back and forth in front of the entertainment center.

Swallowing hard around the lump in my throat, I told him. “You know that my mom wasn’t that great. She wanted to be a rock star’s trophy. And if not a rock star then some rich guy’s arm candy. She seduced Tommy Kirkman when she was sixteen, knowing that she would get pregnant…And seven years later, when the money that Tommy had shelled out to keep Layla a secret started to dwindle, she set out to do it all over again with another rocker. Steel Entrapment was the hugest thing in the rock world back then. Seducing Cole was no big feat. Everyone knew that he cheated on his wife regularly. And as long as he kept his dick clean, she didn’t care how many groupies he fucked around with.”

Drake paused from pacing, but I didn’t raise my head to look at him. “So what happened once your mom got pregnant? Once she had you?”

“When Lydia confirmed her pregnancy, she called Cole’s wife, who started divorce proceedings that same day. It was a nightmare and while I hadn’t been born yet, Layla still had to live through it. When I was old enough to ask, she told me all of it.”

Like how Cole’s wife had married him before he had gotten big, so he had to split everything with her fifty-fifty. Since there would be proof of infidelity once I was born, she was able to petition for alimony as well. The threat of having to shell out big money for child support for two children, as well as an outlandish figure for alimony from a vindictive wife, had really pissed Cole off. When I was born he had to be court ordered to take the paternity test. When it came back positive he refused to believe them and demanded another one done. This happened three more times before the judge stepped in and took over, making Cole pay up.

“When it was all over Cole was nearly broke,” I told Drake as I wiped my damp eyes. “He hated my mother for it because really it was her fault. His son was ten and hated him because he had supposedly broken his mother’s heart.”

“And what made you hate him, Lana?”

I flinched, hating for him to call me by my given name. I was his “Angel,” not Lana! “Cole didn’t ride in and save Layla and me from the big bad gorgon. I hoped that my dad would want me. Love me. But he didn’t. He was even given the chance of custody, but he turned it down. I read the court records. He said he ‘Didn’t want the bastard that had ruined his life.’ So I decided that if he didn’t want me, hated me for causing all his problems, then the feeling was going to be mutual.”

“How old were you when you found out?”

“Seven, almost eight.” I pushed my hair away from my face but still didn’t look at Drake. “After that, I started listening for him on entertainment news, and if I saw his face on a magazine I always read it. He was all talk about how he wanted to reconcile with his son, but never once did he mention the daughter he had thrown away…

“A few years ago, right before my mom died, I got a certified letter meant for her saying that the child support was going to be cut off. The lab that had done the paternity tests was under investigation and for the support to continue, I had to show up for another DNA test.” I grimaced. “I tore the letter up before Mom could see it. I didn’t care if she got mad, but I wasn’t going to go through with the test. Not willingly. Screw the child support checks; it wasn’t like I saw any of that money anyway.”

Drake crouched down in front of me and with a finger under my chin made me meet his eyes. “Don’t cry, Angel,” he murmured, wiping a few of my tears away with one of his thumbs. “You don’t ever have to cry over your dad again.”

“I really am sorry, Drake,” I whispered. “I…”

“Shhh. I understand.” He kissed my lips tenderly. “Just don’t keep things like this from me again. I hate having secrets between us. Promise me we won’t have any more.”

“I promise!” I kissed him back, wanting more than just a gentle brush of his lips across mine. “Tell me we’re okay, Drake. Swear that you aren’t going to breakup with me.”

“Is that what you thought?” He sighed, leaning his forehead against mine. “I can’t live without you, Angel. I love you.”

Those words were something I had been aching to hear almost from the first day I had met this man, yet I wasn’t ready to repeat them. I was in love with Drake, would probably always be in love with him, but my heart and brain were still arguing about where I stood. So instead of saying another word, I pulled his head down and kissed him until neither one of us could think about anything except getting to bed.

--

Drake was still asleep when I left the next morning. The apartment was so quiet that I knew Shane was either out for a run or hadn’t come home the night before. I hoped it was the former. If he was going to fuck anything with a vagina while he was pursuing my best friend, then I wasn’t going to stand for that.

It was Saturday and I had a full to-do list screaming my name: laundry, homework, and dance practice with Linc. Somewhere in there I had to make time for a few extra special things before I saw Drake again tonight. As soon as I walked through my apartment door, I headed for the shower.

I should probably start leaving some of my things at Drake’s, but I was trying to go slow with big things like that. I didn’t want him to think that I was moving in and scare him. He hadn’t even mentioned it, and I was okay with that. Really…

Harper was still sleeping soundly when I came out of our bathroom in nothing but a towel. My toothbrush was sticking out of my mouth as I pulled fresh underwear out of my bra and panty drawer. I was multitasking and making good time when Linc scared the hell out of me by walking in without knocking.

“Did you hear?”

I could only raise a brow at him because my mouth was full of toothpaste and spit. He grimaced. “The competition has been postponed because two of the judges got food poisoning last night. So we have three more weeks to practice.”

I gave him a thumbs-up and walked back into the bathroom to rinse my mouth. “That’s good news. I still haven’t got that last swing perfect yet.”

“Sorry, sweetheart, but I can’t make it. I have a body builder’s competition that weekend in Miami.” He dropped down on my bed with a sigh. “Can you find someone else?”

I flopped down beside of him. “It’s too late now. But don’t worry about it.” It was a little disappointing that I had worked so hard and wouldn’t be able to compete, but it wasn’t the end of the world for me. Besides, Linc and his drill sergeant routine had started to make the whole dancing thing less fun for me. “So, does that mean we don’t have to practice this morning?”

“Not much use in it now.”

“Great.” I jumped up and started pulling on my clothes. “That means I have more time for other things…Want to go out with me this afternoon? Or do you have to work?”

“I don’t have to go in unless they call me.” Linc grinned and I had to stop looking at him for a moment. Damn that man was hot when he smiled like that. “So I’m all yours if you want me.”

A pillow was suddenly tossed at my head, and I turned to find Harper glaring at me from her bed. “Keep it down. Sleeping here.”

I blew her a kiss. “Sorry. I’m going.” I grabbed my watch, phone, and shoulder bag before leaving. “Meet me later!” I said over my shoulder as I closed the door behind me and Linc.

“Much later!” Harper called back. She definitely wasn’t a morning person. On days when she didn’t have to be in work, she slept until after one. It was really crazy that she was the complete opposite of Shane. He was a morning person and could actually function on just a few hours of sleep. Harper, not so much! Shane was a man-whore and had fucked more women than I would ever care to count. Harper was still holding onto her V-card.

Dallas was just coming through the door as I reached the living room. She had an unkempt look to her, but that could mean just about anything when it came to her. Late night party? Maybe. Early morning breakfast with her mother and she had wanted to go for the grunge look to piss the woman off? It wouldn’t be the first time it had happened.