“We had bets on how long you’d last in that horrible house of yours,” Cher informs
him as she wipes tears from the corners of her eyes. “I lost the bet a year ago.”
“Everyone hates your house?” I ask in surprise.
“Oh honey, it’s awful.” Lori rolls her eyes, and I smile at her.
“I know. I’m thankful he’s selling it.”
“I bought it for the view,” Leo reminds us all and then laughs with everyone else.
“Yeah, it’s horrible.”
“I wouldn’t mind moving to Seattle,” Cher murmurs, her big brown eyes watching DJ.
“We can look into it,” he agrees.
“I hate L.A. Please, God, tell me we can move too.” Lori begs her handsome husband.
“You hate L.A.?” He asks, surprised.
“Yes! Let’s move before Maddox starts school and we don’t want to uproot him.”
“I guess we’re all moving to Seattle and becoming boring suburbanites,” Gary mutters.
“Speak for yourself, man. I’m no suburbanite.” Eric holds his hands up and shakes
his head.
“Says the man with a baby on his knee,” DJ quips.
“You’re a dick,” Eric throws back at him.
“Dick!” Maddox yells with a wide smile.
“Ah, hell,” Lori mutters. “Stop teaching my kid all the swear words.”
“His uncles are all musicians,” Leo reminds her. “It’s inevitable that he has a potty
mouth.”
“But does it have to be as a toddler?”
“Dick!” Maddox yells again and claps his chubby little hands.
“My kid is going to be the one who has detention every day after school because he
cusses in class,” Lori complains, earning smirks from the guys.
“How long have you been married?” I ask Cher.
“Ten years,” she replies and laughs at my surprised look. “Or, in rock band years,
fifty.”
“Good for you guys.” I feel hope spring. These women have made their relationships
work with their famous husbands. Maybe it won’t be that hard.
Maybe I’ll be twenty-five again tomorrow.
“Not easy,” Cher concedes and watches her husband with happy eyes. “But worth it.
It’ll be so nice to have him home more. Maybe we’ll actually have a baby.”
“No kids?” I ask. She shakes her head no and her eyes soften.
“I can’t have kids,” she confides, her voice low. “But we want to adopt.”
“I’ve told you before, I’ll be a surrogate for you,” Lori reminds her. “I seem to
be a baby making machine.”
“You’re crazy.” Cher laughs.
“Better yet,” Lori takes a crying Maddox from Eric. “You can have this one. He’s slightly
used, but he has his cute moments.”
“How about you, Sam? Do you want kids?” Cher asks and it suddenly feels like everyone,
including the guys and little baby Maddox, have gone quiet, waiting for my response.
“Uh, no, I don’t really want kids of my own. My brother and his wife have one and
another on the way, and I have extended family with kids. I like being the fabulous
aunt, and then sending them back home hopped up on sugar and rated R movies.”
Leo’s eyes are trained on mine, his face calm and relaxed, but I can’t read him. Finally
he smiles softly and me.
“Sam is a really great aunt,” he murmurs. “But we’re on the same page when it comes
to kids.”
“Well then, there’s no need to have sex,” Lori comments, and bites her lip as she
tries not to laugh.
“True,” I agree and nod thoughtfully. “It’s a good thing he’s horrible in bed.”
Leo’s eyebrows climb into his messy hairline and all the guys laugh, doubled over.
“Oh, man, I knew it!” Eric points at him and then slaps his knee.
“Is that so?” Leo asks me, sets his beer down on a table, and saunters over to me.
I shrug and clench my lips together, fighting laughter.
“I think,” he grips my hand and pulls me to my feet, then bends and lifts me onto
his shoulders. “You deserve to be punished for that.”
“Oh, shit, Leo do
not
throw me in the pool! I don’t have any other clothes with me!”
“Too late!”
And suddenly I’m flying through the air and into the warm water with a loud splash.
I kick my way to the surface of the water, sputtering and pushing my hair out of my
face, glaring up at the impossibly handsome man laughing down at me.
“You’re an ass!” I hiss at him.
“Ass!” Maddox repeats, earning more laughter.
“Here, I’ll pull you out.” Leo squats by the side of the pool and offers me his hand.
I reach up and take it, plant my foot on the side of the pool, and yank him into the
water with me, much to the delight of our audience.
Before I can turn around, I’m yanked under the water, and then tugged back to the
surface so I can catch my breath. Leo’s face is inches from my own, his hair wet and
pressed to his scalp. Water is dripping down his face, off the piercings in his ear
and eyebrow, his plain black tee is clinging to his shoulders.
“God, you’re sexy,” I whisper and his eyes grow hot with lust. He yanks me to him
and kisses me hard, thoroughly, his arms holding me to him tightly and his hands pressed
to my sides. He pushes me against the side of the pool and devours me with his lips
and all I can do is hold on for dear life.
Finally, he pulls back and grins down at me, panting. “You’re gonna pay for that remark.”
“Gladly,” I agree and laugh as he splashes me.
“Food’s ready, moron,” Gary calls down to Leo. “Lori do you have clothes for Sam?”
“Uh, probably not, Gary,” I respond as Lori laughs and I pull myself out of the pool.
“I don’t know if you noticed, but Lori and I couldn’t be more different.”
“You could go naked,” Eric offers with a grin. Leo smacks him upside the head.
“Shut the fuck up.”
“Fuck up!” Maddox agrees.
“I’m gonna kill all of you,” Lori growls.
***
“You know, I have to tell you.” Lori leads me through the house to the master bedroom
so I can borrow a tee shirt and pair of yoga pants. “I was so proud of the way you
handled Melissa the other day.”
“I heard about that!” Cher nods. “Most people don’t stand up to her.”
“How do you guys deal with always being in the tabloids?” I ask them without thinking.
“You know about being in the tabloids,” Lori remarks.
“Yeah, but I’m getting the feeling it’s different with rock stars than actors.”
“The guys told Melissa that we are never to be included in publicity stuff.” Cher
confides as Lori tosses me clothes to change into.
“Really?”
“Yep,” Lori agrees. “No family photos are to be released. Melissa knows better.”
“She just wanted the scoop on getting the first photos out there of Leo and his new
flame.”
“First flame,” Lori adds. “I don’t think that Leo’s ever been photographed with a
woman.”
“Never?” I frown in disbelief. “That’s hard to believe. I’m sure he’s had girlfriends.”
“I don’t know.” Cher shrugs. “But if he did, he never took them out. He’s a really
private guy.”
“We’re lucky.” Lori nods. “Our guys are all about the music and the fans. The rest
of it is all frills, and they don’t really play into it too much. They play the publicity
game when they have to, but…” She shrugs.
“I like that,” I mutter thoughtfully.
“I thought you might.” Lori grins. “Leo’s the best. He’ll have your back.”
We join the guys back on the patio, already eating and talking about music and bands
and who has what single coming out when.
I sit quietly, nibbling on salad and steak soaking it all in. These guys are just
so… normal. And kind.
“What are you thinking?” Leo whispers into my ear and offers me a bite of his steak.
“I like them,” I whisper back and he smiles widely.
“I’m glad.” He kisses my forehead and goes back to eating his dinner and chatting
with his band, and it occurs to me, I just made friends who don’t give a shit who
my brother is or what family I come from.
Imagine that.
***
“So tired,” I yawn and lean back in the seat of Leo’s car as we drive back to the
ugly Malibu house from Lori and Gary’s late that night. We stayed much later than
I expected we would, chatting and laughing. The guys also got a little work done,
talking song selection for the next album.
“I think you’ve won over the band.” He links his fingers and mine and I trace the
ink on his hand.
“It was the sex remark.” I smirk.
“They’ll never forget that,” he agrees and glares at me. “You’ll be punished for that.”
“You already punished me, babe. Hence, the clothes that don’t belong to me.” I point
to Lori’s purple tee and smirk.
“Are you wearing her underwear too?” he asks.
“I’m not wearing any underwear at all,” I respond and yawn again.
Leo pulls into his driveway and parks in the garage, and before I can open my door,
he’s pulling me to my feet and lifting me in his arms.
“I can walk,” I murmur and link my arms around his neck, bury my face next to his
skin and breathe him in. “But this is nice.”
“You’re tired.”
“I don’t know why,” I murmur and enjoy the way he effortlessly carries me through
his horrible house to the staircase. “Uh, I might need to walk up this weird staircase.”
“You’re fine.” He kisses my forehead and carries me to the bedroom. “Do you need to
use the restroom?”
I nod and he takes me into the master bath, sets me gently on my feet and leaves me
alone to do my thing. When I return to the bedroom, he’s turned the bed down and is
standing on the balcony, stripped down to just his short, black boxer-briefs.
I stand and watch him, his back to me, leaning on the railing and staring into the
blackness, most likely listening to the ocean. Even his back is gorgeous, smooth and
bare of tattoos, except the very tops of his shoulders where his sleeves end.
I wonder why he never got any ink on his back?
As if he can sense me, he turns and grins and comes in through the glass door.
“You okay?” I ask and tilt my head to the side. There’s something in his eyes that
looks sad.
He nods and crosses to me, lifts me back into his arms and kisses me softly.
“The bed is only a few feet away,” I remind him.
“I like having you in my arms.”
I brush his hair back with my fingers as he moves us to the bed and lays next to me,
pulling me to him.
“You’re not trying to seduce me.” It’s not a question.
“I want to hold you.”
“I was just kidding when I said you were bad in bed,” I remind him and pull myself
up onto my elbows. He smirks and pushes my hair back behind my ear and then laughs,
a full, belly laugh.
“I can’t believe you said that.”
I grin and shrug. “It was funny.”
“You’re funny.” He kisses me and tucks me to his side, my head on his chest. “You
should sleep.”
“Okay,” I agree but just lie quietly and listen to him breathe. I can almost hear
the wheels turning in his head. “Are you going to tell me?” I ask quietly.
He stiffens beneath me. “Tell you what?”
“What’s on your mind?” I frown but don’t look up at him.
He sighs and relaxes. “It was a busy day.”
“True. Full of job rejections and being thrown in pools.”
He pushes me to my back and gazes down at me while running his knuckles down my cheek.
“And you telling me you love me,” he whispers.
I take his face in my hands and kiss him softly. “I do love you,” I whisper.
“I’ll never get tired of hearing you say that you know.”
“Good,” I smile. “I’ll remind you often, in case you forget.”
“I don’t think that’s something I’ll forget.” He kisses my forehead and pulls me against
him again as I yawn. “Sleep now, sunshine.”
“Will you sleep too?” I ask as my eyes fall.
“Soon,” he whispers and I feel him smile against my forehead as he kisses me there.
“I’ll sleep soon.”
Chapter Nineteen
~Leo~
“What do you have going on today?” I ask Sam as I pour her some juice and dump some
sugar in my coffee in her kitchen.
“I have an interview today and two early next week. I didn’t hear anything from anyone
for weeks, and now I have a bunch of interviews.” She shrugs and purses her pretty
pink lips. “Weird.”
“You’ll be great.” She smiles softly and my gut clenches, the way it always does when
she looks at me like that; like she trusts me. Like she loves me. We’ve been back
in Seattle for a few days, and I still can’t believe she’s mine.