You got to Me (Love on Tour #3) (2 page)

The confrontation with Dani ended badly, and she took off. So Sean took us to dinner. And I found out that he was the most charming man I’d ever met. However, my ex-husband had seemed that way at first, too. So I watched them carefully. And I soon came to realize that Sean was madly in love with Dani. He cared for her so deeply that he would never intentionally hurt her. If he accidentally hurt her, he’d probably throw himself in front of a truck.

That’s when I started to feel like something was missing in my life, not just a man, any man, but an exact clone of Sean that I could take home to my bed. It sucked. And now I was a mess.

We entered the hotel lobby. Except for the tour people, it was cleared out, which was strange because it was a big hotel in the middle of the day. Sam stood in the center, directing traffic and handing out room keys.

Sam looked like a smaller version of his big brother. It was as if someone had taken Sean, shrunk him about six inches, deflated the muscles so that they were present, but not massive, and removed all his tattoos. He even had long black hair like Sean’s, only his was slightly shorter, falling to just below his shoulders. It was pulled back in a very neat ponytail.

But that was where their similarities ended. Sam was not quiet like his brother, he was loud and talkative. I’d discovered this at the wedding when he’d trapped me at the table, telling me long stories about his life. I had paid absolutely no attention, and I didn’t remember a single one now. Also, instead of that sexy brooding disposition Sean had going on, Sam was overtly jovial. The man was constantly smiling.

He smiled at us now. “Big bro! Bring it in.”

Sean set my bag on the ground and pulled his little brother to him for a hug.

“Hank, my man,” he shook Hank’s hand. “And Bell, my God, look at you,” he kissed her cheek. “Mike, the greatest PR rep on the planet. Good to see you, man.”

He was like a used car salesman.

“Lisa, my God, girl, you look amazing.”

Uggh. He was six years younger than me and he was calling me ‘girl.’ I tolerated his brief hug and then watched Sean. He was grinning.

“In your element, Sam?”

“Absolutely! I’m having a blast.”

“Good, because you owe me big time for this.”

“How many times have you called Baby in the five hours since you left the house?”

“Twice,” Hank said.

“Hey, the second call doesn’t count. I had to tell her where I put the extra pacifiers.”

Sam gave him an incredulous look.

“It’s important.”

“How’s my adorable nephew, anyway?”

“He has an ear infection.”

“Is that why you look like the walking dead?”

“Pretty much. Is there time for a nap before the show?”

“Yes, but you only have a hour or so. Dinner with your mother-in-law tonight.”

Sean looked at me. “You’re coming, right?”

“Of course.”

“Me too,” Sam said. “She invited me along. She says I’m cute.” He waggled his eyebrows.

Hank laughed.

“Please don’t traumatize me further,” Sean said. “Our own mother has a crush on Mike. It’s more than I can handle.”

This was a point of major amusement in the Rush household. Everyone except Sean, even Mike, thought his mother’s insistent crush was hilarious. It was made even funnier by the fact that Mike was gay. And no matter how many times Sean tried to explain that to his mom, she just didn’t get it.

“Here’s your room key, Sean. I put Lisa in the room right next to you.”

“Great. I’ll take her up,” Sean said, picking my bag up off the floor.

Terrific, I thought, as we headed to the elevators, more close proximity to the sleeping hottie. Just what I needed.

2

“Sean, dear,” my mother cooed, as she reached over the table and put her hand over his. “Tell me about this tour.”

I swear, sometimes I thought my mother had as big a thing for Sean as I did.

“It’s much shorter than our past tours,” he said. “So we’re only hitting the major cities.”

“The timing seems so bad.” My mother frowned.

“I know.” He shrugged. “But I have to help my brother out, right?”

“That’s right,” Sam said.

My mother looked at Sam. She smiled sweetly. “So you’re going to make this your career then?”

Sam leaned over the table toward her. “It’s part of the path, yeah. I studied entertainment law in school and I plan to be a manager. Sean and Hank’s manager, to be exact.” He grinned. “So this is sort of step one. Then, when we get back, I’m going to apprentice under their current manager, Leroy.”

“This Leroy, he’s going to train you to take his job?”

“Pretty much, but he’s retiring soon, anyway. He was already old when Hank first signed up with him over fifteen years ago.”

Sam was such an ass. Never call people old in front of other people that are relatively old.

“Couldn’t Hank go on the tour alone?”

“Hank and I haven’t toured separately in a decade. In fact, I’ve never toured without him. I just couldn’t ask him to do that,” Sean said.

And there was one more reason.

“So how does that all work, because you are in two different bands, right?”

“It’s more than that,” Sam said. “They are actually solo artists, and they have musicians that play with them.”

“Like Barry Manilow?”

Sam chuckled. “Yes, just like Barry.”

I smiled. Sean and Hank were absolutely nothing like Barry Manilow. Though, despite the fact that Sean sang heavy, hard rock songs on his albums and on stage, he had once sung a Manilow song to my mother. It was all it took for him to win her over for life.

Sam continued his explanation. “Sean calls himself by a band name. Like if Barry were to play under the name ‘The Copa Cabanas’ or something.”

“Oh, I get it,” my mother said.

This had been a major point of confusion for her for years now. Rather than being billed as ‘Sean Rush,’ he played under a band name, ‘Chrome.’ But he wrote and sang all the music. He hired musicians to play with him. Hank did the same thing. He called his band ‘Bantham,’ but he was the star of the show. We’d tried to explain this to my mother many times, but it had never sunk in. Apparently, Sam had just the right touch.

“So, you play one right after another?”

“Yes,” Sean said, “and on this tour I will be playing first – it’s called opening.” My mother had never been to a concert, aside from the orchestra, in her life. So Sean was explaining it to her as if she were Amish. “Hank and I switch back and forth. Sometimes he opens, and I am the headliner – that’s the band that plays second. And sometimes it’s the other way around. This time I am opening and Hank is the headliner, because he just released a new album.”

“Hmmm,” my mother said. “Well, I don’t like Dani being home alone with the baby.”

“Me neither,” Sean agreed.

“I told her I could take time off work and go down there…”

“Mom,” I said, “you’re going down in two weeks, and Dani will be fine until then. Besides, she has a support system there in Malibu.”

“It seems like most of her support system is on this tour.” My mother pursed her lips together. “What is it that you’ll be doing on the tour anyway, Lisa?”

All three of them turned to look at me. Thanks, Mom.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Well, what’s your job?”

“Mom, I’m a college professor, there isn’t really an appropriate job for me on a rock tour.”

“You’re creative, you’ll think of something.”

I wanted to tell her that giving a power point on Roman history before Sean took the stage wouldn’t exactly cut it. Instead I told her, “When we get to Chicago I do have a thing I’m doing.”

“What thing?” Sean asked me.

“I’m giving a guest lecture at Northwestern.”

“No kidding? I didn’t know about that.”

“It’s in the binder,” Sam said, referring to the massive ‘tour bible’ he’d given to all of us.

“I never read those things.”

Sam made a heavy sigh.

“But Dani says you are always so punctual,” my mother said.

“That’s because Mike reads the schedule and tell me where to be and when to be there.”

“Speaking of Chicago, will you see your parents? They live only a few hours away from there, don’t they?” My mother asked.

“Oh yes, we’ll see them,” Sam answered.

“Tell them I say hello. Your mother is such a nice lady. The first time I met you, Dani told me I’d get along with your mom, and she was right.”

Sean grinned.

“Okay, show me the most recent baby pictures.” My mom clapped her hands together.

Sean turned to me. He’d given me his tablet to stick in my purse, so I pulled it out and handed it to him. It took him no time at all to find the pictures. Before I could even get my purse hooked back on my chair, he was gushing with pride over his little angel.

“Well, I’ve arrived.” My brother walked up to our table, throwing his arms wide. Only he could make being twenty minutes late seem like an accomplishment.

“Brad,” Sean said, standing up.

“Ah, my favorite brother-in-law. Good to see you. Mom, Lisa. Hey, Sam! How is everybody?”

“Hungry. Bradley, have a seat so we can order,” my mother demanded.

Brad pulled out a chair and sat across from me. The waitress showed up within seconds and we ordered dinner. Afterward, my mom and Sean went back to fawning over pictures of Henry.

Brad turned to me. He rubbed his hands together. “So Lisa, going out on tour, huh. Are you excited?”

My little brother had been a pain in my ass since the day he was born. You would have thought that our places in birth were reversed. He teased me relentlessly, about absolutely everything. Well, that wasn’t entirely true. He never teased me about my ex or the divorce. But absolutely everything else was on his docket. And somehow, he’d figured out that I had a crush on Sean. It was the worst possible scenario.

“Sure, Brad. It should be fun.”

I braced myself, waiting for him to say something horribly embarrassing. He knew I was on edge, too. I could see it in his eyes. He leaned back in his chair and smirked. I glanced over at Sam. He was watching us.

“I bet there are a lot of men to meet on tour.”

That got my mother’s attention. “Lisa, you’re not planning to run around with a bunch of wild musicians are you?”

That was rich, especially since my mother thought the greatest thing that ever happened to her middle child was marrying a musician she met on tour.

“Of course not, Mom. That’s not why I came along.”

It was Brad’s chance. And he took it. “So why did you go on tour?”

I shrugged. “Dani asked me to. It was her idea.”

“Baby wanted me to have company,” Sean said, throwing an arm casually around my shoulders.

He looked at my mom, thank God, because at that moment my brother’s expression was ridiculous. They weren’t looking. But Sam was.

“I promise I won’t let Lisa get into any trouble, Mom,” Sean said.

But I was afraid I was already in trouble.

3

“Is this where Dani sits when she watches the show?” I asked Bell.

“Yeah, we usually find a spot like this somewhere backstage. These big equipment cases are handy,” she said, plunking the side of the big black box we were sitting on with her heel. “But if not, then Mike usually finds us some chairs.”

Hank was apparently in the back somewhere drilling his band on a few of the new songs from the recently released album,
When the Bell Tolls
. Sean was in his green room on the phone with Dani the last time I checked. So I sat with Bell and watched the arena fill up with fans and the roadies ready the stage.

Bell was easy to talk to, and I enjoyed her company. But usually her company meant having Hank around. So this was a bit of a treat for me.

It got dark. The roar of the crowd grew louder. I watched as Lyle, Joe and Raif walked past us onto the stage and took their places. Joe sat on his stool in front of the drum set. He looked over at me and waved. I waved back.

“What’s that about?” Bell asked.

“I met him outside the hotel.”

“Hmmm.”

“What, I can’t flirt with the drummer?”

“Oh, you can definitely flirt with the drummer, honey.”

But all thoughts of the drummer, and everyone else for that matter, went out the window when Sean appeared. He paused next to our big black box. He reached his hand out and gave my shoulder a gentle squeeze. I felt a tingly sensation.

Then he walked out on stage. He didn’t speak. He just raised one hand over his head, and the crowd went wild. Then Joe started to beat on the drums, Raif joined in with a heavy chord on bass, and finally Lyle started to pick out a tune on the electric guitar. Sean strapped his own guitar on and started to play, in perfect harmony with Lyle. He wasn’t looking at his fingers, or concentrating hard on what he was doing. It looked as simple as knit, pearl, knit, pearl.

And just when I thought it couldn’t get any better, he stepped up to the microphone and started to sing.

Dani had sent me every one of Sean’s albums. I didn’t listen to them much. They were full of heavy guitar and gritty lyrics. But like Dani, I thought that Sean’s deep voice was amazing. Still, I was much happier listening to bluegrass and folk music. It was calming and catchy. Dani teased me about liking the banjo, but it was the acoustic guitar I loved the most. I thought it was the most beautiful instrument on the planet.

One day Dani sent me a song Sean had written for her. The song was good. It was slower than most of his music, hot and sexy, and he was accompanied by a talented young female singer in the studio version of the song. But the version Dani sent me was done for a TV program. It was just Sean and his acoustic guitar, no girl, no band, and no electricity. I had nearly died the day I heard that track.

Now, I was having a new epiphany. Watching Sean with his guitar, singing into the microphone, his voice amplified a thousand times across the arena, it was mesmerizing.

Dani was right about this, too. Sean was a different person on stage. She told me once that she felt like the man on stage was a stranger who appeared under the lights. And when it was over, her husband came back.

I could see what she meant now. He was like a man possessed. He had an indescribable energy that radiated from him. He seemed powerful, forceful, demanding. It was impossible to look away.

Was this the same man who sat quietly on his couch while his little boy slept on his massive chest? The same man who discussed gardening and grandkids with my mom?

That was the moment when my crush completely changed. I wasn’t in love with my sister’s husband. I wanted that man on the stage.

“Enjoying the show?”

I nearly jumped out of my skin. “Jesus!”

I turned to see Sam’s face just inches from mine. He’d snuck up on me and shouted into my ear. Which, in his defense, was the only way I could have heard him back here with all the noise from the stage. But it didn’t annoy me any less.

“It’s very interesting,” I shouted back.

He grinned and sat down next to me.

That’s how I was, sandwiched between Sam and Bell, when Sean finally walked off stage. He was sweaty and breathing hard. He slapped each one of his band members on the back as they walked past him. Then he approached us. He stopped in front the three of us.

I watched his transformation happen right before my eyes. First, he tied his hair back at the base of his skull. Then he smiled, a sweet smile. “Did you know this is Lisa’s first rock n’ roll show?” He said to Sam.

“No kidding? You’ve never been to a concert before?”

“I’ve been to concerts, just not like this one.”

“She likes bluegrass music,” Sean said.

A strange look crossed between the brothers. But I had no idea what it meant.

“Huh,” Sam said.

“Can I get you guys anything?” And the transformation was complete.

“Are you fucking kidding?” Sam said. “You just got off stage. Go take a shower, or call your wife or something. We’re fine.”

“Kay,” Sean said. “I’ll be back in a bit.”

Sam jumped down and looked at me and Bell. “Want a beer, ladies?”

“I’ll take a hard lemonade,” Bell said.

He stared at her. “You drink?”

“Yes, sometimes. Why?”

“I don’t know. Cause Hank doesn’t.”

Hank was an alcoholic. It had been Sean who had helped him get sober many years ago, when they were still young punks.

“Hank hasn’t had a drop in thirteen years,” Bell said proudly. “And he could care less if I drink. In fact, he thinks it’s funny when I get tipsy. Now go get me my hard lemonade.”

“I seriously doubt that we have that in the cooler in back.”

“It’s there,” Bell said. “Mike takes care of me.”

Mike was technically Sean and Hank’s PR rep, but for five years before he took over that position he was Sean’s personal assistant. He didn’t seem to be able to shake the urge to accommodate everyone’s needs.

“What about you, Lisa?”

“I’ll take the same.”

Sam left and I turned to Bell. “I have been dying to ask you something. But I don’t want to piss you off.”

“It’s pretty hard to piss me off,” she said. “Unless you’re Hank. He does it all the time. Shoot.”

“It’s about Hank. The two of you seem… kind of… mismatched.”

Bell laughed. “You are not the first one to say that.” She turned toward me. “I had a sheltered childhood on a commune. No sex, drugs, or rock n’ roll. Hank’s was the complete opposite. At a very young age he was exposed to every possible vice. When we found each other he was done with all that. He was sober and he was trying to wean himself off women. I was just getting started. I wanted a wild time. Hank bottles up his emotions until they spill out into a fight. I write everything down, get it all out. We’re very different people. But we slammed into each other, and I haven’t look back for a second.”

I didn’t get it. I had absolutely no idea what this beautiful, smart, creative person saw in Hank.

“I know you’re not a big fan, Lisa. But Baby and I are crazy about Hank. And some day, you’ll see in him what we see.”

Sam returned with our drinks. He jumped back on the box and handed us each a bottle.

“So, Lisa. Here’s what I’ve been trying to figure out.”

“Oh, here we go,” Bell groaned. “Sam, you are always trying to get into people’s heads. It’s weird.”

“You’re just mad because I figured you out a long time ago, Bell.”

She stuck her tongue out at him.

“See, you’re this beautiful, intelligent, accomplished woman,” Sam said to me. “But you have a summer off and no plans. That’s what Baby said. She said you had no plans, so you could come on the tour with us.”

“So?”

“So, why isn’t some rich, handsome physicist taking you to Cabo?”

I stared at him.

“He does this shit all the time,” Bell said. “In three years of knowing him, he must have tried this on you, too.”

“Oh, I have,” Sam said. “But Lisa never gives anything up, in words anyway. She’s like a lock box.”

In words anyway? I scrunched up my brow.

“So, that’s why I was thinking,” Sam continued, “that you and I should go get a drink after the show.”

“Forget it, kid,” I said. “My secrets are staying mine.”

Bell laughed.

“Hmmmm,” was Sam’s only response.

Just then, thank God, Hank came over. I never thought I’d be happy to see him. But at least his appearance put an end to this stupid conversation.

“Hey, sweetheart,” Hank said, walking up to Bell and putting an arm around her waist.

“Hi,” she breathed.

“You getting my girl drunk, Sam?” Hank asked.

“Trying.”

Hank kissed her, for a long time. “Hmmm. Lemony.”

“More later,” she said.

Hank and his band bounded on stage, and I saw a show so very different from Sean’s that it was hard to reconcile. Whereas Sean seemed possessed when the lights hit him, like another person was literally taking control of his body, Hank was like a brilliant engineer. Everything he did, from the smallest movement, to the way he started or ended a song, was carefully crafted to get the maximum possible reaction from the crowd.

Sean appeared near the end of the set and stood beside Sam, arms folded across his chest, deep look of concentration on his face. When Hank’s last song ended, he came off stage, but his band stayed, holding their positions in the dark.

“See how he does that?” Sean said to Sam. “It’s brilliant.”

Hank gave Bell another kiss and walked over to Sean. “Quit talking about me and get on stage.”

Sean followed him. And this, this was the very best of yin and yang. They played four songs, two of Hank’s songs, and two of Sean’s. They ended the whole thing with Baby’s song. While the acoustic version would always be in my heart – this version, with the two of them playing off one another, trading places in the song as simply and easily as if it were second nature – became my very favorite piece of music on the planet.

“So, what did you think?” Sam asked me, the minute Sean and Hank stopped singing.

They were still on stage waving goodbye and I kept my eyes on Sean while I answered him. “It was fun,” I said casually.

It was transcendent, was what it was.

Hank, Sean, and Hank’s band members formed a little clutch for a minute, then they broke up and the band members streamed away. Hank and Sean approached us, side by side. They were both sweaty and out of breath. Hank was shirtless, having thrown his into the crowd near the end of his set. Sean was still wearing his stark black t-shirt. Baby had told me that Sean’s chest was just for her, and that was the way she liked it.

“Okay, I’m done,” Sean said. “I gotta get some sleep. Let’s get our stuff and go.”

“I got your bag right here,” Mike said. “This is San Francisco. Too dangerous to go wandering around.”

“Shit, that’s right. Let’s get out of here. Lisa, you good?”

I nodded. “I left everything at the hotel.”

We all started walking down the hallway. Hank stopped in front of his green room. “Bell and I have to get our stuff.”

Sean threw an arm around Bell. “You get it. Bell’s coming with us.”

“What the fuck?”

“I don’t have time for any hanky-panky, man. Catch up.”

Bell laughed and walked with Sean down the hall while Hank ducked into his room. We were out the back door and headed toward the bus when Hank caught up to us, two bags in his arms.

I asked, “What’s the deal with San Francisco that requires a quick getaway?”

“Shanna,” Hank replied.

“Who’s Shanna?”

Sean stopped in his tracks. “That’s Shanna.”