Back-Up (23 page)

“Hi Trini, it’s very nice to meet you.” It’s hard to not like her. Unlike Scary Sally, Trini is so happy and bubbly.

“You’re beautiful Leila. I can’t wait to see you guys do your thing.” She looks up at Jack and winks.  Awkwardly I thank her for the compliment. She wishes me luck and excuses herself to get back to work. “Have fun.”

“She seems really nice.”

Jack watches me for a few seconds. “She is. She’s a great friend.”

Yea
h, I’m sure...a friend with benefits. Jealous Leila is rearing her ugly head once again.

My imagination runs wild with pictures of Jack and
Trini when Lizzy takes the mic on stage and asks everyone to quiet down.

“Hi everyone. I’m so glad you all came out to wish my brother a very happy birthday. Someone get him a shot.” She smiles wide at Jack
as he shakes his head.

“We are also celebrating Devil’s Lair being signed!” She starts clapping and everyone follows suit. She raises her hand to quiet the crowd again. “I think we can convince them to play us a song or two tonight if we all plead and beg.” The room
explodes into applause again.  “Guys you have to play now or you’ll have an angry mob to deal with.”

Oh crap
.

I wasn’t planning on performing tonight. I rarely get nervous, but I don’t know these people. Well I don’t know the people we play for at The Zone, but this is different. Plus, I’m drunk!

Lizzy laughs and motions for the crowd to hush down. “Ok, ok, listen up... We have one more thing to celebrate it seems. Our lovely new band member Leila’s birthday is the day before Jacks. Happy birthday Leila! Someone get Leila a shot too!”

The entire room turns to look at me an
d I almost pee my pants. Oh god. I should have gone to the bathroom earlier. One of the waitresses makes her way over and presents her tray. I pull a shot off the tray and tip it back.

I notice
Evan and Lori whispering and laughing in the corner. I have the urge to stab them with a very dull knife. Jack hugs me instantly. “Why didn’t you tell me your birthday is the day before mine?”

I shrug and say, “I only found out when Lizzy called. I couldn’t ruin the surprise, could I?” I slurred a bit at the end and he looks at me with amusement.

Leaning in, he asks, “You ok?”

Smiling w
ide, I respond. “No. I’m buzzed and was just summoned to sing in front of all these people. I’m debating how far I’ll get sprinting in these heels.”

“I’d catch you.” He smirks.

Dylan cuts in and grabs me away from Jack, only then making me realize I was in his arms for quite some time. “Happy Birthday Leila.” While he is hugging me, I watch Jack watch us with a forced smile on his face. I pull away from Dylan taking a casual step closer to Jack. I blame that damn magnetic pull he has on me.

We are interrupte
d with Lizzy’s voice again. “Leila, we will all sing happy birthday to you later. Ok, can we hear a few songs guys? Or do we have to become violent?”

Trey, Hunter and Scott make their way up to the stage. They each hug Lizzy and get into position. Jack grabs my hand and pulls me towards the stage.
I dig my heels into the floor and jerk to a complete stop. He feels my resistance and turns towards me.

“What are you doing?” He
pulls on my outstretched arm.

“I wasn’t kidding. I’m drunk. And I am st
ill learning the back-ground vocals.” I hiss in panic while shaking my head. “And I have to pee!”

He stops and laughs out loud.  Coming closer so we are face to face, he says, “I’m really sorry
that you have to pee, but it will have to wait.” Looking into my eyes, I get lost in their depths. Amazingly, I feel calmer as I gaze back at him. “You can do this. Besides I’m drunk too.” He smiles down at me and further pulls me under his spell. I would do anything for this man at this moment.

I gulp down the rest
of my wine before Jack puts it on a table and pulls me towards the stage. He doesn’t notice me stumble once.

Once we are w
ith the band, he says to them, “
Committed
, with Leila. Then go into
Nothing to Gain
and end with
You Broke Me
.” He looks at me and adds, “Just like we practiced.”

I nod and take a deep breath
. He is still holding my hand, does he realize that? There is only one microphone, so Jack and I will have to share it. I can do this. This is good practice.

Everyone starts clapping and Jack laughs. “Hey everyone. Thank you so much for coming, although I doubt you had a choice with Lizzy.” He
glares at his sister who shrugs and raises her glass to him. Evan is right beside her. Lori is next to him and winks at me.

Oh G
od.

“Ok
, you asked for it. Welcome to Devil’s Lair first unofficial concert. This here is our newest member, Leila Marino. Leila, happy birthday by the way. She’s is a little nervous so let’s show her the love.” I smile weakly and glare at Jack.

He laughs at me and signals to Hunter. The boys start up
Committed
and I come in at my mark. Jack and I are inches apart, and he winks while I’m singing. I’m going to get real used to this. Being this close to him, feeling as if he is singing only to me, very soon I will be able enjoy this every night. That part of the tour I am looking very forward to. The crowd loves us, and it’s pumping me up with pure adrenaline.

By our third and final song, I am
no longer nervous. My friends are whistling and cheering along with the crowd. This feels really good.

Jack is beaming and enjoying the reaction
we receive. He wraps his arm around me when we finish. “You were incredible. Now you can pee.”

Noddin
g, I sprint down the stage steps and am instantly mobbed by Evan and Lori.

“Lei that was so awesome.”

“You guys fucking rocked!”

I nod and yell a little too loudly, “Thank you but I really have to PEE!” As I bolt for the ladies room I can hear Evan and Lori laughing,
alongside Jack and a few guests.

That was the best experience of my life. This was totally different than The Zone. It was better.
I feel guilty feeling this way but it’s true. I can only attribute it to one thing. I love singing with Jack.

I make a
left out of the ladies room instead of a right and find a small balcony that overlooks the city. Wow, why isn’t anyone back here? It’s cooler and the air feels good. The view is gorgeous.

I grip the railing
while standing in the overhang, looking down I get dizzy. I am most definitely drunk. Hearing footsteps, I spin around to see who is invading my solitude. Jack strolls towards me holding two more Jell-O shots.

“I found you. I was worried you bolted.” He
chimes as he joins me on the overhang. His eyes are unfocused, just like they were the night of his party. The difference is, this time mine are too.

He hands me one of the shots and says, “Happy birthday
, Leila.”

“I think this is number
six.” Giggling, I down it while he watches me. As I slowly lick my lips, his eyes become heated.

Jack
takes his own shot. He transfixes his gaze onto mine and the sparks fly between us.

“That was really fun.
” I point out in an attempt to distract him. “I can’t believe how much I enjoyed that.”

“Yep,
me too.” He takes our shot glasses and puts them on the ledge, and then steps closer until we are practically touching. “You really were fantastic up there. I knew you would be.” He strokes my cheek and pushes my hair away from my face. I feel the sensation building below and I want to take this further. I
really
do.

“Happy birthday,
Jack.”

Jack leans in and hovers over my lips until I can feel his warm breath mingling with my own.

“Thank you. Happy birthday, Leila.”

He bends just as I lift up until our lips touch. His
are soft, and his kiss is dry and slow.
Really
slow. It’s the perfect kiss. We continue to nibble each other’s lips until I can’t stand it any longer.

I grip his shirt in my hands and
pull him into me. My lips part and he slips his tongue in to stroke against my own. He moans and pushes his body up against every inch of mine. My hands reach up and link behind his head just as his hands find my lower back and he grips me hard to his body.

Oh. My. G
od.

T
his feels amazing. I don’t want to stop.

Jack pushes a leg between mine just as I
move my hands into his hair to keep him on me. Kissing him is addicting. I’m sure he can make me climax from this alone.

My enthusiasm is embarrassing. I’m on fire. You would think I’ve never kissed a man before. His hands move around to my waist and then he runs
them up my sides until he skims my breasts. The lack of oxygen has me panting and regretfully I pull away to catch my breath. Jack holds me with his gaze as his thumbs slowly graze over my nipples.

Another groan escapes my lips as I throw my head back, trying to push myself into his hands.  I can feel his bulge against my thigh
. It spurs me to push my leg against him and now it’s his turn to groan.

Jack buries his hands in my hair, holding my head still so he can nibble his way across my jaw to my earlobe. I feel like I’m having an outer body experience.

He trails his lips to my neck, licking and sucking until I can barely stand it any longer. I am about to explode from the sensations he is causing all over my body. We try to consume each other with each kiss to the point that we never hear the voices approaching.

A female clearing her throat and a very familiar voice snaps me back to reality. “Lei?”

Jack closes his eyes and remains still.

“Fuck.” He mumbles quietly.

He slowly glances over his shoulder without releasing me. Evan and Lizzy are standing in the doorway in embarrassment.

Coming to his senses, Jack quickly steps away.

“Um, birthday kiss gone wild, I guess.” He looks back at me briefly and leaves the balcony, leaving me standing there pulsing all over and mortified at being caught.

Evan tilts his head with pure concern in his eyes. “You okay?”  Lizzy is hiding behind him, looking concerned as well.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I just had too many shots. I’ll, I’ll be inside.”

I leave them alone to speculate on what they just walked into.

Holy shit…what just happened? He wanted me as much as I wanted him.

But he left me there. Left me with the aftermath of that kiss while facing Evan and Lizzy. If I
were here alone, I would take the elevator down and hail a cab.

Instead, I hide in the ladies room for a while, attempting to fix my face and calm my nerves. When I sneak back into the party, I purposefully walk the perimeter of the room to avoid running into Jack. I just need to avoid him until Evan and Lori are ready to leave. That shouldn’t be too hard, since he bolted and left me standing there like a fool.

Dylan finds me at the bar ordering a diet coke.

“Leila you were awesome. It looked like you’ve been singing with them for years.”

“Thank you. I hope you couldn’t tell I was terrified.”

“Not at all. You looked completely relaxed.”

“Helps that I’m drunk.”

Motioning to the diet coke, he asks, “Reeling it in?”

“Trying to.”

Malcolm strolls over holding a drink. “Well
that is quite a voice you have Miss Marino.”

“Thank you. I was pretty nervous.”

He looks down into is amber liquid, swirling it around in the glass and drones, “If that was you nervous I can’t wait to hear when you’re relaxed.”

Yuck
.

He reaches into his back pocket
, pulls out his wallet, and produces a business card.

“I’d love to meet with you and discuss all the fantastic things I can do for you and your career.”

Is he serious? The only thing missing is a pinky ring, a gold chain and a polyester shirt opened to his navel. He’s dangerous actually, because his gorgeous face eclipses his sleaziness.

Trying to be polite, I accept his card. “I’ll keep that in mind Malcolm.
At the moment I’d like to enjoy my new career with Devil’s Lair for a little while.”

“Suit yourself. B
ut you should be front and center and not in the back ground.” He lifts my hand and kisses it while staring into my eyes. Then he strolls over to his better half and plants a chaste kiss on her cheek.

“What just happened?” I turn and ask Dylan.

“Seems like the serpent just handed you an apple.”

Slipping his card into my bag, I throw Dylan a deadpan expression and say, “Lucky me.”