Backstage Pass: Last Call (The Backstage Pass Rock Star Romance Book 6) (4 page)

A knock
lifted me out of my daydreaming and I walked across the studio. Tate was supposed to be here in thirty with lunch and I now I was wishing I’d eaten something for breakfast. I pulled the door open and a sandy haired kid was standing on the other side. “Hey.”

I lift
ed my chin. “Hey. Who are you looking for?”

He shifted
his feet. “Um, some guy named Jesse? Ainsley sent me, said you might be looking for a bassist.”

I open
ed the door and waved him in. “She did, huh?” That girl doesn’t let a single thing slip by and never rests. Tate and I had talked a bit about our plan to replace Scout, but I wasn’t in a big enough hurry that I wanted another douche bag on the team. I figured we had a month to figure it out, and we could wing the interviews without him, though I didn’t give a shit if anyone found out that he was gone. It wasn’t like he was keeping us together or on the charts.

And I knew it.

Not that I wanted to be a dick about it, but I was a whole lot of the reason behind our success. I couldn’t do it without a band, but the songs and tunes were all mine and Tate knew it. But he wasn’t a dick about it. Scout had known it too, but he seemed to forget that he was the one who could be replaced. I really did wish him all the best, and hoped that he found whatever the hell he was looking for.

And that he figured out that happiness wasn’t found between some chick’s thighs.

I led the kid over to the couches and pushed my papers aside. “What’s your name?”

“Bean.”

“Seriously?”

“That’s my stage name.” He puffed up like he thought it was a good one, but unless the kid could play, it wasn’t my place to tell him that he needed to change it.

“So, Bean. If Ainsley sent you, she must think you’ve got some talent.”

He got a little embarrassed and looked away. “Yeah. I’ve never really played for anyone though.
She heard me over at my school. I was goofing around with her son and she said I was good.”

Interesting. I
wasn’t sure how badly I wanted an inexperienced player to take on tour, especially considering what it had done to Tate, but Ainsley was all too familiar with the deal, so maybe she thought this Bean kid could handle it.

I leaned back on the couch and motioned toward Scout’s old bass. “Let’s hear it.”

He stood, then faltered and glanced over his shoulder. “What do you want to hear?”

“Lay it on me
, man. This is your chance to impress me.”

He swallowed and I hid my smile as his Adam’s apple bounced around in his throat.
I remembered being nervous. God, that felt like a million years and fans ago. Had it really only been less than a year? I shook my head and fiddled with my papers, jotting down a line about a “million fans ago.” There was something there that I wanted to play with—a ballad that would really pull at some serious heart strings. I wanted to write something that would make the billboards stand up and take notice. Our YouTube videos were getting some serious playtime and I liked that, but it would be nice to get some recognition from my peers. We weren’t just another boy band and I wanted someone to figure out that I was writing all our own stuff.

Now that the drama of Scout was out of the way, maybe we could get some serious interviews that focused more on the art and less on how many girls he was fucking.

Bean tuned the guitar and strummed a few notes. I liked his sound. It was tough for a bassist to really get into anything groovy since he was more of the backbone of the band, but I wanted to see what he could do before I threw him a bone.

He cleared his throat and I looked up.
“Ready?”

I gave him a smile and
he laid down a nice riff. Ainsley might have been on to something. With very little direction, this kid could be awesome. I picked up my acoustic and pulled up a stool. “Can you follow along?”

He took a small step back and watched me strum for a second, then I
rolled out one of the songs I’d worked out this morning. I hadn’t figured out any of the other melodies behind the lyrics, but I wanted to let him play around and see if he could think outside the box.

I
sang the first chorus and he picked up halfway through, layering a sweet thrumming melody that highlighted the lyrics instead of steamrollering over the top of them like Scout always wanted to do. I fucking hated that. He did it during all our concerts too, like he was the main reason people came to see us. He never did understand what a bass was supposed to do, and he never would have either. He wanted to be the front man from the very beginning and it was so very annoying.

This Bean kid was good. I had to give him that. We played through the entire song and then Tate came in at the end. He paused in the doorway. “Who’s this?”

“Bean, this is Tate. He’s the drummer.” Tate lifted his eyebrows in question and closed the door. “Ainsley sent him over as a possible replacement.” I glanced at Bean. No point in letting him get a big head just yet. “He might work.”

“Oh yeah?” Tate picked up his drumsticks and
twirled them. “What song is this?”

“New one.” I strummed a few more notes until I figured out the right
sound. “I think you’re gonna like it.”

“Always do.” He rattled out a riff of his own. “But it’s pretty easy. Why don’t we see what Bean can
do.”

Bean’s head jerked up. “Um, I’ve never played in a band. I mean, I’ve bought all your records, and I went to that concert last month, but I really only
play for my mom and at church and stuff.”

I kept my head bowed, picking at strings. “Do you want the job, Bean?”

“Um . . .”

B
ehind him, Tate picked up the rhythm and together we turned it into a mad case of a game show. “Let’s see if you can handle the stress of one of our fast ones.”

Tate
looked at me. “You want to do
Devil’s Gate
?”

I grinned. It was the fastest, wickedest one we had. I doubted he’d be able to keep up, but it would be the ultimate test of what he was capable of. “Yeah, but let’s do it half time so we don
’t send him running for the door.”

Bean puffed up again. “I’m no pussy. Give it to me straight.”

I shrugged and glanced at Tate. “Count it down.”

“Five, six, seven, eight.” He tapped his drumsticks together, then laid down a drum score that would have put some of the best to shame. I took my guitar off—there was no way I could manage on an acoustic.
One of these days we might have to think about getting another guy who could play the guitar, but we’d made a hell of a name for ourselves without one. I belted out the first lyric and Bean narrowed his eyes, concentrating on the melody and where he thought we were headed. It was a simple song, only three chords, but it was hella fast.

I turned into the mic and cupped my hands around it, feeling the emotion of the song as I let it rip. Bean found his spot and jumped in, laying down notes right alongside Tate like they’d been doing it for years. I ran us through the entire song and even did an encore chorus, just like we’d done at the last concert. Bean didn’t miss a note.
I was fucking impressed.

Tate finished off the song with a wild solo and
I waved him out, breathless and exhilarated.

Tate grinned and poked a drumstick toward Bean. “Can we keep him?”

I laughed. “Well, Bean, what do you think?”

“You guys are fucking
rock stars!”

“No! Over there!” I raced across the lawn to intercept the guys who’d just shown up to deliver my flagstone for the paths and fire pit. They jerked their heads up and I saw surprise that a chick was here calling the shots.

“You the lady of the house?”

I grinned and planted my hands on my hips. “And resident landscape architect.”

They didn
’t seem near as impressed with that part, probably because they only wanted to get paid and the lady of the house was probably always in charge of that. Whatever. I didn’t care as long as they put my stuff where it was supposed to go.

“Don’t put it on this new sod. I need it on the far side of the driveway.”

The front guy shrugged. “Whatever, just show us where.”

I brushed my hands and walked across the road, making them drive the forklift off my brand new grass and back into the driveway. I was a long way off from getting that put together, but figured there was no point in wasting time on it until I got all my deliveries in and out.

He still had six more crates to unload so I told him where I wanted it and then went back to directing the couple of hands I’d brought in to help me plant. Getting the plat map had been way easier than I’d figured, and after I’d staked them all out I’d been delighted to figure out that I had nearly a half acre of backyard to play with. Coupled with the front acre, this place was a landscape architect’s dream come true. I couldn’t believe Jesse had found such an amazing place, and I loved it.

I check
ed my watch. Kerri was supposed to be here in thirty minutes and I was so excited to see what she’d bring. I put her on task for the inside and she’d been over the moon about figuring out how to put it all together. The first thing she did was to nix all the beige and tan that Jesse and I had actually agreed on, but I didn’t really care about the interior. She could paint it all purple for all I cared. Okay, that might be too much, but it was about that much of a priority for me.

I want
ed to get these guys out before she got here so I could at least watch her work her magic and find out how things were going with Axel. He was finishing his degree this month and I was a little worried that he was going to get a job that would take her away from me. I was sure they’d talked about that, so I wanted to find out what the plan was.

I turn
ed around just in time to see someone tip over one of my big trees with the backhoe and I raced back across the lawn waving my hands. God, this was a lot of work, but it kept my brain busy all day and then I’d easily fall into bed utterly exhausted. Jesse and I hadn’t done the phone sex thing again, but we’d had some pretty x-rated sexting which had been fun and I wasn’t ashamed to say that I did some taking care of business after. He’d get me so freaking hot that I couldn’t even function with the raging hormones that he lit in me.

I hope
d we’d always be this sex crazed. I mean, it did make it tough to get some work done, but the sex was oh, so worth it. And it made me feel safe, too. Like if he was getting it from me, there wasn’t any reason for him to succumb like Scout seemed to.

I hoped that situation was getting better. He’d said that they’d worked some things out, but we hadn’t had a chance to talk
about them—between all the sexting. And honestly, I didn’t want to waste even one of the minutes that I got him each day by talking about stupid Scout. I didn’t care that he hated me. It wasn’t like I ever had to see him anymore.

But I did feel bad that he was always making life hard for Jesse. Lord knows I
’d had my fair share of shitty co-workers and lame roommates, but I could get away from one or the other; Scout was the evil combination of both.

The guys g
ot their shit straight and I explain one more time where I wanted all the plants to go. Seriously, sometimes I really thought this would be easier to do myself, but there just weren’t enough hours in the day and I’d had to admit that to myself even though it hadn’t been easy. Still, I hated delegating even the most menial part of this. I loved every part of it so far, and watching it come together had been nearly magical.

Kerri’s horn beep
ed as she pulled into the drive and I gave the guys one last repetition of the instructions. “Got it?”

They nod
ded, but I was pretty sure they weren’t paying attention at all. Maybe if I could sneak away while Kerri was busy I could race back out here before they destroyed anything else.

Kerri pick
ed her way through the mounds of mulch and topsoil and gave me a big hug. “I’m so excited! Are you?”

I was, but not nearly as much as she was. I nod
ded and lea her toward the house. “When’s everything supposed to be here?”

She glance
d at her phone. “I was hoping it would beat me.”

We both scan
ned the length of driveway, but nothing lumbered up it. “I’m sure they just had trouble finding it. Everyone seems to.”

She nodded and twisted
her fingers. You’d think this was her house and furniture the way she was worrying. Which was what made me so glad that I picked her for this project. I grabbed her arm and tugged her toward the house. “I’m thinking I should take a shower before the couch gets here so I can sit on it, wanna come in and wait.”

She brighten
ed and turned away from the driveway. “Yeah. I’ll grab a few sketches from the car so I can show you.”

“You know I’m fine with whatever you pick, right?”

She nodded. “I want to show you anyway.”

“Okay. I’ll be in the master.”

She waved as she walked toward her car. I seriously thought it wasn’t possible for two girls to have less in common than we did, but I still loved her like a sister.

Speaking of which
, I tapped out a text to Miranda. She’d told me that she was going to be in town this weekend and wanted to swing by. I wasn’t sure if Jesse had told her anything about the house, but then, she would have known—or at least asked questions—while we were in the car wreck about why we’d been on the property. His parents still didn’t know about the house, or at least they hadn’t said anything or come by. Which was fine, they had plenty on their plate, but I wanted to see Miranda. Maybe we could schedule a big family dinner here once I had a dinner table.

I left my shoes by the door, but had to take my socks off too. I was a hot mess, and not the sexy kind. I left a trail of leaves and mulch and dirt the entire way to the bedroom, which was probably good for Kerri to see. She had some serious issues with dark colored carpet but I had a feeling anything lighter than dark brown was going to show every single bit of filth that I carried into the house.

I flipped on the shower and peeled my dirty clothes off. Man I was a mess. I was glad that we’d decided to leave the master bath like it was so I had a functioning bathroom. I could see us remodeling it sometime later, but for now it was great and handy to be able to take a real shower and wash all the grime off. Not that I cared much, but it sure did make it nice to not have to change the sheets nightly.

I quickly
lathered my hair and scrubbed the dirt off as best I could and Kerri came in while I was rinsing off.

“Still no sign of the truck.”

I tipped my head back under the deluge of water. “Do you need to call them? At what point do I worry that someone’s stolen my nightstand?”

“Very funny. This is a big deal. I wanted to be able to get it all set up for you tonight. I didn
’t want you to have to keep sleeping on an air mattress.”

I spit a mouthful of water across the enclosure. “Thanks,
sweetie. But I think we’ll be okay.”

She crossed her arms and sat heavily against the counter.
“Delivery guys suck.”

I laughed. “You can say that again.”

My phone vibrated on the counter and I turned off the shower. “See who that is, will you? I just texted Miranda.”

She chewed on her cuticle and
flipped through my phone. “From Jesse. Says he’s coming home tonight.” She looked up with a gleeful grin. “Yay! So I can get everything all set up for you guys to play house this weekend!”

I wiped my face off and ruffled the towel through my hair. “I wanted to have the yard done before he came home.”

Her thumbs hovered over the keyboard. “Do you want me to tell him not to come?”

I leapt out of the shower and lunged for her. “No! Jeez,
I’m just musing.”

She
grinned and swung her legs on the counter while I texted him. “I’m so excited. He says he gets to stay for three whole days.”

Kerri’s eyebr
ows rose. “Is that sarcasm?”

I sighed. “Sadly, no. The last couple trips have only been a few days.”

“Speaking of which . . .” She waited for me to put down the phone and I wrapped the towel around my torso and tucked it in before I combed my hair. “You given any more thought to his proposal?”

I slowed the comb’s trajectory through my hair. “I haven’t stopped thinking about it. Some days I feel like I don
’t think of anything else. I think that’s one issue with having no schoolwork, my brain is free to think about whatever and it seems to land on him and our future a lot.”

“Normal.” She twisted so she could see herself in the mirror and rifled through what little I had here for cosmetics.
“But what have you decided?”

I dropped my
towel and pulled on fresh clothes. I didn’t really have anything fancy for meeting him when he came home tonight, but he loved me as I was—cotton underwear and all. That made me smile and Kerri dipped her face so she could see mine. “Hello?”

I sigh
ed and leaned a hip against the counter. She pulled me in front of her and did my make-up. My eyes dropped closed and I let her light deft touch ease away my worries.

“Do you love him?”

“Obviously.”

“And you want to live with him.”

“Well, I want to landscape his house.” I laughed.

“Be serious,
Sasha, we’re trying to ferret out answers.”

I
sighed. “Okay. Yes. I think I do.”

“Do you think you could live without him?”

I wanted to quip that I did it every day, but I had a feeling that her patience was wearing a bit thin, especially now that she was working on my eyeliner. I didn’t need a sharp black poke to the eye if she didn’t like my answers.

And the truth was, I didn’t
think I could live without him, even with our messed up arrangement—that wasn’t messed up for us at all—I liked knowing he was a constant for me, wherever he was that night. “I want him in my life for always.”

“As a landscaping client?”
She ran a blush brush across my cheekbones a little harder than necessary.

“No. As my guy.”

“Husband-guy?”

That word fill
ed me with a sudden level of trepidation.

Kerri’s gentle hands cup
ped my cheeks and I opened my eyes. “Babe, if that’s not an instant, emphatic yes, you’re not ready.”

I sigh
ed. “I’m not quite there yet.”

She kisse
d my newly powdered forehead. “No one says that’s a bad thing. Wait until you’re ready, okay?”

“What if I never am?”

She shrugged. “Then you’re never ready. That’s okay too.”