Hard Rock Unrehearsed (3 page)

Trace cleared his throat to speak only to be drowned out by Luis.

“Jay!  At last!  How was the trip?  Did Tag look after you like he was supposed to?”  Luis gushed as the little guy made his way over to him with the huge blonde bodyguard right behind him.  Icy blue eyes swept over the band, he measured them and found them wanting.  It was all there in his pretty boy face.

Before the little guy could answer RJ spoke up.  “Luis may we have a word please?”

On the other side of the room Diego Delgado burst out laughing and looked down as he tried to control the laughter.

Luis looked over at the band and grinned.  “Jay take off the hat please.”  He ordered softly as he watched the guys who watched the little guy next to him.

The little guy snarled viciously, flipped the hoodie back and lifted a hand to his ball cap, as he lifted it off he shook his head and long strawberry blonde hair fell out, drifting down around the face they had thought was that of a pretty boy.

Jay Gallado was a girl!  A very gorgeous girl, but still a girl.  A girl that was pissed off.

“Papa Luis explain, now!”  A sultry voice snapped out.

Holy shit, not a girl, a woman!   Trace snapped a look at his band mates before turning to watch what was happening between their manager and the woman.

Before she got an explanation she got a hug, a long hug which was interrupted by Diego Delgado who grabbed her, lifted her and kissed her on both cheeks then softly on her mouth!  Holy shit!

“Put me down you Neanderthal ass!”  She snapped with a playful grimace.

“Hello baby!”  He laughed at her angry face and handed her back to his dad.

“Jay let me introduce you to the band.”  Luis interrupted before Jade could punch Diego as it was obvious she wanted to.

Luis led her towards the four guys who stood watching with wide eyes.  He introduced them as she shook hands.

“This is Trace Hanover, Joe Givens, RJ de Nobrega and last but not least Jimmy Sanders.”  He grinned at the guys.  “And this gentlemen is Jay Gallado, the stand-in I think could help us get through the next six weeks with the least amount of fuss.”

RJ was the first to speak.  “We won’t know that until we’ve played together.”  He said with a very superior look in his eyes.  “We don’t have a resumé for you Jay.  Could you fill us in on the bands you’ve been playing with?”

Blue eyes filled with scorn slid over them as she started to list the A-list rock stars!  Jesus she had played with everyone!  Even Killing Fields!  Old and new!

“Can we cut this shit and play?  If we don’t work out I have other commitments I have to get back to.  I left them hanging to be here.”  Jay Gallado snarled at them.

Trace nodded at RJ and the band took up their positions.  Givens turning into a statue gave them the heads up.  Jay Gallado stood next to a chair and proceeded to remove her heavy biker boots, pulled the big long sleeved tee over her head, undid her pants and slid them off.  She stood there in a tight white racer back tank with a black bra that looked unlike any bra Trace had ever seen and tight knee length black shorts, then she pulled her long strawberry blonde hair up into a high pony tail.  Her body was toned and muscled, but not overly so, she had an ass to die for!  On her left arm she had an almost full sleeve tattoo consisting of flowers and twining ivy set in lace work and filigree.  Folding her clothes neatly she placed them on the chair then pulled a fine chain with something attached over her head, kissed whatever was attached and handed it to her bodyguard who put it in his pocket.  Slipping soft shoes onto her feet, she pulled sticks out of her bag and did some stretches before she walked to the drum kit.  The stretches made all of them heat up and pant like damn dogs.

“Has it been set up for me Papa Luis?”  That sultry voice asked as she tapped the cymbals with her head tipped to the side.

“Yeah baby girl, it’s ready for you.”  He murmured.

Good God!  A soft voiced Luis Delgado!  Who knew such a man existed!  What was this girl to him?  And why did she call him Papa?

“Give me a minute to loosen up please guys.”  She said as she sat down and proceeded to run through standard drumming exercises.  Okay she could play, but could she play their stuff?

Then she proceeded to blow them away.

Instead of playing the three songs they’d judged to be the most difficult in their repertoire they played six.  Every one of them Jay Gallado played with absolute confidence, giving them Richie’s drive and more.  She was the best they had ever played with and was an unknown to all of them!  How was it possible they had never heard of Jay Gallado?

As the last strains of the song faded away Trace turned and looked at RJ who nodded, so did Givens and Jimmy.  He turned to Jay Gallado who was watching him without any expression on her face.

“Would you like the job?”  Trace grinned as he asked because a huge grin had appeared where seconds before there had been no expression.

“Yeah, I do.”  She said in that sultry voice that stirred a man right up.

Givens grinned at her and said with a wink.  “There’s great chemistry between us sweetheart, looking forward to the next six weeks with you.”

Jay didn’t return his grin just shook her head as she looked around at the grinning guys.

“I have only one unbreakable rule gentlemen.”  She clipped out waving a stick in the air.  “There will be no fucking the drummer.  This is what I do for a living, I don’t mix work and play.”

RJ grinned at her as she glared at all of them.  “That’s okay, I’m happy with just being able to ogle the drummer’s ass.”

Jay burst out laughing.  “No you have it wrong my man.  The drummer is in the best position to ogle your asses while mine is planted in my chair.”

They all laughed and the tension was broken.  Jay Gallado was part of Storm Front for the next six weeks.

“I’ll just go and tell the others that Jay got the job.”  Luis said with a grin as he swiftly walked out of the room.

Luis smiled as Jade walked in behind the extra bodyguards he had arranged.  As usual she was in her favourite disguise.  Clothes many sizes too big for her, a black hoodie, a shirt that looked like it might be one of Tag’s, black wraparound sunglasses, a ball cap and biker boots.  She looked like a young boy dressed in his brothers’ clothes.  She even had the walk down, a slight swing in her step.

He cast a quick look at the band and saw their expressions, yeah they were totally taken in by the look.

“Jay!  At last!  How was the trip?  Did Tag look after you like he was supposed to?”

Jade grinned at him as she walked towards him, Tag following close behind and giving the band the evil eye.  Damn he had missed his daughter-in-law!  Since starting as manager to Storm Front he had hardly spent any time at home.

“Luis could we have a word?”  RJ asked.

Behind him he heard Diego’s smothered laughter and couldn’t disguise his own grin as Jay stopped next to him and gave a snarly look around her.

“Jay take off the hat please.”  He ordered softly and grinned at her snarl.

His girl snapped the hoodie back lifted the hat and shook her head and all her beautiful strawberry blonde hair cascaded around her face and down her back.  He grinned as he saw the wide eyes of the guys as he wrapped her in his arms, hugging her to him.  He hid his pleased smile when Diego pulled her out of his arms and lifted her into his.

It did his heart good to see the love in his son’s eyes as he rumbled in that deep voice of his.  “Hello baby.”  And kissed her cheeks, as was customary, and then softly on the mouth, which was not.  Jade pretended to be pissed off but he knew her, she wasn’t.

The introduction to the band went smoothly.  Jade’s playing was even better than the last time he had heard her play.  The band sounded like they had been playing together for years and not minutes.

He had six weeks to ensure Diego recognised the fact that Jade was ready to move on, and that he was the man she wanted.  Luis was happy and sad at the same time.  He missed Val but his son was gone and life went on regardless.  It was time.  Time for Diego to step up and let Jade know how he felt about her, how he had always felt about her.

Having her in his arms sped up his heart rate and made parts of him sit up and take notice.  He worked hard to calm his arousal down as he kissed her cheeks and then thought, what the hell, and kissed her mouth.  What a mouth!  Soft, giving and warm.

“Hello baby!”  He laughed in her confused blue eyes.

“Put me down you Neanderthal ass!”  She snarled at him but she didn’t mean it, her eyes said differently, they glowed with warmth.

He put her down and moved away but didn’t let her out of his sight.  She was a true Irish beauty with her creamy skin, strawberry blonde hair and blue eyes.  The freckles over her nose didn’t mar that beauty at all, to him it just made her more desirable.  Add to that the full mouth that made him sweat as he imagined it all over his body.  Fuck!

She didn’t feel like other women when you had them in your arms, she wasn’t soft and yielding.  Jade’s body was toned and he had felt the strength in her arms when she had hugged him.  She was nothing like the women he usually had sex with.  She wasn’t tall and she wasn’t overly curvy and she wasn’t easy.   He felt the breath leave his body when she started to take off the loose shit she was wearing and he saw her body properly for the first time in years.  There wasn’t a spare ounce of fat on her.  With his trained eye he could see the toned muscles in her legs and arms.  The racer back tank and pants were tight enough to show him that her abdomen was all muscle and that she had an ass to die for.  On her left arm there was an almost completed full sleeve tattoo of flowers and shit that he would have to give a closer look, it looked very intricate.  Even at a distance he could see that whoever was doing the work on her arm was an artist.  Her breasts were strapped down in some kind of a bra and he had no idea as to the size, he hadn’t seen her in anything but huge loose t-shirts and pants since Val died.  He remembered what she had looked like before but hell, it’s been seven years, and her body had obviously changed.   Jealousy surged through him as he watched the expressions of the other men in the room.  He was going to kill them!

Breathing deeply he fought his raging hard-on and the need to rip the other men to pieces.  For fuck’s sake!  She was his sister-in-law.  His dead brother’s wife.  Why the hell couldn’t his body remember that?

He relaxed slightly as they started to play and then his eyes widened as he listened to Jade play.  She was frighteningly good.  Way better than Richie and everyone thought he was the best!  Val had been right.  He had seen it when Jade was a nineteen year old just starting out in the business.  Diego grinned as the band continued to play after the three songs they had decided on.  Trace called out a song with a wide grin and Jade just nodded and counted them in.  Anyone could see that the job was hers, she was the best fit, matching them seamlessly.

Groaning softly as he realised that for the next six weeks he would have to see her every day.  It was going to be hell!

Adrenalin rushed through her veins as she played, as the five of them seamlessly fell in sync.  Without even having to think about it she was part of every beat, every note, and every scream.  She wanted this, wanted to play with this band more than anything.  As the last note faded away she schooled her expression and waited.  Her heart felt as if it wanted to jump out of her chest as Trace offered her the job.  Joy rushed through her as she grinned and Givens and RJ started teasing her.  She was part of the band for the next six weeks!  She couldn’t stop herself from giving a quick glance at where Diego was leaning against the wall.  A frowning Diego.  What was he pissed off about now?  But she wasn’t given the time to obsess about it as Trace immediately called a rehearsal.  He wanted her to run through their set list with them to familiarise her with the dynamic of the band.  She was soon lost in the mechanics of putting a show together.  Two hours flew past and it was only Luis insisting that they break for dinner that made her realise the time and that she was ravenously hungry.  She hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast!  No, actually she had two granola bars on the plane and an apple.  Definitely not enough to fuel the hard work she had done since walking into the room three hours ago!  Her tummy grumbled at her as she walked out from behind the drums.

Tag was suddenly beside her with a towel and a bottle of water.  She grinned up at him as she took the water cracked it open and drank deeply.  Tag dropped to his haunches and started running the towel over her legs, turning her to get at her ass and back.  Jade was so used to it that she stood there with her legs spread drinking water as he dried her off as if she was a baby.  She held her arms out for him, one after the other, then took the towel and ran it over her boobs, neck and face.  She only realised she was being watched when Jimmy cleared his throat loudly.   She looked at the watching men with a slight frown.

“What?”

Jimmy answered with a wicked grin.  “Can we take turns at towel duty?”

Jade laughed as she suddenly understood.  “Sorry guys, Tag’s been doing the job for far too long to take it away from him now.  Plus he’s big, he might just punch someone and we can’t have that.”

Tag growled at her with mock irritation.  “Yeah, your sweat’s a real turn on.  Not!”  Then he turned an evil smile on the band.  “Now if she could generate the sweat while I have her tied up and turning that perfect ass red, now that would be a real turn on.”