How to Catch a (Rock) Star (The Dead Hour #1) (18 page)

When they finally made it into the kitchen, Lillie headed straight for a stool, flexing her toes as much as she could in her beautiful shoes of pain.

‘Well, honey, don’t you look gorgeous? I just love your shoes,’ Sandra said, passing Lillie a glass of champagne.

‘Thanks but they are the most painful things I have ever worn. Seriously, how do girls walk around in these all day?’ she said, taking the glass from her.

‘Sex shoes, honey. Those are not meant for walking,’ Sandra said, winking at Lillie as her mouth dropped open in shock and she glanced at Jed’s dad, who was thoroughly engrossed in whatever he was reading.

‘Right. That’s what I said.’ Jed took a glass from the side, grinning.

The conversation moved away from sex and Lillie’s shoes and soon Sandra was instructing everyone to go through to the dining room, practically shoving Lillie and Jed through the door.

‘Oh my God!’ Lillie gasped, coming to a standstill in the doorway. She stared past all the candles and the huge centrepiece of white lilies, her eyes fixed to the far wall, beyond the beautifully laid table.

‘Mom! That’s amazing, when did you do this?’

Jed moved past Lillie to stand in front of a large collage of photos, a black and white photo of Lillie and Jed about to kiss taking pride of place. Sandra had manipulated the photos and some were sepia, others full colour and yet more in neon techni-colour. Lillie noticed some that she had never seen before and thought they must have come from various fan sites. She joined Jed and excitedly pointed out onstage shots of them in action.

‘Sandra, this is so fantastic,’ Lillie said, staring in awe at it.

‘Well, it’s for your house after the tour finishes,’ she replied, with a wink at Lillie and pointed look at Jed.

Lillie clapped her hands and gave her a hug, Jed wrapping his arms around both of them.

‘Come on, let’s eat before it all gets cold,’ Sandra said, moving out of the group hug.

They took their places, the scent of the lilies mingling with the delicious looking food. Sandra proposed a toast, welcoming Lillie to the family and wishing the band a good tour and even Martin said a few words. As they ate, Lillie couldn’t stop herself from looking up at the collage, seeing new photos every time.

They finished off their evening with whiskies in the front room, a strange atmosphere in the air. Lillie was excited to play New York City but sad to leave Sandra and Denise behind, both of whom had helped ease her home sickness. Still, she figured she would see them soon enough as they were planning to stay with Sandra and Martin over Christmas and the New Year.

Sandra interrupted her reverie.

‘Honey, I’m so glad you’re in Jed’s life. I haven’t seen him smile like that in a long time. And to have him pick up a paintbrush again! It’s really marvelous.’

‘Oh, well, I’m glad he’s in
my
life,’ Lillie replied. ‘He’s so encouraging and – ‘ she paused, looking over at Jed deep in conversation with Martin, ‘just wonderful. Really wonderful.’

Sandra smiled widely.

‘I know he feels just the same about you, Lil. I’m sure you’re absolutely The One this time.’ She put her hand to her mouth and stood up quickly, crossing over to the drinks cabinet. ‘ Anybody want a top-up?’

Lillie saw her glance at Jed and a look of relief passed over her face when she saw that he was still engrossed with his dad. What in the world had that been about? The One
this time
? Who else had been deemed The One and failed to maintain the title?

CHAPTER TWENTY SIX

Jed had promised to take Lillie up the Empire State Building. This would be the perfect time to tell her what he had been doing all morning, leaving her alone on her first morning in the city. He felt bad about lying to her all this time, but he was going to tell her everything this afternoon. He only hoped she understood why he had kept it secret.

He took in her dark green minidress and long biker boots and suggested postponing the sightseeing trip to stay in instead.

‘Jed, you promised me,’ Lillie said.

He widened his eyes at her, all fake innocence.

‘What? I was just thinking -’

‘I know what you were thinking,’ she laughed. ‘There’ll be plenty of time for that later. C’mon, we only have a few hours left now and you left me alone all morning.’ She pouted at him and guilt flashed through him before he sighed and dragged himself off the bed towards the now open door.

‘You know, it’ll still be here when the tour’s done,’ he said, pinning her body against the doorframe and kissing her hard.

‘Ahem.’

Jed frowned and pulled back from Lillie’s mouth.

‘Don’t you guys ever stop?’ Johnny said, grinning.

Jed felt Lillie stiffen and realised Johnny wasn’t alone. Jessica stood next to him, hostility radiating from her body. Fucking great, he thought.

‘Hope you don’t mind if we tag along,’ Johnny continued, his grin faltering as he took in everyone’s expressions. Jed glowered at him and was about to tell him to fuck off when Lillie spoke.

‘Of course not,’ she said, smile on her face.

Jed marvelled at her polite acceptance of their intruders and grabbed her hand, leading the way to the elevator, wondering why the hell Johnny was gate crashing their afternoon. Desperate as he was to ask him, he didn’t dare leave Lillie alone with Jessica.

He gripped Lillie’s hand, eyes fixed on nothing. Damn Johnny and Jessica. He had been waiting months for this opportunity. He knew Lillie was paranoid about his bizarre behaviour sometimes and he understood it to a certain extent. Knew that the curt phone calls and the painting over of his bedroom wall were just cause for any suspicions she might have.

A surge of anger rippled through him and he felt Lillie turn to look at him. He smiled at her, forcing the corners of his mouth up and relaxing his grip on her hand. She smiled back but her eyes were still pained, a hint of distrust in them. God, he wished he had just told her straight away. Now, he had made it such a big deal in his own head that he didn’t know how to tell her.

He couldn’t believe that she hadn’t found out on her own. He was constantly on edge, waiting for someone to accidentally say something. His rehab revelation had held her off for a while but he had known it wouldn’t last.

He would have to tell her tonight now. After the gig. He threw an angry look in Johnny’s direction but it went unnoticed. Johnny was apparently busy reading the tattoos on his left hand. He felt the hardness in his eyes bleed out as he moved to watch Lillie, staring at her shoes. He could feel the tension in her, mirroring his own.

Jed let his irate gaze hover on Jessica’s face for a tiny moment. He knew she would take any opportunity to tell Lil something that might ruin them. Jessica’s ridiculous infatuation with him would be trouble enough even if she didn’t accompany it with an obvious loathing of Lillie all wrapped up in tight, cleavage revealing clothing.

His eyes flickered from her face down to her chest, displayed today in a zip-up leather waistcoat. She was shameless, he thought as he grudgingly admired the swell of her breasts, forcing his eyes back to the lift wall, via Lillie to make sure she hadn’t seen him staring at Jessica’s chest. He hated himself for it but he was just a man, hardwired to appreciate a good rack.

He felt a brief disgust with himself as a memory of Jessica, topless and straddling him, flashed into his head. He closed his eyes and viciously blinked away the unwanted image. Those had been dark days and Jessica was a dark girl, manipulative and ruthless in the pursuit of her desires.

The lift finally opened and the four of them spilled out into the hotel lobby, each breathing in the relief of fresh air, a large open space and the distraction of other people. Jed headed straight for the doors, pulling Lillie behind him. Outside on the pavement, he breathed in the New York air, wishing he still smoked when he thought about the hideousness of the next few hours.

He turned to Lillie and swept her into a long kiss, feeling gratified as she pushed her fingers into his hair and pulled it, her tongue immediately twining around his and her body pressing against him. Someone wolf whistled and he let her go, catching Johnny’s eye as he straightened up. Johnny winked at him and Jed turned away, catching a glimpse of Jessica, stood next to Johnny, rigid with anger and jealousy.

God, it was going to be a long fucking afternoon, he thought.

CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN

The door closed and Lillie sighed in relief, sharing a silent, pained look with Jed. Whatever had been bothering him earlier was thankfully out of his head now. She wondered if the awful afternoon had overridden the reason for his tension.

In the end, he seemed to be the only one enjoying the sightseeing, his mood lightening as Jessica and Johnny had grown more and more silent and sullen. As Johnny’s grins became smaller, Jed’s grew wider. Lillie didn’t know whether Johnny’s mood was a result of Jessica’s eyes being constantly on Jed or if it was a product of Jed being even more tactile and affectionate with Lillie than usual.

She didn’t even know if Johnny and Jessica had a thing going. She assumed that they did and, she had to admit, Jessica was very pretty and had great boobs. Boobs that she had noticed Jed noticing which filled her entire body with jealousy. She had had to remind herself several times that Jessica wasn’t the one that Jed couldn’t keep his hands or lips off all afternoon.

Half way through the afternoon, she had excused herself to call Kate and when she had returned, they were all stood studiously ignoring each other. It had been, hands down, the most awkward few hours of her life.

Jed lay on the bed now, beckoning her over with a lustful glint in his eyes and he pulled her to him and kissed all memory of the tense afternoon away, before suddenly breaking away and jumping off the bed. Pulling a small bottle of Jack Daniels out of his bag, he took a long swig.

‘Man, that was a goddamn awful way to spend an afternoon, huh?’ he said, taking another long drink. ‘That is not what I had in mind, Lil. Those two need to cheer the fuck up.’

Lillie got up and took the bottle from him, taking a big swig from it herself.

‘I thought you seemed to have quite a good time,’ she said, watching him carefully.

‘Well, there’s no harm in letting people know what’s what,’ he said, moving in for a kiss whilst he manoeuvred her so that she was against the desk. She leaned away from his mouth reluctantly,

‘What does that mean?’ she said but he didn’t reply, kissing her neck instead, his hand moving down in between her legs. She didn’t let herself be distracted.

‘Jed, what do you mean?’ she asked again.

He raised his head to stare at her, eyes clouded with lust. He lifted her onto the desk, pulling her forwards and standing between her legs.

‘Lil, let’s not talk about this now,’ he said, fingers inside her underwear now.

She opened her mouth to argue but he moved in quickly to cover it with his own and she forgot what it was that she wanted to know as his fingers worked their magic.

Half an hour later, she had definitely forgotten whatever it was she had been so eager to find out. She couldn’t even remember what they had been talking about and she didn’t care; it couldn’t have been that important she thought as she lifted her head, stretching herself up to kiss him. His lips tasted like salty vanilla and Jack Daniels and he turned into the kiss, wrapping his arms around her, their chests touching.

‘We need to get showered and dressed,’ he whispered and she nodded sleepily.

‘I know. Just one more minute here,’ she said, kissing him lazily, her hands sliding up his back. He kissed her back until she pulled away, snuggling into him as he held her tight for a long moment before letting her go, an ache in her body as cool air replaced the heat of his skin. He dropped a kiss on her shoulder before going into the shower.

***

Lillie was asleep on the bed when he emerged from the bathroom, towel around his waist. He stood watching her for a while, a look of utter contentment on her face. The perfect curves of her body, the dark waves of hair, mouth parted slightly in her sleep. He debated whether to leave her a bit longer or wake her up, deciding that she would probably be mad at him if he left her to sleep and cut down on her getting ready time. He leant over and shook her shoulder. She opened her eyes and blinked at him.

‘You’re wet,’ she said, sitting up, pert breasts dragging his attention away from her sleepy face.

‘Yeah,’ he said, ‘you should shower, Lil. It’s coming up for half past five and we have to leave here at six.’

Her eyes snapped into focus and she leapt off the bed. She was in the bathroom before he had time to draw breath and he smiled, congratulating himself on making the right choice as he pulled out black jeans and a dark grey t-shirt from his bag and got dressed, turning on the television.

Sitting on the bed, he distractedly watched music videos, whilst Lil got dressed in a short, fitted black dress with long sleeves and her biker boots again. He turned away, concentrating hard on the inane pop video playing, as she leant over the desk to apply her eye make-up, dress riding tantalisingly up her legs.

She was humming “Dead Famous” as she swept mascara onto her already long eyelashes. Jed turned off the TV, leaning back on his hands and singing along with her. She turned around when she’d finished her make-up and danced over to him, straddling him and wrapping her arms around his neck. She stared into his eyes for a long moment before kissing him deeply. His head swam with desire for her and he debated telling her everything right now. Why wait?

A knock at the door interrupted them and Lil slid off Jed’s lap to answer the door.

‘Let’s go! New York awaits us!’ Johnny exclaimed, bouncing into the room.

Jed watched as Johnny’s eyes travelled up and down Lil’s body and he whistled.

‘Looking hot, Lil,’ he said, before turning to Jed, who was still sat on the bed, waiting for his erection to subside.

‘Fucking New York City, man! Home town, dude!’

Jed laughed and raised his hand for a high five as Johnny walked over to him.

‘Oh shit, did I interrupt something?’ he said, turning to wink at Lil as he noticed the bulge in Jed’s jeans.

‘You two must be rubbed raw,’ Johnny continued. ‘Still, can’t say I blame you Jed.’

‘Yeah, well, we should get going,’ he said, checking the time on the hotel alarm clock and grabbing the Jack Daniels. He put it in his back pocket, found his jacket and keycard and motioned Johnny and Lil out of the room.

‘Where’s Jessica?’ he asked, cutting into the silence.

‘She’s gone to meet the others at Room 18, then I think they’re gonna come backstage for a bit before our set,’ Johnny said. ‘Sorry about this afternoon, I guess I didn’t really think about how weird it might be for everyone.’ He directed his apology at Lil, who shrugged.

‘It’s okay,’ she said, smiling at him. ‘I must admit, I find it a bit strange that she would put herself in that situation, when she’s never had any encouragement from Jed, but – what?’

Too late, Johnny straightened out the frown of confusion on his face. Lillie whirled around to look at Jed in horror.

‘You – oh my God, you slept with her. No wonder she thinks she has a chance.’

Jed shot Johnny a furious look before turning to Lil and denying that he had slept with Jessica.

‘When?’ Lillie demanded, her voice rising to drown out Jed’s protestations. Jed turned on Johnny when he tried to help him out.

‘Why don’t you just shut the fuck up, Johnny?’ he yelled at him. ‘Haven’t you done enough damage already today?’ He turned back to Lil, ignoring Johnny’s attempts at an apology.

‘Lil, it was a lifetime ago and I didn’t sleep with her.’

Lillie crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow and Jed sighed, putting his hands on her shoulders, his fingers kneading her tense muscles.

‘She kissed me and took her top off.’

Lillie shrugged his hands off her and pressed her lips together in a tight line. Shit, he had to fix this. He needed her to be in a good mood tonight.

‘I was very drunk and I’d been doing coke and I did kiss her back for a while but I never touched her. And then, I realised what I was doing and told her to leave. Which she did.’

‘Promise?’

‘I promise. I didn’t tell you ‘cos I didn’t want you to think there was anything there for me. I’m sorry, Lil.’ He pulled her into a hug, kissing her hair. ‘C’mon, let’s go. We’ll avoid her, it’s probably best to. She’s toxic.’

He gave Johnny a warning look before kissing Lillie and heading out to the roadside. He didn’t know what to think about Johnny today. Could he have hidden the truth better? Maybe.

He was definitely going to get her on her own and tell her everything after the gig.

He couldn’t risk Jessica telling her anything, especially when he wasn’t sure what Johnny’s agenda was.