One Night with Sole Regret 07 Tease Me (7 page)

Adam lifted an eyebrow at her. She wanted to engage him in therapy? Right here in front of the guys? Not happening.

“We’ll talk about this later,” he said.

She glanced at Jacob and Owen, who were watching them closely, and offered Adam an understanding smile.

“Have you ever met Adam’s old man?” Jacob asked, tossing the last of his crawdad shells into the discard pile and helping himself to a large one from Adam’s plate.

Madison shook her head.

“He’s not all bad,” he said.

“Just ninety-nine percent of him,” Owen added with a laugh.

“I don’t want her to meet him,” Adam said.

“Why not?” Jacob asked.

Adam shrugged, but he knew why. He didn’t want her to look at the train wreck that was his father and realize Adam hadn’t fallen far from the tree.

By the time they finished their meal and collected a to-go order that cleaned out the food shack’s entire inventory of crawdads, it was too late to relax in the hotel before the show. Adam and Madison followed Jacob and Owen back to the venue. As far as Adam was concerned, he could ride his bike for eternity and ignore all the weights that dragged him down, but he had to learn to cope with real life. Had to cope even if his first instinct was to use drugs to make his problems go away—Madison had showed him that drugs only made his problems worse, he’d just been too high to recognize the truth of that—and his second instinct was to run from them by avoiding them. He was still working on how to get over the tendency toward avoidance.

He left the bike behind the bus and helped Madison climb off.

“My luggage is at the hotel, isn’t it?”

“Did you need something out of it? I don’t have time to go with you, but we can send you over in a cab. Unless you want to take the bike out on your own.”

She appraised the motorcycle as if she were actually contemplating climbing back on, but ultimately she shook her head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. I’ll just change back into the clothes I wore on the plane. I’m sweltering in this leather.”

That was unfortunate, because she looked fantastic in her new outfit. But Adam wanted her to be comfortable, so he patted her butt and sent her up the bus steps with her sack of old clothes.

Owen headed toward the venue with the food. The guy loved doing nice things for people and really loved taking all the credit for his random acts. Jacob headed onto the bus with Adam behind him. Jacob pulled a beer from the fridge and twisted off the cap.

“So how did the song writing go this afternoon?” Jacob asked, drawing on his beer.

Adam’s stomach dropped, and he immediately bristled. “Fine,” he said. Which was an outright lie. He hadn’t written a thing all afternoon. Hell, he hadn’t written a thing since he’d gotten clean. He tried, but nothing gelled. He could sit there with his guitar in his hands for an hour and produce nothing but a scale. Stare at a blank sheet of paper for twice as long and write a single word.
The
. All of his lyrics started with “the” these days, and every song went nowhere from there. Maybe he should try starting with “a” or “when.”

“So you wrote something?” Jacob pressed.

“Yeah.”
No, no I didn’t write a damn thing.
Shit. Why did he always lie to cover his weaknesses? But if he could come up with some new lyrics quickly, Jacob would never know he hadn’t written them earlier that day.

“Is it good?”

“Of course it’s good.”

“I’d like to hear it,” Jacob said.

So would I
. “I’d rather surprise you,” Adam said.

“Is it in your notebook under your mattress?” Jacob straightened from the counter he was leaning against and headed toward Adam’s bunk. “Let’s see it.”

Adam charged between the man and his bunk. “You’ll see it when I’m ready for you to see it.”

“Just be straight with me, Adam. You’re not as good a liar as you think you are.”

Adam’s jaw hardened. He didn’t like to be called a liar, even when it was true. He knew he had to get out of the habit of trying to cover for himself, but it had become a pattern when he’d been trashed all the time, and he couldn’t seem to break it.

“I didn’t write much,” he amended. “Or anything,” he added, when Jacob continued to stare at him eagerly.

Jacob nodded. “I kind of figured that,” he said. “So what’s the problem?”

“I dunno.” Adam shook his head. He kind of did know. Maybe. “I think . . . I think maybe I’m too happy.”

Jacob gave him a strange look. “Huh?”

“The music always came from the darkest part of me. It was a balm to my miserable soul, and now that I’m not miserable . . .” Adam held his palms in front of himself, lifted his shoulders and shook his head.

“Do you want me to make you miserable? I’m probably up for the task.” Jacob chuckled.

“I don’t know. If it would help. I don’t want to let you down. Or the band. The fans. If I have to be miserable to make music, then do your worst.”

Jacob lifted a fist. Adam stiffened, preparing for the blow that was sure to rattle his teeth.

Jacob pounded Adam’s shoulder cordially. “It will come, just give it time. I still think you should talk to Kellen’s chick. She composes. She might have some pointers for you.”

Adam scowled at Jacob. “She composes classical music. Entirely different.”

“Not entirely different,” Jacob said. “It’s music. She has to have an ear for various instruments to come up with harmonies and crescendos and all that stuff.”

“But I start with lyrics. I always have. The words are a story I add music too. No story, no music. You know that.”

“Maybe it’s time for a change.”

Adam hated to admit that Jacob might be right, so he didn’t respond with anything more than a shrug.

“And maybe it’s time to let the rest of us write some music,” Jacob added. “You aren’t the only one in this band with talent, you know.” He winked.

If he lost his tenuous hold on being the primary songwriter for Sole Regret, Adam really would feel replaceable. The reason the guys put up with him through his struggles with addiction was because he was the main creative engine for the band. He had to show them all that their patience had been worth the trouble.

“I’ll work on some stuff this weekend,” he said.

Jacob opened his mouth but then shut it again. He nodded instead. “Can’t wait to see what you come up with.”

Adam kind of wished Jacob would give him a little grief. Give him something to be pissed about or depressed about. Adam drew on emotion for his work and if his life continued to be sunshiny and easy, he’d soon be writing songs about kittens and pixies with glitter shooting out of their asses.

Madison came out of the bathroom in her loose denim skirt and plaid shirt. She’d carefully folded her leather and had it cradled into her chest.

“That’s better,” she said. “I thought I was going to sweat myself into a coma.”

“Adding that to my list of things I don’t need to know,” Jacob said and tugged his sunglasses out of the neckband of his shirt. Before he left the bus, he said, “I still think you should talk to what’s her face.”

“Dawn?” Adam said. Her name was easy to remember because she had hair that reminded him of a sunrise.

Ugh. There he went with the happy thoughts again.

“Yeah, her.”

Once he and Madison were alone, she turned to him. “Dawn?”

“Some girl Kellen met and is currently mooning over.”

“Oh. Is she pretty?”

Was that a hint of jealousy in her tone? He smiled. Madison had nothing to worry about in that regard. She was the only woman he wanted.

“Yeah. So?”

“Why does Jacob think you should talk to her?”

“She’s a composer. He thinks she might be able to help me with my writer’s block.”

“You have writer’s block? You never told me that.”

He shrugged. “I didn’t think it would interest you.”

She set her clothes on the table and wrapped her arms around his neck. She stared up into his eyes and said, “Of course it interests me. Everything you do interests me. I love you. I’m here to support you whenever you need me.”

He stroked her hair from her upturned face and searched her eyes. He had never had anyone available for him in the capacity she offered. Her devotion delighted him and at the same time terrified him. She was too good for him. He didn’t deserve her. But his heart didn’t care. It gladly accepted all she gave him and was greedy for more.

When he kissed her, he didn’t mean for his passion to escalate, but as always, the heat between them burned intensely. She pressed more firmly against his body, and he instantly ignited, his kiss deepening, his hands sliding down her back to draw her closer.

He pulled his mouth from hers and turned her to face the opposite direction. His fingers dug into her hips to pull her succulent ass against his hardening cock. She groaned and rubbed up against him. He couldn’t lose himself now. He had a plan to tease her incessantly until the next night when they went to the sex club to play. Otherwise, he wasn’t sure if she’d be open to what he and club owner Tony had devised for Adam’s sweet little lover. But he wanted her to know he was hard for her. Wanted her to crave his cock inside her. Wanted her to beg him to fill her. Wanted to leave her wanting, even if he was left wanting too. Even if denying them meant the death of him.

He cupped one breast in his palm and tugged at its hardened peak through her clothes until she gasped. He bent his knees to rub himself against her ass and so he could draw his hand up her bare thigh beneath her loose skirt. His fingers sought the slick, warm flesh between her thighs, sliding beneath the elastic of her panties and finding her wet already. He smiled at her willingness and used his face to brush her hair aside so he could suckle on the pulse point beneath her ear as his fingers massaged her clit, then dipped into her pussy, and then teased her clit again.

She rubbed her ass against his stiff cock, making it difficult for him to remember that he couldn’t have her. Not yet. And when she began to whisper his name between her moans of pleasure, it took every shred of his willpower not to yank his cock out and fill the silken passage his fingers repeatedly explored. Her body shuddered as her pleasure intensified, and her pussy tightened around his fingers as she struggled to find release. He slid his hand from beneath her skirt and took her jaw between his thumb and ring finger. He touched his index and middle finger to her parted lips. They were slick with her juices.

“Lick them,” he growled in her ear. “Suck them clean.”

She didn’t hesitate to obey. His cock pulsed with excitement as she licked and sucked his fingertips.

“Good,” he murmured. “You keep doing as I ask and you’ll eventually get what you want.”

He gave her breast a squeeze and then stepped away. His stomach was in knots, his balls felt full and heavy, his cock ached with need. But the discomfort of waiting would be worth it later. He knew she wouldn’t disappoint him.

“What the hell, Adam?” she said as he headed for the exit.

“I’m going to go talk to Dawn now,” he said. “Before the show starts.”

“You’re just going to leave me all hot and bothered?”

He grinned. “Yep.”

“It isn’t nice to tease,” she said with a pout.

His grin widened. “I think you’ll be screaming a different tune tomorrow night.”

He winked at her and trotted down the bus steps in search of Kellen’s new flame.

He found her seated beside the band’s ever-shirtless rhythm guitarist on a sofa in the dressing room backstage. Kellen had a hand on her knee and was whispering something in her ear that made her grin.

Adam sat beside her on the sofa and ignored Kellen’s affronted stare. It wasn’t like Adam had come to steal her away. He just wanted to pick her brain for a few minutes.

“How did you get past your writer’s block?” Adam asked. He didn’t have time for small talk. He wanted to play with Madison some more before the show. He would have waited to talk to the slender composer—who he just noticed had a lot of adorable freckles—but knowing the staying power of his bandmates’ romantic flings, he doubted he’d have another chance to talk to the woman before Kellen scared her away.

Dawn’s face flushed bright red. “Um, well, I uh . . .”

Adam didn’t take her for a woman who had a difficult time expressing herself, so her stammering baffled him. Adam’s gaze shifted to Kellen, who was grinning so wide, his face was liable to split in half.

“She was inspired,” Kellen said.

Was Kellen bragging? Adam snorted at his friend’s obvious immodest pride.

“By your dick?” Adam guessed.

“Uh,” Dawn gasped. “No, his dick came later.”

Kellen laughed and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “Not that much later.”

“Stop,” she said, slapping Kellen’s thigh. “You make it sound so tawdry, and it was beautiful.”

She turned her head to look at Adam. “I was inspired by his passion.”

Adam peered around her to appraise Kellen closely. “Whelp,” he said, pushing off his thighs as he rose from the sofa. “That’s out.”