Rockin' the Heart (Hot Wired) (11 page)

“
So hot together.”

“
Wish it was me in Fang’s arms.”

“
Can you imagine what fucking him is like?”

“
Dancing is like fucking, and he’s got moves. That’s how I can tell he’s good in bed.”

“
You can tell they’re in love.”

The last one sucker punched him.
If the fans could see his devotion so easily, then the members of the band already knew as well.

He fingered her spine, the tips
moving up each vertebra until he palmed her nape and swished his thumb along her skin.

“
I forget to think when you’re touching me,” she whispered as if reluctant to confess the admission.

A thrill surged through him. He affected her. That was good
.

“
Anyone else had of touched me like you did in public just now, I would’ve twisted his balls off.”

Heath chuckled
and ran his mouth along her brow. “Wanna get out of here?”

“
I’m not going to have sex with you.”

Sex with Sam?
Wet dream right there. It’d happen, just not until she trusted him with her heart. He could wait for her, fake-dating her would be half the fun, and falling wholly in love with her would be his reward.

“
I wasn’t offering my skills, brat.” The rosy tint hadn’t departed her cheeks and knowing he’d put the flush there was a huge boost to his ego. “We need to talk. Settle a few things, and I think everyone would be surprised if we stayed at this point.”

She glanced around and took in their spectators.
Her eyes widened with mortification. “You think they know?”

“
That I almost made you come?”

Her gaze dropped to his mouth
, and the longing in her regard almost broke his will. A man’s restraint went only so far.

“
No.” He kind of wished he didn’t know because now he couldn’t stop thinking about how she’d sound and look when she climaxed. “I’m the only one who can’t hide my arousal.”

She wet her lips.
“Sorry.”

“
I’m not.” He kissed her forehead and guided her off the dance floor. He unfastened the rope from its hook and clipped it back once they departed.

“
Tag the band with any photos y’all post,” she was telling a group of girls when he looped his arm over her shoulders.

“
How’d you get here, Sam?”

“
Taxi.”

“
Good. Let’s get out of here.”

T
ogether they posed the real possibility of driving straight into more scandal. They’d created a firestorm already. Everywhere she looked they created a buzz, from the television and tabloids, to the Internet. This was her worst nightmare come true. Publicity she didn’t want or need.

Unless the paparazzi showed up
, most folks didn’t recognize her. Tonight when she’d walked into the club, a low trill of whispers started and ramped into excited energy. Night. Mare.

All the unwanted attention because they
’d been caught on camera almost kissing. Geez-Louise the man was hot, but this was ridiculous.

Heath showing up
after things settled down and she was having fun, no doubt added fuel to the fire. Their kissing and dancing helped. Tab would be ecstatic with the press they were getting.

Sam hoped
this charade supplied the band with the promo they needed, but nothing would help if the newest album wasn’t well received. Sales had spiked on the single, and so far the reviews were good. Churning out good tunes and meeting the high-expectations of fans was a shit race on a good day. She’d not seen one glamorous thing about living this life.

I want out
.

Thanks to their fuck-up and Tab
’s brilliant plan, that wasn’t on her to-do list just yet. “How’d you find me?”

As Heath put the car in gear, he sent her a sidelong glance
. “Took you long enough to ask that question.”

Hadn
’t been at the top of her list of thoughts when he made himself known on the dance floor. After that spectacular kiss the other day in the game room, she’d been avoiding him. Seeing him tonight she’d wanted to run into his arms and claim another one. He’d done exactly what she wanted, and the embrace had been just as amazing.

Too bad she couldn
’t go back to ignoring him. Would be easier. But shit was about to get really complicated.

Pasting on a false smile, s
he waved at the media. Shocker someone had notified them of their presence. “Well? How did you?”

“
Tab tracked you through GPS.”

“
Ah…Tab.” She hooked her thumb beneath the seatbelt stretched over her belly and leaned her head back. Half convinced the other woman found comfort in irritating her, Sam had avoided her simply to ruffle Tab’s composure. “Where’s Tex?”

Tex had to be the biggest man she
’d ever met and the sweetest too. He also served as Heath’s bodyguard.

“
Free night since the tour starts tomorrow.”

As far as wise decisions went,
she’d say that one was a bad call, but who was she to point fingers? She rarely implemented sensible choices. An obsessed fan had tried to kill him a couple of years ago, so he rarely ventured out in public without Tex. Except the night they’d gotten into this trouble and this evening.

Seems without
Tex trouble ensues
.

She dug her cell out of her pocket and texted Hot Wired
’s publicist:
N the slammer. Namedropping wont get me out of this.

Teach that woman to interfere with me
!
Track my GPS like a stalker
. She’d show her.

Careful not to bump into anyone,
Heath eased away from the curb to the snapping of flashbulbs. The media was worse than vultures. Sam wouldn’t spit on them if they were on fire.

“
Who you texting?”

“
Tab.” She grinned. “Teaching her a lesson.”

Sam blew kisses a
t a male journalist who’d taken some racy photos of her with Omega Starr, back when they’d been a couple instead of just friends-with-benefits. Bastard. She’d sued him and cock-blocked further publications of the pictures, but the topless ones he’d posted were still out there. They’d gone viral, and she’d been thankful her parents weren’t alive to see her exposure.

“
What’cha thinking?” Leaving the photographers behind, he turned the wheel to the left at the stop sign. She’d always thought he had nice, long, and lean fingers. She’d seen him play the guitar on occasion, so she knew he could ply them too. She’d watched him stroke his dates with them, not in a sexual manner, but in an idle way that implied he just enjoyed touching people.

Clearing her throat, she turned her head to peer out the window.
“How much I despise the paparazzi.”

“
They’re not so bad once you figure out how to use them to your benefit.”

Sam snorted.
Not in an optimistic mindset, his outlook grated on her nerves. “You should know, when the tour is over I’m gone.”

That got his attention. She could feel his unease, the weight of his disapproval, and even though she could see his reflection in the window, she couldn
’t make out his blurry expression.

“
Where are you planning to go?” His voice sounded stilted, as if he would wait to weigh her response. She knew that tenor, had heard it more than once after her parents’ death, and she moved in with him and her brother. He would listen to all the facts before he gave his advice. Unlike Jase, he gathered evidence, processed information, and then proceeded to lay the law down.

“
I don’t know. I might go back to Alabama. I might travel abroad until I decide what direction I want to take my life.” Belly twisting at the very idea of traveling, she silently nixed that possibility. For the past seven years, she’d traveled the world with the band. She’d seen all the European countries more than once, gotten an eyeful in the Red Light District of Amsterdam. A revisit didn’t interest her.

“
Don’t we get a say in this decision?”

“
It’s recently come to my attention that I don’t require yours, Jase’s, or anyone else’s permission.” Why had it taken her so long to realize that simple fact? A week ago she’d been pining to get away, miserable because Jase wouldn’t grant permission.

“
Big girl panties aren’t always more comfortable to wear.”

Sam frowned.
Had writing lyrics fried his brain? “
Riight
. Taking the euphemisms to a whole new level there aren’t ya?”

“
You know I’m right. Grass isn’t always greener on the other side.”

“
Yeah.” She’d wanted to get out of the limelight for a couple of years, but felt she couldn’t leave without their permission. Without Jase’s for sure. He was her brother, her best friend, and they’d lost family. But he had to realize when she left he wasn’t losing her. “Won’t know until I try. And I think it’s long overdue for me to leave my two daddies behind.” She rolled her head on the seat to gauge his profile. “Imagine all the groupies y’all can screw without the pestering kiddo hanging on your leg.”

His
left grip on the steering wheel tightened until his knuckles whitened and his tattoos stood out. A right-handed jab trashed his hair, dislocating the shaggy locks. Funny how she knew him well enough to recognize the classic signs of agitation. So serious about a bit of teasing. What was up his ass?

“
Lighten up. It was a joke, Heath, but there’s some truth in it too.” God knew she wouldn’t miss walking in on Jase with a girl. She’d seen that spectacle one too many times. There wasn’t enough eye-bleach in the world to unsee some of the things she had. One might say he was a bad influence, but after watching him abuse sex and disrespect women, she’d been determined to set higher goals for herself. She wouldn’t deny being a rebel rouser, but she wasn’t a whore, even if people assumed the two went hand-in-hand.

He shot her a glance long enough she spied the furrows gouging his forehead. Uh oh, that was his serious as death look.

What have I done now
?

“
Let’s clear the air, Sam.” Using his
I mean business
tone along with
the look
… wasn’t she the lucky girl tonight?
This ought to be a treat
. “I’m not your goddamn brother or your fucking daddy.”

No idea what to say,
especially since his tone was filled with animosity, she gawked at him. Heath never elevated his voice, never got angry, and at the moment he almost vibrated with irritation. The only times she’d ever really seen him animated all revolved around Hot Wired or when those photos of her and Omega Starr were leaked to the Internet—she couldn’t forget his overreaction to Aaron Blue just the other night either. This was a new side to him. And she was intrigued. Somehow it made him hotter.

Geez she was sick and twisted in the head.

Bringing the car to a halt at the red light, he speared her with a weighty stare. “You’re sexy as hell, and I’d be a perv if I thought of you like a parent or sibling.”

“
You’ve been drinking, huh?”

“
No. What’s that got to do with what I said?”

“
Never hurts to be sure.” In all the years she’d known him, not once had he ever been this forthcoming about… well, anything except the band and the direction he saw for it. Yeah, she thought she knew him pretty well, but he still wasn’t an open book kind of guy.

“
We should give this a chance.”

Alarm coiled in her belly.
Certainly he wasn’t suggesting what she thought he was suggesting. “Light’s green.”

Heath threw the car in park, unhooked his
seatbelt, and turned in his seat to face her.

“
Heath.” She motioned to the road. “The light. You’re blocking traffic.”

“
I don’t give a fuck about the light.” He released
her
belt buckle. “And there’s no traffic.”

“
Hey! What are you doing?” She caught the strap as it slid across her chest. Then proceed to babble like she always did when struck with nerves. “Buckling up’s the law. Safety first, ya—”

She squealed as
Heath nabbed her by her arms and dragged her across the console. She crashed against him in a flailing mess of limbs. He did nothing to assist her, but leaned back against the door and cradled her weight and smashed breasts against his chest. Slamming her hands down on the window behind him, she gained a little purchase, but he held her in place. His fingertips pressing into her skin letting her know she’d be going nowhere until he was ready to release her.

What the fuck? They were in the middle of the street, stopped at a traffic light, and he wanted to play chesties when any
Tom-Dick-and-scurvy reporter could walk up unannounced.

Words peppered her tongue, but her sights landed on his mouth
, and she forgot about flaying his skin off one syllable at a time.

He licked his bottom lip and
executed a sultry grin. “That. That right there, the hitch to your breath, is why you should give this a chance, Sam.”

That hitch was caused by his stupid smile.
It did funny things to her.

“
What
this
are you talking about?” she asked, certain he’d expose the obvious way she stared at his lips.

“
Chemistry.” Okay. Not what she expected to hear. “We got it or we wouldn’t have been caught with my hand in the cookie jar.”

“
You lost me.”

“
You. You’re the cookie jar.”

Coolness spread across her skin.
The groupies he did were the
freakin cookie jar
! Quick, fast indulgence, without the calories—aka commitment! She was none of that. Allegiance was the only way a man got in her pants. Even Omega was in a committed relationship with her as one of her best friends. “Let me guess, your mouth or the almost kiss in the sex store is the hand in that poorly worded euphemism?”

Heath nodded
and brushed his thumb along the underside of her bottom lip. She liked the way he touched her way more than she should. Even so, she maintained some composure.

“
Wow. That’s lame. Really lame. I’m a hell’uva lot more than a cookie jar. Your groupies are the cookie jar. I’m the gold medallion a guy like you only dreams of getting.”