Rocking Kin (The Lucy & Harris Novella Series Book 3) (16 page)

Deciding I needed to at least try to ignore her, I pulled out my own cell. I wasn’t surprised when I saw I had a text from Jace.

Just friends
, I tried to remind myself.

Just. Friends.

But I couldn’t help the silly smile that lifted my lips as I pulled up the text.

Will be waiting for you before the show. Won’t have much time. Just want to see you before I go on stage.

I glanced at the clock at the top of my phone’s screen.
Should be there in 20.

I wasn’t surprised when he instantly sent a reply.
See you then, babe.

Shaking my head, I put the phone away and leaned my head back against the seat, trying not to think about the dull ache in my wrist. I was going to have a bruise and I didn’t bruise easily. My mother and Carter had never touched me with violence in any way, never once spanked me in my life. Never grabbed me in anger. I was unused to that kind of treatment, uncomfortable with it, and—yeah, I’ll admit it—my feelings were more than a little hurt.

But most of all, I was pissed. How dare that bitch touch me like that? How dare she grab me and leave welts on my skin? How dare she hurt me physically?

It wasn’t okay.

My mother and Carter’s voice were no longer floating around in my head telling me to respect my elders. If my mom had been alive she probably would have torn Jillian apart for doing what she had. If Carter was there he would have punched Scott for letting his wife touch me.

Thinking of the two people who were my true parents, the woman who had given birth to me and the man who had raised me as his own, tears burned my eyes and a lump filled my throat. I kept my eyes closed tightly to keep the stupid tears from falling and breathed in deep to attempt to get control of my emotions. I wasn’t normally a crier, but everything was starting to get to be too much.

All my emotions were swimming around, confusing me. I missed Carter and the twins. I missed my mom. I wanted to be back in Virginia with all four of them. I wanted to be getting a new snowsuit because we would be getting ready to go to Aspen for a week at Christmas. I wanted to argue with Angie about what we would buy Caleb for Christmas because he was so damn hard to buy for. I wanted to make another one of those stupid pipe-cleaner ornaments to add to the hundreds that Abagail put on our Christmas tree every year.

I wanted to not be confused about Jace St. Charles. I wanted…so many things I knew I would never get.

The feel of the Range Rover coming to a stop had me sucking in a steady breath and opening my eyes. Georgia was shooting me an odd look, but then her gaze went beyond me to the flashing cameras and her face split into a smile that was so toothy I wondered how she kept them in her mouth. Where the hell were her gums?

Moving slower than normal, Marcus got out and handed the keys over to the valet. He opened my door and helped me out, being careful with my sore wrist. Once I was on my feet he put his hand at the small of my back, guiding me toward the sidewalk.

Georgia practically jumped out of the back of the SUV, and I couldn’t help but watch in fascination as she moved like she had been born to wear the stripper heels. She didn’t wobble, didn’t stumble and walked effortlessly over to me to wrap her arms around me in a ‘loving’ hug.

“McKinley, who are you with tonight?” I heard one of the usual paps say, who was always camped outside First Bass every night.

I gritted my teeth for ten full seconds before pasting on a smile and actually answering the woman for the first time. Ever. “This is my stepsister, Georgia.” That was all I said, though, as I paused for a few seconds so Jillian would be happy with the amount of pictures the cameras all took before pulling away and walking away from Georgia like I didn’t even know her.

Marcus was right beside me as we reached the front door and he opened it for me. I glanced back to see if Georgia was coming but she was still standing on the sidewalk posing for the cameras and answering the questions they were all throwing at her. Well, Jillian would be happy. Her daughter would definitely end up on TMZ. Probably being laughed at for what she had worn and how ready she was to offer up any information about herself, but on there nonetheless.

Marcus followed my gaze and grumbled something under his breath. He was anything but his usual stoic self tonight. “Wait for me here,” he commanded in a quiet tone before going back and taking hold of Georgia’s shoulders, guiding her toward the club’s entrance. “Stop acting up, or I’m taking you home,” he was growling at the girl as he reached me. “I’m not here to babysit. My job is to keep those I’m told to safe. Oddly enough, your name isn’t on that list.”

“Oh, yeah? And McKinley’s name is?” Georgia tried to smart off.

“No. McKinley’s name isn’t,” Marcus assured her. “But Kin’s name is. So behave or I promise you, you’ll be home way before bedtime, little girl.”

She actually pouted up at him, probably thinking that would get her somewhere with the menacing bodyguard. All my tears from earlier evaporated completely as I turned around, not even trying to hide my laugh.

As I walked deeper into the club, Tiny stepped out of the VIP entrance. “Miss Montez. So nice to see you again.”

His voice was scary as hell, but I loved it. This guy, like Marcus, made me feel safe and right then I needed that feeling more than anything. Tiny held out his hand, offering to take my coat. “May I?”

I reluctantly shrugged the coat off and then cradled my sore wrist against my stomach so no one could see the red welts or bruises. “Thanks, Tiny.”

His gaze was on my hand, but he didn’t comment on it. “Mr. St. Charles said he would be waiting for you at the bar.”

Thinking of Jace waiting on me perked me up a little more and I couldn’t help the new smile that tilted my lips. “Thanks. Let Lucy know I’ll be up front when the show starts, will you?”

“Of course, Miss Montez.”

Wanting away from Georgia, I practically skipped into the downstairs part of First Bass and moved through the thick crowd to get to the bar. I wanted to talk to Jace. I needed a friend right then to unload on, needed someone to wrap their arms around me and tell me it was all going to be okay.

Marcus stuck close even with how fast I was moving and I heard Georgia complaining so I knew she was following me too.

“I thought we would be up in the VIP?” she whined as I neared the bar.

I ignored her as I glanced around for Jace. My eyes caught sight of him almost instantly. He was standing at the end with a beer in one hand and a glass of what looked like ginger ale in the other. He was leaning back against the wall, his eyes skimming over the crowd looking for someone.

Looking for me.

My heart skipped a beat and I paused long enough to make sure my hands weren’t trembling before I headed toward him. I knew the instant he spotted me. Even from the distance that still separated us I could tell his eyes had darkened to cobalt and a half grin lifted his lips. He nodded his head, beckoning me to hurry up since his hands were full.

Pushing through one last group, I reached him and he moved away from the wall to lower his head and kiss my cheek. I wasn’t expecting that, and my heart did a funny little twist in my chest that was both painful and exciting. Jace lingered for a moment longer, his nose sliding to my ear to inhale the scent of my hair.

“I don’t like your new shampoo,” he told me with a slight frown as he handed over the glass of ginger ale. “Your hair looks beautiful as always, babe, but it doesn’t smell like you.”

“It’s just the products Jillian left in my bathroom,” I told him as I took a sip of my drink. “It makes my hair feel really soft though.”

With his free hand he grasped a few strands and rubbed them between his thumb and forefinger. “Yeah, it’s silky. I like that, but I miss the smell.”

I didn’t know what to say to that so I took another drink of the cold ginger ale.

“Jace!” We both turned to find Kale and Cash waiting at the stairs that led to the stage. “Come on,” Kale called and waved one of his drumsticks at me. “Hey, Kin.”

“Hey, Kin!” Cash called before he stepped on stage.

Cursing, Jace swallowed the rest of his beer in one gulp, then leaned down to brush his lips over my cheek again. “Wait for me after the show? I really want to talk, babe. Really talk. About us.”

I nearly dropped my glass. About us? No. No. No. I couldn’t talk to him about us. There
was
no us other than friendship. He’d said. He’d agreed, damn it. “Okay,” I found myself whispering, however. “I’ll wait.”

He brushed one more kiss over my cheek, skimmed his hand down my arm, which instantly produced gooseflesh, and then ran up on stage. Ah, damn. I wasn’t going to give in. I couldn’t give in. I had too much on my plate. Too much swirling around in my head making me lose my sanity a little more with each passing day.

I needed a friend. Not a boyfriend who had a history of breaking my heart.

There wasn’t much left of my heart to break this time around, but I wasn’t about to risk it again.

A soft, warm hand touched my arm and I was so surprised I nearly spilled my drink all over myself. Lifting my head, I found Lucy standing just a few inches away. Marcus was now her shadow, I realized, while Georgia looked like a little girl who was about to start chasing any hot guy who looked rich enough. It kind of reminded me of a little girl chasing butterflies in a field, only the little girl was dressed like a hooker and chasing possible celebrities instead of pretty butterflies.

Lucy’s brows were lifted as she took in my glowering expression. “Well, I see you couldn’t ditch step-bitch number one. How the hell did that happen?”

I shrugged and hid my still aching arm behind my back so she wouldn’t question the marks on my wrist. “It was a do or die kind of threat, Lu. Do it, or spend an indefinite amount of time trapped in Scott’s house—which is a punishment worse than death if you ask me.”

“Right,” Lucy said with a nod. On stage the band was doing a last sound check and Lucy turned to watch them. “Let’s go. I promised Harris we would be up front.”

I didn’t argue as I put my drink on the bar top and followed after her. Unfortunately, Georgia was hot on our heels as we reached the front of the crowd. With Marcus clearing the way we didn’t have any problems getting up close, but I wished he would have at least lost Georgia somewhere in the middle.

She bumped her shoulder into mine to force me to look at her. “Who’s the hot blond guy? I saw you talking to him.”

I didn’t dare look up on stage to see what Jace was doing. If Georgia saw the way that I couldn’t help but look at him she would know just what Jace meant to me and I wasn’t about to give her that kind of ammunition. “He’s a friend,” I finally told her. “His name’s Jace and we’re friends.”

Chapter 13

Jace

It took me for fucking ever to get my head on the job at hand rather than the smell of Kin’s hair. It hadn’t been a bad scent—in fact it had been delicious, but it wasn’t the one that told me exactly whose hair I was smelling. Her hair’s usual scent always had my body instantly going rock hard because it recognized the scent as simply Kin, just as my nerve endings always recognized her touch being her, without me having to open my eyes to confirm it.

While I helped Kale and Cash do the sound check, I couldn’t help but glance Kin’s way. The first time I’d looked for her she’d still been by the bar talking to Lucy, but now they were front and center. Harris wasn’t with them, but I wasn’t worried because Marcus was standing right there with them, keeping at least a foot between the two girls and the rest of the fans.

I knew how I wanted to start the show tonight. It was going to be a little different, but we hadn’t done a cover song in a few weeks. One of the things I loved so much about Kin was that music and, more specifically, the lyrics to the songs always spoke to her. It was the easiest way to communicate with her.

It had been how I’d first told her I loved her.

So while Cash finished doing what he had to do, I told Kale what was going to happen, and then once Grayson and Sin took the stage I told them too. When I told Cash, he lifted a brow at me, but he was grinning as he nodded his understanding.

Suddenly I felt nervous as hell, something that I hadn’t felt before a show since my very first one at the age of seventeen. Wiping my damp palms on my jeans, I turned to the crowd and took the microphone. The roar of the crowd instantly quietened when I lifted a hand and grinned at everyone.

“Fuck, guys, it’s good to see you all here tonight,” I greeted them. Most of them were our new fan following, but there were always newcomers who had been lucky enough to get in. Thursday nights were great for First Bass’s bank account, but Harris had to be extra careful not to overfill the place or be faced with fines from the fire marshal if he showed up. “Are you ready to rock with us tonight?”

The crowd went wild, but even over the roar I could still hear the “Hell, yeah,” that came from the front row.

I glanced down at Kin and Lucy, both of them grinning and throwing up horns for us. I caught Kin’s gaze and gave her a wicked wink. Her grin turned a little sultry and I knew she was biting into the inside of her bottom lip. Damn, I wanted to kiss her so fucking back.

Shaking the need to taste her lips away, I forced my gaze to the crowd behind her. “We’re gonna start tonight off a little slower. This song is a favorite of someone special and I thought we would spoil her a little tonight.”

Behind me the band started the first chords to the song and I had to wipe my free hand on my jeans again because it was soaked in sweat, but right on cue I sang the first line.

From the first chord that Gray had hit with his guitar, I’d seen the way Kin had reacted. She knew without the words I was singing—singing just for her—that it was “Iris” by the Goo Goo Dolls. It was one of her favorite songs, not just from the band, but of all time. She told me one night when we’d been parked on some back road in my car, fogging up the windows as she kissed me until I was mad with need for her. The song had come on the satellite radio and she’d paused with her hands on my bare chest and started to sing along as she’d let me make love to her.