Steady Beat (8 page)

The internal walls of what had once been a residential building had been removed, the ceiling now supported by thick steel poles. Pepper noticed the acoustics of the cavernous space straight away. Her footfalls sounded on the polished wooden floor like sharp raps, reverberating around the space to fill the room, distinct and un-muffled.

She forced her attention to stay on the sound, imagining her voice rising in the silence the same way. If she didn’t, her brain would tell her in no uncertain terms how heavy and judging the stares were of the three men watching her walk toward them. If she listened to her brain, she’d spin on her heel and run.

Or worse still, fall flat on her face.

You can do this. You can do this. No pressure, no diamonds, Pepper. No pressure, no diamonds.

A slight squeeze of her hand lifted her stare to Noah’s face. He smiled at her, the action slow and wonderful and warm. “You’ll be fine,” he whispered.

She nodded, her stomach rolling. Oh God, what if she threw up?

No pressure, no diamonds. No pressure, no diamonds.

A few feet from where the rest of the band stood, Noah gave her hand another squeeze. “Guys, this is—”

“Pepper Kerrigan,” Samuel finished, his glare fixed on Pepper.

“How the hell do you know that?” Noah asked, shooting Pepper a quick glance. “And what’s got you so pissed?”

Samuel’s glare racked over Pepper. She sucked in a sharp breath, her belly not just rolling, but churning and twisting and lurching. But she refused to break his stare. She couldn’t. This was her chance. Samuel Gibson was renowned for being a brooding, arrogant rocker. She wasn’t going to let him intimidate her. If she could survive his glower, who knew, maybe she actually stood a chance.

“I just got a text from Vonnie,” Samuel said, his smooth voice flat. Angry.

“So?” Noah frowned. Pepper wondered if he realized he was pulling her closer to his side. “What did your agent say that’s got you so worked up? And you still haven’t told me how you know Pepper’s last name when I only just found out.”

Samuel’s top lip curled. “She sent me some a couple of links to some very interesting sites.”

Noah flicked Pepper another sideways glance. She could see the confusion in his eyes. His fingertips bounced against the back of her hand in a rapid beat. “What sites? What the fuck is going on? Jax? Levi? Care to fill me in seeing as Strings is being a right bloody wanker?”

Samuel stepped forward, closer to Pepper and Noah. “Did you know the woman beside you is Paul Kerrigan’s daughter?”

Pepper’s throat grew dry. Thick. Clammy tension wrapped around her. She stared at Samuel, refusing to look away.

No pressure. No diamonds.

Noah frowned at the guitarist. “Who the hell is Paul Kerrigan?”

Samuel’s glare roamed over her, from head to toe and back to her face again. “The notorious writer for
Rolling Stone
magazine. The one who wrote the brutal exposé on us nine years ago.”

“The one that declared we were all egomaniac perverts who participated in gangbangs?” Noah asked, his grip on her hand growing loose. “The one who suggested Nick and Jax were lovers?”

Samuel nodded. “That one.”

Noah barked out a laugh. “So? Nine years ago we
were
egomaniac perverts who participated in gangbangs. Hell, it’s where I met Heather for fuck’s sake. And as for the rest of the article, fifty percent of it was accurate. We were all tossers back then, Strings. Full of shit and come. Thought we could do whatever the fuck we wanted. And worse articles were written about us. What’s your beef with Pepper? What’s got Vonnie so miffed she’s sending you texts on a Sunday?”

Samuel stepped forward and held out his phone to Noah.

“You’re being a dick, Strings,” Jax said from where he stood, his elbow crooked over a microphone stand.

At the sight of it, Pepper’s heart slammed faster into her constricting throat. Microphone.

Sing.

Angry band member.

Notorious father.

Her mouth turned dry. Her blood roared in her ears.

No pressure, Pepper. No pressure, no—

“Man, I’m looking old!”

Noah’s exclamation—uttered with the same laughing tone she’d come to expect from him—made her blink. She tore her gaze from the glaring Samuel to look at the phone in Noah’s hand.

The blood in her face ran cold. And then hot. She blushed.

On the screen was an image of Noah and Pepper outside Rupert’s Bar, their hands joined, their bodies close. Very close. If it weren’t for the expression of stunned horror on Pepper’s face, anyone looking at it could be fooled into thinking it was a casual snapshot of two lovers going for a walk.

“So it’s a pap shot of Pepper and I.” Noah shrugged, his gaze finding Pepper’s face for a heartbeat before sliding to Samuel. “Big deal. I look old and Pepper looks a little surprised, but who cares?” He dropped his attention to the phone. “Oh look, it says in the sidebar Britney and Beiber are getting it—”

“Jesus, Holden!” Samuel snatched his phone from Noah’s hand. “Can’t you ever focus for more than a second?”

At the mic, Jax laughed.

“Take a chill pill will you, Sam,” Levi muttered, shaking his head. “You’re just making excuses. Ignore him, Pepper. He’s being a—”

“Fuck wit,” Noah growled. “Trying to scare Pepper for no fucking reason.”

Pepper pulled away from him a little. It was the first time since she’d approached him she’d heard him anything apart from relaxed and happy. The steel in his voice however, the edge to his anger, sent a shudder through her. Had she thought him sexy before? Damn, how could she fight her attraction for him when he sounded so hot protecting her?

“I’m not trying to scare her,” Samuel snarled, staring Noah down. “I’m thinking of you, fuck knuckle. What a way to let the world know you and Heather are over? With a pap shot? Should I also point out the next shot on the site is of you leaving the bar with four different women?”

Pepper’s blood ran to ice. She looked up at Noah, pain cutting her chest.

He shook his head. “I didn’t sleep with them. Didn’t want to, but thanks for bringing it up now, jerk.”

Samuel snarled. “You think this one—” he jabbed a finger at Pepper, “—cares who you sleep with? She’s only attached herself to you to—”

“
Enough
,” Noah growled. His grip on Pepper’s hand had grown tight. Almost painful.

Pepper’s heart hammered. He’d left with four women? After she’d fled from the paparazzi, he’d left with four women?

“And doesn’t it worry you,” Samuel continued, “that you were tricked into a trivia contest with someone who knows all the answers? Someone whose father wrote some very unflattering stuff about us?”

Noah snorted. “Your dad’s a surgeon, Strings. You telling me you can perform open-heart surgery now? And if I recall correctly, you bloody well
slept
with the journalist from
Billboard
who wrote that article on you calling you an insecure wannabe with a god complex who was jealous of Nick, so don’t go giving me any shit about who I hold hands with or whose father did what. I didn’t sleep with the women, but I promised Pepper she could sing for us and she’s going to fucking well sing for us. Get it? Be a wanker all you like, but nothing is stopping me from letting her sing. She beat me fair and square at trivia. She hasn’t fucked me just so she can audition
and
she’s still standing here, despite your carrying on. So back off.”

Pepper swallowed, staring up at Noah’s angry face.

“Wow.” She didn’t realize she’d uttered the word aloud until Jax burst out laughing.

“Wow is right,” the keyboard player called, his grin wide. “We don’t get to see Hulk Holden often, but when he comes out…look out.” Walking toward Noah and Pepper, Jax thumped Samuel in the shoulder with a fist. “Lighten up, Strings,” he said with a chuckle. “You’ll live longer.”

Stopping directly in front of Pepper, he thrust out his hand. “Jaxon Campbell. What are you going to sing for us?”

Pepper opened her mouth, but before she could answer the unexpected question, Levi Levistan appeared beside Jax, his smile wide. “Heya, Pepper. Your dad knew how to pen a brutal story. But it’s still one of the best about us. The article he wrote on Noah a few years later declaring him the world’s best drummer was a piece of art.” He took her hand when Jax dropped it. “And ignore Strings. He’s pissed because Jax let it slip he couldn’t get it up more than twice last night.”

“Funny bastard,” Samuel grumbled.

Noah didn’t move. Pepper could feel the tension in his body. It radiated through him down into his grip on her hand. That he hadn’t let her hand go was a surprise to her. She couldn’t help but feel…glad for it, despite the revelation of the four women.

“Are you going to be a prick about this, Gibson?” he asked, his stare on Samuel.

Samuel flicked a glance over Pepper and then let out a ragged breath. “No. I just don’t want to see you getting fucked over by another groupie. That’s all.”

“I’m not a groupie.”

Everyone stared at Pepper.

Heat prickled over her scalp and down the back of her neck. She shifted on her feet and kept her focus on Samuel. “And my father was an amazing writer who thought you guys were one of the best bands around,” she continued. “All I want to do is sing one song for you. Just one. If I stink, I’ll walk away and none of you will hear from me again.”

“Hey.” Noah gave her hand a tug, swinging to look at her. “That’s not—”

“One song,” she interrupted, her heart so fast she could barely draw breath. “Just let me sing one song.”

Samuel’s eyes narrowed. He turned to Noah, then to Jax and Levi.

“Let her sing, dickwad,” Levi said. “For no other reason than Drummer Boy’s been holding her hand since they walked in. When the hell have you ever seen Noah hold
anyone’s
hand for that length of time? Like, ever?”

The disclosure made Pepper’s pulse pound quickly in her neck. He didn’t hold hands? And yet he’d hardly let hers go? What did that mean?

Samuel let out another ragged breath. He dragged a hand through his hair. “Okay okay. I’m sorry for being a wanker.” He pointed a finger at her. “But you better not be wasting our time. Handholding or not, I’m beating the shit out of Holden for getting me out of bed so early for nothing if you stink.”

Jax laughed and Levi shook his head.

Beside Pepper, Noah snorted. “Since when can a guitarist beat up a drummer?”

Pepper couldn’t stop her smile. Especially when Noah’s firm grip on her hand loosened just enough for him to thread his fingers through hers, turning the hold into something far more personal.

With a nod at them all, he walked her over to the microphone. “It’s not switched on,” he said to her, grabbing the pole in his free hand and moving it aside. “But right here is the sweet spot for the space.” He turned her to face him, his gaze meeting hers. “Ready?”

She blinked. “N-no music?”

He smiled and shook his head. “Just your voice. Need to know what it’s like raw. That okay?”

Pulse pounding in her ears, she nodded.

His smile widened and he lowered his head, nudging his forehead against hers. “I’m sorry about the women.”

She let out a wobbly breath. “Don’t be. I have no claim on you.”

He brushed his thumb over her bottom lip. “I’d like you to though.”

She swallowed. Oh God, could she be falling for him? This quickly?

“Forget about Strings and Jax and Levi,” he said when she didn’t utter a sound. “Just sing for me, babe.”

And before she could answer, he dropped her hand and walked into the shadows of the room.

Leaving her alone in the centre under one muted light.

She drew a long slow breath. Closed her eyes. Thought of her dad.

Thought of Noah’s lips on hers.

And began to sing.

Noah’s stomach clenched. His heart smashed into his throat. He tore his stare from the woman framed in the converted space’s warm golden light to stare at Samuel beside him.

“Holy fuck,” he murmured. “Do you
hear
that?”

Samuel didn’t answer.

Noah shot Jax a quick look. “Can you
hear
that?”

Jax didn’t answer either, his stare locked on Pepper.

“Christ, Holden,” Levi spoke, his voice a scratching whisper. “What did you bring us?”

Noah swung his stare back to Pepper, his whole body thrumming. Chills rippled up his spine, over his flesh. He’d never heard Nick Blackthorne’s words sung so beautifully.

So tormentedly exquisite.

Holy fuck, Pepper Kerrigan could sing.

No, that was wrong. An understatement. Pepper Kerrigan had the voice of a goddess.

She stood in the light’s muted beam, the words to “Whispers in the Night” flowing from her with such sublime power and haunting pain Noah could barely draw breath.

Holy shit, why wasn’t she already a professional singer?

“Fuck me,” Samuel murmured beside him, his stare locked on her. “I’ve never heard a voice like it.”