“Shane!” The way she screamed my name drove me crazy. She scratched her nails over my shoulders and that pleasure filled pain sent me flying over the edge. 

Chapter 18

Harper

While Shane showered I went in search of coffee and something sweet to eat. I was starving and couldn’t remember the last time I had eaten. Dinner last night had completely killed my appetite, but after the morning Shane and I had just had, I was ravenous.

Dallas was sitting at the kitchen table when I walked in, her phone in hand as fingers moved with quick, sure movements. Her head snapped up when she heard me, and I saw the look in her eyes. She looked a little guilty and I realized that she must have known about Shane’s dinner plans.

“Well…” I muttered as I crossed to the coffee pot and poured a bigger than normal cup. “You suck.”

“I’m sorry, Harp.”

“You should be. Don’t you think you should have warned me what I was walking into last night, Dallas?” I demanded, turning to face her.

“No, because then you wouldn’t have faced them. You would have just kicked his ass out.” She grimaced. “And you really needed to deal with your mom, Harp.”

I glared at her for another long moment before sitting down beside her at the table. “I know. I stood up to her last night…”

Dallas’s eyes widened and then she grinned. “Good. I’m glad. You should have done that years ago.”

“You still should have told me,” I grumbled under my breath before taking another swallow of my hot coffee.

“I swear it won’t happen again.” Dallas tossed her phone aside, giving me her full attention now. “So, how did it go? I know the rock star is here. I think the whole fucking building knows that he’s here after this morning. Things couldn’t have gone that badly.”

For the next ten minutes I told her all about the evening before. Dallas listened intently while I filled her in on the disastrous dinner, the arrival of Emmie, and then getting home to find Shane had run the entire way. When I was done, because there really wasn’t anything she needed to know about what came after, Dallas shook her head. “Sounds like he has it bad.”

“He says he loves me,” I confided.

“Yeah, I know. I see it in his eyes.” Dallas gave me a small smile. “Apparently not all rockers are complete douchebags.”

I raised a brow, wondering about her own rocker romance. “How are things with Axton? Have you spoken to him since the other night?”

Slim shoulders lifted in a shrug and she grimaced again, causing her Monroe piercing to lift with the motion. “He’s called and left a few texts, but I’m not really worried about answering him back. He really isn’t worth my time.”

“So you don’t know if he really hooked up with Gabriella at that party or not?”

Dallas stood and went to the fridge to take out a bottle of diet Coke. “I know he did, so it doesn’t matter. He loves her.”

I didn’t know what to think. I had seen Axton with Dallas only once, but I knew that he felt something stronger for her than just lust. Still, she knew him better than I did, so I wasn’t going to put my foot in it. If Dallas wanted to call it quits with Mr. Rock God, then that was her choice.

My phone buzzed with an email, and I glanced down at it to find it was from my new boss. I frowned as I read the document and then muttered a curse. “Well there goes my plans,” I grumbled.

“What?”

“My boss wants me to handle a story that someone else refused to do.” I stood, coffee in hand. “I don’t care, but good grief. A little more than an hour’s notice would’ve been nice.”

Shane was just coming out of the bathroom when I entered my bedroom. He had a pair of basketball shorts on and nothing else as he used a towel to dry his hair. “You look grumpy.”

I blew out a frustrated breath. “Yeah, I kind of am. I have to work. Guess we won’t be going shopping after all.”

Shane tossed the towel aside and reached for me. Dropping a tender kiss on my lips, he let his hands rub down my back and over my hips. Strong fingers gripped my ass hard through my sleep shorts. “Don’t be disappointed. I’ll take care of everything, and we can do something tonight.”

I smiled. “Yeah?”

“Yeah. We can’t really go out to that kind of store, not without some tabloid picking up the story. I don’t want you exposed to that shit, so we will have to go a more discreet direction.”

I was curious now. “How so?” I thought we would just find a local porn shop and buy everything that looked like fun, but I was kind of clueless about what those things might be.

“Don’t worry about it, beautiful. Just trust me to guide you.” He kissed me, lingering for just a minute before stepping back. “Text me and let me know when you’re finished and I’ll pick you up. In the meantime I’ll go check on Lana.”

Curiosity ate at me all afternoon as I traveled uptown to the hotel where some band was staying today, and today only, before heading off for a three month long tour across the Midwest. The band proved to be difficult to question for the interview, but I somehow got through it and got some good pictures that I sent to my boss.

Shane texted me that he was on his way, and I started on the rough draft of my interview on my phone while I waited.

I had been sitting in the lobby awhile when a shadow appeared beside of me, and I raised my head to find the more difficult band member that I had just interviewed standing there watching me. It was a little unnerving, but I gave him a forced smile.

“Hi.” I thought his name was Trey, but I couldn’t be sure. He and the other band members of Drunken Monkeys had spent more time making sexual comments than answering the questions my boss had requested I ask.

“I was hoping you hadn’t gone far.”

I shrugged. “Nope, I’m waiting on my boyfriend to pick me up.” I put a little more emphasis on the word boyfriend, hoping the jerk would take the hint and go away. He really gave me the creeps, even if he was kind of hot. Something in his hazel eyes just didn’t set right with me.

There was an empty chair beside of me and Trey took it. He sat on the edge, leaning closer toward me as he spoke. “How about coming upstairs with me for a few hours? I really want to see what is under that cute little skirt.”

“And I’m really trying hard not to puke.” I glared at him. “Let’s see who succeeds first, asshole.”