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  And thus armored, I was ready to face Cole Kane, Jersey Dys, and Rory Holmes.

  The butterflies in my stomach betrayed my nervous anticipation. Despite all hopes to the contrary, my desire for each of the men had not waned during our forced separation. A running film show of illicit encounters with each of them visited my dreams each night like Marley’s fucking ghost with sexual intent. I woke each time sweating and panting. Often I had to finish the subject of my nightly visions on my own, but that’s always a B list response to what should be an A-list party.

  So if my outfit this night was a teensy bit suggestive, it had nothing on wickedly inappropriate commentary on the sex appeal of each rocker running through my brain right now. I picked up my father’s unfinished whiskey and soda and bolted it down in the quest to wet my suddenly dry throat.

  “What?” he protested, “that’s mine.”

  “With your medications, you aren’t supposed to drink.”

  “You are not my mother.”

  “No,” I said. I leaned over the couch to give him a peck on the cheek. “Just an overly concerned daughter who doesn’t want to see her father croak by not following the doctor’s orders.”

  “One drink isn’t going to kill me. It helps to loosen the arteries.”

  “You’ve been reading the internet again. What did I tell you about that?”

  “I should have never sent you to Harvard.”

  “Too late. You are stuck with the result. Now, no drinking.”

  “Don’t worry. I fully intend to dance at your wedding.”

  “Then you better follow all the doctor’s orders, because that is a long time coming.”

  “Hmmm,” he mumbled in a displeased tone.

  The doorbell rang, and I scrunched my face in thought trying to place who it could be at this hour.

  “Who can that be?”

  “I believe it’s Tobias,” said my father with an evil grin.

  “He better not lead you to drink,” I said as I went to and yanked open the door. But instead of the usual business suited Tobias, he stood framed in the doorway wearing a tuxedo.

  I stared and swallowed hard, because what man doesn’t look good in a tuxedo. But Tobias didn’t just look good, he looked smoking, and I can envision a new tuxedoed version of Tobias haunting my dreams tonight. Forget me remaining cool, calm and collected in my concert garb. Heat traveled from my thighs and up my spine.

  I was in humongous trouble.

  “What are you doing here?”

  “Taking you to the concert.”

  “Oh no. We agreed—”

  “Not to see each other until the concert.”

  Leave to a lawyer to nail down the intent of an agreement to the letter. I had been sloppy with my words. My bad. And how am I rewarded for my carelessness?

  Getting to hang on the arm of the gorgeous silver-fox.

  “Tobias, is that you?” called my father.

  “Yes, Franklin. Just picking up Jacine like you asked.”

  “Thanks.”

  My eyes narrowed. “My father put you up to this? Because Anson can—”

  “I gave Anson the night off,” my father called.

  Tobias might be a silver-fox, but my father had ears like one.

  I stepped from the hall to the living room with my heels clicking on the marble floor.

  “Why would you do that?”

  “Because I know you want to avoid those disasters in rocker clothing, and Tobias will protect you from them.”

  “What?” I could not believe this. “Who said I needed protection?”

  “I do. Daughter, I hate to tell you this, but someone sold me a particularly salacious recording of you and a certain musician in a hospital conference room.”

  My face must have turned several shades of red.

  “What!”

  “Calm down. I contained the situation.”

  Contained. Like I was a client.

  “Contained!”

  My father snapped open the day’s copy of Variety that had laid unopened all day on the glass coffee table. “It’s nothing to get excited about,” he said calmly. “You are an adult. And I asked Dys to keep you busy. I just didn’t expect that he’d get that busy, that soon.”

  “What!” I sputtered.

  “In any case, I couldn’t let something like that hit the media, so I took care of it. But I understood then why you didn’t want to have contact with any of them.”

  I spun, inchoate as words caught in my throat and I spotted the amusement in Tobias’s eyes.

  “You knew about this!” I choked out.

  “Yes.”

  “That’s why you suggested I stay away from them.”

  He shrugged.

  “Oooh!” I wailed. I don’t know what was worse, that he played on my relationship fears or that he looked out for my welfare without my knowledge. But I was furious that he interfered.

  “Get her a drink, Tobias. She seems a little upset.”

  Oh, that bastard knew where the liquor was, alright. He smartly walked to the liquor cabinet, which was a retro-vintage fifties style cabinet that sported a bowl of fake fruit on its top. He poured me a shot of whiskey and handed it to me.

  “Here. This is good stuff, not like that rotgut sour mash Dys likes to drink.”

  “Wait. You’ve been hanging out with Jersey?”

  “I’ve spent a little time with all the boys. Just to check up on them.”

  “I asked him to, Jacy,” said my father.

  “You,” I said flailing my finger at my father indignant at his interference. I couldn’t get words out. What do you say to a man who is a master string-puller who manipulated my life? And then I whirled at Tobias, who was even worse, using the situation to leverage his position.

  “You!” I snapped.

  He smiled and leaned toward me and whispered.

  “You are beautiful when you are angry.”

  What got into me? I don’t know. Maybe it was too many nights of sexual frustration or the fact that I was attracted to four men, Tobias being one, and couldn’t pick among them, or the ridiculous competition they had going, or the fact that I, Ms. Take-Charge-And-In-Control didn’t command a single aspect of my life. But I slapped Tobias Marshall across the face with such force my hand stung.

  Marshall stepped back as the amusement died from his eyes.

  “Daughter,” my father said with maddening calm. “You should get going. I’m counting on you to seeing this through to the end.”

  I keened again and stalked toward the front door.

  “You deserved that, Tobias,” I heard my father say. “You aren’t as arcane as you think you are.”

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Rory

  The show was a huge hit. The planning, the promotions, the absolute care that went into the entire production had Jacine’s hand all over it. Of course, we had to add our spin to it and showed up in LA County orange jumpsuits. The crowd went wild, especially since we kicked off the show playing together our second biggest hit as Banshee, Running Wild in LA.

  Then we split up into our bands and rocked the Hollywood Bowl. The energy was thick enough to get me higher than a kite. Cole ran out on stage and mimicked Jersey on the guitar, and Jersey got him back by handing him a guitar and challenged him to a guitar riff. No one, but no one, can stand up to Jersey on the guitar, and Cole is a bassist anyway, so Cole got his head handed to him. But in the end, the crowd enjoyed it. Kane shook Jersey’s hand, and Jersey gave him a brotherly hug making a lie of the truth that they hated each other.

  It was a beautiful thing.

  My group went on first, then Cole’s, then Jersey’s. The concertgoers were encouraged to place their vote for the best band through their phones with the idea that the winner would play the last set. On either side of the stage, display’s flashed the tallies as they came in. So Cole, Jersey, and I stood backstage toweling our sweat waiting for the results. Jacine stood near us, and I swear I felt her eyes at the ba
ck of my head. I was about to turn my head when Jersey did first.

  “Come on, girl. Time to take your bows.”

  “What?”

  Jersey pulled her hand and Cole and I exchanged glances. Not about to get left out we went onstage too. Jersey took the mike in his hand.

  “Turn off the tally boards,” he yelled on the darkened stage. A spotlight turned on him, and everyone stared at him.

  “Bring up the lights on my friends,” he said, and as some poor light engineer fumbled with the computer settings, spots hit Cole and me, too.

  “Do we need anyone to tell you who the best band is? No! You know which ones grab your heart. There is no best band. But there are such things as the best people. And they are on the stage right now.

  “Wise words, my friend,” I said into a mike, and my voice boomed over the loudspeakers.

  “Dys, you dog,” said Cole. I swear he was about to cry.

  “And then there are the people that support us. For one, we’d like to thank Tobias Marshall, the man that kept our asses out of jail for our stupidity. Tobias, come out on stage and take a bow.”

  Shell-shocked Marshall walked out on the stage and Jersey, and Cole raised his hands and then pulled him into a theatric bow.

  When the crowd died down, Jersey turned to Jacine.

  “And let’s give a hand to the best-damned PR person in the world, the person responsible for us being here tonight, Jacine Alexander of Alexander and Wells. Give it up to Jacine!”

  Jacine blushed as the crowd applauded, whistled and stamped their feet. It took a while for them to settle.

  “And to show you who the best band is, Cole, Rory and I will play this last song, together as we used to in Banshee.”

  Jacine tried to leave the stage, but Jersey grabbed her arm.

  “Oh no, you are the one we are dedicating this song to. Tobias, make sure she doesn’t leave.”

  Curiously, she shot Marshall a cold look, as he wrapped his arm around her waist, but there was no time to suss that out. We needed to end this show because we had three road crews waiting to load up our shows and no time to screw around without incurring extra expenses.

  Shoot me. I keep track of that shit.

  I climbed the pedestal to my drum kit and pounded out the initial beats of Ever. Jersey took up the soulful opening rift, and Cole began to sing staring right at Jacine.

  If you ever need a friend,

  Someone to help you tie loose ends,

  The one who’ll send you roses,

  And watch the stars with you,

  Call me.

  I’ll be there always and ever.

  I couldn’t see exactly what was happening or hear over the roar of the audience, so I kept pounding out the beats, though, at the last chorus, Jersey signaled through his guitar, like he used to, to keep repeating the rhythm.

  “That’s our show for tonight!” said Cole. “From Jersey Dys, Rory Holmes and myself, and our bands, Arcane, Clash, and Obsidian, thank you all for coming!”

  We finished the song with a flourish, just like we used to as Banshee, and the spots went dark leaving us semi-lighted.

  “Let go!” she said squirming in Tobias’s arms. She broke free and flew off the stage at the side exit.

  “What the hell!” said Cole.

  “What was that about, Marshall?”

  “I may have upset her.”

  “Is that her handprint on your face?” said Cole with glee.

  “You are a dick,” said Jersey.

  “Who?” said Tobias.

  “Both of you,” said Jersey.

  “Oh for heaven’s sake,” I said and dashed after Jacine. Whatever troubled her, I wouldn’t let her deal with it alone.

  But I found they followed me, and we ran down the hall bumping into road crew as we plowed the crowded passage.

  We found her at the back door frantically punching in numbers in her phone.

  “Hey,” I said.

  “Go away. All of you go away,” she said. Jacine tore through the doorway to the back lot, running left to valet parking.

  “Where the hell is she going?” said Jersey pacing beside me.

  “I didn’t think a woman could run that fast in high-heeled boots,” huffed Cole who pulled up on my other side.

  “Jacine,” I called.

  She stopped at the edge of the valet parking lot. Jacine stared at us like a frightened deer, and maybe if I had three, no four guys chasing me wanting to catch me, I'd have the same expression. I held out my arms and stopped running.

  There were twenty feet between her and us, but by the expression on her face, it might have been a million.

  “Jacine,” I said holding out my hands. “What’s wrong?”

  “You! All of you! It’s enough I tell, enough. Just go away.”

  “I’m afraid that’s a no-go, baby,” said Cole. “You can’t run away from us. We’re stuck on you.”

  “Well, that’s just the problem, isn’t it? How can I pick one of you?”

  A light breeze whipped up and stirred her blonde hair, and I don’t think I could have been more in love with her in those hot thigh high black boots and that tight jacket.

  “We’ve been talking about that,” said Jersey.

  “You have?”

  “Yes,” said Cole with a nod of his head.

  “I think we have a solution.” I said at last.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Jacine

  They took me to Rory’s house, which was the closest one to the Hollywood Bowl. It was a boxy mid-century modern, heavy on landscaping, glass and vaulted ceilings. It was laid back, just like him, and the furniture looked like it was thrown together rather than decorated.

  We walked through the darkened house and he flipped the switch to a more modern area outside. This part of the house was more sculpted, with bluestone pavers extending to the edge of the backyard, and a sunken wood deck hanging off the end of the incline. I held onto the wall at the top of the stairs that held a mini waterfall and a statue of Buddha and looked down. The whole effect was one of being suspended in mid-air and it made me feel dizzy.

  “You sure this thing is safe?” said Cole with a grin.

  “You’ve sat here enough,” said Rory.

  “It’s safe,” said Tobias who led the way down the short flight of steps. “Until the rains come.” He flashed a teasing smile at Rory. He must have had this conversation before. But then he did say he’d been “visiting” the guys on a regular basis.

  Rory held out his hand as if checking for rain.

  “I think it’s safe enough,” he said sagely. “The pylons under and the steel pounded into the rock hold it in place.” He glanced at me letting me know this information was for my digestion. “The whole hill would have to break apart for this thing to tumble.”

  “You aren’t a big believer in the power of earthquakes, are you?” I said.

  He leaned over and whispered in my ear.

  “Baby, I have other ways to make the earth move.”

  I rolled my eyes.

  He moved to the center of the deck and pulled up a wood section to reveal a hot tub underneath. The water bubbled and the scent of lavender filled the space.

  “Wow,” I said.

  “You know what would be relaxing,” said Cole. “Some liquor.”

  “Got that covered,” he said. Under the seats that lined the wall against the rock wall, he pulled out a bucket of ice and champagne.

  “To celebrate our successful concert.”

  “That’s a lot classier than Dys’ usual drink,” said Tobias.

  “Don’t diss my fire water, Mr. Attorney.”

  “This is for celebrating,” Rory said as he pulled out a batch of plastic champagne flutes and handed them to me. I pulled them apart and handed one to each.

  “Yeah, that’s classy,” snorted Cole as he took his.

  “Classier than pulling glass out of your ass when a flute breaks,” said Rory.

  He poppe
d the cork with his massive hands and poured the bubbly into our plastic glasses.

  “To friends,” he said solemnly.

  We clinked the plastic together and drank. It had been a long time since I had champagne, and the bubbles tickled the back of my throat and my nose.

  “And,” said Cole, “to the most beautiful and smartest woman on either coast.”

  “To Jacine,” said Jersey.

  “Okay, this is all great,” I said. “But you said you had a solution. So what is it? Do I spin the champagne bottle when it’s empty to see where it lands.”

  Rory’s face scrunched in confusion. “No. That wasn’t the idea. But let’s get comfortable.”

  Before I could say anything he stripped naked in front of us and eased into the pool. But before he did I caught sight of his long and thick member. Who could take that?

  “Modest, isn’t he?” said Tobias watching in morbid interest.

  “Get with the program, Mr. Lawyer man,” said Cole as he stripped his jeans and t-shirt. I was surprised to see he went commando and he had nothing to be ashamed of. His cock had an intriguingly fat head. “Living on the road we’ve all seen each other’s asses more than we care to admit.” He slipped into the water with a sigh.

  Jersey huffed and took off his clothes and entered the water too.

  “Are you getting in, Jacine?” he said.

  I couldn’t help but look at what Jersey had hanging before he sunk into the bubbling water, which was not as thick as Rory, but longer.

  “Are you sure it’s safe in there. It’s looks like a lot of dangerous weapons in there.”

  “Baby, no one is going to do anything to you that you don’t want to.”

  “Famous last words.”

  “Really, what do you expect me to do, play Marco Polo and whoever I catch is mine.”

  “Tobias,” said Rory. “This is your chance. Yes, Or no. In or out.”

  “She’s not going to go for it, Holmes.”

  “You don’t know,” said Jersey. “But we’re asking her. Your choice if you want in.”

  “In on what?” I said with annoyance. But I unzipped my boots and pulled them off my feet.

  “Come in, baby and find out,” said Cole.