How to Catch a (Rock) Star (The Dead Hour #1) (4 page)

Lillie made a face; she could feel that he was telling the truth, but still she hesitated.

‘Look, I like you, I think you’re beautiful and sexy and funny. But I get it, if you don’t want to stay, I can call you a cab,’ he carried on, a slight frustrated tone barely perceptible in his voice.

Staring at him, Lillie ran through the options in her head. She could walk away from what would probably be the best sex of her life or she could just go with the flow for once and decide to believe Jed. It didn’t take her long to decide.

‘I’m sorry, I don’t think you’re that guy at all. I just, well, I guess I’m just nervous. It’s been a while.’ She gave a tense laugh as Jed took her hand, leading her into the room and hanging the ‘Do not disturb’ sign on the door.

He took a bottle of wine from the mini bar and poured two glasses. Handing her one, he let her take a sip as she looked around the small room with its two single beds and sparse, dated decor, before taking it away and moving towards her.

‘Are you sure this is okay?’

Lillie nodded, trembling as he slid her cardigan off her shoulders, kissing her bare skin as he removed it completely. Trailing his fingers up her arms, he moved her hair aside and kissed her neck, light butterfly kisses that sent shivers down her side.

Lillie’s heart was beating so fast and loud she was sure he would be able to hear it. Her breathing quickened as his kisses continued along her jaw to the corner of her mouth and she stopped breathing all together as she readied herself for another amazing kiss. She felt him move away and opened her eyes to see him holding out her glass to her. She quickly took another sip and gave it back, desperate for him to continue where he’d left off.

He put it back down and stepped over to her, bending his head to kiss the other side of her mouth, and then… disappointment. He started moving away from her mouth, along her jaw to the other ear. Lillie turned her head to try and kiss him but he pulled away and put his lips to her ear, his warm breath caressing her skin.

‘Patience Lil, I’ll get there but I want to taste every inch of you.’

He continued his feather-light kisses down her neck to her shoulder, his hands finding her zip which he slowly undid, letting her dress drop to the ground in a slippery puddle of dark purple silk.

The cool air rushed over her hot skin in sweet relief before she felt his breath against her back. He pressed more tiny kisses down her spine as he undid the clasp to her bra and slipped the straps from her arms. Slowly, he slid her knickers over her hips and down her legs and she stepped out of them, her breathing shallow, every nerve in her body alert in anticipation of his touch.

‘Jed,’ she whispered, ‘please. I can’t take any more…’ His eyes travelled up to hers.

‘I don’t think I can either. I wanted this to last but I want to be inside you more,’ he said, his voice low and hoarse, yanking his t-shirt over his head. He stripped off the rest of his clothes carelessly and put a leg between hers, backing her onto the nearest bed. Finally, he kissed her mouth and she moaned out loud with pent up longing and frustration.

Lillie’s hands travelled down his back as her legs rose to clamp themselves around his hips, pulling him tight against her. His hot mouth covered her nipple and he bit her gently. She gasped in delighted surprise and he moved away from her slightly, his hand sliding down her side to her hip and across her stomach. His fingers finally came to rest lightly against her clitoris. Idly trailing his fingers, barely touching her, he moved his mouth back up to hers, asking her in between fevered kisses if she wanted him to go down on her.

Raising her hips to better feel his fingers against her clitoris, she urgently told him no as he moved his fingers in slow, tantalising circles, his mouth on her nipple again. She could feel her orgasm building up, waves of tension forming in her stomach, her breathing shallow and fast. Her fingers clasped his muscular back and she bucked her hips, silently urging him to enter her.

‘Jed, please, now,’ she begged and he reached for a condom, quickly opening it and rolling it on before he guided inside her with a groan, sliding himself in deep and then almost completely out of her with excruciating slowness. Lillie raised her legs higher, wrapping them tightly around his waist, trying to increase his speed. He moved even slower, eyes locked onto hers, arms tensed with the effort of holding himself over her, and she ran her fingers down the hard lines of his arms. She hadn’t expected him to be so muscular and she dropped her gaze to his well-defined chest before raising it back up to meet his eyes, dark green with desire for her.

‘Faster,’ she moaned and Jed’s mouth twitched into a small smile before he commanded her to touch herself. Lillie’s eyes widened, she’d never touched herself in fr
ont of someone before. Jed lowered his head to kiss her again; a slow, sensual kiss that matched the rhythm of his hips as he moved deep inside her.

‘Lillie,’ he whispered, his teeth gently nipping her ear lobe. ‘I want to feel you come.’ Her internal muscles clenched at his words, her heart beating out a rapid tattoo as the pressure in her body increased. He kissed her swollen mouth again, leaning on one arm now as he took her hand and moved it down to where their bodies were joined. She had barely connected with her clitoris when her orgasm surged through her, enveloping her entirely, all the tension leaving her muscles as she gave in to the exquisite waves of pleasure.

She relaxed her grip on Jed’s shoulder, her heart racing, face flushed with the intensity of her climax as he pushed himself hard into her, increasing the speed of his thrusts, matching the movement of his hips with her own. She never wanted this to stop, never in her life had she felt so incredibly satiated, so wanted. She moved her hands to his face, lifting her head to kiss him, fierce with passion and lust. She ran her hands through his hair as they kissed, pulling him closer to her, only breaking away from his mouth to kiss his neck. Spreading her fingers out across his chest, she could feel his muscles tensing under her fingertips, his nipples hard as rock and smiled at the gasp he let out when she pinched them. Jed’s intensity increased until he thrust hard into her four, five times, his eyes closed, groaning loudly as he came. Opening his eyes, he met her gaze, lowering himself down to kiss her before collapsing, sweatily, on top of her.

‘Oh God, that was amazing,’ he said after a few moments of catching his breath. Lillie murmured her agreement, intense pleasure swallowing her words as she tried to regain her breath. Her eyes fluttered as Jed moved off her and she watched him looking at her, body, his gaze burning her skin from her toes to her face.

‘Nice tattoo,’ he commented, trailing his fingers over the words tattooed down her left side. ‘Tuam sequere naturam,’ he read. ‘What does it mean?’

‘It’s Latin for be true to yourself,’ Lillie said, with a tinge of self-consciousness. Do you have any tattoos?’ she asked. The feeling of his fingertips brushing up and down her side was making her shiver inside.

‘No. Johnny and Chris have loads, even Eddie has a few, but I have a thing about needles, so... Yours makes me want to lick it for some reason.’

‘Well, each to their own,’ Lillie said, smiling as he put a hand on her hip and lowered his head to her side, slowly running the tip of his tongue along the words etched into her skin. She moaned as tingles of pleasure trickled down her spine.

‘Mmmmmm. You taste salty,’ Jed murmured. Moving his head to her stomach, he kissed her burning skin, pushing her onto her back again and sliding his hands up to caress her breasts. Lillie closed her eyes and arched her back, her nipples tight with desire. His mouth travelled lower and lower until she felt his hot breath on her and closed her eyes to him.

Afterwards, she lay with her head on Jed’s chest, marveling at the thought that she had willfully denied herself this for so long. As penance for Married Matt, she had promised herself she would stay away from men for a year. Well, ten and a half months wasn’t bad going, she thought, enjoying the steady rise and fall of Jed’s chest against her cheek.

‘So, when are you moving on?’ she said quietly. Jed stirred and tried to sit up but she remained stubbornly in place, enjoying the weight of his hand as he stroked her hair.

‘We have a gig in Nottingham tomorrow,’ he said.

Lillie sat up and stared at him. She had known he would be leaving soon but she had naively thought they might have another day.

‘Nottingham?’ she said, doing a quick geographical calculation in her head and concluding that he wouldn’t need to leave early. She could call in sick tomorrow, spend the morning with Jed. But she was getting way ahead of herself. Maybe he wouldn’t want to. Maybe he had other plans.

‘Yeah. We’re probably leaving here about one so, if you want, we can hang out in the morning. Go to the beach or something.’

Lillie relaxed hands she hadn’t known were clenched into fists and smiled before she realised that this wasn’t how she was meant to be feeling. She was supposed to be having an uncomplicated one night stand. A few short hours, some hopefully good sex and then, goodbye, won’t see you later. Or at least that’s how people always described them. Having never had one before, Lillie couldn’t say for sure but she was pretty certain she wasn’t supposed to be picturing a romantic walk on the beach and maybe a picnic lunch in Queens Park.

She was trying to think of a reason to leave before Jed could make her like him any more when he pulled her down onto his chest, kissing away any thoughts of her ending the night here. Oh well, she thought, a few more hours couldn’t hurt.

CHAPTER FIVE

Lillie woke up to the sound of muffled guitar strumming and turned over to check her watch on the bedside table.

‘Oh shit!’ she exclaimed, leaping out of bed, flinging on Jed’s T-shirt, finding her phone underneath it. She tiptoed towards the bathroom.

‘Oh God, Lil, what are you doing to me? What’s the time?’ Jed croaked, opening his eyes.

‘It’s nearly nine and I have to call work and tell them I’m sick,’ she whispered.

‘Sick, huh?’ Jed said, grinning. ‘Hurry up then, I’ve got something I need to tell you.’

Lillie frowned her response.

‘It’s pretty urgent,’ he said. ‘But you’ll need to be naked for it.’ He raised his eyebrows and looked pointedly at his T-shirt. Lillie giggled and held up one finger before disappearing into the bathroom. She made a quick call to work, thanking God when she got her hag of a boss’ answer phone.

She quickly rubbed toothpaste over her teeth, splashed her face with warm water to get rid of her smudged eye make-up and tried to rake her hair into some semblance of an I-haven’t-been-having-amazing-sex-all-night-honest style before giving up.

She walked back into the bedroom to hear Jed saying a terse goodbye to someone on his phone and wondered if she should go back into the bathroom and pretend she hadn’t come out. Just as she was turning back to the bathroom door, Jed spun around.

‘Hey!’ he said, throwing his phone on the bed and coming towards her. ‘You haven’t got anything contagious, have you?’ He stopped a foot away from her.

‘No,’ Lillie laughed. ‘Just a migraine. Nothing a morning in bed won’t fix, I’m sure.’

‘Bed, huh? Well, I can help with that. I also read that sex is a really good cure for headaches so I can help out there too.’ He closed the gap and kissed her, backing her up against the wall as his hand slipped underneath the T-shirt she had borrowed.

Lillie had been going to say that headaches and migraines were completely different but as soon as Jed’s lips touched hers and she felt his fingers working their way up her inner thigh, she forgot about headaches and work and him leaving in four hours.

The phone by the bed rang an hour and a half later. From Jed’s apologetic tone, Lillie figured it was reception and started putting her clothes on. They were already twenty five minutes over check out time. Jed hung up the phone and reached across the bed for her.

‘Why don’t you come have a shower with me?’ Jed said, running his fingers up her arms and moving his mouth towards hers.

Lillie ducked out of his embrace, laughing.

‘We have to get out of here,’ she said. ‘You’re already half an hour late checking out.’

‘Right, so another twenty minutes won’t hurt,’ he replied, taking her dress out of her hands and flinging it on the bed. ‘C’mon, don’t you want to get clean with me?’ he teased, leading her into the bathroom.

Lillie knew it was pointless resisting him and, besides, she did feel a little grubby. She stepped back out of her knickers and just managed to tie up her hair before Jed pulled her into the shower, kissing her under the hot jets of water, soaking her hair anyway. Not that she minded, Jed could kiss her anywhere and she wouldn’t notice her surroundings, let alone damp hair. She did briefly wonder if having sex three times the morning after a one-night stand meant it wasn’t a one-night stand anymore, but that thought was swept away as Jed moved his mouth down her body.

They had just got out of the shower and were dressing when the first volley of raps on their door came.

‘Just a second,’ Jed shouted, pushing various items of black and grey clothing into a bag. ‘I’m just trying to find my keycard.’ He grinned at Lillie and went into the bathroom to collect his few toiletries.

Lillie, now dressed and feeling very uncomfortable and slutty in her dress from last night, rummaged in her bag for some mascara and tinted lip balm and twisted her wet hair into a side plait. At least she had had the foresight to put a pair of black tights in her bag, which made the dress look a bit less walk-of-shame. Jed came out of the bathroom and looked her up and down.

‘Err, do you want a jacket or something?’ He pulled a washed out grey denim jacket out of his bag. ‘Might make it look a bit more day-ey, if you know what I mean.’

Lillie took the jacket gratefully and surreptitiously breathed in the smell of him as she put it on.

‘Thanks. That’s a lot better, I think.’

Jed nodded and held out his hand just as the hammering on the door started up again. ‘We’re just coming!’ he shouted, opening the door.

‘Jed! It’s, like, eleven o’ clock. You’re paying the extra night if they charge us,’ said a very slick-looking guy Lillie hadn’t met. ‘Oh, hey,’ he said, giving her a quick once over and holding out his hand. ‘I’m Steve. The band’s manager.’

Lillie shook his hand.

‘Umm. I’m Lillie. Nice to meet you,’ she said, tugging her dress down with her free hand.

‘Yeah, you too, babe. You too,’ he winked at her and turned to Jed. ‘So, uh, Jed, I need to talk about a couple of things quickly, can we - ‘ he tilted his head away from the room. Jed frowned and looked at Lillie.

‘Can’t it wait, man. I’m kinda busy right now.’

Steve smiled at Lillie and nodded his head. He had crazy white, perfectly straight teeth that Lillie bet he had paid a fortune for.

‘Sure, sure. But I need to speak to you about tonight’s set list and also some stuff the venue emailed over this morning.’ He held up the latest iPhone and waggled it about.

‘Can we talk about it on the bus? Me and Lil are gonna grab some lunch but I’ll see you at one, outside here, yeah?’

Steve’s eyes flickered towards Lillie before he gave them both a broad grin. Lillie forced herself not to stare at his practically glowing teeth.

‘Yeah, sure. See you in two then.’ He gave Lillie another wink before sauntering down the corridor, making a phone call as he went.

‘Sorry about him. He can be kind of a jerk but he’s a pretty good manager,’ Jed said.

‘I thought he seemed nice,’ Lillie replied.

‘Yeah, well, don’t be fooled by the nice guy act. He’s a real asshole when he wants something, which is great when we want it too, but not so much otherwise.’ He led Lillie to the lifts. ‘So, where should we go for lunch? We’ve got - ‘ he checked his phone, ‘less than two hours, so where do you wanna go and what do you wanna do?’

The lift arrived and they stepped in. What I really want, Lillie thought, is you again and again but I suppose food would be good. Aloud she said: ‘We could grab some stuff to eat and go to Queen’s Park. It’s really pretty there. Or we could go to the beach.’

‘I vote beach,’ Jed said, as the lift doors pinged open and they headed towards the hotel exit.

‘So, how long have you known Johnny?’ Lillie asked, enjoying the feel of her hand in his, as they walked towards the beach.

‘Oh my God, I’ve known him forever. Seriously forever. Our moms were friends before we were born so we’ve grew up together in New Jersey. Right down the street from each other in fact. He’s like my brother, which is great, ‘cos I only have a sister and so does he.’

‘Really? Are they best friends too?’

‘Uh, no. They don’t really like each other. Something to do with a guy, a long time ago. In high school I think.’

‘Oh, he must have been some guy.’

‘Not really. Just your regular high school jock douchebag. Me and Johnny both hate him,’ Jed paused and pushed his hair out of his eyes. ‘Johnny wrote a song about him but we can’t ever play it.’

‘How come? Would you get sued?’ Jed laughed.

‘Yeah, probably. By him and a whole bunch of parents. It’s not very audience appropriate. I’ll sing it for you one day.’

Lillie’s heart missed a couple of beats before she remembered that he would be going away soon so there was never going to be a ‘one day’.

‘How’s that going to happen?’ she blurted out, stopping abruptly when she realised the words had actually come out of her mouth. ‘I mean, you’re going off on tour and we probably won’t see each other ever again. Right?’ Jed stopped walking and cupped her face in his hands.

‘Well, I was thinking about that and I thought maybe you could come meet me in London when we get there. Or somewhere else that’s near here. What do you think?’ His green eyes were unsure, his beautiful mouth tense.

‘Oh my God, I would love to!’ Lillie had to stop herself from jumping up and down. ‘When are you in London, no wait, what’s your itinerary? I bet you’re playing somewhere fairly near here before then. I mean, I can travel, I don’t mind travelling - ‘ she trailed off, all too aware that she might be sounding a little bit too eager.

‘I don’t know all the dates and places but I’ll find out and text you. I do know that we’re making our way to Glasgow over the next few days so we won’t be back around here until maybe Sunday.’ He stopped and breathed in the sea air. ‘It’s funny, it smells different in England than back home. More tangy. I bet the water’s just as cold though.’ He threw a challenging look at Lillie. ‘Wanna check it out?’ he said, toeing off his Converse and bending down to pull off his socks.

‘Well, I don’t know what the water temperature is in New Jersey so I can’t compare,’ she said, stepping back as Jed came towards her. ‘What are you doing? Wait, no, no!’

She screamed and darted away, his hands just touching the jacket he’d lent her. She knew it was inevitable that he was going to catch her and when he did, he manfully scooped her up into his arms, the effect slightly ruined by him tiptoeing down the pebbled beach towards the sea. Lillie tightened her arms around his neck as he reached the shallows.

‘I still have my boots on,’ she said pleadingly. Jed kissed her nose and laughed.

‘I was never going to throw you in. Do you think I’m that mean?’ Lillie shook her head. ‘Plus, you’ve got my jacket on,’ he added, laughing as she playfully smacked his arm. He backed out of the water and put her down, keeping his hands on her waist and drawing her in for a long kiss.

Lillie felt like she was in a movie; stray strands of hair had freed themselves from her plait and were tickling her face, waves were gently crashing in the background, Jed’s body was pressed tightly against hers and his hand was gently holding her face -

‘What the hell?’ Jed exclaimed, breaking the kiss abruptly as he turned his head to look at his shoulder. ‘A bird just shit on me!’

Lillie leapt back, laughing.

‘Oh Jesus, that’s gross!’ Jed said, trying to get his jacket off without smearing bird poo on himself.

‘It’s supposed to be really good luck,’ Lillie said, still laughing.

‘That’s great. I’m real glad it’s lucky,’ Jed said, still struggling to get his jacket off. ‘Lil, do you think you could help me instead of laughing?’

Lillie tried to stop giggling and took hold of the clean side as Jed angled his face away from the sticky white mess. As she moved to grab the other sleeve, Jed lunged towards her, as if to flick the poo onto her. She shrieked and moved away as Jed dissolved into his own fit of laughter, bending over and holding his stomach, forgetting about the bird poo on his shoulder which had now transferred itself to his cheek.

‘Oh shit, no!’ he shouted as Lillie lowered herself onto the pebbles, crying with laughter. Jed searched his pockets for a tissue without success. He flicked the jacket onto the beach and stared at Lillie.

‘It’s. Just. Bird. Poo,’ she said, in between giggles.

‘Really?’ Jed said, his eyes glinting, the smear of grey-white poo on his cheek doing absolutely nothing to detract from his hotness.

Lillie stopped laughing and tensed as he took a step towards her. She was at a severe disadvantage being on the ground but she did have boots on whereas Jed was still shoeless. He took another step and Lillie scrambled to get up, shrieking as Jed caught her arm and whirled her around to face him, grabbing her other arm, an evil grin on his handsome face.

‘Jed, no. Don’t, please don’t,’ she begged, craning her face away from him as much as she could.

‘It’s just bird poo, Lil, isn’t that what you said?’

Lillie tried to wriggle free, both amused and horrified.

‘I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to laugh, please don’t - ‘ she broke off with a sharp shriek as Jed wiped his poo face against her cheek, letting her go and standing back, watching smugly as she flailed about, trying to get it off her face without getting it on her hands. Finally, he took pity on her and dipped a beanie that he’d found in his pocket in the sea, gently wiping the luck from her cheek before handing her the hat so she could return the favour.

‘So, food?’ he said, taking her hand and leading her up the beach. ‘I don’t know about you but I’m starving.’

Lillie scrubbed at her face again, wishing she had a mirror.

‘Ooh, I know where we can go!’ Lillie said, ‘have you ever been to a proper greasy spoon?’ From the look on his face, she could tell he didn’t even know what a greasy spoon was. ‘I’m taking you to Mimi’s,’ she pronounced solemnly. ‘They do the best bacon buttie in Brighton and then, a few doors down, there’s a great bakery.’

She looked at her watch. ‘We’ll have to walk quickly though because it’s just gone twelve and it’s a bit of a trek.’

She picked up her pace, dragging Jed behind her, all thoughts now on food and introducing Jed to Mimi, who was sure to make a huge fuss over him. Lillie thought she might even throw in some free chips too. Bonus.