King of Rock (Lions of Pride Island Book 1) (2 page)

“
N
o
,” Stacy said, looking blankly down at the tickets in her hands. “No, no, no. I’m not going.”

Her friend Lisa perched on the desk next to where Stacy now had her head plopped on her arms in despair. “You’re so lucky. Backstage passes, too. You know Angel has been trying to book Beau Hunt for the charity auction for weeks. And now you get tickets to meet him? It’s perfect.”

Stacy groaned. “No, it’s not perfect. It’s horrible.” But she couldn’t very well explain to Lisa that she knew Beau Hunt and she came from an island of lions, where he was one of the kings. Or princes. Whatever.

He was a spoiled brat whose family had caused her a lot of problems as a child, and despite his undeniable beauty and the fact that women everywhere melted into piles of sexual need at his presence, she didn’t want anything to do with him.

“You just need to see the concert. Even if you don’t like his music…”

It had nothing to do with his music. Beau had the kind of husky, sensual voice that sent rattles down anyone’s spine. His songs resonated with people, were sung by thousands. It wasn’t anything to do with that.

It was just that sneaking suspicion that his invite might have something to do with the fact that they were both from Pride Island. If he even remembered that. Then again, why else would a celebrity send her free tickets out of the blue? One she’d never talked to face to face, only seen when his family was out by her village back on the island.

Lisa turned over the envelope. “It’s addressed to you. Did you enter some sort of drawing or something?”

“Lisa, seriously. You know me. You think I would enter a drawing?”

Lisa frowned, pushing blond hair out of her face and behind her ear. She was everything Stacy wasn’t. Petite, pale, with perfect blue eyes and a skinny body with long legs. Stacy was curvy no matter what she did about it. Voluptuous basically everywhere. She had light-brown skin from her biracial heritage and regular brown eyes, plus brown hair she had chemically straightened and kept pulled into a severe ponytail basically all the time.

She liked dressing comfortably, and her job coordinating celebrity appearances with charities over the phone gave her plenty of freedom to dress however she liked.

“Angel won’t forgive you if you don’t go,” Lisa said.

“And how is she going to know?” Stacy asked, discreetly tucking the tickets in the top drawer of her desk.

“She already knows,” a voice said above them, and Stacy looked up guiltily to see Angel staring down at her. Her Jimmy Choo-clad feet were tapping the floor as she glared. “You two have been loud enough for the whole office to hear.” Her mouth split into a grin.

Angel looked nothing like her name. She always wore bright-red lipstick and black, tight clothing with tiny stiletto heels. She looked more like someone who should be making appearances rather than scheduling them.

“Beau Hunt,” Angel said. “Gold mine. Literally the top of the pile. You’re going, right?”

“I don’t want to,” Stacy whined, knowing she sounded petulant. But she wasn’t being as petty as she sounded. When she thought of his name, his family, she imagined the fire, the pain, the fear they’d caused. She had been young, but not too young to understand there was a cost to all that power his family insisted on taking.

“You’re going,” Angel said. “And you’re convincing him to go in our auction, or you’re fired.” Her green eyes glowed. “Can you even imagine how much he would bring in?”

For a moment, Stacy did, and with another sigh, she knew she’d be going to the concert. This charity benefit helped kids with cancer and their families, and she simply couldn’t turn down the opportunity to get Beau Hunt involved.

He liked to send donations to various charities, but he’d never agreed to a bachelor auction, not that she remembered. That was much more common for B-list celebrities. And she certainly hadn’t ever thought she’d have a chance to be face to face with him to ask.

She bit her lip. Kids with cancer versus having to meet Beau Hunt. The kids won out. There was a reason she was in this biz.

She rolled up her sleeves and sat back, staring up at her boss. “I’ll go. I’ll do it.”

Angel raised a carefully waxed eyebrow. “Perfect. I’ll be expecting a report later this week.”

Lisa looked over at her, a grin on her face. “I’m going, right?”

Stacy nodded. “I need someone to give me courage. Keep me standing.”

Lisa put up a hand. “I make no promises. Breathing the same air as Beau Hunt? I’m going to be a puddle.”

“Everyone will be,” Stacy said, exhaling. “I guess that’ll make it easier for me to step over all of you and go convince him to be part of our auction.”

“Yeah,” Lisa said dreamily, perching her chin on her slender hand, clearly not listening to anything Stacy was saying.

Beau Hunt. She’d always avoided him. Always managed to ignore him, though he popped up on the news more than any of his brothers. His face showing everywhere, reminding her of everything she didn’t want to remember.

And now she’d be one of his lackeys in a screaming mass of his fans. Would she feel the inevitable pull all women felt around him, or would she be immune? She felt an uncomfortable tingle just thinking about him. That face. That body. It was undeniable. Typical high-grade lion shifter, gifted with charisma and plenty of looks to spare. Literally born at the top.

But would she be resistant to his allure, knowing what she did about him? Knowing her whole life, she’d been running from anything to do with him or the island?

Her heart started beating hard as she realized she’d be answering that question for herself in just a few hours.

* * *

“
T
hat’s
what you’re wearing?” Lisa asked, glaring disapprovingly at Stacy’s outfit as they walked up to the venue for the concert. It was in an outdoor stadium, and their tickets were for the VIP standing room area near the front of the stage.

Stacy just mumbled something unintelligible and pulled her sweater tighter around her. Underneath, she was wearing one of her typical soft, ruffled blouses that buttoned low, showing some cleavage, and had a fun floral print. She wore a tank top underneath for modesty and soft, stone-washed skinny jeans that enhanced her curves paired with comfortable flats. “I think I look fine.”

“Sure,” Lisa said, perfect pink lips falling in a frown. “You look fine. You’re going to meet Beau Hunt. You should want to look
hot
.”

“How I look doesn’t matter. I’m just here to ask him about the charity.”

“Are you going to ask him how you got the tickets?”

Stacy was stumped on that one. “I don’t know. I guess I should just take the chance to help the charity, but I wonder if the tickets were a mistake. Even though they were addressed to me.” The thought made her uncomfortable for some reason, but she pushed it aside as she walked ahead and handed her tickets to the doorman.

He looked bored until he looked down at them and then raised an eyebrow and called over a woman. “VIP. Beau’s personal passes. Get them their lanyards,” he said, eyeing them curiously.

Another employee came over, looking harried, and gave them a skeptical look before handing them lanyards with VIP cards on them to put over their necks. “After the show, you can take the private exit to the right of the stage, and a security guard will take you to meet Beau.”

Stacy just blinked up at her, and Lisa nodded at the woman. “Thanks.” Then she pulled Stacy toward the entrance to the arena.

It was
huge
.

So many seats, and they had to walk by many, many of them to get down to the standing room spot right in front of the stage. She had to endure jealous yells and stares from the women around her, all of whom were dressed in their best while she was only in her typical office wear.

She’d just never been impressed with celebs; that was all. She didn’t think any one person should be thought of as better than anyone else or more worthy of attention. People like Beau Hunt expected the world to revolve around them, but more importantly, it did.

Stacy blamed the world. She tapped her feet as she felt herself jostled forward in the crowd with Lisa, who was desperate to get up front.

“I can almost smell him,” Lisa squealed, and Stacy rolled her eyes.

But then the lights went down in the arena, and a hush went over the audience. When the lights came back, shining all around on the audience, lighting up the stage, which was covered in instruments, she saw the band.

She let out a relieved breath. Just the openers. For some reason, she wasn’t ready for Beau Hunt to appear.

She easily got into the fun, upbeat music his openers played. She jumped in the air with Lisa and the other girls (and even some guys) around them who were having a blast and lost herself in the pounding music and the sheer adrenaline of it.

But all too soon, the band was taking their bows, soaking in the cheers, and then leaving the stage.

And then everything went dark again. Then spotlights came on, circling around the audience rumbling in anticipation. Stacy felt her heart drop out of her chest.

A light shined at the top of the set, over a pedestal that was slowing lowering, a lone figure standing atop it with legs spread and a guitar slung casually over his side.

There was no mistaking the glint of that golden, shaggy hair, cut to look edgy and compliment his beautiful face. No mistaking the screams of the crowd as she could literally feel them heat electrically around her.

Beau kept his eyes down, staying perfectly still as his pedestal lowered. When it was a few feet from the ground, he raised his guitar and flashed his handsome face at the crowd, jumping down and strumming the first booming note as he stepped forward into a kneeling position that had all the girls screaming.

Next to her, someone fainted. She looked down as the girl was scooped up by her boyfriend and then at the women around her and wondered if she was in a parallel universe.

He was… cheesy.

He started his first song, his gorgeous, husky voice ringing out across the arena as his fans screamed in pleasure.

She scowled at his outfit. Typical rocker. Leather pants tight over incredibly muscular thighs. His face was model gorgeous, but his body was more pro wrestler. Tall and built, typical lion shifter.

In fact, that’s probably why she was the only one who saw through him.

But even she had to admit not all lion shifters were built like that. There was something hypnotic about his face as he looked out at the crowd with a cocky grin just before starting a difficult guitar rift. His bassist came up beside him, leaning in suggestively as they played together, and the women went crazy. Apparently, just seeing anyone next to him was orgasm worthy.

Another woman fainted.

Stacy rolled her eyes and grabbed Lisa by the arm. Lisa turned to her with flushed excitement. “What? He’s amazing, right?”

“He’s something else,” Stacy said. She pointed to the other girl being picked up by her friends. “But are these girls serious?”

“You think you’re so above it all. But I dare you to just look at him. For ten seconds. Okay? Go.”

Stacy rolled her eyes and looked up at Beau, as if it’d be easy to prove her friend wrong.

But she looked at exactly the wrong moment and saw him looking down at her, his bright blue eyes glowing as a smile spread over his face.

But he didn’t smile like any normal guy.

This smile wasn’t merely friendly. It was seductive. It was naughty. It promised all sorts of wicked things, and then he strummed again on his guitar, looking at her meaningfully, as if she were what he wanted to be strumming, before winking and moving on to another part of the crowd.

Now she understood why women fainted. She fanned her face, hoping Lisa wouldn’t notice, but no such luck. Lisa guffawed and then locked her eyes onto Beau again.

As much as Stacy hated him, from that moment on, she couldn’t look away. She was part of the crowd now, in the thrall of his performance, his husky voice and haunting melodies piercing straight to her soul.

She could have been imagining it, but it seemed as if his eyes kept returning to her. Was it real, or was that just part of his magic appeal, his ability to make every woman feel like the only one in the room?

But there was the letter he’d sent, addressed to her, and the tickets she’d used, and the lanyard around her neck that told the world she was his special guest.

Beau’s personal passes
, the guy at the front had said.

She put a hand over her rapidly beating heart as Beau started his next song, a haunting ballad about being in love. His winking eyes turned serious as he sang his heart out, and she let herself sink into the music and try not to think about the person creating it.

Or the fact that she’d be seeing him in person soon. In just a couple hours. In a room with that face, that body.

How would she be able to remember what a monster he and his family were with those golden eyes locked on her alone?

She pulled her sweater around herself and resisted the urge to run. Or faint. She was on a mission here.