Love Revolution (Black Cat Records Shakespeare Inspired trilogy) (29 page)

Sam’s days started to all run together. Go to work, come home. Rinse and repeat. Sure it had been extremely awkward the first day back after the kidnapping. There were lots of rumors flying around and there were some who stared and gossiped behind her back. The most outlandish one had been about Danny, JR, and her being a threesome.
Where did people come up with stuff like that?

The majority of her colleagues appeared to be mostly at a loss on how to approach her. After all, what did one say to a woman who had been publicly disrespected by her boyfriend and then pistol whipped and kidnapped by her psychotic father?

The story was all over the news, but for the most part she was left alone. She suspected Mary probably had something to do with that and was grateful.

“Do you have the information I requested?” Beth asked, popping in the door to Sam’s office.

Sam glanced up. “I’m working on it right now.” She took the decorative hair tie off her wrist and pulled her hair back into a ponytail.” Determination marking her brow, she told her boss. “Give me till lunchtime.”

Beth nodded. “That’s fine, Samantha. Call me if you need anything, ok?”

“Sure,” she mumbled, gaze lowering to focus on the complicated task of arranging a flow chart to get people and equipment efficiently moved cross country for BS’s upcoming tour. By one o’clock, she was done and hit send after making multiple backups of all the documentation. Stretching her hands over her head, her stomach grumbled. She couldn’t remember if she’d eaten breakfast. Lately, she hadn’t felt much like eating at all.

Needing some fresh air, she pulled her purse out of her desk drawer and grabbed her jacket. She’d just passed by the recording studios on her way outside when she glimpsed a shock of familiar blond hair on the long legged figure turning the corner in front of her. She stopped. Every muscle in her body tensed. Her heart began to pound erratically. She started to back up to go another direction when he turned around.

Grey eyes met mossy green, neither moving nor speaking for a very long time. JR didn’t look so good. His beard was untrimmed, and his hair was messy. Usually he was impeccably dressed, too, but not today. The hurt and sorrow in his eyes she knew was reflected in her own. So much had been lost for both of them. Such a waste.

“Sam, I need…” He shook his head and didn’t finish the thought. His brow creased. “How are you?” he redirected in an even tone. “You look…good.”

“I’m alright.”

“I’ve been so worried about you.”

“JR, please don’t start.” She cut him off.

He lips flattened and he took a step back, as if taking her usage of his nickname like a physical blow.

“I saw the apology on CNN. Thank you for that.”

“I wish I could take it all back. I am so sorry. If only…” He took a step toward her reaching out his hand.

“Don’t.” She shook her head. “Just, don’t.” Her voice cracked. “Nothing’s changed…” She shrugged unable to finish.

JR nodded once and turned away, every muscle in his broad shoulders in a hard line.

Sam stood there motionless, her hands so tightly clasped that her nails dug crescents into her palms. She stared in the direction he’d gone long after he’d turned the corner out of sight. The shock of seeing him for the first time since the hospital caused unwanted emotions to resurface. An internal struggle raged inside of her. A large part of her desperately wanted to chase him down, to touch him and offer her comfort, but reason prevailed. She’d be twice the fool to stick her hand into that fire again.

Her heels muffled by the carpet runner, Sam sadly turned and headed back toward her office, no longer having any interest in going outside. Her head suddenly swiveled as she heard the unmistakable sound of a fist slamming into the wall followed by an obscenity. A gut wrenching moan brought immediate tears to her eyes. He must have been around the corner, just steps away from her the entire time.

Swallowing back a sob, she closed her eyes but it didn’t help. She could see the misery in his moss green eyes as if it was permanently tattooed onto the back of her eyelids, and she felt his pain as if it were her own. Warm tears fell onto her cold bloodless face as she fled down the hall, praying for the day to come when things would get easier.

“Fuck!” JR pulled his throbbing fist back to his chest. Assessing the damage, he wiggled his fingers and was dismayed to find out he couldn’t move one. Hopefully, it wasn’t broken. Marcus was going to kill him if it was. “Shit. Shit.” That would cause major problems for the tour. How the hell long would it take to heal?

He turned the corner hoping for a last glimpse of her, but she was already gone. He’d been unable to make himself leave, knowing the entire time she’d been so close but so unreachable. Seeing her just made everything worse. How could she so easily dismiss his longing for her when it practically radiated off his skin? He wished with every fiber of his being that she would take him back. How long was it going to be this way? He cursed again, but it didn’t help. Nothing did. The familiar ache in his chest returned two fold. She’d given him his walking papers. Why the hell couldn’t he accept that and move on?

Outside of the building, JR crossed his arms and hunched his shoulders against the cold autumn wind. Expression dark, he made his way purposefully down the sidewalk looking for liquid consolation.

Several hours and too many drinks later, JR became vaguely aware of someone’s hand on his shoulder. Struggling to lift his head off the bar, he twisted around.

“Ok, Cupcake,” Marcus said. “It’s time to go home.”

“Piss off, asshole,” JR slurred as he squinted his eyes trying to bring a single image of Marcus into focus.

“Nice! Now let someone with some compassion try,” Dwight said, scowling at his brother. “JR…Bud. We just want to help you get home, man.”

“How’d you find me?” JR asked, willing the room to stop spinning.

“James called me,” Marcus said, nodding at the bartender. “I used to spend way too much time in here myself. Come on big guy,” He and Dwight got up underneath JR’s arms and helped him to his feet. “Believe me this stuff isn’t going to help. You’re gonna feel like crap tomorrow.”

After getting JR back home and to his bed with a trashcan strategically placed nearby, Marcus and Dwight stepped out of the entrance of the loft apartment.

“Do you think he’s going to be ok?” Dwight asked.

“Probably,” Marcus answered, shrugging. “He got himself to that bar all by himself. As far as I’m concerned he can deal with the unpleasant after effects all by himself, too.”

“Cold, little brother. That’s pretty cold. I’m going to stay here until he sobers up, just to be safe. We can’t have our drummer choking to death on his own vomit. Anyway, I wasn’t talking about his hangover.”

“What then?”

“Haven’t you being paying attention to what’s going on in your band?” Dwight raised a brow. “Things have gone straight to hell for JR. The press conference, the kidnapping, and then Sam breaking it off with him. The dude’s been a wreck all week.”

Marcus ran a hand through his hair. “Pretty oblivious, huh?” He paused. “I guess I’ve been a little preoccupied lately.”

“A little?” Dwight rolled his eyes. “Do you and Avery
ever
leave your apartment?”

“Watch it bro,” Marcus warned. “Can you really blame me for wanting to have her all to myself before we go on tour? You and I both know how things can get on the road.”

“Yeah, I do know, and I understand. Hell, I worry about how it will affect Lisa, too. But listen I’m more worried about JR right now. He’s been on a real downward spiral, even for him, and things don’t seem to be getting any better. Did you notice his right hand? It was all swollen and shit.”

“Dammit. What the hell did he do to it? Do you think he’ll be good for the tour?”

“Physically, I don’t know. Mentally, I doubt it, unless we can do something to help him get things resolved with Samantha before we leave.”

Marcus nodded. “You’re probably right. It’s just so bizarre to see JR all messed up over a woman.”

“Yeah, well, I think he really loves her.”

Marcus raised his brows. “He’s got a real weird way of showing it.”

Dwight gave him a wry look. “Do you really want to go there? After the way things went down with you and Avery.”

Marcus snorted. “Ok, point taken. What do you suggest we do about it?”

“I don’t really know exactly. Getting them talking again would probably be a good start. But I think it’s gonna take more than just the two of us to figure this one out.” He paused and took a deep breath. “Why don’t you talk to Avery? She has a soft spot for JR and we could use a woman’s perspective.”

As soon as Marcus stepped off the elevator, Avery flew into his arms. “How is he?”

“Shit-faced as usual.”

“Oh.” Her face fell.

He moved his hands down and grasped her cute little ass and pulled her closer. He heard her sigh and watched her gaze lower to his mouth. And that was all it took to amp him up for her yet again.

He smashed his lips against hers, moving hungrily, tasting and feasting on those delectable full lips. The ones that had driven him crazy when he’d thought she’d been a man. Even though they’d been together nonstop since his proposal, his craving for her hadn’t lessened. If anything knowing how good they were together just made him want her even more. She was like oxygen to him, if oxygen could be addictive.

Marcus lifted her up and she wrapped her legs around his torso. In two long strides he had her backed up against the wall and pinned in place. His hands tunneled through her short silky hair and cradled her face. He brought his mouth down to hers again and began pillaging it with long hot strokes. She tasted exotic like the cardamom and cinnamon in the spiced chai tea she favored.

After giving her mouth the attention it deserved, he began blazing a heated trail down the side of her neck, pausing to spend extra time in the area where her neck and shoulder met. He knew from experience that this was one of
those
spots for her. She turned her head to give him easier access.

“Oh, Marcus,” she breathed.

His name on her lips like that… it was insane what it did to him. Any defined thoughts he might have had up to that point about JR or the band totally evaporated. He repositioned his hands underneath her and strode down the hall to the bedroom. “Hold that thought Ace,” he told her entering the bedroom and kicking the door closed.