Love Song (Rocked by Love #2) (6 page)

"I want to be the
man you need. Please let me show you that I can be." He wanted to see her
smile, and fuck, he needed to hold her again. "Next time, I'll handcuff
myself to you so the mob can't come between us. Or if we really need some
privacy, we can wear disguises."

Her lips curved in the
start of a smile. "When you say that, I'm picturing you in a fedora and
trench coat, like one of those hard-boiled detectives in a nineteen-thirties
movie."

"I wouldn't mind
seeing you in a trench coat, especially if you wore nothing underneath
it." He wiggled his brows at her and she tossed one of her throw pillows
at his head. Pale pink sequins attached to the fuzzy pillow struck his chin and
tangled in his beard.

He counter-attacked,
lobbing a pillow in her direction, and landing a hit. She came at him with a
one-two punch, a pillow in each hand, scoring a hit on his head and stomach. A
blur of arcing pillows followed, raining down upon him. He counted at least
ten—how many did she have? He gave as good as he got, tossing the soft missiles
back as soon as they landed.

Laughing, panting, Audrey
spun away and snatched a large white pillow from the chair by the window. She
launched onto the couch, aiming for his side.

In defense, Luke grabbed
her around the waist and rolled her beneath him. He locked his hands around her
wrists and pressed her arms over her head, into the pillows he'd stockpiled at
the end of the couch. "Give up."

She blew a stray hair out
of her face and gave a defiant toss of her head. "Never."

He grinned down at her as
lightning flashed outside the window and rain battered the windows and thunder
rumbled across the sky. "I missed you, Sunshine."

"I missed you,
too."

"Are we good? I'm so
sorry I messed up that night."

"We're good. Better,
actually, now that we understand each other more." She tugged her arms
from his grasp and then wound them around his back. "I'm glad you're
here."

He nuzzled her neck.
"Can I spend the night?"

She sighed when his lips
met the soft skin by her ear and tilted her head to give him better access.
"To sleep, yes. Nothing else. I still want to take things slow. I know we
agreed on baby steps, and I think that's a good idea."

"We can go slow. As
long as I can lie beside you and hold you, I'll be happy." He needed to
feel her in his arms, to lie beside her and breathe her in. Reversing their
positions, he rolled until he was cradling her body with his, then massaged her
back and neck in slow circles. Easing the tension, feeling her soften, taking
care of her in a tiny way, and hopefully showing her just how much the second
chance meant to him.

Audrey
slipped slowly toward sleep while Luke rubbed the tension right out of her
body. Rain continued to pound against the window. Another bolt of lightning lit
across the sky, quickly followed by a resounding boom of thunder rattling the
windows. She tightened her hold on him and then laughed. "That was louder
than I expected."

"I'm just glad I'm
not out there. Warm and dry is better. Warm and dry with you is better
still."

Stifling a yawn, she
stretched against his muscular frame. "It's getting late."

His fingers traced her
face. "You look exhausted."

"I've been working
more than anything else. And sleep hasn't been easy."

He dropped a kiss on her
lips, then rolled off of her and extended his hand to help her to her feet.
"We'll both sleep better tonight."

"Unless you hog the
blankets, pillows, or mattress."

Hand in hand, they walked
to the bedroom area. She refused to let nerves set in. They weren't doing
anything other than sleeping, but sleep in itself was a vulnerable thing. When
he ducked into the bathroom with his bag, she pulled out a tank top and sleep
shorts and changed clothes, then flipped off the lights. He came out wearing
his t-shirt and boxers.

"Be right
back." She slipped by him, trading places, and zipped through her
nighttime routine.

When she emerged, he
stood by the bed. He'd turned down the covers and clicked on her bedside lamp.
"You have a side preference?"

"The left. Closest
to the window."

"Good. I like being
closest to the door."

She slid into soft, cool
sheets and hard, hot Luke. The perfect combination.

He switched off the light
and slipped his arm around her waist. They lay there in the dark, listening to
the patter of rain and talking about their days.

For the first time in a
long time, she fell asleep feeling complete.

Audrey woke up to
sunlight streaming in the windows. The sheer pink curtains gave a rose-colored
tint to the room. The heavy weight of Luke's arm was a solid band, locking her
to him. She glanced at the clock and then rolled to face him.

Sleepy blue eyes blinked
open. "Good morning, Sunshine."

"Hi. It won't be morning
for much longer. We slept in pretty late." She traced a finger along his
beard. "Sleep okay?"

He grunted an assent and
tucked the pillow under his head. "You don't have to work today, do
you?"

"Just a quick
meeting this afternoon with one of the models for my show. She's been away on a
magazine shoot and I need her to try on her outfit one more time."

His fingers skated along
her spine. She shivered against the sensation and wiggled closer to him.
"Then here's the plan, we get up, shower, coffee, and then we're picking
up breakfast at the cafe near the park."

"And eating it at
the park?"

"Yeah." He
nipped at her lip. "Then I'll watch you do your fashion designer thing,
and then you're mine for the rest of the day."

"Sounds like a
pretty good deal to me." She cuddled in for a moment and then forced
herself to roll out of bed. "Okay, let's go. You can shower first. I'll
start the coffee."

While the coffee brewed,
Audrey stuck the roses into a large tote bag. She'd drop them off to her
downstairs neighbor on the way to breakfast. Dante would be expecting a
response to the roses. Calling him now wouldn't work. She didn't want to upset
Luke.

The sound of his singing
drew her into the living room. She smiled. He really did have a great voice.
And the cheesy love songs he'd chosen made her laugh. If only the hard rock
world could hear him now.

The pipes squeaked as the
water stopped. Audrey grabbed her coffee and rifled through her closet. The day
promised to be a scorcher. She needed something light and cool and as happy as
her mood.

Luke joined her, wrapping
his arms around her waist. He wore a white t-shirt and faded gray shorts. She
pulled out gun-metal gray metallic sandals and a white cotton sundress with
bold purple flowers splashed across the skirt. "Did you save me any hot
water?"

"Some. We'd save
more if you joined me next time." His teeth sunk into the curve between
her shoulder and neck.

She shivered as awareness
tingled up her spine. "If you throw in another private concert like
today's, I might consider it."

"You liked my medley
for you, huh?"

Twisting to face him, she
grinned. "Loved it. I'll take an encore anytime."

A short time later, they
sat sprawled on the Great Lawn in Central Park enjoying their breakfast picnic
of bagels, fruit, and iced coffee. He'd been recognized at the cafe, and again
as they strolled by the park's boat pond. Both times, he'd kept his hand on her
arm, shoulder, or waist, and introduced her to the fans.

He'd done everything to
make her feel included. If she were keeping score, he'd be even date-wise,
one-to-one. Time would tell on which side he'd predominately fall. She fed him
a grape, then leaned back on her hands and stared at the sky. "Today's
been a nice breather. It'll get me through the next six days until the show."

"Nervous?"

"Every time. But
especially this time. So much is riding on it. Not only is it the first one I'm
doing post-Rob, but I really want to show the domestic violence program's
director that I'm the right designer for this project. The model I'm meeting
with later today was in an abusive relationship a few years ago and so this is
something very close to my heart. So, yeah, I'm pretty nervous about this show
going well."

"I'll be
there." He shifted until they were shoulder to shoulder and intertwined
their fingers on the grass. He said it easily, like her depending on him was a
given, like he wouldn't let her down.

She rested her head on
his shoulder. "Maybe next Sunday we can do this again. The show will be
over then, and I'll know the director's decision, and I'll need to
decompress."

"Irisa, Jayne, and
the guys will still be in town then too."

"It'll be good to
meet Jayne and see everyone else again." Her watch winked in the sunlight.
She glanced at the time and calculated the distance to her studio. "We'd
better go. I don't want Vanessa to be stuck outside waiting for me."

"That's the model,
right?"

"She's
also become a good friend. She stayed with me for a while after she left that
bad relationship. Anyway, her fitting won't take too long. Her new boyfriend is
in town with her, so I'm sure she has things she'd rather be doing with
him."

Luke gathered the remains
of their picnic. "Probably the same type of things I want to do with
you."

"Luke." Heat
crept across her cheeks.

Grinning, he reached for
her hand. "Come on, Sunshine, let's get you to the old salt mine."

"Vanessa
asked me to design some things for him too. He's a rocker. I wonder if you know
him."

"What's
his name?"

"He
plays in a band called..." She scrunched her forehead, trying to remember.
"Ox something or other."

He stopped
walking. "Swindle Ox?"

"That's
it. I'm not sure which guy in the band she's dating."

"Their
lead singer is an ass. The other guys aren't as bad as him." He fell in
step beside her again. "I really hope it's not Owen."

"Why?"

"He's the asshole
who hacked into our fan club a few months ago, posing as me, announcing that I
was leaving the band."

"Oh." That
incident had happened a week after the band had wrapped up their tour. She
remembered reading about it and the PR nightmare it had caused for Irisa. The
announcement had created a giant headache for everyone in the band.

"Well, in that case,
I hope it's not him either."

When they arrived at the
shop, he held the door for her, and followed her inside. "If Renee isn't
better by tomorrow. I'll come in and help you."

She sighed at the state
of her to-do list. "Thanks. I may take you up on that offer."

They both turned as the
door opened. Vanessa glided in, tall and tan and glowing. A tall man followed
behind. Audrey rushed to hug her. "You look fabulous."

"That's what the
Caribbean will do for you." Vanessa stepped back and raised her brows at
Luke. "This is..."

"Luke
Thompson." Audrey placed her hand on Luke's arm, excited for them to meet.

Beside her, he vibrated
and growled like an angry dog on a tight leash. "What the hell are you
doing here?"

Audrey blinked at his
rudeness. His words and gaze weren't directed at Vanessa, but at the glowering
man by her side.

The man
rolled his brawny shoulders and closed in on Luke. "What's it to
you,"—he sneered with an exaggerated curled lip—"candy-assed
shit-bag?"

T
ension
snapped and crackled between the men staring each other down like boxers before
a fight. Luke's fingers flexed at his sides and his jaw went rigid as a stone.

She glanced from them to
Vanessa. Her friend shrugged. "I take it you two know each other."

"We go way
back," Luke snapped out, his stare frozen on the other man.

She'd never seen him
quite so
angry
. All hopes for a stress-free afternoon vanished. Her
caring, brooding man had morphed into a vengeful, seething fighter.

And it looked like Luke
was about to collect payback.

***

Luke's
hands clenched into fists. He and the front man for Swindle Ox shared a mutual
hate of each other. The feud had started years ago with a slighted Owen blaming
Luke for an upset at a music awards show and showed no signs of stopping.

The fact they had
girlfriends who apparently were friends? Fucking nightmare.

Audrey stepped in between
them. "Vanessa, come on back with me. Guys, I get that you don't like each
other but this is a place of business. If you can't be civil, then please
leave."

Vanessa slipped her hand
into Owen's. "Come on, baby. Be nice."

"To him? No
way." He glanced at Audrey, and then sneered at Luke. "Still with
your band?"

Luke moved in front of
Audrey. "Why? Thinking of starting any new fake rumors? Come at my fans'
space again and I'll take you down so fast your head will spin."

"What are you—the
fan club police?"

Luke's muscles burned
with the urge to punch the smirk right off of Owen's face. "I'm the guy
who's going to rearrange your fucking face if you do one more thing to mess with
me or my fans."

"Luke."
Audrey's hand tugged the back of his shirt. He hadn't realized he'd moved a
step in Owen's direction.

"What." He spat
out the word as he turned toward her. The tunnel vision he'd had slowly
expanded to include his surroundings. The clothes, the photos on the wall, the
light lemon scent, but most clear of all was the confusion and unhappiness on
Audrey's face.

"Let's go." Her
hand linked with his and she drew him toward the door. "Go get a coffee or
something. I won't have bloodshed on my floors."

"You're kicking
me
out?" He stopped walking. After all they'd shared last night, he couldn't
believe she didn't have his back. "What about him?"

"I need to check
Vanessa's dress and then fit him for two shirts and a pair of pants. I can't do
that with the two of you having a pissing contest."

He dipped his head low
until his lips met her ear and then his whispered through gritted teeth,
"I don't want to leave you with him here."

Audrey peered at Owen and
Vanessa for a moment and he followed her gaze. His nemesis had his arm around
the tall, tan model, playing the part of adoring boyfriend. "What he did
to you wasn't right, but he doesn't seem so bad."

"Trust me, he
is."

She nudged him closer
toward the door. "I have experience handling moody rockers. Give me a
half-hour, forty-five minutes tops. I'll call you when the coast is
clear."

Behind Audrey's back,
Owen flipped him off. Shaking his head, Luke strode out of the shop and headed
for a hit of caffeine that wouldn't do a damn bit of good. Sucking down icy
black coffee with two shots of espresso, he walked the neighborhood until the
urge to throttle Owen lessened to the level of possibly being in the same room
with him without punching his lights out.

When Audrey's call came
forty minutes later, he'd calmed down enough to realize he shouldn't have let
Owen bait him. He returned to the studio and found her standing in the front
room of the shop. Her serious expression didn't harbor any hint of a smile. His
gaze swept the space. What he was looking for, he didn't know, but Owen always
put him on edge. "You okay?"