Maid for the Rock Star (9 page)

He scratched his chin, or at least the hair sprouting from it. Could a rock star get away with a hipster beard? He was almost there. It'd be a shame to shave it off now.

As they lifted off the helipad, he watched the hotel staff spilling out of a building hidden among the palm trees. His eyes zeroed in on the one person he'd recognise anywhere – the maid who'd fallen asleep on his couch. When she lifted her gaze to the rising plexiglass bubble, he deliberately turned away.

Why hadn't he reported her? Called Security or Reception and had them remove her from his house? He'd even felt sorry for her and bought her breakfast, but she'd refused. What kind of girl refused to join a rock star for breakfast after sleeping with him? Well, sleeping in his house, anyway.

He'd pick up some girls in town and bring them back to the island for a few nights. That'd make him feel better. Let the maid know what she was missing out on. What was her name? Audrey, like the fool's shepherdess...Jason fingered the tattooed words on his arm, a constant reminder of who he was. At least until Chaya fractured and they all went their own ways. Then what?

Fuck, it was too early to be thinking about a future beyond the rest of the day. He wanted a drink. Then he wanted some damn accommodating chicks who'd do whatever he asked, because he was a rock star. He stared moodily out the window, where the clashing colours of red rock, aqua ocean, the muddy brown of rivers and the green swirls of vegetation marking the riverbanks looked more like an abstract painting than real land. Everything about this place was surreal, including the way all the rivers and inlets looked like tortured trees full of snakes. Next to them, the heart-shaped island that housed his hotel seemed nearly normal.

Not that he could get away with rubbishing the town in the residents' hearing, though. He knew that already. One chance comment that ended up in the news could linger for weeks. Talk about hypocrisy. He could do whatever he liked to his appearance, get drunk and sleep with half the town's female population, and all anyone would say is that he was living it up in Broome because it was paradise. Say the town had a trippy river and he'd get hate mail.

Beside the town helipad, he could already see the car he'd ordered. A brand-new, black four-wheel-drive with air conditioning that could bring an Antarctic blizzard to the Kimberley. He itched to drive it. Maybe even take it off road a bit.

The helicopter bumped gently to the ground. Driving time.

"I'll drive up to the pearl farm myself and meet you there with the chopper later," he told the pilot as he slid to the ground, doubling over to stay out of reach of the still-spinning rotors. "Oh, and make sure they know I'll be bringing guests!"

He climbed behind the wheel of his new car and pulled the door closed, sealing himself inside with the new-car smell. The cloying humidity could stay outside the glass as he drove with dream-like precision to the morning haunt of all rock stars: the nearest pub.

SEVENTEEN

"So how'd your hot date with Serge go last night?" Milk splashed out of Penny's bowl of cereal as she shoved it across the table.

Audra stared at Penny. "It wasn't a hot date. We just had a few beers, sat on the beach and talked."

Penny snorted. "Talked. Yeah, right. You're still wearing the same clothes you had on yesterday, Adam's threatening to strangle Serge because he won't stop whistling, and I know you didn't come home last night because I didn't hear your door."

"You must have been asleep, then," Audra said lightly, rising to leave.

Penny grabbed her wrist. "I wanted to borrow your argan oil. I'm out and Patel loves to stroke my hair, but I went for a swim yesterday and the salt's stripped it all dry. C'mon, I know you had heaps the last time you let me borrow it." She smirked. "Or are you saving it to grease up your lover boy?"

"Yeah, maybe I am," Audra snapped, yanking her arm free. Last time Penny had borrowed the bottle, she'd used a third of the expensive stuff and she certainly hadn't paid for it. Audra had no intention of being so gullible a second time – she wasn't sure when she'd be able to afford more for herself. "So no, you can't use it."

"You'll need all the lube you can get so that hunk of meat can slide into your puckered-up hole, Grumpy Guts," Penny retorted. "How long's it been since you spread your legs for a man? Months, definitely, seeing as you haven't had anyone over since we got here. Or longer than that? Was your boyfriend back home saving himself for marriage? Or is that you?"

Audra wanted to punch Penny for voicing what she was already thinking, but even she had to admit it wouldn't be fair. "It's been a while," she confessed quietly.

Penny hooted with laughter. "So kiss that personal trainer of yours, get him to back you up against the wall and do you in the shower block. With arms like his, I bet he could support your weight for hours." She smiled mistily. "I'd do him." She eyed Audra's top. "Looks like you already did last night. I knew you were lying. What's that, then?" She pointed at a blotch.

Peering at her shirt, Audra sighed. "Ice cream from dessert, most likely."

"Ha! You blew him! I'd never have thought it of you. That hot man practically owes you a decent screw now. If you were out with him all last night, why didn't you collect?"

"I wasn't..." Audra trailed off, knowing Penny would only get louder and more insistent the longer she protested. The fewer people who knew about last night, the better. "We were just talking and then I got paged over to the Pearls. I...it was a mess, and I was there most of the night, dealing with it." She avoided Penny's searching eyes.

"You blew a VIP? What'd he taste like? Did he tip you? How big was he? Was he hot?"

Audra winced. "Penny."

Penny finally noticed that they were drawing attention and lowered her voice. "Was he hot?" she repeated.

"I didn't do anything with anyone last night. You know we can't."

"If no one knows, it never happened," Penny intoned, waving her hands around as if she was casting some sort of spell.

Audra snorted. "Well, it didn't. It's all in your imagination." She glanced at her watch. "And now breakfast's over, so I should grab a shower before I have to finish cleaning the villas. Reception said we have a booking for Albina on the weekend." She hurried out, hoping Penny wouldn't follow.

"Tell me his name!"

Audra shook her head and kept going. Thumping helicopter blades make her glance up – surely the guests for Albina weren't arriving already? They weren't due until tomorrow. It was taking off, not landing, though, and she thought she recognised the passenger before he turned his head. Jay was headed off for an outing – a private heli-fishing expedition, a tour of the gorges or what she'd been told was a magical flight over Horizontal Falls, maybe. Stuff she'd never be able to afford. Especially not if she didn't get a shower before work.

Fifteen minutes later, when the hot water had run out and she'd buttoned herself into her work uniform, Audra stared critically at her reflection. Yes, the shadows under her eyes were almost darker than her irises. She needed a decent night's sleep in her own bed without worrying about rock stars, sleeping on their couches, drinking too much beer or...sweet dreams about sex with Jay Felix. She hoped Jay enjoyed his excursion today so much that he was too tired to call for maid service tonight.

As if it had heard her, Audra's wristband beeped, summoning her to Reception. She reached for her shoes.

Heloise stood at the reception desk, wearing a pink frangipani because the white ones blended into her fair hair.

"You paged me?" Audra waved her wrist in the air.

Heloise found the message. "The guest in Maxima will be bringing more people to the villa tonight. Can you make sure it's ready?"

"Sure thing. Did he mention what time?"

Heloise shrugged. "When the helicopter comes back. The pilot's the one who relayed the message from the mainland."

So the only warning she'd have would be the sound of the pearl farm's helicopter returning. Fine. She'd deal with Maxima first, then. Audra thanked Heloise and headed for the Pearls.

EIGHTEEN

"You want pancakes and a pint of beer?" the waitress repeated, puckering her lips like a puzzled duck.

Jason folded his arms behind his head, reclining in his seat. "That's right, babe. And extra syrup. I'm looking for a little more sweetness today." He winked, then realised his sunglasses hid his eyes. He thought about taking them off, but it was a bloody bright morning. Besides, if the girl couldn't even take his order properly, she didn't deserve a wink from a rock god.

Shaking her head, the waitress wandered back to the kitchen.

Jason shrugged. Her loss.

He resumed reading his newspaper, scanning for the story about Chaya's farewell concert, growing more and more annoyed as he kept turning pages and found no word of it. It should have been front-page news, but some plane crash had claimed that headline, and the paper was full of pictures of the wreckage and the people who'd been on board. He had enough bad news in his own life today – he didn't need to be depressed even more with stories of lives tragically cut short. In frustration, he tossed the paper onto another table. Maybe he'd have been better off staying at the resort.

The sweet smell of chocolate changed his mind as his pancakes arrived. Chocolate chip pancakes drowned in maple syrup with ice cream and a cherry on top, no less. Fuck, if they tasted half as good as they smelled, he'd have to stick them on his list of requirements for Chaya's next tour. Their final tour.

He stabbed the cherry with his fork, but somehow it slipped off before it made it to his mouth, splashing maple syrup everywhere. Swearing, he yanked off his syrup-smeared sunglasses and threw them down on the table. Fuck daylight. Fuck breakfast. Fuck hiding. No one knew who he was and soon Chaya would be nothing but a forgotten memory. He was nobody again.

"Oh my God, it's Jay Felix!" someone squealed.

Maybe not yet.

Jason found himself signing autographs and posing for photos with the group of backpackers who'd stopped in to grab breakfast on their way to the beach. One glance at the string bikinis barely covered by transparent shirts and skimpy shorts was enough to lift his spirits. And harden his resolve. A pack of fangirls to play with was exactly what he needed right now.

He invited them to join him for breakfast and grinned as two of them started fanning themselves. There had to be something wrong with that hotel maid. No one refused breakfast with a rock star.

He called the waitress over and insisted she arrange for a bigger table, more chairs and pancakes for everyone. And where was his beer?

Giggling washed over him like a bottle of shaken-up champagne. Balm to his rock star ego and enough to send his hangover away.

He lifted up the badly behaved cherry by its stalk. "Who wants me to a pop a cherry?"

Jason grinned as several of them blushed. He didn't care if girls were virgins or experts – he was their first rock star, enough to make any girl forget every other man she'd slept with. He selected a girl whose blush was so red it rivalled the fruit in his fingers. "Open your mouth," he purred, widening his grin as she obeyed, before popping the cherry inside. He paused while she ate it. "I like a girl who swallows."

More giggles erupted and he basked in their adoration. Almost as good as sex, though he was pretty sure he'd be getting that, too.