“Got it.” Jesse shoved Call toward the door. “I’ll be down in an hour. Thanks for the heads-up. Good to see you. Buh bye.”
Kimber frowned. “You’re going back out on tour?”
“Mostly we’re finishing studio work. There’s a mini U.S. tour, but it’s only ten cities,” he assured, still pushing Cal. “You’ll come with me, won’t you? You said you’d spend at least a few weeks with me. Does it matter where we are?”
“She’s a distraction you don’t need,” Call warned, digging in his heels just short of the door. “It’s not the image we’ve been pushing to the press. Single bad boy with a voice like an angel. Chicks dig it, and it sells records. Word gets out that you have a girlfriend on tour with you, and you watch. The album won’t do as well.”
“If you leave in the next ten seconds, I’ll do an extra press junket in the first three cities.”
With a scowl, Call dashed out, slamming the door behind him. Jesse leaned against it with a groan. “He’s got great business smarts, but he’s so single-minded, he drives me crazy. So, you’ll come with me on tour, right?”
Kimber had cleared her schedule so she could be with him. But a tour?
Everything between them right now felt a little awkward. Having Call and Ryan hanging around wasn’t helping.
Or maybe this…weird feeling was all in her head because she couldn’t get Deke out of her thoughts. Did he regret rejecting and insulting her? Did he miss her at all? Even now, she itched to pick up her cell phone and call Luc, ask him for some word about the hard-headed soldier. But why?
Even if Deke wanted her, he’d never accept his desire. For some reason, she made him vulnerable and he refused to tolerate it.
And damn, it hurt like hell.
Kimber cleared her throat, tried to clear her mind. “I’ll have to make sure there’s nothing going on, but I’m pretty sure I can go.”
“Great.” He shrugged and tugged her back to the couch, plopping down on it and pulling her into his lap. “I really want you to go. I’ve been really looking forward to having you around. You’re just what I need, babe. Without you here, I can be a really bad boy.” Jesse flashed her a thousand-mega watt smile.
Yeah, that’s what all the press about him said. With looks, money, and stardom, he was all about the sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll—pretty much in that order. Sitting on his lap felt weird, since she could only wonder how many other women he’d perched on his thighs and what had happened next. And he didn’t rev her up like Deke or comfort her like Luc.
“How will having me here change your bad ways?”
He picked up her hand, rubbed his thumb along the back.
“You’re a calming influence. My good luck charm. My conscience.”
What? The last time they’d talked she wasn’t wild enough to live his life, and now she was his conscience?
“Don’t frown,” he said. “That’s a good thing.”
Ryan glanced at his watch. “Time to go face Jimmy for the day, toss out the new crop of songs for him to butcher and bitch about for the album.”
“Jimmy is my producer,” Jesse explained as a quick aside to Kimber. “Dodge a few bullets for me, would you? I want to spend a little time with Kimber.” Ryan’s gaze slid over to her, moved over her br**sts. She felt somehow touched without permission. Almost violated. She shivered. If he was the third in Jesse’s ménages, and if she stuck this out with Jesse, she’d have to talk to him about finding someone whose mere stare didn’t make her feel the need to shower.
“Sure,” Ryan said. “I need some liquid fortification before I go.” He peered down into the minibar and extracted a couple of the little liquor bottles. He opened one and chugged it straight, in seconds. “Want something?” Jesse looked at the bottles in Ryan’s hands, then at Kimber. Discreetly, she checked her watch. Two in the afternoon, and he was starting on hard liquor? And drinking it straight?
Kimber felt Jesse’s gaze on her, and when she looked up, he shot Ryan a look of faint regret. “Nah. It’s early.”
“Dude, it’s five o’clock somewhere. You always say that.” With a shrug, Jesse pursed his lips, looked away. Then he turned to her with a bright smile. “See, it’s Kimber. She’s already having a positive effect on my life.
Because you’re so good, huh, babe?”
Jesse squeezed her hand. Kimber squeezed back almost as a reflex, but his words rattled around in her brain. Because I’m so good? When had her life in the slow lane become a plus?
“Then I’m looking forward to getting to know her better.” Ryan shot her a smoky look and approached Jesse with a hearty pat on the shoulder, then whispered,
“Save some ass for me.”
Despite Ryan’s low tone, Kimber couldn’t help but overhear it. And it pissed her off. The flaming jerk was making a lot of assumptions about what and who she’d say yes to. Deke and Luc had come as a pair, yes. But Luc had been impossible not to adore. All easy, sophisticated charm. Molasses seduction, slow, sweet, and potent. And Deke… She’d known him and trusted him right from the beginning, even if he could be a bastard and say terrible, hurtful things for the purpose of pushing away the people who loved him.
“Get lost.” Jesse pointed Ryan toward the door.