One More Time - Ali Parker Page 0,26

to show him there was someone out there who could accept his party-boy ways. “So you’d settle down eventually?”

Matt shrugged and pushed his long blonde fringe off his forehead. It still looked perfect. “Eventually, yeah. Sure. Is it going to be tomorrow? Hell to the fuck no.”

Nick looked satisfied by Matt’s answer, though he’d become fidgety when Matt started talking about settling down, while Dominic looked vaguely bored and kept glancing toward the door. He was making no big secret of the fact that he wanted out of there. ASAP.

He eyed me rather warily when I turned my focus to him. “What about you, Dom? Is there a Mrs. LeSalle in Destitute’s future, or are you a one-night man like Nick?”

Dom raked a hand through his brown hair, shaking it out a little at his shoulders, and fixed his steel gray eyes on me. “I don’t believe in one-night stands. It’s simple. I want perfection. Music, relationships, it doesn’t matter. I treat them the same way. Most women just can’t handle that kind of intensity for too long, so it makes it look like I’m going through a lot of women when I’m not really.”

The air itself seemed to still while Dom spoke. The man was definitely intense—he had that right. It wasn’t uncomfortable exactly. It was more like it made you want to sit up and listen to what he had to say and then go dig into a cocktail on a beach to relax again when he was done.

The men of Destitute were a force to be reckoned with. That was for sure. Having now spent some time with them all, some more than others, I was quickly learning why they all had fans the world over and why their personalities drew in people from all different walks with all different beliefs and styles.

I was interested in getting their take on Caleb, which shouldn’t ring too many alarm bells because the piece was supposed to be centered around him, but I wasn’t sure how to approach it. The first part of the Caleb Larsen piece ran the week before, and our readership skyrocketed since Caleb was generally so tight lipped. As a result, my editor wanted me to keep going, and I was happy to do it. Surprisingly, so was Caleb.

Today’s interview was specifically set up with the other guys to add a bit of their perspectives to the next piece, but I’d still been hoping Caleb would show. So far, there hadn’t been so much as a peep from him. When I’d parked in the spot Alicia had reserved for me at her office building, I sneaked a peek at the VIP band parking area, but Caleb’s truck hadn’t been there.

“Thank you guys for being so candid with me about all this,” I said, smiling at each of them in turn.

“No prob, little Diamond,” Nick said, drumming his fingers on his thighs. “Hope you got what you were looking for. We done here?”

“Almost,” I said. Nick’s face fell a little, but he sat back again and waited for the next question. “Just so I get this rounded out properly, what do you think Caleb’s approach to romance is? Where does he fall on the ‘one-night stand to eventually settling down’ scale? I think we all know where Jared stands on that.”

“I guess we do know where Jared stands on that now.” Matt smiled. It actually seemed like a genuine smile, like he really was happy for his friend. Or maybe he was just happy that the interview was almost over. “Caleb though? I’m not speaking for him.”

Interesting. “Personal opinion?”

“Nope.” Matt chuckled, folding his arms. “Not going anywhere near that question. Boys?”

He raised his eyebrows at the other two and looked from one to other sitting beside him, but they both shook their heads. Dom gave me a curious look and shifted so he was facing me more fully.

“You should just ask him. In fact, why haven’t you?”

“Oh, I, uh…we’ve been talking about Jared and Alicia and the impending nuptials so far, along with the new album, the tour, and the likely impact of their relationship on it. Today is the first day I’m venturing into the rest of your feelings about relationships.”

I silently congratulated myself on what I thought was a pretty decent save, though Dom didn’t look convinced. “Well, I think you should probably just ask him. None of us will speak for him.”

“Understood,” I said, trying not to look as disappointed as I felt. I