One More Time - Ali Parker Page 0,6

combined with his intense passion for his music and his well-documented pursuit of perfection meant that he too was not in short supply of fans. I’d met him once or twice at Jared and Alicia’s, but while he was always polite, he mostly tended to keep to himself.

He’d been rumored to have been in a couple of relationships since the band started, but they were always no more than a fleeting rumor. Dom got photographed with enough women that I was pretty sure he followed in his bandmates footsteps when it came to the fairer sex, keeping his relationships to a one-night-only deal.

Alicia didn’t linger on Dom for too long, noting that he’d been taking the time when they were not doing promo mostly to himself and that she’d been relieved when he’d okayed the final album for release, as she’d been worried he would insist on rerecording or waiting until he thought the track selection was perfect.

When she finally reached Caleb in her update, I had to actively stop myself from leaning forward or appearing too interested. Caleb, like Jared, was tall, dark, and hot. Unlike his brother, he was reserved, wasn’t known for entitled rock-star antics, and didn’t seem to like being the center of attention.

He was stockier than his athletically built brother and kept his hair shorter, evenly cut and sticking up on top. Black ropes of tattoos covered his muscular arms, the most famous of which was a thick, black skull on his upper right bicep.

According to some of my colleagues, Caleb had a problem with his temper, and the band kept covering it up. Alicia told me once that she didn’t think he had a temper problem necessarily, but that her opinion of the matter was that he simply didn’t like getting cameras shoved in his face or hearing the world talk about his business.

In the few times I’d met Caleb in person, I agreed with Alicia. He didn’t come across as being aggressive at all. I got the idea that he just liked being left alone. Mostly. Like the others, Caleb had his own fan club that spread like wildfire across the globe when Destitute had first broken out of the local scene, and women pursued him like they were in heat.

“Caleb was doing well,” Alicia was saying. “I think he’s getting used to the fact that his brother got engaged, though I still have that feeling that he doesn’t think our relationship will last.”

I’d wondered about that statement since the first time she’d told me about the impression she’d gotten from Caleb. I didn’t know him well enough to offer a real opinion. Anyone who had eyes could see that Jared and Alicia were crazy for each other, which left me interested in why he would think they wouldn’t last. But there were no answers forthcoming.

Alicia stopped talking about the band after that, changing the subject back to our jobs. We chatted for a few more hours about that, the wedding, and then planned a trip to visit our mom soon.

All too soon, it was time for Alicia to go back to her love nest, and we said our goodbyes. After clearing up the wine and snacks, brushing my teeth, and trying to clear my mind before getting into bed, I tucked myself under the covers.

Lying there in the darkness, sleep evading my every attempt at chasing it, there was no point is denying what it was that was keeping me awake: Caleb. I couldn’t get his brooding scowl or soulful brown eyes out of my mind’s eye. He’d never touched me, but I had a wild imagination, and it wasn’t all that hard to imagine what it might feel like if he did.

That got me all hot and bothered, and I ran around trying to find new batteries for my battery-operated boyfriend. Too bad I’d run out. Reaching underneath the sheets, I did a poor job trying to work things out myself and then fell into a dreamless, exhausted sleep.

Deep brown eyes followed me all the way to dreamland. And stayed with me all through the night.

Chapter 3

Caleb

“I love your new place,” Missy, the blonde from the bar, gushed. “It’s lovely. When did you move in?”

It was a common misconception, people thinking I’d just moved in. Looking around, I could understand why. Jared was always on my ass about buying more stuff for the house, but I had everything I needed: a TV, gaming consoles, my guitars, a couch, and a mattress.