Michelle Valentine - Rock the Beat

“The way I see it, Holly, if my buddy goes into business with your dad, we’ll see a lot of each other. I would like us to be on good terms. I’ll probably be around from time to time after my month here is over and I’d like to walk into your office and have you greet me with a smile instead of a scowl. You’re far to pretty to have an ugly expression on that beautiful face.”

She bites her bottom lip. “I completely get what you’re saying. I don’t want a bad relationship with you either. I think teaming up with you could be fun, but no more flirting with me.”

I shake my head. “Jackson believes we’re together, so we’re going to have to play the part. There will be flirting—lots of it. It’s the only way this will be believable.”

She leans back in the booth and chews her thumbnail while she weighs up her options.

“Clock’s ticking,” I say. “You better make up your mind. He’s coming to see you tomorrow. You can either allow me to fondle you in front of Jackson, making him insanely jealous, or you can go back to hating my guts. The choice is yours.”

Her eyes soften. “I never said I hated you.”

“Actions speak louder than words, sweetness. You haven’t had many kind things to say to me today.” I extend my hand across the table to her. “What do you say? Do we have a deal?”

She leans forward and places her hand in mine. “Deal. And I promise I’ll start being nicer.”

Looks like my time here just got a hell of a lot more enjoyable. I smile and give her hand a shake. This looks like the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

I Wanna Be Bad

HOLLY

What the hell did I agree to? That’s the only thought that keeps flitting through my mind as I stare straight ahead on our car ride back to the house. This little game is dangerous. Trip is dangerous. I know that. Every sense in my body screams it. It’s worrisome that I’ve agree to act like Trip and I are an item, considering I know that I’m attracted to him physically, but what he was offering was too sweet of a deal to turn down. Jackson needs to see that I can move on and that my life doesn’t revolve around him. I can’t let him know he nearly broke me.

When I was seventeen, Jackson Cruze was my everything. Even now, it’s a hard to pretend I don’t feel something for him. I’ve drooled over him since I was old enough to like boys in the first place. The moment he came to my father’s track and flashed his dimples at me I was a goner. Jackson was my first real crush, my first boyfriend, and the first guy I ever fell in love with—that all means something to me. What he did to me doesn’t instantly erase all that, although I wish it would. As much as I hate it, I want him back.

Trips downshifts the Mustang as we round the corner and slow down. He pulls into the drive leading to the office and our house. “Where should I park?”

I point to our house. “You can pull up there since you’re staying with us.”

His eyes slide in my direction. “That’ll help you know.”

“What?”

“Me living with you. It’ll drive Jackson nuts knowing we’re probably sleeping together every night.”

I shake my head. “I think you’re wrong about him. He won’t be that jealous over me. He left me, remember?”

He cuts the ignition and sets his gaze on me. “He wants you. He wouldn’t have attempted to push my buttons by making a date with you in front of me if he wasn’t. Jackson wants me to know I’m treading in his territory.”

“Jeesh, you make it sound like it’s a pissing contest.”

“In a manner of speaking, it is. In his eyes, the man that fights for you the hardest will win. We just have to see how far he’s willing to take this.”

“What if he doesn’t?” I drop my head down, hating the thought of being rejected by Jackson yet again.

Trip softly pinches my chin and forces me to look into his eyes. “He will. You’re worth fighting for. Any idiot can see that. Now that he sees you’ve moved on so easily He knows he was a fool for ever letting you go. It’s his turn to feel the sting of rejection. Trust me, he wants you back.”

My mouth drifts open and I stare at Trip’s inviting lips. He’s not at all like I expected. When I first laid eyes on him, I wanted him. But after I saw how our kiss meant nothing to him, I assumed he was just another lame asshole who only cared about getting some ass. This side of him though, is caring and helpful. It makes him even more appealing, which is a very bad thing. It’s wrong to want him, especially considering he’s helping me win back the affection of another man.

His eyes search my face, before he ultimately decides to release me. “It’s getting late. We’d better go inside so I can unpack and get a good night’s rest. We’ve got an old boyfriend jealous tomorrow, remember?”

I swallow hard and nod in agreement still looking into his eyes. “Sleeping with you would be good.” He laughs and I quickly throw my hand over my mouth. I immediately try to correct my mistake. “I mean, sleeping would be good.” This only makes him laugh harder and I let out a frustrated breath. “Stop. You know what I meant.”

I want to shove my head in a pile of desert sand.

“I think it was a subconscious slip,” he says, adjusting his hat and winking at me before he opens his door to get out.

I trail behind him after I shut the car door behind me. “It was not.”

He steps up onto the porch and leans against the house right by the door. I feel his heated gaze on me while I fish the keys from my pocket. “Keep telling yourself that, sweetness. It’s okay to admit you’d like to fuck me, because I think it’s pretty clear I’d like the same thing. It’s too bad we can’t now that we’re co-workers and co-conspirators. I’m pretty sure that’d be bad for business.”

“Shhhh,” I scold him. “My dad might hear you.” I growl when the second key I try in the lock doesn’t work. “Come on.”

Trip leans down and whispers in my ear, “I know just the thing to relieve that tension.”

I lift my shoulder, trying to shove him out of my ear as I allow the door to fly open. “Yes.”

He chuckles as he follows me inside. “That was pretty enthusiastic. I can only imagine what that would sound like when you’re—”

The lights flip on in the foyer and Trip quickly closes his mouth, while my cheeks burn even hotter. No one wants their parents to hear a conversation like that.

 Dad tightens his paper-thin blue robe around his small waist and glances up at the clock above our heads. “I wondered when you two would get back. Dinner’s in the refrigerator if you’re hungry.”

Guilt pours over me. “Sorry, Dad. I should’ve check with you before I agreed to go out to eat with Trip. We should’ve invited you.”

He rubs his eyes. “It’s okay. I was really tired anyhow. Well, now that I know you’re home safe, I’m heading back to bed.”

“Are you still feeling sick?” I ask, completely concerned.

His weight-loss and coupled with how exhausted he’s felt lately has me a bit worried. Dad’s always on the go. The idea that he’s in bed so early, so often, is odd for him. He typically has more energy than I do.

He nods. “A little. I hope a few more days of hitting the sack early will perk me up out of this funk I’ve been fighting these last couple of months.”

“I think it’s time you make a doctors appointment. You’ve felt like this for way too long.” We’ve been over this before, and I hate to push the subject, but I’m worried.

“I can’t, Holly. They’ll want to do all sorts of tests we can’t afford. If it gets too bad, I’ll go. I promise.” Dad offers a small hint of a smile. “Well, goodnight, kids. I’ll see you both down at the office bright and early. Trip, we’ll get you out on the track tomorrow so you can check it.”

Trip nods and smiles. “Sounds good.”

Dad turns and shuts himself back in his bedroom and I stare at the door. Whatever is going on with him, I don’t like it.

I turn towards Trip. “Do you have bags in your car that need to be carried up?”

“I have a duffel bag.”

“That’s it for an entire month?”

He shrugs. “I’m used to being on the road a lot. Packing light becomes second nature when you get tired of carrying around a ton of shit. Besides, I figured wherever I stayed would have a washer and dryer. It’s not like I’ll run around like a homeless bum.”

That makes me curious about him and his money-bags boss. Is he looking at another track, too? Do we have competition on this deal? “You check out a lot of tracks for this investor?”

“This is the first one, actually.”

I raise an eyebrow. “So, what else do you check out for him? I know cattle farmers can’t possibly travel that much. Who would feed the livestock?”

Trip scratches the back of his head, almost like he’s nervous and it takes him a while to answer me. “I’m not actually a cow farmer.”

I smile. “I never believed for a second you were. What is it that you actually do?”

“I’m a personal assistant to a musician.” His answer is simple and makes much more sense. I’d never seen a farmer who looked like him before. A biker? Yes. A guy in a rock band? Yes. A farmer? No.

Since he’s opening up to me, I wonder if I can get him to spill the secret of the investor’s identity. “Now that, I believe. So tell me, is this investor a musician?”

Trip shakes his head and takes a step backwards to the door. “I’ll never tell.”

“Come on. I just want to know who is interested, that’s all. I can keep a secret. I swear.” Even I can hear the little whine in my voice, but knowing who might become out partner in the business is vital. If it’s the right person, we can use their celebrity status to draw in bigger events.

His hand rests on the doorknob. “Sorry, sweetness. I can’t give you that information. It’ll ruin everything.”

“Will we ever find out?” I question.

Trip opens the door and glances up at me with a smile on his lips. “You will, when the time is right.”

“Can I at least have a hint?”

He tilts his head. “Let’s call him Mr. Snare.”

My eyes widen as the last name clicks. “He’s a drummer?”

He shoots me a cocky grin that almost makes me weak in the knees. “Maybe.”

Before I get a chance to ask any more questions he slips out the door.

I turn and grab the handrail as I walk slowly up the stairs trying to pinpoint what drummer could possibly be the investor. Dad’s friend at the bank told him he didn’t have much information either, only that the person investing wanted to remain undisclosed until Trip thoroughly investigates the place and reports back to him. If the person investing is some rock star that could be great for business. It can kind of be what Carey Hart did for the tattoo business in Las Vegas. His name alone draws people to that shop he owns there.

This is excellent news.

I shut myself in my room and grab my laptop off the nightstand. Surely I’ll be able to find something.

I enter drummer into the search field and wait on the results. I groan. Over five million results pop up. “This is ridiculous. It’s like trying to find a needle in a haystack.”

I push the screen down before I place it away. There’s no way I can ever figure out who it is by going through that mess.

I lay back, falling into stack of pillows behind me on my full size bed. My finger traces patterns on the blue bedspread as I allow my mind to wander at what the future for this place may hold. I close my eyes and try to picture the bands I know. Not many individual members of bands come to mind. When I think of a band, I think of them as a whole. I’ve never really had the desire to study individual members of a band.  I can’t even name five drummers.

I don’t even know where to start. Trip didn’t say if it’s a new band, or a retired one or what. The chances of me figuring this out on my own aren’t very good. I could try looking up Trip, but unless he’s got a website, which I doubt, linking him with the band, that probably won’t be very helpful. It would be a further waste of my time.

I’m going to have to get him to tell me himself.

The image of Trip smiling as he backed out of the door pops in my head. He’s dangerously sexy. His smile alone is hot enough to nearly melt my panties right off my body.

For the past couple years, Jackson has been the only man I’ve thought of, so it’s hard to tell my brain that it’s okay to move on and find other men attractive. Take Trip for example—as much as I hate to admit it to myself, Trip is exactly my type of guy. He’s cocky, sexy, and yet still has an excellent sense of humor. I can’t believe he’s willing to help me make Jackson jealous. It’s sweet and he couldn’t possibly understand how much that means to me.