DionThere was something going on, something other than my royal fuck up that had the band on a constant baby sitting loop looking after me. It was evident on everyone's face, but especially Jax’s. I kept catching him looking at me out of the corner of his eye when he thought I wasn't looking. His face was a perfect blend of thoughtful and down right murderous. Whatever he knew, whatever they all knew that I didn't, wasn’t sitting well with any of them.I hated secrets, and they all knew it, but it didn't matter how much I pressed, no one would tell me anything. “How's Lola?” I asked for the twelfth time that day, only this time I aimed it at someone else. Celia, Erik's young assistant. She looked up briefly and then went back to tapping out a message on her phone. Her young arrogance grated on me.“Celia?” I was fed up with being palmed off whenever I asked about her. Tired of the platitudes that came out of Jax and everyone else's mouth. “She’s fin–”I cut her off with a groan. “
LolaTurning every which was, I surveyed myself in the full–length mirror hanging over the door in my childhood bedroom. “I'm not sure,” I mumbled, smoothing my hands down over my stomach. From her place lounging on the bed, Elodie straightened. “You look stunning, and it's much too early to worry about showing or anything like that.”I frowned at myself in the mirror. Showing? The thought hadn't even crossed my mind. She was right, of course it was too soon, but now she had said it, I couldn’t get it out of my mind. Idly, I let my fingers skim over the satin. “Stop it.” From her perch on the bed, Elodie groaned. “You look fantastic. Now put your shoes on and let's get out of here.” Her eyes drifted past me to the closed door. “If I have to hear your stepdad moan about Louis one more time, I may say something I'll regret.” She grinned ruefully. “Ok maybe I won't regret it because that man is a class A asshole but, can we please get going?”“I’m not sure I should be going at all, Elo
DionFrom across the room, I watched Lola. And it reminded me of Elodie's housewarming party when I had danced with her and Jax had watched with a lost look on his face. He hadn't known how to approach her. That's how I was feeling.Lost.And with no clear idea of how to move forward. She had wanted to talk. She hadn't rejected me in any way, but getting her alone was going to be next to impossible. Lola had been right when she had said we needed to talk privately. The things we needed to discuss were private. And of course, there were other things I wanted to do to her in private as well. Like kiss her.But none of that could happen when everyone was keeping her away from me. I couldn't even be sure they were doing it on purpose. When it had been Jax in this situation, I hadn’t meant to keep Elodie away. The thought made me pause. Back then, I hadn't understood why he’d kept his distance. He loved her. It was plain for everyone to see, and yet he held everything back. I had told mys
LolaYou could have heard a pin drop. The moment the words left my mouth, the whole place seemed to grow silent. It was deafening, but not as deafening as Dion's silence. He didn't make a sound. He didn't even move. It was like he was frozen in place with Rake's shirt still gripped in his hands. I didn’t know what I was expecting, but his total lack of reaction wasn't it. And it scared me. Dion was a passionate man. He should have reacted. The absolute silence that wrapped around him was terrifying. “Dion?” Erik's arm curled around my waist, holding me up. I didn't know where he had come from, but I was suddenly glad of his presence. Everyone was looking at me with their mouths open. My brother's face was twisted in anger, but it was Dion's silence that hurt the most. “Shall we take this somewhere more private?”“No.” The word ripped its way out of Dion's mouth and I swallowed hard. There was so much anger in that one word. Slowly, he came back to life. His grip loosened and his sho
LolaThe story hit the papers the next day. Not that I read them, but you didn't need to be a genius to work out why the press was stationed outside my home. Or why they stayed there through the following days and nights, effectively trapping me inside. I liked my own company, and I needed space, but by the time the morning I was meant to start my new job dawned, I was fed up with it. Tired of the same four walls and no one to talk to face to face. It just wasn't the same on the phone. I could pretend I was ok on the phone and no one could argue with me that I wasn't. Of course, being alone was my fault. When Elodie and Jax had dropped me home with my brother in tow, I had told them that I would be fine. That I just needed a little time and space. They had respected my wishes, but now I'd had all the space that I could cope with. The fact that I hadn't heard from Dion at all since the night I had called his phone and his ex–girlfriend had answered had quickly become the only thing
DionI couldn't remember the last time I was so nervous going on stage. Not that what faced me was a stage as such, but it was where I was going to perform. And I didn't get nervous before a performance, not anymore. That kind of went out the window pretty early in my career, swiftly replaced by longing. A longing to hear the crowd screaming my name, and their heartbeats thumping in time with our beats.There would be screams today, but not the usual type. I couldn't feed off the adoration of the kids filing into the hall in perfect snake–like lines to sit on the floor. They were fans but not the kind of fans that I usually had any interaction with. No, there was only one person I wanted to impress today. One person whose heart I wanted to beat a little faster, and she was the only person in the whole building that really mattered. And that made this the most important performance of my life. Turning my back on the tiny gap between the door and the frame, I studied my band members.
Lola“Fancy being my wife.” My brother's sarcastic voice hit my ears as I pushed open the door to the office barely five minutes after they had left the front of the assembly. It had taken me that long to gather my wits together. I still wasn't sure I had them together. I felt jittery and sick to my stomach in a whole new way that had nothing to do with the baby growing inside my body. “That has to be the most unromantic proposal in the history of fucking proposals, dude. We set it all up to be perfect and you go and do it like that.”Laughter filled the air. No one had even noticed that I was there. Hovering in the doorway. Listening in like a creep. “I mean, did you see her face?” Louis carried on, oblivious to my presence. Catching Dion's expression, he chuckled. “Some of the other teachers were creaming in their seats, so if teachers are your thing–”“Shut up, Louis,” I said without thinking. I knew he was joking, but I still didn't want to hear it. “I think it was sweet.”“Swee
LolaI hadn't even raised my hand to knock on the door when it swung open and Dion appeared, wearing nothing but a smile and grey sweatpants slung low on his hips. My mouth grew dry at the sight of him. It was more than the chiselled abs and the damp, dark hair. It was him. His very essence. He exuded sex appeal without even trying. In fact, he was even sexier when he wasn't even trying, if that was possible.“I thought you would never get here.” The corners of his mouth twitched. “I almost started without you.” Dark eyebrows worked their way upward. Not letting me answer him, he pulled me inside, kicking the door shut behind me. The door hadn’t even slammed before his fingers were on the buttons of my coat. “I'm pretty sure I said to start stripping in the lift.” Laughing, he popped the last button and unfurled my coat like he was unwrapping a present. With a whistle, he stood back, holding me out at arm’s length. He raked his eyes over me. “God you look hot. Have you changed since I
Louis“Did you just call me a silly ass?”“Is that what you got from that?” Celia muttered. Her hands were still on my chest as she shook her head. Her cheeks flamed as she took a step back. My arms went around her instantly, pulling her back to me. “Yep.” I tightened my grip. “Not sure I heard the other part properly. Because I was pretty sure you said-”“I love you.”Something happened in my chest. It was something I had never felt before. Warmth spread through me and for a moment it was as if my heart seemed to stop beating. For a split second, I thought I might have just had some sort of heart attack, and then it gave one loud thudding beat.“You love me?” I wanted to check that I had heard her right. Celia didn’t say anything at first. But the pink that tinted her cheeks deepened to a blazing red. She turned her face away from me. I didn’t want her to do that. I never wanted her to look away from me. “That’s what I said.” Her face was growing redder and redder. It made me smi
CeliaAfter wiping my sweaty palms down my thighs, I raised my hand to knock. The door opened before my knuckles could make contact.“Hey, I saw you on the camera.” Erik's smile was as charming as I had ever seen it. He looked tanned and happy. “Come on in.” He opened the door wide. Stepping through, I glanced around. I’d been to his city pad so many times, fetching and carrying things for him, that it should have felt as familiar to me as my own home.Except it didn’t, not this time. This time it felt different. “Drink?” He carried on grinning at me. “I have white cooling. That's your favourite, isn't it?” He led the way through the spacious open-plan living room. And sure enough, a bottle of wine was cooling on the table by the window. He went over to it with hesitation, pouring me a glass before I could say a word.“Thanks.” My eyes swept across the view of the city below us and then fell on the table set for two. “But shouldn't you have waited until…?” I motioned to the table.
Louis“Dance with me, Louis.”Blearily, I lifted my eyes to meet Elodie’s. She was holding out her hand like she expected me to take it. I’d already danced with my sister out of duty, but I didn't want to dance with anyone else. Least of all Elodie who always had the uncanny ability to tell you exactly what you were thinking and feeling, even if you were avoiding it.Shaking my head, I went back to brooding. It was a new thing for me. Usually, I left the brooding to Jax or Dion. “Come on, Louis.” Reaching down, she wrapped her small hand around mine and pulled me to my feet. I swayed for a second. “It's a wedding, after all. Your sister's wedding. We should all be having fun.” She led me forward onto the dance floor. There were already some people dancing, but the space was relatively empty. It wouldn't be for long, though. Not with the way people were drinking. “I am having fun,” I grumbled.Laughing, she placed her hand on my shoulders. I let her lead. I didn't want to dance. Not
Celia“Are you even going to look at that?”With my fingers still buried in the fur of the cat on my lap, I lifted my eyes to Mia, who was curled up on the chair opposite me. “Celia?” she prompted when I didn't answer.“No. It’s probably Erik again.” I didn't need to check my phone to know it would be him. He had been blowing up my phone all day. Of course. Today was Lola and Dion's wedding. Things would have gone wrong, some emergency or something Erik had forgotten. Things that I wouldn't have overlooked. “You seriously mean to go through with this, don’t you? Quit your job?”I nodded.“Girl, you're crazy. The band is your life. Working with them is your dream and you're just going to throw it away?” Mia shook her head. Reaching across to grab my wine glass, I grimaced as the cat dug its claws in at the sudden movement. “Looks that way.”“What are you going to do for money?”“Absolutely no idea.” Shrugging, I poured myself another glass of wine. “Do you think maybe you should ha
Louis“You and Celia?”Whirling around, I came face to face with my sister. There was no hello. Not even a howdy. Just her shocked face as she stomped towards me. Running my hand through my hair, I looked down at my own bare feet. “Hello to you as well, little sister,” I mumbled.“Hi.” She hugged me quickly before holding me out at arm's length. “Now answer the question.”“What question?” I knew exactly what question, but I didn't want to answer it. Ever since I had woken up yesterday and Erik had told me she had gone, I had given up thinking about the band's blonde assistant. What good would it do?She was gone. It wasn’t like I could go after her. Not when my sister was about to get married. I needed to be here. With family. Not chasing after a girl who shared my bed but was in love with someone else. What we had: the fun, the sex, had been real. But that's all it had been: fun, sex. And that was all over now.“You and Celia?”I shrugged. She shrieked, drawing a quizzical look f
CeliaIt didn't feel fake anymore. It felt real.Real and new and exciting. And it had absolutely nothing to do with sex. Louis didn't act like this around women he’d had sex with. He was a ‘love them and leave them’ kind of guy, but he wasn't that way around me. Not that I thought for a second that he was in love with me, and I was pretty sure I wasn't falling in love with him. We were just having fun. Maybe this was exactly what I needed. Proof that other men out there found me attractive. Proof that I didn't need Erik. Except…part of me still wanted Erik. A small dwindling part, but it was there, buried deep. Which was all kinds of wrong, seeing as I was sharing my bed with someone else. And not just any someone else, either. Louis Michaelson was a panty-wetting god and somehow he had chosen me to spend time with.It was hard to wrap my head around.But it was true. The last few days had been a glorious mix of lingering looks and wild, passionate sex. The kind of holiday romanc
LouisGiving the sleeping form of Celia one last lingering look, I slipped out of the room and headed towards the beach. It wasn’t even dawn, but I needed to clear my head. What had happened between us last night had been incredible. Better than I had ever expected, but the intimacy… I ground my teeth together. The intimacy hadn't been what I was expecting. Not the sex itself, but what came afterwards. Holding Celia, talking to her until the small hours. That had all been new.New and scary as hell.And I didn't know what the hell I was doing. I liked her.For the first time in my man-whore life, I liked a woman, probably more than I should do. I sure as hell liked her more than she liked me, and I didn't even know when it had first happened. It had kind of just snuck up on me. Maybe because Celia had always been there. Hovering in the background. A familiar smiling face. A beautiful smiling face who was in love with someone else. I had known that when I had taken her to bed, so wh
CeliaWhy was I doing this? This was a terrible idea.A truly awful one.But I knew the answer. The reason I was doing this, taking this step with someone I worked with, was taking his shirt off and kneeling between my legs.Louis was the reason I was crossing the line. Not because of the hard washboard abs covered in tattoos that met my gaze, but because of who he was. There was a connection there. One that I wanted to explore a little. God, I was confused.I liked Louis. I really did, and I couldn’t deny the sexual chemistry between us. But-“Eyes open and on me, Celia.”My eyes snapped open. I hadn’t even realised I had closed them. Staring at him, I felt my mouth fall open. He stood there naked and, even though it wasn’t the first time I had seen him without clothes on, it felt like I was truly seeing him for the first time. Letting my eyes wander down his body, my lips parted further. He was exquisite. And not just because of the art that adorned him, either. There was a beaut
Louis“Celia?” I knew I had heard her right because it wasn't like her words could be construed as anything else. Not many things sounded like ‘I want you to take me to bed’. But I wanted to make sure. “Did you seriously just ask me that?” In answer, she curled herself into my chest. “You heard what I said, Louis. I know you did. I can see it in your eyes. Do I really need to repeat myself?”I wrapped my arms around her, holding her even closer. “Yeah, you kind of do.”Tilting her head up, her eyes sparkled with the moon shining over her. It would have been a romantic moment if she hadn't been asking me to fuck her. “I want you to take me to bed.” She said each word slowly, like I was an idiot and that's exactly what I felt like.A damn idiot. Because I didn't know what was happening. What had changed in Celia's world so much that she was now into me for real?“Celia…” My lips pursed as I blew out a breath.“Or here. I've not done it on the beach before. ““Damn it, Celia.” Stepping