“Why are you thanking me?” Sed said. “I’m putting your ass to work.”Which suited Jace just fine. This was only the second time Jace had been inside Sed’s condo. The first had been Sed’s housewarming party, probably the wildest in the history of man. Jace didn’t remember most of the evening. He’d passed out on the rooftop patio in nothing but a pair of women’s blue satin panties, and Eric had drawn flowers all over his back with an indelible marker. Jace didn’t recollect where he’d gotten those panties.Sed’s place was huge and extravagant. Maybe it was time for Jace to buy a place of his own. His little apartment didn’t get much use, but Brownie would probably like a balcony she could sun herself on. It just seemed a waste to spend all that money on something so rarely used. Normally, Jace was on the road far more often than he was at home, but since Trey was out of commission until his finger mobility improved, they’d had to cancel a bunch of tour dates.Jace followed Sed through th
Their hour with the kids flew by. Eric had more energy than all twenty kids put together. On their way out the door, Eric pounded Jace on the shoulder. “Let’s go grab a beer or two. What do you say?”Jace smiled. Was he finally making that elusive connection with Eric? “Yeah. Sounds great.”Two beers turned into ten or twelve. Jace lost count. Being a quiet drunk, Jace stared into his magically refilling mug while Eric chattered enough for five people with everyone in shouting distance. He kept himself and half the bar entertained. Jace wasn’t sure that Eric was even aware of his presence. He wondered what Aggie was up to. Three weeks was long enough to let his pain fester. Maybe he’d drop in on her the next day. Assuming he didn’t die of alcohol poisoning or asphyxiate on his own vomit in the night.“You drunk, yet?” Eric asked near midnight.Jace closed one eye to get rid of the three or four extra Erics in his line of sight. “Define drunk.”“Wanna go get a tattoo with me?”Jace nod
He laughed again. “Bonding moment with Eric.”She sucked the ring into her mouth, and his body stiffened. Ooo, fun. She flicked it with her tongue. “Who’s Eric?”“Our drummer.”“Anything else I should know about?”“Hmmmm. The wicked awesome tattoo on my ass?”She stripped his jeans and boots off and inspected his cute, little butt to find nary a mark on his perfect ass. “I don’t see anything.”“Look closely.”She ran her hands over the smooth cheeks, up and down. “Nothing here.”“That’s right. It wasn’t on my ass, was it? I swear I got a new one somewhere. I doubt you’ll find it.”She remembered he had a few on each of his upper arms, one on the left side of his chest. Problem was she wasn’t sure if she could pick a new one out of his collection. She coaxed him onto his back and pulled his shirt off, leaving him naked except for his socks, and started with the tattoo on his upper arm. A skull engulfed in flames. “I remember this one.”“You sure?”She wasn’t. “Yeah.” The dagger and ros
After changing into jeans and a T-shirt, Aggie grabbed her leather jacket along with Jace’s and then met him at the curb. He sat on his bike, gazing up at the sky. She touched his arm gently, and he started.“Do you always think that hard?” she asked, handing him his jacket. He slipped into the worn leather garment.“Mostly.”“Where do you want to go?”“Anywhere.”So he was back to answering her questions with as few words as possible.“Do you want to go someplace quiet where we can be alone? Or crowded where we can have a lot of fun?”“I don’t like crowds.”“Then let’s just ride.”“You’d like that?”“Yeah.”He smiled, and her heart melted. “Me too.”He took her hand and helped her climb onto the bike behind him.“Aggie?”“Yeah?”“I really like you too.”She slid her arms around his waist and put her chin on his shoulder to try to see his expression under the light of the corner street lamp. “I’m glad to hear you say that, Jace, but what brought it on all of a sudden?”“You told your
“I did bring Jace’s favorite flail,” Aggie said. “It’s in my luggage. I’m sure you could use a good, hard beating.”Eric’s eyes widened. “You’re joking.”Aggie lifted her eyebrows. “Do I look like I’m joking?”“Don’t worry. She won’t break the skin,” Jace mumbled.“I think I’ll pass.” Eric scooted over a few inches and flopped onto his back to stare up at the ceiling. “I’m bored.”Aggie snuggled closer to Jace. She was starting to think he could sleep through an earthquake.“So Aggie, what do you like to do for fun?” Eric asked.“Besides make men cry?”He laughed uncomfortably. “Yeah, besides that.”“She sews,” Jace murmured.“Sews?”“Yeah, sews.”“What? Like pot holders?”“No, like leather corsets,” Aggie said.“She makes them by hand and sews designs on them,” Jace said, starting to sound more alert now.“Embroidery,” Aggie clarified.“They’re works of art.” Jace’s hand stroked her hair lethargically. “And sexy.”“Oh,” Eric said flatly. “Well, that gives me a boner. Now I’m bored an
Aggie tossed a plate of scrambled eggs in front of her mother, who was sitting on a stool at the breakfast bar. “So when are you leaving?”“When it’s safe,” Mom said, sprinkling Tabasco sauce on her eggs and then digging in.Standing, as it would take actual effort to climb onto a stool, Aggie yawned and picked at her own eggs. She’d had a rough night at the club. Some drunk dickhead had climbed on her stage and gotten fresh. Well, fresh was putting it lightly. The bouncers had to mace him to get him off her. She hated men. Well, most of them. At the moment, Jace was the only exception, and as he was touring the Northeast, she hadn’t seen him for several weeks. He was always gone. They kept in contact via text message. He didn’t like to talk on the phone. She missed him and worked hard not to feel bitter about his touring. Or that he was never out of her thoughts for a moment, while he was undoubtedly having the time of his life. Sinners were on their way home to LA today. Maybe she c
Gritting her teeth, she dropped her purse on the cement and grabbed her left fist in her right hand. With a scream of rage, she delivered a vicious elbow to her captor’s stomach.He grunted in pain. She stomped the instep of his foot.“Ow, bitch. What do you think—”She punched him in the balls, taking him down to his knees. His grip on his gun slackened. She grabbed the back of his head and drove the bridge of his nose into her knee. He fell unconscious on the sidewalk, the gun tumbling from his grasp.Aggie flew to Jace’s side. “Oh my God,” she gasped, too upset to do anything but hover over him. He was bleeding so much. Surely, he was dead.She dialed 911. Before the dispatcher even answered, the sound of sirens coming from the distance sounded like a chorus of angel harps.“What is your emergency?”“M-my boyfriend’s been shot.”“Your location?”She didn’t know. She didn’t know anything.“I’m outside. On the sidewalk.”“Can you see a street sign?”Aggie looked up and read the names
“Aggie!” Jessica answered the phone. “How are you? Sorry I bailed on you after the show in San Francisco. Sed thought we needed to do more celebrating.”“Don’t worry about it. Speaking of Sed, is he around?”“Why?”Aggie almost laughed at the jealous edge to Jessica’s tone. “Jace has been shot. I wasn’t sure who needed to be informed.”“Shot?”“Yeah, shot.”“What do you mean Jace has been shot?”“I mean some dickhead shot him with a gun.”“Shot him?”“Yes, shot him. Can I just talk to Sed?”“He’s not here. He went to the studio. Eric said Jace bailed on recording this afternoon, so Sed’s working on vocal tracks.”Aggie realized if she wouldn’t have surprised Jace with a visit, he’d still be safely in the recording studio and not lying in some hospital bed. “Will you let Sed know what happened? Jace will be in here overnight. Probably longer.”“Which hospital are you at?”“County.”“I’ll round up the guys, and we’ll come see him. How’d he manage to get shot?” Jessica asked.“Some guy t