Love on the Rocks (Love on Tour #1) (11 page)

“Okay, I give up.”

14

The airport was a complete disaster. By the time we made it to the gate I’d had enough of the fans that were swamping us everywhere we went. So when a woman actually put her finger on Sean’s chest, while he was signing her ticket, and started to trail her red fingernail down, I lost it. I grabbed her hand and pulled it away from what I now considered to be mine. She gasped and sputtered.

“No touching,” I said forcefully.

Sean was shaking as he tried to suppress his laughter, and he didn’t stop as we made our way to the plane and found our seats.

I had never in my life sat in first class. And I was still reveling in the fold back seats and free Bloody Mary when Sean slammed the window cover down and turned to face me.

“That was pretty bad. Sorry about that, Baby.”

“Yeah, I forget how famous you are sometimes.”

It was true, I forgot all the time. It was especially difficult to comprehend that millions of people bought his albums and watched his videos when he was licking my belly button last night.

He was also stupid rich.

“Why don’t you fly charter? Did Mike not have time to get one?”

“Mike can do anything. No, that’s my fault. I won’t get on one of those little Buddy-Holly-killing planes.”

“Oh yeah. Henry told me you’re afraid of heights,” I said, gazing at the closed window covering behind him.

“Hey, everybody’s afraid of something, right. What are you afraid of Baby?”

In truth, right then, I was afraid that this big, famous, glorious man was going break my heart into pieces.

“Mice. I can deal with bears, snakes, spiders, you name it, but I hate mice. And they are in every Park Service apartment I live in. It’s the worst.”

He jacked up the armrest between us and pulled me close.

“So my big, tough Baby is afraid of a small furry rodent.”

****

I felt like my chest was being squeezed. Nothing could create panic like my mother.

“Holy crap!”

“What’s the matter?” Sean asked.

We were on the bus, rolling from St. Louis to Chicago and I’d just looked at my phone for the first time in several hours.

“I have four voicemail messages, one from every friggin’ member of my family, even my dad, and about a dozen texts.”

“Oh,” Sean said. “You turned your phone off last night.”

“Yeah, and I just turned it back on.” I opened a link that was in a text from Melanie. “Holy shit!”

Henry sat up straighter. “Did Baby just swear?”

Sean ignored him. “What’s the matter, Baby?” He asked me again.

I showed him the screen on my phone. It was one of those celebrity gossip websites. There was a picture of me and Sean at the Denver airport. We were waiting for the plane, standing in the window. His arm was low on my waist. My cheek was resting against his chest. He was kissing the top of my head. It was an intimate moment,
our
intimate moment. And not only had someone intruded, they’d put that intrusion all over the internet.

“What’s it say underneath?” Henry asked.

I read the caption to them. “Sean Rush was seen at Denver International Airport yesterday with a new love interest. Sources were unable to confirm who the rocker’s newest muse is. Stay tuned.”

“It’ll be okay, Baby,” Henry said, leaning back and picking up the deck of cards.

But Sean looked more anxious. “You alright?”

“Yeah, I guess. But what the hell am I going to tell my mom, and my sister, and my brother, and oh God, my dad!”

Sean rubbed my arm. “Tell them the truth.”

I wanted to ask him what the truth was. Who exactly was I to him? What were we, a couple, friends who slept together, more than either of those things? But I didn’t ask. Instead, I thumbed through my contacts until I reached my mom. Might as well start with the hardest one first.

I was getting up to head to the back and make my calls when Mike came back up to the front and plopped himself down next to Henry. “I just got off the phone with the publicist. We have a little problem.”

“If you’re talking about the photo,” I said, sitting back down. “We already know.”

“Christie wants to know what to do about it,” Mike said, looking at Sean.

Sean shrugged. “That’s up to Baby.”

“Me? I don’t know. I just need to call my mom.”

“Let the picture sit. They can make of it what they want,” Sean said.

“Christie sees it a little differently,” Mike said nervously.

Sean pursued his lips together and leaned forward. “Do I want to hear this?”

Mike swallowed hard, took a deep breath and leaned in as well. “Christie’s job is to protect your career. And in her professional opinion we should quash it, say Baby’s a friend or an employee, something like that.”

“I see,” Henry said. “I get it.”

Sean looked over at me and then at Henry. “Leave it, Hank.”

“Oh, now I want to hear this,” I said. “I don’t know jack about publicity. I could barely tell you what a publicist does. But I can tell that something is going on here. And I want to know.”

Sean still had his mean face on, and he wasn’t talking. Mike looked scared, so I figured he was no help. I turned to Henry and met his gaze.

“My guess is that Christie only wants Sean seen with musician, model, or actress girlfriends,” Henry told me.

“Goddammit Hank,” Sean said, leaning back.

“Is that true, Mike? Does this Christie think a park ranger is too tame?”

Almost imperceptibly, Mike nodded.

I laughed. “I may not know anything about PR, but
that
I can understand.”

Mike and Henry seemed to relax a little. Sean didn’t. He was still pissed. He pulled me closer to him and told Mike, “It doesn’t matter anyway. We’re not going hide out. So Christie’ll be one busy girl if she plans to quash every fucking sighting.”

****

“I told you I was traveling with a band that was on tour.”

“We thought you were lying,” my sister said.

I heard my mother sigh. They were both at my mom’s house, grilling me on speakerphone. At least I could kill two birds with one stone this way.

“Why would I lie about that?”

“I don’t know Dani. I don’t know why you do any of the things you do,” my mother said.

“What’s with the cuddling?” Lisa asked.

“Sean and I are friends. We’ve grown very close.”

“Hmmm.”

This explanation was not going to cut it, so I tried another one. “I was freaked out, okay. I was at a major metropolitan airport with a rock star. People were flocking to him. It was a little overwhelming. So when we got away from the crowd, he was comforting me. That’s all.”

“Why were you there with him alone. Where were all his people?”

My sister should have been a detective.

“He was flying separately, rather than traveling on the bus for that section. He stayed behind to do some stuff in Denver, and he asked me to hang out with him.”

This was getting ridiculous. I should have just told the truth, but I couldn’t bring myself to say ‘because I’m sleeping with him, that’s why.’

“Well now you’re plastered all over the internet,” Lisa said.

“And your hair’s a mess,” my mother interjected.

I sighed. “It’s okay. Only you guys even know it’s me. To the rest of the world, it’s just some stranger. Besides, Sean has a publicist that will take care of it.”

“Why don’t you just come home,” my mother suggested.

****

After talking to my mom and sister I called my dad. He was much easier to chill out, actually. He believed my story about being friends with Sean and told me to be careful. My brother was not so easy. He was certain I was being taken advantage of. But after a while, he too was convinced that I was just traveling with a friend.

Then, I texted back several friends and disabled my Facebook page. I’d stayed on the bus alone after we arrived at the venue for a couple hours sorting it all out.

When I was done I went to find to Sean. He was in his green room waiting for me. When I walked in he immediately pulled me into a hug, while at the same time locking the door behind me.

He ushered me over to the dressing table and set me on the counter so that we were almost eye to eye. “You okay, sweetheart?” He asked gently.

“Better now,” I said, burying my head in his neck.

He rubbed my back. “I’m sorry, Baby.”

I lifted my head to look at him. “Why would you be sorry?”

He frowned. “Because you wouldn’t be stressed out if I was a normal dude, like Kevin.”

My God he was insecure again. It made him seem so ordinary. And it was such a turn on. He was standing between my legs. His broad chest was in front of me, covered only in a thin t-shirt. I pulled the shirt up and put my hands under it, feeling his skin.

“I don’t want Kevin, or anyone else. I want you.”

My hands moved lower and I hooked my fingers into the waistband of his jeans. He was clearly affected. His hands found their way into my shirt.

“Even with all my baggage?” He asked.

“Oh, yes,” I breathed, before reaching up to kiss him.

Sean had my bra undone and his hands on my bare breasts before I had finished unbuttoning his jeans. I reached inside and heard him moan. I loved his moan. It was soft, deep, and so sexy. I pulled his pants down and took a hold of him. That’s when he got to down business. He lifted me up in the air with one arm and pulled my jeans and panties off with the other.

We were both frantic now. I opened my legs for him and tugged on his back, pulling him toward me. Sean, usually gentle and tender, shoved his way inside me. I was so turned on, and we were both moving fast, I thought for sure this wouldn’t last long. But Sean held out. He waited for my orgasm. When it wasn’t happening, he took matters into his own hands, reaching between our bodies to give me a gentle nudge. It worked, and I cried out at the same time he shuddered and let out a quiet groan.

We stayed there for a long moment, Sean standing, his pants around his ankles, me sitting on the counter in just a shirt and loose bra. He was still inside me, and I was leaning against his chest.

That is, of course, when the knock came.

“For fuck’s sake Mike, go away!” Sean shouted.

“Sean…. um…. you’re parents are here,” Mike said timidly through the door.

Holy Shit.

15

“Take them to a green room. We’ll be right there.” Sean called.

“Sean Thomas Rushton you better not be doing drugs in there,” a woman’s voice called.

“Jesus,” Sean said softly. He pulled up his pants and grabbed a handful of tissues for me. “No, Mom. I’m just not dressed. Go with Mike and I’ll see you in a minute.”

I used the tissues, threw them in the trash and put my own pants on as quickly as I could.

“You let me in here right this minute, young man.”

I stifled a giggle. Sean reclasped my bra and kissed me.

“Ready for this?” He asked.

Not really. I was still wet with his cum and I was about to meet his parents. But I nodded.

“Sean,” a man’s voice called. “Don’t upset your mother.”

I couldn’t help it, I laughed as Sean walked to the door. He certainly seemed like an ordinary man right then.

Sean opened the door and his parents stormed in. His father looked like the quintessential old school professor. He wore a button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and a pair of loosely fitting khakis. He was tall and dark, like Sean, with the same black hair, though his had streaks of gray at the temples and was swooped back from his forehead. Perched on his nose was a pair of wire-rimmed glasses. He was a few inches shorter than Sean, and thin rather than broad and built, but I could definitely see the resemblance.

His mother was short, shorter than me, fairly round, with a head full of curly red hair. She had fire in her bright blue eyes. She marched in. Even though she barely came to the middle of Sean’s chest, she pointed her finger up at him with authority.

“What’s going on in here, Sean? I told you I can deal with this rock n’ roll stuff, but if you start doing drugs…” she trailed off as she caught sight of me. “Who’s this?”

“Mom, this is Dani,” he said, pulling me close to him.

“Oh…” she seemed surprised. She squinted her eyes at me and stepped closer. “Hello there, Dani.”

“Hi,” I said shyly.

“And this is my Dad,” Sean said as his father moved forward.

I smiled at him.

Sean’s Mom looked from me to him, and back again. “Where did you find her?”

Sean shook his head. “Mom, really?”

She turned her attention back to me. “Where did you come from, young lady? And how old are you anyway? You look awfully young.”

“Um, I’m 28,” I said hesitantly.

“That’s not too bad,” she opined. “You don’t look like a super model or a trashy whatever-you-call-‘em.”

Sean interjected. “Mom, she’s a nice girl. She’s a park ranger.”

He pulled his arm away from me so that he could envelope his mom in a hug. She practically disappeared. When she emerged, she looked much less fierce. She was trying to get her dignity back, after having clearly just melted under the affection of her son, while Sean and his dad embraced quickly.

“Well, I’ll be the judge of how nice she is, Sean,” his mother said. “She’s coming with us.”

Apparently, Sean knew better than to argue with this woman. “Okay, Mom.”

I looked at him, my mouth open.

“Baby, is that okay?” He asked the question, but it was clear that he didn’t think I had a choice.

“Where are we going?” I asked.

“We’re going to watch the show, of course,” Sean’s mother said, as if I were an idiot.

“Umm… okay,” I said.

She started to lead me out of the room toward where Mike stood in the hallway, waiting. I looked back at Sean. He just shrugged.

His mother stopped in the doorway and turned. “You are coming to the house tomorrow aren’t you, Sean? And bringing that nice Hank fellow with you?”

“I told you I would, Mom. Did you come to the concert because you thought I’d skip out on you?”

I was a little miffed at him. He hadn’t mentioned that we were going to his parents’ house tomorrow. Why the hell hadn’t he told me?

“Of course not.” His mother said. “It’s not that far to drive and we wanted to see your little show.”

“I thought Sam and his new girlfriend were coming,” Sean said.

He hadn’t told me this either. I made a mental note to deal with him later.

“Your brother is a mess,” Sean’s dad said, shaking his head. “His girlfriend dumped him. He’s totally broken up about it. He’s moping around. And he has a major test on Monday he hasn’t even cracked a book for. So we took his tickets and I told him he had to stay home and straighten himself out.”

Sean chuckled. “Okay, well. Enjoy the show,” he told them. Then he looked at me, “See you later, Baby.”

Before I knew it, I was ushered out of the room, Sean’s mom pushing me forward.

****

Chrome and Bantham were playing a sports arena and we were sitting in a skybox, which allowed us the liberty of normal conversation, despite the raucous concert happening below.

Sean’s dad, Frank, regaled me with stories about Sean. He proudly told me about every one of Sean’s concerts that they’d been to. He talked about how Sean was a child musical prodigy. He even listed off all of his gold and platinum albums, as well awards he’d been nominated for or won. His only criticism was that Sean had changed his last name from Rushton to Rush when he’d first started making albums.

“It’s a family name with a lot of history, and he changed it just like that. He said it sounded better.”

“Did he change it legally?” I asked. Sean and I had never discussed his name.

“No way. I would have boxed his ears for that. No, he’s still Sean Rushton. He just uses Rush as his ‘stage name.’”

“I’m sure he meant no disrespect.”

“Of course not. It’s just part of the career, I guess. He certainly isn’t the first musician to alter his name. I didn’t care at first. But then his sister liked it so much she changed her name, too. She goes by Stacey Rush on stage. So I now I have two famous kids and neither of them uses my name.”

Gloria remained silent, but she watched me like a hawk. When Sean took the stage her silence ended. She turned to me, and like a secret service agent bent on protecting what was hers, the grilling began. She wanted to know about my upbringing, my education, my career, and how I’d met Sean.

I answered every question honestly. When we came to the story of how we’d met, I told them about my cross-country trip and how I needed a ride, and that Sean and Henry had offered me one.

“That was pretty dangerous, young lady,” Frank told me, as Sean sang about having sex in an alleyway with a devil woman in the background.

I nodded. “I know. But Sean and Henry, well I could tell immediately that they were the good sort.”

This seemed to warm Gloria to me. “Of course you could. Those boys are so sweet. And my Sean, well it’s written all over him what a good boy he is,” she said, over the sound of Sean singing about the devil woman coming back for more.

But just when I thought I was making progress, she got down to business. “Are you sleeping with him?” She asked.

“Gloria, leave the poor girl alone,” Frank chastised.

I had already won him over. But I could tell that it didn’t much matter. This family had one ruler, and it wasn’t Frank.

“I’m his mother and I want to know,” Gloria said defiantly. “Are you and Sean intimate?”

I was feeling overwhelmed, amused, and a little bit delighted. So I answered her. “Yes, ma’am.”

“And is this a regular thing or just a cheap fling?”

“Gloria,” Frank said. “I think it’s obvious. You saw Sean.”

I wasn’t entirely sure what Sean’s dad meant by that, and it peaked my curiosity.

“I’m not blind,” Gloria snapped back at Frank. Then she squinted her eyes and leaned in close to me. “I can see that he likes you. But what about you? Are you just using him because he’s rich and famous?”

“Gloria, it’s clear as day this girl is nothing like–” But Frank didn’t get very far. Gloria simply held up her hand and he fell silent.

She was a truly scary woman.

“I swear to you, Mrs. Rushton. I’m crazy about Sean. And it was Sean who pursued me. I’m not interested in his money or fame. I just want him.”

She pursed her lips. “You listen to me,” she said leaning toward me. “Don’t you go breaking his heart. If you do, you will have to deal with me.”

I take it back. She wasn’t just scary, she was terrifying. “No ma’am.”

“Good girl,” she said, slapping my back.

****

Sean reached out for me, a wicked grin on his face.

“No way,” I said, pulling away from him. “You already distracted me last night. We need to talk. And besides, I told you I won’t have sex in the bus.”

We were on our way to Kalamazoo to have dinner with Sean’s parents, and I needed to get some things off my mind first.

“The curtain is closed,” he said, settling his hips deeper into the soft mattress, a mattress that I was certain Henry’d had gobs of sex on.

I glared at him.

He sighed and put on his best martyr face. “Okay, what did I do?”

“Why didn’t you tell me that you’d made plans to visit your parents, or that your brother was supposed to be at the concert last night?”

“I’m not lying when I say that it slipped my mind. I’ve been caught up in you lately,” he said, reaching for my waist.

I slapped his hand away. “So you totally forgot?”

“Not forgot. I just wasn’t thinking about it. Mike did remind me when we left St. Louis,” he admitted.

“Ah ha, so you kept it from me.”

“Not on purpose. I was just procrastinating telling you. Then we were on the bus and I was going to tell you, but we were dealing with your thing. Then you came into my green room and…” He reached for me again.

“Knock it off. Why were you procrastinating?”

He let out a long-suffering sigh. “My mother is a little overprotective when it comes to me. And she is known for being completely crazy around my girlfriends. I wasn’t really sure how to explain it, or how to prepare you for it. So I just kept putting it off.”

“Hmmm.” I had to admit it did seem like a descent excuse. “She asked me if we were having sex.”

“For fuck’s sake,” he said, running his hand over his face. “See, how do you prepare someone for something like that? I’m 32 and my mom acts like you’re my prom date.”

“Yeah, it’s pretty cute.”

“It’s embarrassing as hell is what it is.”

“Does she act like that about your brother or sister’s relationships?”

“No. She’s completely normal with them. Apparently I’m the only one she feels the need to humiliate.”

“Maybe that’s because you live far away from her, she doesn’t understand what it is that you do, and she has no control over it.”

“Yeah, I’m sure that’s part of it. Though the same goes for my sister. I think, ultimately, it’s because she still thinks of me as being 5-years-old.”

He looked defeated. It was adorable. So I kissed him. He got ahold of my waist this time and pulled me onto his lap, my legs spread. His hands wandered to my ass.

“Really?” I said. “You’re horny after we just got through talking about your mom?”

“Damn it,” he pulled his hands away from me. “Why did you have to go and ruin it?”

That had, of course, been my goal. I was so not interested in having sex in the back of the bus. But I knew it wouldn’t take Sean long to convince me to do it anyway. I had to put a stop to it.

“Come on. Let’s go play cards,” I said opening the curtain and bolting of the bed.

Sean groaned.

“That didn’t take long,” Henry snickered when we got back to the booth in front.

Sean didn’t respond. He was used to Henry’s ribbing. He just pulled himself into the booth opposite Henry and sat back against window. But I felt the need to defend my man’s sexual prowess.

“Believe me, it would have taken a lot longer than that,” I said, trying, but failing, to imitate Henry’s tone. I even stuck my hand on my hip and glared down at him.

Henry looked pale.

Sean broke out an evil grin. “Yeah, Hank, turns out Baby won’t get it on with me on the bus. So I’ll have to wait until later to get her naked.”

“Ugh, stop,” Henry pleaded.

“You started it,” Sean said.

“Started what?” I asked, confused now.

“Hank can’t handle hearing about our sex life, Baby,” Sean told me.

This shocked the hell out of me. I looked at Henry. He looked like a puppy dog as he gazed back at me. “Here’s the thing, Baby. Despite my rhetoric–”

“Did you just use the word rhetoric?” Sean asked. He was the one doing the teasing now. And he was clearly enjoying himself.

Henry ignored him and continued. “I think of you as my baby sister. No, let me rephrase that. I don’t just
think
of you that way. You
are
my baby sister. I would adopt you right now if I could. So, regardless of what I say, the thought,” he shuddered, “is more than I can handle. Especially with this creep,” he pointed his thumb toward Sean.