THE BIGGEST STAGE (A Brothers of Rock - WILLOW SON - novel) (14 page)

(14)

“
I
think we did good.
”

Tessa held up the wide glass and
let Christie toast her.
“
I
agree.
”

“
I
think Bob will like the numbers at the end of the month.
”

“
He
’
ll never be happy,
”
Tessa said.
“
I can
’
t wait to get a break from all this.
”

“
Wait
…
you? A break?
”

“
It
’
s been just
…
it feels crazy.
”

“
We
travel for a living,
”
Christie said.
“
It
’
s what we do. Plus, we only have
one more stop and then we get a nice long week off. Personally? I
’
m going back to that beach.
”

“
The
beach where you got drunk, puked, and almost really ruined my good night?
”

“
That
’
s the one,
”
Christie grinned.
“
Only this time I
’
ll be on the receiving end of
the rockstar.
”

Jealousy
…

It pinged at Tessa
’
s nerves.

Tessa hadn
’
t confessed to Christie that she had Colby
’
s phone number. Not just because
Christie would find any sneaky, bitchy way to get it, but because she
’
d be mad that Tessa hadn
’
t taken advantage of the number.

Truth was Tessa hadn
’
t texted or called. She had no
reason to do so. Why? To say hello? To a rockstar? To the lead singer of Willow
Son? After all, he wasn't just some guy she met at a bar or something. He was
something far different. And just sending a casual text to a rockstar felt
weird. Chances were the phone number was fake. Either that or Colby wouldn
’
t actually respond.

Unless
…
maybe Colby was still at the
beach. Maybe he had a place there. Maybe Christie was on to something here.
Finish up the last sales meeting, get time off, and then hit the beach for a
week.

Tessa could find Colby
…
and
…

“
It
’
ll be wild!
”
Christie yelled.

“
What?
”
Tessa asked.

“
The
beach. If I can track down the rockstar. Hell, even if I don
’
t. I don
’
t have commitments. Not with work. I can cut loose.
”

“
And
your night of puking wasn
’
t
cutting loose?
”
Tessa asked
with a smile.

“
Not
much,
”
Christie.
“
Let
’
s get another drink.
”

“
Whoa,
whoa. I
’
m still good here.
And I am not babysitting you tonight.
”

“
Good.
Don
’
t. Someone else is.
”

“
Who?
”

“
Mr.
Nice Hair, in a suit, ten feet behind you. Keeps eye humping me.
”

Tessa turned and looked. Sure
enough, a guy was at the bar, lifting a glass the second Tessa looked.

“
Oh,
wow,
”
Tessa said.
“
You
’
re set for the night.
”

“
Unless
a better
…
holy shit
…”

“
A
better holy shit?
”

“
Tessa,
”
Christie said.
“
I
’
ve
had two of these drinks. I
’
m
not legally able to drive, right?
”

“
What?
”

“
I
’
m not drunk enough to imagine
what I just saw.
”

“
What
’
s that?
”
Tessa asked.

“
Come
here.
”
Christie popped up.
Her
boobs almost popped out of her dress.
“
Come
here, with me, right now.
”

Christie took Tessa by the arm and
they were on the move. As they started to approach the bar, Mr. Nice Hair
stepped from the bar, hand out, as though he had already sealed the deal with
Christie.

Then again, knowing Christie, it
didn
’
t actually take much
to seal the deal.

Christie put a finger up and then
pointed it at Mr. Nice Hair.
“
You
stay right there. Two minutes. Don
’
t
screw me over.
”

“
Oh,
I plan on scre
…”

“
Save
it, Nice Hair,
”
Christie
said.

They were on the move again, to the
opposite end of the bar-slash-restaurant-slash-club. There were two pillars and
a velvet rope that separated the next room, even though everyone could see to
the other part of the room.

It was the VIP lounge.

“
Look,
”
Christie said.
“
Now.
”

Tessa looked.
“
What
…
am
…
I
…”

The words fell away.

Tessa blinked a few times. She had
the same drinks as Christie, right? That meant she was just as drunk. Or not
drunk. Or, whatever.

But Tessa stood there and watched
as Willow Son walked to a part of the VIP lounge. They shook hands with others
that were there, talking, laughing, waitresses already there, ready to take
orders.

Willow Son.

Meaning
…

“
Colby,
”
Tessa whispered.

“
Yeah,
”
Christie said.
“
I
’
m
getting over this velvet rope. Forget Mr. Nice Hair. That rockstar is
mine
.
”

Tessa snapped her head to the left.

He
’
s not yours
…

“
You
told that guy
…”

“
Oh,
stop,
”
Christie said.
“
Hey. You should go sleep with
him. You could use the rebound.
”

“
Rebound?
I
’
m not heartbroken
…”

I just feel it. Well, not
anymore. Unless Colby forgot about me.

“
Whatever
works,
”
Christie said.
“
Go take care of Mr. Nice Hair
and I
’
ll go take care of
the rockstar.
”

“
No!
”
Tessa shouted.
“
No
…”

People started to look. Tessa
shrunk, feeling foolish. She grabbed at Christie
’
s
arm.

“
What
is wrong
…
with
…”
Christie
’
s eyes lit up.

Tessa shook her head.
“
No. Don
’
t.
”

“
You
like him. Wait a second. You met him
…
the guy at the hotel. Right? You said something about it. That was the night
Willow Son played that show on the balcony and got in trouble. Holy shit,
Tessa. You
’
ve been keeping
this from me. Hiding this. You actually like Colby. Not just a hook up thing. Oh,
Tessa
…”

“
Shut
up,
”
Tessa said.
“
Just shut up. Okay?
”

“
No!
”

“
Yes.
He
’
s a rockstar. We
’
re on opposite ends of the
world.
”

“
What?
”
Christie yelled.
“
You
’
re in the same city, again. The same place. The
…”
Christie turned her head.
“
HEY! COLBY! WILLOW SON!
”

Tessa opened her mouth, but she had
nothing. No air. No breath. Her heart pounded. Legs weak.

Fate
…
again
…

**

“
HEY!
COLBY! WILLOW SON!
”

Colby threw his hand up and waved.
He didn
’
t look back. No
need to look back right now. Bad enough he was being paraded around like a
celebrity. Well, yeah, he was a celebrity. But, come on, a velvet rope?

It was kind of pathetic really.

Portis insisted on them coming
here. Portis owned the place. It was good publicity. Get some shots of Willow
Son hanging out. Throw some stuff up online about the band recording, on the
verge of signing with Portis
’
company, and perhaps a show
…
even a tour.

Yeah, this was all just a big
fucking jok
…

“
COLBY!
TESSA IS HERE!
”

“
What?
”
Colby said as he spun around.

A waitress was right there. Tall,
beautiful, glittery skin. Big blue eyes. Perky breasts.
“
Can I get you anything? I
’
m a huge fan.
”

“
A
beer,
”
Colby said.
“
Two
…”

He moved around the waitress and
looked. There was a woman waving her arm. Another woman grabbing
…

“
Holy
shit, that
’
s Tessa,
”
Colby said.

“
Who?
”
Jett asked.

Colby started to run.
“
Pretty
…
eyes
…”

But it didn
’
t matter. He hadn
’
t
told the band about Tessa. It was none of their damn business.

For a second Colby thought about
launching himself over the velvet rope and grabbing Tessa. Scooping her up and
spinning her around. Telling her that her goddamn fate had worked again.

It was impossible, right?

Three times now.

Three different cities. Three
different nights.

A man appeared at the last second
and put a hand out.
“
Whoa,
whoa
…
where
’
s the fire?
”

Colby stopped and swatted the guy
’
s hand away.
“
Fuck off, man.
”

The guy grabbed Colby by the shirt.
“
Say that to my face.
”

The bouncer was twice the size of
Colby, but he feared nothing.
“
Do
you know who I am?
”

The guy
’
s lip curled.
“
Yeah.
”

“
Then
let me the fuck go. And you listen to everything I say in the next two minutes
or you won
’
t have a job.
”

The bouncer backed away. He put his
hands up in a sign of good faith.

Colby went to the velvet rope and
stood an inch from it like it was an electric fence. What he was doing was
trying to make sense of what he saw.

Tessa looked damn good. Jeans that
hugged all the right places, a black shirt that worked with the rest of her
body. Her hair was pulled back, giving more attention to her face and those
wild, pretty eyes of hers.

“
Pretty
eyes,
”
Colby said.
“
What
…”

“
Hey,
”
Tessa said.

“
Colby,
”
Tessa
’
s friend -
Christie
- yelled.
“
I can
’
t believe we
’
re
all here together.
”

We?

“
What
are you doing here?
”
Colby
asked.
“
Are you stalking
me?
”

“
Yeah,
”
Tessa said.
“
Stole your calendar from your
phone. Knew you were going to be here.
”

“
I
’
m glad I deleted all those
nights of strippers then,
”
Colby replied with a grin.

He touched the velvet rope. Tessa
inched closer.

“
Are
you here on business?
”
Colby asked.

“
Yeah,
”
Tessa said.

“
Meetings
and stuff right now?
”

“
No,
”
Christie said.
“
We
’
re
free. We
’
re ready to party.
”

Colby looked at Christie.
“
Sweetie, if I give you a hundred
bucks, will you go get some drinks and give us a second?
”

Christie
’
s jaw looked ready to hit the floor.
“
I
…”