9781618857958KissMeLikeYouMeanItLeveyNC (21 page)

“You
should knock first.”

“What,
this is like my bedroom by default. Why are you naked? Put something on.” Holding
her T-shirt to her chest, she turned around to face the door. “Tell me when it’s
safe to face you again.” There was a rustle of clothing and a zip.

“Jeans
on.”

“Good.
Now if you don’t mind, I’m going to go shower.” She brushed past him and
slammed the door to the bathroom in his face.

Dear Lord, our men are sexy as sin.
Though Shea wasn’t as tattooed as Jackson, all those corded muscles made up for
his lack of ink. She tried not to ogle his dick. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t
stroked a cock before Jackson. But damn, he was thick and long too, minus the
beads. Sighing, she turned on the water and made haste. With guests arriving
within the hour, she needed a miracle to get put together.

Squeaky
clean ten minutes later, she stepped out of the stall and wrapped a towel
around herself. She stepped into the bedroom to see Jackson with a towel around
his waist putting hot pink dye in his hair. She knew what team he was batting
for today.

“I
thought you were going team blue.” Carlie dried off and lathered lotion on.

“She
is having a girl. Garrick isn’t lucky enough to get a son the first time
around.”

“Care
to make a friendly wager on that?” She swept past him and dug in a drawer for
her powder blue lace panties and matching bra.

“I’m
game.” Jackson smoothed his hand over her ass, but Carlie slapped him away as
he started pulling at the side.

“No
breaking these, at least right now.” She slipped on her jeans and baby blue T-shirt
with.
We’re having a nephew
across
the front. On the back was
Team Blue or
Go Home
.

“What
is our wager?” Jackson donned a pink V-neck shirt. On the back the words
Batting for Pink
spread across his
shoulder blades
.
Underneath the phrase,
a pink stick-figure person wrestled with the stork for the envelope holding the
answer.

“When
I win you will have to be my slave in all things for seventy-two hours.”

Jackson
laughed. “Twenty-four and you have a deal.”

“Hey,
your face is healed.”

“Nah,
Nev
sent over a makeup artist this morning.
Apparently, she refuses to have her child see pictures of this day with me
bruised up.”

“That
is Nev. She likes everything to be just right. I’m so glad my brother is
marrying that woman. I love her to death.” Carlie brushed her hair into a twist
and clipped it up. While her metrosexual boyfriend worked on his hair next to
her, she put on her makeup and coated her lips with gloss.

“Watermelon
flavored?”

“You
are not kissing these lips you manic.” Jackson wiped his hands off on a towel and
faced her. She backed away from him in search of her blue
blinged
-out
sandals.

“All
right.” Jackson shrugged his feet into shoes and winked at her. “Ready to go downstairs?”

“Yep.
Who’s here?”

“The
crew is here setting up.
Nev
and Garrick are in the
living room. Close family and some friends were arriving as I came up. Carrie
is being the perfect hostess in your absence since she finished setting up the
gift bags, but you can help me do one last thing.”

“You
let me sleep too late.” Carlie punched his arm.

Jackson
grabbed her and dropped a chaste kiss on her lips, then licked his own.

“Pomegranate,
nice.”

“That
wasn’t a kiss, mister.”

“I
thought we weren’t kissing.”

“Well,
you should kiss me like you mean it even if it’s unwanted.”

“Unwanted
huh?” Jackson encircled her waist and hoisted her up to him. His lips devoured
hers with unsurpassed urgency and possessiveness that made her knees weak and
her mind blank out. Swamped with dizziness, she pushed at him weakly to break
the kiss and catch her breath. Jackson licked his lips a final time and winked.

“You
are horrible.” She slipped her wand of gloss out and reapplied. “Let’s go
before we miss the whole party, you horn dog.”

“We
have an interview in a few minutes.” Jackson linked his fingers through hers and
led her back downstairs. They entered a madhouse of mass chaos. Guests were
milling around conversing.

“With
who?”

“Rock
Gods has a reporter here to talk to me about the new album and my relationship
status.”

“Oh,
are we going public?”

“We
went public days ago, love. Let’s cement it in truth.” Jackson tugged at her
hand and led her into the kitchen. “Grab the champagne and fill the flutes.
Sameera
filled them with sorbet for me since she was
already dressed.”

Carlie
popped the bottles and began filling the glasses three-fourths full. Jackson
entertained the media. Once she was done, she tucked her hands into her back
pocket and approached her boyfriend who was locked in conversation with their
interviewer, or so she assumed. When she reached his side, he automatically
slipped an arm around her and kissed her head.

“Princess,
meet Steve Hart from Rock Gods.”

“It’s
nice to meet you,
Carlie
, or should I call you
princes too?”

Steve
oozed an honest carefree attitude, drawing her to him. “Carlie is fine, thanks,
good to meet you as well.” She stuck out a hand. “Where are we gonna do this?”

“The
breakfast bar is fine. I have the trays of food out of the way.” Jackson waited
for her to take a seat before taking one next to her.

“This
will be quick.” Steve motioned for his crew to come over for the live stream.

“We’re
in beautiful Rye, New York with the bass guitarist for Crimson Rage and his
girlfriend Carlie Stevens, sister to lead singer Wade Stevens.”

Carlie
gripped his hand. She wasn’t like him, never sat in on the interviews but
watched them like the rest of the world. To be next to him in the moment,
knowing the world would see how crazy they were about one another made her
heart melt. “Hi.”

“We
don’t have a lot of time. There’s a pregnant woman in the other room having her
own interview with Real Talk.”

“I
am aware and thank you for opening up your home and allowing us to meet you here.
I want to first discuss the tumultuous fight streamed yesterday. Could you shed
any light on what transpired?”

“Well,
Steve, it’s simple. It was a family dispute. A private one that wasn’t meant to
go global. But hell, I lost my cool and my head and forgot that unlike everyone
else, I don’t lead a normal life. There are people around dying to exploit situations
like that.”

“I
respect that, man. We all have those moments with family. I know I have. Can
you enlighten us on your tour overseas?”

“Oh
yeah. We did a USO tour for ten days, playing for the troops at designated
stops. Man, I have to give it up to our men and women who sacrifice for our
freedom. It was an honor to play for each and every one of them. They needed a
piece of home and we brought it. Being over there for ten days was a humbling
experience. We got a chance to hang with some badass soldiers and get a feel
for what they go through every day while we’re over here living the high life.”

“Do
you have plans to take over vocals in upcoming shows? One of your fans uploaded
a vid of you performing. The fans loved hearing you sing.”

“That’s
a distinct possibility. I have a new song on the upcoming album titled You
Wound Me
,
but we haven’t hashed out
the specifics yet.”

“All
right. All right. One of the fans sent in a question about your guitar. Are
there any new pieces you’re digging right now? A new sponsorship on the
horizon?”

“Man,
I love my baby right now. Jimmy and I have sponsored some badass guitars in the
past few years. Right now we’re
chillin
’ holding
tight to our current company. So no, nothing new has caught our eye.”

“Carlie,
the females out there want to know how it feels to be linked to the heart
crusher?”

“I
forgot that nickname, and I gave it to him.” She laughed. “Jackson and I have
been around each other for years. Being linked to him feels good, feels right.”

“What
about you, Jackson? You’re not exactly known for having relationships. Do we
see wedding bells in the future?”

“Definitely
a possibility. This one here is my game changer.”

Carlie
blushed. “You sure know the right words to a girl’s heart.”

“Steve,
it looks like our time is running out. If I’m not out there to help my boy with
his woman, my balls will be cut off. The pregnant woman rules the band and the
roost right now.” Jackson grinned.

“Last
question. Any new tours or shows?”

“Yep,
we are playing a series of outdoor festivals this summer. Check the band
website and forum boards for new news. And always check out our awesome
merchandise made by our lead singer’s fiancé
Neveah
.”
Jackson stood up and reached out to shake Steve’s hand.

The
camera crew turned off their equipment and moved on.

“Feel
free to stay around and have some food. I’ll have to ask that your crew puts
away their equipment, so there’s not a conflict of interest with
Nev’s
crew.”

“Thank
you for the offer but we’re on a tight schedule. I look forward to seeing the
spread on her baby news. Carlie, it’s been a pleasure to meet such a vibrant
young woman.” Steve took his leave. Carlie sighed in relief.

Everyone
cleared out of the breakfast nook, leaving her and Jackson a spot of privacy.
She leaned up and kissed his lips. “You are good at handling this. You normally
seem so nonchalant.”

“Yeah
well, we do have a moody pregnant woman to contend with.” He linked an arm
around her.

They
entered the front foyer and Carlie saw her brother Jordan and parents heading
their way. She tightened her arm around Jackson.

“I
won’t leave you to fend for yourself, babe, but you can handle this. You know
what you want to say. No one is perfect and you’re an adult. I got you in
this.”

“Mr.
and Mrs. Stevens.” Jackson reached out to extend a hand. Mrs. Stevens came in
with a bear hug. He extricated himself and shook Carlie’s father’s hand. “Sir.
Welcome to my home. I’ve asked the guests to keep to this floor. But family can
move freely.”

“I
missed you, son. I was expecting to see you walk into my kitchen with the
others after Afghanistan. You make sure to call me next time. What a lovely home.
The decorations are lovely. We weren’t expecting you to have a home along the
coast. You are really a dear for hosting
Nev’s
reveal
party here.”

“It’s
nothing, ma’am. After all you’ve done for me through the years, how could I not
offer my place, since we were all here already the timing was perfect.”

Carlie
watched as her mom fawned over Jackson, suffocating him with affection. Ever
since she could remember, her mom gave him extra support, motherly touches and
hugs. It took him a few years to accept her maternal ways without freezing. Now
he embraced her as if it was the most natural response. Her father eyed her but
remained silent.

“Dad,
Mom. I am really sorry for what happened. If you were embarrassed, I apologize
for that too. I love you and want you to be proud of me not disappointed. I’m
not perfect even though I try to be and to be honest, it’s exhausting. So from
now on I’m not going to worry about pleasing everyone else. I’m going to relax and
quit feeling like upsetting anyone will make my world crumble around me.”

“We
know, kitten. We, your mom and I, just want you happy and safe.” Her dad
embraced her and she dropped her hold on Jackson to fully be encased in her
father’s strong arms. She breathed him in and felt a semblance of normalcy
restore itself. He loved her even though she messed up.

“I
love you, Daddy.” Carlie linked her hand with her mom and slipped into her arms
next.

“I
resigned from the college board. No school should allow any student to be ridiculed.
I’m sorry you went through that. Those bitches.”

“
Mom
. Oh my God, did you just cuss?
Jackson, the world is ending.”

“Well
then I’m in perfect company, princess.”

“
Neveah
is ready to get her party started. We just finished
up with the magazine shoot. Thanks again for letting us do the party here. bro,”
Garrick called for them from the doorway.

“Come
on you slowpokes. I’m the only one allowed to be slow. Jordon, no champagne
flute for you, we don’t contribute to minors. Do we?”
Nev
pointed a glare at every male member in the band exacting her law.

“I
need members of team pink and members of team blue to come into the main room.
We’re going to do the photo for the magazine. Grab a pink rock guitar button or
a blue one with safari stripes.” She waddled out and cupped her hands around
her mouth like a megaphone. Garrick appeared worn down but not at the end of
his rope yet.