You got to Me (Love on Tour #3) (5 page)

“Why are you so intent that I find a man?”

“I just think you should loosen up, Leese. A man would help with that.”

“Enough trying to fix me up. Tell me how my nephew is doing.”

“Better. The doctor says he thinks he’ll be able to fly to Chicago next week if the ear infection continues to improve.”

“I can’t believe you’re taking an infant on a plane, alone.”

“Mike chartered us a flight. It’ll just be me, Henry and the crew. So it shouldn’t be too bad.”

“Must be nice to be loaded.”

I shouldn’t have said it. It was callous. It just came out. It was the kind of thing Dani and I might have said to each other about someone else once upon a time. But she was sensitive about the money thing, and I knew it.

Our father was pretty wealthy. But he’d taught us young to squirrel away money and make it on our own. Brad had done a bang-up job of it. He owned his own tech company and was loaded. I’d done alright, having scrimped and saved on my decent university salary. But Dani had spent most of her adult life living paycheck to paycheck. Sean was very, very rich. She had a hard time adjusting.

“Ugh. Did I tell you that Sean finally convinced me to put my name on his checking accounts? Jesus, did you hear the ‘s’ – as in account
s
. He tricked me. I was just signing all this paperwork for what I thought was one account, and before I knew it the lady was telling me I was on like three accounts.”

Dani had insisted that she keep her own meager checking account after they got married, and refused to be on Sean’s.

“How did he talk you into that?”

“He used Henry. When we were preparing for him to leave on the tour he pointed out that if me and Henry needed anything in an emergency we’d have to wait until he could get to a bank and transfer us money. Of course, I did the math and realized that the $258 balance in my bank account was probably not enough of a cushion in a pinch. So I didn’t really have a choice. I went down to the bank with him and let him put my name on stuff. And at the end of it all, the lady prints off these receipts with the account balances, and Lisa, I just about fell off my damn chair! He has way too much money.”

Most people might think you couldn’t ever have ‘too much money.’ But I understood completely. Dani and I were of one mind about this kind of thing. Money was a part of who you were. It was something that belonged solely to you, you earned it, you saved it, you spent it. We had watched our mother use money as a way to get back at our dad after he left her. She felt entitled to what was his. We disagreed.

When I was just starting college and Dani was still in high school, we made a pact that neither one of us would ever marry a rich guy. I let Dani out of the pact the night before her wedding. But it made me double down on my own commitment.

“You know, I agree with Sean on this,” I said gently.

“That it’s for Henry?”

“No, that it should be your money, too.”

“I didn’t earn it, Lisa. He did.”

“I don’t know. I mean, he couldn’t do any of the things he does now without you. That album did so well partly because of the song about you. And this tour – you are making a lot of sacrifices for this tour.”

“I’m so not buying this.”

“Okay, what about the fact that you deserve some compensation for finding the damn cap to the toothpaste?”

She laughed. “I miss you, Lisa. Have you given any more thought to my proposal?”

My sister and I had been very close once. Then, after my divorce, things were strained. Since she’d found Sean we’d come back together again. And we both really liked it. I lived in Berkeley and she in Malibu, so we didn’t see each other as much as we might like. Dani had proposed that after the tour I spend a few weeks with them.

“I’m thinking about it.” I had only one reason to say no. And maybe that wasn’t an issue anymore. “Dani, do you think Sean knows about this crush thing?”

“Probably not. He’s clueless. A woman would have to literally jump into his arms before he figured out she wanted him.”

“Did you tell him?”

“Hell no! I wouldn’t do that. Besides I don’t think it’s a big enough deal to even mention. Nobody thinks it’s a big deal but you, Leese.”

“Sam does.”

She laughed. “Sam is just using whatever he can to get into your pants.”

“Gross. Why are we talking about him again?”

“Fine. Tell me about Bell and Henry. How are they doing?”

“Good, I think. They haven’t fought yet, so that’s kind of impressive.”

Bell and Hank were known for fighting a lot. They had these big arguments and then made up like rabbits. It was weird.

“How was dinner with the O’Malleys?”

I told Dani the entire story about the mishap at Bell’s parents house, including the part where Sam slammed the window and I had to take a fake fall to cover up for his dumb ass.

Dani laughed her head off. “Sounds like you had fun.”

“You are so twisted.”

“What do you think Henry and Ian were talking about?”

“No idea. We only caught the end of it. Whatever it was, it was a secret. I don’t know. I don’t trust Hank. You know, a lot of women throw themselves at him. I’ve already seen it a few times in just the last couple days.”

“Yeah, he’s pretty irresistible.”

“Please… And he flirts with everyone who has boobs. It’s pathetic.”

“He can’t help it. He’s just like that. He doesn’t mean anything by it. He just flirts with everyone.”

“Not me.”

“That’s because he knows you don’t like him. He’s probably restraining himself so he can win you over.”

“Why would he care?”

“I know you don’t get this Lisa, but Henry is my brother, as much as Brad is. And you’re my sister. He wants you to like him.”

I sighed. Between Hank and Sam, there were way too many obnoxious men trying to get me to like them on this tour.

7

I was backstage, looking for Joe. I didn’t care that Dani thought he wasn’t my type. I thought he was hot, and I wanted to get my mind off all the men that were plaguing me. I figured a little alone time with Joe would fix me right up.

I found him behind the stage talking to a couple roadies. It was dark back here. I watched his profile. He looked pretty yummy.

“Hey, Joe,” I called.

He turned and smiled. “See you later, guys,” he said to the roadies. Then he approached me.

“I’m sorry we got interrupted yesterday.”

“No worries.” He came to stop a few feet away.

“I was hoping we could try again.”

Joe ran a hand through his hair. “I’m sorry, Lisa. You’re super hot and normally I would be totally interested. But I’m not stupid enough to mess with the Rush brothers.”

“What?”

“Sam made it pretty clear that Sean doesn’t want me hooking up with you. And besides the fact that he’s my boss, I’m not interested in getting my ass kicked. Sorry, sweetheart.” He kissed my cheek and walked away.

I was seething. I walked back to the hall and stormed toward the little office where I knew Sam was holed up.

The door slammed against the wall as I threw it open. Sam was sitting at a small metal desk. He looked up at me.

“Hi there, Lisa.”

I slammed the door closed behind me. “Don’t give me that.”

He stood up and walked around the desk. “You look a little pissed.”

“You sabotaged me!”

“Hmmm. I suppose you’re talking about your plans to hook up with Joe.”

I stepped closer to him. “Yes, you jackass. You told him that Sean would be mad if I did.”

He grinned. “Apparently it worked.”

I lunged at him, my arms raised. He grabbed my wrists and pulled me to his chest.

“Calm down Lisa, and let’s talk about this.”

He was leaning down so that his face was right next to mine. I took a deep breath. He smelled good, really good.

“I don’t think Joe is what you need,” he said in a soft voice.

I was trying to regain my senses when he put his lips to mine. Without even willing it, I opened my mouth and let him kiss me. Sam definitely knew what he was doing. The boy must have taken lessons.

This was
not
good.

I pulled away from him, yanking my arms free and took a step back. “You’re an ass.”

“I know.”

He was grinning and it made the rage build even further within me. “Sean didn’t even know about me and Joe, did he?”

“Nope.”

“So the whole thing was just you getting in the way?”

“I did pretty good, huh?”

And that’s when I slapped him. It wasn’t hard, not hard enough to leave a mark, but enough to make my point. Then I walked out.

I made my way down the hall, with no idea where I was going. But when I saw Sean’s green room door, I stopped in front of it and knocked.

Sean answered the door and looked at me quizzically. “Why are you knocking?”

“I’m not supposed to knock?”

He moved aside and let me in. I plopped down on the couch.

“No, you are in the ‘no knock’ club.”

“Okay, and what’s that?”

Sean leaned up against the counter opposite me. “You, Hank, Bell, Mike, and Sam. You don’t have to knock. If someone knocks it means it’s not one of you. That rule applies at all times, except when Baby’s around. Then, I suggest you knock.” He grinned.

“Fair enough.”

He crossed his arms over his chest. “You alright?”

“Don’t I look alright?”

“No, you look a little rattled, actually.”

Maybe Sam was right, maybe I did wear my thoughts on my face.

“I just slapped your brother.”

“Oh yeah? What did he do?”

“He kissed me.”

“Without permission?” Sean shook his head. “He knows better than that.”

“He sure does now.”

“He’s usually a gentleman, I swear. But he has a thing for you, you know.”

“You knew about this, too?”

He shrugged.

“He’s driving me crazy.”

“He’s been coming on a little strong, eh?”

“That’s an understatement,” I groaned.

He chuckled. “Baby said he tried to blackmail you.”

Jesus. What had she told him?

“She said that, huh?”

“Yeah, shows how desperate he is, making up crazy shit to blackmail you out on a date.”

I let out a breath. So Sean was going to be cool about this.

“Can’t blame him, Leese. You are a smart, gorgeous woman. A guy’s gotta try.”

“But he won’t take no for an answer.”

“Yeah, that’s just Sam. He’s always been really persistent. My family all thinks Sam’s a fuck up. But the truth is, when he wants something, he doesn’t stop until he gets it. Everything else he could care less about.”

“Great. And I’ve become his target.”

“So it would seem.”

Sean looked at his watch and then walked over to his bag in the corner of the room. “You eat yet?”

“No. You?”

“No, we should grab something before the meet and greet.” Sean leaned over and pulled a fresh t-shirt out of his bag.

Oh, crap.

“I’ll talk to Sam,” he said, as he pulled off the shirt he was wearing.

I was glad my sister wasn’t upset about my crush on her husband. And she was absolutely right, I was definitely not going to try anything, ever. But sitting on the couch, looking at Sean’s absolutely divine, naked upper body, still made me feel guilty.

“I have a question for you,” I said, trying desperately not to stare as he stood up and unfolded the new shirt.

“Shoot.” He lifted his arms up to put the shirt on and I nearly melted.

“Did you know that I was planning to hook up with Joe in Portland?”

“What?” Sean stilled in the act of pulling the cotton over his rock hard abdomen. “Joe, my drummer?”

“Yeah. We met up for drinks at the hotel bar.”

Sean walked over to the couch and sat down beside me. “Hmmm.”

“I take it you didn’t know?”

He threw his arm over the back of the couch and angled toward me. “No, I didn’t. What happened?”

“Sam wrecked the whole thing. He showed up at the bar and insinuated that you knew and were pissed about it. Scared Joe right off.”

He grinned. “Did he now?”

“He was lying,” I pointed out.

“Maybe.”

“What do you mean, maybe? You just said that you didn’t even know about it.”

“Yeah, but if I had known, I’d have been pissed.”

“Why?”

Sean studied me for a minute. “You know I love you like a little sister, right?”

My stomach knotted up. “I’m only two months younger than you,” I pointed out.

“You’re still younger,” he said. “The point is, you’re family. Which means that, unfortunately for you, I have the uncontrollable urge to protect you at all times.”

I stared at him.

“When you were facing down that crazy Shanna chick, I about had a heart attack. I was scared to death that those other girls were going to break free and start kicking your ass.”

I shrugged. “I had Bell.”

Sean chuckled. “True. But still. Anyway, the point is, Joe would not fall into my ‘safe guys’ category.”

“What exactly is the ‘safe guy category?’ Boy, you sure have a lot of categories.”

“I do. Safe guys are ones that I don’t have to worry about. I’d worry about you and Joe.”

“Why’s that?”

“Well, he’s a pretty big player, which means that you’d either end up having a one-night stand.” He made a face. “Which I am not okay with. Or you’d start something up, and then he’d slip up and cheat on you or something, and you’d be hurt. Plus, he’s not your type.”

“That’s what Dani said, too.”

“I’m sorry about this, Leese. I really am. I know you didn’t ask for your sister to marry to an over-protective freak. But that’s what you got. And a guy like Joe – not happening on my watch. Sorry.”

I had been mad at Sam for the exact same thing. But I was not angry with Sean. I was happy that I fit into one of his categories.

****

I’d gone to bed as soon as we got back to the hotel after the show in Seattle. And obviously, I’d missed a lot.

We drove to the airport to take a flight to Denver. The other two busses, with the band members and roadies, rolled right after the concert. But we were taking a chartered flight.

I learned on the way to the airport that Bell wouldn’t be joining us. She was heading to Malibu to be with my sister for a couple days. I didn’t ask anyone what was going on while we rode to the airport. They all seemed very stressed and were talking constantly. I didn’t have a clue what was happening.

After we dropped Bell off at a gate for a commercial flight, we went to our charter. We were all walking toward the plane, when Sean stalled out.

He stood, unmoving, in front of the metal stairs leading to the plane. And I suddenly remembered, Sean had an intense fear of heights. He always kept the curtains closed in the hotel room, he didn’t even like balconies. His own home was all one floor. I’d been told once that it took him years to get close to the edge of the stage when he played. And he definitely didn’t like planes.

“Hey man, look, no propellers. This is a straight up jet,” Mike said. “It’s just like the one you and Baby used to ride on when she worked at Death Valley.”

Sean’s voice cracked a little when he spoke. “Yeah, but Baby was with me then.”

“Come on, big brother. You can do this,” Sam said.

“Lisa.” Sean was still looking up at the plane, fixated on it.

I walked up to him. “Yeah, I’m here.”

“Can you help me?”

“Sure.” I grabbed his hand and pulled him slowly up the steps.

We were greeted at the door by a tall, thin, boyishly handsome flight attendant and the captain. Sean shook hands with them both.

“I’m going to make this as easy on you as possible, son,” the captain said.

“He’s a retired Naval Aviator, Sean,” Mike said. “Captain Donovan knows what he’s doing.”

Sean nodded. I ushered him into the belly of the plane. I had never been on a plane like this before in my life. In the front was a set of regular seats in pairs on either side of the aisle. But behind that was a big ‘U’ shaped sofa with a break in the middle that lead to the back of the plane and the bathroom. There were end tables where the armrests should have been.

I also noticed that all the window shades had been pulled down. Apparently, Sean’s fear overrode even airline regulations.

Sean took a seat in the front on the aisle and pulled me into the window seat beside him. He tugged on his seat belt then leaned over me and fastened mine too. He wrenched the armrest up and pulled my head to his chest.

“I don’t want to offend you, Lisa, but here’s the thing. Your hair is a lot like your sister’s.”

“Yes, it is,” I agreed, still unsure what the point was.

Sean ran a swatch of my hair through his fingers. “So if you don’t mind…”

Oh, sure. He wanted to pretend I was my sister. I did, too.

“It’s fine, Sean.”

Mike sat across the aisle from us, and Sam sat directly behind Sean. He put a hand on Sean’s shoulder, which meant that he was touching the top of my head, too.

“It’s gonna be okay, Sean.”

The flight attendant was checking everything over. He lingered at Mike’s seat. Then the captain came over the speaker.

“Prepare for take off, Dan. And Sean, I’m gonna make this nice and smooth for you.”

The flight attendant went to the door of the cockpit and ducked inside.

“You gotta get you some of that, Mike,” Hank said.

“I don’t know,” Mike replied. “Hooking up with a flight attendant is such a cliché.”

“Yeah, but he’s so your type.”

“What do you know about my type, Hank?”

“Please, I’ve been watching you hit on dudes for six years. I know your type. He actually kinda reminds me of that guy with the weird name in New Orleans.”

“Van.”

“Yeah, Van.”

Mike chuckled. “Yeah I guess so. That was a good night.”

We started down the runway. Sam’s hand was still touching the top of my head.

“You’re arms aren’t that long, Sam. Put the goddamn seatbelt on.” Sean grumbled.

Sam laughed and I felt his hand fall away. “This is the reason we had to sit in the car for days on end during all those family vacations.”

We were picking up speed. Sean pressed his face to the top of my head. “Tell me something, Lisa.”