Pure Iron (32 page)

“Take a bath,” he said. “I’ll bring your pajamas.”

She nodded, stupidly wondering now if Mick no longer wanted her because she’d been fired. Fortunately, he saw the sadness in her expression and embraced her.

“Babe, you’re upset and I don’t want to take advantage of you. You need affection more than sex right now.”

She relaxed into him, realizing he was right.

“I’m sorry. I’m screwing up everything.”

He rested his chin on top of her head and said, “No, honey, you’re not screwing up anything. You’re going through a rough patch and I’ll help you get through it.” He slid his hands up her arms and gently grasped her shoulders. He took a step backward and looked into her eyes. “We’ll hash matters out in the morning. Right now, you’re going to take a nice, warm bath and then I’m going to feed you and then we’re going to bed. I’ll hold you in my arms all night because I love you and never want to let you go.”

His words brought a grateful smile to her face and she nodded. He released her and she went to take her bath. A moment later he slipped into the bathroom and set down her comfortable pajamas. When she entered the kitchen all moist and pink, he set a plate of scrambled eggs and buttered toast in front of her.

“Eat up, buttercup.”

She did.

Shortly thereafter, they settled into bed, Sonia snuggled against Mick’s body. She fell heavily asleep, hardly stirring until morning when Mick made long, slow love to her, showing her what he words could not adequately express.

“Come on tour with us,” he said.

“What?”

He repeated the request.

“But … I can’t do that?”

“Why not?”

“I … I …” Words failed her. She wasn’t employed and she had no other obligations. Finally, she grasped at straws: “Student loans. I need a job to start paying off my student loans.”

“I’ll take care of that,” he said.

“I have over a hundred thousand dollars in student loans.”

“I’m good for it.”

Her jaw dropped, then closed. She clenched her jaws stubbornly. “I can’t let you do that.”

“Why not?”

“Because it’s my debt, my responsibility.”

“Babe, we’re married. What’s yours is mine and what’s mine is yours, remember?”

“Well, yes, but—”

“No buts. Consider the debt gone. What other objections do you have?”

“I don’t have a passport.”

“We’ll get you one. The U.S. tour lasts four months; that ought to be sufficient to obtain a passport for you. Jay can help with that and with getting any visas, too.”

“What am I going to do?”

“Well, babe, you can cook for us.”

“But you’ll be staying in hotels, won’t you?”

“The U.S. portion of the tour is by bus. It’s equipped with a small kitchen, like one of the ultra-fancy RVs. Gets about the same horrible mileage, too. Anyway, the bus comes stocked and we’ll make grocery runs along the way.”

“And the overseas portion?”

“Then you’ll enjoy being exposed to cuisine you’ve never had in places you’ve never visited. Consider it a semester of independent study to expand your palate and culinary repertoire.”

“And then?”

“When we get back, you’ll be bursting with ideas for your own restaurant.”

“Restaurant! I can’t afford—”

He cut her off. “The guys and I already discussed this. We’ll all chip in to fund a restaurant for you. You’ll do all the hiring, determine the menu, and stuff. And you can do the all the cooking, too, if you want. We know it’s your dream to have your own restaurant and we’ll be glad to make it possible.”

She smiled and shook her head with disbelief. “You guys are too good to me.”

“Are you kidding? We’ll be your most faithful customers. Food like yours should be shared.” He grinned at her and added, “Besides, Davis threatened to kidnap you and pack you in his luggage if you didn’t come with us. He
really
likes your cooking.”

“Okay,” she relented as excitement began to bubble.

Mick smiled, happy to see the sparkle return to her eyes. He pressed a kiss to her forehead and said, “Fix me lunch, woman. I’ve got calls to make.”

Sonia kissed him back, full on the mouth with tongue. With a playful growl, he rolled her over, anchoring her body beneath his.

“You know where that will get you,” he warned, lips curved in a carnal smile.

“Oh, yeah, I know,” she replied and rolled her hips into his.

Lunch was delayed.

Jay sighed and adopted a martyred expression when Mick finally spoke with him. “Mick, I’m not your realtor.”

“I don’t care. Sell the damn condo, put our furniture and shit in storage, and find us a quiet place on the beach.”

“Does it have to be in California?”

“No, anywhere on the West Coast is good.”

“West Coast?”

“Fewer hurricanes,” Mick replied laconically.

“Uh huh.” Jay sighed again.

“Jay, you’ve got six months to figure this out. We’re going on tour, remember. And Sonia’s coming with us.”

“Wait a minute. You said she was staying in Vegas.”

“Things change, Jay. Sonia’s coming with us. The guys are okay with this.”

“Are you sure about this?”

“Yes. And we’ll keep those concert dates we wanted to cancel.”

“Give and take, huh?”

“It’s called negotiation. You’ll have to help with getting Sonia a passport and travel visas, too.”

“You’re not driving much of bargain.”

“No, but it’s fair enough. You get what you want and I get what I want.”

“All right, Mick. You might want to warn her about the fuckfest that goes on in that tour bus.”

“I’ll get the guys to be discreet.”

“Discreet. Yeah.” Jay snorted with disbelief.

Mick shrugged, although his agent couldn’t see the gesture over the phone.

“All right, Mick. I’ll put my assistant to work finding you a new home and selling the condo. Leave everything to me.”

“I always do, Jay. You’re the best.”

“Damn straight I am.”

With another call, he gave Davis the update.

“Oh, man, the U.S. portion of this tour will be great if she’s going to cook for us,” he enthused. “You sure she doesn’t have a sister?”

“She has a sister, but I don’t know if she likes to cook.”

“Tell whoever that is to stay away from Jordan,” Sonia called from the doorway where she stood, overhearing Mick’s end of the conversation. “Jordan’s only seventeen years old and far too young for him.”

Mick chuckled and said, “Sonia says her little sister is still jail bait.”

Davis groaned and retorted, “If she cooks like her sister, I’ll wait.”

Mick opened his mouth to reply, but Sonia said, “Come and eat. Lunch is ready.”

“Oooh, I get to eat lunch
and
cum?” He crowed innuendo in a squeaky falsetto.”

Sonia shook her head and chuckled at his silliness, which somehow lightened her heart and made the day seem brighter. He bade good-bye and hung up. As they ate, she asked him if he’d made all the arrangement necessary to add her to the tour.

“Jay knows. Davis knows and he’ll spread the word to the others.”

“Will you have a regular opening band on the tour?”

“Not this time. We like to showcase local talent, give them an opportunity to strut their stuff. After all, it was a big name group that gave us that opportunity, so we pay it forward.” He chewed, swallowed, and said, “I think Yellow Ice has a chance to make it big, but they’ll have to change their name.”

She chuckled and said, “Yeah, I know. I keep thinking of the old joke about teaching kids not to eat the yellow ice.”

“Come to the show tonight,” he urged.

She hesitated, then nodded. After all, it wasn’t like she had a job to go back to in the morning. Her smile faded. Mick reached across the table and tilted her chin up with his finger.

“Hey, no grumpiness at the table.”

She gave him a small smile.

“Sonia, we’ll be hitting Ohio on our tour. Would you like to send some backstage passes to your family so you can see them while we’re there?”

Her eyes widened and her smile grew. “That’s a fabulous idea, Mick. Thank you. Yes, I’d love to have a chance to visit with them. Do you know which city?”

“It’s either Columbus or Cincinnati,” he replied. “I can’t quite remember which.”

“Well, North Hampton’s a good hour or more away from both cities, but I think they’ll be able to make it, especially if the concert’s on a Friday or Saturday night.”

“I don’t remember the exact date,” he admitted with a shrug, privately thinking that if the Houlihans didn’t care enough to see Sonia when they could, then she was well rid of them. “I’ll call Jay and have him send the tickets. They’ll need four, right? One each for your mom, dad, brother, and sister?”

“Can you make it five so Gavin’s fiancée can go, too?”

“Your brother’s engaged?”

“Yeah, Cecily’s his college sweetheart. It’s really pretty sweet how they’ve stuck together all these years.”

“So your brother is older and your sister is younger.”

She nodded. “Gavin is two years older than I. Jordan’s six years younger. She was a surprise, especially since Mom was thirty-eight when she had me.”

He filed away the information that Sonia’s parents were older. His mother had barely turned eighteen when she became pregnant with him.

“We’ll be hitting Richmond, Virginia, too, with a couple of days to relax. My mom will definitely be there. I want you to meet her and I’m sure she’ll love you.”

Sonia nodded again, not speaking because her mouth was full.

Lunch ended. They cleaned the kitchen and then retreated to the living room to cuddle on the sofa. Mick found a movie they could agree upon. Relaxing against him, Sonia drifted off into sleep. About an hour before they needed to leave, he work her up. She rubbed her eyes and shuffled into the bedroom to wash her face, apply cosmetics, fix her hair, and change into something less comfortable. Mick cast a critical eye over her, noting that she did not wear the short party dress glittering with sequins, but her pink sundress. He admitted to himself that, although she looked goddamned hot in the party dress, the pink sundress suited her far better.

And he found himself in the odd dichotomy of wanting to hide her from other males while at the same time wanting to show her off:
Look, she’s beautiful and she’s mine and you can’t have her.
He chided himself for his foolishness.

Mick donned his leather vest and iron falcon pendant. He threaded a studded black belt through the belt loops on his low riding jeans and made sure his boots laces were firmly knotted.

“God, you look sweet,” he complimented her when she finally presented herself as ready to venture out in public.

“And you look … dangerous,” she said, finally finding the right word.

“Never to you, babe. Never to you.” He picked up his instruments and they piled into the truck. Cameras flashed as Mick backed the vehicle out.

“Ignore them,” he urged as the truck rolled into the street.

“I’m trying,” she replied through clenched jaws.

He shifted gears and sped forward, the paparazzi in hot pursuit. But they knew where the singer and his wife were headed, so they did not pursue too closely. Mick parked the truck and grabbed his instruments. Together, he and Sonia raced for the back entrance where a security guard obligingly let them pass without stopping to check identification.

“Thanks, man,” Mick called back just before the door slammed behind them.

The guard nodded and murmured, “You’re welcome,” as he contentedly ignored the press’ demands to open the door. There was a certain satisfaction in thwarting those leeches.

Mick and Sonia stumbled to a halt in front of the green room door. Mick knocked twice, then opened it. His eyes widened, then narrowed, and he stepped backward quickly, shutting the door before Sonia could get an eyeful.

“You don’t want to go in there,” he said.

She raised her eyebrows in silent inquiry.

“Jack’s … er … entertaining.”

“Ah,” she said, understanding immediately. “You know, the idea of touching any flat surface in there gives me the willies.”

“The willies?”

“Yes. Who knows what loathsome substances and germs coat those surfaces?”

“I hadn’t thought of it quite that way.”

She raised an eyebrow, but only said, “So, so we cool our heels out here?”

“Cool our heels? What does that mean?”

She sighed. “It’s old slang. Never mind. Do we just wait until Jack’s finished with whomever he’s doing in there?”

“Hey, Mick, Sonia. What’s going on?” Angelo called out as he approached.

“Hello, Angelo,” Sonia greeted him with a smile of genuine welcome.