The Hardest Set (Willow Son #4/Brothers of Rock #19) (21 page)

“
Like
a bunch of sell outs,
”
Van
muttered.

“
No,
”
Portis said.
“
I trust your judgment on music
and musicians. I made a mistake before when I signed a band and stuck them on a
tour with you. Remember that?
”

Yeah, everyone remembered that
disaster. The lead singer of Crutch Fail had damn near killed Jett
’
s love, Masie, and it set off a
whole mess of fights to the point where it killed the tour.

“
The
band will be happy to help,
”
Harry said.

The meeting broke up but Van didn
’
t get up out of his chair. He
just sat there. Stuck between dreams and reality.

The band gathered around him.

Colby sat on the table on one side.
Brantley sat on the table, on the other side of Van. Jett and Ryker slid chairs
close.

“
What
are you doing causing fights?
”
Colby asked.
“
You didn
’
t say anything about that.
”

“
So
what?
”
Van asked.
“
Are you pissed at me?
”

“
No,
”
Jett said.
“
Let anyone sue the band. We can
fight anything we want. But what
’
s
going on with you?
”

“
Just
a lot,
”
Van said.
“
Vanessa keeps bothering me. This
other woman
…”

“
Natalie,
”
Brantley said.
“
Super hot. From the catering
gig.
”

“
Dude,
”
Van said.
“
Super hot?
”

“
Definitely,
”
Brantley said.

“
That
’
s good,
”
Ryker said.
“
Good
distraction.
”

“
Yeah,
”
Van said.
“
Nothing but a distraction. That
’
s all it is. I, uh, hit that guy
because of what he did to her, okay? He
’
s
married and he and Natalie were
…
whatever. He really hurt her.
”

“
Ah,
man,
”
Colby said.
“
You care about her. That
’
s not just a distraction.
”

“
Yeah,
it is. I was repaying a favor. She helped me that night of Portis
’
s party. I was wicked drunk and
she got me home. So when this guy showed up with his wife at the party
…
she couldn
’
t do anything about it because
she was working. So I took care of it.
”

“
You
punched him,
”
Brantley
said.

“
Yeah.
He deserved it.
”

“
I
’
m sure he did,
”
Ryker said.

“
This
is more than a distraction,
”
Jett said.
“
You
’
re in the thick of this now.
”

“
No,
I
’
m not,
”
Van said. He finally stood up.
“
I
’
m
just trying to help her out. And you know what? She
’
s helping me. Leave it at that.
”

“
Fine,
”
Colby said.
“
Fine. Just try to stay out of
trouble.
”

Van walked to the door. He opened
the door and as it swung shut, he heard Brantley say,
“
He
’
s
going to fall in love with that woman. And it
’
s
going to be crazy.
”

Van made fists and gritted his
teeth.

Brantley was right and wrong.

He was right because it was going
to be crazy.

He was wrong about Van falling in
love.

I am
already
in
love. Goddammit, I am in love.

**

The phone rang and Natalie gulped
down some water. Her mouth was killer dry. It was the interview. Andrea had
worked the entire thing out for Natalie. Natalie knew she should have been
researching the company. To show interest and to show care. Instead, she had
been planning something for Van.

She could get a good paying job and
settle all this with Van. Put it all out there. Leave her heart dangling for
the taking and hope that Van would take the chance and snag it. Because Natalie
would give it to him.

Natalie picked up the phone.

The guy
’
s name was Peter. He had a deep voice and he knew Andrea
quite well. The whole friend of a friend thing seemed to be a little bit of a
lie. Natalie caught herself smiling as she wondered when Andrea had slept with
Peter.

Talk about pulling a favor out of
her back pocket, right?

The only thing Natalie wanted to
know was why Andrea hadn
’
t
done this earlier?

Turns out there were two very good
reasons why.

The first - the position at the
private school just opened last week. So they were actively looking, but doing
so quietly. That
’
s how
Peter liked to hire. By word of mouth. By meeting applicants. And even then, he
didn
’
t like the word
applicants
.
He said applicants were those looking for a job. He wanted someone looking for
a career. Someone who was going to come in, settle, and enjoy life. The only
reason the previous teacher left was because she decided to be a stay-at-home
mom after the birth of her first daughter.

Lucky me
…

Natalie was beaming. She was
actually pacing the living room of her cramped apartment. This was too good to
be true.

And then, with another dose of
reality, it was.

The second reason why Andrea hadn
’
t done this earlier
…
the reason why Natalie was
speaking on the phone with Peter instead of in person
…

Natalie had her dream job on the
other line and her heart in her hand.

16.

All Natalie wanted to do was talk
to Van. To just actually talk to him. To tell him about the interview and the
decision that was on her shoulders. It shouldn
’
t
have even been a decision.

But then Van had to go and pick her
up, take her to a small airport, and put her on a private jet.

A private freaking jet.

He had champagne on the jet and
they flew for only a short while before landing.

“
Truthfully,
”
Van told her as they left the
jet,
“
we could have driven
down here. Portis is going to be pissed. But he said we could use the jets
whenever we wanted.
”

Natalie smiled, blushing, feeling
like she was royalty or something.

Two men waited outside the jet, a
black car already pulled up, the back door open.

A few people lingered around
shouting for Van, waving and screaming they loved him. That was one thing
Natalie never got used to. The way people always wanted to see the band and be
near the band. Rightfully so. They were amazing. All of them.

Van escorted Natalie to the car.

The door was shut and the car
started to move.

“
What
are we doing here?
”
Natalie
asked.

“
Just
going to check out the venue,
”
Van said.
“
It
’
s almost show time, right? I
just love coming to a place before the show. I usually do it on the day of the
show, but circumstances are different here.
”

“
Okay
…”

“
Just
think about it. There
’
s
twenty thousand plus people screaming and cheering. There
’
s sound. There
’
s music. There
’
s everything. But then you go to
the venue before the show. Before the fans show up. And it
’
s just silent. So amazingly
silent. And you just stand there and look out there. Think about what you want
to do. What you want to play. How you want to play it. The eyes, sweetie, the
eyes. You
’
re going to stare
into thousands of eyes. It
’
s
wild.
”

“
It
seems that way.
”

Van took Natalie by the hand when
the car stopped. They were at the back of a large building. A concert venue.
Well, an arena. Where sports teams played. Where concerts were held. Where Van
and the rest of Willow Son were going to be playing a show.

Pausing, Van pointed to a sign that
switched between several advertisements for sporting events, for a local
restaurant, for a lawyer, and then for the Willow Son show.

“
I
love seeing that,
”
Van
said.
“
If you want to know.
”

“
It
’
s really amazing,
”
Natalie said.

“
Now
let
’
s go inside and check
things out.
”

Natalie tugged Van
’
s hand at the door.
“
Hey. I want to talk to you. I
need to talk to you.
”

“
Inside,
okay?
”

“
Okay,
”
Natalie whispered.

Her heart raced as she walked the
hallways of the large arena. They ended up at the spot where athletes would
walk to go out to the main floor of the arena. That
’
s where Van took Natalie.

He pulled her close and pointed.
“
That
’
s where the stage is all going to be set up. See
how they just moved all the seats back to make room for us?
”

“
It
’
s cool,
”
Natalie said.

She was nervous. She had no idea
what Van had planned.

“
Before
we go to the stage, want to see the backstage dressing room?
”

“
Sure.
”

They hurried back down the hallway
and Van made a turn. They kept going and he opened a random door. There was a
decent room with couches, tables, a bar. It looked like a mini apartment. It
smelled really clean and fresh. Like it hadn
’
t
been used in a while.

When Natalie entered the room, Van
shut the door. And then he locked it.

Hearing that click made Natalie
’
s heart jump. For what she had
to say -
do it, right now
- she couldn
’
t
help but turn, stare at Van, and feel herself getting turned on.

Van didn
’
t help the situation by closing in on her, his
hands grazing her waist, pulling her close.

“
Want
to be my groupie?
”
he
whispered as his lips touched her neck.

Natalie purred and tried to fight
away. Her hands slipped around to Van
’
s
back and down to his ass. Her hands went into the back pockets of his jeans and
she was mush. Her panties were already uncomfortable from the heat and wetness.
Plus, she was in an arena
…
with a rockstar
…
maybe one
of the hottest fantasies she could possibly imagine happening.

“
I
’
ll be your groupie,
”
Natalie said.
“
I can
’
t believe all of this.
”

“
Neither
can I,
”
Van whispered.

He kissed Natalie
’
s neck, sending a fresh wave of
shivers everywhere. It was pretty obvious this wasn
’
t going to be anything normal. No stripping naked.
No savoring each other
’
s
bodies. This was about one thing -
Van inside her body.

Thinking that made Natalie
’
s toes curl.

When he touched the front of her
jeans, she jumped. Van pushed her against the couch and opened her jeans. He
hurried to not just open them, but to slide them down her body.

Slowly, Natalie lifted her shirt,
wanting it off. She couldn
’
t
believe that her body, heart, and mind were all agreeing with this. It
’
s what Van did to her though. He
took all that shyness that hid within her and stripped it away.

And my panties
…

Natalie felt her panties sliding
down her legs. She watched Van take them down to her ankles. He was crouched
down. He came forward, gently kissing her sex, one flicker of his tongue was enough
to make Natalie groan. One hand touched her waist as Van stood up. The other
hand cut between her thighs, finding her slick core. Two fingers were eager to
explore and Natalie was more than ready. She felt Van
’
s fingers enter her and she hissed, already inching
toward a climactic edge.

Van took his fingers away. He
gripped Natalie
’
s waist
tight and his eyes devoured her. That left Natalie feeling like there was no
air in the room. She was completely overwhelmed by everything. Van touching
her. Van wanting her. Van bringing her here. The reality she had to give to
Van.