WMIS 04 Rock With Me

ROCK WITH ME

Book Four in the With Me In Seattle Series

Kristen Proby

Copyright © 2013 by Kristen Proby

All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no
part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval
system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright
owner and the above publisher of this book. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters,
places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination
or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark
owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used
without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated
with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

The following story contains mature themes, strong language, and sexual situations.
It is intended for adult readers.

Cover Art:

Photographer: Linus Pettersson of Photo by Linus

Models: Sulan Von Zoomlander and Katerina Lotus

Graphic Artist: Renae Porter of Social Butterfly Creative

Sunshine
© 2013 by Kristen Proby and Nicole Brightman, co-writers.

Dedication:

This book is for the readers. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.

Prologue

“You know,” Meg announces to the room at large. “You didn’t all need to come help.
I don’t have that much stuff. Leo and Will could have handled the big stuff.”

We are gathered at Will Montgomery’s house, helping him move his girlfriend, Megan
in with him. I’ve grown to love these people. My brother marrying into the Montgomery
family might have been the best thing he ever did.

Damn Luke, for always getting it right. I glance across Will’s impressive living room
where I’m trying to decide where one of Meg’s brightly colored paintings should be
hung and eye my brother as he kisses his pretty brunette wife on the cheek. Natalie
is the best, and I’m so happy that she’s forgiven me for being a bitch to her when
I first met her. Not that I’m all that sorry for it. I had my reasons. But Nat is
fantastic.

She’s my best friend.

“Thanks so much for volunteering me,” Leo, Meg’s brother, mutters. “Why didn’t we
hire a company again?”

I grin to myself and turn my back on the room, focusing on the wall and the artwork
in my hands. I’m in a room with Leo Nash.
The Leo Nash.
He’s only the hottest rock star in the country. And he’s sexy as hell.

And he’s been watching me all day.

Will and Leo continue to grumble about doing all the heavy lifting, earning glares
from Meg. God, she’s funny.

And I guarantee not one of us girls is going to complain about watching Leo, Nate
and the Montgomery brothers lift heavy objects. Holy hot men.

“So, Sam,” Leo saunters over to me. I can feel him move up behind me, just a few feet
away, and damn if I can’t smell his musky sweat and the soap from his shower. “What
are you doing later?”

I take a deep breath and keep my face blank. I learned a long time ago to keep my
emotions in check.

“I won’t be doing you,” I mutter and hammer a nail into the wall. As attracted as
I am to him, and really, who wouldn’t be, Leo is off limits. He’s Meg’s brother.

He’s famous.

He’s cocky as hell.

“Uh, I wasn’t offering, honey.” I turn around to see Leo smiling smugly. “I was wondering
if you’d like me to take you to have that stick pulled out of your ass.”

The girls gasp, and Luke’s eyes go hard as stone.

Okay, that hurt.

Don’t touch the stick in my ass, you jerk.

Before my brother can rip Leo to shreds, and despite his usual sweet demeanor I have
no doubt that he would in a heartbeat, I paste a smile on my face and laugh.

“Nope, I like my stick right where it is.”

“Let me know if you change your mind.”
 
Leo grins and shoves his hands in the pockets of the worn jeans that sit low on his
hips.

“You’ll be the first to know.” I turn back to the wall and hang the painting. “But
just so you know,” I turn back to him, “I don’t date famous people.”

“Neither do I.” He winks and saunters into the kitchen, pulls a beer out of the fridge
and takes a sip. His biceps flex under those amazing tattoos covering his skin as
he lifts and lowers the bottle to his lips. He swallows and smiles over at me, his
eyes shining with interest, and for the first time in five years I regret my no celebrity
rule.

Damn him.

Chapter One

“You okay?” Luke murmurs in my ear as he hugs me before we leave Will’s house.

“Of course, why wouldn’t I be?” I smirk as I look defiantly into Luke’s happy blue
eyes.

“Leo’s not really an asshole.” He frowns and glances back at the house.

“He was being funny, Luke. I can take a joke.” I wave him off and sink into my little
white Mercedes. “I’ll see you at mom and dad’s on Sunday?”

“Yeah, we’ll see you there.” He waves and joins Nat in their car and drives away.
Everyone has left except Leo who hung back to help Will lift a few more boxes, and
I’m relieved to get away from him.

He’s too good looking for my comfort level.

Okay, that’s not it. I pull out of the driveway and toward my downtown condo.

I see something in Leo that disturbs me. Not in a creepy, what the hell is he thinking
way, but because he’s so… virile. He pulls to me in a way no one ever has before.
It has nothing to do with his band or his money, and everything to do with those gray
eyes and sweet smile.

He’s got baggage, and he’s probably a bit of a rock star jerk. I don’t have time to
deal with an arrogant attitude.

I have my own to deal with.

Suddenly, a couple miles away from Will and Meg’s house, my car jerks and drops in
the front.

Fuck, I have a flat.

I pull to the side of the road and jump out of the car. It’s started to rain, that
thick, cold, biting rain that Seattle is famous for in the winter. Thank God I was
dressed for unpacking, in my jeans and sneakers and a hoodie.

Not my every day attire.

I stand in the rain, my red hoodie over my hair, and stare at the tire. This is the
perfect end to the week from hell. I sigh and look up and down the street around me
and then give the tire a quick kick, managing to stub my toe in the process.

Shit! I hop around in a circle and then scowl at the tire again.

Fucking tire.

Well, I could call roadside assistance, but it’s just a flat tire, and I could have
it changed before the guy got here to help.

I open the tiny trunk of the car and remove the small donut spare, jack and lug-nut-removal-thingie.
I don’t know what the tools are called, but I’m sure as hell thankful that my dad
made me learn how to use them.

Just as I lean the spare against the car and set the jack under the axle, a familiar
car pulls up behind me, and I sigh deeply.

Leo.

Sonofabitch.

He unfolds his lean body from his black muscle car and walks to me, black Converse
crunching over the gravel, seemingly unfazed by the rain. He’s wearing a leather jacket,
open in the front, over his white t-shirt and loose jeans. He’s covered his head with
a black knit beanie.

“Problem?” He asks with a half-smile, that lip piercing catching my eye.

Why am I attracted to a lip piercing?

I don’t know, but I am.

“Just a flat. I’m gonna change it. You don’t have to stay.” I start working on the
lug nuts.

Leo hasn’t moved.

“You don’t have to stay,” I repeat more firmly and look up into his handsome face.

“Do you honestly think I’m going to leave you here, at the side of the road, to change
out a flat by yourself?” He asks, his eyes have gone colder, and I frown.

“I have this handled.”

Instead of stalking back to his car and driving off, he leans his ass on my car, crosses
his arms over his chest, and watches me with those stormy eyes the same color as the
clouds currently dumping cold water on us.

“Suit yourself.” I shrug and return to the task at hand. God, the rain is cold and
the wind has picked up now, making my hands throb and I wish for gloves, but refuse
to let Leo see my discomfort. The nuts come off smoothly until I get to the last one,
which is on too tight.

I struggle with it, grunting, and fall on my ass with the effort.

The nut didn’t move.

“Damn,” I mutter and glare at the tire.

Strong hands wrap around my upper arms and lift me to my feet. “God, you’re a tiny
thing,” he mutters and moves me aside. He squats beside the tire and easily loosens
the stubborn nut.

“I loosened it for you,” I tell him with a stubborn set to my chin.

“Of course,” he chuckles and pulls the flat tire off the axis. “Are you always this
stubborn?”

I cross my arms over my chest, burying my hands against my ribs to warm them up. “Pretty
much.”

He laughs and shakes his head, his tattooed fingers mounting the new tire and tightening
the lug nuts. I can’t look away from his hands, the vivid colors of the ink.

His body art is gorgeous.

I wonder what he’s got under his clothes? He’s typically shirtless in publicity shots,
so I know he has sleeves on his arms, a tat across his chest, stars on his hips, but
I’d love to see under his pants.

I take a deep breath, close my eyes, and force the shirtless image out of my head
just as he lowers the jack and gathers my tools and replaces them in the trunk with
the flat tire.

“You didn’t have to do that you know.” I offer him a half-smile and then laugh out
loud when he scowls at me.

“Sam, I’m not about to leave you here at the side of the road by yourself to change
a tire in the rain. Your brother would put his foot up my ass.”

Of course. He’s only being nice because of Luke. Just like everyone else.

I systematically school my features, blank canvas, straighten my shoulders and put
the walls back up.

People can’t hurt me if I don’t let them.

“You’re probably right.” I back away and move to walk around the white car to climb
inside and escape. “I’ll be sure to tell him you were a big help. Thank you.”

“What the fuck just happened?” His eyes are narrowed on my face, his thumbs tucked
in the loops of his jeans.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Yes you do. You’d loosened up a bit, and then suddenly you turned back into the ice
queen.”

I’m not an ice queen! I’m a fucking human being, but I’ll never let you or people
like you see me as vulnerable ever again!

“Have a good day, Leo.”

“Hey.” He blocks my path to the driver’s door, and tips my chin up to look him in
the eye. “What did I say?”